Summer swim brings out the crazy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like there’s drama at every pool. Is anyone at a pool where the vibe is generally relaxed and friendly?

Yes! I am on a wonderful team in division 15. It's so fun and very little drama. We don't post a ladder and coaches make all the decisions about who swims in a meet.

However, we are very small and, due to rules set by the HOA, are limited in how many outside members we can have. It's still a struggle to fill lanes

I can see how posting a ladder can take all the fun out of summer swim. What a great idea and a positive environment. I hope people are taking notes. No reason to post a team ladder so people can boast about their little swimmers.

Actually, posting the ladder provides transparency as to swims A meets and relays, and takes any potential drama out of it.

Agree. Sadly accountability is needed at times and this ensures full transparency. Even more annoying is not sharing the meet sheets with times. Our pool acts like it’s the biggest secret in the world and even tries to withhold the meet sheet with times from the ref! It’s ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The true crazies are those that start creating their own ladder by sketching out meet results.

And yes, the overzealous parents are generally newer to swim with younger swimmers.

you don't really need to do this- nvsl does it for you- https://www.mynvsl.com/leaders
just limit it to your pool and the age group you are interested in. Of course, this will only give you A meet results- so you need to pay attention at b meets and time trials.

OP here. This is what the mom in question did - her own ladder based on times for last year. She was saying her kid should make it to all the A meets unless there is someone new or my DD "knocks her out." 😳

Tell her she’s falling down on the game. She needs to be pulling winter times and converting from yards to meters not just looking at last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like there’s drama at every pool. Is anyone at a pool where the vibe is generally relaxed and friendly?

Yes! I am on a wonderful team in division 15. It's so fun and very little drama. We don't post a ladder and coaches make all the decisions about who swims in a meet.


However, we are very small and, due to rules set by the HOA, are limited in how many outside members we can have. It's still a struggle to fill lanes

I can see how posting a ladder can take all the fun out of summer swim. What a great idea and a positive environment. I hope people are taking notes. No reason to post a team ladder so people can boast about their little swimmers.

Actually, posting the ladder provides transparency as to swims A meets and relays, and takes any potential drama out of it.

Agree. Sadly accountability is needed at times and this ensures full transparency. Even more annoying is not sharing the meet sheets with times. Our pool acts like it’s the biggest secret in the world and even tries to withhold the meet sheet with times from the ref! It’s ridiculous.

Yeah our pool is the same with Heat sheets and lane assignments at B meets and time trials . Real lack of transparency..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like there’s drama at every pool. Is anyone at a pool where the vibe is generally relaxed and friendly?

Yes! I am on a wonderful team in division 15. It's so fun and very little drama. We don't post a ladder and coaches make all the decisions about who swims in a meet.

However, we are very small and, due to rules set by the HOA, are limited in how many outside members we can have. It's still a struggle to fill lanes

I can see how posting a ladder can take all the fun out of summer swim. What a great idea and a positive environment. I hope people are taking notes. No reason to post a team ladder so people can boast about their little swimmers.

Actually, posting the ladder provides transparency as to swims A meets and relays, and takes any potential drama out of it.

Agree. Sadly accountability is needed at times and this ensures full transparency. Even more annoying is not sharing the meet sheets with times. Our pool acts like it’s the biggest secret in the world and even tries to withhold the meet sheet with times from the ref! It’s ridiculous.

I’ve never heard of not sharing with the ref, but the decision to share sheets without times is made at the division -level, not the pool-level. Even if we wanted to send one out with times, our division has asked us not to.

[Anonymous]

Times and heat sheets are usually online somewhere

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like there’s drama at every pool. Is anyone at a pool where the vibe is generally relaxed and friendly?

Yes! I am on a wonderful team in division 15. It's so fun and very little drama. We don't post a ladder and coaches make all the decisions about who swims in a meet.

However, we are very small and, due to rules set by the HOA, are limited in how many outside members we can have. It's still a struggle to fill lanes

I can see how posting a ladder can take all the fun out of summer swim. What a great idea and a positive environment. I hope people are taking notes. No reason to post a team ladder so people can boast about their little swimmers.

Actually, posting the ladder provides transparency as to swims A meets and relays, and takes any potential drama out of it.

Agree. Sadly accountability is needed at times and this ensures full transparency. Even more annoying is not sharing the meet sheets with times. Our pool acts like it’s the biggest secret in the world and even tries to withhold the meet sheet with times from the ref! It’s ridiculous.

Don’t know which league you’re talking about but the NVSL handbooks states that the home team must provide (I forget exactly how many) 15 or 20 meet sheets for officials. And A meet meet sheets don’t have times, just lane assignments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guys, Tuckahoe is leading the charge on posting the ladder, right?? Because those parents are by far the craziest summer swim parents around.

