The Time Commitment

For any athlete in all sports, there is a rather large time commitment.  Whether it is just afternoon practices or 2-a-days (practice in both the morning and afternoon), all athletes must commit to practice during certain time periods.

A high school varsity swimmer at East will swim 2-a-day practices, a total of 22.5 hours in a week. Varsity swimmers will swim 5:30 a.m. practices and 2.5 hour practices after school every day. Being a swimmer myself, I know what it is like to swim on the varsity schedule. It means late nights trying to keep up on homework and making time for friends (and work if you have a job) and early mornings, setting your alarm clock for 4:50 a.m. to make sure you leave the house by 4:10. In many of my classes I would end up falling asleep if we had to do any reading activities or bookwork because of the schedule.

 

Swimmers who swim at the USA level will swim anywhere from 12-24 hours in a week. For an elementary, middle, or high school student, this is a huge commitment. But being in the water sometimes 4 hours a day is what it takes. If your goal is to be the best in your school, state, or nationally, a large time commitment and making sacrifices like TV, and computer time is what it takes to be the best of the best.