Varsity Sports -Recruiting question

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WestCoastRefugee

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So DS did not get a nomination this year, and although he is still in the application process, he most likely will be a re-applicant next cycle. He is definitely a late bloomer in his sport, and his times have gone from above average to top 5-6% in the US this year. He does not quite have the times for his sport at Annapolis, but he is getting really close, and almost certainly will be there next year. My question is, should he reach out to the coach at Navy just to be on the radar, or does he maybe need to wait? Sorry, I don't have any collegiate athletic experience, so I am really on foreign ground here.
 
WestCoastRefugee said:
So DS did not get a nomination this year, and although he is still in the application process, he most likely will be a re-applicant next cycle. He is definitely a late bloomer in his sport, and his times have gone from above average to top 5-6% in the US this year. He does not quite have the times for his sport at Annapolis, but he is getting really close, and almost certainly will be there next year. My question is, should he reach out to the coach at Navy just to be on the radar, or does he maybe need to wait? Sorry, I don't have any collegiate athletic experience, so I am really on foreign ground here.
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it really depends on the sport. Which sport?
 
Navy Swimming (Men and Women) is a D1 program that competes at a very high level. Have you compared his times with the times of swimmers currently swimming for Navy? Swimcloud (formerly college swimming) is a great place to start. I'd definitely get on the coach's radar, but don't be surprised if you don't get much attention on the premise of getting faster over the next year.
 
momofusna1 said:
Navy Swimming (Men and Women) is a D1 program that competes at a very high level. Have you compared his times with the times of swimmers currently swimming for Navy? Swimcloud (formerly college swimming) is a great place to start. I'd definitely get on the coach's radar, but don't be surprised if you don't get much attention on the premise of getting faster over the next year.
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He would be 9th out of 12 and 10th out of 13 in his 2 best events based upon Navy's season times on Swim Cloud. Obviously, some of those times are members of the team swimming off events, but he would already be somewhat in the mix.
 
I know T&F/X-Country have posted times for walk-on, recruited, etc. for their team. I would think that the swim team probably has similar qualifying times posted? If your kid is consistently hitting times in the ballpark of the team, it is certainly worth staying in contact.

But ..... if someone is that good that the Academy wants to look at them more, they probably would have already been in contact the other way round.

There is absolutely no harm in going for it, though!
 
I think it makes sense. Your son will repeat the application (and nomination) process again. The only 'piece' that will carryover is the DoDMERB medical evaluation -- a student simply adds an update of their status. Some 25 - 30% of all cadets and midshipmen do not come directly out of high school as many attended a prep school, or a year or two of college, prior to becoming cadets/mids. I recommend to my students to attend a college and join the on-campus ROTC unit, if available. I assume your son will continue to find ways to train and compete in swimming. Good luck!
 
Here are the results from the 2024 Patriot League and ECAC Championships:

Patriot: 2024 Patriot League Swimming & Diving Championships

ECAC: 2024 ECAC Swimming & Diving Championships

The top half of the team swims at Patriot, while the bottom half swims at ECAC. If your DS has times that would have placed in the top 16 in multiple events at either meet, then the prospect of him being competitive for a spot on the team would be pretty good. If not, then probably not. When DD1 reached out to the NWSD coach as a rising senior, she already had times that would have won points in multiple events at either Patriot or ECAC. Even so, he didn’t respond until her application was complete and submitted and he knew that she didn’t need his help to receive an offer of appointment. She was fast enough as a junior in high school to be a competitive NWSD swimmer, but she was not fast enough to spend a chip on. Once he knew that she was getting in on her own, he offered her a recruiting trip and spot on the team. She received her offer of appointment about a week after the trip.

So, your DS "may" be able to secure a spot on the team, but given what you have said, it likely will not have any material impact on his appointment chances. But even though reaching out to the coach may not help, it won't hurt.
 
IronmanDaremo said:
I know T&F/X-Country have posted times for walk-on, recruited, etc. for their team. I would think that the swim team probably has similar qualifying times posted? If your kid is consistently hitting times in the ballpark of the team, it is certainly worth staying in contact.

But ..... if someone is that good that the Academy wants to look at them more, they probably would have already been in contact the other way round.

There is absolutely no harm in going for it, though!
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DS already has appointment. I suggested he reach out to swim coach after season. Being that he already is in, is it easier to walk on?
 
During PS, each mid has the opportunity to try out for various sports during their sport/activity rotation. I personally wanted to try crew as I knew my running times weren't quite up to XC/TF quals, so I did that during my activity trial time. My kid joined the marathon club as even though he was near D1 qualifying times running in his JR. year, COVID and remote school took out his entire Sr. year for sports, and then he didn't keep it up when he did his Freshman college "gap" year before getting into the Academy.
 
Lots of older threads about sports/recruiting/etc. Coaches have done this for a long time and know how to find the top athletes in the country regardless of the sport. Being recruited is no guarantee of an appointment and many athletes find they don't have enough time in the day for all of the other things USNA throws at them and obviously keeping grades up is a priority. Even if recruited, they might decide to drop that sport in favor of everything else. Many top h.s. athletes end up being benchwarmers and find the time investment not worth it. I suspect coaches look at results and not forecasts of how much someone might improve, particularly in any sport measured by time.

MOC isn't the only way to get a NOM, so hopefully he applied to all NOM's for which he is eligible as all of the SA's recommend.
 
DTT!FSA! said:
Times are all that count. If the times are competitive, then a walk on is possible.
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In fact, if you are a recruit, and ultimately your times aren’t where they should be (close doesn’t count lol), you can get cut.
 
IronmanDaremo said:
During PS, each mid has the opportunity to try out for various sports during their sport/activity rotation. I personally wanted to try crew as I knew my running times weren't quite up to XC/TF quals, so I did that during my activity trial time. My kid joined the marathon club as even though he was near D1 qualifying times running in his JR. year, COVID and remote school took out his entire Sr. year for sports, and then he didn't keep it up when he did his Freshman college "gap" year before getting into the Academy.
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How does your son like the Marathon Club? I am thinking about joining if I do attend the academy.
 
He doesn't work out with them all the time. But last year he did go and do the Salisbury 1/2 marathon with the team. He hadn't run that far since his summer workouts between his Jr. and Sr. year, and never raced that far. So, he finished, but his time was slower than what he used to run for his training 13 - 14 milers.

There are a lot of really strong runners on the team. Many were like him and were the high school stars on their T&F/XC teams, just not quite at the D1 level, or had been on the teams and stopped because of time commitments. If you aren't "on" the team, you still have to do other intramural/sport activities and can't just run with them all the time.

They do a lot of local races as well. Back in my heyday, I remember doing the B&A trail marathon/half marathon in Severna Park (about 10 miles north of Annapolis) and the front of the 1/2 field was dominated by the team. Guys running in the 1:1X timeframe. I thought my 1:24 time wasn't bad (6:35/mile pace) but there were still 10 - 15 of them ahead of me. But I was in my mid-30's and they were 19 - 22 year olds. ;) They were quick!
 
Yeah I would say I was pretty decent my sophomore/junior year. I ran 16:00 for 5k, and 4:35 and 9:53 for 1600 and 3200 respectively. Just got burnt out my senior year and needed a break. Marathon Club seems fun, would love to get after it everyday with some likeminded individuals.
 
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