Do winter swim kids dominate summer swim?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the whole the number of days you swim depends on several factors. MOST kids should swim two days a week (or less) until age 10. This is when you move up to three days a week and in some clubs four days.

Most reputable clubs will not allow a kid under the age of 13 to swim more than that. Yes, some kids want to but they would be better served by cross training the other days. The reason for this is overuse injuries. There is a strong correlation of early intense training and shoulder injuries with swimmers.

You will see certain clubs push kids into more training way to early. Clubs that benefit significantly on the days in the water you are signed up for - push too early. Besides injuries there is more chance of burnout.

Swimming should be considered a life long sport with intense training starting in high school.

This is NOT true.

Fwiw, the “reputable” clubs in the area absolutely push the faster kids into 5 practices a week at 11/12. Either 6th or 7th grade, and sometimes late 5th. I can’t think of one club that has kids compete at JOs who doesn’t do this.

York doesn't have a single practice group for kids under 13 that is five days a week. This year, the most you could swim is 3 days a week under 13. Next year they are adding 1 4 day a week practice gropu for 11-14 year olds. https://www.teamunify.com/RegGroupSelectOne.jsp?showonly=1®id=80262

York is a good club. Look at Marlins, Machine ans NCAP as clubs who don’t care about kid well being. They have ten year olds practicing six days a week.

Yikes, this is not our experience with our NCAP location at all. My kid is under 10 and a very promising swimmer by all metrics (and both parents are former swimmers, and tall). Our coach has encouraged our kid to pursue other sports and become a well rounded athlete. She's recommending 2x a week in the pool until 10. I remember the mental toughness needed for cold mornings heading to the pool and we are definitely playing the long game with swimming. NCAP has been fully supportive of that - even suggested it. I think some of the NCAP locations (Burke comes to mind) push kids to spend more time in the water at a young age, so it's certainly something parents should be speaking to coaches about regularly. But I don't agree at all that NCAP doesn't care about our kid's well being. They've been incredible.

NCAP has franchises. At our location, they flat out tell parents no if they want more practices a week. One of DD's best friends is 11, has JO times, a parent who was a D1 swimmer and a great frame for swimming. He coaches are adamant about capping her at 3x a week and are encouraging her to do other sports as well.

That is a good coach.

[Anonymous]

Someone might have made this point already, but sometimes non club swimmers do quite well in summer swim because summer swim focuses on sprinting. A club swimmer who focuses on distances will not necessarily beat an athletic non-swimmer in a 25 or a 50. So don’t assume that your kid does not have a chance. And swimming is always about swimming against your previous times. There is always a faster swimmer somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone might have made this point already, but sometimes non club swimmers do quite well in summer swim because summer swim focuses on sprinting. A club swimmer who focuses on distances will not necessarily beat an athletic non-swimmer in a 25 or a 50. So don’t assume that your kid does not have a chance. And swimming is always about swimming against your previous times. There is always a faster swimmer somewhere.

This is how you equalize summer swim - with sprints. Club swimmers excel usually at distances. A summer sprint is so unforgiving and just requires a swimmer to swim all out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone might have made this point already, but sometimes non club swimmers do quite well in summer swim because summer swim focuses on sprinting. A club swimmer who focuses on distances will not necessarily beat an athletic non-swimmer in a 25 or a 50. So don’t assume that your kid does not have a chance. And swimming is always about swimming against your previous times. There is always a faster swimmer somewhere.

This is how you equalize summer swim - with sprints. Club swimmers excel usually at distances. A summer sprint is so unforgiving and just requires a swimmer to swim all out.

The club swimmer should have better dives and turns. It's much easier to go all out if you are only above the surface for 30 of the 50

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone might have made this point already, but sometimes non club swimmers do quite well in summer swim because summer swim focuses on sprinting. A club swimmer who focuses on distances will not necessarily beat an athletic non-swimmer in a 25 or a 50. So don’t assume that your kid does not have a chance. And swimming is always about swimming against your previous times. There is always a faster swimmer somewhere.

This is how you equalize summer swim - with sprints. Club swimmers excel usually at distances. A summer sprint is so unforgiving and just requires a swimmer to swim all out.

