Fran Crippen
1984-2010

College Swimming

There is a college swim team for EVERY level of swimmer.

·        Do not rule your athlete out of swimming in college because they may be the weakest swimmer in their group.

·        I swam in a program that had swimmers going 1:10 100 free.

Swimming is a tool to help you get into a school, or advance you into a school that would normally be above your academic standard.

·        The coach can help you get into the school in many places, even if the school is not a scholarship school.

Things you should do:

·        Brainstorm on what you want out of a college swimming program

o       Strength of the program, level of university (D I, II, or III), men’s and women’s teams and their interaction, your place within the program (do you want to be a major contributor in your freshman year?), size of school, the majors the schools offer, and many other questions specific to you.

·        Create a list of schools that you are interested in attending (can be as long as 15-20)

o       To see if the college may be interested in your talents look at the previous years conference championships.

o       If you would place in the top 16 in your respective events, that program would more than likely have an interest in what you can bring to their team.

·        Create a swimming resume

o       Make a spread sheet with your best times by event starting with Freshman year to your Junior year, including SCY and LCM times.

o       Describe yourself in short a paragraph, talking about your swimming right now, your favorite events, what you hope to get out of swimming in college, your work habits, your height, and anything you may want to share. 

o       You could even include a photo to make it more personable.

·        Go onto the team site for the schools that you are interested in attending and fill out their recruiting questioner.  This is very important as this is the way that programs generate their initial list of recruiting candidates.

·        If you have time and you want to visit a school, call or email the coach and set up a time to meet with him/her during your time on campus. 

·        Remember that you may call them, but they can not call you until July after your Junior year.  Even then they are restricted to a certain number of phone calls they make to you.

·        Official and unofficial visits

o       Unofficial visit- This is when you set up a campus tour on your own and visit the school.  You should contact the coach prior to your visit and see if he/she can meet with you during your visit.  There is no limit to the number of unofficial visits you can take.

o       Official visits- This is where the coach invites you to visit the school over the course of two days.  You meet the team, spend the night with a team member, possibly watch a practice, and many times attend some form of school activity.  You are allowed 5 of these and the school is only allowed a certain amount per year.

·        If you plan on visiting or attending a D I or II school you must fill out the NCAA Clearinghouse.  You can find this at:

https://web1.ncaa.org/eligibilitycenter/student/index_student.html

·        College recruiting sites or companies

o       Do not pay for these.  They are not necessary and cost a great deal of money.

·        Email me so we can set up a college meeting in the spring of your Junior year, which should include at least one parent and the swimmer.  cbswimteam@gmail.com

Once I have met with you I will make phone calls to your top choices and talk to the coaches about you.