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Three Secrets of College Recruiting

Contributor, Rick Paine, is an expert on college swimming and the college recruiting process. He is also the Director of Swimming at American College Connection (ACC). ACC is a SwimSwam Partner.

1. Year of graduation

It is very important to let the college coaches know right away what year a recruit graduates from high school. When I was a Recruiting Coordinator I wasted a lot of time trying to find a prospect’s year of graduation. We make it easy for the coaches and save them time.

2. Best events and best times (showing progression is very important)

Coaches are looking for swimmers they can help develop and improve. Showing improvement is one of the best things we can do to sell a coach on a recruit. Improvement shows they are on a roll and will keep that momentum when they join their team.

If you were a coach and had a choice between two swimmers, one who is improving and one who is not, who would you choose?

Now, does that mean if a recruit hasn’t improved in awhile they can’t swim in college? Absolutely not! When we work with a swimmer who is in a slump we find out why and explain that to the coaches and get them to take a chance on the swimmer.

We provide the coaches with relay splits as well as standup times. We are sure to let the coaches know they are relay splits.

We don’t just send converted times. We let the coaches know the exact time to the tenth of a second and if it was yards, short course meter or long courses meters. We also send converted times and altitude adjusted times. Be careful in sending converted times. There are so many formulas out there that it is hard to determine which one is most accurate. Sometimes it is better to let the coaches convert.

3. Updating the coaches as you progress (keeping you in front of the coaches)

The most effective way to show progression is to keep the coaches updated.

We provide the coaches with updated best times shaved and tapered and unrested in-season swims. This keeps our swimmers in front of the coaches and makes it easy to see why they should recruit you. Once again, we are saving the coaches time.

Finding out if you have what it takes to compete in swimming at the college level is easy, and many swimmers do have the potential considering all of the options. Go to www.ACCrecruits and submit a Free Profile.

ACC BANNDER 570x70SwimSwam is an ad partner with ACC. Go here and learn more about ACC and their team of college swimming experts.

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About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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