Son is a rising Junior. He’s a Division 1 swimming prospect with not great grades (Bs and Cs mainly, average rigor, terrible standardized testing). Since June he’s talked to a bunch of coaches regularly, and is now scheduling overnight visits for this fall. These schools have requested and have been sent his unofficial transcripts. Can I assume that if the schools are willing to pay for official overnight visits that they are familiar with his grades and are still on board? Can I assume that if he is asked to an overnight the coach is pretty interested? Would you put any school that offers an official overnight as a ‘likely’ school? I just want to be sure that he’s giving himself enough options. But with unlimited overnights, I also don’t want him to miss buckets of school trying to attend all of these visits for schools that may not really be matches.
I cannot imagine a coach with a limited budget and even more limited time offering an official visit to a recruit he was not seriously interested in.
Yes, I think it’s fair to say there is strong interest if invited in an OV.
In my experience the burnout from this process can be very real, so don’t say yes to everything. He should figure out to some extent what he kind of school he wants and prioritize accordingly.
Given what you shared, one thing to look at closely, IMO, is the academic support and expectations at the swim programs. You want to make sure he is happy in the classroom as well, and not in over his head.
Yes. The dialogue your S is having with the coaches suggests that too, no?
Definitely not. There is still a long way to go. I don’t know what level of school you are talking about…selective, highly selective, not selective…the process is different among D1 schools.
The coaches will give more OVs than they have slots for swimmers. The final decision lies with admissions. He should be casting a wide net.
Some of the answers depend on what sorts of schools he’s talking to.
If these aren’t schools with low admission rates like Ivies, etc., then the grades probably aren’t an issue. I’d be very surprised if a coach would waste OV resources for a recruit they don’t think will be admitted. That doesn’t mean admissions has weighed in at all though (at many/most D1 programs they really don’t need to because the coach knows the threshold recruits need to meet). You could always have your son ask the coach how the admissions process works and whether his grades will be an issue. If he’s looking at schools with low admit rates the coach might have run him through a pre-read with admissions already.
As far as likely or not, I’d put it this way: coaches don’t bring recruits in that they don’t think might work for the team. At some programs they bring in a lot more for OVs than they’ll roster. At others they focus. That doesn’t mean an OV means high probability of scholarship, slot, roster spot. But if the OV goes well and the fit seems good I’d say the chances are pretty decent.
Some of this depends on what you’re looking for: just a roster spot, help with admissions, athletic scholarship?
Thanks everyone. As I figured, yeah the coaches are interested, but no we can’t assume much more than that. I know he’ll love going on the visits and I hope a couple of visits helps him figure out what he wants in a school and a team. You’re correct, a big question will be does he want a chance to be on the team, a more secure roster spot, or to be a big contributor. It just feels so early in the process to be taking weekends, but I guess we’re here.
I know this is an old thread, but my 2025 diver is in the middle of recruitment and I came upon this thread and wondered how everyone was fairing! Has anyone committed yet? Any other divers here?
It’s been an adventure, that’s for sure. Son was ready to commit to a P4 and then the new rules (rather the ongoing uncertainty about what the new rules will be exactly) came down and I think all the interest went out the window. Has a 6th OV next weekend. It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but here’s hoping he loves it and it makes a good match.
Do not recommend the recruiting process at all, especially for the 2025s. What a mess.
Want to add, I’d planned to do a recap when all was said and done about my assessment of the process. But honestly I think the rules are so fluid right now (specifically for boys / in non-revenue sports / looking for DI), I’m not sure that any past experience will really be meaningful to predict future process.
My feelings exactly!
I’d still be interested to hear. It doesn’t have to be “this is how it works” just “this was our experience.”
Yes I agree I’d still love to hear all about it! My daughter is a diver so I’m sure that’s a little different than swim (I’m not sure if better or worse lol) She’s been in touch with several coaches. Many 2025s she knows in other sports have already committed, but we haven’t seen too much swim/dive yet. (Anything other than P4, which are random kids we have seen, not anyone from our area)
Yes, but diving is expected to take a huge hit in this shake out.
Worse than swim? 
My daughter is talking to mid majors, definitely not P4. I’d be very happy with DII or III also, we have several very close.
Not an expert on diving at all, but this was a fascinating very deep… dive into what’s happening with diving in particular with the new roster/scholarship rules - Olympic Sports in America Will Never be the Same
I’ll check it out, thanks! My daughter is certainly nowhere near Olympic bound, but this is sad for the sport in general!
The problem diving will have is that there are not as many events for divers as for swimmers, to the point where they are only counted as 1/3 of a spot on a championship squad roster. The reduced count encourages coaches to bring divers to the championships. When the effects of a tight roster size and limited (reduced) budget are combined, I am afraid many program directors will decide to use the roster slots and dive coach salary elsewhere.
Yup, I totally get that. It makes sense(even though that’s not great for my kid lol). Her top choice right now said that they are offering roster spots to two 2025 divers, but we obviously have no idea if they are talking with 3 other divers or 30 lol. The other schools she is talking to haven’t mentioned a specific number of roster spots for divers, but their current rosters range from 1 to 7 divers. I honestly don’t know what to expect, but hopefully it will work out! It’s definitely stressful! Thanks for your input.
Hi everyone- My S is Class of 2025, we were planning on gap year, but that unfortunately is no longer possible. So we are very late in contacting coaches and filling out recruiting forms. S is a solid D3/borderline D2 and even some D1s lower on the ranks.
He is filling out forms and emailing coaches tomorrow. Is it too late?
Can’t speak to swim but D3s are still recruiting for other sports. Nice long weekend to email coaches!
Probably not too late and many where it is too late will likely take him on if he gets in on his own. That is something else to ask about if he loves the school. Cast a wide net and identify schools where he will make an impact right away.