How hard is it to make it onto a summer swim league

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If he can't make it down the 25 freestyle, he would not make our team. While officially our rule is make it the length of the pool- I've seen the coaches reject kids who make it, but its messy and wears them out. They move them to the junior team. If they rapidly improve on junior team, they are sometimes allowed to move up- but usually there is only a week left in the season.

This year, if we open pools in Phase 3, I would expect teams to be even more strict about who they allow on. They have to maintain 10 foot distance, and they can't have coaches in the water. That limits them to kids who can continue to swim back and forth the length of the pool for practice- not just barely make it across the pool on a 25 and then need to get out and rest for a while.

OP where are you located? Happy to make some suggestions for lessons that you could get now. If he wants to do it, its worth getting into lessons now- I agree, most junior teams don't have much for 8 year olds- I have seen tall 7 year olds feel out of place.

It depends on the team. Some have pre-team. We have 200-250 kids on our county team and many more want in so they have to do a cut off where you have to at least make a 25 or 50 depending on the age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. The funny part about it is that he has a good backstroke. If he could do that all the way down the lane for tryouts, he'd have no problem. But I think he has a harder time with freestyle because he has to focus on arms, legs, and breathing all at once.

Why can’t he do backstroke for tryouts? He could swim backstroke in any freestyle event.

He could...but have you ever seen that at a meet...ever?

Won’t the pool have time trials before the season where kids choose their own strokes? That’s how ours does it. Those times form the initial ladder, and times from both b and a meets move you up. The top swimmers are chosen solely based on the ladder for a meets. It’s part of why dd loves swim- there are no favorites, fastest time competes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. The funny part about it is that he has a good backstroke. If he could do that all the way down the lane for tryouts, he'd have no problem. But I think he has a harder time with freestyle because he has to focus on arms, legs, and breathing all at once.

Why can’t he do backstroke for tryouts? He could swim backstroke in any freestyle event.

He could...but have you ever seen that at a meet...ever?

Won’t the pool have time trials before the season where kids choose their own strokes? That’s how ours does it. Those times form the initial ladder, and times from both b and a meets move you up. The top swimmers are chosen solely based on the ladder for a meets. It’s part of why dd loves swim- there are no favorites, fastest time competes

Yes but on very small teams they may only have a few kids per age group so they make it to a team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. The funny part about it is that he has a good backstroke. If he could do that all the way down the lane for tryouts, he'd have no problem. But I think he has a harder time with freestyle because he has to focus on arms, legs, and breathing all at once.

Why can’t he do backstroke for tryouts? He could swim backstroke in any freestyle event.

He could...but have you ever seen that at a meet...ever?

I grew up swimming with a girl who would do fly in freestyle events. She even won sometimes. Clueless officials would hassle her though.

The rule allow for different strokes in some of the competitions. Mine did the worn stroke once and I was surprised he wasn't DQ'ed and actually did better too. Coach said it depended on the stroke/rule.

If he wants to do a meet, he just signs up for the strokes he is legal in. The issue is he has to be legal in the stroke or he'll get DQ. Look for a swim team prep program for right now till summer starts.

What is the "worn stroke"?

A swimmer can do any stroke for an individual freestyle event. Really, the only rule is you can't walk on the bottom or otherwise artificially propel yourself (you can touch the bottom for example, but no forward propulsion).

In a medley relay freestyle cannot be done as breast, fly or back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. The funny part about it is that he has a good backstroke. If he could do that all the way down the lane for tryouts, he'd have no problem. But I think he has a harder time with freestyle because he has to focus on arms, legs, and breathing all at once.

Why can’t he do backstroke for tryouts? He could swim backstroke in any freestyle event.

He could...but have you ever seen that at a meet...ever?

Won’t the pool have time trials before the season where kids choose their own strokes? That’s how ours does it. Those times form the initial ladder, and times from both b and a meets move you up. The top swimmers are chosen solely based on the ladder for a meets. It’s part of why dd loves swim- there are no favorites, fastest time competes

Yes but on very small teams they may only have a few kids per age group so they make it to a team.

Right. For example, the teams that need that 3rd or 4th person to complete a relay. They aren't going to turn people away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he can't make it down the 25 freestyle, he would not make our team. While officially our rule is make it the length of the pool- I've seen the coaches reject kids who make it, but its messy and wears them out. They move them to the junior team. If they rapidly improve on junior team, they are sometimes allowed to move up- but usually there is only a week left in the season.

This year, if we open pools in Phase 3, I would expect teams to be even more strict about who they allow on. They have to maintain 10 foot distance, and they can't have coaches in the water. That limits them to kids who can continue to swim back and forth the length of the pool for practice- not just barely make it across the pool on a 25 and then need to get out and rest for a while.

OP where are you located? Happy to make some suggestions for lessons that you could get now. If he wants to do it, its worth getting into lessons now- I agree, most junior teams don't have much for 8 year olds- I have seen tall 7 year olds feel out of place.

