<p>Colin Cordes has been a bit tired in his training this season.</p>
<p>In the past that might have caused him some dismay, but not now. Now he knows where he fits in -- with the best.</p>
<p>The Glenbrook South senior has good reason to be dragging. He took six college visits last fall before choosing Princeton over Yale, Harvard, Northwestern, Notre Dame and Auburn.</p>
<p>Then there are the academics. Cordes, who scored a perfect 800 on the math section of the SAT, is taking four advanced-placement courses. Add to that two swim practices, the first of which begins at 5:45 a.m., and an average of three hours of homework a night, and you have a day of challenging mental and physical exercise.</p>
<p>"Putting all you have into your academics and athletics, it gets pretty tiresome after a while," he said. "Time management now, coming home tired after practice, is pretty tough. But then having at least a couple hours of homework and studying left, it takes a little to get used to that. I think I'll probably get some more energy as the season goes on."</p>
<p>I'm more concerned with how much a reputable newspaper like chicago tribune blows this story up to be. They act like 2 practices, 3 hours of homework are a big deal. I would venture to say that just about every applicant that is accepted to Princeton this year will show similar dedication to their respective passion.</p>
<p>I will give you an example of what they feel is groundbreaking
Let's say..
5:15 - wake
5:45-7 : practice
7:30 - 2:30 : school
2:45 - 4:45 practice
5 - 8 HW</p>
<p>And he still has 3 hours of free time to pull a respectable 6 hours of sleep a night.
I'm not too impressed with the schedule but his times are excellent, especially for someone 6'4" 165lbs. That's incredibly skinny, even for a swimmer! I'd like to see what he's going to do with some more weight on him</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree with red remote... god knows what I'd do if I had from 8:00PM on free. I do more than that, but I sincerely doubt I'm getting into Princeton. Damn athletics. =]</p>
<p>haha i love articles like this that try and make these people sound amazing. three hours of homework. hahah. i have 3 hours of homework for one class.</p>
<p>That schedule is obvious bull. Firstly, an athlete that competitive does not get just 6 hours of sleep a night - they'd get murdered in competition with no energy. So that right away cuts down on available free time.</p>
<p>Then, you forget that the article is only talking about official practices. Believe me, that doesn't comprise much of an athlete's schedule. Between travel time, out-of-pool workouts (and you can bet that there'll be some strength training and so forth that is not included in those 2 practices), team meetings, etc., transit time to and from practice, there's probably another hour or two on an average day of time tied up.</p>
<p>So does his schedule still not meet your expectations? Well, maybe you should go become a great swimmer, get recruited, and then you can talk down to him.</p>
<p>You also forgot to give him time for eating and traveling to/from practice (it's probably not a 15 minute ride to a school practice - the best athletes in Olympic Sports usually train club not high school).</p>
<p>Then there's the issue of how damn tired chlorine makes you. I did dive last year and even though it's physically easy compared to my regular sport (gymnastics), it was amazing how tired I was after getting out of the pool to go home.</p>
<p>Well, I am a Div I football prospect and a powerlifting state champion
and I get 6 hours on weeknights and 9 hours on weekends without any fatigue issues.</p>
<p>This guy probably does not have the worst schedule in the world, but what most people do not know is that swimming is one of the few sports where you feel more tired after practice. Swimming over 10 miles a day is REALLY HARD.</p>
<p>I am a competitive swimmer, though not as good as this guy. Here was my recent schedule last Monday (if you guys want an example):</p>
<p>4:20: Wake Up
4:50 - 6:30: Swim Practice and Weightlifting
7:00 - 2:10: School
2:30 - 5:30: Swim Practice
6:00: Arrive Home</p>
<p>With dinner and everything, I usually start my homework any time between 7 and 8. With homework (and procrastination aka this), I usually sleep at around 11 or 12.</p>
<p>This is just one example of a swimmer's day. Two practices a day are grueling and tiring. And most competitive swimmers in high school and college DO NOT get 6 hours of sleep a night....and yet we still compete in meets. </p>
<p>And think of the time it takes up when there are meets. I had a high school meet on Friday night, a club meet on Saturday morning, afternoon, and Sunday afternoon.</p>
<p>Swimming is a HUGE time commitment. I am not trying to show off anything, but don't try to discredit this guy. I am sure that all of you have done very hard work that you would like to be credited for.</p>
<p>FYI, I am NOT being recruited by Princeton (nor any other school).</p>
<p>It must have been a slow news day. Maybe the record competitiveness of college admissions mixed with little news to report made for this story. I'm sure he's a talented kid, but definitely not worthy of a full-length article in a leading newspaper.</p>