What are you looking for in a recruited student-athlete?
Our number one priority when it comes to recruiting student-athletes is that they resonate with the Division III philosophy. This means that they seek to have a high quality, well-rounded student-athlete experience, by being a student first and an athlete second. CWRU is a rigorous academic institution. We therefore look for student-athletes who are driven, have a strong work ethic, and bring a well-rounded background of strong grades, a passion for learning, and a desire to challenge themselves in the classroom and in the pool.
We also prioritize those recruits who have current times that are right on or very close to the top 16 scoring times in their events from the most recent UAA championships. Our current time standards are listed later on in this pamphlet. We require recruits to meet at least two of these recruiting standards to be considered for a spot on our team.
Above all, we want our recruits to be excellent teammates who bring high energy and goals to each practice, and who hold themselves and their teammates accountable. The stronger our relationships, the better we will be as a team, and the better we will perform in and out of the pool.
Much of our program's philosophy is centered around the Spartan Shield which contains the 5 defensive qualities that we protect in order to foster a positive team culture: kindness, responsibility, gratitude, respect, and integrity. The three offensive weapons in the shield contain qualities that we use to be successful in our goals. They are: work ethic, buy-in and a productive attitude. These skills and qualities are key to being a successful student-athlete here at CWRU, and ones that we frequently reference when we establish our team goals every season.
What does your practice schedule look like?
While these are subject to change, the schedules below best exemplify what our training generally looks like in and out of the water throughout the season. More information about how our training works will be explained in the next section of this pamphlet.
What does your competition schedule look like?
Home meets in the schedule below are in bold. For any meets happening on the same weekend, we split our squads and coaching staff to be able to go to both.
What does your weekly training look like?
We approach our training with a "quality over quantity" mentality. We usually never go over 6,500 yards per practice. The only exceptions to this rule are our distance swimmers, who will usually go over this amount of yardage in the thick of our training season. Additionally, during the winter training phase of the season our whole team will often go over this baseline yardage amount in a practice. We swim 2 hours per day and take Sundays off. We do dryland on Tuesdays and Thursdays on the pool deck for the first 35-40 minutes of practice before getting in the water (these dryland sessions are led by the coaches), and our T3 lifting coach leads our lifting workouts (more on this in the next section). Our drylands generally consist of a mixture of HIIT, bodyweight exercises, medicine ball work, plyometric exercises, and lots of ab work!
We provide 2-3 options for swim and dive practice per day. Our athletes can choose which practice they want to go to depending on their daily academic schedule. Doubling a couple days a week is encouraged for our non-sprint athletes, if it fits in their schedule. Our typical swim training follows this pattern throughout most of the season: Mondays = all together aerobic set; Tuesdays & Thursdays = dryland & race-pace IM or stroke/high yardage for distance; Wednesdays & Fridays = super sprint/mid-D & Distance; Saturdays = race-pace swimming off the blocks (if we don't already have a meet that day).
What does your strength training look like?
CWRU Athletics partners with certified strength coaches from T3 Performance, a local strength training organization dedicated to helping athletes of all levels reach their full potential through the use of effective and progressive training methods in a positive atmosphere. T3, in addition to coaches and athletic trainers, work with you no matter your strength training background or injury history. If you have no experience with lifting, don't sweat it! Our strength coaches ensure that everyone starts off with the basics and learns to lift with proper technique at the beginning of the season before ramping up the training intensity.
Our team works with one T3 coach for the entire season, and also during optional lifting times in the off-season. This allows our strength coach to develop a strong relationship with our athletes in order to better accommodate our athletes' needs, and to educate them on specific exercises, physiological needs, proper nutrition, and recovery.
Do you have access to athletic trainers as a student-athlete at CWRU?