It depends on the team. Some have pre-team. We have 200-250 kids on our county team and many more want in so they have to do a cut off where you have to at least make a 25 or 50 depending on the age.

OP here. This sounds like ours. We tend to finish near the top of our league each year.

[Anonymous]

Our team is competitive and huge and they take any kid who can make it across the pool without stopping by hook or by crook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he can't make it down the 25 freestyle, he would not make our team. While officially our rule is make it the length of the pool- I've seen the coaches reject kids who make it, but its messy and wears them out. They move them to the junior team. If they rapidly improve on junior team, they are sometimes allowed to move up- but usually there is only a week left in the season.

This year, if we open pools in Phase 3, I would expect teams to be even more strict about who they allow on. They have to maintain 10 foot distance, and they can't have coaches in the water. That limits them to kids who can continue to swim back and forth the length of the pool for practice- not just barely make it across the pool on a 25 and then need to get out and rest for a while.

OP where are you located? Happy to make some suggestions for lessons that you could get now. If he wants to do it, its worth getting into lessons now- I agree, most junior teams don't have much for 8 year olds- I have seen tall 7 year olds feel out of place.

It depends on the team. Some have pre-team. We have 200-250 kids on our county team and many more want in so they have to do a cut off where you have to at least make a 25 or 50 depending on the age.

OP here. This sounds like ours. We tend to finish near the top of our league each year.

Except we are not at the top. One year we did well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. The funny part about it is that he has a good backstroke. If he could do that all the way down the lane for tryouts, he'd have no problem. But I think he has a harder time with freestyle because he has to focus on arms, legs, and breathing all at once.

Why can’t he do backstroke for tryouts? He could swim backstroke in any freestyle event.

He could...but have you ever seen that at a meet...ever?

Won’t the pool have time trials before the season where kids choose their own strokes? That’s how ours does it. Those times form the initial ladder, and times from both b and a meets move you up. The top swimmers are chosen solely based on the ladder for a meets. It’s part of why dd loves swim- there are no favorites, fastest time competes

I think it’s very clear that when a tryout requires a 25 freestyle without stopping, it means a 25 freestyle without stopping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. The funny part about it is that he has a good backstroke. If he could do that all the way down the lane for tryouts, he'd have no problem. But I think he has a harder time with freestyle because he has to focus on arms, legs, and breathing all at once.

Why can’t he do backstroke for tryouts? He could swim backstroke in any freestyle event.

He could...but have you ever seen that at a meet...ever?

I grew up swimming with a girl who would do fly in freestyle events. She even won sometimes. Clueless officials would hassle her though.

The rule allow for different strokes in some of the competitions. Mine did the worn stroke once and I was surprised he wasn't DQ'ed and actually did better too. Coach said it depended on the stroke/rule.

If he wants to do a meet, he just signs up for the strokes he is legal in. The issue is he has to be legal in the stroke or he'll get DQ. Look for a swim team prep program for right now till summer starts.

What is the "worn stroke"?

A swimmer can do any stroke for an individual freestyle event. Really, the only rule is you can't walk on the bottom or otherwise artificially propel yourself (you can touch the bottom for example, but no forward propulsion).

In a medley relay freestyle cannot be done as breast, fly or back.

The kid is essentially 9, but will be swimming as an 8 year old this summer. I’m guessing he’ll likely be tall compared to most 8 year olds. He’s also not a great swimmer. Anyone who suggests that he actually swim backstroke during a freestyle event are not considering the social implications of this. Everyone would know from practice the kid couldn’t do free without stopping, which is why he did back.

Clearly, if the above poster did fly as a kid (during free events), she had the ability to do other stokes but chose fly. No one perfects fly before the other strokes, especially being able to win the heat. In that case, the kid becomes more of a star rather than a source of ridicule.

If he can’t do a 25 without stopping and he’s swimming as an 8 and under this summer, he should be on the mini team or take lessons now so he can swim it without stopping UNLESS your team try outs have a different requirement. Email the team reps now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our team is competitive and huge and they take any kid who can make it across the pool without stopping by hook or by crook.

Ours too. I think we are division 4 in the nvsl.

[Anonymous]

If he really wants to make the team, it seems like getting him a few lessons and taking him to practice swimming at an indoor pool would be helpful. Good luck to your son!

[Anonymous]

Thank you. Going to sign him up for lessons and cross my fingers. Hate for him to miss out this year. I looked around and the closest swim team prep program is pretty far from us, so I'll just try a regular swim school I guess.

[Anonymous]

At our pool they might put him in pre-team for a week or two until he is good to go for regular team.

A few weeks of lessons should sort him out. Where do you live OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you. Going to sign him up for lessons and cross my fingers. Hate for him to miss out this year. I looked around and the closest swim team prep program is pretty far from us, so I'll just try a regular swim school I guess.

If you name your area we can help. Even the schools like Goldfish could help. It's a bummer for kids in this situation who don't belong to year long programs.