As a swimmer, he should know how it works. He can dream all he wants about qualifying for the Olympic Swim Team, but if he “has no desire to work on” his swimming performance in his present school’s pool, then getting into the “top” competitive arenas isn’t going to happen. The same thing applies to college admissions.
I don’t see what a college counselor is going to do, other than to convince him to recalibrate his expectations.