@Vertigo75 your point is absolutely correct. indeed, it’s better to have started the process early, but from the little experience we’ve had, coaches also react well to athletes who are updating them frequently and in detail, talking about not only times and PBs, but also other relevant parts of their journey and/or the team. How frequently did you dd call/zoom with the more active coaches she was pursuing?
This raises a good question with regards to coaches who will be newly nominated in June-Aug in between junior and senior year:
How do new coaches pick up the recruiting ball from the last coach? Do they reopen their recruiting book? This is particularly relevant when the departed coach didn’t have an assistant coach managing the recruiting process
How do athletes react to the uncertainty of having to make a decision when in fact they may not know who the new head coach will be, whilst a competing school
may be offering a sure slot with immediate certainty
Highly variable…but I often see coaches start from scratch and even break any previously made verbal commitments. Can also depend on timing of when coach comes in… Obviously they can do more wrt the 2024 class if they start in June than Oct. I strongly encourage your D to connect with the AD (assuming there’s no assistant coach) if a coaching job is open into July.
Every athlete has unique circumstances and has to do what’s best for them. In your example, there’s only a decision to be made if the athlete was verbally committed to the coach who left…and in that case, I would be advising the student to assume the new coach will clean house (so the student should reopen their recruiting).
One of the most difficult pieces of recruiting is getting timing to work out. It often makes sense to take the bird in the hand. Of course I know students who turn offers down every year, without knowing whether another desirable offer is forthcoming. Many of those students are similar to your D, in the sense they have high academic stats, have two lists, have highly likely schools where they might not swim, or might walk on.
Is this your assessment or from the college coaches?
It’s likely only her PB in her primary event that will matter. At least based on previously provided information, times in other events have a significant drop-off in competitiveness and wouldn’t be moving the needle.
by late spring/summer of my daughter’s junior year she was texting weekly with about 3-5 coaches, had weekly phone calls or emails with another 6-8.
lots of checking in on how her club season was going, how school was wrapping up, and summer plans. up until she verbally committed at the end of the summer, she was contacted weekly by about 10-12 coaches just wanting to check in and get/give updates. The biggest shift my daughter noticed was as she moved deeper into the recruiting process and later in the calendar (her sport is a fall sport) the coaches initiated much more of the communication - it was no longer just replies to emails my daughter sent or calling after my daughter asked for a phone call, the coaches were now the ones checking in. It made it clear what schools my daughter was a top recruit at and, for the d3 schools, where we were more comfortable putting our faith in the coaches word about ED with full support.
the coaching carousel had an impact on my daughter’s recruiting journey and that of a few of her teammates. the following situations all happened with class of 2023 kids, as you can see the scenario can and does play out in many ways. often the new HC will attempt to bring in his old athletes as transfers or for top athletes on his recruiting list from his old school he will encourage them to look at his new school and consider it. Often when a new HC comes in the entire staff changes so all communication has to restart and that can be exhausting and frustrating. my daughter walked away from a few great schools because the idea of reestablishing communications late in her junior year was just too frustrating.
coach from a lower ranked school had been in talk with athletes but school wasn’t a good fit, coach took new HC job at a school that was a good fit (d2 mid tier athletically and academically to a mid tier d1), extended offer to both athletes he was recruiting at old school for new school, both accepted.
daughter was removed from list at a top school by coach in spring of sophomore year, new coach came in late fall of junior year, daughter reached out, attended camps with new coach, offered a walk on spot at school by new HC; he was at a mid tier academically and athletically d2, moved to stronger academically and athletically d1 and brought in an entirely new class of recruits as transfers from his old school to new school when he moved, very little scholarship money for daughter’s class
daughter had offer at two schools but no signed NLI since it was spring/summer junior year and she had not verbally committed. both HCs moved to schools that no longer fit daughter’s criteria, she declined offers at the two new schools; reached out to new coach at original schools but didn’t follow through since establishing communication that late in the game wasn’t what she wanted to do
an assistant coach daughter had been talking with for months moved to a HC position at a school that wasn’t an academic or location fit, offered my daughter, she declined
@Mwfan1921 thanks for suggesting to write directly to the AD, definitely the right route for Amherst, especially since the AD would be the only person who has visibility over the timing of the recruiting/official start date of the new coach
your comment also raises the question about Wesleyan, where the assistant coach remains, but the recruiting could also become a clean slate once the new head coach is nominated. given the last nomination/withdrawal was couple weeks ago, it would be doubtful that a new coach be announced before late July
D24 wrote to the athletics assistant director in charge of swimming since there is no assistant coach, to better understand who is the right person to contact until the new swimming head/ assistant head coach are appointed, and when they target to appoint the next coach. The earliest would be June, but if the appointment is made in July/August, many recruits will have had little choice but to commit elsewhere.
And because the current coach is retiring, there is no opportunity for him to recruit her to a new school
Similar inquiry with the assistant coach at another school, where the head coach has yet to be nominated.
She accepts there are many unknowns including unfortunate ones, and the best she can do is focus on training, improving times, and maintain active dialogue and updates with the coaches in place.
Coaches are finishing their lists, some are clearly planning to invite D24 for 6+ pre-reads, all of which she is projected to pass. We’re hoping to visit each of these schools, and well understand that a pre-read doesn’t automatically translate into strong/full coach support.
D24 remains hopeful with couple coaches/schools that are seeking faster times (Washington, CMU, Swarthmore, Amherst, Pomona, Claremont), but is still generally optimistic about the process
Hi. I know this was debated much earlier in this thread, but I didn’t read a conclusive decision. Isn’t passing a pre-read almost (almost!) a guarantee of admission? The pre-read is happening because the coach has some interest and it is the AO that is giving the thumbs up. What are the circumstances in which this doesn’t become an acceptance in the fall?
Actually a very high percentage do not get an “offer”. Most coaches obtain prereads for many more spots than they can support. Remember, a lot of these schools are chasing after the same athletes, so the Amherst coach knows that most of her recruits are also being courted by other academic D3 and Ivies. Say she has 5 supported spots, if 3 of her top 5 decide elsewhere, she is going to have to move down her list to 6, 7, and 8. Maybe 2 of those decide to go elsewhere, now she is at 9 and 10. It could well be based on her prior “yield” experience, she gets pre-reads for 12-15 kids when she can only support 5.
At selective schools, a positive pre-read is contingent upon the coach giving admission support to the student athlete. It does not mean a student athlete would necessarily be admitted without coach support. As @BKSquared mentioned, there are usually more pre-reads than the coach can support.
Based on the most recent swim school list, ruling these schools out for now leaves three U.S. possibilities for pre/reads: Colby, Franklin & Marshall, and Grinnell. Wesleyan is TBD until they get a new head coach.
Somewhere previously in this thread I posted a quote from another thread as one datapoint:
I don’t know how many prereads track and field gets; the [Middlebury] soccer coach told parents that he has 50 preread spots.
It seems that 20-50 is probably a baseline number for initial pre-reads for most competitive D3 programs across a variety of sports. I don’t know what swimming might be.
It looks like swim programs announce about 4-6 commitments each year usually divided up among the 4 stroke specialities and diving: so, realistically, 1-2 commits max in each stroke.
What that likely means for this potential recruit: if not a particular program’s top prospect in the 100 freestyle, need to hope that others decline offers as the game of “musical chairs” commences.
Another meet, D24 made PBs including some which move her up slightly in a few target team ranks.
She hopes to secure strong coach support at 2 school with great academic fit where she would have decent/good rankings in the current roster, without knowing whom they have recruited in the entering class. We’ll see how the coach responds!