Actually, it’s one of the great things about BS if you are an athlete, assuming you are boarding. DS rolls out of bed at 6:00 a.m. and in the pool by 6:15. He gets in a 1.5 to 2 hour workout before class depending on his schedule. Then team practice is just as quick transition and plenty of time to lift. We joke it’s very much like being in prison.
I will add that of the 5 teammates (all with sectionals in 8th grade) that chose a BS with traditional 3 season sports, 2 did not swim at all, 2 only swam varsity this year and Easterns was their last meet. Only 1 is still competitive, but is a day student who prioritized swimming over school involvement.
1 Like
It’s SO much better. My kids were getting home at 9pm and still had to eat and do HW when they were in MS.
Swimming can certainly assist you in gaining admission to PA/PEA, but only if you are a recruited athlete. (A couple of my friends were recruited athletes at PA/PEA.) However, based on my observations, many of the recruited athletes at NE schools are residents of NE. (Of course, there are recruited athletes from other states as well, but a significant number of NE schools tend to recruit athletes from the NE region. Please correct me if I am mistaken.)
Easterns is a prep school championship meet, not a USA Swimming meet, that has been running since 1935 and is hosted by Peddie, Mercersburg and Germantown Academy (GA is a day school). https://www.easternswimminganddiving.org/
Mercersburg, Peddie and GA also function as club teams and will take swimmers to USA Swimming meets like Sectionals/JNats when appropriate.
IME this is because these athletes still have to be active at the club level and it can be logistically difficult to do that. This goes back to the advantage of attending a BS that swims year-round.
2 Likes
You can look at the results from Easterns from last weekend to see where your D fits in (as a younger swimmer, of course.). You’ll see that there are top swimmers in many programs. I mention this because as you consider schools, you’ll want to get the whole thing right. (You can also do a little sleuthing to see if the top finishers are getting in their training at school or with a club. In some sports, many elite level athletes are day students training with/playing for a club team. In fact, if you live in a place with lots of BS options, you can probably start picking this up from other parents.)
With a potentially recruitable athlete, you need to ensure that training needs can be met with a minimum of extra effort, and this is a great start. But you’ll also want the academics to be a good fit, the social vibe to be agreeable, etc. You don’t want your D freaking out about school workload when she’s in the pool 4 hours a day. (Both Peddie and Mercersberg are particularly good at allowing kids to right-size their academic effort based on aptitude and interest.)
There are also excellent schools that aren’t necessarily powerhouses where she could also be happy and develop - and where her swimming would be a hook. You have a lot to think about over the next year or so.
Definitely run your thoughts by the parents here who know these programs now. There are so many nuances that emerge once you’re in the thick of things that they can guide you through upfront.
1 Like
To be a little bit of a contrarian, I will mention another route that a couple of swimming families I know have recently taken and that have served them well for the college path (and the kids have been happy through HS). Their children have chosen to attend their local public high schools, which have very strong swimming programs, and have also enabled them to continue swimming with their clubs. Lots of kids going on to swim D1 and D3 (highly academic programs) through this path. That said, the LPS are also very academically strong and are a solid option. Good luck!
I don’t think anyone is advocating to go to BS FOR swimming. Most people go to these schools for the academics, exposure to a more diverse community, fostering of independence, etc. The discussion has been more that IF you want to pursue swimming at BS, some BSs are better set up for it than others.
Still, some kids don’t have an ideal LPS situation, or a strong club team nearby. You’d be surprised how common it is for swimmers to drive 1hr+ do get to practice in certain parts of the country.
3 Likes
Yes. Not like college though. More like a (sometimes heavy) thumb on the scale.
3 Likes
lots of siblings too. and some reclasses.
Thank you all for the great, insightful replies and comments.
My D is a strong swimmer as a 7th grader (swimming mostly in AAA (top 6% / 2021-2024 National Single Age Motivational Times). Honestly, D1 swimming is not her goal (maybe Ivy league if her grades/test/etc are strong too). She wants to use swimming as her point to get accepted to an academically challenging BS and enjoy the wonderful BS experience she has heard from her older friends. She wants to keep swimming for the next level but she also knows how difficult it is to use swimming to get into a competitive college. Any advise for my D?
