Summer swim brings out the crazy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW- when I had younger swimmers, I definitely created my own ladder. Not to brag or discuss with anyone- but to help my kids pick their strokes. My kids were 'on the bubble' for being in A meets- focusing on breast and fly got them into a lot more meets as 8 and unders and even 9-10s then if they had just stuck with the ever popular free.

But you don't need a ladder to tell you that. The most difficult stroke - breaststroke. If your 8 year old can swim it, you will probably swim A meets. Even at 13 if you are decently fast at breaststroke you will probably be in A meets.

Next is fly when little, but not as much as they get older. When they get older it is fly and back and you have to be fast.

Free is a losing proposition, first stroke, easiest stroke, and a lot of kids are good at it.

[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.

But the parent with a meet sheet and pen who isn't volunteering (because people volunteering are usually too busy) is pretty obvious to spot as they scribble down times for their ladder.

[Anonymous]

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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.

Our team used to share times on meet sheets. It caused parents to openly discuss times and kids to swim slower if they new they were up against a fast kid. It made the team not perform. Especially the younger ones.

When we got a new team rep, they did what your team does - state secret on times. Only the head coach and the rep gets them. We ended up having a lot more positive upsets at meets. Kids trying harder and dropping time and picking up points. It made a difference for us and is part of the reason we started moving to better divisions after being stuck at the bottom for years. There were other factors as well, but the meet sheet thing was part of the shift.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW- when I had younger swimmers, I definitely created my own ladder. Not to brag or discuss with anyone- but to help my kids pick their strokes. My kids were 'on the bubble' for being in A meets- focusing on breast and fly got them into a lot more meets as 8 and unders and even 9-10s then if they had just stuck with the ever popular free.

But you don't need a ladder to tell you that. The most difficult stroke - breaststroke. If your 8 year old can swim it, you will probably swim A meets. Even at 13 if you are decently fast at breaststroke you will probably be in A meets.

Next is fly when little, but not as much as they get older. When they get older it is fly and back and you have to be fast.

Free is a losing proposition, first stroke, easiest stroke, and a lot of kids are good at it.

Official here - more DQs in fly for 8 & unders in our division than breast. By far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW- when I had younger swimmers, I definitely created my own ladder. Not to brag or discuss with anyone- but to help my kids pick their strokes. My kids were 'on the bubble' for being in A meets- focusing on breast and fly got them into a lot more meets as 8 and unders and even 9-10s then if they had just stuck with the ever popular free.

But you don't need a ladder to tell you that. The most difficult stroke - breaststroke. If your 8 year old can swim it, you will probably swim A meets. Even at 13 if you are decently fast at breaststroke you will probably be in A meets.

Next is fly when little, but not as much as they get older. When they get older it is fly and back and you have to be fast.

Free is a losing proposition, first stroke, easiest stroke, and a lot of kids are good at it.

Official here - more DQs in fly for 8 & unders in our division than breast. By far.

The coaches need to teach them to kick and not use their arms after the first pull, might be slow but not a DQ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW- when I had younger swimmers, I definitely created my own ladder. Not to brag or discuss with anyone- but to help my kids pick their strokes. My kids were 'on the bubble' for being in A meets- focusing on breast and fly got them into a lot more meets as 8 and unders and even 9-10s then if they had just stuck with the ever popular free.

But you don't need a ladder to tell you that. The most difficult stroke - breaststroke. If your 8 year old can swim it, you will probably swim A meets. Even at 13 if you are decently fast at breaststroke you will probably be in A meets.

Next is fly when little, but not as much as they get older. When they get older it is fly and back and you have to be fast.

Free is a losing proposition, first stroke, easiest stroke, and a lot of kids are good at it.

Official here - more DQs in fly for 8 & unders in our division than breast. By far.

The coaches need to teach them to kick and not use their arms after the first pull, might be slow but not a DQ.

How about you sign up to be a coach then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW- when I had younger swimmers, I definitely created my own ladder. Not to brag or discuss with anyone- but to help my kids pick their strokes. My kids were 'on the bubble' for being in A meets- focusing on breast and fly got them into a lot more meets as 8 and unders and even 9-10s then if they had just stuck with the ever popular free.

But you don't need a ladder to tell you that. The most difficult stroke - breaststroke. If your 8 year old can swim it, you will probably swim A meets. Even at 13 if you are decently fast at breaststroke you will probably be in A meets.

