My room-mate in college was a nationally ranked swimmer on a full-ride scholarship, and also gifted academically.
I can't recommend scholarships... it's getting paid to swim and swimming at a competitive 1st tier type school means extreme hours. To the detriment of the rest of college. With a scholarship it's very difficult to quit (guilt over burdening family with payments, guilt over letting down school, guilt over letting oneself down as one has been dreaming of scholarship for a long time). If doing it voluntarily many quit a year or two in.
Swimming and doing well at a state or national level if it's not burdensome emotionally or to grades is probably not a bad way to have more choice of colleges, especially if one is not a beacon of giftedness. If it's the least bit detrimental to grades or SATs then it has backfired as a way to enhance college applications (unless the person is truly nationally competitive). There are easier ways to get into college -- start a collection for a cross-religious-affiliation public swimming pool in Afghanistan or something.
Longterm, in terms of preparation for life, it probably won't matter that a kid swam but didn't have a summer job, or swam but didn't go to a academic summer camp, for 5 or 10 years. My roommate, who did nothing but swim her entire childhood, has done great at whatever she tries.
But from a emotional perspective of getting through adolescence and young adulthood, most people who have multiple interests and activities are more happy and more well-balanced than people who focus on one thing. My roommate had a high school pregnancy termination after sleeping with a swim coach -- too many hours unsupervised without any friends but those in swimming. 95% of her college swim-team-mates had eating disorders from years of obsessive focus on the ideal swim weight.
My roommate's swim team ended up almost all in careers they never would have chosen but for trying to find something easy to major in (due to the time commitment of swimming). oriented/determined/success-driven sorts of personalities. That is the real downside of college swimming, it's so time-consuming there is not much time for college.
On the plus side they were all people had mastered themselves, discipline and positive thinking, and are all capable of great things in most any field if they set themselves to it. They take on anything.
Summary: Swimming for fun -- great idea, do it now or later but not all through, that way one can make other friends and have other experiences. Swimming to get into college -- depends on the individual, there are easier ways usually but can be a great option for some. Swimming to get a scholarship -- only do it if you have to.
Polly
