SWIMMING AND DIVING SUMMER CAMPS
Improve your swimming skills at a college camp
If you are going to apply for a college swimming and diving scholarship then you should consider the benefits of attending a sports specific summer camp or showcase. Swimming camps will provide you with very specific extra development and training including proper stroke mechanics and elite-level training.
As a bonus you get seen by the people that count, the college swim coaches. Most summer camps cater for either girls or boys of different age groups and skill levels.
Stroke development is the focus of most good camps. The aim is to improve the technique of campers in each of the four competitive strokes.
There are plenty of good swimming and diving camps throughout the country that will help you improve your swimming skills including, elite swimming clinics, swimming instruction camps, swimming and diving showcases, college swimming camps, college swimming prospect camps and summer swimming and diving camps.
Most college camps provide technical instruction and video analysis from coaches and current student-athletes that come from from both the women’s and men’s swimming and diving programs.
Camps concentrate on drill progressions and individual stroke feedback, starts and turns and streamline development and underwater skills. The top camps will have college coaches coming to watch you swim but make sure that you pick a sports camp that is organized by the colleges and the college coach. You will get to see what the coach is looking for and YOU WILL BE SEEN.
You need to keep in mind that college swim coaches are looking for athletes who compete in several events and strokes rather than one or two event specialists. The reason is that the the NCAA dual meet format means that athletes can swim in a number of events and relays. Versatility is the key.
Your ability as an “all rounder” is much sought after by smaller swim teams that have trouble filling lanes during dual meets. Larger teams are able to be more selective and recruit more stroke specialists.
Swimmers ask me all the time, “how can I get the swimming and diving coach or scout to watch me swim”?
Well it’s a very simple answer, attend a summer sports camp at the college.
SWIMMING TRAINING TIP
It is vital for young swimmers to learn all the skill, techniques and strokes before specializing. You might be tempted to categorize a talented young swimmer as a specialist. The principle of specificity tells us that training for a specific stroke is much more effective than doing a range of general training. the problem here is that changes in strength, flexibility, limb length, body mass and coordination, can make it harder to succeed at the higher levels in a given stroke, even though a young age group swimmer may have had a great deal of success in that stroke.
Don’t limit yourself to one stroke or one event because this will reduce your options in the long term.