Few things make me happier than hearing a swimmer has enough love for the sport to want to continue in college. However, it’s often a conversation that begins with a deer-in-the-headlights look. Picking the right college is hard enough even before you throw in a swim team that’s a good fit for your abilities, a coach you like (and vice versa), tuition you can afford, etc. Upper level swimmers may feel pressure to earn a scholarship, or feel they’ve failed somehow if their times are above the cuts for their top-choice program. It can quickly become overwhelming (or even depressing), with the swimmer and parents not knowing where to start. On top of all that, many programs begin recruiting far earlier than swimmers think, which then leads to more stress for the swimmer if they feel ‘late’. Let’s see what we can do to avoid all that!

Side Note: This is a huge topic, one that’s highly individual for every swimmer – this document is long and it can’t cover everything for everyone. And remember, it’s okay to be unsure about anything and everything at this point. When you’re ready, let’s talk!

Everything below here is my advice, which means that there’s opinion mixed in that you should absolutely feel free to ignore if it doesn’t make sense to you. This is YOUR college experience.

Bottom line, try to go into it with the same expectation we strive for at Triton – do it because you love the sport and your teammates. Anything else that happens beyond that is extra.

Getting started checklist

I’m including this up front so you can refer back to it. The details of how to do each one are below. Remember, these are only suggestions – skip anything that doesn’t feel right for you. You also don’t need to do them in order. Work on whatever you’re in the mood to start with for now. Just be ready to respond if a coach reaches out and asks you for info!

☐ Step 1: Create your Online Recruiting Profiles

☐ Step 2: Make Your Starter List of Schools

☐ Step 3: Craft an email to coaches

☐ Step 4: Follow up with replies and revise your plan as you go.

☐ Step 5: Identify/make use of your resources

Steps for Get on a Coach’s Radar

Getting Started: Go here: Guide to College Athletic Recruiting. You’ll find everything you need & I can’t do it better here. A little bit of homework here will save you a lot of headaches later.

Step 1: Create Your Recruiting Profiles

SwimCloud
- If you’re a club swimmer, your times may already be here – it’s a little hit or miss. You can enter them yourself as well. They also have some nice search tools and they’re a little less annoying than NCSA (below). They do have an upgraded profile feature available for $29, which comes with a helpful search tool that provides matches based on your times, grades, and other priorities (major, cost, location, etc)
NCAA
- Choose the free profile page unless you’ve got DI/DII schools high in your list.
- Creating an account costs $90. This starts the process of confirming your eligibility, allows you to take formal visits, etc.
- You can always create the account later, but creating the profile page is a good idea now.
NCSA
- NCSA is a student athletic recruiting company. They make a lot of excellent information available for free, but they are hoping to sell you recruiting services while you’re there, and they are REALLY persistent about it. They will call you – they’ll stop after a few attempts, but feel free to block them. There is absolutely nothing they can do for the $900+ they want out of you that you can’t do yourself. [Seriously, don’t pay them anything]

For all of these, it’s best to fill out as much as you can, although younger swimmers won’t have things like ACT/SAT and aren’t likely to have much of a clue about things like intended major or transcripts.

Be sure to include any newspaper mentions or season awards.
Some coaches like it if you include a link to a video of you swimming – it doesn’t have to be anything fancy. In-season, I can help you with this, or you can ask your club coach if you have one, or a parent (if a parent videos you, please be sure to follow any recording rules at the facility you’re at – USA Swimming is especially strict about camera usage at meets due to Athlete Protection standards)

Step 2: Make Your Starter List of Schools

Start with a list of 8-10 schools that offer a course of study you like AND a swim team. Roughly speaking:

3 should be realistic targets
3 should be dreams
3 should be safe.

More than that and you might start to feel overwhelmed. It’s okay to start small, too – once you have a profile, schools will likely start to contact you. A lot of them won’t be places you’re interested in – it’s good to send a polite reply regardless.

Overarching advice:

look for schools where you’re likely to be happy no matter what happens with your swimming. Academics can be more than you bargained for, injuries can happen, etc. Give yourself options.
If you’re certain of what you want to major in, start with that.
If you’re going more on a certain type of college experience, be it geography, size, rural vs local, a family legacy, etc… start with that.
Junior and Senior year, you’ll get flooded with info from schools, and your search is likely to get wider before it gets smaller
The longer you can keep an open mind, the better chance you’ll be ready to take a good look at what turns out to be the right school when it presents itself to you.