Yes! Each of the athletic teams here at CWRU is assigned an athletic trainer that works with that team throughout the course of their season. Additionally, our trainers are also available in a more limited capacity in the off-season. Our assigned athletic trainer is involved with our team in a number of ways, including ensuring that all of our athletes are up to date on their physicals at the beginning of the season, meeting with any injured athletes on our team on a regular basis, and helping our athletes get a second opinion on injuries or other health issues that may affect their athletic performance, if necessary. Our athletic trainers also ensure that ice is available on the pool deck for practices and are sometimes present at meets to provide any necessary medical care.
If an athlete is struggling with an injury that may prevent them from training at a normal frequency in the water, we make sure that they meet with our trainer on a regular basis before getting back to a full-time training schedule in the water. Coaches also have vigorous dryland training programs readily available to any athletes who may not be able to make it through a full practice in the water due to injury.
What does your facility offer?
The Veale Natatorium is home to the Spartan swimming & diving teams. There is a separate pool for recreational swimmers so we can train in the Veale Natatorium as a team whenever we want! The facility features an 8-lane, 40-yard pool with separate areas for competition and warm-up lanes. The competition area is more than seven feet in depth throughout the length and goes up to 14 feet. The pool also houses both 1- and 3-meter Duraflex springboards. Our bulkhead is inflatable and easily movable to allow for both our swimmers and divers to practice simultaneously.
Veale Natatorium also features a Colorado timing system as well as a digital scoreboard that displays video, photos, times, scores graphics, and a small warmup and cooldown area to be used during competition. Veale’s spectator area overlooks the pool deck with a seating capacity of 500. We also conduct our dryland workouts in the spectator area.
We also use the Veale Athletic Center weight room for lifting sessions that features three separate rooms dedicated to powerlifting, hammer strength, and a main room with various types of equipment. In addition, a cardio deck is available on the top floor of the Veale Athletic Center which contains treadmills, elliptical machines, rowing machines, and bikes.
Does your team go on a training trip?
Yes! In a typical year, we will travel to somewhere in Florida for a week at the beginning of January to train. This past January, we spent a week in West Palm Beach, where we were able to train in a beautiful outdoor pool. The team got some good LCM and SCY training in, as well as lots of fun in the sun!
In a typical training trip we will practice twice a day with the exception of two afternoons. For one afternoon, we will participate in a community service activity and for the other, we will have the afternoon completely off for the team to relax or enjoy an excursion nearby. For our training trip in 2024, our community service activity involved creating literacy kits for local preschoolers to encourage reading (see above photos). With the rest of their free time during the trip, our team took lots of trips to nearby beaches, napped, shopped, and got to see some manatees!
The team always looks forward to our training trip as it is an opportunity for the everyone to really get to know each other and bond as we reach the peak of our training!
When do you recommend student-athletes begin contacting you?
They can do so at any time, but preferably no earlier than junior year. We can initiate phone calls with rising high school juniors starting only on June 15th, and we only invite recruits for official visits during their senior year, but it’s best to start communicating during the beginning of junior year to get the recruiting process started. You are also allowed to visit campus unofficially as a junior, during which you'd be able to meet with the coaches and see our facilities, as well as schedule any activities through Admissions (i.e. campus tour).
Do you offer any athletic scholarships to prospective student-athletes?
Because we are a Division III institution, we give no scholarships for athletic involvement. All scholarships are offered based on academic merit and financial need. Case Western Reserve University as an institution does offer considerable merit and need-based scholarships. However, no scholarships are given based on athletic involvement or under the guise of “leadership”/etc., as that would be an NCAA violation. Any prospective student-athlete MUST follow the application process like any other student; as coaches, we do not have a say in whether or not an athlete is admitted to the university. Ultimately, any recruited student-athletes come to CWRU for their education and must be a good academic fit for our rigorous school. We do not slot for roster spots.
How many first-year athletes are you looking to bring into each class?
We typically look to bring in around 8 men and 8 women per year with some exceptions. We also generally do not take walk-ons on our team due to the current size of our roster. In most cases prospective student-athletes are required to meet our minimum time standards to be considered for a spot on our team (those time standards are listed later on in this pamphlet).
