Is it worth even doing HS swim?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a swim parent, I don’t think so at all.

The high school meets are mostly light competition and not worth a decent year round swimmer’s time.

DC tried his school’s swim team once and had to swim in the high school meets as a 6th grader just to preserve the parents’ feelings. When he did an average swim for him, we’d get nasty stares and nothing more so he quit. Haven’t missed a thing and he still swims with a club.

That’s not a humble brag. It’s a reflection of what school meets are like.

Years back at Metros, there were back to back high school National records broken in the 500 free. Those swimmers were decent too.

Metros is a meet of the past. IMX is the new barometer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a swim parent, I don’t think so at all.

The high school meets are mostly light competition and not worth a decent year round swimmer’s time.

DC tried his school’s swim team once and had to swim in the high school meets as a 6th grader just to preserve the parents’ feelings. When he did an average swim for him, we’d get nasty stares and nothing more so he quit. Haven’t missed a thing and he still swims with a club.

That’s not a humble brag. It’s a reflection of what school meets are like.

Years back at Metros, there were back to back high school National records broken in the 500 free. Those swimmers were decent too.

My experience was a few years ago, so I don’t know what years ago is in PPs reference. DS went to metros and placed at the top in every event he swam in. At the time, he was only T20 in any event in a regular LC meet. So maybe we are talking about different years? Not sure.

There were a small handful of kids recruited for swimming from independent schools who placed well but their national ranks were either the same or lower than DS when he was being recruited. He ended up at D3 as a recruit.

The swimmers referenced above are Olympian Jack Conger and best female swimmer of all time Katie Ledecky. So their high school swim team was worth their time

Ok, I don’t think the experience of Olympians is applicable to every swimmer. No high school coach is going to make it difficult for future Olympians to participate. Whether HS swim is worth it depends on a lot factors specific to each swimmer and the high school they attend. The HS my kid will attend currently has a coach that isn’t flexible with the club kids so the top club kids don’t swim HS. It’s not worth it to them to dial back on club for the sake of competing for their HS.

This seems rather short sighted on the part of the HS coaches, but I can see why. You don't want someone who is a "distant cousin" of the other team members who aren't swimming club teams.

It is short-sighted, but yes understandable. We’ve been told that where it gets awkward in HS for club swimmers is the relays because the club kids get those slots even though they are not at practice every day with the team. It’s a balance though because it’s not like the club kids aren’t practicing every day, and you are going to get trounced at every meet by the teams that are flexible with the club kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a swim parent, I don’t think so at all.

The high school meets are mostly light competition and not worth a decent year round swimmer’s time.

DC tried his school’s swim team once and had to swim in the high school meets as a 6th grader just to preserve the parents’ feelings. When he did an average swim for him, we’d get nasty stares and nothing more so he quit. Haven’t missed a thing and he still swims with a club.

That’s not a humble brag. It’s a reflection of what school meets are like.

Years back at Metros, there were back to back high school National records broken in the 500 free. Those swimmers were decent too.

My experience was a few years ago, so I don’t know what years ago is in PPs reference. DS went to metros and placed at the top in every event he swam in. At the time, he was only T20 in any event in a regular LC meet. So maybe we are talking about different years? Not sure.

There were a small handful of kids recruited for swimming from independent schools who placed well but their national ranks were either the same or lower than DS when he was being recruited. He ended up at D3 as a recruit.

The swimmers referenced above are Olympian Jack Conger and best female swimmer of all time Katie Ledecky. So their high school swim team was worth their time

Ok, I don’t think the experience of Olympians is applicable to every swimmer. No high school coach is going to make it difficult for future Olympians to participate. Whether HS swim is worth it depends on a lot factors specific to each swimmer and the high school they attend. The HS my kid will attend currently has a coach that isn’t flexible with the club kids so the top club kids don’t swim HS. It’s not worth it to them to dial back on club for the sake of competing for their HS.

This seems rather short sighted on the part of the HS coaches, but I can see why. You don't want someone who is a "distant cousin" of the other team members who aren't swimming club teams.

It is short-sighted, but yes understandable. We’ve been told that where it gets awkward in HS for club swimmers is the relays because the club kids get those slots even though they are not at practice every day with the team. It’s a balance though because it’s not like the club kids aren’t practicing every day, and you are going to get trounced at every meet by the teams that are flexible with the club kids.

Are you local? This just isn't the experience we have seen at all in HS swimming in public and private DC/MoCo high schools.