These tools will get you started.

College Search at NCSA
- You can limit by geography, how selective the school is both academically and athletically, tuition, rural vs urban, etc. If you know (or have some idea) what you want to major in, you can include that in the search.
College Search at Swimcloud
- An alternate search if the other doesn’t work well for you:

Step 3: Contacting Coaches

Beginning the summer after your sophomore year, start emailing coaches. It’s important to keep on top of your email & respond promptly to those who get back to you! (If your email is a mess, it might be worth creating a separate address just for this purpose).

Beyond that, I’m again going to direct you to NCSA: Coach Contact Guide. Pay attention to the stuff in the link above about being specific in your subject line and including a ‘call to action’. Coaches get a LOT of emails – make it easy for them to notice, open, and respond to yours.

You should always include your coach’s contact info (mine and/or your club coach if you have one and they’re willing). Many of them like to talk to us first. (Note: a heads-up that you’re sending something is always appreciated, especially if it’s to a first-choice program)

Suggestions:

Send it to me first. I’m happy to offer comments and I’ll (politely) let you know if I think you’re putting your best foot forward. Or how to work on it if not.
Seriously, proofread. Read it out loud. Paste it into google translate and have it play it back for you.
Don’t send mass emails. Send it personally to each coach you want to contact. And if you’re doing a bunch at once, check to see if you’ve updated the coach’s name, college, etc before you hit send. It’s a lousy feeling to check back on the email you meant to send to your first-choice coach at College X and realize you addressed it to the head coach at University Y.
Do your homework – all college teams have dedicated websites. Poke around a bit. Look at their results and rosters and see if your times are potentially a fit. If not, can you get there? Look for a link that says ‘Recruiting’ or ‘Recruit me’. Click it. Have you done everything it says before you email the coach?
NCSA will try to upsell you based on the idea you can get notified if a coach opens your email. Again, ignore. You can do the same thing in gmail if you really want, but seriously, if you obsess over whether every coach opens your email, you’re in for a long junior/senior year.

Content Suggestions: Things Coaches Care About:

Academics: Keep your grades up! If remote schooling wasn’t your friend, really strive to show you can get it together.
Your stats: Best events/times, your height and weight. Any club teams you belong to. Your recent progress. Awards or honors you’ve won
Your attitude (hopefully this one goes without saying). Write a personal statement that shows them you’re the type of person who’s going to elevate the team.
Recruiting videos – this is a nice to have, not a must have. Doesn’t need to be anything fancy. You can include up to two in the free NCSA profile and one on Swimcloud.
If you’re a multi-sport athlete, feel free to mention it. Coaches actually really like multi-sport athletes in a lot of ways. (Studies show they’re less likely to get injured and also tend to be more ‘coachable’ due to having to listen to a bunch of different people. Just be careful to showcase your commitment to the current sport – no coach wants to get the impression they’re not getting all of you.
Sample questions to ask: What their recruiting timeline looks like, do they have official recruiting standards (athletic or academic).

Things Coaches Don’t Care About:

Emails from parents. Trust me, I get the temptation. Especially at this level, it just gives a coach the impression the kid can’t take care of themselves.
Your times/meet results from when you were 12&U. Again, this can be a temptation for kids who were phenoms young and might be struggling as they’ve matured, but a coach only wants to know where you are in the past season or so. Keep it current.

Good reasons to email coaches

You’re making an initial contact because you’re interested in their program and would like to know whether you might be a good fit. Include your times, your physical stats (height & weight). (More on crafting these emails in the link below).
You’ve talked previously and want to update them on a significant time drop, a new (improved) score on the SAT/ACT, etc. They do care about both your athletics AND academics – for one thing, the less leverage they have to extend on your behalf to admissions, the happier they are. For another, many coaches have incentives in their contracts that hinge on team academic performance.
You’re interested in whether they’re planning to run a camp this summer or next.

