Swim for Ivies

I am going to be a junior after the summer. I want to get recruited for swimming. Which Ivies can I swim for? I don’t know if I should contact the coaches now or wait until I drop more time, any suggestions? Here are my stats:
ACT ~ 35
Sat subjects ~ Chem =800; Math2=800;
GPA ~ unweighted=4, weighted=4.35
Swim ~ female; 100free scy = 51.69; 50free scy=24.40; 100back scy=58.37; 200back scy=2:07.65
Could you also recommend some schools that fit my academic and athletic abilities?

I swam in the Big Ten so can’t say exactly what the Ivies look for. However, I think if you can get under 50 in the 100 you’d be in pretty good shape to be recruited by multiple programs with the academics you list. I’d get on the coaches radar sooner than later. Most if not all the programs will have recruiting forms that you can fill out to get in their database. Also don’t be afraid to ask the coaches point blank what they are looking for in their recruits. I know several folks that took advantage of their athletic abilities to get into an Ivy where they might not have been accepted otherwise. That being said, almost nobody makes a living in swimming so in the end go after the school(s) that will help make you successful in the field that you want to pursue - depending on what that is, there are other schools more renowned in particular fields than Ivies. Keep up the great swimming and academics!!

Your academics are top notch, obviously. That will fly anywhere. I’m not a swimming guy, but looking at Ivy womens championship final results, it looks like the top ten 100 free times ranged from 49.5 - 50.6. I’m better versed in Ivy track than swimming, but I feel like sub 51 will get some interest, esp with your academics.

Thank you so much for your suggestion. I have to practice and swim harder to drop that 2 seconds.

Thank you guys so much.

I don’t know swimming too well either, but for example your 100 free time is better than seven out of the 10 women on the Yale team last season, if I’m reading the info at the link correctly.

I assume some of these athletes are walk-ons who will generally not be as good at the sport as recruits, but still it seems like you’re heading in the right direction.

www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/w-swim/2014-15/files/individual.2014.2015.PDF

For most college teams to which you want to be recruited, the rules of thumb are:
– You want your times in your best events to be in the top three on the team.
Using this page as a start, navigate your way to the ‘team’ page for Ivy’s in which you might be interested (if you’re going to an Ivy you should be able to do this!!). Then click on the ‘times’ tab, and you can find out the best times for women on the team this past year. @bluewater2015 is just a bit off, in that the swimmers swimming the 4th best and below are likely still recruited swimmers who swam their ‘off’ events at some point in the season.
http://www.collegeswimming.com/teams/
– You want your times in your best events to be good enough to score in the league meet.
Here’s a webpage where you can click on your events, and find out the results from this year’s Ivy championship. You want to swim times that would qualify you at least for the ‘C’ final. Obviously the ‘A’ or ‘B’ final would be better.
http://www.collegeswimming.com/results/28743/

Obviously you have until the summer between your junior and senior years to reach these times. And there’s obviously more to this than times – good character, leadership (doesn’t hurt to be a captain of either your club or HS team). Your academics are such that if the coach wants you, you’re in – that’s no small deal. You certainly can try emailing the coach(es) right now, although likely they’re now busy with recruiting the Class of 2016 swimmers. But if you expect to drop time in some peak meets this year you can certainly wait to fill out recruiting forms and email them in the spring when their college season is over and they’re looking to recruit for your class.

Finally, you might also look at some great academic and super-selective D3 schools. Check back and read some of the threads on here about swimming at an Ivy. Obviously there’s a lot that’s good about it, but it will be very demanding. You might want to look at schools like ?Amherst, Williams, Chicago, MIT where you can get a great education, a good ticket to the next job/degree, and have more time for academics/friends/etc while you in school. Just a suggestion.

Academically based solely on GPA and scores, you could really apply to Ivy League schools and you could contact coaches at schools if you think you would like to swim somewhere. Look on college websites for coach information and email them about your interest and times

Academic fit: anywhere
Athletic fit: at least one-half of Ivy teams.

Last year it took a 50.65 to make the A final and 51.44 for the B final in the 100 free. Any Ivy team will have great interest in someone that can make a couple of A finals and one B final. Most teams will be happy with someone who can make a couple of B finals. At some schools C finals might be good enough.

The average team takes 16 swimmers to Ivy Championships. Look at last years results and see how many points that your best times would have earned and compare that number to how many points were earned by swimmers at your target schools.

Just curious, for Academic stats like the OP, plus school AMC 10/12 winner, AIME qualifier. if swimming is a little off the top IVYs recruit level, (between winter and summer juniors), if one applies through regular decision without coach support, what are the chances of getting into Top IVY?

Under 50 is a tall order, and would put you as one of the top 50 recruits in the country. (It would have placed 6th at winter juniors last year.) But focusing on your sprint freestyles definitely will improve your recruiting potential the most.