Seeking advice on my son's school choices - Olympic Swim Trial Qualifier

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hog4oc

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Hi Everyone,

I found this forum full of resource and great information. My son is going to be senior after summer. He is recruited by lots of schools - ivy, service academics and lots of good swimming program schools. He is lucky to have swimming talent which he made Olympic Trial wave 2 at age of 16 years. My questions to this forum members are as follow.

Which school has the best potential for his swimming training. I know Naval has the best swimming program but they have lots of sea ship commitments that you can't train in middle of seal on air caries...:). I understand all academics are military first, academic second and sports the last. We like the idea to learn the skills and serve our country if being called. Do you think Army and AF will provide better time management for his swimming training. It is unfortunate that you can't afford to lose a day's training in pool and swimmers are always tired (they do 12K a day in laps)

We don't worry about his character and academics. He will do fine in swimming there too, but if he has the potential to compete in Olympic to represent our country, do you think service academics would be good choice for him? Cal swimming team really like my son and it is a good fit for his swimming training. The 2024 Paris Olympic is coming up quickly, I know CAL and schools will allow him to pause for 1 year if he wants to focus on his training. To compete in Olympics is another level of commitment.

We really feel service academics are good fit for our son, which he can train on his leadership, good mates in school and the idea that serve our country after graduation. Plus Army and AF has WCAP program...:)
 
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If your main concern is swimming training then an Academy is not for you, or I mean your DS. That is my opinion. If your DS is interested in an Academy I would have him reach out to Academy swim coaches and make sure he knows everything involved with receiving and accepting an appointment.
 
The Academies are going to train your son as an officer first, and an athlete second. A public school is going to put all their effort into making your son the best athlete they can be. CGASDAD is right. If your son's #1 goal is to be an Olympian, the Service Academies are not the right choice. They'll make him a fantastic leader, but will sacrifice whatever they need to from an athletic perspective to make that happen.

Your son could always apply for the military after their swimming career. I imagine paying for college won't be a problem if your son is as good as you say. Any recruiter is going to be absolutely over the moon to have a college-educated Olympian applying to be an officer one day. Look up the story of Larsen Jensen. He's a two-time Olympic medalist and American 400 freestyle record holder who gave up a swimming career to become a SEAL officer.
 
"Which school has the best potential for his swimming training. I know Naval has the best swimming program but they have lots of sea ship commitments that you can't train in middle of seal on air caries...:)."

"Ask not what your country can do for you,
but what you can do for your country."
-John Kennedy, U.S. Navy war hero
 
I agree, if his primary desire is to swim and let's be honest, go to the Olympics, then he is better off going to a civilian school. Outside of academics, swimming will be his primary activity which is what needs to be done if he wants to accomplish his swimming career. There is always OTS afterwards
 
I know Naval has the best swimming program but they have lots of sea ship commitments that you can't train in middle of seal on air caries...:).
Click to expand...
Training should be pretty available during the 4 years at USNA. Summer training can interrupt for a few weeks but Mids are not sent out
to ships for months at a time as they are at USMMA.

For the record, USNA qualified 24 current mids and 1 recent grad for a total of 25 from USNA.

