We are hoping to have our new website at least partially operational sometime this week. The new address is www.gcitswimming.org. We will be getting the registration information for the 2007-08 swim season up as soon as the sight goes live.
If you know of any swimmers interested in GCIT please have them contact me via email at msprang@gcit.org or call 856-468-1445 x. 2304. I will be conducting new swimmer tryouts for the purpose of group placement on Tuesdays and Thursdays in July by appointment.
We will have the coach recommendations for group placement out this week. It has been tough because the Silver and Gold groups seem a bit crowded. We will have more information on this with the group placements this week.
I will also send out a detailed description of each group to include prerequisites and the focus of the groups.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Let the Recruiting Begin!
As many of you know the period when college coaches can begin talking to the class of 2008 begins this Sunday. Some of you will get in upwards of 10 phone calls this Sunday. But if you do not get any phone calls don't worry, you just are going to have to do some work to get the attention of the colleges you are interested in. Please remember the following:
1) Use the next month and a half to gather as much information as possible. You can ask any and all questions you'd like, as well you should. You need to get to know the coaches, their style and what they expect from their swimmers in and out of the pool 12 months out of the year. Ideally, you will find a swim team which closely resembles the training you have at GCIT to ensure the smoothest transition possible.
1a) Make sure the colleges you are talking to offer your major. If you know what you want to study it makes no sense talking to a college that does not offer that major.
2) Do not commit to any official visits at all in July. Some of these coaches can be crafty and try to trick you into this. They know you only have 5 visits to use and know that some club coaches (like me) do not want their swimmers taking 5 visits in the fall. They want you to get onto their campus as early as possible so that their school is what you are comparing the rest of the schools you visit. Again, gather as much information as possible and then contact your coach at GCIT (or me if I am not your coach and you can't get a hold of yours) to determine the best course of action for visits.
2a) National group swimmers should not be signing up for more than three trips in the Fall. Be sure to sign up for one of them on September 8th because we don't have practice that day any way. Between the SATs and meets if you take five trips before the signing period in the beginning of November you will be missing too much practice. Most trips require you to get there early on Friday morning so you miss two workouts and you know very well that swimming on your own (if the school you are visiting allows you any pool time it won't be more than 2 hours total all weekend) is not nearly the same as swimming with our team.
3) Know what is allowed and what is not allowed during the recruiting process. Go to www.swimmingworldmagazine.com and check out the article written by Jason Marsteller (another one of my new buddies from Hawaii) which has a plethora of information on the recruiting process, including information from the NCAA directly.
4) If/When you talk to coaches, keep detailed and accurate notes of the conversation. If the coaches mentions that their kid has been sick WRITE IT DOWN. It will make a huge impression if when you talk to this coach again you open the conversation with "I hope your son is feeling better." Show the coach that you are interested and that you care and they will show more attention to you as a recruit. They are talking to hundreds of swimmers in a very short period of time, you need to MAKE AN IMPRESSION on them so that they know you and want you on their team. There is no better impression to be made than of an intellegent young person who takes the time to remember who they have talked to and what they talk about. So go out before Sunday and buy yourself a notebook just for phone correspondence with college coaches. Leave space in the notebook for each school you talk to so that it can be easily references each time you speak with them.
5) Have fun. Some people stress over this and that is rediculous. This is a great time in your lives and the lives of your family so enjoy it. Remember, you need to find the best fit for you academically, athletically and socially and it takes some effort and research to get to that point. Do take this process seriously but make sure it stays fun for you.
At any time if you have any questions please feel free to contact me. I have been on every side of this process from a recruit to a recruiter to the family member of a recruit. I can pretty much answer the questions you have and if not can find someone who will answer it for you.
1) Use the next month and a half to gather as much information as possible. You can ask any and all questions you'd like, as well you should. You need to get to know the coaches, their style and what they expect from their swimmers in and out of the pool 12 months out of the year. Ideally, you will find a swim team which closely resembles the training you have at GCIT to ensure the smoothest transition possible.
1a) Make sure the colleges you are talking to offer your major. If you know what you want to study it makes no sense talking to a college that does not offer that major.
2) Do not commit to any official visits at all in July. Some of these coaches can be crafty and try to trick you into this. They know you only have 5 visits to use and know that some club coaches (like me) do not want their swimmers taking 5 visits in the fall. They want you to get onto their campus as early as possible so that their school is what you are comparing the rest of the schools you visit. Again, gather as much information as possible and then contact your coach at GCIT (or me if I am not your coach and you can't get a hold of yours) to determine the best course of action for visits.
2a) National group swimmers should not be signing up for more than three trips in the Fall. Be sure to sign up for one of them on September 8th because we don't have practice that day any way. Between the SATs and meets if you take five trips before the signing period in the beginning of November you will be missing too much practice. Most trips require you to get there early on Friday morning so you miss two workouts and you know very well that swimming on your own (if the school you are visiting allows you any pool time it won't be more than 2 hours total all weekend) is not nearly the same as swimming with our team.
