Switching teams etiquette

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you switching teams if the currently relationship between your swimmer and coach is positive?

Oftentimes a talented swimmer needs a bigger club so they can attend the harder meets and have a better group of swimmers their age. It has nothing to do with the coaching.

Or a swimmer hits a plateau and a new coach and new perspective could be the push the swimmer needs.

This is NCAP propaganda. You can swim fast at any club if your coaching is good and your athlete works hard. “Better meets” only matter if you are super elite

It isn't propoganda. Small clubs might move a talented 11 year old to their senior group but the training is different for a 17 year old and that is their only option. At a club like NCAP (and if you look at the top USAswimming clubs nationwide you will see the top clubs are scattered around the U.S.) you will have other swimmer your own age to push you to train harder. They will have better coaching and attend meets that will push a kid to be faster.

[Anonymous]

Just know that some coaches/clubs will be upset/mad about it no matter what you do. And some will not care at all. Be ready for any reaction. And know that it’s not you. It’s them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you switching teams if the currently relationship between your swimmer and coach is positive?

Oftentimes a talented swimmer needs a bigger club so they can attend the harder meets and have a better group of swimmers their age. It has nothing to do with the coaching.

Or a swimmer hits a plateau and a new coach and new perspective could be the push the swimmer needs.

This is NCAP propaganda. You can swim fast at any club if your coaching is good and your athlete works hard. “Better meets” only matter if you are super elite

NP, this is actually just true, not propaganda from the bigger clubs. Having a training cohort of other fast swimmers is important not only so swimmers can continue to train with the appropriate age group and not feel like they need to swim up to be challenged, but so they are training to the best of their ability rather than down to the ability of the swimmers around them.

+1

There are clubs and there are elite clubs. There is a difference. Not total propaganda, but some of it is.

The key is in bold. This is why elite clubs exist. Like attracts like. No different than any other sport. You want to perform at your best? You need to train with the best (both coaches and fellow swimmers). Katie Ledecky herself moved from Stanford to Florida in order to train for the Paris 2024 Olympics (and also to be closer to family on the East Coast).

That’s true, but for every Katie Ledecky or Phoebe Bacon or Andrew Wilson or Torri Huske, there are 1000 local kids who are pretty good but will never be elite. They are better off focusing on enjoying the sport than worrying about the elite status of their club. 95% won’t get a $ of scholarship money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you switching teams if the currently relationship between your swimmer and coach is positive?

Oftentimes a talented swimmer needs a bigger club so they can attend the harder meets and have a better group of swimmers their age. It has nothing to do with the coaching.

Or a swimmer hits a plateau and a new coach and new perspective could be the push the swimmer needs.

This is NCAP propaganda. You can swim fast at any club if your coaching is good and your athlete works hard. “Better meets” only matter if you are super elite

NP, this is actually just true, not propaganda from the bigger clubs. Having a training cohort of other fast swimmers is important not only so swimmers can continue to train with the appropriate age group and not feel like they need to swim up to be challenged, but so they are training to the best of their ability rather than down to the ability of the swimmers around them.

+1

There are clubs and there are elite clubs. There is a difference. Not total propaganda, but some of it is.

The key is in bold. This is why elite clubs exist. Like attracts like. No different than any other sport. You want to perform at your best? You need to train with the best (both coaches and fellow swimmers). Katie Ledecky herself moved from Stanford to Florida in order to train for the Paris 2024 Olympics (and also to be closer to family on the East Coast).

That’s true, but for every Katie Ledecky or Phoebe Bacon or Andrew Wilson or Torri Huske, there are 1000 local kids who are pretty good but will never be elite. They are better off focusing on enjoying the sport than worrying about the elite status of their club. 95% won’t get a $ of scholarship money.

