In response to this from above: “My daughters have said that Stanford wants two Olympic Trials cuts. Harvard, Princeton and Yale are generally looking for recruits that can make at least two A finals and a B final, or an equivalent number of points, at Ivy Championships. Because of relays, more sprint freestylers are needed than those who swim other events.”
While I’m sure that her daughters were told this by Ivy League coaches (I heard similar statements from one Ivy coach), I would just gently suggest that there are VERY few high school juniors or seniors who can both score in the A Finals of an Ivy League Championship AND maintain the grades necessary to secure admission to Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Does Harvard occasionally recruit a swimmer who can do that? Yes. But that bar is far too high for most prospective swimmers, even those who could go on to be very fine Ivy League swimmers. The reality – the difference between the swimmers these Ivies claim to recruit and the swimmers they actually get – is that most of the Ivies are very happy to recruit swimmers who qualify for the USA Summer Junior Nationals in one or two events or could score in the C Final of an Ivy Companionship. And they recruit plenty of swimmers who have done neither. Take a look at the most recent class of Brown recruits at SwimSwam (from April 23, 2015):
http://swimswam.com/brown-university-mens-swimming-and-diving-sign-8-to-2015-16-season/
All are wonderful swimmers, no doubt, but none are A finalists (or even B finalists). So look at the type of swimmers who are actually committing to these schools, and you’ll find that the bar is generally quite a bit lower than suggested above. If by your junior year in high school you have at least NCSA cuts, mostly A’s, and strong SAT or ACT scores, then you’ll be in the mix.