Swim Team Drama 2024

[Anonymous]

Not drama, but I think the communication could be a little better/more proactive so as to set expectations around who's swimming what. At this point in the season with there being lots of kids with good times across the strokes, some people on vacation, etc., it's not as straightforward as just looking at the times to figure out if your kid is swimming on Saturday or in the relays, etc. like it is in the first half of the season. It has been hard to plan for and feels like we're making lots of logistical/schedule adjustments on the fly (including at work) with a day or two's notice.

I understand that many of these details are being worked out on a meet-by-meet basis, but wish they'd think about ways to communicate early and often to help families plan (especially those of us who are newer to this).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh my goodness, get a life ASAP. I swam from age 5-22, swam in college, was the captain of my high school team. My sister went to the Trials and was state champion in two events. And we didn’t take it this seriously.

Get. A. Life. Even if your kids are on track to be Olympians (they aren’t) it’s not that deep and you seriously need a life, desperately.

Oh, the irony.

[Anonymous]

We have a parent that wants the coach fired because they are having issues with the lineup. Sheesh! That’s who really needs.a life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh my goodness, get a life ASAP. I swam from age 5-22, swam in college, was the captain of my high school team. My sister went to the Trials and was state champion in two events. And we didn’t take it this seriously.

Get. A. Life. Even if your kids are on track to be Olympians (they aren’t) it’s not that deep and you seriously need a life, desperately.

Oh, the irony.

+1

LOL!

[Anonymous]

Parents ruin everything. There is a parent who is literally counting points in a bid to get a plastic high point trophy for their kid. The kid doesn’t get to hang out with the team, parents don’t cheer for anyone and I’ve observed the kid crying on several occasions.

Summer swim is for hanging out with friends, doing silly cheers and eating the most disgusting candy they can possibly buy from concessions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh my goodness, get a life ASAP. I swam from age 5-22, swam in college, was the captain of my high school team. My sister went to the Trials and was state champion in two events. And we didn’t take it this seriously.

Get. A. Life. Even if your kids are on track to be Olympians (they aren’t) it’s not that deep and you seriously need a life, desperately.

LOL!

You are too funny. That fact that you are on DCUM like the rest of us losers and even responding means we all need a life. You are no better than the OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents ruin everything. There is a parent who is literally counting points in a bid to get a plastic high point trophy for their kid. The kid doesn’t get to hang out with the team, parents don’t cheer for anyone and I’ve observed the kid crying on several occasions.

Summer swim is for hanging out with friends, doing silly cheers and eating the most disgusting candy they can possibly buy from concessions.

I have kids in club swim and I’m relieved they don’t do summer swim team. Because the parents sound miserable, and judging from the posts here, it’s hard to resist becoming one of them. And I fully admit that although I’m a pretty chill club parent, there could be a crazy summer parent lurking in me, but I will never know!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not drama, but I think the communication could be a little better/more proactive so as to set expectations around who's swimming what. At this point in the season with there being lots of kids with good times across the strokes, some people on vacation, etc., it's not as straightforward as just looking at the times to figure out if your kid is swimming on Saturday or in the relays, etc. like it is in the first half of the season. It has been hard to plan for and feels like we're making lots of logistical/schedule adjustments on the fly (including at work) with a day or two's notice.

I understand that many of these details are being worked out on a meet-by-meet basis, but wish they'd think about ways to communicate early and often to help families plan (especially those of us who are newer to this).

Our pool did a zoom at the beginning of the year where the coach went over how to declare for a meet, what to expect etc. while things can always change and typically the lineup is shuffled around now, it was helpful in understanding the timing of when decisions are made.

[Anonymous]

13:05: You need to accept that entries/lineups will always be a moving target, up to, and including meet day because kids get sick or hurt, or don't tell the team they are going to miss a meet until after the lineups are already set and exchanged. I served as an NVSL Team Rep for 4 years, and far more often than not we were juggling the lineup Thursday, Friday, even Saturday morning. Communication is a two-way street.

You need to accept that, or make your plans and accept the fact your swimmer may miss a meet opportunity b/c of your plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not drama, but I think the communication could be a little better/more proactive so as to set expectations around who's swimming what. At this point in the season with there being lots of kids with good times across the strokes, some people on vacation, etc., it's not as straightforward as just looking at the times to figure out if your kid is swimming on Saturday or in the relays, etc. like it is in the first half of the season. It has been hard to plan for and feels like we're making lots of logistical/schedule adjustments on the fly (including at work) with a day or two's notice.

I understand that many of these details are being worked out on a meet-by-meet basis, but wish they'd think about ways to communicate early and often to help families plan (especially those of us who are newer to this).

I'm not sure I understand. We get our A-meet line up from the coach the day after B-meet results are in. Parents with kids on the bubble wait for this email to know if they'll be at the A-meet that week. It's not a ton of notice, but is what it is.

I'm sure parents of kids who are top 3 can generally predict that they'll be at the A-meet, but still have to wait to hear about relays, as those can get shuffled with vacations and kids dropping time.

What communication do you expect beyond the A-meet line up being sent out on time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not drama, but I think the communication could be a little better/more proactive so as to set expectations around who's swimming what. At this point in the season with there being lots of kids with good times across the strokes, some people on vacation, etc., it's not as straightforward as just looking at the times to figure out if your kid is swimming on Saturday or in the relays, etc. like it is in the first half of the season. It has been hard to plan for and feels like we're making lots of logistical/schedule adjustments on the fly (including at work) with a day or two's notice.

I understand that many of these details are being worked out on a meet-by-meet basis, but wish they'd think about ways to communicate early and often to help families plan (especially those of us who are newer to this).

