collegiate swimming

Question
I am told that division 1 teams unofficially require their scholarship swimmers (and perhaps all of their swimmers) to practice all year long.  And that many of the stronger teams have formed a usa club so they can continue practicing with their college coach and their university. So if they practice 30 hrs a week during the official short course season, how many hours per week are they expected to practice off season?  And is their college coach actually coaching them in off season? Doesn't this violate the NCAA rules which limit the number of months and hours a competitive swimmer can practice?

Answer
Jon--
It is not necessarily a requirement, but it is highly advisable to train year-round.  If you take off large amounts of time, you lose too much in conditioning and you come back at the beginning of the season you basically start over in your training and lose too much time at the early part of the season.  Yes most college teams have an affiliation with a USS club, either run by the college coach or by a separate organization.  I am not sure of the official rules, but coaches have been getting around it for years.