The club swimmer should have better dives and turns. It's much easier to go all out if you are only above the surface for 30 of the 50

Yes, this is where the club swimmers have an advantage that is hard to make up. The summer only swimmers might be super athletic but their starts, turns and strokes are more sloppy because they haven't spent nearly as much time practicing and refining these skills. Some of the summer-only swimmers could be better than the year rounders if they did work on these things, but they have other priorities. In the long run the swimmer who spends more time in the pool will generally be faster at more events than the athletic summer only swimmer, especially in the older age groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone might have made this point already, but sometimes non club swimmers do quite well in summer swim because summer swim focuses on sprinting. A club swimmer who focuses on distances will not necessarily beat an athletic non-swimmer in a 25 or a 50. So don’t assume that your kid does not have a chance. And swimming is always about swim
ming against your previous times. There is always a faster swimmer somewhere.

💯 This for summer swim. My kid who is a very strong Club swimmer and excels in 100s and 200s is an above average summer swimmer in 50s. He still finishes top 3 on Saturdays but is no where near dominant. And a lot of really fit soccer players and lacrosse players are scoring top 3 on Saturdays. It isn't that hard to swim a 50 if you are really fit and have decent technique

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone might have made this point already, but sometimes non club swimmers do quite well in summer swim because summer swim focuses on sprinting. A club swimmer who focuses on distances will not necessarily beat an athletic non-swimmer in a 25 or a 50. So don’t assume that your kid does not have a chance. And swimming is always about swimming against your previous times. There is always a faster swimmer somewhere.

This is how you equalize summer swim - with sprints. Club swimmers excel usually at distances. A summer sprint is so unforgiving and just requires a swimmer to swim all out.

The club swimmer should have better dives and turns. It's much easier to go all out if you are only above the surface for 30 of the 50

Yes, this is where the club swimmers have an advantage that is hard to make up. The summer only swimmers might be super athletic but their starts, turns and strokes are more sloppy because they haven't spent nearly as much time practicing and refining these skills. Some of the summer-only swimmers could be better than the year rounders if they did work on these things, but they have other priorities. In the long run the swimmer who spends more time in the pool will generally be faster at more events than the athletic summer only swimmer, especially in the older age groups.

Summer swim meets are all about the turns. You can definitely tell the year round swimmers from the summer swimmer by their turns. And when swimming 50s races are won and lost on the turns.

All that said. Pools have varying degrees of competitiveness. Higher division pools have a larger proportion of kids who swim year round. We are a mid division pool and while we have kids in every age group who swim year round we also have a lot of summer only swimmers who still make A meets.

I do think it is hard for a non-year round kid to transition from a lower division pool where they likely swim as every A meet to a high div pool where they never make an A meet. Sure B meets are fun, but not nearly the same experience as A meets. Hopefully the other aspects of swim team make it fun for all kids regardless of their level. Our pool has a lot of team events and one day a week that is a fun day for the entire team with no practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone might have made this point already, but sometimes non club swimmers do quite well in summer swim because summer swim focuses on sprinting. A club swimmer who focuses on distances will not necessarily beat an athletic non-swimmer in a 25 or a 50. So don’t assume that your kid does not have a chance. And swimming is always about swimming against your previous times. There is always a faster swimmer somewhere.

This is how you equalize summer swim - with sprints. Club swimmers excel usually at distances. A summer sprint is so unforgiving and just requires a swimmer to swim all out.

The club swimmer should have better dives and turns. It's much easier to go all out if you are only above the surface for 30 of the 50

Yes, this is where the club swimmers have an advantage that is hard to make up. The summer only swimmers might be super athletic but their starts, turns and strokes are more sloppy because they haven't spent nearly as much time practicing and refining these skills. Some of the summer-only swimmers could be better than the year rounders if they did work on these things, but they have other priorities. In the long run the swimmer who spends more time in the pool will generally be faster at more events than the athletic summer only swimmer, especially in the older age groups.

Summer swim meets are all about the turns. You can definitely tell the year round swimmers from the summer swimmer by their turns. And when swimming 50s races are won and lost on the turns.

