Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
A lot of the best swimmers do not swim HS because they are more likely to be recruited through Club and not HS.
How do they gain the varsity experience colleges want, then? I have a teen who wants to go to the Air Force Academy. Shouldn't he focus on high school?
Probably covered already, but in this specific case, absolutely, being on a Varsity team is important. Times are not important for the admissions application...
They ARE, of course, if the child is hoping to swim on the college team and is a legitimate recruit in that regard. The AFA coach would know to look for times in club meets and won't really care if you swam for the HS, many HS's don't have teams after all.
2 totally separate things basically.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:HS kid goes to both practices during the HS swim season since he likes both teams. He isn't looking to swim in college and isn't uber competitive, just enjoys it.
HS practice 4:00p-5p
Gets back to school 5:30ish
Home for 90m or so
Club practice 8p-9p
This is 2x/week - the 2 other days he does HS dryland + club swim
HS meets are Friday evenings. Club meets are Saturdays and/or Sundays.
I’m confused by a 1 hr club practice. I’ve never seen that before except for very young kids. Which club is that?
PAC
They run 2-hr practices for older/more skilled kids.
And to be fair, once its evident your kid is not a future Olympian or at least collegiate, its kind of silly to send them to 8-12h a week of swim practice. I mean...for what?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:HS kid goes to both practices during the HS swim season since he likes both teams. He isn't looking to swim in college and isn't uber competitive, just enjoys it.
HS practice 4:00p-5p
Gets back to school 5:30ish
Home for 90m or so
Club practice 8p-9p
This is 2x/week - the 2 other days he does HS dryland + club swim
HS meets are Friday evenings. Club meets are Saturdays and/or Sundays.
I’m confused by a 1 hr club practice. I’ve never seen that before except for very young kids. Which club is that?
PAC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
A lot of the best swimmers do not swim HS because they are more likely to be recruited through Club and not HS.
How do they gain the varsity experience colleges want, then? I have a teen who wants to go to the Air Force Academy. Shouldn't he focus on high school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
A lot of the best swimmers do not swim HS because they are more likely to be recruited through Club and not HS.
How do they gain the varsity experience colleges want, then? I have a teen who wants to go to the Air Force Academy. Shouldn't he focus on high school?
It is not a thing for college. Since (at least in the DMV) HS meets are not USAswimming sanctioned most colleges are not going to look at it. Regional and State championship only. And there is no need to swim HS if your times are there. Some swimmers do, because it is fun and they can be "stars" on their HS teams. In the DMV, HS is one step up from summer league.
That's relevant if you are trying to be recruited. OP is more focused on the application.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
A lot of the best swimmers do not swim HS because they are more likely to be recruited through Club and not HS.
How do they gain the varsity experience colleges want, then? I have a teen who wants to go to the Air Force Academy. Shouldn't he focus on high school?
Swimming is all about times, not a “varsity experience”. High school swim lasts 2 months and the rest of the year the kids that aspire to swim in college are competing with their clubs. Colleges all know that club swim is far more competitive, they are not recruiting swimmers based off of their high school resume.
This isn't about recruiting. It's about putting "varsity" on an application where 80% and up of admitted applicants played a varsity sport.
If you want to swim in college, you are recruited by your club times.
You don't need varsity for college applications, when you can say you swam competitively year round.
This is absolutely incorrect for service academies.
🙄 I doubt whether a kid swam HS varsity or competed year round for a club is making the difference in getting into a service academy.
When 80% of admitted applicants did a varsity sport, yep, you're drastically lowering your chances by doing club only. They don't care about times. They want the letter.
They don't care about the letter. You could swim club and make zone cuts and they will understand the work put into it more than a letter. They want you active. You could be an Eagle Scout and that will carry more weight than a letter.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
A lot of the best swimmers do not swim HS because they are more likely to be recruited through Club and not HS.
How do they gain the varsity experience colleges want, then? I have a teen who wants to go to the Air Force Academy. Shouldn't he focus on high school?
It is not a thing for college. Since (at least in the DMV) HS meets are not USAswimming sanctioned most colleges are not going to look at it. Regional and State championship only. And there is no need to swim HS if your times are there. Some swimmers do, because it is fun and they can be "stars" on their HS teams. In the DMV, HS is one step up from summer league.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:HS kid goes to both practices during the HS swim season since he likes both teams. He isn't looking to swim in college and isn't uber competitive, just enjoys it.
HS practice 4:00p-5p
Gets back to school 5:30ish
Home for 90m or so
Club practice 8p-9p
This is 2x/week - the 2 other days he does HS dryland + club swim
HS meets are Friday evenings. Club meets are Saturdays and/or Sundays.
I’m confused by a 1 hr club practice. I’ve never seen that before except for very young kids. Which club is that?