PP- to play devil’s advocate- there are some great coaches and swimmers in this area. By moving them to an elite program, it helped them set high standards for themselves. Our previous team didn’t have a core group of committed people and the coach was very disorganized. Although my swimmer didn’t get scholarship money for college, they are swimming at the D3 level at a top academic school and thriving in college. As a young adult- they have great time management skills and are very driven to succeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you switching teams if the currently relationship between your swimmer and coach is positive?

Oftentimes a talented swimmer needs a bigger club so they can attend the harder meets and have a better group of swimmers their age. It has nothing to do with the coaching.

Or a swimmer hits a plateau and a new coach and new perspective could be the push the swimmer needs.

This is NCAP propaganda. You can swim fast at any club if your coaching is good and your athlete works hard. “Better meets” only matter if you are super elite

NP, this is actually just true, not propaganda from the bigger clubs. Having a training cohort of other fast swimmers is important not only so swimmers can continue to train with the appropriate age group and not feel like they need to swim up to be challenged, but so they are training to the best of their ability rather than down to the ability of the swimmers around them.

+1

There are clubs and there are elite clubs. There is a difference. Not total propaganda, but some of it is.

The key is in bold. This is why elite clubs exist. Like attracts like. No different than any other sport. You want to perform at your best? You need to train with the best (both coaches and fellow swimmers). Katie Ledecky herself moved from Stanford to Florida in order to train for the Paris 2024 Olympics (and also to be closer to family on the East Coast).

That’s true, but for every Katie Ledecky or Phoebe Bacon or Andrew Wilson or Torri Huske, there are 1000 local kids who are pretty good but will never be elite. They are better off focusing on enjoying the sport than worrying about the elite status of their club. 95% won’t get a $ of scholarship money.

+1

The last paragraph is true. There are tons of great swimmers, very few elite and even fewer Olympians. Your chances of scholarships are pretty low. Do what is best for your kid and let them enjoy their childhood. Pushing your kid to train like an elite swimmer at 8 years old is crazy. They will burn out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you switching teams if the currently relationship between your swimmer and coach is positive?

Oftentimes a talented swimmer needs a bigger club so they can attend the harder meets and have a better group of swimmers their age. It has nothing to do with the coaching.

Or a swimmer hits a plateau and a new coach and new perspective could be the push the swimmer needs.

This is NCAP propaganda. You can swim fast at any club if your coaching is good and your athlete works hard. “Better meets” only matter if you are super elite

NP, this is actually just true, not propaganda from the bigger clubs. Having a training cohort of other fast swimmers is important not only so swimmers can continue to train with the appropriate age group and not feel like they need to swim up to be challenged, but so they are training to the best of their ability rather than down to the ability of the swimmers around them.

+1

There are clubs and there are elite clubs. There is a difference. Not total propaganda, but some of it is.

The key is in bold. This is why elite clubs exist. Like attracts like. No different than any other sport. You want to perform at your best? You need to train with the best (both coaches and fellow swimmers). Katie Ledecky herself moved from Stanford to Florida in order to train for the Paris 2024 Olympics (and also to be closer to family on the East Coast).

That’s true, but for every Katie Ledecky or Phoebe Bacon or Andrew Wilson or Torri Huske, there are 1000 local kids who are pretty good but will never be elite. They are better off focusing on enjoying the sport than worrying about the elite status of their club. 95% won’t get a $ of scholarship money.

There are also varying levels of “elite”. Of course most kids are not going to the Olympics, but there are also the kids that want to swim D1 or make Olympic trials cuts, and there are the kids that want to swim D2 or D3. If you fall within those categories (particularly swimmers aiming to swim D1) there are a handful of clubs that train at that level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you switching teams if the currently relationship between your swimmer and coach is positive?

Oftentimes a talented swimmer needs a bigger club so they can attend the harder meets and have a better group of swimmers their age. It has nothing to do with the coaching.

Or a swimmer hits a plateau and a new coach and new perspective could be the push the swimmer needs.