All that said. Pools have varying degrees of competitiveness. Higher division pools have a larger proportion of kids who swim year round. We are a mid division pool and while we have kids in every age group who swim year round we also have a lot of summer only swimmers who still make A meets.

I do think it is hard for a non-year round kid to transition from a lower division pool where they likely swim as every A meet to a high div pool where they never make an A meet. Sure B meets are fun, but not nearly the same experience as A meets. Hopefully the other aspects of swim team make it fun for all kids regardless of their level. Our pool has a lot of team events and one day a week that is a fun day for the entire team with no practice.

Finally someone who gets it!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone might have made this point already, but sometimes non club swimmers do quite well in summer swim because summer swim focuses on sprinting. A club swimmer who focuses on distances will not necessarily beat an athletic non-swimmer in a 25 or a 50. So don’t assume that your kid does not have a chance. And swimming is always about swimming against your previous times. There is always a faster swimmer somewhere.

This is how you equalize summer swim - with sprints. Club swimmers excel usually at distances. A summer sprint is so unforgiving and just requires a swimmer to swim all out.

The club swimmer should have better dives and turns. It's much easier to go all out if you are only above the surface for 30 of the 50

Yes, this is where the club swimmers have an advantage that is hard to make up. The summer only swimmers might be super athletic but their starts, turns and strokes are more sloppy because they haven't spent nearly as much time practicing and refining these skills. Some of the summer-only swimmers could be better than the year rounders if they did work on these things, but they have other priorities. In the long run the swimmer who spends more time in the pool will generally be faster at more events than the athletic summer only swimmer, especially in the older age groups.

Summer swim meets are all about the turns. You can definitely tell the year round swimmers from the summer swimmer by their turns. And when swimming 50s races are won and lost on the turns.

All that said. Pools have varying degrees of competitiveness. Higher division pools have a larger proportion of kids who swim year round. We are a mid division pool and while we have kids in every age group who swim year round we also have a lot of summer only swimmers who still make A meets.

I do think it is hard for a non-year round kid to transition from a lower division pool where they likely swim as every A meet to a high div pool where they never make an A meet. Sure B meets are fun, but not nearly the same experience as A meets. Hopefully the other aspects of swim team make it fun for all kids regardless of their level. Our pool has a lot of team events and one day a week that is a fun day for the entire team with no practice.

I see a lot of stuff about the fun of B meets on this thread, but that isn't universal. Our pool is larger and a much higher division than our neighboring pools. That means that most other pools aren't capable of hosting B meets with us and that parents from other pools know they will be spending a lot of time just watching our kids swim even when we limit the number of strokes our swimmers can do. We're lucky to get 5 b meets a year and usually end up hosting 4 of those 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone might have made this point already, but sometimes non club swimmers do quite well in summer swim because summer swim focuses on sprinting. A club swimmer who focuses on distances will not necessarily beat an athletic non-swimmer in a 25 or a 50. So don’t assume that your kid does not have a chance. And swimming is always about swimming against your previous times. There is always a faster swimmer somewhere.

This is how you equalize summer swim - with sprints. Club swimmers excel usually at distances. A summer sprint is so unforgiving and just requires a swimmer to swim all out.

The club swimmer should have better dives and turns. It's much easier to go all out if you are only above the surface for 30 of the 50

Yes, this is where the club swimmers have an advantage that is hard to make up. The summer only swimmers might be super athletic but their starts, turns and strokes are more sloppy because they haven't spent nearly as much time practicing and refining these skills. Some of the summer-only swimmers could be better than the year rounders if they did work on these things, but they have other priorities. In the long run the swimmer who spends more time in the pool will generally be faster at more events than the athletic summer only swimmer, especially in the older age groups.

Summer swim meets are all about the turns. You can definitely tell the year round swimmers from the summer swimmer by their turns. And when swimming 50s races are won and lost on the turns.

All that said. Pools have varying degrees of competitiveness. Higher division pools have a larger proportion of kids who swim year round. We are a mid division pool and while we have kids in every age group who swim year round we also have a lot of summer only swimmers who still make A meets.

