10 & u who are fast due to size
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Anonymous
| What have you found generally to be the trajectory for swimmers who are very big/strong 10 & unders, and have a lot of success at the young ages mostly because they are physically larger? I know there is some literature on these kids becoming discouraged as others catch up in size/strength, but curious about your anecdotal experience/observations. |
Anonymous
| Some stay fast and some don't. Just like small and dedicated but slow 10&unders. Some get fast and some never do. |
Anonymous
This is a perfect response! So many people are always like there is only a small percentage of fast 10 year olds that remain fast so you don’t want to be fast at that age but I’m sure the percentage of “slow” swimmers at 10 that become fast is just as small. |
Anonymous
Not really talking about that - True, many fast 10u of all sizes stay fast or don’t - but there are some kids who just power through the water with a lot of speed because they are huge (like 2 years physiologically bigger/older at the same age). Puberty tends to even things out, for better or worse. |
Anonymous
| I have an 11 year old DD and I have generally seen the fast 10 and unders are still fast in the 11-12 group. However, you often see other kids starting to catch up to them as they start going through puberty and getting bigger and stronger. Instead of being the best by a wide margin, they are clustered at the top with other kids. I have also seen in the 11-12 group some of the kids that came to swimming later, say starting club at age 9 or 10 as opposed to 7 or 8, who are athletic and talented, start to catch up with the 10 and under phenoms. |
Anonymous
| OP here, my kid is huge for his age so in this situation but not likely to be a huge adult. Trying to manage expectations. |
Anonymous
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I had a coach explain to me once that kids who just power their way through the water without caring about technique when they are young have a tougher time later because they are behind on technique later. He said many quit at that point because success now requires work.
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Anonymous
| Water polo. Get your big fast 10 y/o kid to do it. |
Anonymous
| Many times the kids who are big (not just tall) and powerful at the younger ages end up being too big/heavy for swimming long term. Swimming is a sport that favors the naturally long and lean body type. |
Anonymous
| Have your kid swim for fun, not to win or get college scholorships. |
Anonymous
Not our experience. Big powerful kid is turning to big powerful teen, still smoking the skinny guys. It’s training and diet. Muscle makes a difference. |
Anonymous
Wow, Very humble and kind.  Hope you didn’t pass your nastiness on to your kid.
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Anonymous
Yep, football player build is not a good swimmer’s build (plus many of these kids end up overweight). |
Anonymous
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I have seen a lot of these kids quitting around 13-14. If they come from small parents but just bloom early. Other kids have caught up and/or surpassed them and it is mentally/emotionally tough when they won’t have the height and build. The big 10&U kids that have huge parents just keep on dominating. |
Anonymous
| It’s impossible to tell. Some of the kids who were huge at 10, stopped growing at 5’8 or 5’10” and others let on growing. Some didn’t grow until much later and grew to 5’8” or taller. It depends. Stop dreaming what your kid’s swim career will or may be. |