Swimming observations from national age group championships

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:The fact you know kids ages and who had hit puberty and who hasn’t and when kids birthdays are concerns me. You might need mental health treatment. - mom of a 10yo swimmer who is not planning on her kid going to the Olympics.,


DP- do you know their ages because they swim with certain groups. And as for the puberty, it’s painfully obvious!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This meet is so interesting!

1. The 11-12 boys age group, in general, is a hot mess. The boys who hit puberty early are comically bigger and stronger than the ones who don't, especially the tiny 11 year olds who were just 10 a month ago and are in elementary school. I think if you have a boy who is on the later side to puberty, just don't worry because they will get crushed, but it starts to even out later.

2. So many champion 10u from a few years ago are nowhere to be found now in the finals. They are still at the meet, so obviously very good, but they are, for the most part, just somewhere in the pack (some making finals and some not). Others who were still very good as 10u but not top 8, are now top 8 in all their best events. Interesting. (We've been going to this meet for many years so have become familiar with so many kids from teams around the country.)

3. The 13-14 girls age group is generally weak from many teams because the fastest girls at this age are already qualified for and attending NCSA junior nationals instead of age groups.

4. This meet is generally a celebration of the kids with spring/summer birthdays. My own kid benefits from this and has made finals in everything because he is 12 about to turn 13. His friend who turned 13 in February is an amazing swimmer (still qualified as a 13 year old when he was 12) and is here but getting crushed and basically finishing at the bottom. These two are less than 2 months apart in age.

5. Many, many very good teams do not attend this meet at all, so the "national champions" at this meet are amazing talented swimmers but not first in the nation by a long shot.

Anyway, those are some observations from a swim parent from across the years (I have 3 swimmers and here with my middle and youngest). Not a question just something to share!



If you think THESE kids aren’t that great, I can only imagine the wisdom you have to share about the kids that couldn’t make these cuts. You are a real gem. Eff off.


NP. There are no participation trophies in life.


Actually? There are. Wedding gifts. Birthday gifts. COLA raises. You get certificates for being baptized and getting confirmed or becoming a member of a new church. A lot of participation-in-life is recognized. I got a certificate recently for “participating” in my job for 10 years. Want to try again?


Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This meet is so interesting!

1. The 11-12 boys age group, in general, is a hot mess. The boys who hit puberty early are comically bigger and stronger than the ones who don't, especially the tiny 11 year olds who were just 10 a month ago and are in elementary school. I think if you have a boy who is on the later side to puberty, just don't worry because they will get crushed, but it starts to even out later.

2. So many champion 10u from a few years ago are nowhere to be found now in the finals. They are still at the meet, so obviously very good, but they are, for the most part, just somewhere in the pack (some making finals and some not). Others who were still very good as 10u but not top 8, are now top 8 in all their best events. Interesting. (We've been going to this meet for many years so have become familiar with so many kids from teams around the country.)

3. The 13-14 girls age group is generally weak from many teams because the fastest girls at this age are already qualified for and attending NCSA junior nationals instead of age groups.

4. This meet is generally a celebration of the kids with spring/summer birthdays. My own kid benefits from this and has made finals in everything because he is 12 about to turn 13. His friend who turned 13 in February is an amazing swimmer (still qualified as a 13 year old when he was 12) and is here but getting crushed and basically finishing at the bottom. These two are less than 2 months apart in age.

5. Many, many very good teams do not attend this meet at all, so the "national champions" at this meet are amazing talented swimmers but not first in the nation by a long shot.

Anyway, those are some observations from a swim parent from across the years (I have 3 swimmers and here with my middle and youngest). Not a question just something to share!



If you think THESE kids aren’t that great, I can only imagine the wisdom you have to share about the kids that couldn’t make these cuts. You are a real gem. Eff off.


NP. There are no participation trophies in life.


Actually? There are. Wedding gifts. Birthday gifts. COLA raises. You get certificates for being baptized and getting confirmed or becoming a member of a new church. A lot of participation-in-life is recognized. I got a certificate recently for “participating” in my job for 10 years. Want to try again?




Seriously. Wedding gifts and making swim time cuts - TOTALLY the same.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This meet is so interesting!

1. The 11-12 boys age group, in general, is a hot mess. The boys who hit puberty early are comically bigger and stronger than the ones who don't, especially the tiny 11 year olds who were just 10 a month ago and are in elementary school. I think if you have a boy who is on the later side to puberty, just don't worry because they will get crushed, but it starts to even out later.

2. So many champion 10u from a few years ago are nowhere to be found now in the finals. They are still at the meet, so obviously very good, but they are, for the most part, just somewhere in the pack (some making finals and some not). Others who were still very good as 10u but not top 8, are now top 8 in all their best events. Interesting. (We've been going to this meet for many years so have become familiar with so many kids from teams around the country.)

3. The 13-14 girls age group is generally weak from many teams because the fastest girls at this age are already qualified for and attending NCSA junior nationals instead of age groups.

4. This meet is generally a celebration of the kids with spring/summer birthdays. My own kid benefits from this and has made finals in everything because he is 12 about to turn 13. His friend who turned 13 in February is an amazing swimmer (still qualified as a 13 year old when he was 12) and is here but getting crushed and basically finishing at the bottom. These two are less than 2 months apart in age.

5. Many, many very good teams do not attend this meet at all, so the "national champions" at this meet are amazing talented swimmers but not first in the nation by a long shot.

Anyway, those are some observations from a swim parent from across the years (I have 3 swimmers and here with my middle and youngest). Not a question just something to share!



If you think THESE kids aren’t that great, I can only imagine the wisdom you have to share about the kids that couldn’t make these cuts. You are a real gem. Eff off.


NP. There are no participation trophies in life.


