Swim & Dive Team "Gala"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Hmm. Americans are prudes and always associate skin-showing with sexual risk.
THAT's what's weird!

Not that I advocate make-up (hate the stuff) or heels (bad for posture) or showing cleavage and bottoms (vulgar).
However, for the swim team party, I couldn't care less.
PP's remarks about girls' fantasies in a safe place is spot on.


But not with 14 year old boys around. I agree Americans can be prudes. But the heels and make-up on kids at a coed dance will be the girls that give it up before 14, if you are okay with that. I have girls and am not okay with that....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Hmm. Americans are prudes and always associate skin-showing with sexual risk.
THAT's what's weird!

Not that I advocate make-up (hate the stuff) or heels (bad for posture) or showing cleavage and bottoms (vulgar).
However, for the swim team party, I couldn't care less.
PP's remarks about girls' fantasies in a safe place is spot on.

Great idea. I will request at my son's next basketball team party that they dress up like Chippendale's and dance the part. Oh, and invite some girls too, why not let kids act out their fantasies? You weird Americans for being prudes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The swim team subculture is weird. My son was involved for a few years, and I was relieved when he moved on to other sports.

So true

Weird is a polite way of describing it. Been involved basketball, volleyball, swimming, diving, soccer, baseball, wrestling, cheerleading and track (at varying level between rec and college level). Summer swim is the most psycho group around, primarily the parents but is seeps to the kids. Not the competitiveness, just the culture. But once it is over the kids go back to being normal, thank goodness. Eat my bubbles if you disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The swim team subculture is weird. My son was involved for a few years, and I was relieved when he moved on to other sports.

So true

Weird is a polite way of describing it. Been involved basketball, volleyball, swimming, diving, soccer, baseball, wrestling, cheerleading and track (at varying level between rec and college level). Summer swim is the most psycho group around, primarily the parents but is seeps to the kids. Not the competitiveness, just the culture. But once it is over the kids go back to being normal, thank goodness. Eat my bubbles if you disagree.

How is swim team culture weird? My child is just getting into swimming and I have no personal experience with it. But I "hated" preteam this summer. You mean there's more???

[Anonymous]

One person's "weird" is another's unique.

Swim culture offers all the things described above and for many of those involved, it creates a community that doesn't exist in any othe sport. This is a community where an 8 year old boy regularly plays soccer with middle schoolers he looks up to and has already become the "big guy" at 8 & under practice that the 7 year olds look up to. The mixed age group experience of summer swim teams is unique and so valuable to my kids. The young kids are exposed to some odd traditions that have appeal to the 15-18 crowd. It's harmless fun at our pool and the community relationships that by far outweign any "weirdness."

I was a college swimmer and the monotonous of hours of swimming does seem to be broken up by a serious dose of silliness--mostly by the men's team I think. . . In our case it was the 100 100s on New Years Day--the last 10 of which were always naked. Girls were not present.

[Anonymous]

A lot of the coaches seem pretty sketchy IMO.

[Anonymous]

My three kids have been on swim team at two different pools in NOVA, and we've had a great experience and found the swimmers one of the nicest groups around. Yes, swim team has it's own culture, but its not anymore peculiar than any other sports. My kids always liked it because it was mixed girls and boys and older and younger kids, something you don't get on your basic U-12 soccer team. Everyone dressed up for the end of season party, but it was more the 13 and up year old girls who were into make-up and the tiny dresses, which given that they were teens seemed appropriate. Maybe OP's MOCO team was over the top, but see no reason to paint all swim teams with same brush.

And no one sport has a monopoly on recreational drug use. I've seen drug/alcohol use/abuse in all sports high school and college -- seems to vary by the kids and school though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was this in Loudoun County?

No, Montgomery County (mid-upper County). But maybe it happens a lot of places? It seemed like the girls that were the tenured swim team members were the most outrageous, so maybe it is more normal than I think. It was just weird. DD had a nice time and hopefully next year she will not ask to wear heels.

We are at a Moco down county pool. We had our banquet and there were no girls with false eyelashes or makeup caked on even the 15-18 year olds. Lots of short dresses and heels starting with the 13 year old age group.
To be fair saw this at all the Bar mitzvah as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hmm. Americans are prudes and always associate skin-showing with sexual risk.
THAT's what's weird!

Not that I advocate make-up (hate the stuff) or heels (bad for posture) or showing cleavage and bottoms (vulgar).
However, for the swim team party, I couldn't care less.
PP's remarks about girls' fantasies in a safe place is spot on.

But not with 14 year old boys around. I agree Americans can be prudes. But the heels and make-up on kids at a coed dance will be the girls that give it up before 14, if you are okay with that. I have girls and am not okay with that....

Your assumption just proved my point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hmm. Americans are prudes and always associate skin-showing with sexual risk.
THAT's what's weird!

Not that I advocate make-up (hate the stuff) or heels (bad for posture) or showing cleavage and bottoms (vulgar).
However, for the swim team party, I couldn't care less.
PP's remarks about girls' fantasies in a safe place is spot on.

But not with 14 year old boys around. I agree Americans can be prudes. But the heels and make-up on kids at a coed dance will be the girls that give it up before 14, if you are okay with that. I have girls and am not okay with that....

Your assumption just proved my point.

PP, you can act all superior but no one wants their daughter inviting trouble. Boys think slutty looking girls ARE slutty regardless of what you think. BTW, my comment has nothing to swimmers, which is great exercise and community.

[Anonymous]

I think that OP may live near me. I've seen photos of the local swim team dinners, and the girls and boys are dressed up to the hilt, including younger girls all made up and teen girls in slinky dresses.

Some swim teams definitely have their own 'culture', and sometimes as long as certain families who go for that sort of thing are involved/running the swim team, things will continue to be that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that OP may live near me. I've seen photos of the local swim team dinners, and the girls and boys are dressed up to the hilt, including younger girls all made up and teen girls in slinky dresses.

Some swim teams definitely have their own 'culture', and sometimes as long as certain families who go for that sort of thing are involved/running the swim team, things will continue to be that way.

Ditto

[Anonymous]

What's the swim team subculture? I was on swim team as a kid/teen and it was low-key but fun. What on earth goes on now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The swim team subculture is weird. My son was involved for a few years, and I was relieved when he moved on to other sports.

So true

Weird is a polite way of describing it. Been involved basketball, volleyball, swimming, diving, soccer, baseball, wrestling, cheerleading and track (at varying level between rec and college level). Summer swim is the most psycho group around, primarily the parents but is seeps to the kids. Not the competitiveness, just the culture. But once it is over the kids go back to being normal, thank goodness. Eat my bubbles if you disagree.

To each his own. I love the culture you describe and think it is wholesome fun, not psycho.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's the swim team subculture? I was on swim team as a kid/teen and it was low-key but fun. What on earth goes on now?

This is very pool-dependent, just like schools and neighborhoods differ. We are active in lower MoCo (Bethesda/Chevy Chase pools primarily) and while we have the "Eat my Bubbles" paint on the car, cheers, and fun, we don't have slutty dress-up events. We have a low key barbeque with the kids and parents and a slide show of past events.