How does the college swim recruitment process work?

I'm a high school swimmer interested in continuing in college. What does the recruitment process look like? How do I get noticed, and what should I be doing right now to prepare?

Starting the recruitment process for college swimming requires careful preparation and proactive steps:

1. Evaluate Your Capabilities: The first step is to evaluate your times and compare them to the times of swimmers on the college teams you're interested in. You can typically find these times on the college's swim team roster or through athletic recruitment databases. This will help you gauge which schools and divisions you might potentially fit in terms of athletic skill.

2. Start Early: You can start reaching out to coaches as early as your freshman year of high school to express interest. By your junior year, you should be reaching out more frequently as this is generally when college recruiting becomes more serious.

3. Make a Recruitment Video: Consider making a swimming recruitment video. This should show footage of your best races and times, and ideally, display your technique in different strokes. You can also include some training sessions showing your workout routine.

4. Reach Out to Coaches: Proactively reach out to college coaches with personalized emails indicating your interest in their program. Your email should include your academic qualifications (GPA, test scores), swim times, major swim meets you have or will be attending, and links to your recruitment video if you have one.

5. Attend Swim Camps: Consider attending swim camps at colleges you're interested in. This can give the coaches a chance to see you swim in person.

6. Official and Unofficial Visits: Unofficial visits can take place at any time and are initiated and funded by the student. Official visits are typically taken during the first few months of your senior year and only five visits to Division I and II schools are allowed per athlete. During an official visit, the college can pay for transportation to and from the college, room, meals, and reasonable entertainment expenses.

Remember that academic eligibility is as equally important as your athletic ability. You will need to meet the academic standards set by the NCAA, the university, and often the specific college within the university. Keep your grades up and make sure you are on track with all NCAA core courses.

Finally, familiarize yourself with the NCAA and NAIA regulations and timelines for recruitment. The rules around contact between coaches and athletes are stringent and they vary depending on the time of year and your year in school.

For instance, since the update in May 2019, NCAA Division I college coaches can start contacting athletes starting June 15 after sophomore year or September 1 of their junior year of high school, depending on the sport and division level.

Remember, the process can be overwhelming so don't hesitate to reach out to your high school coach or counselor for help in navigating the process. Good luck!