Help me find a new club

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: I don't know about clubs in your area but I can say this..go where is convenient and you and your child are happy. Even if that means staying put. Your kid is not going to the Olympics as a parking attendant much less a swimmer. Don't be a delusional parent. Swim for the team that is fun and convenient and works with your other current and future plans.

+1. Switch if it's harmful for your child - practices are too difficult, too much pressure, schedule is driving you crazy - but otherwise, convenience and comfort with the coaching should be top priority.

It's all so variable - a lot of posters in this forum complain about RMSC, but from what I've seen at meets, their coaches are some of the best at giving 10&U/8&U swimmers real-time feedback after their races. I'm in NoVA, where lots of people love Makos, but I didn't choose it for my DD because in her practice group, they pack 8+ kids/lane. My friend's DD had a terrible experience with York and is now loving Machine; I know people who have left Machine for Foxes, Foxes for NCAP, and NCAP for Marlins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what are the main clubs' reps?

We have the folks on here saying Marlins are small and give more attention, others saying they only care about l.aps and not technique

Many Older Machine swimmers at our summer pool seem to be in physical therapy by 13, but they churn out very strong athletes?

Marlins have a lot of coaches that do garbage yardage. It is part of their culture. They push kids to swim WAY too much way too early. And similar to Machine I suspect a lot of burn out and injuries at 15/16. Their best swimmers in each age group swim way too much, particularly in their 13&U ages. They have kids that have not gone through puberty in the water several hours a day, six days a week. Most age group programs are 3-4 days and less hours at that age. It accounts for some of the speed gains but will be tough as they age up and their peers start catching up with their increased yardage when it is age appropriate.

It is one of the few clubs I do not recommend.

This whole screed is confusing for me. Marlins have little ones in the water much less then other comparable clubs. I've heard of zero overuse injuries. The most negative thing I'd say about the club is that older teenagers get lured away to the bigger clubs (just look at their records and you see a lot of names that moved to other clubs).

Our DS is with the Potomac Marlins and trains at Cub Run. I could not have picked a better club for our kid. Coaches are amazing, he gets a lot of attention and he has improved so much since we moved over from another team. There are great swimmers in the roster. I cannot thank his coaches enough. We are very happy with our club.

[Anonymous]

I can’t tell how far west you are, but we left York for AAC and cannot say enough great things about AAC. A friend left machine for fish and says the same. I know this is coach dependent - we have connected with this coach far more than any my kids have had in other clubs (we move a lot). My suggestions would be fish, aac, or maybe ncap (location dependent).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what are the main clubs' reps?

We have the folks on here saying Marlins are small and give more attention, others saying they only care about l.aps and not technique

Many Older Machine swimmers at our summer pool seem to be in physical therapy by 13, but they churn out very strong athletes?

Marlins have a lot of coaches that do garbage yardage. It is part of their culture. They push kids to swim WAY too much way too early. And similar to Machine I suspect a lot of burn out and injuries at 15/16. Their best swimmers in each age group swim way too much, particularly in their 13&U ages. They have kids that have not gone through puberty in the water several hours a day, six days a week. Most age group programs are 3-4 days and less hours at that age. It accounts for some of the speed gains but will be tough as they age up and their peers start catching up with their increased yardage when it is age appropriate.

It is one of the few clubs I do not recommend.

This whole screed is confusing for me. Marlins have little ones in the water much less then other comparable clubs. I've heard of zero overuse injuries. The most negative thing I'd say about the club is that older teenagers get lured away to the bigger clubs (just look at their records and you see a lot of names that moved to other clubs).

Our DS is with the Potomac Marlins and trains at Cub Run. I could not have picked a better club for our kid. Coaches are amazing, he gets a lot of attention and he has improved so much since we moved over from another team. There are great swimmers in the roster. I cannot thank his coaches enough. We are very happy with our club.

I am not impressed with the Marlins. They have a 12 year old practicing with the senior group which is completely inappropriate. I am sure it was crazy parent driven but they allowed it. That is not an indicator of a good club. York would never allow that and they are similar in size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what are the main clubs' reps?

We have the folks on here saying Marlins are small and give more attention, others saying they only care about l.aps and not technique

Many Older Machine swimmers at our summer pool seem to be in physical therapy by 13, but they churn out very strong athletes?

