It is not enough to be strong academically for admission to most elite colleges; many require you to have a special gift or talent, like swimming.      

             For the athlete who wants to swim competitively in college, junior year holds a special significance.  It’s the time to shine.  It’s the time to ramp up your training and perform best times at meets. 

             By junior year, many swimmers are on the senior division of their team, practicing twice per day and participating in dryland training.  For many Juniors swimming at this level, a typical day includes training from 5 to 7 a.m., leaving practice to go straight to school, spending seven hours in the classroom, and then going back to practice for another three hours.  At home, we then have three to four hours of homework on an easy night.  Remember, junior year is also the time to prove one’s self academically. 

             After months of heavy yardage, resistance training and lifting weights, you taper for your championship meets.  It’s really important to get the taper right—different body types need varied lengths of tapering.  It’s also critical during taper to be mentally relaxed and get adequate amounts of sleep.  Unfortunately, that is a luxury that junior year does not afford many high achieving student athletes.

             The stress level can be tremendous.  Some athletes are able to pull off a successful year.  Others are hopeful that college coaches will make allowances,

 knowing the relentless pressure experienced during junior year.  It may help to have proven one’s self athletically during the sophomore season. 

             For the college bound athlete, being recruited is an honor.  You have put everything into your sport and now college coaches are inviting you to be a part of their team.  However, the recruiting process can be time consuming.  It formally begins in your junior year when you send out packets to coaches, usually after your championship meets, to inform them of your interest in swimming for them.   In these packets, you provide information about your swimming accomplishments and your educational background.

             While coaches are not allowed to call you before July 1 after junior year is finished, those who are interested in you will respond via email or snail mail.  You could have ongoing communications this way in which the coaches inform you of their program and inquire about your interests.  You might even be invited to junior day at some of the colleges.  Depending on how many coaches you are communicating with, this could eat up a chunk of time.

             The ultimate situation is for you to favor a college where the coach is genuinely interested in you and that’s a good fit academically and financially.  But be prepared, it’s a dynamic process that doesn’t end until you get that acceptance from admissions in your senior year.  You have to keep your options open.  Until then, the stress is on and it’s real! 

~by Arlene Douglas