I'm not sure I understand. We get our A-meet line up from the coach the day after B-meet results are in. Parents with kids on the bubble wait for this email to know if they'll be at the A-meet that week. It's not a ton of notice, but is what it is.

I'm sure parents of kids who are top 3 can generally predict that they'll be at the A-meet, but still have to wait to hear about relays, as those can get shuffled with vacations and kids dropping time.

What communication do you expect beyond the A-meet line up being sent out on time?

(Not a PP or OP) Our team is very transparent with the ladder, and we receive an updated version after every A and B meet. This way, we know where are child may fall and whether the child is bubble or in the A meet. Last week, we had a LOT of A meet swimmers out, and we dug deep into the ladder. Our team reps notified us every day that swimmers who have lot typically swum in A meets may be doing so that weekend. Communication and transparency remove most of the issues rendered above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents ruin everything. There is a parent who is literally counting points in a bid to get a plastic high point trophy for their kid. The kid doesn’t get to hang out with the team, parents don’t cheer for anyone and I’ve observed the kid crying on several occasions.

Summer swim is for hanging out with friends, doing silly cheers and eating the most disgusting candy they can possibly buy from concessions.

I have kids in club swim and I’m relieved they don’t do summer swim team. Because the parents sound miserable, and judging from the posts here, it’s hard to resist becoming one of them. And I fully admit that although I’m a pretty chill club parent, there could be a crazy summer parent lurking in me, but I will never know!

PP - yes, I do think the compact schedule, the heat, the volunteering does get to some people. I will say for the most part our team is super supportive and the parents are fun to hang out with. The situation I described above does stand out because it’s not the norm.

My kids are summer only swimmers so I want them to have fun, school and their other sports take a lot of time and effort the rest of the year - this should be mindless fun where the most stressful thing is finding something to wear for the weekly theme!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not drama, but I think the communication could be a little better/more proactive so as to set expectations around who's swimming what. At this point in the season with there being lots of kids with good times across the strokes, some people on vacation, etc., it's not as straightforward as just looking at the times to figure out if your kid is swimming on Saturday or in the relays, etc. like it is in the first half of the season. It has been hard to plan for and feels like we're making lots of logistical/schedule adjustments on the fly (including at work) with a day or two's notice.

I understand that many of these details are being worked out on a meet-by-meet basis, but wish they'd think about ways to communicate early and often to help families plan (especially those of us who are newer to this).

I'm not sure I understand. We get our A-meet line up from the coach the day after B-meet results are in. Parents with kids on the bubble wait for this email to know if they'll be at the A-meet that week. It's not a ton of notice, but is what it is.

I'm sure parents of kids who are top 3 can generally predict that they'll be at the A-meet, but still have to wait to hear about relays, as those can get shuffled with vacations and kids dropping time.

What communication do you expect beyond the A-meet line up being sent out on time?

(Not a PP or OP) Our team is very transparent with the ladder, and we receive an updated version after every A and B meet. This way, we know where are child may fall and whether the child is bubble or in the A meet. Last week, we had a LOT of A meet swimmers out, and we dug deep into the ladder. Our team reps notified us every day that swimmers who have lot typically swum in A meets may be doing so that weekend. Communication and transparency remove most of the issues rendered above.

We get our A-meet line up the day after the B meet, so the ladder isn't particularly helpful. Isn't it better just to know for sure if you're swimming in the A-meet? I don't want to be looking at a ladder and guessing when I can just get the line up.

I also don't think it's that surprising that many travel over a holiday weekend. Wasn't that predictable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not drama, but I think the communication could be a little better/more proactive so as to set expectations around who's swimming what. At this point in the season with there being lots of kids with good times across the strokes, some people on vacation, etc., it's not as straightforward as just looking at the times to figure out if your kid is swimming on Saturday or in the relays, etc. like it is in the first half of the season. It has been hard to plan for and feels like we're making lots of logistical/schedule adjustments on the fly (including at work) with a day or two's notice.

I understand that many of these details are being worked out on a meet-by-meet basis, but wish they'd think about ways to communicate early and often to help families plan (especially those of us who are newer to this).

I'm not sure I understand. We get our A-meet line up from the coach the day after B-meet results are in. Parents with kids on the bubble wait for this email to know if they'll be at the A-meet that week. It's not a ton of notice, but is what it is.

I'm sure parents of kids who are top 3 can generally predict that they'll be at the A-meet, but still have to wait to hear about relays, as those can get shuffled with vacations and kids dropping time.

What communication do you expect beyond the A-meet line up being sent out on time?

(Not a PP or OP) Our team is very transparent with the ladder, and we receive an updated version after every A and B meet. This way, we know where are child may fall and whether the child is bubble or in the A meet. Last week, we had a LOT of A meet swimmers out, and we dug deep into the ladder. Our team reps notified us every day that swimmers who have lot typically swum in A meets may be doing so that weekend. Communication and transparency remove most of the issues rendered above.

We get our A-meet line up the day after the B meet, so the ladder isn't particularly helpful. Isn't it better just to know for sure if you're swimming in the A-meet? I don't want to be looking at a ladder and guessing when I can just get the line up.

I also don't think it's that surprising that many travel over a holiday weekend. Wasn't that predictable?

No, we didn’t have A Meet swimmers miss meets last year. We are in D1. We’ve had illness sweeping through the swimmers. And when you have a load of club swimmers on the team, it is unusual to go as far as we needed to go down the ladder because of illness. But, that said, everyone knew who would be next because we see the ladder after every single meet.

[Anonymous]

Our team doesn't send around a ladder. I do think that would be helpful. But I kind of get why they don't.. we have some competitive parents.