Getting into club / year round swimming
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Anonymous
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I will discuss this with my son’s summer coach, but I want to do some research on my own as well.
How do I determine if competitive swimming is a good fit for my kid? How do we get started? When do we need to line up try-outs for fall 2023? My son has a summer birthday advantageous for summer swimming. He did summer team last year and will swim 8&U this year, turning 9 in July. He plays rec baseball, but I think that will end after the upcoming season. He is not very good and it’s becoming less fun although he still asks to do it. For baseball, it’s like he’s going through the motions to be with friends. Last summer for swim team he was up and dressed, ready for his 7:15 practice every day without any reminders - completely opposite of his morning behavior during the school year. He missed 1 practice the whole season. We signed him up for Norman swimming and I’ve seen big improvements in his stroke technique- but he is pretty middle of the pack for his lane speed wise. My main motivation for looking into a year-round 2-3x a week program is his attitude. He is always the first one in the pool on Sunday. He takes it very seriously and he has never expressed this type of passion for a sport or hobby before. I think our pool is NVSL league 6 or 7. He’s probably not going to be a college athlete. That’s not our goal. I don’t even care if he gets to go to the “best” meets. Is there a club for a kid his age who is decent, but not amazing, who loves to swim? Is that Norman, the Arlington team at Long Bridge, or something else? I was a competitive swimmer in HS, but I only swam winter because running was my main sport and I grew up in the Midwest where swim culture is totally different. |
Anonymous
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The only thing that matters in your description of your child is that he enjoyed swimming. Being fast or middle of the pack or slow as an 8u isn’t important. Having an advantageous birthday is not a reason to choose a sport. And by the way, depending on when in July, it could be advantageous or not for USA swimming. Short course season ends in mid March and long course is mid to late July depending on where you are. Zones are often late july/early august.
Find a club that isn’t too far away and doesn’t have unreasonable expectations for 8u. Ask around- that is the best way to figure out the culture of each team. Find parents who have the same priorities that you do and see where their kids swim. Since you belong to a summer swim club, I’m sure there are plenty of parents you can reach out to. You can also ask the summer swim director about the local clubs. |
Anonymous
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He'll be 8u for summer swim but will move up to the next age group for club swim next fall/winter/spring. I think all of the clubs have some sort of try-out or evaluation for prospective swimmers. If he swims A meets in the summer he'll have some times that are publicly available as well that the prospective club could see/reference. I know for RMSC these try outs are over the summer, usually one in June and another in July, you'll need to check w/ the club(s) you are interested in what their process is and when the try outs are. In terms of who makes the cut and who doesn't, that depends somewhat on age - a younger kid(5,6,7) won't need to necessarily know all the strokes or have that much endurance but older kids will - at 9 your son would be expected to know/be legal in all 4 strokes and show some level of minimal endurance in terms of being able to sustain effort for hour long practice. |
Anonymous
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My 7 y/o loved summer swim. Now he’s 8 swimming two nights a week with a club. He does a meet once a month and it’s fun but not super intense. It’s good exercise and he’s learning how to objectively work and improve at something. He’s learning that going to all the practices is why he is able to shave off times at the meets. He’s having fun and meeting new friends.
We aren’t planning for any swim career beyond the present. Take it as it comes! |
Anonymous
| OP what pool is near you? Look at the clubs that practice there. Then inquire about trying out. Some will let your kid swim a practice in the spring to place. At home he will either be an age group or pre age group swimmer. |
Anonymous
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If he loves it, that’s a good reason to look for a program but I don’t have a specific recommendation now as we moved from the area. Agree that birthday is not a good reason to choose a sport, especially in swimming when there are meets throughout the year. My son has the worst possible birthday for year round swimming but he is very good and while he does not get quite as much “glory” in the championship meets as an age grouper due to birthday, I think it’s probably good for his longer term development and having to hustle more to qualify “up” is advantageous in the long run.
Honestly I would start with what is most convenient to where you live, then visit and get a feel for the vibe. I think it’s super important to keep it fun and light at that age. |
Anonymous
| Ask Matt Norman - he knows the local landscape and is super easy to talk to. Given your description I would recommend York or AAC - both solid teams with practices close to you. |
Anonymous
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It sounds just like us last year. Most of tryouts are in June and July. My son's summer team (MCSL division B) has some fast kids from AAC(Arlington?)
I would say try out as many as you can, as you never know which club will offer your son the spot. each year spots of these clubs/sites varied a lot. Then pick up the nearest and most convenient for commute. we tried out in some site as mini (also turning 9 at the end of July), some as 9-10 group. got rejected everywhere until I coached my son to get his fly legal (at least it seemed) one week before our last tryout. He is not a fast or athletic kid, but we use club swim as his regular workout (3x/week, 1 hour) and playdate to distract from video games. also both he and myself made some friends, that makes swimming not so boring. so far he hasn't said no to practice yet. our site allows parents hanging out outside of the pool and has leisure pool so kids always hang out before or after practice...
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Anonymous
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Club swim can be expensive but try not to let price of the clubs influence you too much. Convenience of the pool and the club culture are huge.
I have known people to choose cheaper clubs that were not close and come to dread the drive over time. Remember if your kid continues to swim depending on ability somewhere around 10-11 they start swimming five days a week. That is a lot of commuting. |
Anonymous
| Thank you all! This is very helpful and gives me hope. We know HS / college age babysitters who swim - but we don’t know any families in our neighborhood / elementary with young swimmers. The very sporty kids we know are involved in travel baseball and soccer and those sports/parents make club sports seem very overwhelming. |
Anonymous
The birthday is the reason we’re quitting baseball, so it’s good to hear that it’s less important in other sports. On a team of 12 kids, 5 were more than a year older but in the same grade. |
Anonymous
Just curious, what is considered to be the "worst possible birthday for year round swimming"? Is it a fall birthday because never the oldest right before any champs meet? |
Anonymous
I would say late fall is probably the worst because you are never perfectly positioned for either SC or LC champs. My kid has a great birthday for SC champs and even though it’s a bad birthday for LC they don’t care because of how well positioned they are for SC champs. |
Anonymous
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From the sound of your post you are in Arlington? There are tons of year round swimmers that aren't that good- don't let that deter you at all. Look at the teams that have convenient practices. AAC is a good team, they pretty much practice at Long Bridge. York practices at Yorktown and Renaissance (this is behind Marshall high school). Machine practices at Tuckahoe and I think somewhere in Tysons. NCAP practices at Marymount and Tysons. (Several of those teams have lots of other practice sites as well- I'm just listing practice sites close to Arlington).
All of these teams will require a tryout. I don't think any of them are competitive in a best swimmer sort of way, rather, if your swimmer is legal in all 4 strokes, and there is space when they open registration to new members, they will accept your swimmer at age 9. Look at whether the standard practice is 2 or 3 days a week- NCAP and Machine may require 3 days a week- York and AAC both have plenty of 2 day a week options. For a 9 year old I would do 2 days a week. Let the child decide when they want to move up to more. Key is finding a team that has a practice schedule that works for you. |
Anonymous
Birthday is right before short course champs. So he is always the very youngest for short course champs and long course is not great either - he is not even to the half birthday yet if that makes sense. Winter champs is a good meet but doesn’t carry the same weight in the age group years. However, if he sticks with swimming it won’t matter at all by high school, and in the meantime we talk about perseverance and hard work. |