Anonymous wrote:Can't answer specifically for Whitman but it is usually easy to "make" the swim team. What is hard is to make it in an event to swim for points. There are only a few spots per event and then two relays that count. Other kids are all swimming for exhibition but the times still count. I believe some schools only award a varsity letter to kids that get a certain number of points or swim in a championship meet.

My freshman son swims in Division I against Whitman. I don't know the specifics of the Whitman team but I'd say if you kid swims year round in a competitive program, they will be OK. Are they making MCSL All Stars times? They will make it. Will they swim for points? Well, that's not as easy to answer.

My freshman son swam every meet in a relay and two events (usually the max).
However, the season is short and high schools plan a lot of meets that conflict with PVS meets.
My son and most of the kids who swim every weekend missed two high school meets for the PVS meets. Those weekends were great opportunities for the kids who made the team but because they weren't in the top 3-4 swimmers in a stroke, they didn't usually swim. Those kids moved right up when the others were at PVS meets and got their chance. So even if you child just makes the team, don't give up on them swimming for points. There are some high school meets with a lot of scratches. A lot!!!!


My son's coach also moved him into a stroke he always avoided. There was never a chance to discuss any preferences but in the end, my son ended up thriving. High school swim is kind of a frantic pace where the coaches don't always know the kids very well and they don't seem focused on development at all. They are just out to maximize points for each meet.

What we didn't realize though is that if a swimmer is held out of their strongest event, they will not get qualifying times for post season. It's important to really think about what events they could do post season and ask the coach to put them in that at least once so they have an official time. We messed this up and I was shocked to see other kids in several events when my son only qualified for three because that's all his coach ever suggested. In the end, it's a fun experience though and he had a great experience.

Can't answer specifically for Whitman but it is usually easy to "make" the swim team. What is hard is to make it in an event to swim for points. There are only a few spots per event and then two relays that count. Other kids are all swimming for exhibition but the times still count. I believe some schools only award a varsity letter to kids that get a certain number of points or swim in a championship meet.

Whitman is Division 1 so it is probably pretty competitive. Most kids at another Div 1 mcps school swims year round.

How difficult is it to make the Whitman Swim Team?