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What's it take to get a swimming scholarship?

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The following is a repost from the October 2023 SwimCloud Newsletter.  SwimCloud is a useful tool for our Senior Prep/ Senior age group swimmers.  If you have completed your USA Swimming registration your swimmer's times at major meets are automatically uploaded for you.  You can track your swimmer's progress in all their events.  You must create an account to use the tools, but it is free to use.  Sign up at https://www.swimcloud.com How Many Scholarships Are There? No topic generates more interest (or angst) as that of athletic scholarships. Families will spend countless weekends at meets and thousands of dollars on “consultants” with the hope that it will help their child pay for school via an athletic scholarship, so before going any further, let’s start by resetting some expectations.  There are roughly 300 men’s and 600 women’s swimming scholarships available in a given year.  The majority of college swimmers do not receive a scholarship offer and of those who do, most do
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What to Know about High School Swimming

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The end of November is here and that means high school swim season is fast approaching. High school competitive swimming can be wonderful.  It is a chance for your athlete to shine among their peers and to enjoy the thrill of competing for one’s school.  However, the high school swim season can also bring major stresses to the families of club swimmers.   Every swimmer’s situation will be unique and family situation different, so it is good that you have an open and honest conversation with your athlete about what will be coming down the pike.   Encourage your athlete to keep lines of communication open with Coach Pat and the other Senior age group coaches. The heart of the high school season corresponds to the prime training period for championship season so there will be some tradeoffs.   It is important that you read carefully through Coach Pat’s document on managing swimming in high school while at our club.   As we have worked through these issues with our athletes in our own fa
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10 Facts about Swim Meets

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We had a wonderful first meet of the season, I hope that your family had a great experience.  If this was your first meet and it seemed overwhelming, don’t worry, learning the ropes about swim meets takes time.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, fellow swim parents, Coach Pat, your swimmer’s age group or dual meet team coach.  Hopefully this list of swim meet facts will help you navigate your swimmer’s next meet.  1.   Every Meet is Similar For every meet you need to get your swimmer inside the facility 15 minutes before first warm up to check in with the coach, so plan for finding parking, traffic issues and some time to find where our team is camped out at the meet.    Your swimmer also needs to be prepared; at our house we taught our kids to have towels, extra goggles, water, spending money, and proper clothing packed the night before.   It is also expected that you declare your swimmer for each meet and complete the job sign up as soon as possible.    Remember that even
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