They are eligible for a variety of nominations, just as you are.
Committing to a service academy for a sport is not the same as having a nomination and an appointment in hand. There are several threads across the forums about recruited athletes and their noms. They MAY have a shot at getting one of the Superintendent's discretionary nominations, for which there is no application. But then, you might too, if there is something special about you in some other way, and you have not earned/are eligible for any other noms. They are relatively rare.
Good advice often seen here is focus on what you can control: putting together a complete, well-thought-out SA application and nom applications, applying for every nom for which you are eligible, acing interviews, powering through CFA, re-taking tests if need be, finishing senior year strong (having fun AND no conduct issues), and determining what your Plan B is.
You can do absolutely nothing about what the competition is or does - except minimize the worry you invest in it. This is a valuable life skill.