Wave 1 2021 U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials Qualifiers (June 4-7, Omaha, Neb.)
Name - Event (Qualifying Time / Event Standard) – Women
Lauren Barber - 100 Breaststroke (1:09.61 / 1:10.99) – Qualified, will not compete
Sarah Sorensen – 50 Freestyle (25.97 / 25.99) – June 7
Martina Thomas - 200 Freestyle (2:01.24 / 2:01.69) – June 5
Name - Event (Qualifying Time / Event Standard) – Men
Callen Aulizia - 50 Freestyle (23.11 / 23.19) – June 7
Billy Cadigan - 200 Backstroke (2:01.15 / 2:02.99) – June 6
Dan Cashell - 100 Breaststroke (1:02.60 / 1:03.29) – June 5
Jack Dunworth - 400 Freestyle (3:55.14 / 3:57.29) – June 6
Jake Evert - 50 Freestyle (22.97 / 23.19) – June 7
Jonah Harm - 100 Butterfly (54.13 / 54.19) – June 6
Luke Johnson - 800 Freestyle (8:09.91 / 8:12.99) – June 4; 1500 Freestyle (15:40.29 / 15:44.89) – June 7
Patrick Lacore - 100 Breaststroke (1:03.24 / 1:03.29) – June 5
James Lee - 200 Breaststroke (2:17.39 / 2:17.89) – June 7
Caleb Mauldin - 100 Backstroke (56.54 / 56.59) – June 4
Garrett McGovern – 800 Freestyle (8:10.90 / 8:12.99) – June 4; 1500 Freestyle (15:37.73 / 15:44.89) – June 7
Matt Murphy - 200 Breaststroke (2:15.34 / 2:17.89) – June 7
Derek Nguyen - 100 Breaststroke (1:03.23 / 1:03.29) – June 5
Ethan Schneider - 200 Butterfly (2:00.95 / 2:01.19) – June 4
Jackson Schultz - 100 Breaststroke (1:02.91 / 1:03.29) – June 5; 200 Breaststroke (2:16.62 / 2:17.89) – June 7; 200 Individual Medley (2:03.32 / 2:04.09) – June 7
Dominick Wallace - 200 Backstroke (2:02.75 / 2:02.99) – June 6
Ryan Waters - 200 Freestyle (1:50.53 / 1:50.79) – June 5
Eli Williams - 50 Freestyle (23.04 / 23.19) – June 7

2021 U.S. Olympic Diving Team Trials Qualifiers (June 6-13, Indianapolis, Ind.)
Name - Event (Qualifying Score / Event Standard) – Men
Bradley Buchter – 3-Meter Diving (396.15 / 380.00) – Qualified, will not compete

Wave 2 2021 U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials Qualifiers (June 13-20, Omaha, Neb.)
Name - Event (Qualifying Time / Event Standard) – Women
Sydney Harrington - 100 Butterfly (58.94 / 59.59) – June 13; 50 Freestyle (25.91 / 25.99) – June 19
Name - Event (Qualifying Time / Event Standard) – Men
Chris Bondarowicz - 100 Breaststroke (1:02.64 / 1:03.29) – June 13; 200 Breaststroke (2:14.37 / 2:15.28) – June 16
Ethan Tack - 200 Individual Medley (2:02.79 / 2:03.02) – June 17
 
Only Wave 2 are potential contenders (plus Wave 1 top 2 finishers). And OP is a Wave 2 at age 16.

I agree with @Humey - OCS might be the more ideal option. If he was Wave 2 and recruited by at least Cal, then he has the potential for 2024 after 3 more years at the best program, training mates, and coaching. You need to move from top #41 to #1 or #2 in the next 3 years. It is not just Summer of 2024 but also gunning for the national team - are you part of the junior national team? And the major world events and training camps that go along with national team status.

For any program, look deeper than just the success stories. You can easily find the stats and do your own research - how many incoming quit, how many make significant improvements - as defined by NCAA performance, national competition placement, and LCM performance.
 
If you son's ultimate goal is to be an Olympian, then I would say a Service Academy is not the best place to let that flourish. The schedule is grueling, even more grueling for an athlete. There isn't going to be an executive chef curating a 5k+ calorie meal plan and prepared for him like he would at a top 10 swimming school that has an athlete cafeteria. Sure, he can work with trainers and King Hall to develop the best meal plan possible, but its still King Hall. He is going to take 16-22 credits a semester, stand duty, chop like other Plebes, do summer training. Summer training might be 4 weeks underway or it might be zero days. He might have access to a pool while doing summer training, he might not. Coaches work with each athlete to develop summer training programs for pool and non-pool time. The bottom line are the time constraints are much greater at a SA for everything than at a top swimming school. While at Cal, he would probably take 12 credits, have much more time for training, sleep, recovery, etc. Yes, many SAs send swimmers to the trials. Not sure the last time one made it beyond the trials. With all that being said, USNA is the best SA for swimming. Bottom line, what are his goals? Is it to be an Olympian or attend a SA and become an officer? He can always go to OCS later on if his desire to be officer is still there after college and swimming are behind him.
 
Thanks for the detail thoughts and point of views. We benefit a lot from the discussion. We will think through this before making final decision. We are invited by academics and Cal for official visits this fall.

Personally I think career and leadership skills are more important than Olympics.
 
