What helps kids build endurance/stamina to swim a full length (& beyond)?

[Anonymous]

If Long Branch is close to your house I'd recommend it fully. The head coach there is a fantastic teacher for exactly what you describe

[Anonymous]

PPs have made _great_ points. I'll just add a few other individual thoughts.

Stroke and Turn at MLK may be full, but SwiMontgomery might not (you can check in ActiveMontgomery on that and even see if you can get a registration pro-rate). SwiMontgomery is 2x per week rather than 1, which makes a huge difference to begin with. And if DC doesn't make it down the pool they'll give them a kickboard and have them keep going. Instructors often walk part of the slow lane at the beginning to make sure the newest swimmers don't sink.

Following upon the frequency issue, 1x per week ( = the usual swim-lesson schedule) will not build endurance, and what technique it builds will come much more slowly. If you want DC to make more rapid progress, put them into the water as frequently as you can (which also helps to overcome nerves, acclimate to the cold, and other things). Some lesson units at MLK will do 3x/week for 2 weeks, for example--not at every level, but you can look.

One of the lesson supervisors at MLK recommended to me years ago to move my DCs from lessons to Stroke and Turn + SwiMontgomery after lesson level 3, and that turned out to work well for us. The increased water time what was made the difference.

If you can't get a slot at SwiMontgomery, there are lots of private options in the area at this level. My DCs did the springtime outdoor program with FINS a couple of times, and that was _very_ helpful (and scheduled during a window of time that was perfect to prepare for summer). They enjoyed it, as well.

For the summer team, either have DC evaluated ahead of time by one of the coaches or bring them to the first practice and drop them right in (depends on their personality and your team's rules). The coaches will tell you right away if DC really needs to be on pre-team rather than regular - and they will also generally be eager to move pre-team members into regular team practices and meets whenever they can.

PPs are absolutely right that the culture of summer swim will likely get DC swimming faster and harder quite quickly. But if they are more prepared for that challenge off the bat, they will have an even better time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PPs have made _great_ points. I'll just add a few other individual thoughts.

Stroke and Turn at MLK may be full, but SwiMontgomery might not (you can check in ActiveMontgomery on that and even see if you can get a registration pro-rate). SwiMontgomery is 2x per week rather than 1, which makes a huge difference to begin with. And if DC doesn't make it down the pool they'll give them a kickboard and have them keep going. Instructors often walk part of the slow lane at the beginning to make sure the newest swimmers don't sink.

Following upon the frequency issue, 1x per week ( = the usual swim-lesson schedule) will not build endurance, and what technique it builds will come much more slowly. If you want DC to make more rapid progress, put them into the water as frequently as you can (which also helps to overcome nerves, acclimate to the cold, and other things). Some lesson units at MLK will do 3x/week for 2 weeks, for example--not at every level, but you can look.

One of the lesson supervisors at MLK recommended to me years ago to move my DCs from lessons to Stroke and Turn + SwiMontgomery after lesson level 3, and that turned out to work well for us. The increased water time what was made the difference.

If you can't get a slot at SwiMontgomery, there are lots of private options in the area at this level. My DCs did the springtime outdoor program with FINS a couple of times, and that was _very_ helpful (and scheduled during a window of time that was perfect to prepare for summer). They enjoyed it, as well.

For the summer team, either have DC evaluated ahead of time by one of the coaches or bring them to the first practice and drop them right in (depends on their personality and your team's rules). The coaches will tell you right away if DC really needs to be on pre-team rather than regular - and they will also generally be eager to move pre-team members into regular team practices and meets whenever they can.

PPs are absolutely right that the culture of summer swim will likely get DC swimming faster and harder quite quickly. But if they are more prepared for that challenge off the bat, they will have an even better time.

Thanks so much, super helpful!

I thought there wasn't a pre-team at public pools like Long Branch and Glenmont, though, and if you can't swim far enough they just say "sorry, maybe next year?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PPs have made _great_ points. I'll just add a few other individual thoughts.

Stroke and Turn at MLK may be full, but SwiMontgomery might not (you can check in ActiveMontgomery on that and even see if you can get a registration pro-rate). SwiMontgomery is 2x per week rather than 1, which makes a huge difference to begin with. And if DC doesn't make it down the pool they'll give them a kickboard and have them keep going. Instructors often walk part of the slow lane at the beginning to make sure the newest swimmers don't sink.

Following upon the frequency issue, 1x per week ( = the usual swim-lesson schedule) will not build endurance, and what technique it builds will come much more slowly. If you want DC to make more rapid progress, put them into the water as frequently as you can (which also helps to overcome nerves, acclimate to the cold, and other things). Some lesson units at MLK will do 3x/week for 2 weeks, for example--not at every level, but you can look.

One of the lesson supervisors at MLK recommended to me years ago to move my DCs from lessons to Stroke and Turn + SwiMontgomery after lesson level 3, and that turned out to work well for us. The increased water time what was made the difference.

If you can't get a slot at SwiMontgomery, there are lots of private options in the area at this level. My DCs did the springtime outdoor program with FINS a couple of times, and that was _very_ helpful (and scheduled during a window of time that was perfect to prepare for summer). They enjoyed it, as well.

For the summer team, either have DC evaluated ahead of time by one of the coaches or bring them to the first practice and drop them right in (depends on their personality and your team's rules). The coaches will tell you right away if DC really needs to be on pre-team rather than regular - and they will also generally be eager to move pre-team members into regular team practices and meets whenever they can.

PPs are absolutely right that the culture of summer swim will likely get DC swimming faster and harder quite quickly. But if they are more prepared for that challenge off the bat, they will have an even better time.

Thanks so much, super helpful!

I thought there wasn't a pre-team at public pools like Long Branch and Glenmont, though, and if you can't swim far enough they just say "sorry, maybe next year?"

It depends on the pool. The Glenmont Gators were recommended to us as a starting-point back in the day. You can do a little digging online to see the current pre-team situation. But if DC is already in lessons and working regularly this spring, swimming a 25m free (even maybe breathing by popping up rather than to the side) by Memorial Day is not an unreasonable goal unless there are other barriers involved (physical, psychological, lagging interest can all factor in).