This is NCAP propaganda. You can swim fast at any club if your coaching is good and your athlete works hard. “Better meets” only matter if you are super elite

NP, this is actually just true, not propaganda from the bigger clubs. Having a training cohort of other fast swimmers is important not only so swimmers can continue to train with the appropriate age group and not feel like they need to swim up to be challenged, but so they are training to the best of their ability rather than down to the ability of the swimmers around them.

+1

There are clubs and there are elite clubs. There is a difference. Not total propaganda, but some of it is.

The key is in bold. This is why elite clubs exist. Like attracts like. No different than any other sport. You want to perform at your best? You need to train with the best (both coaches and fellow swimmers). Katie Ledecky herself moved from Stanford to Florida in order to train for the Paris 2024 Olympics (and also to be closer to family on the East Coast).

That’s true, but for every Katie Ledecky or Phoebe Bacon or Andrew Wilson or Torri Huske, there are 1000 local kids who are pretty good but will never be elite. They are better off focusing on enjoying the sport than worrying about the elite status of their club. 95% won’t get a $ of scholarship money.

There are also varying levels of “elite”. Of course most kids are not going to the Olympics, but there are also the kids that want to swim D1 or make Olympic trials cuts, and there are the kids that want to swim D2 or D3. If you fall within those categories (particularly swimmers aiming to swim D1) there are a handful of clubs that train at that level.

What clubs train at the D1 level?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you switching teams if the currently relationship between your swimmer and coach is positive?

Oftentimes a talented swimmer needs a bigger club so they can attend the harder meets and have a better group of swimmers their age. It has nothing to do with the coaching.

Or a swimmer hits a plateau and a new coach and new perspective could be the push the swimmer needs.

This is NCAP propaganda. You can swim fast at any club if your coaching is good and your athlete works hard. “Better meets” only matter if you are super elite

NP, this is actually just true, not propaganda from the bigger clubs. Having a training cohort of other fast swimmers is important not only so swimmers can continue to train with the appropriate age group and not feel like they need to swim up to be challenged, but so they are training to the best of their ability rather than down to the ability of the swimmers around them.

+1

There are clubs and there are elite clubs. There is a difference. Not total propaganda, but some of it is.

The key is in bold. This is why elite clubs exist. Like attracts like. No different than any other sport. You want to perform at your best? You need to train with the best (both coaches and fellow swimmers). Katie Ledecky herself moved from Stanford to Florida in order to train for the Paris 2024 Olympics (and also to be closer to family on the East Coast).

That’s true, but for every Katie Ledecky or Phoebe Bacon or Andrew Wilson or Torri Huske, there are 1000 local kids who are pretty good but will never be elite. They are better off focusing on enjoying the sport than worrying about the elite status of their club. 95% won’t get a $ of scholarship money.

There are also varying levels of “elite”. Of course most kids are not going to the Olympics, but there are also the kids that want to swim D1 or make Olympic trials cuts, and there are the kids that want to swim D2 or D3. If you fall within those categories (particularly swimmers aiming to swim D1) there are a handful of clubs that train at that level.

And yet there are at least eight local clubs that have a D1 swimmer in the class of 2024.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you switching teams if the currently relationship between your swimmer and coach is positive?

Oftentimes a talented swimmer needs a bigger club so they can attend the harder meets and have a better group of swimmers their age. It has nothing to do with the coaching.

Or a swimmer hits a plateau and a new coach and new perspective could be the push the swimmer needs.

This is NCAP propaganda. You can swim fast at any club if your coaching is good and your athlete works hard. “Better meets” only matter if you are super elite

NP, this is actually just true, not propaganda from the bigger clubs. Having a training cohort of other fast swimmers is important not only so swimmers can continue to train with the appropriate age group and not feel like they need to swim up to be challenged, but so they are training to the best of their ability rather than down to the ability of the swimmers around them.

+1

There are clubs and there are elite clubs. There is a difference. Not total propaganda, but some of it is.

