College Swimming

Does swimming have to end once you get a job?
This is something I have been struggling with for sometime. Once you get out into the 'real world' there are so many time constraints. So many things to do, places to be, and you have got to make a living somehow. I just started my first job out of school, and I can't tell you how much I miss swimming already. Sure I still get in and practice nearly every day, but the atmosphere and the mentality have changed. It's no longer about being part of a team. It is totally for me. I am the master of my destiny so to speak.
This summer I competed at the USA National Championship swim meet in Palo Alto, CA. I tell you what, nothing has inspired me to keep swimming quite as much as that trip. I rubbed shoulders with so many famous athletes and coaches, I swam against the best in the nation, I had a blast, and even somehow got better at my long course times.
Now I'm at a small college in Western PA coaching for a college team. I love coaching, but I don't really want to leave competitive swimming behind. It has always been a huge part of my life. Winter Nationals are coming up in December, and it's the same weekend as the winter invitational that the college team goes to each year. So literally, I am faced with the choice: career, or swimming. This decision makes every time I get in the water a struggle. I am so close to the Olympic Trial cut, I can almost taste it. I want to go so badly, but I feel I have an obligation to the team that I have committed myself to. I want to be there for them when they compete at their meet. I am still very torn about this decision, but it's not completely over yet.
So what should I do? Follow my dreams and beg my coach to give me the weekend off? Or just let it go, and forever wonder what could have been?