Waking up for 5am practise sessions on weekends, going doubles during winter break, smelling faintly of chlorine while entering your chemistry lab class, missing Friday night parties with your friends? Despite all the sacrifices and challenges, there are approximately 25000 swimmer student-athletes (as they are called) enrolled at various colleges across the USA.
While many universities across the world offer inter-collegiate sports programs, the USA has set the benchmark for college sports with attention to competition detailing, infrastructure, training, coaching, and academic balance for college students. Domestic and international students prefer the USA as a destination for college sports over other countries because of the high standards of education and the overall holistic experience colleges have on offer.
It is pertinent to note that the success rate of students participating in college sports plays a key factor for young swimmers from across the world to choose and attend a college in the USA. A glimpse of the results provides ample proof. The fastest swimmer in the world – Caesar Cielo of Brazil is a graduate from Auburn University. Caleb Dressel, a five time Olympic Gold medallist at the recent Tokyo Olympics is a graduate from University of Florida. Out of the 53-member squad of USA Swimming team during the Tokyo Olympics, 46 were either college graduates or were current student-athletes at their respective colleges. Immediately after winning a silver medal for her country, USA, at the Tokyo Olympics, swimmer Erica Sullivan enrolled as a freshman at the University of Texas, Austin. The list is endless, with many inspiring examples.
College swimming has proven to be a solid platform for athletes who intend to make a professional career as a swimmer. Not only does college swimming offer the pride of representing your college, but it also helps fund tournament travel costs, gears, training cost, and most importantly – a well-funded college swimming program provides lucrative scholarships to make college education very affordable. The collateral advantage of all these factors ensures success in the sport.
College swimming in the USA provides prospective international students with many options. There are presently over 500 college swimming programs in the USA, all of which offer an Olympic sized pool and world class training facilities for their student-athletes.
Student-athletes who seek a swimming scholarship in USA will encounter tough and competitive training schedules in the sport. The gruelling schedule includes early morning starts in the pool, followed by classes, evening training sessions, team meetings, and weekly competitions. The structured approach has led America’s best swimming programs to play a major role in developing some of the best swimmers in the world and win medals at the world swimming championships and the Olympics.
American college/university teams compete both regionally and nationally. However, the competition for travel opportunities with the squad starts at practice. Qualifying for the travel team requires swimmers to compete against teammates on a daily basis. This ensures that every session is vital to each athlete; it provides them with in-house competition to sharpen their competitive edge.
A college swimmer always has the flexibility to choose and decide the level of commitment they are willing to make towards the sport. NCAA Division I, II and III colleges offer varied levels of competition. Additionally, colleges affiliated to the NAIA or NJCAA can provide many more options. The intensity and competitive level can vary from college to college and their athletic program. There are certainly no right or wrong choices in deciding which college is the right fit.
