Division III Schools Flex Their Muscles

One of my biggest jobs as a coach here at Carthage is educating parents and swimmers about just how good Division III athletics are and today, the Wall Street Journal sheds some light on this very topic.

The number of Division I men's swim teams and number of Division I men's swimming scholarships has been on the decline in recent years. This is clearly bad for the sport, but its been a boon for Division III schools. When you take a look at the times it takes to qualify for the NCAA Championships, or even our conference finals, you can see that Division III swimming is FAST swimming.

The article goes onto mention a couple of the other benefits of Division III:

• Division III athletes typically receive more in academic scholarships than Division I athletes receive in athletic scholarships;
• D-III teams are increasingly populated with serious students including pre-med majors or engineering students - not majors that can typically be pursued in a big-time athletics program;
• More free time.
  

Recruiting Question #2

Got another great e-mail from a recruit.  He expresses some of the same sentiments that a lot of guys have so I thought I'd share it along with my response:

My summer is already over and I am back to the grind of AP classes. Swimming starts next Tuesday.  I am still weighing my options for college, really trying to figure out what is best for me, should I try for Division I, II or III??  There are pro's and con's to all. It's pretty overwhelming. Please keep me in the loop with Carthage.

He's right - there are pro's and con's to each Division. I've coached at Division I and III, but think the differences aren't always as big as people think.  In reality teams are spread across a spectrum that one  coach I respect explained as "Competition-Based" and "Participation-Based".

In Division I, there are "Competition-Based" programs like Auburn, Stanford, or Purdue.  At the same time, there are also "Participation-Based" based teams.  You won't find me naming them, but you also won't find them at the NCAA Championships.

Division III also has "Participation-Based" teams like Buena Vista College (where I went) and highly-competitive Division III teams like Carthage.  Trust me, you never saw Buena Vista scheduling the likes of Purdue, Northwestern or Arizona State the way we have this year.

The key isn't what Division is right for you - its what environment is right for you?  Am I as competitive as team is (and vice versa)?  Does the school have the academic resources you need?  If you can answer yes, then the process doesn't have to be so overwhelming.

World Championships!

What can you say but wow! We've been watching the World Championships every day this week and as when they were in Perth in 1998 and Fukuoka in 2001, they are the best in world swimming - better in many ways than the Olympics themselves. Phelps going 1:52.09 in the 2Fly? Amazing stuff. Maybe I'm getting old, but it doesn't seem that long ago when I was standing next to his coach as he made his first Olympic team in 2000.

Fast-forward to now, and I'm not some young hotshot at a Big Ten school, rubbing elbows with the swimming stars, yet I get a lot more satisfaction from being able to work day-in, day-out with guys who are every bit as competitive and hard-working but who swim for the love of their team or their sport. While I might not coach any more Olympians or American Record-Holders, I now get to appreciate even more things about this sport and the guys who are a part of it.

Not sure who wrote it, but this if from page 38 of the Carthage Team Guidebook:

“It’s not about getting a scholarship, getting drafted, or making SportsCenter. It’s a deep need in us that comes from the heart. We need to practice, to play, to lift, to hustle, to sweat. We do it all for our teammates and for the student in our calculus class that we don’t even know. We don’t practice with a future major league first baseman; we practice with a future sports agent. We don’t lift weights with a future Olympic wrestler; we lift with a future doctor. We don’t run with a future Wimbledon champion; we run with a future CEO. It’s a bigger part of us than our friends and family can understand. Sometimes we play for 2,000 fans; sometimes 25. But we still play hard. You cheer for us because you know us. You know more than just our names. Like all of you, we are students first. We don’t sign autographs. But we do sign graduate school applications, MCAT exams, and student body petitions. When we miss a kick or stroke out, we don’t let down an entire state. We only let down our teammates, coaches, and fans. But the hurt is still the same. We train hard, swim, lift, throw, run, kick, tackle, shoot, dribble, and swim some more, and in the morning we go to class. And in that class we are nothing more than students. It’s about pride – in ourselves, in our school. It’s about our love and passion for the game. And when it’s over, when we walk off the court or field for the last time, our hearts crumble. Those tears are real. But deep down inside, we are very proud of ourselves. We will forever be what few can claim…college athletes.” – Anonymous

Prime Time

It doesn't get any better than this. It just doesn't get any better this. Spring training is underway, March Madness selections are this weekend and the NCAA Championships have begun. Last night I found myself continually checking CollegeSwimming.com for results from women's Division I and III NCAA Championships. On the Division I side a couple of American Records went down while on the Division III meet one meet record went down.

At the end of this season, I'll have spent six years coaching in both Division I and Division III. I still appreciate the D-I meet (I've been on a team with an American Record-Holder, it's pretty cool), but I've come to appreciate the Division III meet so much more. Fast is fast and next week we'll take Bryan, Steve and Zach back to Houston for the big meet. Each would be a contributor on a Division I team. Each of them trains every bit as hard as the Division I swimmers I worked with, but next week each of them could garner All-American honors or - even better - contend for a national championship. That wouldn't happen at the Division I meet where just 235 swimmers - a third of them foreign - will even qualify. Think about that - at the Division I championships only about 160 American kids will have a chance to become an All-American. Speaking of All-Americans, here's a mock-up of what we've proposed to put on the wall to honor our growing list of athletic and academic honorees.

Next week we hope to have three more names to add to it.