The key is in bold. This is why elite clubs exist. Like attracts like. No different than any other sport. You want to perform at your best? You need to train with the best (both coaches and fellow swimmers). Katie Ledecky herself moved from Stanford to Florida in order to train for the Paris 2024 Olympics (and also to be closer to family on the East Coast).

That’s true, but for every Katie Ledecky or Phoebe Bacon or Andrew Wilson or Torri Huske, there are 1000 local kids who are pretty good but will never be elite. They are better off focusing on enjoying the sport than worrying about the elite status of their club. 95% won’t get a $ of scholarship money.

There are also varying levels of “elite”. Of course most kids are not going to the Olympics, but there are also the kids that want to swim D1 or make Olympic trials cuts, and there are the kids that want to swim D2 or D3. If you fall within those categories (particularly swimmers aiming to swim D1) there are a handful of clubs that train at that level.

What clubs train at the D1 level?

I would say Machine, NCAP, RMSC, ASA and AAC are the clubs that are designing the training for their top training group to produce D1/Olympic trials qualifier swimmers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you switching teams if the currently relationship between your swimmer and coach is positive?

Oftentimes a talented swimmer needs a bigger club so they can attend the harder meets and have a better group of swimmers their age. It has nothing to do with the coaching.

Or a swimmer hits a plateau and a new coach and new perspective could be the push the swimmer needs.

This is NCAP propaganda. You can swim fast at any club if your coaching is good and your athlete works hard. “Better meets” only matter if you are super elite

NP, this is actually just true, not propaganda from the bigger clubs. Having a training cohort of other fast swimmers is important not only so swimmers can continue to train with the appropriate age group and not feel like they need to swim up to be challenged, but so they are training to the best of their ability rather than down to the ability of the swimmers around them.

+1

There are clubs and there are elite clubs. There is a difference. Not total propaganda, but some of it is.

The key is in bold. This is why elite clubs exist. Like attracts like. No different than any other sport. You want to perform at your best? You need to train with the best (both coaches and fellow swimmers). Katie Ledecky herself moved from Stanford to Florida in order to train for the Paris 2024 Olympics (and also to be closer to family on the East Coast).

That’s true, but for every Katie Ledecky or Phoebe Bacon or Andrew Wilson or Torri Huske, there are 1000 local kids who are pretty good but will never be elite. They are better off focusing on enjoying the sport than worrying about the elite status of their club. 95% won’t get a $ of scholarship money.

There are also varying levels of “elite”. Of course most kids are not going to the Olympics, but there are also the kids that want to swim D1 or make Olympic trials cuts, and there are the kids that want to swim D2 or D3. If you fall within those categories (particularly swimmers aiming to swim D1) there are a handful of clubs that train at that level.

What clubs train at the D1 level?

I would say Machine, NCAP, RMSC, ASA and AAC are the clubs that are designing the training for their top training group to produce D1/Olympic trials qualifier swimmers.

Agree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you switching teams if the currently relationship between your swimmer and coach is positive?

Oftentimes a talented swimmer needs a bigger club so they can attend the harder meets and have a better group of swimmers their age. It has nothing to do with the coaching.

Or a swimmer hits a plateau and a new coach and new perspective could be the push the swimmer needs.

This is NCAP propaganda. You can swim fast at any club if your coaching is good and your athlete works hard. “Better meets” only matter if you are super elite

NP, this is actually just true, not propaganda from the bigger clubs. Having a training cohort of other fast swimmers is important not only so swimmers can continue to train with the appropriate age group and not feel like they need to swim up to be challenged, but so they are training to the best of their ability rather than down to the ability of the swimmers around them.

+1

There are clubs and there are elite clubs. There is a difference. Not total propaganda, but some of it is.

The key is in bold. This is why elite clubs exist. Like attracts like. No different than any other sport. You want to perform at your best? You need to train with the best (both coaches and fellow swimmers). Katie Ledecky herself moved from Stanford to Florida in order to train for the Paris 2024 Olympics (and also to be closer to family on the East Coast).