I do think it is hard for a non-year round kid to transition from a lower division pool where they likely swim as every A meet to a high div pool where they never make an A meet. Sure B meets are fun, but not nearly the same experience as A meets. Hopefully the other aspects of swim team make it fun for all kids regardless of their level. Our pool has a lot of team events and one day a week that is a fun day for the entire team with no practice.

I see a lot of stuff about the fun of B meets on this thread, but that isn't universal. Our pool is larger and a much higher division than our neighboring pools. That means that most other pools aren't capable of hosting B meets with us and that parents from other pools know they will be spending a lot of time just watching our kids swim even when we limit the number of strokes our swimmers can do. We're lucky to get 5 b meets a year and usually end up hosting 4 of those 5.

Isn't 5 pretty standard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone might have made this point already, but sometimes non club swimmers do quite well in summer swim because summer swim focuses on sprinting. A club swimmer who focuses on distances will not necessarily beat an athletic non-swimmer in a 25 or a 50. So don’t assume that your kid does not have a chance. And swimming is always about swimming against your previous times. There is always a faster swimmer somewhere.

This is how you equalize summer swim - with sprints. Club swimmers excel usually at distances. A summer sprint is so unforgiving and just requires a swimmer to swim all out.

The club swimmer should have better dives and turns. It's much easier to go all out if you are only above the surface for 30 of the 50

Yes, this is where the club swimmers have an advantage that is hard to make up. The summer only swimmers might be super athletic but their starts, turns and strokes are more sloppy because they haven't spent nearly as much time practicing and refining these skills. Some of the summer-only swimmers could be better than the year rounders if they did work on these things, but they have other priorities. In the long run the swimmer who spends more time in the pool will generally be faster at more events than the athletic summer only swimmer, especially in the older age groups.

Summer swim meets are all about the turns. You can definitely tell the year round swimmers from the summer swimmer by their turns. And when swimming 50s races are won and lost on the turns.

All that said. Pools have varying degrees of competitiveness. Higher division pools have a larger proportion of kids who swim year round. We are a mid division pool and while we have kids in every age group who swim year round we also have a lot of summer only swimmers who still make A meets.

I do think it is hard for a non-year round kid to transition from a lower division pool where they likely swim as every A meet to a high div pool where they never make an A meet. Sure B meets are fun, but not nearly the same experience as A meets. Hopefully the other aspects of swim team make it fun for all kids regardless of their level. Our pool has a lot of team events and one day a week that is a fun day for the entire team with no practice.

I see a lot of stuff about the fun of B meets on this thread, but that isn't universal. Our pool is larger and a much higher division than our neighboring pools. That means that most other pools aren't capable of hosting B meets with us and that parents from other pools know they will be spending a lot of time just watching our kids swim even when we limit the number of strokes our swimmers can do. We're lucky to get 5 b meets a year and usually end up hosting 4 of those 5.

5 is pretty standard. I think we only have 4 and an inter squad meet.

B meets are really not that much fun. Sure kids enjoy hanging out with their friends, but the meet itself is painfully long. I think people who claim b-meets are super fun have never been to an A meet The only B meet I do genuinely enjoy is our B meet relay event because everyone dresses up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the whole the number of days you swim depends on several factors. MOST kids should swim two days a week (or less) until age 10. This is when you move up to three days a week and in some clubs four days.

Most reputable clubs will not allow a kid under the age of 13 to swim more than that. Yes, some kids want to but they would be better served by cross training the other days. The reason for this is overuse injuries. There is a strong correlation of early intense training and shoulder injuries with swimmers.

You will see certain clubs push kids into more training way to early. Clubs that benefit significantly on the days in the water you are signed up for - push too early. Besides injuries there is more chance of burnout.

Swimming should be considered a life long sport with intense training starting in high school.

This is NOT true.

Fwiw, the “reputable” clubs in the area absolutely push the faster kids into 5 practices a week at 11/12. Either 6th or 7th grade, and sometimes late 5th. I can’t think of one club that has kids compete at JOs who doesn’t do this.

