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We leverage our insights and connections to get college coaches to initiate contact with our swimmers, resulting in better scholarship offers and potential.

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Who are we?

American College Connection is the only Recruiting Education Company in the world that provides a personalized approach to recruiting for swimming. Our priority is to help the swimmers find the right fit for academics by leveraging their swimming. We have a worldwide clientele of student-athletes and their families. All of us are former college swim coaches with the exception of our Academic Advisor who is a teaching professional. We help the families identify schools that would be a good fit for academics and swimming and we contact the coaches directly.

Meet Our Team

Melynda Nash

Melynda Nash

Having been an educator and student outreach advisor for over 20 years, Melynda brings a wealth of knowledge to our team which helps our student-athletes understand the academic side of recruiting. Her extensive knowledge of navigating the education system at all academic levels, and passion for helping students reach their highest potential and be successful greatly enhances ACC’s ongoing commitment to helping student-athletes find the best all-around fit for college.

On her off time, Melynda enjoys researching college landscapes, playing pool, exploring the mountains of Pennsylvania with her 2 foster pups, Buttons and Willow, and visiting her 3 children: Holly, Jake (& wife, Jill) , and Amanda (& husband, Mitchell) along with her 2 grandbabies, McKenna and Camden.

Melynda is a proud veteran of the United States Navy.

Lori Payne

Lori Payne

Lori is a true water baby, having grown up under the sun of S Florida, and the umbrella of wonderful coaches. Recruited in high school as a distance swimmer, she swam at UNC-Chapel Hill: took the ‘mandatory time off after college’ and reinvented herself as a USMS master swimmer. She has been a part of masters since 1991 in many different capacities on the local and national level.With a degree in sports management, and thirty years of coaching experience at all levels, Lori knows just what makes the student athlete recruiting process successful.

 

Her free time is spent with her family of kids and dogs. Her passions include travel, music and anything outdoors or water related.

rick-paine-new

Rick Paine

Rick is the co-founder of American College Connection. He has coached club swimming for 28 years and has served as an Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for 17 years at a major Division I university. During his tenure there, Rick personally coached 9 Olympians, 37 NCAA All-Americans, and National Champions in 11 different countries (including the United States). He had the honor of serving as one of the Olympic Head Coaches for the Austrian Olympic Team in 2000, and also served on the staffs at the Helsinki and Istanbul European Championships. Most recently, Rick was formally inducted into the Midwestern Swimming LSC Hall of Fame (2015).

 

Rick loves listening to music with his wife and working out.

