College Recruit Rankings Profile: Five-Star Eric Solis, Class of 2010

PHOENIX, Arizona, August 19. ERIC Solis, a five-star prospect from the Class of 2010, is up next in this summer’s series of Swimming World College Recruit Rankings Profiles. Solis hails from Holland, Mich., and swims for West Michigan Swimming. He also preps at Holland High.

Solis maintains his profile in the Swimming World College Recruit Rankings powered by Take Your Marks, and is an IMer.

Solis owns long course meter times of 2:05.22 in the 200 IM and 4:27.42 in the 400
IM. His top short course yards times in his signature events are a 1:49.22 in the 200 IM and a 3:54.25 in the 400 IM.

Where and when did you start swimming?
I started swimming at age 7 on the local age-group team in Holland, Michigan. I hated it at first, mainly because the pool was so cold and I was one of the skinniest kids on the team.

Who would you name as the most influential person and coach in your swimming career?
The most influential person in my swimming career is my cousin Andrew Scheerhorn. He swam at Clemson from 2000-04. Throughout the early stages in my life, as well as even now, I really respect what he did to get to be the person he is today. He also taught me a lot of things at a young age about racing and training that have stuck with me today. I have mainly swam under one coach my whole career, Don Kimble. He coaches both our club and high school team. He has taught me many things not just about swimming, but about life as well. He has a very high level of involvement in all his swimmers and he sincerely cares about the success of everyone he works with, whether that success is in swimming or in anything else.

What, to this point, is your best moment in the sport and why?
The best and worst moment of my career both occurred at Junior Nationals this summer. On the first day of the meet, I was very anxious to prove to myself that my training and taper had finally paid off. I swam the 200 breast in 2:19.97 qualifying for the A Final that night, but I was disqualified for a stroke technicality. It was a rough way to start the meet, but I got over it by my next prelim swim. Until this meet, I had never finaled at a national competition. I managed to get 6th in both of the IMs and help our 800 free relay to a 7th place finish. The whole experience was a step in the right direction for the rest of my career.

Walk us through a day of practice:
Our summer and school year seasons differ in practice times and amount of scheduled practices, but the training system is similar. We will start out with about 30 minutes of warmup, usually including all strokes. After that we have a kick set which is either challenging by the interval, or the speed you are required to kick at. Then we have a very brief set, usually short distance descends to loosen the shoulders and prepare for the main set. With the exception of Saturday morning which is always a lactic set, the main set for me will be 2500-4000 yards/meters of IM or free on fast aerobic intervals. Then possibly a pull set, kick set, sprint set, or another longer aerobic set, followed by a 5-10 minute cool down. On single days the volume is 7,500-10,000+ yards/meters and on double workout days it is about 12,500-15,000+. We do dryland as a team in the winter, and I also lift weights or bike 2-3 times a week.

What is your favorite set?
During the high school season, we usually swim a quick warmup and a brief set before we warm up for dual meets. This is a short IM set that I like because of the constant distance changes on a faster inverval:
1x500IM @5:50
4x125s@2:00 one each stroke, fast
1x400IM@4:40
4x100s@1:15 one each stroke, fast
1x300IM@3:30
4x75s@:50 one each stroke, fast
1×200 IM@2:20
4x50s@:35 one each stroke, fast

What is your least favorite set?
I can’t say I really have a least favorite set. I see a reason for everything we do and I enjoy the challenges my coach gives me.

What are your short-term goals?
Pick a college that fits what I am looking for, swim all best times at Short Course Juniors in December, help my high school team to its highest possible finish at the state meet in March.

What are your long-term goals?
Final at NCAAs all four years, help my team to a National Championship, Make the Olympic team in 2012 or 2016.

What colleges are you interested in so far?
In no particular order, my top choices right now are: Arizona, Auburn, California-Berkeley, Florida, Michigan, Texas.

What has the recruiting process been like so far, now that you are allowed to be called by coaches?
It has been really fun searching for what I want in a university as well as having coaches question me in what they are looking for in a student-athlete.

Is there anything else interesting that you’d like our readers to know about you?
I love to surf whenever and wherever I get the chance. With a longer board, there are maybe 10-15 days a year you can surf on Lake Michigan, which is 15 minutes from where I live.

RECRUITS: To make sure we have the most updated information on your recruiting, and to earn the highest star ranking you deserve, please either create a new profile, or request to take over your admin-created account in the Swimming World College Recruit Rankings powered by Take Your Marks. Then make sure to update your profile with your top times. Click here for information on how to do so.

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