There is a national collegiate club swimming championship each year, which will indicate what the most competitive teams are. We are in Colorado, and the University of Colorado club team has won a number of years - I know a few people who have been on the team and had an absolute blast. One can even refer to herself as a National Champion in an individual event! Here’s a link to last year’s results: http://www.atlantaswimming.com/liveresults/2014ECC/index.htm, and to an article on swimswam: http://swimswam.com/collegiate-club-swimmers-divers-return-georgia-tech-national-championship-meet/.
Sirila, just keep coming back here if you have questions. It’s too bad the initial response from coaches was disappointing but parents on this board can steer you in the right direction, or at least a direction where the feedback will be more positive. I learned way more from this board than from my son’s college counselor and his swim coach put together. I have heard that everyone can swim in college, it is just a matter of finding the right level/program. If she wants to keep swimming, keep looking and asking questions here and you will find the right place.
You are in the grieving stage of figuring out you can’t have it all, the college you want and the perfect swimming opportunity. If your daughter doesn’t care about the competition, why does she even need a club? Every college I know of has a pool, and most will have some type of swimming program with work outs and goals. If not, most cities have some type of master’s swimming. When I was in law school many students swam laps at noon every day. Sort of a club, but no competition.
My daughter picked her college and then found out there was a club hockey team. Great for her, but if there had been no club or if she didn’t make it, no problem - she would have found some other sport to participate in or some other workout. She didn’t not pick the school for that reason.
It really seems the other items on your daughter’s list for selecting a college are more important - the rating of the school, urban setting, area of the country. Swimming is the bonus, not a deciding factor.
Good morning
Has anyone’s swimmer gone on a recruiting trip
If so how did it go ?
Great opportunity to learn about the experience and share the good as well as the bad
My sons first is next week
Best of luck to all throughout the process
My son just did 2 OV’s on back to back weekends. The first was a small LAC, the second a larger university. Both D1. He liked both of them and would be happy to attend either-- unfortunately I am not sure where he stands at either in terms of admissions. The campus settings were very different (suburban vs. urban) but the visits were pretty similar. The first visit had 10 recruits (5 boys, 5 girls) and the second had 19 (9 boys, 10 girls). In both cases he was hosted by a sophomore and spent a lot of time with the team/other recruits, not much time with the coaches (other than a quick one-on-one meeting.) He went to classes, ate meals with swimmers both on and off campus, watched the team practice and at one school went to a sporting event. In both cases he was taken to a party where alcohol was served but he says he did not drink and that was okay. At the 2nd visit, the party was a lot wilder as it was a Saturday night and the team did not practice the next day. He did not need a sleeping bag at either place as they had air mattresses/bedding for recruits.
Hope everyone’s recruiting season is going well.
Thanks for the feedback on your son’s OVs, needscaffeine!
My daughter is about to start (on the 25th) three weeks in a row of OVs (are they still called this if D3, or just overnights?). As mentioned, all will be D3s.
Question: she hasn’t heard about the details of the first OV (9/25) yet from the coach, even though a month ago he said he would be in touch “soon” with them. Should she politely reach out to him for them now, or is it the norm not to have these details less than 2 weeks before the visit? She hasn’t heard details from any of the coaches yet, but is focusing on the first for now. For D3s, how much before the overnight do most coaches send details of the visit? Also, do the recruits meets with admissions? Two of these three are NESCACs.
Getting the info about a week out is normal
In fact my S2 is going on his first same weekend as yours also to NESCAC school where his older brother swims
I asked his brother same question and his response was that coach was getting info together to send out this week
In my son’s case, the first school sent out a very detailed itinerary about 5 days in advance. The 2nd only sent it two days in advance and it was much less detailed. We were driving S to the schools so I did have him email about a week before, asking what time he should arrive. If your d is flying, I would email now so you can make plans. My son did not meet with admissions. Good luck, let us know how it goes!
Thanks for the feedback. I will tell her to sit tight and be patient 
She is only flying to one (not the one next week), and we already have flights booked that can accommodate whatever schedule they give her (and that school has been most forthcoming with details, probably knowing she’s coming from further away).