Reviews from Coaches & Families

Families
Coaches
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You really are the best at what you do! Dawn, Lawrence is “deep in his bones” happy – He’s just on top of the moon. We owe you so very much….this opportunity at Emory would have never been possible without your support – I sincerely mean this – you  made all the difference! Lawrence will compose a formal thank you soon – but I want you to know – you are terrific at what you do – and you have been a terrific resource for our family. We are sincerely grateful. Lawrence is great at keeping in touch with former coaches – so I am sure he will keep you updated over the next four years. Take care – and let’s stay in touch. You really are the best at what you do!
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Thank you !! We would’ve never known about the amazing opportunities that Ohiouniversity has to offer without the help of Rick Paine and American CollegeConnections, thank you!
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From the very first phone call held with Rick Paine I knew that Cassandra was in good hands. Without the assistance of Rick and America College Connection our daughter would not have received the $100,000.00 scholarship that she has received and likely not completed her swimming career in the USA. When Cassandra first advised us that her intention was to attend a USA College to swim (we reside in Canada) we were really unsure how to go about the process. My wife tried to complete the process on her own but never received any substantial contact from schools. It was very late in my daughters last year of high school when I made the decision to contact American College Connection. From the very first phone call held with Rick Paine I knew that Cassandra was in good hands and within days we had received phone calls and emails from schools across the US. Rick was very upfront and did not make any false promises regarding the recruiting process or amounts that our daughter could/would receive from the schools. Thanks to Rick Cassandra has just entered her third year at Canisus College which to date has been a very rewarding experience.
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With ACC’s help Anna was able to talk with coaches from all over the United States! “It has been an exciting and very informative 2 years working with Rick Paine and the ACC Team.  With their help Anna was able to talk with coaches from all over the United States.  At last count, she had talked with approximately 50 different coaches, and had the opportunity to explore many different schools and swim programs.  Without their help, she might of talked to 6 coaches.  In the end, she had several offers.  This would not of happened without the guidance of the ACC team.
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We started working with Rick and the ACC team during our son Donovan’s sophomore year in high school.  Our son had been competing at a high level for several years, and we were advised by our friends to get started early on the college search.  We got some piecemeal advice about the process, such as getting an NCAA clearinghouse number, and we were told about the standard websites for information, but still had no clear direction on how to get started. Thankfully, we were referred to Rick and ACC, and we quickly got started down the correct path.  He was able to serve as an intermediary to contact coaches from schools that Donovan was interested in, and we could see their responses showing interest appear almost immediately.  This made us feel relieved more than anything because NCAA rules prohibited direct contact before junior year.   We uploaded a few videos to the ACC website, and they edited them nicely to show his strengths and how he races. When the infamous September 1st date came (when coaches were allowed to contact Donovan directly by email), he was so excited to see his inbox fill up with emails from interested teams!  Rick guided us every step of the way from the initial correspondence, phone calls, and gave invaluable advice about “selling your potential.”  Donovan quickly became confident and proficient at communicating with coaches, and this is a life skill that will serve him well throughout his life.  Rick helped us to arrange visits to several schools, and very much paved the way to success on the visits, so that he would leave a great first impression. Rick was honest and forthright about what schools were realistic and which ones were a bit of a reach for his times, and also helped to shape our vision of what might be a perfect fit.  I am happy to say that Donovan has accepted a scholarship to swim at his first choice, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  He committed in April of his junior year, and he is still so happy and excited about his future collegiate career. We can’t thank Rick and the ACC team enough, and we absolutely recommend their services to anyone who wants to swim in college.  Regardless of times, academics, or their own goals, ACC will help find the right fit for your swimmer!
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From the moment we contacted Rick, who was referred to us by friends who had used ACC, the ball started rolling. We would like to thank Rick and his team at ACC for the effort and commitment shown, in helping our daughter Ashleigh achieve her dream of swimming for a college in the USA. This has been a dream of her’s for a long time, and we were not fully equipped to help her with the daunting process of contacting and selecting potential colleges. We are from South Africa, and didn’t really know where or how to even start the process. From the moment we contacted Rick, who was referred to us by friends who had used ACC, the ball started rolling. Rick and his team did all of the groundwork, and next moment coaches were contacting Ash and the process was under way. Rick spent time and effort getting to understand Ash and her interests. He and his team helped with academic advice and the SAT’s. This helped enormously and Ash has recently made a verbal commitment to join the UALR swim team. Thanks Rick and everyone at ACC. Thanks to Melynda for her patience and constant support no matter how small the problem or question was. Without you all, this would not have happened. We would gladly recommend using you and your team, to anyone.
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Since our initial contact in the summer of 2002 my son has received hundreds of personal letters from colleges all over the USA with a sincere interest in his athletic ability. We would never have had the time, resources or connections it takes to manage this task and make it happen without the help of your company. Without these tools, we would have been a lost ball in high weeds. Also appreciated, is your straight from the hip talk you gave my son on how important his grades needed to be, his presentation of himself, and all the tricks of the trade you passed our way. It was a huge help. The only regret I have is not having met you personally to thank you and shake your hand. Will look forward to that down the road and we’ll keep you informed on the career in school.
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American College Connection has taught us a lot about the recruiting process that we could have never learned on our own. They have opened doors for Sam that I never knew existed that have resulted in fantastic opportunities. ACC’s personal involvement with us shows that THEY CARE about the kids they work for. I would highly recommend American College Connection to any parent who has a child who dreams of playing college sports.
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Finding Rick and ACC was an absolute godsend! We had initial contacts with some American Colleges but the choice out there was mind boggling for us! Rick initially spoke to us in detail about our son, to find out what his College and Swimming needs were for the next four years. He was clearly genuinely interested in ensuring our son got the best ‘fit’ in all areas. Rick sent out our son’s credentials and we then sat back and watched the emails drop in! Within a matter of days we had Skype calls booked, telephone calls booked and email exchanges going back and forth with Colleges genuinely keen to recruit our son! With Rick’s guidance, the Colleges were narrowed down and our son received just over $400,000 of scholarship offers! An incredible achievement. Rick then continued to work closely with our son – giving good, clear, unbiased advice and guidance at all times. He was also at the end of the phone every time our son called him – which was a huge advantage based on the fact we had a transatlantic time difference to contend with as well! When our son made his final choice, Rick then continued to help him to ask the right last few questions, and to then contact the other Coaches to thank them all for their interest. Rick has been a strong partner in this period for our son choosing his next stage of swimming and education career – and will no doubt be on board for the rest of the ride over the next four years. Thank you Rick!