Marlins have a lot of coaches that do garbage yardage. It is part of their culture. They push kids to swim WAY too much way too early. And similar to Machine I suspect a lot of burn out and injuries at 15/16. Their best swimmers in each age group swim way too much, particularly in their 13&U ages. They have kids that have not gone through puberty in the water several hours a day, six days a week. Most age group programs are 3-4 days and less hours at that age. It accounts for some of the speed gains but will be tough as they age up and their peers start catching up with their increased yardage when it is age appropriate.

It is one of the few clubs I do not recommend.

This whole screed is confusing for me. Marlins have little ones in the water much less then other comparable clubs. I've heard of zero overuse injuries. The most negative thing I'd say about the club is that older teenagers get lured away to the bigger clubs (just look at their records and you see a lot of names that moved to other clubs).

Our DS is with the Potomac Marlins and trains at Cub Run. I could not have picked a better club for our kid. Coaches are amazing, he gets a lot of attention and he has improved so much since we moved over from another team. There are great swimmers in the roster. I cannot thank his coaches enough. We are very happy with our club.

I am not impressed with the Marlins. They have a 12 year old practicing with the senior group which is completely inappropriate. I am sure it was crazy parent driven but they allowed it. That is not an indicator of a good club. York would never allow that and they are similar in size.

I’m not a Marlin parent but I have an 11-12 swimmer who is pretty good, so I know who the swimmer you’re referring to likely is. This is the problem that the smaller clubs have, I’m sure that swimmer does not have a good enough training cohort with the Marlins of kids that are say 11-13. So the club either lets the swimmer train with the senior group or the swimmer jumps to NCAP or Machine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what are the main clubs' reps?

We have the folks on here saying Marlins are small and give more attention, others saying they only care about l.aps and not technique

Many Older Machine swimmers at our summer pool seem to be in physical therapy by 13, but they churn out very strong athletes?

Marlins have a lot of coaches that do garbage yardage. It is part of their culture. They push kids to swim WAY too much way too early. And similar to Machine I suspect a lot of burn out and injuries at 15/16. Their best swimmers in each age group swim way too much, particularly in their 13&U ages. They have kids that have not gone through puberty in the water several hours a day, six days a week. Most age group programs are 3-4 days and less hours at that age. It accounts for some of the speed gains but will be tough as they age up and their peers start catching up with their increased yardage when it is age appropriate.

It is one of the few clubs I do not recommend.

This whole screed is confusing for me. Marlins have little ones in the water much less then other comparable clubs. I've heard of zero overuse injuries. The most negative thing I'd say about the club is that older teenagers get lured away to the bigger clubs (just look at their records and you see a lot of names that moved to other clubs).

Our DS is with the Potomac Marlins and trains at Cub Run. I could not have picked a better club for our kid. Coaches are amazing, he gets a lot of attention and he has improved so much since we moved over from another team. There are great swimmers in the roster. I cannot thank his coaches enough. We are very happy with our club.

I am not impressed with the Marlins. They have a 12 year old practicing with the senior group which is completely inappropriate. I am sure it was crazy parent driven but they allowed it. That is not an indicator of a good club. York would never allow that and they are similar in size.

I’m not a Marlin parent but I have an 11-12 swimmer who is pretty good, so I know who the swimmer you’re referring to likely is. This is the problem that the smaller clubs have, I’m sure that swimmer does not have a good enough training cohort with the Marlins of kids that are say 11-13. So the club either lets the swimmer train with the senior group or the swimmer jumps to NCAP or Machine.

Correct. The club doesn't want to lose the 12-year old swimmer to a better club, so they let the kid swim against/with more challenging swimmers in the next higher age bracket. That bracket is typically 15+, so that 3-year difference isn't a big deal if the 12-year old can keep up. The club probably can't get better coaching in the 11-14 group, so this is how the club is handling it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what are the main clubs' reps?

We have the folks on here saying Marlins are small and give more attention, others saying they only care about l.aps and not technique

Many Older Machine swimmers at our summer pool seem to be in physical therapy by 13, but they churn out very strong athletes?

Marlins have a lot of coaches that do garbage yardage. It is part of their culture. They push kids to swim WAY too much way too early. And similar to Machine I suspect a lot of burn out and injuries at 15/16. Their best swimmers in each age group swim way too much, particularly in their 13&U ages. They have kids that have not gone through puberty in the water several hours a day, six days a week. Most age group programs are 3-4 days and less hours at that age. It accounts for some of the speed gains but will be tough as they age up and their peers start catching up with their increased yardage when it is age appropriate.

