Early signing period:
When: November 9-16
What: swimmers can sign a National Letter of Intent which is their binding agreement to attend a particular school. Coaches will provide scholarship papers for the swimmers and their parents to sign. A recruit cannot sign a National Letter of Intent unless there is some form of athletic scholarship. A book scholarship is the minimum.
A recruit must sign the NLI and scholarship papers between the 9th and 16th and has 14 days to get the signed forms back to the coach unless the coach requires them sooner
Dead period:
Coaches are not allowed to meet recruits face to face from 8am Monday November 7 through 8am Friday November 11.
Official Visits:
When: September 1 of your senior year through August 1 except during a dead period.
What: A visit becomes official if the school pays for anything other than a ticket to an on campus event. If they buy you a hot dog it becomes an official visit. Due to budgetary cutbacks many school don’t have the money to pay for the entire trip and will ask you to pay for your transportation to and from campus. The schools will usually pick up the tab for room and board while you are there.
Your parents may come with you on an official visit and schools are allowed to pay for their room and board while they are there. This depends on a schools recruiting budget.
Limits: recruits are allowed to take official visits to 5 different Division I schools
New Rule: official visits to Division II schools are unlimited.
There are no official visits to Division III schools.
Official visits to NAIA schools are unlimited.
Tip: don’t assume that a school will pay for everything on an official visit. You need to ask.
Unofficial Visits:
When: anytime except during a dead period.
What: unofficial visits are unlimited as long as you pay for everything on your trip. A school can provide tickets to an on-campus event while you are there. You are allowed to spend the night with the team, but you will have to pay the going rate for the dorm room or motel.
Tip: let the coach know well in advance that you are coming to campus
Regular Signing Period:
When: April 12 through August 1
Verbal Commitments:
When: anytime
What: you can give your verbal commitment to attend a school at any time and the coach can give you a verbal commitment for a scholarship offer or a spot on the team at any time.
Verbals are not binding, but rarely do the coaches renege on their scholarship offers. Usually it’s the recruit who backs out. If you give your word to a coach you should honor it.
Pay attention to admission deadlines as they vary from school to school.
