Summer swim team too exhausting

[Anonymous]

My DC is finding the practices really exhausting and boring. The swim team environment seems unnecessarily competitive. Is it just us or others have experienced this?

[Anonymous]

I never could see the point in swimming repeated lengths of the same water.

[Anonymous]

What do you think swim team is?

[Anonymous]

Is this your kid's first time?

A lot of kids struggle at first, but wind up having fun at the meets and they start to see it as "worth it." Most kids I know come back for years and years. I'd give it a little more time and keep encouraging them.

[Anonymous]

It's okay if your kid doesn't like swim team. Let them quit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's okay if your kid doesn't like swim team. Let them quit.

This. Some people find swimming deadly dull. If that's your kid, don't force it. There are plenty of other ways to be active.

[Anonymous]

OP here. My kid joined because his friend joined. The friend’s mom is making her kid do it. My DC thought it would be fun to join but doesn’t like it at all. Neither does his friend. Honestly I am dreading the long Wednesday meets.
But what bugs me is, pretty much every kid is doing a swim team. Why does my kid hate it so much?

[Anonymous]

How old? How is he doing swim wise? Is he improving? Maybe he doesn’t like it bc it is tiring, does not have a lot of friends doing it, is not very good at it, sees other kids are better, etc.

I’d evaluate all of those possibilities and see if there is a real reason to quit. Are there other factors making it unlikeable?

If you want him to learn to swim, then he learns to swim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid joined because his friend joined. The friend’s mom is making her kid do it. My DC thought it would be fun to join but doesn’t like it at all. Neither does his friend. Honestly I am dreading the long Wednesday meets.
But what bugs me is, pretty much every kid is doing a swim team. Why does my kid hate it so much?

You don't have to sign your kid up for the meet. Plenty of kids love swim team but yours doesn't. That's okay. Drop the rope.

[Anonymous]

So dont do it. Its supposed to be fun. My kid is slow and usually last but she loves the atmosphere, enjoys the coaches and cheers and she shaves a second or two off every week. Our team is super friendly especially for the little ones. My DD is 8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old? How is he doing swim wise? Is he improving? Maybe he doesn’t like it bc it is tiring, does not have a lot of friends doing it, is not very good at it, sees other kids are better, etc.

I’d evaluate all of those possibilities and see if there is a real reason to quit. Are there other factors making it unlikeable?

If you want him to learn to swim, then he learns to swim.

He is 11

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old? How is he doing swim wise? Is he improving? Maybe he doesn’t like it bc it is tiring, does not have a lot of friends doing it, is not very good at it, sees other kids are better, etc.

I’d evaluate all of those possibilities and see if there is a real reason to quit. Are there other factors making it unlikeable?

If you want him to learn to swim, then he learns to swim.

He knows how to swim. I don’t understand your comment about me wanting him to learn to swim. He can swim which is why he can be on the team.
Now the question is, does he really need to know all the techniques really well and compete which i think is the point of a swim team.. i don’t think he does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid joined because his friend joined. The friend’s mom is making her kid do it. My DC thought it would be fun to join but doesn’t like it at all. Neither does his friend. Honestly I am dreading the long Wednesday meets.
But what bugs me is, pretty much every kid is doing a swim team. Why does my kid hate it so much?

He's probably being left out of the social dynamics. A lot of the kids would have been on summer swim team together for years. It takes a while to be included.

He probably finds it really tiring if he hasn't been swimming all winter, so it's hard work.

Lots of 11-12 to swimmers have been doing serious winter clubs at least 3x a week for several years and are very fast. It probably feels impossible to catch up.

If he's not fast, he probably isn't getting much coach attention and probably isn't learning that much, especially if practices are crowded.

He hasn't been to a meet yet, which is what most kids find fun, especially once they have made good friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid joined because his friend joined. The friend’s mom is making her kid do it. My DC thought it would be fun to join but doesn’t like it at all. Neither does his friend. Honestly I am dreading the long Wednesday meets.
But what bugs me is, pretty much every kid is doing a swim team. Why does my kid hate it so much?

He's probably being left out of the social dynamics. A lot of the kids would have been on summer swim team together for years. It takes a while to be included.

He probably finds it really tiring if he hasn't been swimming all winter, so it's hard work.

Lots of 11-12 to swimmers have been doing serious winter clubs at least 3x a week for several years and are very fast. It probably feels impossible to catch up.

If he's not fast, he probably isn't getting much coach attention and probably isn't learning that much, especially if practices are crowded.

He hasn't been to a meet yet, which is what most kids find fun, especially once they have made good friends.

I think you are right. It is tiring because he never swam on a team before. And because of that he is not finding it a lot of fun. I am not sure how the meets are going to go. I am dreading them because it seems that parents need to volunteer as well the entire time there. Not sure what part of meet will be fun.

[Anonymous]

If he's only been to practice and no meets yet, yes it is very boring. The meets are the fun part for the kids. They swim for 60 seconds then hang out with their friends for hours.

When my kids were younger I would volunteer for things at the beginning/prior to the meet so we could leave after their last event. This will vary by pool but we were always home before it was too late.