It is one of the few clubs I do not recommend.

This whole screed is confusing for me. Marlins have little ones in the water much less then other comparable clubs. I've heard of zero overuse injuries. The most negative thing I'd say about the club is that older teenagers get lured away to the bigger clubs (just look at their records and you see a lot of names that moved to other clubs).

Our DS is with the Potomac Marlins and trains at Cub Run. I could not have picked a better club for our kid. Coaches are amazing, he gets a lot of attention and he has improved so much since we moved over from another team. There are great swimmers in the roster. I cannot thank his coaches enough. We are very happy with our club.

I am not impressed with the Marlins. They have a 12 year old practicing with the senior group which is completely inappropriate. I am sure it was crazy parent driven but they allowed it. That is not an indicator of a good club. York would never allow that and they are similar in size.

I’m not a Marlin parent but I have an 11-12 swimmer who is pretty good, so I know who the swimmer you’re referring to likely is. This is the problem that the smaller clubs have, I’m sure that swimmer does not have a good enough training cohort with the Marlins of kids that are say 11-13. So the club either lets the swimmer train with the senior group or the swimmer jumps to NCAP or Machine.

Correct. The club doesn't want to lose the 12-year old swimmer to a better club, so they let the kid swim against/with more challenging swimmers in the next higher age bracket. That bracket is typically 15+, so that 3-year difference isn't a big deal if the 12-year old can keep up. The club probably can't get better coaching in the 11-14 group, so this is how the club is handling it.

And it is not appropriate for a variety of reasons. It is overtraining for the swimmer. A senior group is swimming more yards and time which would never be appropriate for a 12 year old. Recipe for injury and burn out. Also a swimmer will peak early not training appropriately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what are the main clubs' reps?

We have the folks on here saying Marlins are small and give more attention, others saying they only care about l.aps and not technique

Many Older Machine swimmers at our summer pool seem to be in physical therapy by 13, but they churn out very strong athletes?

Marlins have a lot of coaches that do garbage yardage. It is part of their culture. They push kids to swim WAY too much way too early. And similar to Machine I suspect a lot of burn out and injuries at 15/16. Their best swimmers in each age group swim way too much, particularly in their 13&U ages. They have kids that have not gone through puberty in the water several hours a day, six days a week. Most age group programs are 3-4 days and less hours at that age. It accounts for some of the speed gains but will be tough as they age up and their peers start catching up with their increased yardage when it is age appropriate.

It is one of the few clubs I do not recommend.

This whole screed is confusing for me. Marlins have little ones in the water much less then other comparable clubs. I've heard of zero overuse injuries. The most negative thing I'd say about the club is that older teenagers get lured away to the bigger clubs (just look at their records and you see a lot of names that moved to other clubs).

Our DS is with the Potomac Marlins and trains at Cub Run. I could not have picked a better club for our kid. Coaches are amazing, he gets a lot of attention and he has improved so much since we moved over from another team. There are great swimmers in the roster. I cannot thank his coaches enough. We are very happy with our club.

I am not impressed with the Marlins. They have a 12 year old practicing with the senior group which is completely inappropriate. I am sure it was crazy parent driven but they allowed it. That is not an indicator of a good club. York would never allow that and they are similar in size.

I’m not a Marlin parent but I have an 11-12 swimmer who is pretty good, so I know who the swimmer you’re referring to likely is. This is the problem that the smaller clubs have, I’m sure that swimmer does not have a good enough training cohort with the Marlins of kids that are say 11-13. So the club either lets the swimmer train with the senior group or the swimmer jumps to NCAP or Machine.

Correct. The club doesn't want to lose the 12-year old swimmer to a better club, so they let the kid swim against/with more challenging swimmers in the next higher age bracket. That bracket is typically 15+, so that 3-year difference isn't a big deal if the 12-year old can keep up. The club probably can't get better coaching in the 11-14 group, so this is how the club is handling it.

And it is not appropriate for a variety of reasons. It is overtraining for the swimmer. A senior group is swimming more yards and time which would never be appropriate for a 12 year old. Recipe for injury and burn out. Also a swimmer will peak early not training appropriately.

This is completely true. If I was the parent in this situation I would bite the bullet and switch clubs so that my kid could train in an age appropriate group while still being challenged. I also can’t imagine swim is fun for a 12 year old training with kids 15+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what are the main clubs' reps?