Almost all of the top swimmers are on their HS swim team. I actually do not know anyone who isn't on their HS team as long as one is available. They show up at meets, especially the big ones. And there are a few kids who are on private school "teams" of <5, but figure it out so they can participate at Metros. The kids making finals at Metros are very likely to continue swimming at some level after high school (if they want to).

My kid is in the top group at one of the big clubs, every kid in that group swims for their HS. Every senior is committed to college swimming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a swim parent, I don’t think so at all.

The high school meets are mostly light competition and not worth a decent year round swimmer’s time.

DC tried his school’s swim team once and had to swim in the high school meets as a 6th grader just to preserve the parents’ feelings. When he did an average swim for him, we’d get nasty stares and nothing more so he quit. Haven’t missed a thing and he still swims with a club.

That’s not a humble brag. It’s a reflection of what school meets are like.

Years back at Metros, there were back to back high school National records broken in the 500 free. Those swimmers were decent too.

My experience was a few years ago, so I don’t know what years ago is in PPs reference. DS went to metros and placed at the top in every event he swam in. At the time, he was only T20 in any event in a regular LC meet. So maybe we are talking about different years? Not sure.

There were a small handful of kids recruited for swimming from independent schools who placed well but their national ranks were either the same or lower than DS when he was being recruited. He ended up at D3 as a recruit.

The swimmers referenced above are Olympian Jack Conger and best female swimmer of all time Katie Ledecky. So their high school swim team was worth their time

Ok, I don’t think the experience of Olympians is applicable to every swimmer. No high school coach is going to make it difficult for future Olympians to participate. Whether HS swim is worth it depends on a lot factors specific to each swimmer and the high school they attend. The HS my kid will attend currently has a coach that isn’t flexible with the club kids so the top club kids don’t swim HS. It’s not worth it to them to dial back on club for the sake of competing for their HS.

This seems rather short sighted on the part of the HS coaches, but I can see why. You don't want someone who is a "distant cousin" of the other team members who aren't swimming club teams.

It is short-sighted, but yes understandable. We’ve been told that where it gets awkward in HS for club swimmers is the relays because the club kids get those slots even though they are not at practice every day with the team. It’s a balance though because it’s not like the club kids aren’t practicing every day, and you are going to get trounced at every meet by the teams that are flexible with the club kids.

Are you local? This just isn't the experience we have seen at all in HS swimming in public and private DC/MoCo high schools.

Almost all of the top swimmers are on their HS swim team. I actually do not know anyone who isn't on their HS team as long as one is available. They show up at meets, especially the big ones. And there are a few kids who are on private school "teams" of <5, but figure it out so they can participate at Metros. The kids making finals at Metros are very likely to continue swimming at some level after high school (if they want to).

My kid is in the top group at one of the big clubs, every kid in that group swims for their HS. Every senior is committed to college swimming.

Yes, in VA. I’m the PP whose kid’s future HS has a coach who provides no flexibility for the club kids. It’s not that the club kids wouldn’t/couldn’t get to the HS meets, but it is not feasible for them to be regularly practicing both with the club and for HS, which is what the coach expects. We have heard that there had been some discontent previously because the club kids wouldn’t practice with the team regularly but took the relay spots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I offer a different perspective. My kids loves swim and is a club swimmer. Not a great club swimmer though, but good. She will pick HS meets over club because she can a star in HS and make a difference, whereas she is not going to swim college on her times.

Not every club swimmer is going to college to swim.

But it's great that she can swim, have fun, and build good exercise habits for life. Those are all important things to do/learn.

+ a million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a swim parent, I don’t think so at all.

The high school meets are mostly light competition and not worth a decent year round swimmer’s time.

DC tried his school’s swim team once and had to swim in the high school meets as a 6th grader just to preserve the parents’ feelings. When he did an average swim for him, we’d get nasty stares and nothing more so he quit. Haven’t missed a thing and he still swims with a club.

That’s not a humble brag. It’s a reflection of what school meets are like.

Years back at Metros, there were back to back high school National records broken in the 500 free. Those swimmers were decent too.

My experience was a few years ago, so I don’t know what years ago is in PPs reference. DS went to metros and placed at the top in every event he swam in. At the time, he was only T20 in any event in a regular LC meet. So maybe we are talking about different years? Not sure.

There were a small handful of kids recruited for swimming from independent schools who placed well but their national ranks were either the same or lower than DS when he was being recruited. He ended up at D3 as a recruit.

