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The College Recruiting Process

NCAA Division 1 Times Database

NCAA Division 1 School Swimming Website Links

College swimming can be a tremendous blessing to your life!  It can pay  your way through college.  It will allow you to continue to do what you’ve enjoyed doing all these years.  It’s a lot like summer league when you were young…dual meets, relays, and being with a group of kids that you love. 

I had the opportunity to swim in college.  It was one of the neatest experiences of my life.  A lot of the reason why I enjoyed it so much was because it was the right fit for me.  I have put together this link to assist Palmetto Aquatics swimmers in going through the college swimming process and finding a school that fits their academic and swimming needs.  Please research this stuff yourself and enjoy the journey. 

Regardless of your talent, past commitment level or whatever I encourage all swimmers to look into swimming while in college.  Leave your options open.  Here’s what you need to do start looking for a place to swim at in college: 

·        Make a “master list” of possible schools that you would want to go to (it can be a lit of 100 schools if necessary)

·        Fill out the college swimming recruitment application that Coach Heath put outs out.  Print it out, fill it out and give to Coach Heath.  When college coaches talk to Coach Heath he will have you application and can give the coach your most recent & updated academic records. 

·        Visit each one of those college websites that is on your list.  Fill out the evaluation form online.  Let the school know your are interested.  Be honest with times and school records.

·        Go to www.firstcontactrecruiting.com and read through their website.  They provide a free service to help swimmers get info out to schools and make good matches.  Parents need to look on the parent link for first contact recruiting and study it out. 

·        Go to www.berecruited.com and read through their website. They provide a free service to help swimmers get info out to schools and make good matches. As with any website, parents need to look carefully at the Be Recruited website and study it prior to deciding to register. 

·        Then go to www.ncaaclearinghouse.com and study that website extensively.  It outlines exactly what students have to do to meet academic standards that would allow them to be eligible to compete on the college level.  It describes in great detail what your SAT/ACT scores need to be, where your gpa needs to be and what core courses need to be passed in order to move forward.  Parents and swimmers study this website. 

·        Every time you go to a swim meet and better your times I would encourage you to email or mail off your times to the schools who you are on your master list.   Do the same time when report cards come out with gpa and whenever your SAT or ACT score improves.  You be the aggressor.  You consistently keep knocking on those college doors.  Let me know you want to be apart of their team. 

·        Through time as you see what kind of swimmer you are and what you want to major in and as you get a better vision of where you’d like to go to school certain colleges will eliminate themselves from your “master list” and you will eliminate other universities from that same list.  You start to narrow it down more and more. 

·        The key is to bust your fanny in the water every single day.  Make yourself the better swimmer.  Do your school work.  Make good grades.  Doing swimming 100% and doing school 100% can both be done.  If you can handle it in high school then you can handle it in college.  People do it all the time.  You can do it.  We just need to find the right college and swimming program to fit your needs.