OKM posts a ladder, and there aren’t crazies. It’s a lovely team with lovely families and kids. My child sometimes makes it, sometimes doesn’t, but we know it’s 100% on the up and up, particularly since we have a lot of depth in some age groups.

+1 - same for DR. Transparency keeps everyone happy.

[Anonymous]

I have an 8 and under and an 11-12 this year. I am kind of dreading being around the 8 and under parents. Most of them don’t have older kids due to the way our neighborhood turned over. Between the helicoptering and delusions that their kid will be the next superstar, many of them are pretty annoying. I probably won’t stay at practice because I think my kid will be fine if I am up the street at home. I appreciate the 11-12 parent vibe. By that age kids have generally either decided they are “swimmers” (as in year round, first priority sport) or not. The pecking order is pretty well established and you don’t have parents telling their kids to beat their own teammate. They just support whatever the kids’ goals are for swimming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The true crazies are those that start creating their own ladder by sketching out meet results.

And yes, the overzealous parents are generally newer to swim with younger swimmers.

you don't really need to do this- nvsl does it for you- https://www.mynvsl.com/leaders
just limit it to your pool and the age group you are interested in. Of course, this will only give you A meet results- so you need to pay attention at b meets and time trials.

OP here. This is what the mom in question did - her own ladder based on times for last year. She was saying her kid should make it to all the A meets unless there is someone new or my DD "knocks her out." 😳

For every parent who tells others about the ladder they created, there are at least 10 parents who create one but don’t tell anyone.

[Anonymous]

We joined a Div 2 pool a few years back and I was really really dreading swim team culture, but overall I found it really chill and fun. Our coach loves to win but he's also all about bringing the fun. I can't really get into stuff like the pep rallies - I'm too old for that shi, same for things like spirit days at my kid's school.

But even though my kid was on the A meet bubble when he was 8 and under, I never felt lots of pressure or competitiveness. Everyone seemed to be cheering him on. And after COVID, when he was out of shape and dropped back to all B meet status, he still had a great time, and still does now in 12 and under even though the A meet crew is off doing year round swim and he's all B all the time. He still just loves cheering everyone on and having his teammates root for him to beat his times.

The coach does send out a weekly ladder and it feels like it could really be SO much more drama without it, like rumors and intrigue and people stalking each other's times to claim wrongdoing. It gets emailed to parents, not posted up on paper at the pool. It seems to work well.

OP, just keep busy, like be a timer at every meet. You'll meet normal people. Coach your kid to care about swimming bests. Cheer on others' success. Make it fun.

[Anonymous]

I wished we had a ladder. The coach just emails an invite the day before, so it's difficult to tell what is going to happen. That and we have a mixture of courses meters and yards, so it's difficult to tell where your kid stands that and the A-meets swimmers don't swim the B-meet schedule so you don't know when they swam that one fast event probably at the time trial on June 7, because they haven't swam a time near that in several weeks false starting even and your kid is beating them in all of the B-meets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The true crazies are those that start creating their own ladder by sketching out meet results.

And yes, the overzealous parents are generally newer to swim with younger swimmers.

you don't really need to do this- nvsl does it for you- https://www.mynvsl.com/leaders
just limit it to your pool and the age group you are interested in. Of course, this will only give you A meet results- so you need to pay attention at b meets and time trials.

OP here. This is what the mom in question did - her own ladder based on times for last year. She was saying her kid should make it to all the A meets unless there is someone new or my DD "knocks her out." 😳

For every parent who tells others about the ladder they created, there are at least 10 parents who create one but don’t tell anyone.

So true lol

[Anonymous]

So much of it is the coach and specific pool culture ours is great. B meets are a big deal with a lot of cheering. My kid will never swim an A meet and she's fine with it and has a great time and works hard at practice to best her own times. They get rewards every week they best their own time in a B meet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our team publishes a ladder. I think it's a better way to do it; it makes the process a lot more transparent. Also, don't all sports in this area bring out the crazies? This is not unique to swimming.

I disagree. I think it creates a situation where swimmers are pitting themselves against teammates to "beat" them and take their position on the ladder. Swim should never be about beating your own teammate. It sets up a bad culture.

Honey…if the pool is that competitive that a ladder is necessary for transparency…swimmers are already trying to beat each other. These are **races.**

Agreed, the ladder is fostering a team culture that is already in place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guys, Tuckahoe is leading the charge on posting the ladder, right?? Because those parents are by far the craziest summer swim parents around.

OKM posts a ladder, and there aren’t crazies. It’s a lovely team with lovely families and kids. My child sometimes makes it, sometimes doesn’t, but we know it’s 100% on the up and up, particularly since we have a lot of depth in some age groups.

OKM is not as chill as they say. They expect everyone to "suit up" for meets and actually collect tech suits for those that don't swim club and would not have them. That is nice that they do it, but that is an expectation for crazy.

It is a 50 meter swim. A tech suit is not going to make a real difference but they tell the swimmers it will.