York doesn't have a single practice group for kids under 13 that is five days a week. This year, the most you could swim is 3 days a week under 13. Next year they are adding 1 4 day a week practice gropu for 11-14 year olds. https://www.teamunify.com/RegGroupSelectOne.jsp?showonly=1®id=80262

York is a good club. Look at Marlins, Machine ans NCAP as clubs who don’t care about kid well being. They have ten year olds practicing six days a week.

Yikes, this is not our experience with our NCAP location at all. My kid is under 10 and a very promising swimmer by all metrics (and both parents are former swimmers, and tall). Our coach has encouraged our kid to pursue other sports and become a well rounded athlete. She's recommending 2x a week in the pool until 10. I remember the mental toughness needed for cold mornings heading to the pool and we are definitely playing the long game with swimming. NCAP has been fully supportive of that - even suggested it. I think some of the NCAP locations (Burke comes to mind) push kids to spend more time in the water at a young age, so it's certainly something parents should be speaking to coaches about regularly. But I don't agree at all that NCAP doesn't care about our kid's well being. They've been incredible.

That is great. But what PPs were talking about is the shift at 11/12 to 5-6 days. Would be curious to what they say in a year or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone might have made this point already, but sometimes non club swimmers do quite well in summer swim because summer swim focuses on sprinting. A club swimmer who focuses on distances will not necessarily beat an athletic non-swimmer in a 25 or a 50. So don’t assume that your kid does not have a chance. And swimming is always about swimming against your previous times. There is always a faster swimmer somewhere.

This is how you equalize summer swim - with sprints. Club swimmers excel usually at distances. A summer sprint is so unforgiving and just requires a swimmer to swim all out.

The club swimmer should have better dives and turns. It's much easier to go all out if you are only above the surface for 30 of the 50

Yes, this is where the club swimmers have an advantage that is hard to make up. The summer only swimmers might be super athletic but their starts, turns and strokes are more sloppy because they haven't spent nearly as much time practicing and refining these skills. Some of the summer-only swimmers could be better than the year rounders if they did work on these things, but they have other priorities. In the long run the swimmer who spends more time in the pool will generally be faster at more events than the athletic summer only swimmer, especially in the older age groups.

Summer swim meets are all about the turns. You can definitely tell the year round swimmers from the summer swimmer by their turns. And when swimming 50s races are won and lost on the turns.

All that said. Pools have varying degrees of competitiveness. Higher division pools have a larger proportion of kids who swim year round. We are a mid division pool and while we have kids in every age group who swim year round we also have a lot of summer only swimmers who still make A meets.

I do think it is hard for a non-year round kid to transition from a lower division pool where they likely swim as every A meet to a high div pool where they never make an A meet. Sure B meets are fun, but not nearly the same experience as A meets. Hopefully the other aspects of swim team make it fun for all kids regardless of their level. Our pool has a lot of team events and one day a week that is a fun day for the entire team with no practice.

I see a lot of stuff about the fun of B meets on this thread, but that isn't universal. Our pool is larger and a much higher division than our neighboring pools. That means that most other pools aren't capable of hosting B meets with us and that parents from other pools know they will be spending a lot of time just watching our kids swim even when we limit the number of strokes our swimmers can do. We're lucky to get 5 b meets a year and usually end up hosting 4 of those 5.

5 is pretty standard. I think we only have 4 and an inter squad meet.

B meets are really not that much fun. Sure kids enjoy hanging out with their friends, but the meet itself is painfully long. I think people who claim b-meets are super fun have never been to an A meet The only B meet I do genuinely enjoy is our B meet relay event because everyone dresses up.

Looking at it, I guess it is. The A meet schedule just seems so much longer when you include divisional relays, all start relays, divisionals, and all stars. Most A meet swimmers won't make all of them, but I think the best kids in every age group at our pool make 3 out of the 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the whole the number of days you swim depends on several factors. MOST kids should swim two days a week (or less) until age 10. This is when you move up to three days a week and in some clubs four days.

Most reputable clubs will not allow a kid under the age of 13 to swim more than that. Yes, some kids want to but they would be better served by cross training the other days. The reason for this is overuse injuries. There is a strong correlation of early intense training and shoulder injuries with swimmers.

