--What steps did you take?
Honestly, with olympic sports, it's mostly up to the athlete to sell himself/herself. We (I helped him) contacted MANY universities. We searched for their emails and sent them initial emails and filled out the questionnaires. In the swimming world there is an online program called "swimcloud" formerly know as "collegeswimming.com." There is a feature that allows the swimmer to see "how you fit" on that team. This gives the swimmer the ability to compare his/her times to programs across the country and see how they fit on the current team. We chose to contact schools where my son was top 5 on current teams. We also created YouTube videos and sent these coaches links. Of course times matter. Coaches matter. Once my son hit sectional times he started getting a lot of phone calls. D2 and D3 schools were contacting him daily. His goal was D1 so he ignored most of the D2/D3 schools. The D1 calls started happening about that same time he competed in sectionals. Before long, he was getting official invites. He, eventually, went on three official visits.

--What was communication like?
99% of the communication was with him and the coaches. First phone calls. Then zooms. Only two schools talked to my wife and I. To this day, I haven't talked to a BYU coach. Everything was done with my son. Part of me likes that. Part of me hates that. Swimming is a family thing. Coaches really should include the family in those conversations.

--Did your son compete with a club or only with high school?
Both. Club is where the fast swimmers are. However, high school brings some school pride, especially when he won a state championship.

--If club, what were some of the things you looked at when picking one.
Very few clubs in Utah are competitive. It wasn't hard to choose. However, the coach matters the most. If he/she connects with kids that is half the battle. We got lucky with that since my son finally landed with an experienced, formerly, collegiate swimmer who is a great coach too.

Ultimately, my son went with that he felt the best about. Scholarships were offered to him. However, in olympic sports an athlete is lucky to get anything. It's not like football where the top athletes get a full ride.