Next is fly when little, but not as much as they get older. When they get older it is fly and back and you have to be fast.

Free is a losing proposition, first stroke, easiest stroke, and a lot of kids are good at it.

Official here - more DQs in fly for 8 & unders in our division than breast. By far.

The coaches need to teach them to kick and not use their arms after the first pull, might be slow but not a DQ.

Coaches told my kids to do that, but they weren't physically strong enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

OKM only allows tech suits for all swimmers at divisional relays, divisionals, ASRs, and All-Stars. The exception to that is for swimmers who are within a (let’s say) 1 second to .5 second possibility of breaking a team record. Now, OKM has gotten a lot better and faster over the last five years. That means a lot of records are going down every meet. So you will see occasional kneeskins or tech suits at dual meets solely because the swimmer is trying to break a team record. And I think that’s perfectly fine!, You are wrong about 13U tech suits not being useful in 50 m races. They are definitely useful in 50 m races! Otherwise, why would every single professional swimmer wear them in the sprint races? Honestly, it’s much like going to PVS Champs when you’re at Divisionals in D1. Every swimmer wears them, whether it’s a 12U kneeskin or 13U tech suit. It’s just the uniform at these meets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

OKM only allows tech suits for all swimmers at divisional relays, divisionals, ASRs, and All-Stars. The exception to that is for swimmers who are within a (let’s say) 1 second to .5 second possibility of breaking a team record. Now, OKM has gotten a lot better and faster over the last five years. That means a lot of records are going down every meet. So you will see occasional kneeskins or tech suits at dual meets solely because the swimmer is trying to break a team record. And I think that’s perfectly fine!, You are wrong about 13U tech suits not being useful in 50 m races. They are definitely useful in 50 m races! Otherwise, why would every single professional swimmer wear them in the sprint races? Honestly, it’s much like going to PVS Champs when you’re at Divisionals in D1. Every swimmer wears them, whether it’s a 12U kneeskin or 13U tech suit. It’s just the uniform at these meets.

Case in point on 13U tech suits:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKEYtRaIXVU/?igsh=b3hrejFlenFrcWt5I’m

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Overlee gonna Overlee. Godspeed

My family's at a division 17 pool. Just like people said, the people who either weasel their way out of volunteering or run the pool are still off on the side gossiping about kids' times. We can't even fill lanes, but here they are grudging some kid a few seconds on their fly time.

Team Rep here. Trust me, we don't have time to gossip about kids' times or grandstand about our own kids. We're too busy dealing with the crazy parents

Over our years at the pool I've seen both types of team reps.

Unfortunately, we are on a team in a mid/lower division where one of the reps a few years ago put her child on a medley relay at divisional relay carnival, excluding a very fast child. Time-wise, this never should have happened. In fact, the free relay, which did not have the team rep’s child and had said fast child plus three other fast children, won a medal at all-star relays. The medley relay with the team rep’s child placed like 70th in all of the league. Had the top four been on the medley relay, they probably would have gotten a medal at all star relays too. My child is older, but everyone was murmuring and looking around, knowing exactly what happened. It was both embarrassing for the team rep’s child, who was a nice kid, and shined (or is it shone?) a big ugly light on the integrity of the team. That team rep left, we never knew why, but that was a stain for sure.

⬆️⬆️⬆️ This is why there must be transparency and a published ladder. (This incident contributed to the team losing several families.)

[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.

Exactly

[Anonymous]

Ladders need to be published. 5k races post times (even for kids), track meets post results/times, club meets post times, HS posts times, NVSLs website posts times, etc

Ladders are help with team integrity, and it’s really not that big of a deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ladders need to be published. 5k races post times (even for kids), track meets post results/times, club meets post times, HS posts times, NVSLs website posts times, etc

Ladders are help with team integrity, and it’s really not that big of a deal.

Just know when you post them that kids from their teams always get ahold of them

[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 definitely not a chill team

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ladders need to be published. 5k races post times (even for kids), track meets post results/times, club meets post times, HS posts times, NVSLs website posts times, etc

Ladders are help with team integrity, and it’s really not that big of a deal.

Have you brought this up with your summer team reps/coaches? Run for team rep? Just trying to see how many of posters are willing to walk the talk.