The Cost of Becoming an Olympic Swimmer for Team USA | WSJ

Becoming an Olympic swimmer is an aspiration for thousands of young athletes in the U.S. But it comes at a heavy cost. Club dues alone can set swimmers back thousands of dollars each year. Here’s a breakdown of what it can cost to become an Olympic swimmer.

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[Zrizzle]

Im a college swimmer and these numbers are really exaggerated. Mostly because at the beginning you don’t spend anything besides club fees and then find out if you have potential to get to the next level. I didnt buy a tech suit until I was probably 4-5 years into the sport and nobody starts at nations capital or anything like that usually at an extremely low cost club / ymca and if you have potential and excel at it you may move to a better one that will cost maybe $1-2k a year. Plus if you are at the point that you need more than 1-2 tech suits per year you definitely have it paid for (either by college, sponsor, team etc.) Most swimmers with great potential dont use private lessons because they will be at a club with a coach they trust for all of that, so its not really an add-on cost. Last, goggles and caps are extremely inexpensive maximum $150 per year unless again, you can have them paid for by someone else in which case you would probably just get new everything for every meet. Its a snowball effect really, once you get truly great and show a lot of potential the resources will find their way to you not vice versa. Travel is also negligible because especially when youre younger most meets are very local and within dricing distance. Maybe one travel meet per year is really needed if its a qualification meet - which you would first need to qualify for at a local meet (sectionals, junior nationals would be examples of qualifying meets). Not affording a 2nd or 3rd tech suit or private trainer or the best club in the country is not a valid reason for people not succeeding at the sport. Given the median income in america it is extremely accessible and videos like this are only tarnishing the hard work the top swimmers put into it, they arent just great because they have money.

[crabkilla]

As a former competitive swimmer, the financial costs are a drop in the bucket compared to the mental grind. Also, only the elite 2 people have a chance to my money. This isn't the NBA where the top 100 make millions each.

[Dodbanna]

Makes sense since a lot of the best world class athletes come from wealthy or high middle class families. It costs a lot of money to be good at sports.

[teneshaanderson]

It’s not just a monetary value, you can lose your social life, friends and in some cases your mental health

[adrianharcourt-cooke]

As a swimmer, though not in the US this is way overpriced, once you are good enough and competing at a high level you usually get sponsored. Once at college equipment is usually paid for anyway...

[SnChem]

The financial cost is really trivial compare to the mental stress and physical stress over Olympians. What they do are honestly amazing and hard

[sak_]

Any of these sports start as a hobby until they realize they have good potential. For swimming, you need the time and a facility to do this hobby which not everyone has access to. Once this and any hobby turns to a professional/olympian training, it will cost big bucks $$$$. This funnels only to the middle/upper class whose parents can afford this, I cannot imagine an olympic medalist with a full-time job and also an intense training every day.

[reginaldpooftah]

It's pretty much the opposite in India(all sports). Most of our Olympians are from rural areas that don't even have access to electricity, water and fuel and aren't even connected well either by roads or railways. The fact that some of our athletes succeed despite these obstacles is a true testament to their determination

[rickhunter]

SWIMMING IS NOT FOR POOR FAMILIES IN THE UNITED STATES.

[scottmann]

As a high school wrestling coach of going on 18 years I can tell you wrestling, swimming, etc... any of these sports are accessible to anyone but for those looking to go D1 for starters or have a crack at making the national team some day it does become not just a cost commitment but also very much a time and family commitment. The kid and family have to first understand and then agree that what it's going to take is a full on commitment to chasing the dream. You may have to give up going to this teenage social event or that school event in order to prep and train for whatever it is your doing that weekend athletically. And to be clear there is a HUGE different between being collegiate D1 and making the national team. Cause I'm sure some on here might reply with "well my buddy went to homecoming and prom and went D1". Yea but your buddy probably isn't Kyle Dake or Kyle Snyder or Katie Ledecky, Snyder even opted out of his senior year of high school wrestling to go train at the USA Wrestling training center as a 17 year old to prepare for wrestling at Ohio State and ultimately Team USA. The point is and I tell kids and parents this all the time, anyone can achieve whatever it is they wanna do, not all are willing to give up certain things to get there. How many kids and parents are willing to push the start time of opening gifts on Christmas day in order to go lift weights or run for a couple hours first? Watch not the movie Foxcatcher but the documentary about Dave / Mark Schultz and John DuPont. The Schultz's and other Olympic wrestlers back then had to basically go into poverty in order to train for worlds and the Olympics.

[untouchablex]

“Sacrifice is never easy or it is no true sacrifice.”

[kwisin]

Please consider doing one for as many sports as possible please. The Kids and Parents need to understand the complexity of sports.
We have committed to investing in our son's Baseball, training sessions can be around $15 - $30 per session. $600 team fee's. $75 - $100 ish per physicians appointment. The list goes on, but in total we budget about $6000 to $8000 per year.
Please do one for every sport you can, just like this. Great job

[Ky-xnud]

So basically Becoming an Olympian isn’t easily accessible to lower income competitors.
Got it.

[raven]

This is so true me and my brother have recently joined a swimming club and it cost a lot for my parents. I only hope we can give back what they put in.

[omyogagal]

Good analysis, WSJ!
With 2022 Winter Olympics approaching, I'd hope to see you put out same kind of reporting on figure skating which is even more excluding than swimming. In fact why not make a deep dive on what sports are only for families with certain incomes, meaning out of reach for talented chikdren from financially challenged families.

[icaniphone]

The numbers they used, while they could be true, are pretty exaggerated from most swimmers. I was a D1 swimmer from a low income home and my club dues were around $600/yr, tech suits were $500/yr, other equipment was maybe $75/yr, and I mostly competed in local meets so I really only had to pay for lodging maybe once a year.

[mariacheebandidos]

it seems the message some people (especially foreigners on the internet) get from these kinds of videos is that 
every American most spend that much money to become an olympic swimmer for team USA.





that every American pays or owes hundred of thousands of dollars in hospital bills and / or tuition.
that every American pays tens of thousands for childbirth,  
and on and on and on.

partly because people who make these kinds of videos usually focus on the worst case scenario and even exaggerate some times. they don't bother to explain the system or the fact that most people don't pay these high sums or that most people simply make better choices and do very well in the system.

[TeraGreene]

I loved this story. I started swimming competitively at the age of 5, completed the 1st -3rd kids ocean triathlon at dockweiler state beach starting age 6, participated in Stanford Swim camp around age 8 or so.... division 1 eligible in swimming and basketball when I entered university at age 16. Decided I was burnt out with everything and now I’m just happy that my 3.5 year old is taking to swimming already. I never thought I’d be a parent who’d be like “yes, do my Sport”, and I’m still not... but, it really does feel special to see your kid excelling in something that brought you so much joy for over 15 years. I will always be grateful for my journey as a swimmer and all the water sports I did (surf camps, sailing camps, etc). I am also looking at this video and seeing folks breathe after every 1 butterfly stroke. And I’m like, “when I was 12 I already perfected 4-5 butterfly strokes without breathing and even then, I would turn my head to the side like I did in freestyle, so as to keep my head closer to the water”. I guess that is why I broke so many records individually and on relays with my techniques. 😆 anyway I digress... go, swimmers, go!

[FinancialShinanigan]

Lol the legs making the perfect bunny ears for Ashley.

[iVince]

Plus eating 10, 000 calories of food during every swim. Good lord, imagine the food costs.