Take a look at schools that interest you and have swimming. You can start reaching out to coaches and asking about their programs and how they support year round swimmers.
You might also want to look at results from Easterns to get a sense of how fast each of these teams is.
From your posts, it sounds like swimming may not be that important in the overall scheme of things. You should probably try to wrap your head around that first as it’ll be hard to get back on that train if you get off. There will be few kids recruited for swimming, even in the academically selective D3 schools, who aren’t swimming year round.
Also remember as you look at athletes at the schools that interest you that sometimes, top athletes at BS are day students who are elite by virtue of their club team.
Your timing is perfect for doing this exploration.
Have checked the Easterns time. My D’s (as a younger 7th grader) current time would place her in prelim heat 7 of 15 for 100Y Free at Easterns; prelim heat 5 of 10 for 100Y backstroke. So she is faster than many of the high school swimmers at Easterns. What is the best way to leverage her swimming for academically competitve BSs that value student athletes? Thank you in advance.
Have checked the Easterns time. My D’s (as a younger 7th grader) current time would place her in prelim heat 7 of 15 for 100Y Free at Easterns; prelim heat 5 of 10 for 100Y backstroke. So she is faster than many of the high school swimmers at Easterns. What is the best way to leverage her swimming for academically competitve BSs that value student athletes? Thank you in advance.
What @gardenstategal meant (I think) was to use Easterns to identify HS with serious programs. These are this year’s results, but you have to look a bit further too. Germantown, Penn Charter and Notre Dame are day schools, for example.
Most of the top BS will give strong consideration to an impact athlete. A competitive student who the coach wants will have an edge over an otherwise similar student, even if it’s not a sure thing like college commitment. All you can do is express your interest to the coaches, visit the schools, etc. Some coaches are better at making you feel like you are being recruited than others. This doesn’t necessarily reflect the end results.
The experience can be very different from school to school. Even at Peddie and Mercersburg swimmers have plenty of time to live a normal BS existence and most of the kids who continue swimming will choose a college for academics. The goal is more often Ivy/NESCAC than P5.
Just because she would make finals as a 7th grader, does not mean she would as a 10th grader that is swimming only in the winter. Swimming at an outside club (even one that practices at the school) requires significant compromises. Make sure you understand what that looks like in reality (not just the “sure! Lots of kids do it! It’s fine!”). We heard that a lot when we considered LVille. From our club, 5 kids at similar swimming as your D chose LVille. Of those, 3 swam all 4 years for the school. Only one was competitive at Easterns this year.
We just returned from sectionals. Peddie was there was 13 varsity students (plus another 15 club) and placed well as a team. On team travel (this is important because several kids are from far away). They did not have to jump through hoops get excused from school - it was cleared by the AD even though it is not a scholastic meet. This is more valuable than one might think. Most BS don’t love kids missing school for outside activities.
Germantown Academy was also there (but again this is a day school). There is no way around the whole year thing if you want to stay competitive.
You are welcome to DM me if you have specific questions. I am reasonably familiar with the NE programs.
1 Like
Most of those will want kids at least at the Futures level for recruiting, Winter Jrs for boys. It’s incredibly competitive.
2 Likes
Yes, this is what I meant AND that these were good data points for what is competitive at a high school level. While many top high school swimmers were top age group swimmers, it doesn’t mean that a top age group swimmer will necessarily be competitive at the high school level, at least at the outset. And it requires ongoing commitment to keep the edge.
1 Like
Congrats to your D.
Have your daughter continue to focus on academics as well as sport. It’s too early to reach out yet, but have your daughter reach out to swim coaches once students get back to school in the fall. Include her best times and ask if coach would be willing to zoom to chat about the program. If the coach is interested then they’ll make time.
My kid zoomed with maybe 8 coaches in each of two sports plus two or three kids on each team during the fall of 8th grade. It was A LOT of work trying to keep track of which school and which program. Organization is critical.
The difference between the first zoom and the last was a steep learning curve. Kid probably did 50 zooms with students and coaches in Sept-Dec of 8th grade.
1 Like
RIGHT!
Kid finaled at Easterns but only just beat 8th grade times as a junior!
2 Likes