3) Know what is allowed and what is not allowed during the recruiting process. Go to www.swimmingworldmagazine.com and check out the article written by Jason Marsteller (another one of my new buddies from Hawaii) which has a plethora of information on the recruiting process, including information from the NCAA directly.
4) If/When you talk to coaches, keep detailed and accurate notes of the conversation. If the coaches mentions that their kid has been sick WRITE IT DOWN. It will make a huge impression if when you talk to this coach again you open the conversation with "I hope your son is feeling better." Show the coach that you are interested and that you care and they will show more attention to you as a recruit. They are talking to hundreds of swimmers in a very short period of time, you need to MAKE AN IMPRESSION on them so that they know you and want you on their team. There is no better impression to be made than of an intellegent young person who takes the time to remember who they have talked to and what they talk about. So go out before Sunday and buy yourself a notebook just for phone correspondence with college coaches. Leave space in the notebook for each school you talk to so that it can be easily references each time you speak with them.
5) Have fun. Some people stress over this and that is rediculous. This is a great time in your lives and the lives of your family so enjoy it. Remember, you need to find the best fit for you academically, athletically and socially and it takes some effort and research to get to that point. Do take this process seriously but make sure it stays fun for you.
At any time if you have any questions please feel free to contact me. I have been on every side of this process from a recruit to a recruiter to the family member of a recruit. I can pretty much answer the questions you have and if not can find someone who will answer it for you.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Hawaii Redux
Sorry it has taken me so long to get some info up on the trip to Hawaii. To recap, six GCIT swimmers were selected to the NCSA All-American team based on their performance at the NCSA Junior National Championships this past March in Orlando. 
The top 9 swimmers in each event were selected for this trip. The six swimmers from GCIT represented the second largest contingent from one team behind Rockville-Montgomery Swim Club in the Washington, DC area. It bears mentioning that RMSC has over 1,500 swimmers on their team and swims out of 5 different facilities in Virginia and Maryland. We had a large team (by our standards) of 165 swimmers this year. I was fortunate enough to be selected as the head coach for the East Women's Team.
The team began gathering in Los Angeles Saturday night, June 2nd and in Honolulu the next day. The team's went through three days of intense training at the Central Oahu Veterans Memorial Pool (the groups averaged 15,000 meters on Monday, 13,500 meters on Tuesday and 14,000 meters on Wednesday) mixed in with touristy type excursions to the North Shore of Oahu, Waikiki Beach and Pearl Harbor. Highlights would definitely be surfing on Waikiki Beach, rock jumping into Waimea Bay and the trip to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.
Thursday and Friday evening (June 7th and 8th) was the competition pitting some of the best swimmers ages 18 and under in the East and West against one another in a dual meet.
GCIT swimmers fared very well with Joanna Thomas winning the 800 free and 400 free, Jamie Marks taking the 400 IM and 1500 free, Bill Cregar winning the 200 IM (after being in 4th place going into the freestyle leg). Emily Creran walked away with lifetime bests in the 400 IM (a 1-2 finish for GCIT swimmers) and the 400 free (coming from 3 seconds down to take a pivotal 3rd place). Mike Joyce "took one for the team" and swam the 1500 free for the first time ever and had nice swims in the 400 IM. Blake Trabuchi-Downey also had nice swims in the butterfly events.
The top 9 swimmers in each event were selected for this trip. The six swimmers from GCIT represented the second largest contingent from one team behind Rockville-Montgomery Swim Club in the Washington, DC area. It bears mentioning that RMSC has over 1,500 swimmers on their team and swims out of 5 different facilities in Virginia and Maryland. We had a large team (by our standards) of 165 swimmers this year. I was fortunate enough to be selected as the head coach for the East Women's Team.
The team began gathering in Los Angeles Saturday night, June 2nd and in Honolulu the next day. The team's went through three days of intense training at the Central Oahu Veterans Memorial Pool (the groups averaged 15,000 meters on Monday, 13,500 meters on Tuesday and 14,000 meters on Wednesday) mixed in with touristy type excursions to the North Shore of Oahu, Waikiki Beach and Pearl Harbor. Highlights would definitely be surfing on Waikiki Beach, rock jumping into Waimea Bay and the trip to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.Thursday and Friday evening (June 7th and 8th) was the competition pitting some of the best swimmers ages 18 and under in the East and West against one another in a dual meet.
GCIT swimmers fared very well with Joanna Thomas winning the 800 free and 400 free, Jamie Marks taking the 400 IM and 1500 free, Bill Cregar winning the 200 IM (after being in 4th place going into the freestyle leg). Emily Creran walked away with lifetime bests in the 400 IM (a 1-2 finish for GCIT swimmers) and the 400 free (coming from 3 seconds down to take a pivotal 3rd place). Mike Joyce "took one for the team" and swam the 1500 free for the first time ever and had nice swims in the 400 IM. Blake Trabuchi-Downey also had nice swims in the butterfly events.The East Women's team were able to eek out a 7 point victory over the West while the East Men's team had a hard time with a talented West squad.
All in all, it was a great trip for all. The swimmers were able to meet some new people and train with some of the best young swimmers in the United States. As a coach, I was able to sit round-table with some of the best coaches in the country and get new ideas on team administration and training.
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