What is your expectation for when recruited athletes should apply to CWRU and commit?
CWRU offers Early Action, Early Decision and Regular Decision application pools. Both Early Action and Early Decision deadlines are in the fall. If CWRU is a school that you plan to apply to in the fall of senior year, we highly recommend applying Early Action (non-binding). If you are sure that CWRU is the school for you, we would recommend applying Early Decision (binding if you are accepted) and committing at that point. If you are not sure if you want to apply Early Decision, then we usually recommend applying Early Action, however, please know that we will consider applicants from all application pools for a roster spot, and that we usually do not solidify our incoming class until the spring. Those who apply Early Action or Early Decision will be able to commit and know their acceptance status in the fall of senior year. Regular Decision applicants will be able to commit and know their acceptance status in the spring of senior year.
What does an official visit at CWRU entail?
Official visits consist of flying or driving to campus and being hosted overnight by a member of our team from Sunday to Tuesday. You would tour campus, attend classes, observe practices, spend time with the team, and truly get the experience of being a CWRU student-athlete. Any seniors who meet our consideration times are welcome to attend an official visit, assuming they receive a positive response on their pre-read (more info on this in the next section). Juniors may visit campus at any time unofficially, but we cannot invite them for an official visit until their senior year.
What does the pre-read process at CWRU look like?
At CWRU, all rising seniors who meet our minimum time standards and are interested in being invited to campus for an official visit must go through the pre-read process. This process consists of submitting a copy of your high school transcript (can be official or unofficial) up to your junior year, your senior class schedule when it becomes available, and a copy of your test scores, should you decide to apply with test scores, to Admissions. Admissions will then get back to the coaching staff with one of the following responses related to your odds of being admitted to CWRU: "very likely," "likely," "possible," or "unlikely." If you receive any response besides "unlikely," we can invite you to campus for an official visit.
Please note that this process sounds a lot scarier than it is. It is very rare that we get an "unlikely" response, and even if we do, it does not mean that you can't still apply to CWRU and get in; we just would not be able to invite you to campus for an official visit.
Where do you see your program in 5 years?
In 5 years, I see our program being consistently ranked in the top 15 in the country (men’s and women’s). I see us consistently sending athletes to the national championship while also climbing the ladder within our conference and challenging other teams. I would like us to have the reputation of being highly motivated, sportsmanlike, extremely competitive, and embracing the ups and downs of the student-athlete experience with grace and positivity. I see our athletes holding themselves and each other accountable to their goals in and out of the water every day and encouraging each other to work harder than any other team. To sum it up, I hope to continue to see our team as consistently unified in one goal: to be better than they were yesterday.
What do you look at when evaluating recruits?
Generally, we look at where their times would score at the UAA Championships as well as at the NCAA championships. We will also take into consideration the current depth on our team for certain events. Below are the time standards we are currently using for recruits who will be starting in the fall of 2026. These times are calculated based on the most recent UAA conference championship results, as well as our current team top times in each event. Please note that these times are updated every year season based on the results of the most recent UAA Championship.
How competitive is your program?
We compete in the University Athletic Association conference, which is the most competitive conference in Division III swimming & diving. Expect to be challenged and to compete against some very talented athletes! We regularly send a group of athletes to the NCAA championship meet in March and boast multiple All-Americans. In 2024, our women finished 13th at the NCAA Championships - our second highest finish at the national meet ever. In addition, all 11 of our athletes who competed at that meet earned All-America honors, the most All-America honors ever for our program at a single NCAA Championship. In 2025, we surpassed that with all 13 of our athletes who competed at NCAA Championships earning All-America honors.
Have you had athletes swim or dive while in the Pre-Professional Scholars Program (PPSP)?
Yes, we have had PPSP athletes in the past! Involvement in the PPSP does not interfere with your ability to be a member of our team, however, it is very difficult to be accepted into the program as it is extremely competitive. We typically recommend applying either Early Decision or Early Action to ensure your roster spot before January. Keep in mind that if you apply PPSP, you will not hear admission results until February, and your application will be moved to the Regular Decision pool if you do not get accepted to PPSP.
