Totally agree with this. If you can, take your shot. Athletic windows are sometimes short.
If schools are turned off by essays where you discuss how you balanced academics and a long-shot Olympic-level goal, which is essentially your lived truth, then those schools aren’t listening to a tiny but no less authentic cohort of applicants.
Frankly, sometimes academia doesn’t process the high-level athletic training experience all that well. Some academics never had a sporting experience (busy pursuing other ones). There can be the mistaken perception of being a “dumb jock” with an easier path to a school admission. That doesn’t track with, for example, an engineering student who also play D1 hockey.
But for non-recruitable athletic families trying their best to foster an elite athletic training experience while also navigating high school, it’s tough. The cliche of not being able to participate in school activities due to sports scheduling is real. And can be mistaken as some sort of “privileged” position instead of the insane time/money suck that it is (with an unpredictable ROI). Frankly, sports at a high level garners some atypical growth experiences that most high schools simply can’t provide.
We just came back from a tour of a rigorous, well-regarded college. (Our first official college tour.) It was very helpful. The general presentation slide deck laid out what completed high school courses are the minimum ones expected for the school’s applicants. Technically, our student happens to have completed them already. Doesn’t mean that the average applicant to this school won’t be well passed the minimum course load. However, it does mean that our athlete isn’t out of range of their expectations.
What if you tried contacting five schools that your kid is interested in? Email the admissions office and ask for their feedback on what the impact would be with your various scenarios/graduation timeline. See if there’s something that they wouldn’t recommend. Might as well get input straight from the source.