The swimmers referenced above are Olympian Jack Conger and best female swimmer of all time Katie Ledecky. So their high school swim team was worth their time

Ok, I don’t think the experience of Olympians is applicable to every swimmer. No high school coach is going to make it difficult for future Olympians to participate. Whether HS swim is worth it depends on a lot factors specific to each swimmer and the high school they attend. The HS my kid will attend currently has a coach that isn’t flexible with the club kids so the top club kids don’t swim HS. It’s not worth it to them to dial back on club for the sake of competing for their HS.

This seems rather short sighted on the part of the HS coaches, but I can see why. You don't want someone who is a "distant cousin" of the other team members who aren't swimming club teams.

It is short-sighted, but yes understandable. We’ve been told that where it gets awkward in HS for club swimmers is the relays because the club kids get those slots even though they are not at practice every day with the team. It’s a balance though because it’s not like the club kids aren’t practicing every day, and you are going to get trounced at every meet by the teams that are flexible with the club kids.

Are you local? This just isn't the experience we have seen at all in HS swimming in public and private DC/MoCo high schools.

Almost all of the top swimmers are on their HS swim team. I actually do not know anyone who isn't on their HS team as long as one is available. They show up at meets, especially the big ones. And there are a few kids who are on private school "teams" of <5, but figure it out so they can participate at Metros. The kids making finals at Metros are very likely to continue swimming at some level after high school (if they want to).

My kid is in the top group at one of the big clubs, every kid in that group swims for their HS. Every senior is committed to college swimming.

Yes, in VA. I’m the PP whose kid’s future HS has a coach who provides no flexibility for the club kids. It’s not that the club kids wouldn’t/couldn’t get to the HS meets, but it is not feasible for them to be regularly practicing both with the club and for HS, which is what the coach expects. We have heard that there had been some discontent previously because the club kids wouldn’t practice with the team regularly but took the relay spots.

I see, we have different expectations in our area.

In MoCo, HS only gets 2 1hr practice slots anyway, and club kids are expected to sign in for one. They do not get in the water most of the time because there are limited lanes, and coaches know they are swimming plenty. I think this is a standard expectation across coaches as I've never heard otherwise across at least 5 MCPS teams with large numbers of club swimmers.

Privates can vary a bit more, but I know many swimmers, including my own, across many schools and none of them are expected to practice with the HS team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a swim parent, I don’t think so at all.

The high school meets are mostly light competition and not worth a decent year round swimmer’s time.

DC tried his school’s swim team once and had to swim in the high school meets as a 6th grader just to preserve the parents’ feelings. When he did an average swim for him, we’d get nasty stares and nothing more so he quit. Haven’t missed a thing and he still swims with a club.

That’s not a humble brag. It’s a reflection of what school meets are like.

Years back at Metros, there were back to back high school National records broken in the 500 free. Those swimmers were decent too.

My experience was a few years ago, so I don’t know what years ago is in PPs reference. DS went to metros and placed at the top in every event he swam in. At the time, he was only T20 in any event in a regular LC meet. So maybe we are talking about different years? Not sure.

There were a small handful of kids recruited for swimming from independent schools who placed well but their national ranks were either the same or lower than DS when he was being recruited. He ended up at D3 as a recruit.

The swimmers referenced above are Olympian Jack Conger and best female swimmer of all time Katie Ledecky. So their high school swim team was worth their time

Ok, I don’t think the experience of Olympians is applicable to every swimmer. No high school coach is going to make it difficult for future Olympians to participate. Whether HS swim is worth it depends on a lot factors specific to each swimmer and the high school they attend. The HS my kid will attend currently has a coach that isn’t flexible with the club kids so the top club kids don’t swim HS. It’s not worth it to them to dial back on club for the sake of competing for their HS.

This seems rather short sighted on the part of the HS coaches, but I can see why. You don't want someone who is a "distant cousin" of the other team members who aren't swimming club teams.

High school swimming is about being on a team. Coaches want swimmers who are in it for more than just themselves. Club swimming is about the self centered swim goals. High school and summer swim teach kids to swim for something more than themselves. A kid who is too cool to be a member of the team won’t like hs swim.

In rare cases when you have an elite swimmer (see stone ridge last year), they let the elite swimmer show up for 1 meet to achieve glory even though they don’t know their teammates names

[Anonymous]

All the top club swimmers swim high school as well in my area. It’s fun for them! Meets are short and they can practice events that they otherwise wouldn’t swim. You can add Missy Franklin to the list of elite swimmers who made time to enjoy high school swim.