Kid swimming slower every meet

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty new to swimming, second year of summer swim for my DD. She is swimming slower each meet than the last. She is going to practice every day. What could be the reason for this?

[Anonymous]

How old?

[Anonymous]

This happens with my son between the second and last swim meet, he tends to get slower and then goes faster at NVSL Divisionals. For him it's the heat, being tired, and pools that sometimes are slow. Happens to a lot of kids.

[Anonymous]

This is happening with my kids too! They have been swimming about 3 years, only one year seriously. They are on a very competitive team so I have told them to focus on their times and not place, but their times have gotten progressively worse each meet, with a couple exceptions.

[Anonymous]

We’re seeing this too. I’m thinking it may be outdoor camp tiring out my under 10 swimmer but wondering if others are seeing the same.

[Anonymous]

That was me as a kid. In hindsight: my parents underfed me and I was exhausted all summer long. It’s probably too late to address now in a way that impacts swim team but you should consider hydration, calories, and sleep hours. They are probably insufficient to keep up.

[Anonymous]

I think the heat is taking more out of all of us than we realize. Even on days without a swim meet. And it’s even worse on meet days because the kids are sitting around in what has been very hot weather for hours and then suddenly trying to race at max speed. I grew up swimming at a high level. I still remember a Zones meet that was outdoors in August. I swam really well in the prelims that morning, but it was really hot out and I had been sitting outside in it all morning. Went back to swim finals while it was still really hot in the late afternoon. On my last race my whole body cramped up in the last 15 meters. I seriously thought I wasn’t going to make it to the finish. I had hydrated and done all the things you’re supposed to do, but the heat had just sucked all of my energy out of me.

[Anonymous]

It could just be interest - she was into the team at the beginning of the season and is kind of over it now.

[Anonymous]

How old is your kid? Do they attend morning or evening practices? A meets, B meets or a combo?

There are so many things out of a kid’s control when they swim like their heat, the water and air temp, an away pool, etc. timers, especially at B meets, can also mess stuff up. Either late to push the button or mix up kids cards. My youngest scratched fly at a long meet last week but somebody swam in her spot and the time was assigned to her!

I wouldn’t worry about slower times unless they are slower than what your kid was swimming last season.

[Anonymous]

There are so many factors. At 10u there’s definitely more variability in times during the course of the season. For 10 and up and year round swimmers there’s less variability but not necessarily zero. Everyone is different - going through changes physically, emotionally, etc. Add in other factors like camp or other activities, then there could be a lot going on. If the kid is none the wiser and still having fun then I wouldn’t worry about it.

[Anonymous]

How about we use some logic here… maybe it’s the fact that they went from no swimming for 10 months to literally swimming every single day so their body is probably destroyed by this point.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the poster who talked about sleep and nutrition. Summer leads to later nights and more junk food. Neither is ideal for peak athletic performance. Focus on earlier bedtimes and filling, nutritious foods.

[Anonymous]

IMO the coaching and crowded pools aren't good for kids' strokes. At least at our pool. If you took lessons they'll have a pretty good base. The problem is kids learn defensive swimming. EG they look up to see if someone is in front of them. That and bad technique isn't discouraged. Early in the season they'll get a bump from conditioning but then at the end of the season technique is bad.

[Anonymous]

Our coaches always say that most swimmers post their best times at trials. Divisionals is the next best shot to drop major time because of the adrenaline. Probably why the MCSL all-star list doesn't change all that much across the season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IMO the coaching and crowded pools aren't good for kids' strokes. At least at our pool. If you took lessons they'll have a pretty good base. The problem is kids learn defensive swimming. EG they look up to see if someone is in front of them. That and bad technique isn't discouraged. Early in the season they'll get a bump from conditioning but then at the end of the season technique is bad.

I kind of think this has happened with my oldest. The coaches this year are not as on top of things compared to last year's coaches. He dropped a lot of time from beginning to end of summer last year, and I think it was because the coaching was more solid and there was more discipline and better drills at practice. Now he has barely dropped time from last summer. He had a private lesson for the first time in awhile and the assistant coach who gave the lesson pointed out so many things wrong with all of his strokes. I certainly don't expect coaching to fix all of it, but it's frustrating to hear all this for the first time at this point in the season. The assistant coach pays a lot more attention to detail than our head coaches and would probably do a great job if given more responsibility for correcting strokes during practices. But it's hard when head coaches don't empower assistants to do this. I think our head coaches are great at bringing spirit and fun, but the kids are not improving like they did last year and the team as a whole has had some bad losses. Last year's head coach was more strict, which rubbed some people the wrong way... but she was more effective. Oh well.