Reading 16
The Recruiting Game
Splash Magazine 2005
At 6-foot-4 and with a 68-inch wingspan, Hannah Meyer had her pick of colleges despite her gangly
physique. Having sprouted from her relatively modest 5-foot-10 frame as a freshman to her current
stature her senior year, Meyer received letters and calls from some of the top programs in the country.
Funny enough, the scholarships – some full rides – were to play volleyball, even though Meyer had never
even spiked or served in a competitive prep or club match.
Unlike her sister, Amanda, a freshman outside hitter for Rutgers, Hannah wasn’t interested in playing
collegiate volleyball. She was a swimmer full of as much untapped potential as unanswered questions –
which led to an interesting and often confusing recruiting experience.
“She grew so fast and so tall that the rest of her body – her musculature, in particular – had a difficult
time catching up,” said Hannah’s mother, Betzi. “As soon as volleyball programs found out about her
height and wingspan, they were ready to drop a scholarship on her sight unseen.
“But she wanted to swim in college, and after looking around and visiting some schools, she found the
right fit for her athletically, socially and academically. She chose a program and coach that will develop
the talent we all know she has.”
Before committing to Seton Hall during the early signing period last year, Meyer heard from programs
at all levels – Divisions I through III. She took a few unofficial visits to some of the country’s power
programs, including defending national champion Auburn. Within weeks of her visit, some weren’t able to
come through with scholarship money, while others dropped contact with her altogether.
It didn’t matter, however, as Hannah and Seton Hall proved to be the perfect fit for each other.
“The obvious interest was in her potential,” said Ron Farina, head coach at Seton Hall. “I am a very big
proponent of body type, and I feel Hannah's potential as both a sprinter and breaststroker is unlimited.
Because she’ll be close to her sister, Seton Hall is a good fit for her personally as well as academically,
and she’ll be a terrific addition to the team.”
While the Meyers’ recruiting experience is not completely unique or surprising, it raises some questions
about the practices of college recruiting. How and when are high school swimmers recruited? What are
the best methods for getting noticed if you’re not an upper-level swimmer or if you’re a late bloomer?
And most importantly, what are the essential factors a recruit should look for in a school or program?
A ‘Heated’ Competition
Every year, 382 schools search the landscape for the next Natalie Coughlin or Brendan Hansen to
elevate their program to new heights at NCAAs.
Schools at the Division I and II levels offer full or partial scholarships to lure the best athletes they
can find to join their programs. While Division III schools offer no athletic scholarships, many
compensate with academic packages.
“It’s pretty rare once a kid has decided to go Division I to convince him or her to choose your Division
II or III school,” said Nathan Owen, head coach at Minnesota State – Mankato, a Division II school.
“Division I schools also generally have bigger recruiting budgets and are able to bring athletes to
campus for visits. I try to counter that by always answering kids’ emails and really searching for those
kids who have a lot of potential but get ignored.”
The level of competition for potential recruits is intense, sometimes cutthroat, and often pushes the
envelope.
“I hate recruiting, but I like coaching and building athletes,” said Ron Allen, head coach of the men’s and
women’s teams at the University of South Dakota, a Division II school. “It’s so competitive and
difficult finding talent and keeping swimmers eligible to compete, but I just try to find the kids who
are realistic and want to go to a national meet and not sit on the bench like they probably would at a
larger school. That’s not always an easy sell.”
College coaches really start monitoring the best swimmers their sophomore year of high school, but
there are those exceptions who show promise and talent much earlier. Direct recruitment doesn’t
actually start until swimmers become juniors, although some coaches who’ve built relationships with club
coaches will make requests and ask about certain swimmers.
Chris Davis, head coach at SwimAtlanta, often develops some of the most talented high school students
in the country and is still surprised by the overall recruitment process.
“I am amazed at how many of our kids receive scholarship offers sight unseen and with the coach failing
to contact me to ask about the upside or downside of the swimmer,” Davis said. “Most of the time, I
have to initiate the call for the second-level kids, but everyone knows about the top-level athletes.”
One of those top-level athletes, Kaitlin Sandeno, won a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics the summer
before her senior year and was one of the most heavily recruited swimmers in the country. She
narrowed her choices to the University of Southern California, Georgia and Arizona, and relied on her
club coaches for their guidance before choosing Mark Schubert and the Trojans.
“My club coaches, Vic and Renee Riggs, were just very supportive throughout the process,” said
Sandeno, a gold medalist at this summer’s Games in Athens. “I got a good feel for all the colleges on my
visits, and they all had a lot to offer, but I just knew USC was right for me.”
Use Your Resources
In the past, recruiting for college coaches involved making the rounds to meets and scouting the top
athletes in person, along with making a few contacts with club or high school coaches. Today, with the
Internet, recruiting has been simplified to surfing web sites with online swimmer biographies and
posted times, as well as the traditional in-person scouting.
The internet can also be a useful tool for swimmers, particularly those who haven’t achieved National
cuts but show potential to shine on an NCAA stage. Once overlooked by college coaches, these swimmers
can now use online recruiting services, where they log in their biography, times and academic qualities.