Step 4: Follow up and Stay on Top of your Replies

You don’t need to insta-respond (thoughtful replies are better than ones you dash off in a fit of excitement on your phone in the hall). If a coach takes the time to reply, within 24 hours is a good rule of thumb. Related: If your email is a mess, clean it up or create a new one just for this purpose. You don’t want to miss a reply because it got lost in a deluge of snap streak notifications.
Don’t be surprised if you don’t get a personal reply from a coach right off, especially if you’re younger or the program is a stretch for you. You might instead start getting mass emails from the school or program, or announcements about things like camps – don’t get discouraged. It’s up to you to decide whether or not to stay on those lists.
Don’t burn bridges. Once you set up a recruiting profile, you’ll likely get emails from coaches at schools you’ve never even heard or have no interest in. It’s always polite to send a thank you if someone takes the time to seek you out.

Step 5: Identify/Make Use of Your Resources

Is there an older swimmer from your club who’s already on the team? Is someone your mom or dad works with an alumna/alumnae? This is a good time to overcome any shyness and ask for help.

Letters of Recommendation

I actually enjoy writing these, because it gives me a chance to brag about you, so feel free to ask. Ideally, at least 2 weeks notice would be appreciated, especially during the season when things are busy for me.

The Process

NCAA Division and Scholarships: Myth vs Reality, Which should you pick, etc

For many athletes, especially those who are highly skilled, the dream of a DI scholarship is at least floating around in the back of their minds early on. In reality, those scholarships are vanishingly rare (D1 schools can only offer 9 full scholarships for a men’s team across all four years), often cover far less than one might think (they’ll split those 9 full scholarships many ways), and come with a huge number of strings attached (up to 80 hour/week commitments in-season for starters) that create a vastly different college experience than you might otherwise get.

I strongly encourage swimmers to be open to schools across divisions. If you have your heart set on a D1 school but can’t make the cut times, things like club teams are often an option. DII schools can sometimes be the best of both worlds (though the wrong fit can be the worst of both worlds too). (And the Ivys, which are mostly D1, are a whole different ballgame.) From a financial perspective, DIII often has the most flexibility in what they can offer swimmers, especially those who are academically strong as in addition to athletics. College coaches often report that unrealistic expectations about scholarships are the most frustrating part of the recruiting process from their perspective, so the more you can educate yourself on this, the better off you’ll be to start.

In terms of expectations, for elite D1 recruiting, swimmers are expected to exceed All-American time standards. DII swimmers might be expected to make Futures Meet Cuts, while DIII swimmers should strive to make the cut times for Speedo Sectionals. Especially early on in the cycle, coaches will say they are looking for swimmers who can score at their conference meet. This can be frustrating to hear, especially if you, a 16-17 year old swimmer, look up the team on swim cloud and find they don’t even have any of their COLLEGE-age swimmers who are meeting those times. Everyone tends to become more realistic later on, and most coaches will be willing to re-evaluate where things stand, especially if you continue to make progress.

NOTE: For the vast majority of our swimmers, these times are going to look eye-popping. Please, please, PLEASE do not think this means you have to be that fast to swim in college, as that could not be further from the truth. There are close to a thousand colleges and universities in the US alone, and their programs range hugely. The times above are mostly relevant to swimmers looking for athletic scholarships.

Many programs accept walk-on athletes (or so-called preferred walk-on athletes) who are desired, valued, and integral to their teams. Again, the best way to see if you are a ‘fit’ with a given team is to search out their results on Swimcloud. Look for the dual meets too, not just the championships. If you’re somewhere between the top and the bottom, that should be good enough. If you’re not, then you have two options: 1) talk to me or a club coach about how you can get there 2) see if the school has a club team, or 3) get creative – maybe you could try out for the water polo team or try your hand as a diver.

There are three articles shared on Triton Athletics website which I think everyone should read:

Expectations Lose to Reality of Sports Scholarships – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Recruits Clamor for More From Coaches With Less – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

It’s Not an Adventure, It’s a Job – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Things to be aware of

There have been some rule changes in recent years that’ve forced athletes to take a more active role in approaching coaches (and trust me, this is a good thing – When I was a kid, I distinctly remember a college scout coming up to a teammate at a swim meet one time and asking if she was interested in a scholarship. She had no idea what that was or why he was talking to her. Which is probably because she was only 8 years old at the time. Her mother, understandably, had a fit.

