New to Swimming

Question
QUESTION: Hi... I'm an 18 year old senior. I run cross country and track and has wanted to swim for a long time but has not had the time to attempt it because I'm also in the marching band and this year I'm the drum major. But this year I have decided is the year that I'm going to learn how to swim competitivly because I'm determined to find the one sport that I am good at and I have felt inspired by Phelps and his 5 golds and counting. So I guess my question is... is it to late for me to learn how to swim competitivly or is there a chance that if I work at it I can become a worthy swimmer per say. I'm actually going to start swimming in December as part of a Winter session so I can start to learn as soon as possible. So I think I have said all that I possibly can think of at this moment lol. So thank you for your time. :)

ANSWER: Hello Jerrod,
First off it is never too late to become good at swimming. I would suggest working on your stroke technique the most. There are many valuable swimming sites online that you can read to get some help, or go to a local pool and ask some of the lifeguards for help. In my experience most of them have been competitive swimmers. Since you have a lot of strength training it your background you have a good platform to begin from. Try working on that endurance in the pool and breathing exercises such as no breathers for so many yards underwater helps a lot.  Try working the hardest on freestyle stroke and advance from there, finally join a club team in your area, they will whip you in a competitive swimmer within a month. Do not worry you'll have the time, I was in marching band, swimming, track, and coaching/lifeguarding within the same period of time while still studying law.
Good luck!
-Jessica

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the help, I'm even more excited now to start swimming. So I guess my next question would be... if I really work at it do you think that swimming in college is a possibility(I will also be swimming in the spring and the summer for the local clubs)? When the winter session comes around I will have alot of free time to commit to swimming and I was told by one of my friends who is on the swim team that I will be joining said that there are a lot of meets in this session... so I guess I'll learn about the competitiveness rather quickly and picking up on new things is not very difficult (I memorized the entire F horn fingering chart withing a couple of hours). And after watching the Men's U.S. Swim Team on the Olympics I noticed that I sorta swim like they do like kicking my feet at the same time when I kick off the wall instead of the alternate kicking of the feet. Well thats about it lol and thanks again for your help, it was a moral boost. :)

Answer
Hey Jerrod!
Glad to help, If you really want to swim for a college you need to look at the college's team's and your current times. If you work at it you can drop a lot of time within a year so set your goals on your favorite college's walk-on times... if you think you can beat those it would be a good idea to consider applying for a swimming scholarship and getting a recruiter from those colleges to come watch one of your meet late around  May. Even if you get to walk-on the team its a great victory considering you've started rather late in your educational career. But do you research and train with those times in mind. When your teams are doing sprints picture yourself in the heat of competition, I'll tell you that I'm a butterflier and there is no better feeling than doing a stroke you love and hitting the wall to a finish when you realize that you are the first one there. Good Luck to you and let me know where your training takes you. Also if your looking at Florida colleges I can Help with the time research.