Every collegiate level swimming team across the nation has their own set of super stars: the top scorers, the faces of the team, the ones who can do it all. For the majority of collegiate swimmers though, fading into the middle of the pack is often the reality and can feel like an under-appreciated position. Here are three reasons why being in the middle or bottom tier of the team is just as significant as being at the top.
1) Depth
At dual and championship meets, the best athletes in each event can only score a certain amount of points. When athletes are already at the top there is not much room for them to gain more points. But middle and bottom tier swimmers have a significantly larger margin to move up in the ranks and score more points for their team. “B” and “C” finalists are the dark horses that give teams an extra edge in championship meets. We saw this last year at the 2016 Women’s Pac 12 Championships, the University of Southern California Trojans took the title to surprise a lot of followers. However, looking back at the results, the Trojans provided a ton of depth racking up points in the “B” and “C” finals allowing the team to ultimately claim the Pac 12 title.
2) Support
Swimming is one of the toughest mental and physical sports out there. From the early mornings and afternoons, to strength and conditioning it’s so easy for a swimmer to feel overworked and burned out. No athlete wants to endure all that alone, no matter how fast they may perform. The middle-men of the team not only push themselves but also motivate the super-stars as well. Constantly chasing down someone that’s just out of reach benefits both the chaser and the chasee. Teammates set themselves up to compete against each other in practice everyday so when it comes to race day they’ve already done it a thousand times over in practice.
3) Growth
One of the most important aspects of being in the middle is being able to demonstrate how much a program has grown and improved throughout each season. Some swimmers are lucky enough to have always been fast or talented. But some swimmers have achieved their current status based purely on hard work and dedication. As each season comes to a close at championship season, the time and placement improvements of middle-swimmers reflect the coaching and work ethic of a team. Being able to see the progression of swimmers in the results demonstrates exactly where a program is heading.
No person on a team is more important than the other, each swimmer has their own special role that makes the team significant. Learning to appreciate and embrace eachothers role is going to make the team’s success more satisfying.
As a high school coach, my teams would not be as successful as they are without the middle tier swimmers. I inherited a top heavy team that did well on a state level my first season or two, but we’ve been more successful on the conference and regional level as well in the subsequent years because of the middle tier group. Some of them have gone on to be successful D-III swimmers in college.
While this article makes a lot of great points, it should be noted that someone on the PAC-12 winning USC swim team is well above being a middle tier swimmer.
Way too many coaches leading up to college do not get this. Period. If you’re not at top or you get hurt or ill you no longer count. This sport would not exist without these kids. Period. Often they are heart and soul of teams.
I would have to disagree with the fact “no person on a team is not important than the other.” Very very few times in NCAA history (atleast on the men’s side) has a team won without someone winning an individual title. The big guns on a team are the ones that will pull you to a championship title, they are more important. Your value=points scored, this article seems a bit pitiful
Maybe at the collegiate level, but plenty of times have high school team’s won a District or State title without having any individual winners. I don’t think this article was aiming towards just the collegiate level, but every level of swimming as a whole.
There are some undeniable intangible things that go into helping these elite swimmers achieve these results though. Perhaps on the surface, points scored = value, but the “superstar” types still need teammates that will keep them honest in workouts on a daily basis. I think it’s safe to say that even the greatest, most focused athletes need some motivation to keep training hard at times.
Too bad the state of Illinois doesn’t recognize this. Mega clubs rule the state and have set it up so only the top tier swimmers are catered to. At the recent Illinois Senior Championships they cut the finals down from 24 to 20 swimmers so the top swimmers could swim in a “super final”.
No one cared about the swimmers who lost a chance at second swims. Thanks mega clubs. The superstars already have something to swim for. You should care about the middle tier swimmers as well.
As a swimmer from Illinois who now swims in college, I agree with this. Super finals aren’t necessary at senior state. Illinois Swimming needs to work on getting more of their high school age swimmers to a higher level rather than having a bunch of amazing 12 and unders who burn out by the time they get to high school. Regarding the “mega clubs” you refer to, we all know there’s really only one in IL, but I’m not sure I agree that it is part of the problem. I think they’ve done a great job getting rid of some of the bad small clubs around the state and have focused on getting their high schoolers to improve and get… Read more »
Real insightfull and well written article. Keep up the good work.
Much impressed “roomie”. Keep up the good work!! 🙂
Brava!
-Ms. Darbus