Things were crazy then, they’re crazy in different ways now. DI schools (and some DII) are still evaluating prospects that young, but they’re (thankfully) not allowed to make contact until after your sophomore year now. (June 15^th, specifically). You can email *them* any time, but they can’t return your email before then. However, DIII coaches are not restricted and can email you at any time. On social media, coaches can like or retweet you anytime, but cannot DM you or reply to you until the same date. (It’s referred to as the ‘click don’t type’ rule). If you happen to be on-campus for a visit prior to your junior year, and you run into them on campus, they are not allowed to have a recruiting conversation with you.

Things that come later: phone calls, campus visits, etc.

If you’ve got initial interest from a coach via email, it can be helpful to try to schedule a call with them. (For DI & DII, again, this can’t happen prior to the end of your sophomore year). This will give you the chance to ask (slightly) more detailed questions about the program, maybe start to get an idea of their personality, etc. Most coaches are quite busy, especially during the season, so be sure to respect their time.

Formal vs Informal visits

A ‘formal’ visit is one the school pays for. (Note: if you are offered one of these, this is when you’ll need that NCAA paid account) As you can imagine, these are generally only offered to a few applicants. NCAA limits you to three, and they can only happen from the start of your junior year on (September).

Informal visits are on your own nickel, and you can make as many as you want whenever you want. It’s always worth checking with the Admissions office to see if they have any swimmers on their tour staff who might be interested/willing in meeting with you.

Team Culture

Ideally, as you get further in the process, you’ll have a chance to meet with your potential teammates. To put it bluntly, make sure you like these people, because even with less intense programs, you will be spending a huge amount of your time with them. Even if you’re a club swimmer now, college swimming is a whole different level of commitment – from double sessions to winter training trips (the most fun you’ll ever have while simultaneously wanting to die from exhaustion). Much like Triton, each team has its own collective personality. Some are like family, some might be a little too cutthroat for your taste. Some party all season, some have ‘dry’ pacts that they’re pretty serious about enforcing. Some are pretty low key. The programs have an interest in making sure it’s the right fit too, so most will make it a priority for you to meet your potential teammates once there’s enough mutual interest to make it worthwhile.

Letters of Intent: Verbal vs Formal

For DI and DII, there is a formal process of accepting a scholarship offer know as signing intent. It often goes in stages, with the first being the athlete gives a verbal commitment to the school. These aren’t binding and can be withdrawn. The second stage is considered binding, and can generally only be withdrawn under certain circumstances, like an unexpected coaching change.

For DIII, many athletes these days are declaring commitments as well, but this is really more of an announcement/rite of passage – it is not considered binding in an NCAA sense, as there is no athletic scholarship in play.

When should I start?

It depends on your goals, but probably earlier than you think. (Like sophomore year early). At the upper levels, college coaches are under tremendous pressure for success, which means they are looking years ahead to fill any potential weak spots in their roster. That said, it’s not too late either. In many programs, you can walk on deck the first day of practice, wow the coach, and bang, you’re on the team. Best advice though, next time you find yourself mindlessly scrolling through Insta, take 10 minutes to work on your recruiting profile instead.

In short, the earlier you can get your face as the one that comes to mind when they think about your favorite event, the more likely they’re going to want to help make it happen. If they’ve already got someone else in mind, things like your progress over the season, your academics, and a positive impression of your attitude can change things. Of course, this can work the other way too. It’s also good to be aware that coaches talk to each other too – reports of not-great behavior tend to get around. Especially at championship meets, you never know who’s watching. You want them to come away with the impression that you’re someone who’s going to make their lives easier and their job more enjoyable for the next four years. I know all of you and I know you will – now get out there and get on this so they can see it too.

Coach

ps – in case all the above wasn’t enough, here are a few more links I think are helpful:

5 Tips For High School Swimmers to Get Recruited (swimswam.com)

Advice for the High School Swimmer Considering College (swimmingworldmagazine.com)

10 Things You Should Know about College Swimming Recruiting and Recruiting Trips (swimswam.com)

6 Common College Swimming Recruiting Myths (yourswimlog.com)

Top 10 Tips for College Swimming Recruiting – Swimming World News (swimmingworldmagazine.com)