With all the different divisions in collegiate sports, there are many schools to choose from. Across all divisions, there are about 500 colleges that offer Men's Swimming and Diving, and 627 that offer women's. 

The vast amount of college swimming and diving teams ensures that there is a place for everyone, regardless of talent. But that begs the question: how do you determine if a school is the right fit athletically?

The answer to the question is different for everyone, and it completely depends on what you want in a program. 

The first thing you should do is go online to SwimCloud and look at a school's times from the previous season. Search up whatever college you're interested in, and look at their times to determine if you would fit in well with their team.

For example, if you're a male sprinter who wants to swim at a Mid-Major DI school, you would look at their 50 and 100 freestyle times. 

If your 50 Freestyle time is a :21.15,  you are at a great starting point to be a sprinter at a Mid-Major Division I school. 

Let's look at a random Mid-Major DI team now and determine if :21.15 would fit in.

At George Mason University, there were 3 guys faster than :21.15 in the 50-yard freestyle in 2021. If you're going in as a freshman, and you would already be fourth on their roster, that is a good sign that you would make their scoring line-up and maybe even see some relay swims at conference. 

While swimming a :21.15 is a good fit for a Mid-Major school like George Mason University, it may be harder to get the attention of a Power 5 school with that time. 

For example, the University of Louisville had 6 guys go under 20 seconds in the 50 Freestyle. At this program, it would be unlikely for you to make their scoring or see a relay unless you had big improvements. 

Another way to determine whether or not a team is a good fit athletically is to go back on SwimCloud and look at their results from their conference championships last year. Coaches want athletes that can score a lot of points at their conference meet. The amount of points you score depends on whether you make it to finals. 

If you're a female in high school that goes 1:01.30 in the 100 Backstroke and want to go Division II, you could definitely find some schools to swim at. But, again, it depends on the school and conference. If you're looking at schools in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference, a conference with Division II powerhouses like Queens (NC) University and Wingate University, you'd have a harder time scoring points.

A 1:01.30 in the 100 Backstroke would have gotten 15th place at Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships, and coaches often try and recruit times that would score in the top 8 of the conference. 

This does not mean that you can't swim at any of these schools, it's just a way to determine what a good fit athletically is, especially if you hope to score or even race. 

Ultimately, your potential to swim depends on what you want from your college career. If you want to swim a lot and be on all the relays, then look at a school where you would be on the higher half of the roster. On the flip side, if you want to just swim, and don't really care about relays, you can look at schools where you would be on the latter half of the roster. 

* Originally published on March 4, 2022, by Kyle Haflich