What are the common majors amongst the athletes on our team?
When you apply to CWRU, you are applying to get into the entire school (not just a specific academic school/concentration). That means that you do not have to declare your major until the end of your sophomore year, and you can explore different subjects in your first year at CWRU to see what you might like. We have many different majors on the team, but also a lot of overlapping majors, so you will most likely have classes with your teammates. Our team also often studies together and helps each other out with different classes. We have a wide variety of interests, but a majority of our athletes major in:
- Engineering: Mechanical, Biomedical & Aerospace
- Biology
- Pre-Health (Pre-Med, Pre-Dental)
- Business & Economics
While balancing academics and athletics at the collegiate level can be difficult, especially at a high-level institution like CWRU, historically, our team has done very well in the classroom. Last year, both our teams were ranked fifth in the country for their team GPAs. We don't discourage any majors on the team and do everything we can to provide multiple practice time slots in order to accommodate peoples' academic schedules (see section on practice schedules further above).
Can members of the swimming and diving team pursue the nursing major at CWRU?
Yes! While nursing can be a tricky major to pursue as an athlete at some institutions, we do not discourage any of our student-athletes from pursuing this major if that is what they want to do. We have several nursing majors currently on our team, and all of them have been able to manage the workload along with their athletic commitments. In addition, our world-class hospital system allows for an incredible education as a nursing major here at CWRU, with lots of hands-on experience.
Cleveland is a hidden gem, known for its great metroparks, foodie scene, museums, sports teams, Lake Erie, the Cleveland Clinic, and more!
If you choose to visit campus, we encourage an official campus tour to see the academic buildings and get the backstory behind our landmarks. To check out where we train, you’ll want to swing by the Veale Athletic Center. This houses the weight room, indoor track, aquatic center, training room, and other athletic facilities we use. The student quad is beautiful and also worth seeing. It is a short walk from the pool and connects you to Euclid Avenue, the main street running through campus and University Circle. It has tons of restaurants, stores and museums right on campus. The Barnes and Noble off Euclid sells CWRU gear and books. On the north side of campus, you’ll want to check out DiSanto Field where the football stadium, turf field, and Wyant Athletic Center are located, as our athletes sometimes utilize these athletic facilities. In addition, there are dorms on that side of campus that many of our first- and second-year athletes are housed in.
When you come to campus, Mitchell's Ice Cream is a must-visit if you have a sweet tooth. Their delicious ice cream is well known in Cleveland, boasting flavors like peanut butter chocolate pretzel, toasted pistachio, and my personal favorite, wild-berry crumble!
The Little Italy neighborhood near campus is also fun to explore - it's an Italian settlement with amazing restaurants, cafes and Italian culture. You will not be disappointed with the food! Many of our athletes rent houses there, as it's not a far walk from the pool.
If you enjoy museums, the Cleveland Museum of Art is free for general admission and has incredible exhibits. In addition, the gardens surrounding the museum at Wade Lagoon are beautiful to walk around. The Museum of Contemporary Art and The Museum of Natural History are also popular. Additionally, the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, which are pictured here, are right down the street from campus and always have beautiful exhibits, as well.
If you’d like to explore downtown, the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame Museum is a must-see! You could spend hours on the many floors, and there is a beautiful river walk outside of it as well as Voinovich Park. The Great Lakes Science Center is also an intriguing stop. From there, you can make your way to The Flats, a neighborhood right on the river, to enjoy some food, an outdoor concert, or a boat ride.
We thank you for your interest in our program and for taking the time to get to know us better and reading about all that CWRU has to offer. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to our coaching staff:
- Doug Milliken, Head Swimming & Diving Coach - dem82@case.edu
- Matthew Schaeffer, Assistant Swimming and Diving Coach - mms407@case.edu
- Morgan Gougler, Diving Coach - mls354@case.edu