Still, no one person or group can make as big an impact on the recruitment of an athlete swimming under
the college radar than a club coach who’s been working with these swimmers day-in and day-out.
Sean Hutchison, who coaches KING Aquatics in the Seattle area, interacts with college coaches from
across the country, particularly when he discovers a swimmer making progress but getting little
recruiting attention.
“I have six senior guys this year, and I think all of them are late bloomers and aren’t getting noticed,
even though they’re fast,” Hutchison said. “I really try to get coaches who are interested in developing
athletes interested in our program, and I try to be as honest as possible with them about my athletes
and where I think they’ll eventually be (time-wise).
“If they take a risk on a KING swimmer once, and it pans out, they’ll know it’s okay to do it again. So I
try to build good relationships with the coaches.”
The club coaches’ insight into the athletes they coach goes a long way in influencing recruiting decisions
on the part of the college coach as well.
“The club coaches usually have a very good insight about an athlete’s potential – swimming and
personally,” said Eddie Reese, who has won multiple NCAA championships as coach at the University of
Texas. “We recruit on our ability to predict the swimmers’ future, and not many of us are very good at
predicting the future, so we rely on the recommendations of the club coaches, as well as our own gut
instinct.”
Academics over Athletics
When choosing a college swimming program, numerous factors come into consideration – none bigger than
choosing athletics that complement academics. Unless an athlete has designs on the NFL, NBA or Major
League Baseball, competitive college athletics take a backseat to earning a degree, especially in an
Olympic sport like swimming.
“Swimmers aren’t often going to have a professional career (in the sport) after they’re finished with
college unless they are the best in the world, so picking a school for its academics is crucial,” said Mary
DeScenza, a top recruit who chose the University of Georgia for its veterinary program as well as its
swimming program.
“If a swimmer chooses a school just for the swimming, coach or facilities, or even for the scholarship,
they can end up being very disappointed. But if they choose the school because it has the academic
major or program they want to study, they will more likely be satisfied with their decision, even if they
can no longer swim or the coach leaves for another program.”
When his daughter, Malarie, started looking at schools last fall, Ted Schmidt let her do most of the
legwork herself, but stressed the importance of choosing a school first and foremost for its academics.
“Of course, finances come into the picture, and you’re more likely to look closely at a program offering
a full scholarship, but picking a school because of academics and majors available is priority,” said
Schmidt, who also went through the recruiting game with his son, Thomas, two years ago. Malarie swims
for Illinois’ Academy Bullets Swim Club.
“In addition to academics, it was also important for Malarie to fit into the program and know that she
could contribute rather than just be another swimmer on the team. She fit in very well with everyone
at Miami (Ohio) University and also realized she could quickly make an impact upon the team’s success.”
Stanford University, one of the premiere academic institutions in the country with one of the top
swimming programs, uses academics as a stringent recruiting tool.
“Because we consider recruits to be part of our ‘family,’ the process is more of an adoptive process
than a business,” said assistant men’s swimming coach Ted Knapp. “Once they are enrolled, everything is
done within the university system to make sure they have a productive experience and are prepared for
their personal or professional goals after graduation. Education is the most important piece of
recruiting for us.”
Whether a swimmer is one of the nation’s best, or is someone flying under the radar, whether he
chooses a Division I, II or III program, or gets an athletic or a partial academic scholarship, the
process of deciding where to go to college should be fun as well as educational.
“It can be a nerve-racking experience, but that’s because this is a decision that will in many ways
affect the rest of a swimmer’s life,” said Bill Schalz, head coach of the Academy Bullets. “But it should
also be memorable for them, and they should always know that they aren’t alone in the decision-making
process.”
Recruiting Tips:
Emmie Dengler, a senior freestyler on the 20-time NCAA champion Kenyon College women’s team, has
some words of wisdom for swimmers regarding the recruiting process:
1) Don’t wait for schools to contact you. There are always people who may be a good fit at a school who
get overlooked simply because there are so many swimmers out there. So if you’re interested in a
school, e-mail the coach. This helps them notice you.
2) Which level is the best fit for you? Decide if you would be a good fit for Division I, II or III. Or, if
you’re like me and could have gone both directions, apply to a few of both. I knew that I didn’t want my
last meet of the year to be a conference meet, which would have been the case in Division I, so after
applying, I decided that Division III was a better fit for me.
3) Academics are very important. Don’t let coaches evade the subject when asked how academics fit
into or around the swimming program. It made me wonder what they were hiding.
4) When you contact coaches, send them a resume documenting your times, athletic achievements (All-
American, etc.), academic info (SAT score, grades, GPA, awards) and other extracurricular activities.
5) When considering a school, don’t just look at the swimming program. Make sure the school has
something you’re interested in studying because you need something to fall back on, like a job, when
swimming is over.
6) If invited, take overnight recruiting visits. It’s the best way to find out what the team is really like.
I really liked a couple of the schools I applied to, but when I took my overnight visits, I realized I didn’
t mesh with the personality of the team.
7) Recruiting services aren’t for everyone. I’ve always been kind of skeptical about recruiting services.
I didn’t use one, so I don’t really know how useful they are. It seems to me that with a little leg work,
you can do the same thing a service does and save loads of money.