If your kid was an AAAA swimmer at 10 and 12?
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Anonymous
This sounds made up. But anyway, yeah if a swimmer is AAAA at 10 and then again at 12 per OP, they are going to be elite. Especially if a boy. |
Anonymous
I think the biggest reason for a 2nd sport is to help avoid the burnout that can come by just focusing on swim starting at 8 years old. I think there are also benefits to developing overall athleticism, but trying to not burn out is the biggest thing. The caveat I will add is that in today’s youth sports environment it’s harder to be a multi sport athlete. My kid is a high level swimmer and they do a 2nd sport that is seasonal. Their schedule while juggling both sports simultaneously is not something they could sustain for more than a season. They also can’t decrease their time in the water because they are in a high performance group (DC is 12). It’s a hard balance for kids to strike now because of how intense youth sports has gotten. |
Anonymous
NP - kids can avoid burnout by just not training so much, so young. They don't have to fill that time with a second sport. Overall athleticism doesn't matter as much in swimming as it does in traditional team/ball and stick sports. It doesn't hurt (barring injury), but most high-level swimmers aren't also elite in a second sport, the way many professional athletes are. Swimming is highly technical - and that technique comes from more swimming. |
Anonymous
| I can’t stress how wrong it is saying overall athleticism doesn’t matter in swimming. Go to a national level meet in person. Watch the elite swimmers explode of the blocks and walls, their underwaters. And also look at their physicality. Watch Dressel. This isn’t the 80s/90s where swimmers were the ones who couldn’t do anything on land. Top swimmers are athletes. Play another sport growing up, give them an athletic foundation |
Anonymous
It would not be good for my kid to only be spending say 3 days a week (1.5 hours each of those days) in the water with no other physical activity to fill that extra time. My kid is an athlete, physical activity is their outlet, they would be climbing the walls to have 4 days a week with nothing going on. I think part of what contributes to the burnout is kids that started at age 7-8 who are great through age 10, then the advantage of starting so early wears off, puberty comes into play, and they are frustrated and not used to not being the best. They either fight through it or they get to age 13, say they are burned out and do something else. To be sure, there are innately talented 10 and unders that stay great, but you also have standout 10 and unders who were standouts because they’ve been competitively swimming since they were 7-8 years old, not necessarily because they were innately talented. |
Anonymous
There are a lot of reasons for me, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a sport. It's the whole idea of avoiding having all the eggs in one basket and never exploring other activities/hobbies/sports and then being shy to pick up something new down the line. Plus - -Another friend group -Another coaching style/perspective -Cross training - good for boredom, bone density, fresh air... -Team sport is a great idea for team dynamic if kid likes it -Different skills/movement patterns None of this should be at the expense of overscheduling though. Again, follow the kid's lead. My kids wanted to do all the activities when they were little! So, early elementary school (8&U swim) it might look like two swims and a day of soccer or dance each week. One of my kids did chess club one afternoon after school. It's also totally fine to play at the park or ride bikes around the neighborhood and still swim two days per week. In MS, my kids each had 5 swims (4 weekdays) and kept up another travel or select sport. It was a lot, but they enjoyed it. Our coaches were very supportive and during the seasonal overlap, my kids often did 3 weekday swims and two practices for the other sport. A lot of kids did their second sport at rec level which is great, fewer practices and shorter season, but all the benefits above. |
Anonymous
I meant overall athleticism as developed by a second sport. FFS - of *course* Olympians are incredible athletes. That's not the point. There's relatively less benefit to a kid who swims also playing, say, soccer, than there is for a kid who plays football to also play baseball. There are different ways to be an incredible athlete, PP. And to a different PP - if your kid needs to fill their extra time with other sports, have at it. But there are plenty of ways to get physical activity and do other things beyond organized, hyper-competitive sports. |
Anonymous
+1, most Olympic athletes did not specialize in a single sport at a young age. They did multiple sports until older. |
Anonymous
| My kid started year round swimming at 10, was a AAA swimmer at 12. Had many sectional cuts and a few NCSA cuts by the end of high school, swims D3. The best swimmer who swam club with him just competed at the Olympic trials is an amazing athlete. Could pick up any sport. That swimmer did not completely commit to swimming until 8th grade. |
Anonymous
Wrong: 1. 41 —9-10 year old girls have aaaa in the 50 free alone: https://www.swimmingrank.com/zone/usa/scy_girls_5_10_50FR.html 2. 49 —9-10 yr old boys have an aaaa time in the 50 yard free alone: https://www.swimmingrank.com/zone/usa/scy_boys_5_10_50FR.html I’m certain some of those kids overlap with another stroke but I’m also certain many will not. Since there are motivational times for 12 different events in BOTH short course and long course (24 different events total are ranked), hundreds and hundreds of kids who are 9-10 have aaaa times. |
Anonymous
PP was referencing PVS 9-10 AAAA times only since this is DCUM. |
Anonymous
DP, but I’m guessing that poster was referring to PVS, not the country as a whole. During this past SC season only 2 9-10 boys and 1 9-10 girl got AAAA 50 free times. |
Anonymous
This makes more sense but there are a ton more events than 50 free (and more if you add lcm) and therefore more kids. Many kids that age have one or maybe 2 aaaa times. |
Anonymous
Many is strong, I just scrolled the PVS top SC times for this season for the 10 yr old boys and girls and it looks like maybe 10-11 total boys and 5-6 total girls got a AAAA time in at least 1 event. |
Anonymous
There are 12 or so events per short course and 12 or so for long course. That’s just PVS. There a massive number of courses like this. When I said “many,” I meant nationwide. |