Competitive (Club) Swimming -- At what point is it fine for a child to leave a longtime sport?

[Anonymous]

At what age is it okay for your child to decide that they are not going to progress in competitive swimming (do not have the "big talent"), and will pursue their other activities and talents with more time?

I know that swimming has taught my child work ethic, discipline, time management, and healthy habits, but if the talent is not there (makes JOs and Zones, but so many other age-group swimmers are so much faster) then at what age is it acceptable to move on to other pursuits with the big time commitment that swimming takes up?

The club coaches all suggest that we continue because talent develops in different time frames, but my child (and I) sees that the big-time, college-level talent is just not there in spite of years and hours of devotion to the sport. In all honesty I feel like USA Swimming and the club teams are a bit of a pyramid scheme, where the weaker swimmers at the bottom (and there are many of those) support the great coaches and superstar swimmers at the top with their substantial fees and dues, and are disingenuously encouraged to stay on for years on end without the slightest signs of talent -- only to support the coaching network that makes the great swimmers possible.

Other pursuits or sports are better at signaling potential to a child at a younger age -- through auditions (music conservatory, youth orchestras) and tryouts (club soccer) -- that differentiate between the truly gifted and the recreational talent.

[Anonymous]

My daughter does gymnastics at Hills and has for many years and is not on team. I am not under the delusion that she will ever be even college/high school level team. I have a friend who has a kid on team who is not under the delusion that she is going to go far with the sport. Our kids participate because they enjoy the activity. If if is a burden and your child hates it quit. Your child doesn't have to be college material in swimming to make team worth it. It is a matter of priorities for your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At what age is it okay for your child to decide that they are not going to progress in competitive swimming (do not have the "big talent"), and will pursue their other activities and talents with more time?

I know that swimming has taught my child work ethic, discipline, time management, and healthy habits, but if the talent is not there (makes JOs and Zones, but so many other age-group swimmers are so much faster) then at what age is it acceptable to move on to other pursuits with the big time commitment that swimming takes up?

The club coaches all suggest that we continue because talent develops in different time frames, but my child (and I) sees that the big-time, college-level talent is just not there in spite of years and hours of devotion to the sport. In all honesty I feel like USA Swimming and the club teams are a bit of a pyramid scheme, where the weaker swimmers at the bottom (and there are many of those) support the great coaches and superstar swimmers at the top with their substantial fees and dues, and are disingenuously encouraged to stay on for years on end without the slightest signs of talent -- only to support the coaching network that makes the great swimmers possible.

Other pursuits or sports are better at signaling potential to a child at a younger age -- through auditions (music conservatory, youth orchestras) and tryouts (club soccer) -- that differentiate between the truly gifted and the recreational talent.

Wow. This post is just so ... DCUM.

If your child doesn't want to swim or you don't want to deal with swimming, then quit. The time is whenever you like.

Swimming was valuable to be for reasons other than being the best or having Division I talent. I swam from age 8 - age 18. I never had "big time talent." I had many friends on swim team, though, and they are still my friends today and are closer than my cousins. I swim open water and compete in triathlons as an adult.
I sometimes place in my age group. Swimming was fun, social and good for my health. It still is. "Being the best" doesn't have much to do with any of those things.

[Anonymous]

OP,

Is your child good enough to get an athletic scholarship or partial scholarship for swimming, but just not going to the Olympics? If yes, then I would encourage them to stay on. If not, quit at the end of your current season/contract.

[Anonymous]

Your coaches are right. You don't say how old your child is. But--progress does come at different ages. Puberty can change a LOT. I was a mediocre swimmer all through age-group. Then I got tall in H.S. and passed by kids that reached their full height at age 12. However, I still never made a junior national cut. Nonetheless, I loved swimming, I swam division III in college and got really into waterpolo. I had to keep swimming to stay in shape for waterpolo. Look into that sport)

[Anonymous]

As long as my child is doing something physical, I don't care if they switch things up each year. I would like for them to be good enough at soccer to join a pickup game, good enough to swim if they fall overboard or are staying in a hotel with a pool, etc. But if they don't want to compete, that's totally fine with me.

[Anonymous]

At what point is it fine for a child to leave a longtime sport?

At the time that the child decides that the child doesn't want to do it anymore.

