Tools To Find A Great Pool Contractor: The Ever Changing World of College Recruiting For Swimmers

Courtesy of Lori Payne, Recruiting Coordinator for American College Connection (ACC). ACC Recruiting is a SwimSwam partner.

Up until a few years ago, college coaches recruited high school seniors and a few juniors. All of that has changed.

College swimming recruiting seems to change every year. We do know that the upper level college coaches start putting a list of recruits together in the 9th grade.

There are 3 main reasons why the recruiting process is getting earlier and much harder to understand. We have surveyed the college coaches over the past 3 years and here is what we have found.

Nearly 3 years ago the NCAA changed their contact period for recruits to June 15 after the sophomore year.

Covid has caused schools and coaches to limit their roster size even for women at some schools. Coaches tell us they are taking less Walk-Ons and are offering scholarships much earlier than ever before.

Last year the NCAA gave every college athlete an extra year of eligibility. This is referred to as the Super Senior. Great idea, but who is going to pay for it? Now the coaches have to decide is they are going to give their current swimmers an extra year of scholarship or go out and find a recruit.

More and more of the upper level teams are finished with their recruiting up to 2 years in advance.

The Ivy League schools are being forced to get commitments from high school juniors. This past year 5 of our juniors gave verbal commitments to Ivy League schools. We have never seen this happen before. We have spoken to some of the Ivy League coaches and they all tell us that if they don’t go after the fast kids early they are gone by their senior year.

It is imperative for any recruit wanting an Ivy, to know what times, and when they need to hit those times, and if the coach will be able to offer an admission slot- and even then, it is not a guarantee, ( but is a good guarantee ).

It is a necessity that kids and parents start the recruiting process as a freshman if they want to swim D-I. They need to get their information out to the coaches in the 9th grade and really paint a picture of their potential to the coaches.

We know the successful coaches start putting their recruiting list together with 9th graders. Race video will be important to send for the girls and the young boys depending on how much more growing they will do.

To get an idea if a coach would be interested in you go to their conference results and look up the 16th place time in prelims in your top 3 events. Coaches are looking for conference scorers. Then check their rosters to see how many returning swimmers are in your events. Then find out who they recruited in your events.

Freshman

Get information to college coaches.

What to send:

Year of graduation
GPA
A few best times
Goals for the next shave/taper meet
Have your coach or someone be able to sell the college coaches on your potential to develop
Race video is not necessary at this point

Sophomores

Get information to college coaches including race video. D-I and D-II coaches are not allowed to communicate with recruits until June 15 after grade 10. D-III, NAIA and Junior College coaches can start contacting recruits as early as the 9th grade.

Year of graduation
GPA
Area of academic interest if known
Height and weight
A few best times
Goals for the next shave/taper meet
Sell your own potential. You must get the coaches to have an idea of how fast you will be as a senior in high school and a freshman in college
Have your coach or someone be able to sell the college coaches on your potential to develop
Race video is a must as June 15 gets closer. Ask your coach or someone to analyze your video for the college coaches and point out all of the things that you do well
Keep the coaches updated on your progress
You must get yourself as high on the coaches’ recruiting lists as possible before June 15

Juniors

Get information to college coaches including race video.

Year of graduation
GPA, test scores, honors and AP classes
Area of academic interest if known
Height and weight
Wingspan if at least 2” longer than height
Shoe size
A few best times
Goals for the next shave/taper meet
Sell your own potential. You must get the coaches to have an idea of how fast you will be as a senior in high school and a freshman in college
Have your coach or someone be able to sell the college coaches on your potential to develop
Race video is a must. Ask your coach or someone to analyze your video for the college coaches and point out all of the things that you do well
Keep the coaches updated on your progress
Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center

Seniors

We hear from a lot of coaches who won’t offer official visits to seniors anymore, as their roster spots and money are gone.

Don’t give up. Recruiting changes almost daily. The official signing period begins the second Wednesday in November. Many teams will continue to recruit throughout the year.

Year of graduation
GPA
Area of academic interest if known
Height and weight
Wingspan if at least 2” longer than height
Shoe size
A few best times that will score at conference. Relay splits count
Goals for the next shave/taper meet
Sell your own potential. You must get the coaches to have an idea of how fast you will be this year and a freshman in college
Have your coach or someone be able to sell the college coaches on your potential to develop
Race video is a must. Ask your coach or someone to analyze your video for the college coaches and point out all of the things that you do well
Continue to contact coaches until you get a response. It may take quite a few attempts to get a reply, but don’t give up.