You will see certain clubs push kids into more training way to early. Clubs that benefit significantly on the days in the water you are signed up for - push too early. Besides injuries there is more chance of burnout.

Swimming should be considered a life long sport with intense training starting in high school.

This is NOT true.

Fwiw, the “reputable” clubs in the area absolutely push the faster kids into 5 practices a week at 11/12. Either 6th or 7th grade, and sometimes late 5th. I can’t think of one club that has kids compete at JOs who doesn’t do this.

York doesn't have a single practice group for kids under 13 that is five days a week. This year, the most you could swim is 3 days a week under 13. Next year they are adding 1 4 day a week practice gropu for 11-14 year olds. https://www.teamunify.com/RegGroupSelectOne.jsp?showonly=1®id=80262

York is a good club. Look at Marlins, Machine ans NCAP as clubs who don’t care about kid well being. They have ten year olds practicing six days a week.

Not true for Marlins. Max for 10 is 4 days/wk. My 10 year old does 2 and no one pressures for more.

I know a Marlin that has been doing 6 days a week starting at nine. She improved tremendously with the extra practices (JOs, Sectionals) but she also is probably going to look at some injuries and damaged shoulders in the next few years.

You don't. This is a lie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone might have made this point already, but sometimes non club swimmers do quite well in summer swim because summer swim focuses on sprinting. A club swimmer who focuses on distances will not necessarily beat an athletic non-swimmer in a 25 or a 50. So don’t assume that your kid does not have a chance. And swimming is always about swimming against your previous times. There is always a faster swimmer somewhere.

This is how you equalize summer swim - with sprints. Club swimmers excel usually at distances. A summer sprint is so unforgiving and just requires a swimmer to swim all out.

The club swimmer should have better dives and turns. It's much easier to go all out if you are only above the surface for 30 of the 50

Yes, this is where the club swimmers have an advantage that is hard to make up. The summer only swimmers might be super athletic but their starts, turns and strokes are more sloppy because they haven't spent nearly as much time practicing and refining these skills. Some of the summer-only swimmers could be better than the year rounders if they did work on these things, but they have other priorities. In the long run the swimmer who spends more time in the pool will generally be faster at more events than the athletic summer only swimmer, especially in the older age groups.

Summer swim meets are all about the turns. You can definitely tell the year round swimmers from the summer swimmer by their turns. And when swimming 50s races are won and lost on the turns.

All that said. Pools have varying degrees of competitiveness. Higher division pools have a larger proportion of kids who swim year round. We are a mid division pool and while we have kids in every age group who swim year round we also have a lot of summer only swimmers who still make A meets.

I do think it is hard for a non-year round kid to transition from a lower division pool where they likely swim as every A meet to a high div pool where they never make an A meet. Sure B meets are fun, but not nearly the same experience as A meets. Hopefully the other aspects of swim team make it fun for all kids regardless of their level. Our pool has a lot of team events and one day a week that is a fun day for the entire team with no practice.

I see a lot of stuff about the fun of B meets on this thread, but that isn't universal. Our pool is larger and a much higher division than our neighboring pools. That means that most other pools aren't capable of hosting B meets with us and that parents from other pools know they will be spending a lot of time just watching our kids swim even when we limit the number of strokes our swimmers can do. We're lucky to get 5 b meets a year and usually end up hosting 4 of those 5.

5 is pretty standard. I think we only have 4 and an inter squad meet.

B meets are really not that much fun. Sure kids enjoy hanging out with their friends, but the meet itself is painfully long. I think people who claim b-meets are super fun have never been to an A meet The only B meet I do genuinely enjoy is our B meet relay event because everyone dresses up.

As a parent I detest B meets because they take forever and our pool doesn’t divide up volunteer hours so that you can just work half the meet. There is nothing worse in summer swim than spending 4-5 hours timing a B meet. However, my kid loved it, they ate a ton of ice cream and sugar and hung out on a summer night with their friends. Her friends that are strictly summer swimmers could have cared less about the concept of A meets.