That’s true, but for every Katie Ledecky or Phoebe Bacon or Andrew Wilson or Torri Huske, there are 1000 local kids who are pretty good but will never be elite. They are better off focusing on enjoying the sport than worrying about the elite status of their club. 95% won’t get a $ of scholarship money.

There are also varying levels of “elite”. Of course most kids are not going to the Olympics, but there are also the kids that want to swim D1 or make Olympic trials cuts, and there are the kids that want to swim D2 or D3. If you fall within those categories (particularly swimmers aiming to swim D1) there are a handful of clubs that train at that level.

And yet there are at least eight local clubs that have a D1 swimmer in the class of 2024.

Right, and there are roughly 40-45 clubs that are a part of PVS. So if only 8 are sending swimmers to D1 schools it proves the point that there are distinctions between the clubs for swimmers that are elite.

[Anonymous]

NCAP and Machine have tons and tons more swimmers and locations, so they should have more D1 Swimmers. Why doesn't anyone understand that just as a matter of percentage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NCAP and Machine have tons and tons more swimmers and locations, so they should have more D1 Swimmers. Why doesn't anyone understand that just as a matter of percentage?

I understand that, but if you have an elite swimmer with aspirations for swimming say at a Power 5 school you’re not best served by going with the small club that doesn’t have a training cohort of swimmers of the same caliber. Is it possible to be the lone superstar at a small club and do great things, sure, but that is the harder route. Why do people get so defensive about this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NCAP and Machine have tons and tons more swimmers and locations, so they should have more D1 Swimmers. Why doesn't anyone understand that just as a matter of percentage?

It's not solely about percentage, it's about having a specific training group with the coaches, training plan, and peer cohort to develop swimmers at that level. Smaller teams have advantages over the larger ones in some ways - said as the parent of Machine swimmers. This isn't personal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you switching teams if the currently relationship between your swimmer and coach is positive?

Oftentimes a talented swimmer needs a bigger club so they can attend the harder meets and have a better group of swimmers their age. It has nothing to do with the coaching.

Or a swimmer hits a plateau and a new coach and new perspective could be the push the swimmer needs.

This is NCAP propaganda. You can swim fast at any club if your coaching is good and your athlete works hard. “Better meets” only matter if you are super elite

NP, this is actually just true, not propaganda from the bigger clubs. Having a training cohort of other fast swimmers is important not only so swimmers can continue to train with the appropriate age group and not feel like they need to swim up to be challenged, but so they are training to the best of their ability rather than down to the ability of the swimmers around them.

+1

There are clubs and there are elite clubs. There is a difference. Not total propaganda, but some of it is.

The key is in bold. This is why elite clubs exist. Like attracts like. No different than any other sport. You want to perform at your best? You need to train with the best (both coaches and fellow swimmers). Katie Ledecky herself moved from Stanford to Florida in order to train for the Paris 2024 Olympics (and also to be closer to family on the East Coast).

That’s true, but for every Katie Ledecky or Phoebe Bacon or Andrew Wilson or Torri Huske, there are 1000 local kids who are pretty good but will never be elite. They are better off focusing on enjoying the sport than worrying about the elite status of their club. 95% won’t get a $ of scholarship money.

There are also varying levels of “elite”. Of course most kids are not going to the Olympics, but there are also the kids that want to swim D1 or make Olympic trials cuts, and there are the kids that want to swim D2 or D3. If you fall within those categories (particularly swimmers aiming to swim D1) there are a handful of clubs that train at that level.

What clubs train at the D1 level?

I would say Machine, NCAP, RMSC, ASA and AAC are the clubs that are designing the training for their top training group to produce D1/Olympic trials qualifier swimmers.

They have very few D1 kids and only a handful of trials kids. I think everyone should reset their expectations as to what the average “national training group” level kid is going to achieve. Most are D3 caliber