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Makenzie Thomas: My Unconventional Journey with College Athletics

Hey LEAD fam! My name is Makenzie Thomas, and I attended the Lead Summit from 2017-2019. I am a freshman at Georgetown University from Fresno, CA and have been swimming for 11 years. As I first began the transition from high school to college, I struggled with deciding what to do about my swimming career. With so many universities, majors, and athletic programs to choose from, I felt completely overwhelmed when making arguably one of the biggest decisions of my life. Despite that, I could not be happier with the decisions I made, both for my education and athletic career. This blog will explore my transition from high school to college swimming and hopefully provide some comfort to fellow athletes who feel unsure or anxious about their future college decisions.

If I have learned anything over the past two years, it is that the road to college athletics or even college itself is not the straight and narrow path that many would have you believe. There are hundreds of different avenues, boulevards, backroads, and hidden trails that you can take to secure happiness, fulfilment, and success in college. During my decision process, I was torn between choosing a school for swimming versus what was best for my academic and future career goals. I ultimately decided to go with the latter. 

At first I was disappointed and felt as though I “failed” by choosing not to swim for a university. However, I soon learned that there are multiple paths to continue on with swimming after high school that can be just as exciting and fulfilling as the traditional college athletic experience.

 There are three lessons I would like to convey as I tell you my story:

  1. Narrow your search.

  2. Do what is best for YOU.

  3. College swimming is not “one size fits all.”


Narrow Your Search

When I first began my college search, I felt an odd combination of being both overwhelmed and overjoyed by the decision I was about to make. There were so many universities, locations, majors, and athletic programs to choose from, I honestly didn't know where to begin. Fortunately, the speakers at LEAD were able to help me navigate this process. During my final year at LEAD back in 2019, I attended a breakout session on navigating the college decision process with Mary Motch, an alumna of the College of William and Mary. During this session, we reviewed check-lists containing all of the different factors that go into picking a college and/or athletic program. We completed these lists to get a better idea of what we were looking for in a school. From campus size to coaching styles to majors offered, this list contained EVERYTHING—even factors I didn’t even realize I should be looking at. This list soon became the Holy Grail of my college decision process. As I checked the boxes and narrowed my college search, I felt a great deal of stress lifted from my shoulders. The looming prospect of making this enormous decision soon became a much more manageable endeavor. 

The greatest advice I can give to athletes making this decision is to MAKE YOUR LIST. Figure out what you are looking for in a university and/or athletic program. Engage in honest self-reflection about the environment YOU believe you will be most happy and successful in.

  • Do you want to live in the city or in a rural area?

  • Do you like large lecture classes or small discussion-based classes?

  • Do you prefer a training schedule with aerobic or sprint-dominant workouts?

  • Would you rather swim for a coach who is more direct and goal-oriented or outgoing and team-oriented?

Answering these critical questions for yourselves will make the college decision process not only less stressful but also more enjoyable in the long run.

Need more help making your list? Join the Lead Insiders to watch our College Recruiting Webinar and download the College Recruiting handbook.

Do What is Best For YOU

Every day we are faced with the opinions and judgements of people around us. Whether these are our parents, coaches, teammates, friends, or teachers, everyone to at least some extent believes that they know what is best for you. This is simply not true. Only YOU have the ability to decide what is best for you and as you make your college decision. This is especially important because in the end, this is the school that YOU will be attending. Not your parents. Not your coaches. Not your friends. Do what is best for YOU.

This was something that I struggled with a lot as I made my own decision. I felt stuck between the expectations that were set for me as a student and an athlete. I also compared myself to the decisions that my friends and teammates were making. Was I supposed to choose a university that fulfilled all of my academic goals or one where I could train and compete with an amazing team? When conflicts such as these arise, it is important to go back to the list you have made and priorities you have set for your decision process. 

When faced with tough decisions like these, it is, again, critical to determine what is best for YOU. For me, academic rigor took priority in my college decision, and I chose my university based on this priority. For others, athletics may be the priority in their decision process or it may be something completely different—such as clubs, social life, or location. This is perfectly okay! We shouldn’t compare ourselves to decisions that our friends and teammates make. We all have different priorities and goals in life and are committed to swimming in different ways. While it can be stressful to go against the grain and prioritize things that clash with the expectations of those around you, just remind yourselves that you are doing what is best for YOU.

College Swimming Is Not “One Size Fits All”

The last item I would like to explore is the variety of different paths available to athletes after graduating high school. During my decision process I was under the false impression that there is only one path to swimming in college. I believed that in order to continue to compete in college I needed to be recruited by a D1, D2, or D3 program. As I mentioned above, while academics took precedence in my decision process, this did not mean that swimming was no longer important to me. I had been swimming for over half of my life and was not yet ready to give it up. However, I found it extremely challenging to find a school that matched my academic and athletic goals for the future with the “one size fits all” framework I had formed in my head surrounding college athletics. I felt like I had “failed” or “wasted” the past 11 years of my life for not choosing to swim for a NCAA division university.

However, this was when I discovered the variety of paths available for athletes to continue competing after high school without necessarily being recruited in the typical NCAA fashion. Apart from NCAA (D1, D2, or D3), there are fantastic programs available at the NAIA or NJCAA level. Many universities have separate club sports programs available to students that continue to compete at high levels. As a matter of fact, I am a member of my own university's club swimming team. Additionally, there is always the option to continue training and competing with a local club after you graduate.

No matter what level you are at or what your commitment is to swimming, there are options available to EVERYONE who still love swimming after high school. Don’t let anyone undermine your decision or make you feel less than for doing what is right for you. This also applies to those who decide not to continue swimming after high school. College swimming is NOT “one size fits all” and should not be treated as such as we approach the college decision process.


I hope that by sharing a little bit about my college decision process and providing some advice about what I have learned that I can help other athletes dealing with similar struggles. As you all approach this important decision in your lives, remember to:

1) Narrow your search and reflect on the college/athletic environment that will best support your happiness and success.

2) Make the decision that is best for YOU. Not your parents. Not your coaches. Not your friends. YOU.

3) Remember that there are multiple paths to continue swimming after high school that might not necessarily follow the status quo.