I continue to feel that your emails are somewhat ‘off’, and agree with what lkunk498 wrote.
Coaches receive thousands of emails for every one slot they have. Often the head coach is not in charge of recruiting, which is why your D should be sure to email ALL the coaches listed on the website, not just the head coach.
The coach is trying to get athletes who are faster than their current athletes. Full stop. And that’s how it will be be for the following 3 years if your D does join a team.
If the athlete is ‘nice/good/easy’ that could be a plus, but it’s down the list of what the coach is looking for. Of course the recruit will often have to pass muster with potential teammates on a visit, but remember many teams won’t offer OVs, especially D3 schools.
It’s great that your D’s coach has some contacts, but she has to cast a wider net than that. Continued good luck to her.
The plow continues. Of course D24 is encouraged to email profusely, but new information only comes sporadically in the form of updated swim times, which are immediately updated on swimcloud, the preferred swimming days source for coaches.
She’s hoping for more direct responses after her next meet/email iteration in March, then in May, and again in June. we guess it’s an inefficient process everyone’s going through.
In the summer, she’ll be swimming with another team/college coaches, and indirectly seeking more direct intros, and hopefully visits (if invited and at own cost since DE/Ivy don’t invite for fireball visits)
For coaches who haven’t engaged at all, I would not wait a month between emails. IMO of course.
Unfortunately everyone is not going thru the same process. Coaches from HSs and clubs with strong swimming programs are regularly in touch with college coaches ‘selling’ their athletes. Some athletes also hire one of the many recruiting counsultant/counselors as well. These things don’t always make a difference, but they can.
It’s great that you and your D are motivated to find a place to swim, and she will, but you may not be targeting the right schools for where she is at the moment if you are not getting engaged responses.
It is a mistake to keep excusing the lack of response as “coaches are too busy to recruit right now.” Several of the schools you originally listed are actively engaging with swimmers. Many have held and invited those swimmers to attend Jr Days. Others send out regular updates about their own seasons and express their continued interest.
Also, don’t assume coaches are actively following your swimmer and looking for their progress on SwimCloud. Swimming with a new team won’t make a difference if she is not qualifying for faster meets. She needs to be looking at Summer Juniors for Ivies. At the very least she needs to attend Futures/NCSAs this summer, but unless she has a significant breakthrough that might me a bit too late to spark interest for Fall 24.
By “swimming at another club this summer”, it only meant that she would continue to swim whilst in the US during the summer
Her list has been expanded to 20 schools, which are specifically targeted for their swim times and academic match, and include couple safety schools
What exactly do you mean by “Summer Junior for Ivies/Futures/NCSAs”? is there a sign up list for such events (California in particular), required qualifying times, and club affiliation?
These are the national meets many coaches will attend. They have qualifying standards that can be found on the USA Swimming website.
From slowest to fastest: Sectionals > Futures > Winter Jrs > Summer Jrs
NCSA is a separate organization and their Championship qualifying times are in line with Futures times. Some teams opt to attend this meet due to logistics.
With the caveat that I don’t know swimming, Spring of junior year is when recruiting gets serious for most sports. If your daughter isn’t getting personal responses and calls/texts initiated by the coaches, it is probably a good idea to cast the net wider from a swimming perspective. Time to reach out to schools where your daughter’s times place her at the very top of the team, where she’d be an impact swimmer.
You would typically attend with your team, but first you need to qualify.
Does your swimmer meet these standards? I am sure the summer team will attend - you can ask the coach or look up on swimcloud to see what meets they attended last year. Regardless, it is less important that she attends the meet than it is to have the times. They serve as a guideline for goals and will help you understand the US swimming landscape better.
Also, she may get no response because her times are simply not competitive enough for the teams she’s targeting; that’s the sense I am getting. I do not think constantly sending a barrage of emails is an effective strategy.
@NiVo -your daughter should fill out a team’s questionnaire and accompany it up emails to all coaches. If no response, send another in a few weeks but then move on. If your daughter is recruitable, coaches will reach out very quickly.
Swimcloud is a useful tool for your daughter to use as a research tool, but I don’t know how many coaches actually look at it, but the rankings are all there if they do.
There is NO sign-up. You get invited by making the time cuts.
I feel like I missed something; when was it stated that she will be swimming here in the US this summer? Is it a team that she has tried out for and been accepted for a slot? If they have meets scheduled in the summer, she will have a chance to make the cuts there.
Also, I don’t know what country you are in, but don’t you have similar levels of competitiveness with meets there? The fact that you don’t seem to have an understanding of the competitiveness of the swimming world has me a bit baffled.
I’m sorry-I don’t mean to sound harsh. We are here to help but often your posts don’t give us a lot of details to work with in directing you appropriately
She swims in Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore. She makes the cuts for the Speedo Junior Nationals and Phillips 66 National Championships (18U Bonus). She will swim with the Alto team in California in July /Aug.
You stated that there are NO SIGN-UPS, so how would she be able to join these meets you recommend?
You lost me here. I am sorry I cannot help without specifics but if she had these cuts, I cannot guess why she is not getting responses (assuming your list is still mid majors and top D3).
Also, she does not have National Championships cuts. Bonus cuts are irrelevant - they are usually equal to the next level down (Jr National bonus = Futures Cuts)
Wait a minute-if she is swimming at international meets and making cuts for Phillips, then you already know about making time cuts and getting invited because YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE TIME CUTS TO BE INVITED THERE!
Swimmers at Phillips are getting recruited in eleventh grade by big time powerhouse schools.
So now I am very confused as to why you need recruiting advice.
But even students who have these cuts are already in the recruiting pipeline. Doesn’t matter if she’s international, those times would attract coach interest the minute they saw them on an email or questionnaire. Heck, they should have been reaching out to her or her coach.
My son has good friends, girls, who have been to all the big meets mentioned, and they were already committed to top schools early in junior year.