Prep School Directory: Creatures from the Black Lagoon

Afterward, they lift themselves out of the water and rush off to school. They usually arrive for class barely on time, with damp, heavily-chlorinated hair, from a strange daily routine that can seem unnerving to the more "normal" students around them.

For the dry mammals sitting in the adjacent classroom seats, swimmers are true Black Lagoon creatures.

Swimmers' lifestyles are as alien to their public school peers, teachers and administrators as walking on Mars. Their contemporaries generally respect them in a "you're-doing-your-own-thing" kind of way, but generally fail to comprehend the tough daily grind these swimmers have freely chosen.

SHREWD INVESTORS IN TIME
By nature, swimmers are shrewd investors in time. While they seek to lose time while racing, in life, they endeavor to gain time. They optimize everything regarding time and their day. They juggle their swimming with school, family and friends. And generally, they look for ways to be more efficient so they can simply do more or do what they are doing even better.

At the nation's prep schools, time is also maximized to bring the most out of each student with strong, productive days.

If a prep school supports swimming, then there is potentially a combo powerhouse opportunity for the swimmers. Student-athletes who choose to participate in a prep school environment are generally some of the most productive and successful student-athletes at the secondary school level. It is an amazing and potent combination of study, work and goals that is very beneficial to high school swimmers.

ADVANTAGES OF BOARDING SCHOOLS
The boarding situation provides swimmers more advantages in a number of ways. It eliminates travel time to and from practice and school. Eliminated travel provides more time for study, other school activities and, even, sleep. This translates into better swimming, due to less stress and more normal social opportunities with clubs and other non-swimming activities. A boarding school greatly strengthens the team aspect of an individual sport. The bonds among teammates are typically stronger. And finally, boarding schools are very understanding of swimmers' needs and can routinely accommodate their difficult practice times.

Hargrave Military Academy is a great example of this duality. Successful time management is the name of the game in a military school environment. Swimmers tend to work the daily schedule easily. As they discover the school, they take opportunities to become involved in cadet leadership, and tend to rise in rank partially due to their excellent time management skills. And as they do in their swimming, they thrive in a better managed day. It's the creature in them.

Swimming World Magazine presents the best of these schools in its annual prep school listings. Each listing remains an excellent resource for contact information, school overviews and program history. Take a look, and you'll probably find a better way to unleash more of the creature in you!