With changes to NCAA rules on recruiting, kids are signing earlier and earlier. Some of the new regulations can be found in the SwimSwam article “NCAA ADJUSTS RECRUITING DATES, LOCATIONS FOR PROSPECTS.”

“The impetus behind the legislation is the growing amount of recruiting of and verbal commitments by middle school athletes. While recruiting within swimming hasn’t yet gone that far, we have seen a complete paradigm shift in the recruiting process the past couple years, with more and more high-level swimmers verbally committing in the spring of their junior years and some during their sophomore years.”