Inside Tennessee Swimming’s Recruiting Formula: Talent, Character, Curiosity

GMM by @SwimOutletGear
In this GMM takeover of the SwimSwam Podcast, we are going deep on one of the biggest questions in the sport: college recruiting.

What do college coaches actually look for? What matters beyond the time on the board? How should swimmers handle the jump from club swimming to a major NCAA program? And what should parents understand before, during, and after the commitment post?

To answer that, we are joined by Tennessee head coach Matt Kredich, now entering his 22nd season overall at Tennessee and his 15th leading the combined men’s and women’s program, along with associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Sarah Collins.

Over the last three seasons, the Tennessee women have finished 4th, 5th, and 5th at NCAAs, while the men have gone 6th, 5th, and 5th. With Texas now in the SEC meat grinder, Tennessee has remained one of the strongest combined programs in the country.

But this conversation is not just about Tennessee’s consistent success. It is about development, culture, and what happens when a swimmer who has always been the best in their club walks into a college team where everyone was the best somewhere.

Matt and Sarah break down how they evaluate recruits, what they see at meets and club visits, how they judge attitude after a bad swim, what parents get right and wrong, and why curiosity, resilience, and coachability may matter as much as raw speed.

This is everything young swimmers and swim parents should be thinking about if they want to compete in college.

We go a little over an hour. If I missed any topics, please drop them in the comments. I will be doing a few of these recruit podcasts with DI power players in an attempt to pull back the curtain and provide insight.

Thanks to @SwimOutletTV for supporting SwimSwam media for over 14 years.

Swimming news courtesy of SwimSwam.com (swimswam.com)

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This is a Gold Medal Media production presented by SwimOutlet.com. Host Gold Medal Mel Stewart is a 3-time Olympic medalist and the co-founder of SwimSwam.com, a Swimming News website.

Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.