In most programs, being a D1 swimmer on scholarship at a regular college, swimming is your "job" - you are a swimmer first, then a student.
All 4 of my children swam competitively - 2 at D3 schools, one at D1 (but non scholarship, though he placed top 8 at his conferences each year in an event- and he is now an AF Doc; did HPSP after graduating college), the other is my USAFA grad. And though he was a Jr National swimmer he was not recruited by USAFA, though walked on, only to be cut later. That was tough on him, but he turned around and filled those hours of practice by grabbing hold of the different leadership & travel opportunities USAFA offered, including a semester exchange at USMA. That would not have been possible if he had been swimming.
All of my children had friends who went to D1 schools on scholarships, though only about 20 were OT qualifiers. A majority of those friends wound up not swimming all 4 years, either due to injury, grades or burnout, and a number of them didn't even graduate college. 3 of them became Olympians, but I honestly don't know if they graduated

While you feel a career and leadership skills are more important than the Olympics, how does your son feel? Where is his passion? What does he want to do with his future?
Being wave 2 OT swimmer as a rising HS senior indicates he is more elite than almost all SA swimmers - but was he barely wave 2? Did he final? HCopter is pretty accurate with her comments.
 
hog4oc said:
Hi Everyone,

I found this forum full of resource and great information. My son is going to be senior after summer. He is recruited by lots of schools - ivy, service academics and lots of good swimming program schools. He is lucky to have swimming talent which he made Olympic Trial wave 2 at age of 16 years. My questions to this forum members are as follow.

Which school has the best potential for his swimming training. I know Naval has the best swimming program but they have lots of sea ship commitments that you can't train in middle of seal on air caries...:). I understand all academics are military first, academic second and sports the last. We like the idea to learn the skills and serve our country if being called. Do you think Army and AF will provide better time management for his swimming training. It is unfortunate that you can't afford to lose a day's training in pool and swimmers are always tired (they do 12K a day in laps)

We don't worry about his character and academics. He will do fine in swimming there too, but if he has the potential to compete in Olympic to represent our country, do you think service academics would be good choice for him? Cal swimming team really like my son and it is a good fit for his swimming training. The 2024 Paris Olympic is coming up quickly, I know CAL and schools will allow him to pause for 1 year if he wants to focus on his training. To compete in Olympics is another level of commitment.

We really feel service academics are good fit for our son, which he can train on his leadership, good mates in school and the idea that serve our country after graduation. Plus Army and AF has WCAP program...:)
Click to expand...
If I were your son, I would go to Stanford and become an Olympic medalist. WP's priority is not Olympics but Military.
 
hog4oc said:
Personally I think career and leadership skills are more important than Olympics.
Click to expand...

I agree. SA's aren't the places to go if your primary interest is in being a pro athlete or making the Olympics. If he steps back and looks at the bigger picture, what does he want to do AFTER college (regardless of SA or civilian) even if he would qualify for the Olympics? Not many career paths associated with being a pro swimmer.
 
hog4oc said:
Hi Everyone,

I found this forum full of resource and great information. My son is going to be senior after summer. He is recruited by lots of schools - ivy, service academics and lots of good swimming program schools. He is lucky to have swimming talent which he made Olympic Trial wave 2 at age of 16 years. My questions to this forum members are as follow.

Which school has the best potential for his swimming training. I know Naval has the best swimming program but they have lots of sea ship commitments that you can't train in middle of seal on air caries...:). I understand all academics are military first, academic second and sports the last. We like the idea to learn the skills and serve our country if being called. Do you think Army and AF will provide better time management for his swimming training. It is unfortunate that you can't afford to lose a day's training in pool and swimmers are always tired (they do 12K a day in laps)

We don't worry about his character and academics. He will do fine in swimming there too, but if he has the potential to compete in Olympic to represent our country, do you think service academics would be good choice for him? Cal swimming team really like my son and it is a good fit for his swimming training. The 2024 Paris Olympic is coming up quickly, I know CAL and schools will allow him to pause for 1 year if he wants to focus on his training. To compete in Olympics is another level of commitment.

We really feel service academics are good fit for our son, which he can train on his leadership, good mates in school and the idea that serve our country after graduation. Plus Army and AF has WCAP program...:)
Click to expand...
I can only think we are talking Class Of 2027…right?
DS received the USNA Foundation Scholarship (Class of 2026). The foundation school that he is attending has five swimmers. Hope this helps.
 
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