Swimming team is one of time consuming sports teams. The practice hours can be >25 hr/week, plus meets, the chunk of time taken from a HS kid’s life is tremendous. If the swimmer is not a captain, not qualify D1 or D2, no awards, no broken records etc, but just a regular team member, how much positive impact on his college admission. He only has so, so passion on the sports.
Unless the student is a recruited athlete.it is regarded as a nice EC activity but nothing out of the ordinary (especially if not a captain).
D. dropped her participation in swim club after freshman year. She was paasionate about her sport, she was on competitive team from 5 y o thru graduating from HS, she still holds numerous team records that have been standing for the last17 years (most of them she broke in 1998). She simply could not afford swimming even at the club level while being on pre-med track. But she witnessed others who were sitting at lectures with the ice on their shoulders and who were in fact on D1 varsity. I guess, it depends on priority. She did not care about scholarships, she attended on full tuition Merit award. She was a very busy college student with tons of ECs, she worked and she had 2 minors, was on sorority board, etc., swimming just fell out.
My daughter is also a swimmer. I’d like to think many admissions people know that swimming is a particularly time-consuming sport. However, our focus is on what a positive activity it is for DD and not so much how it will affect college admissions. She loves to swim, and the girls on the team are like sisters to each other. And, in my experience, swimming tends to attract really good, nice kids. Time management skills are imperative for competitive swimmers, and it’s a great form of life-long exercise, not to mention all of the other positives of team sports.
If my dd didn’t love swimming, I guess I’d be concerned that such a time-consuming activity might prevent her from exploring other activities in order to find more sincere interests. I can’t imagine my daughter burning out on swimming during HS, but if she does, I’ll be happy that she has more time to further pursue other talents.
If your son doesn’t have a true passion for swim, maybe he could explore other opportunities?
If your son doesn’t have a passion for swimming and he isn’t a team captain or an extremely talented swimmer there are probably other ECs that are much less time consuming. Find something that really excites him, In the long run that will be of greater benefit to him both as an individual and for his college applications.
My DD was on the HS swim team for four years. She was not a starter, and she was never the captain. The coach wrote one of her LOR…because you know…she has a commitment to the team and sport despite never being a contender for placing…ever…in four years. She pitched in doing plenty for the team including timing and statistics. And she never missed a practice or a meet.
I think a commitment is important…and quite frankly, it’s harder to maintain that commitment when you are not one of the best on the team.
Maybe someone else remembers this story…a number of years ago, a student applied to one of the Ivies…I don’t remember which one. His essay was about his participation in HS cross country. This student came in dead last at every single meet…every one. But he spoke about his own personal best. He was never the captain…and at every meet, the rest of the team had to wait for him to finish. But he never quit.
I agree it is a time-consuming sport. I had two that swam in High School but neither carried it into college. I swam in high school but didn’t carry it into college either. The only thing I would disagree or qualify would be Happy1’s statement about being recruited. If the OPs kiddo wants to continue swimming, there might be Division III schools where the coaches can assist. Depending on the caliber of the swimmer Division II schools might also be an avenue for the kid who wants to continue swimming and could use a nudge factor in admissions.
S swam throughout all 4 years. He was a captain, but that was meaningless as swimming was spring sport and captains weren’t elected to Feb of senior year, well past college app deadlines. Although not for S biggest issue could be if swimming is spring sport, swim season league championships occurred during AP testing so that could be problem.
Op,
No offense, and others will disagree with me, but I think that it has virtually zero impact on college apps, so your kid should only do it for fun or for exercise or for being part of a team…or if kid want to be a college swimmer. When kid applies for college, kid will list 10 ECs. So many things that a kid does will not even make the list. My DS fenced for 3 yrs, ran track for 3 yrs, but neither were listed as any EC because he was building a story of an artsy comedian type of applicant. Now if your kid cannot come up with 10 ECs to list, then maybe swimming will help a little bit for kid’s application. If kid does stop swimming, should fill that time with other ECs to try, not just playing video games.
TEN ECs? Why would any kid NEED ten ECs? Sorry but that is a lot. No need for ten if one or two are ones that show commitment, dedication, and skill.
I think there are plenty of kids who get accepted to college with far less than ten ECs.
If one EC doesn’t matter for admissions…ten won’t matter either.
Ha ha ha, I thought the same: 10 EC??? One of my kids is really really busy and stretching herself thin YET I can hardly count 5 EC.
I agree with Thumber1. Beginning on a swim team demonstrates the ability to commit to long term goals that require a large and prolong effort. Just what I would think college would like to see. I doesn’t matter what your times are unless you are trying for an athletic scholarship. What matters is that you had the focus to maintain a long term sport.
Swimmers are well known for time management that is necessary done to the time demands of the sport. Another thing I would think colleges would be looking for.
Being on a swim team, any sports team, certainly has a positive impact. Just not the special routing that a recruited athlete would have, but few activities hold that kind of privilege, and only at the very top levels, just as in sports. There are a lot of activities teams have that show community service, school community participation. So, yes being active in a sport does help the app vs those that have no such activities.
But so does working outside of school , being in choir, drama, dance, etc, etc.
My son is a year around athlete who isn’t going to be doing NCAA sports in college but will actively participate in club sports and intramurals. He’ll be using a lot of the college’s sports resources. Because of the fact that he is a very good varsity athlete in high school, he doesn’t have the time to juggle a lot else. Practice daily, meets weekly, sometimes more. That’s been his life. Admissions, I 'm sure, at the various schools get this. His brothers and cousins mostly had the same sort of schedule, other than one who did go on as a college NCAA athlete. That was a whole other story.
I don’t think anyone should ever do a sport for what it might be in the future. The sport should be done for what the child gets out of it NOW. Of course there are times when someone might choose to play at a higher level because he wants to play at the next level, but really the child should be enjoying things about the sport (or any activity for that matter) because it brings him pleasure at the time.
I have one child who is a college athlete, but she didn’t think she wanted to play in college until after her junior year in high school. I’d asked her when she was a sophomore if she wanted to play in college and she said no, so she didn’t go to any of the summer recruiting camps, tournaments or showcases. When she decided she wanted to play, it was a big scramble to get film and records and other things, but it all worked out.
If he doesn’t like swimming or doesn’t see the benefit, don’t continue because of the ‘points’ it will earn toward college admission.
I totally agree. He should continue swimming because of the value it has for him now, not because he or the parents think it will get him admitted to college…because at his level, it won’t matter for college admissions.
What else does he do that shows a commitment to the activity.
My DD swam for four years in HS…in college, she was a lifeguard, but never swam competitively. She honestly stayed on the swim team in HS for the fun, and exercise. Not because she thought it (and playing the oboe) would get her admitted to college.
IMO, the reason to do a sport is to get physical activity and because you genuinely enjoy the sport. Not because it will give you an edge in college admission.
What about moving into Water Polo for college? 
^^ because it is an entirely different sport that just happens to take place in a pool?
^^Oh, similar to the cross-over skill of running while playing Ultimate (frisbee) on a football or soccer field (sports that involve running on a field)?