Swimming Smart

Every year, USA Swimming produces a list of Scholastic All-Americans.  To some, this is a list of kids who are successful in both the pool and the classroom.  But most people don't understand what it takes to get on the list, and who the student-athletes are who make it year after year.

Scholastic All-Americans are high school students who have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher and have competed in an individual event at the ConocoPhillips Spring or Summer Nationals, the Speedo Champions Series, U.S. Open, National Disability Championships or Open Water Championships. 

Once students have met those requirements, they are given a score based on how high their GPA is, and how they placed at those competitions.  (A 4.0 GPA, and first place in a meet both get 100 points).  The scores are then weighted based on which meet was used for the score.  Placing at Olympic Trials gets a higher score than Nationals, which gets a higher score than Sectionals, and so on.  For example, if a student has a 4.0 and wins at Olympic Trials, they would have the highest score. 

Although the process sounds technical, the important part is appreciating the kind of student-athletes who make this list year after year.  Along with the student-athletes themselves, there is a whole support team of coaches, parents, teammates and teachers that help swimmers become well-rounded, successful students. 

For the 2003-2004 school year, there were 773 Scholastic All-Americans - 483 women and 290 men.  Of those 773, 89 of them have made the list three years in a row - 56 women and 33 men. 

Kate Ziegler (Great Falls, Virginia/The Fish) and Kevin Nead (Cincinnati, Ohio/M.E. Lyons and Anderson Barracuda) were the highest scoring individuals for the 2003-2004 school year. 

Ziegler scored 271.5, based on her national title in the 1500m freestyle at last summer's ConocoPhillips Summer Nationals and her 3.81 GPA.  She takes a lot of pride in her accomplishments, both in the pool and classroom and gives credit to the people who have helped her along the way.

"It is quite an honor (to be the highest scoring Scholastic All-American), but I could not have done it without the help of my school, family and coach," Ziegler said.  "My academics and swimming are both very important to me, so I did not set this as a specific goal. It's more like a bonus for my hard work."

Nead was the highest scoring male this past year, with 254 points.  He says the best way to be successful is to set goals both in the water and the classroom.

"Most people set goals in swimming, and it keeps them going during the year when things get tough," he said.  "But they don't set goals in academics.  When you don't have goals, it's much easier to let things slide when it seems to be too much."

Although Ziegler and Nead are both extremely successful student-athletes, Nead was one of two Scholastic All-Americans on his team, while Ziegler was one of three, and there are some teams that put dozens of athletes on the list every year.  Teams like Dynamo Swim Club (Atlanta, Ga.) and Mecklenburg Aquatic Club (Charlotte, N.C.), tied with the most Scholastic All-Americans, 27, this past school year.

The two teams have different approaches when it comes to encouraging and disciplining their swimmers in the classroom.  Dynamo takes it as something that comes with its swimmers' hard work and success, while Mecklenburg likes to include Scholastic All-America in its goal setting for the year.

According to former Dynamo head coach Ed Spencer, who was at Dynamo for seven years before handing the reins to Mark Temple this past fall, it is mostly about tradition for them.

"We have a large percentage of kids who end up at quality universities, like Ivy League," Spencer said.  "It just comes along with the very good schools in the Atlanta area and Dynamo's long history of academic success."

Dynamo's other head coach, Alex Braunfeld, who heads up the program's Alpharetta facility, says the tradition at Dynamo is what keeps its success in Scholastic All-America going.

"The kids like to carry on the tradition," Braunfeld said.  "We don't really promote the idea that they have to be Scholastic All-Americans by checking their report cards or anything.  The swimmers know that we expect them to take care of what they need to. We leave it up to them."

Mecklenburg head coach Dave Gibson tries to impart to his swimmers the importance of school.  He lets them know he wants it to be one of their priorities and makes sure they understand that when swimming ends, school is what they have for the rest of their lives.

"All the coaches here at Mecklenburg take a lot of pride in our Scholastic All-Americans, and the kids do too," Gibson said.  "They are always very excited for that list to come out each year. They want to see if they made it and how many we had."

Some of the steps Mecklenburg takes to ensure success in the classroom are to include academics in their goal meetings, treat grades like time standards and encourage the kids to communicate with the coaches about school.

Swimmers at any level have a lot to balance, whether it's high school or college, and it's a popular theory that swimmers are good at time management.

"It takes special kids to handle the balance," Gibson said.  "It's tough.  Coaches have to stress the importance of school. Make sure the kids know you don't just want them to focus on swimming.  It's a set-up for the rest of your life."

Both teams encourage their kids to be successful in the classroom, but they also agree the work in the water is a priority. 

"We make our swimmers come to morning practice.  I think our Scholastic All-Americans had close to 100 percent attendance at morning practice last year," Spencer said.  "They let people know how important swimming is to them, and they just learn how to make it work.  A lot of it comes from support from parents, teaching time management at home and encouraging them to be good students."

Braunfeld adds, "Swimmers who are disciplined into learning time management just know how to get things done.  The kids who can make themselves train well are the same ones who excel in school.  They know the expectations placed on them, so they get organized."

"Success is a choice," Temple said.  "By educating swimmers with the concept of the student-athlete over the years, they begin to understand the required academic and athletic behaviors that support reaching their goals."

Dynamo's method of letting the swimmers take control of their grades and expecting them to take care of themselves has been extremely successful.  Meanwhile, Mecklenburg stresses communication between the swimmer and coach about school.

"Sometimes, you can tell when a kid is really stressed about school, and that's when I hope they talk to me about it," Gibson said.  "Stress about anything leads to bad workouts.  If a swimmer is having trouble in school, it will have an effect on their swimming.  It's tough to be a swimmer in high school.  It really takes special kids to balance."

Ziegler says balancing school and swimming is incredibly hard, but controllable if swimmers are careful and smart about it. 

"I try to manage my time as best I can and stay ahead on any homework or projects," she said.  "I just try to be willing to make sacrifices.  If I have to stay extra after school on Friday to catch up with a teacher, or miss a certain meet in order to not miss too much school, then those are just sacrifices I have to make."

Gibson credits one of the other major factors in Mecklenburg's success year after year - its rivalry with Dynamo.  The two teams are among the biggest in the Southern Zone.  They compete at meets every season on every level, from dual meets to Nationals, and compete for recognition for their work in the classroom.

Both teams say when new swimmers join their team, they might not realize how important grades are at first, but once they catch on, it makes a difference.

"When kids new to Dynamo hear the others talking about their SAT scores and what grades they want to get in order to get into certain colleges, they notice," Spencer said.  "The group as a whole takes a lot of pride in grades and feeds off each other.  They talk about school, and it's competitive.  We had two guys last year that got 1500 on their SATs and two girls go to Stanford.  New kids want to be a part of that."

Gibson agrees.  "Kids jump on the good grades bandwagon," he said.  "Everyone wants to be in the group and meet the goals of the group, whether they are for school or swimming."