[Anonymous]

Does your child like it or does he/she want to quit. If your kid wants to quit they should quit now. However, if your child likes it they can continue and would be able to compete at the college level if they are making Zones (particularly in the winter). By JOs do you mean junior nationals? If so they should be able to get a college scholarship. I was a pretty decent swimmer like your kid - made zones every year but was just shy of qualifying for junior nationals. I had scholarship offers and got into and attended a college that I had no business going to academically (I'm sure though that my grades would have been much better if it weren't for all the hours in the pool). But if your kid isn't enjoying it anymore it's not worth the sacrifice.

[Anonymous]

Maybe it's me, but I'd let my child quit whenever they wanted (well, actually I'd try to encourage them to stick it out until the end of a season).

We actually had his issue with my son, except it was a different sport. We really encouraged him to stay with it because the coaches said he showed promise. Ultimately though, he quit because he was just too unhappy. You know what happened? He switched to another sport in which he's excelling (and enjoying more) and he's gotten more involved in some other great activities too. Life's short and childhood is even shorter. Yolo!

[Anonymous]

I have two competitive swimmers and I learned that you either live it or hate it, not much in between. My kids hate the practices, so I cut back on those, but they love to compete. They are in middle school and I reduced the year round swimming because it was beginning to interfere with homework and other extracurriculars. One thing their coach warned against was burnout before high school when they can swim for their high school team. However, I agree that if your child has been swimming for a number of years and you are not seeing the progression and the drive or interest, then I would not force your child to continue. They should engage in an activity or sport they enjoy.

[Anonymous]

OP how old is your child?
I don't think all the PP understand that swimming is a huge time commitment, more so than many other sports- 2 hour practices 6 days a week and some weeks practice 5 days a week and then a meet on the weekends. If your child no longer has the passion for it and is getting discouraged, I would let the child quit as long as they were doing another activity or sport.
I swam from 5 to 6 days a week from ages 6-13 year-round on a swim team and wished I quit earlier. I was never the top age group swimmer on my competitive swim team even though I was a really good swimmer, and it got to be really discouraging after a while.
I decided I would not put my kids in swimming because it really takes a family commitment. Now I am a crazy soccer mom, but practice for my 8 year old club/travel soccer player is only twice a week with games on the weekend. Unless it is a tournament, the games take 2 hours from getting to the fields, warm-up, to walking to the car. Much better than all day swim meets.

[Anonymous]

Meant "love" not "live" but it could be both.

[Anonymous]

Ha! My kid was in year round swim and REALLY sucked (like would come in 90/93). She loved it for a while so I supported her. When she got discouraged, she finished the season and quit.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you for all the helpful responses.

DC is a 13-year old (started swimming as a 7-year old), and for the past two years has been swimming an average of 2-2.5 hours/day, 6 days/week, with swim meets approximately every third weekend.

I think DC will get sectionals cuts eventually, but junior nationals cuts would be a stretch. DC does like to swim, and has many friends in the sport, and works hard at it. I can sometimes see some discouragement, as DC's times do not progress on the trajectory of some of their peers.

DC is also a gifted math and science student, who loves working on computer science projects, and taking advanced courses outside of school. DC auditioned for a local youth symphony and was selected to play next year, which will cut into their time. DC plays on their school's sports teams every season, and competes as part of the school's debate team.

In short, DC is talented at things outside of swimming, and the sport takes up a lot of time which is not necessarily worth it if the trajectory isn't there -- given the other commitments and pursuits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP how old is your child?
I don't think all the PP understand that swimming is a huge time commitment, more so than many other sports- 2 hour practices 6 days a week and some weeks practice 5 days a week and then a meet on the weekends. If your child no longer has the passion for it and is getting discouraged, I would let the child quit as long as they were doing another activity or sport.
I swam from 5 to 6 days a week from ages 6-13 year-round on a swim team and wished I quit earlier. I was never the top age group swimmer on my competitive swim team even though I was a really good swimmer, and it got to be really discouraging after a while.
I decided I would not put my kids in swimming because it really takes a family commitment. Now I am a crazy soccer mom, but practice for my 8 year old club/travel soccer player is only twice a week with games on the weekend. Unless it is a tournament, the games take 2 hours from getting to the fields, warm-up, to walking to the car. Much better than all day swim meets.

I am really interested in hearing more about this, as my child is on a summer swim team and has done winter stroke clinic (non-team) for two years. He is 9 -- and we are facing a dilemma -- continue with stroke clinic twice a week and do other sports, or go down the year round swim team path. We don't know much about year round swim team, so wanted anyone's thoughts and prior experience on this. Will it be so intense that other activities fall by the wayside? He's a decent swimmer but we are also on a small summer team, so he gets lots of chances to swim. No all star times or anything, but he really loves it. TIA.