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We were grateful to have American College We potentially could have figured out how to navigate the recruitingprocess, but it was one more thing we would have had to add to ouroverflowing to-do lists. We were grateful to have American CollegeConnection and Rick as a partner. His familiarity with the unspoken rules ofthe game and the college coaches and programs helped us de-risk ourrecruiting journey and gave us more confidence about our decision-makingprocess. Thanks Rick!
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Jonathan Mayer, Head Coach – Guymon Swim Team “American College Connection is a tremendous organization that has helped my swimmers greatly. Coming from a small town, there was no way any of my swimmers would have been noticed by colleges but with ACC all of them have received letters from colleges, all over the nation, interested in them. One of my swimmers was even offered a scholarship, which never would have happened if it weren’t for ACC. ACC has done a fantastic job in finding colleges interested in my swimmers, I can not say enough good things about them.”
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John M., Head Coach, Division I Women’s Swimming You provide an excellent service and the only one that I trust when it comes to swimmers. Your video work is exceptional and your updates on recruits are timely (unlike the other services). Please keep up the great work on behalf of your clients. There’s no doubt that you’re the best. Thanks,
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Jim Bridge, parent and coach, Alexandria, South Dakota “Good Morning! The response from college coaches has been impressive, overwhelming and humbling. Thank you for all that your company has done so far. The decision making process is in the early stages. I appreciate your effort and support. Thanks again.”
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Jan Bidrman, Canadian Olympic Coach, 2000 Olympics “I had a wonderful collegiate experience in the U.S. which has led me to the coaching profession, and my coaching experience has been extremely rewarding. Now is the time for you to start the process to come to the U.S. to swim in college and American College Connection will provide you the best possible guidance in completing the process.”
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JB Barr- Head Coach Sarpy County Swim Team “We have been utilizing ACC recruits for several years now. Many of our swimmers have benefitted greatly from working with Rick and his staff. They are professional, prompt, and extremely helpful. They best part is, they really know how to fit an athlete with the best school for him or her!” JB Barr- Head Coach Sarpy County Swim Team and parent of two sons who worked with ACC
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Debbie Bratten, Mom and Assistant Coach, Ottumwa, Iowa “When parents ask me if American College Connection was worth our investment, my answer is a resounding Yes. With the help of his coaches and ACC, our son signed early at a very prestigious university with a top 20 Division I program for a scholarship worth over $70,000. As the result of ACC’s efforts, he had over $200,000 in offers to choose from and he was recruited by over 50 schools.”
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What a great feature that is for a college coach to have direct access to a student-athlete’s film. I wanted to thank you for the updated information on Jessica Buche.  I was able to go to your website to view her video highlights. What a great feature that is for a college coach to have direct access to a student-athlete’s film. Thank you for all your efforts in promoting Jessica to our program. Lisa D. Assistant Coach, University of Colorado volleyball
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We have stellar relationships with our college coaches! Rick knows every college coach in the country and has excellent relationships with them. Here is an example of emails we receive from coaches: Thanks for your help in getting this team rebuilt.  I know I haven’t thanked you enough for the opportunities, guidance and mentorship you given me over the years.  I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for you.  Thank you Doug Douglas Humphrey Head Swimming & Diving Coach South Dakota State University
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WHAT DO COLLEGE COACHES THINK OF AMERICAN COLLEGE CONNECTION? While current college coaches are not allowed to endorse any recruiting services, we have several former college coaches who we worked with for years, and this is what they have to say about us: “American College Connection has been the best recruiting tool that I have experienced over the last 40 years. Probably the best part of it is the follow up of honest appraisal  given by Rick Paine on each candidate. His assessment has always been spot on each time I have asked his opinion on specific candidates. Using American College Connection has positively helped our program over the years.” C. Rob Orr Former Coach Princeton University third on the all-time wins list for Division I swimming coaches “The American College Connection has proven to be the best single source that we rely on for information about prospective student athletes. We value their recommendations and have a high level of trust in the information they provide for us.” Rick, you have provided a valuable service for us and I have enjoyed the opportunity to work with you. Denny Dennis Pursley; Former Alabama Head Coach named one of the 25 most influential people in the history of USA Swimming in 2003 five time Olympic coach inducted into the American Swimming Coaches Hall of Fame in 2006 USA Olympic Team staff and was awarded 1980 “Coach of the Year” honors by the American Swimming Coaches Association. the first head coach of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) the first USA Swimming National Team Director in 1989 Head Coach of the Olympian Swim Club in Edmonton, Alberta Olympic head coach of the British team in 2012 “Rick and his associates at American College Connection provided our coaches with consistently great information about prospects. We could quickly determine if the prospect might possibly be a good fit. Rick responded to my questions quickly and was willing to communicate with the prospect to help us gain further information. Over the years, we landed several great recruits whom we had not been in touch with prior to Rick reaching out to us. ACC is a great resource for both college coaches and prospects.” Rich DeSelmFormer Head Coach University of North Carolina
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Steve Beaumont, Great Bend High School swim coach “First of all, let me just say this about ACC; through the years, we have had many talented, hard working athletes much like Brooke M.; however, coming from a smaller community without the exposure that large towns and programs provide, many of them did not feel as though they really had the opportunity to continue their swimming at the next level. Your efforts, and Brooke’s determination has changed all that. Others have seen what Brooke has done and now feel like they, too, can do it.”

Comitted Students

This vibrant corner of ACC Recruits is where ambition meets achievement; a testament to the hard work and dedication of swimmer students who have successfully made the leap from high school standouts to collegiate athletes.

Reviews from Coaches & Families

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Recruiting Process Tips for Club Coaches

At American College Connection we try to engage the club coach in the recruiting process. After all, it is their coaching that has enabled their swimmer to be fast enough