Loughborough University in Loughborough, England is quickly becoming the most popular destination for NCAA swimmers who want to continue their academic and athletic careers without the means to in the US. Whereas many NCAA teams in the US have postgrads, the emphasis usually stays on the undergrad team, with the postgrads doing the same kind of training they had been previously while trying to navigate their budding professional careers in and out of the pool.
After getting a first-hand look at Loughborough, it’s easy to see why one might take the leap across the pond. Academically, they offer the option to pursue a master’s degree part-time (an option not typically offered in the US) for a much more affordable price than many NCAA Universities. Athletically, their training groups are small and elite, allowing for more individualized training opportunities with an emphasis on international high performance. We’ve seen 4 NCAA champions in the last 3 years take this option (Andreas Vazaios of NC State, Louise Hansson of Southern California, Felix Auboeck of Michigan, and incoming Sophie Hansson of NC State) and that could be just the beginning.
Maggie Macneil should consider if this is an option for her. No it’s not single gender but ticks a lot of boxes.
I’d love SS to do a deep dive into BUCS for us Yankees. Most of us have no clue what it’s about!
It isn’t very complicated. 2 meets a year, one short course and one long course. You can only swim finals if you represent a university but in recent years non-university swimmers have been invited to take part in prelims. A handful of universities take it very seriously (usually those with an integrated training programme) and many attend as part competition, part social event (the meets are always in Sheffield and there are good opportunities to go out on the Friday and/or Saturday night).
Most BUCS swimmers will probably train a few times a week with their university, some have more formal programmes (Loughborough, Bath, Stirling to name 3) and some swimmers will train with a nearby club team but… Read more »
NCAA Championships but British
The fortunes of Felix Auboeck, Louise Hansson, Marie Wattel and Andreas Vazaios will only further Loughborough’s attractiveness too – It might not be Marseille or California, but people have been hitting PBs and NRs galore training there.
Always wondered why Americans never branch out to other countries, 4 years not getting paid just to work on your underwaters, odd
If people outside the US knew what it costs to go to college here, a lot of them would have a heart attack.
4 year cost of attendance for many schools is over $200k now. If you are on scholarship and not subject to paying this, I would most certainly call this “getting paid”
But if you’re a Matt Sates and you go and win 100K over a few world Cup stops and you’re not allowed to keep that money it cancels each other out
Grown up talk time now. $100k in prize money after you pay taxes on it, is not really that much money. Not to mention, maybe 1-2% of all scholarship swim athletes in the US are in the realm of winning prize money at any event. At least prize money like that. And let’s not even start on your expenses incurred to travel to have a hot at that money in the first place.
because swimmers who come from the collegiate system are still dominating the world scene.
There’s no such thing as ‘coming from the collegiate scene’ they were swimmers before they went to university