D3 Swimming Recruitment

swimming08
Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:27:00 +0000

Swimmingjew552, My S was recruited to swim at a few Top 25 LACs. Many swim coaches only get to “support” one swimmer throw the admissions process but can “protect” others. In most cases my son received “protection” not “support” because other recruits had better times. But in today’s competitive admissions process even “protection” is very helpful. A few others that he contacted were not interested. The best thing you can do for yourself is go to each school’s website and check the times of the current swimmers. For example, Amherst times are generally faster than say Middlebury and Bowdoin. My S did not meet the the qualifiying times the prior poster listed. Many of the college swimmers who make those times did not swim that fast when they were in high school. The results from the regular meets are listed on all of the websites. If you are in the range of the current swimmers then go to the recruiting section and fill it out. In the spring of his junior year my S followed up with an email directly to each coach and included his times and expressed an interest in their program. He made phone calls to several of the coaches and arranged an on campus meeting before the deadline for ED applications. Many of the DIII programs do not have the funding to pursue athletes. My S perserverance paid off. He selected the school which was the best fit for him academically, athletically and socially. We can all offer you advice but your time would be much better spend researching the programs and times from various meets of the schools you are interested in and contacting the coaches directly. From my experience your times are good enough to get recruited ( protected or supported) at at least a few DIII schools as long as you have the grades and can make a personal connection with the coaches.