Actually? There are. Wedding gifts. Birthday gifts. COLA raises. You get certificates for being baptized and getting confirmed or becoming a member of a new church. A lot of participation-in-life is recognized. I got a certificate recently for “participating” in my job for 10 years. Want to try again?




Seriously. Wedding gifts and making swim time cuts - TOTALLY the same.


That’s the point, darling. Wear that “I Voted” sticker and post it on Facebook again. Look at that, a participation trophy.
Anonymous
NP. The amount of sour grapes here is even more than I anticipated. If reading about a meet like NCSAs is going to trigger you because your kid won’t ever qualify for it, you can just scroll past.
Anonymous
There's a just turned 12 year old girl at the Speedo sectionsls meet in Ithaca with a 100 free seed time of 53.25, 100 fly time of 56.61, and 100 back time of 58.19. It will be interesting to see how she progresses.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This meet is so interesting!

1. The 11-12 boys age group, in general, is a hot mess. The boys who hit puberty early are comically bigger and stronger than the ones who don't, especially the tiny 11 year olds who were just 10 a month ago and are in elementary school. I think if you have a boy who is on the later side to puberty, just don't worry because they will get crushed, but it starts to even out later.

2. So many champion 10u from a few years ago are nowhere to be found now in the finals. They are still at the meet, so obviously very good, but they are, for the most part, just somewhere in the pack (some making finals and some not). Others who were still very good as 10u but not top 8, are now top 8 in all their best events. Interesting. (We've been going to this meet for many years so have become familiar with so many kids from teams around the country.)

3. The 13-14 girls age group is generally weak from many teams because the fastest girls at this age are already qualified for and attending NCSA junior nationals instead of age groups.

4. This meet is generally a celebration of the kids with spring/summer birthdays. My own kid benefits from this and has made finals in everything because he is 12 about to turn 13. His friend who turned 13 in February is an amazing swimmer (still qualified as a 13 year old when he was 12) and is here but getting crushed and basically finishing at the bottom. These two are less than 2 months apart in age.

5. Many, many very good teams do not attend this meet at all, so the "national champions" at this meet are amazing talented swimmers but not first in the nation by a long shot.

Anyway, those are some observations from a swim parent from across the years (I have 3 swimmers and here with my middle and youngest). Not a question just something to share!



If you think THESE kids aren’t that great, I can only imagine the wisdom you have to share about the kids that couldn’t make these cuts. You are a real gem. Eff off.


NP. There are no participation trophies in life.


In 10 years people will care just as much about someone’s participation trophy from u10 rec soccer as they will about a random medal from an 10u swimmer.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:NP. The amount of sour grapes here is even more than I anticipated. If reading about a meet like NCSAs is going to trigger you because your kid won’t ever qualify for it, you can just scroll past.


Oh, come on. Learn reading comprehension or maybe a sliver of context. The OP is saying the NCSA kids themselves aren’t even that great. Well, okay, I guess if you don’t make the Olympic trials, you’re not worth cheering for? So why get excited about any sport outside of the professional or Olympic context? Except you don’t need to make the Olympics to be proud of what you’ve achieved - and let’s be real, most Olympians aren’t well known either.

So if your point is - none of these kids will make a career of it, sure. But to poop on kids who are actually among the best swimmers in the country for their ages - is just pathetic. I don’t even understand the participation trophy comment. How stupid are people who read this forum?
Anonymous
Kudos to the kids at the meet but there are a lot of kids at other meets too.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:NP. The amount of sour grapes here is even more than I anticipated. If reading about a meet like NCSAs is going to trigger you because your kid won’t ever qualify for it, you can just scroll past.


Oh, come on. Learn reading comprehension or maybe a sliver of context. The OP is saying the NCSA kids themselves aren’t even that great. Well, okay, I guess if you don’t make the Olympic trials, you’re not worth cheering for? So why get excited about any sport outside of the professional or Olympic context? Except you don’t need to make the Olympics to be proud of what you’ve achieved - and let’s be real, most Olympians aren’t well known either.

So if your point is - none of these kids will make a career of it, sure. But to poop on kids who are actually among the best swimmers in the country for their ages - is just pathetic. I don’t even understand the participation trophy comment. How stupid are people who read this forum?

I don’t think OPs post was that deep, there’s a lot of projection going on here.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:NP. The amount of sour grapes here is even more than I anticipated. If reading about a meet like NCSAs is going to trigger you because your kid won’t ever qualify for it, you can just scroll past.


Oh, come on. Learn reading comprehension or maybe a sliver of context. The OP is saying the NCSA kids themselves aren’t even that great. Well, okay, I guess if you don’t make the Olympic trials, you’re not worth cheering for? So why get excited about any sport outside of the professional or Olympic context? Except you don’t need to make the Olympics to be proud of what you’ve achieved - and let’s be real, most Olympians aren’t well known either.

So if your point is - none of these kids will make a career of it, sure. But to poop on kids who are actually among the best swimmers in the country for their ages - is just pathetic. I don’t even understand the participation trophy comment. How stupid are people who read this forum?

I don’t think OPs post was that deep, there’s a lot of projection going on here.


Seriously! Some of you need to take a step back and look at your way over the top reactions to OPs post.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Everyone around here knows the real champions are crowned the last Saturday in July.



Yasssss!!!!!!!
Anonymous
It is honestly creepy to care about and compare other people’s kids this much, in any sport and at any level.
Anonymous
My “weak” 13/14 yo girl had a great time with her friends and swam some PBs and learned that working hard pays off, so the meet was a success for us, even if she was short of regular NCSA cuts. She’s in no hurry.

Then again not everyone’s priorities make sense. OP you sound like a mean person!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:It is honestly creepy to care about and compare other people’s kids this much, in any sport and at any level.


Have you ever heard of competitive swimming? It’s literally a comparison of times.
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