<p>Given the differences in recruiting in various sports, I thought it would be helpful to know what sport everyone is referring to when discussing recruiting practices and experiences. My daughter is being recruited for rowing, although I don't have much -really nothing- to add specific to this sport because she is so new to it. But I was a high school swim coach for many years and have some experience there.</p>
<p>We want to remain somewhat anonymous-it would be too easy to figure out the specific person. If you PM me, I’ll tell all.</p>
<p>agree, anonymous is the way I gotta go, not that I don’t like to brag about my kid but if she found out I was talking about her…I’m toast:)</p>
<p>And I know from posts people in my community are on here!</p>
<p>^^^ Fishymom - Not intending to hijack the thread, but do you have specific experience regarding swimming recruiting? If so, I have a couple questions…also anyone who can contribute is appreciated!</p>
<p>My Junior son (3.9 GPA, 32 ACT) son is considering swimming in college…I say “considering” because swimming is not his main sport, but is his only true NCAA sport (he’s a cyclist/triathlete)… He currently has high AAA times in most of his events, with some AA times.</p>
<p>So anyway, our strategy thus far has been this - he’s made a list of schools he’s interested in attending that have varsity swimming. For each school, he’s compared his junior year times to the team’s current season times. If his times would be in the top 3-8 or so on the college team, he’s kept it on the list. So far he has about 6 likely schools, spread pretty evenly over Div I, II and III.</p>
<p>He filled out the online recruit forms for several schools where his times are both well below and slightly above the middle of their pack. He’s also emailed 4 coaches an introductory letter. So far, he’s heard back from 3 and has meetings set up with each in April.</p>
<p>Is this a good strategy, or should he be doing something else at this point? He has never done club swimming, so really doesn’t have anything to update the coaches with over the summer - really nothing until swim season starts again in October…any suggestions? Not quite sure where to go from here, or if he needs to find more schools to contact…</p>
<p>Thanks for any insight…we’re new at this!!</p>
<p>You are off to a great start! The best way to assess athletic fit is to look at the championship meets. If your athlete is fast enough to score points, then schools will be interested. He is a junior, so the ball won’t really get rolling until after July 1st. In my experience, the serious interest starts after the summer championship meets. </p>
<p>I know how intense the training for triathlon is, my daughter was a junior triathlete for four years before knee issues kept her from running. I would suggest your son join a club swim team for the summer if at all possible. I would also suggest looking at as many schools as possible. And make sure that he has a quality athletic resume, including his cycling and triathlon results. In my daughter’s case, the interest in her is being generated more by her athletic background than by performance in her new sport. And get that resume into as many coaches hands as possible!</p>
<p>Best of luck to you and your son! Feel free to PM me if you have any other specific questions.</p>
<p>Ooo, he looks good.
I think you are doing enough right now. It’s good to visit some schools now if possible, so the fall won’t be so gruelling. Plus I think visiting a school while it is in session is a MUST. Willingness to swim in college will help him get in to those uber-selective LACs and D1s, even if money isn’t involved.</p>
<p>Have you already looked into and rejected collegiate cycling? Apparently there are 15 colleges with cycling teams and additional schools with club teams. Here are some links if you are interested:</p>
<p>[www.usacycling.org</a> – The Official Website of USA Cycling](<a href=“http://www.usacycling.org/collegiate/]www.usacycling.org”>http://www.usacycling.org/collegiate/)
[College</a> Cycling Teams - Bike Racing at the College and University Level](<a href=“http://bicycling.about.com/od/professionalcycling/tp/collegiate_cycling.htm]College”>Bike Racing at the College and University Level)
[BikeRide.com:</a> Links: Collegiate Cycling](<a href=“http://www.bikeride.com/links/collegiate.asp]BikeRide.com:”>http://www.bikeride.com/links/collegiate.asp)</p>
<p>Wow! Thanks for the responses! I’m glad to know we’re doing okay so far - this is a difficult process to navigate!
Fishymom - that’s a great idea to combine his sports into one “athletic resume’” - that had never occurred to us! He has a cycling resume’ which is required by USA cycling, and a triathlon resume’, but they’re separate documents…we’ll work on a combo version.
OBD - thanks and check your messsage…
Soccer - he is being actively recruited by 3 of the top cycling schools in the country. The problem is, and I need to tread a little lightly - they’re not known to be academic powerhouses…his ultimate goal is medical school, and thinks that may be problematic. For instance, at an admissions event at the #1 cycling school, the chair of the bio dept. responded to my son’s question about med school admission rates with a puzzled expression and the comment “I don’t think we’ve ever had anyone apply…”
So, no, he hasn’t rejected it completely, but thinks that his options are much greater with swimming. He could and would still ride as part of a club team.</p>
<p>Ok - probably a dumb question, but how many places score points at college conference meets? Just the A Final, or the A & B (consolation)?..</p>
<p>Depends on the conference…for instance, Ivy scores A,B and C final while SEC A and B only.</p>
<p>I have two swimmers, one a senior who will swim DI (Ivy so no money) next year and a junior so I will get to do it all again next year! Sounds like you have done what you need to be doing. My older did not get much done for apps over the summer and the fall was crazy with trips, school, training and competing so I will encourage my younger to get essays at least started over the summer. We’ll see how that goes…</p>
<p>PM me if you have any questions.</p>
<p>Don’t ever go to a college where the bio chair says" I don’t think we’ve ever had anyone apply" if that is your long-term goal. Any acceptable school would have a pre-med committee, whose job is to advise, groom, and evaluate future MD wannabees. You DON’T want to be a ground-breaker in that category.</p>
<p>That was our feeling, too, which is why my son is exploring swimming in college…so many more options. He hasn’t ruled out cycling, but may end up riding for a club team. He does have one viable alternative, and has offers from the swim coach and the cycling coach. That’s his academic and financial “safety”.</p>
<p>What does it mean in a later that the OP asks
Do they “score points” from the conference? A, B final etc</p>
<p>Is that related to competitions and placement etc during the hs yr? Is that related only to certain sports.</p>
<p>(so much to learn here)</p>
<p>I posted this with regards to swimming. In championship swim meets, there is a prelims/finals format. Usually there are two or three heats in finals and only those finals swims score points towards the team score. The A final is the top eight times from prelim swims. The B final is the next 8 fastest prelim swims and the C ifinal s the next 8 fastest. So the 24 fastest times in prelims will swim in the finals. A point value is assigned to each place from 1 to 24. Swimmers in the A final will be awarded the points value for their place. Swimmers in the B will be awarded the points value for their finishes within their heat, regardless of whether they swim faster than someone in the A final. Same goes for the C final, they can only earn the points value for place 17 through 24. </p>
<p>They use this some variation of this format in championship meets from 8 & unders to the olympics.</p>
<p>OK
So when the poster asks about points and how many places deep the points go–that is just a general knowledge question for swim meets in this case
and nothing to do with apps…</p>
<p>or points towards a tip/slot by coaches etc…
just didn’t know if I had missed something in translation ((:o))</p>
<p>Correct, nothing to do with apps, tips/slots, just the way meets are scored.</p>
<p>FogFog - Fishy said (and I paraphrase) that my son would typically be “recruitable” at a particular school IF he were capable of scoring points at a given schools’ conference meet. I was inquiring as to how many places deep those points are awarded, so I could check his relative worth to various schools… I should have been more clear…sorry for the confusion!</p>
<p>Got it.
Interesting as different sports handle points (deep into the field) differently…</p>
<p>Our student placed this past weekend and brought home 2 medals --hopefully two of many this spring–
stil the PR time is everything…</p>