We have the folks on here saying Marlins are small and give more attention, others saying they only care about l.aps and not technique

Many Older Machine swimmers at our summer pool seem to be in physical therapy by 13, but they churn out very strong athletes?

Marlins have a lot of coaches that do garbage yardage. It is part of their culture. They push kids to swim WAY too much way too early. And similar to Machine I suspect a lot of burn out and injuries at 15/16. Their best swimmers in each age group swim way too much, particularly in their 13&U ages. They have kids that have not gone through puberty in the water several hours a day, six days a week. Most age group programs are 3-4 days and less hours at that age. It accounts for some of the speed gains but will be tough as they age up and their peers start catching up with their increased yardage when it is age appropriate.

It is one of the few clubs I do not recommend.

This whole screed is confusing for me. Marlins have little ones in the water much less then other comparable clubs. I've heard of zero overuse injuries. The most negative thing I'd say about the club is that older teenagers get lured away to the bigger clubs (just look at their records and you see a lot of names that moved to other clubs).

Our DS is with the Potomac Marlins and trains at Cub Run. I could not have picked a better club for our kid. Coaches are amazing, he gets a lot of attention and he has improved so much since we moved over from another team. There are great swimmers in the roster. I cannot thank his coaches enough. We are very happy with our club.

I am not impressed with the Marlins. They have a 12 year old practicing with the senior group which is completely inappropriate. I am sure it was crazy parent driven but they allowed it. That is not an indicator of a good club. York would never allow that and they are similar in size.

I’m not a Marlin parent but I have an 11-12 swimmer who is pretty good, so I know who the swimmer you’re referring to likely is. This is the problem that the smaller clubs have, I’m sure that swimmer does not have a good enough training cohort with the Marlins of kids that are say 11-13. So the club either lets the swimmer train with the senior group or the swimmer jumps to NCAP or Machine.

Correct. The club doesn't want to lose the 12-year old swimmer to a better club, so they let the kid swim against/with more challenging swimmers in the next higher age bracket. That bracket is typically 15+, so that 3-year difference isn't a big deal if the 12-year old can keep up. The club probably can't get better coaching in the 11-14 group, so this is how the club is handling it.

And it is not appropriate for a variety of reasons. It is overtraining for the swimmer. A senior group is swimming more yards and time which would never be appropriate for a 12 year old. Recipe for injury and burn out. Also a swimmer will peak early not training appropriately.

This is completely true. If I was the parent in this situation I would bite the bullet and switch clubs so that my kid could train in an age appropriate group while still being challenged. I also can’t imagine swim is fun for a 12 year old training with kids 15+.

This isn’t actually happening. The younger kids practice at the same time as the seniors with similar but affair sets. There are no 12 year olds swimming in the lanes with the teenagers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what are the main clubs' reps?

We have the folks on here saying Marlins are small and give more attention, others saying they only care about l.aps and not technique

Many Older Machine swimmers at our summer pool seem to be in physical therapy by 13, but they churn out very strong athletes?

Marlins have a lot of coaches that do garbage yardage. It is part of their culture. They push kids to swim WAY too much way too early. And similar to Machine I suspect a lot of burn out and injuries at 15/16. Their best swimmers in each age group swim way too much, particularly in their 13&U ages. They have kids that have not gone through puberty in the water several hours a day, six days a week. Most age group programs are 3-4 days and less hours at that age. It accounts for some of the speed gains but will be tough as they age up and their peers start catching up with their increased yardage when it is age appropriate.

It is one of the few clubs I do not recommend.

This whole screed is confusing for me. Marlins have little ones in the water much less then other comparable clubs. I've heard of zero overuse injuries. The most negative thing I'd say about the club is that older teenagers get lured away to the bigger clubs (just look at their records and you see a lot of names that moved to other clubs).

Our DS is with the Potomac Marlins and trains at Cub Run. I could not have picked a better club for our kid. Coaches are amazing, he gets a lot of attention and he has improved so much since we moved over from another team. There are great swimmers in the roster. I cannot thank his coaches enough. We are very happy with our club.

I am not impressed with the Marlins. They have a 12 year old practicing with the senior group which is completely inappropriate. I am sure it was crazy parent driven but they allowed it. That is not an indicator of a good club. York would never allow that and they are similar in size.

I’m not a Marlin parent but I have an 11-12 swimmer who is pretty good, so I know who the swimmer you’re referring to likely is. This is the problem that the smaller clubs have, I’m sure that swimmer does not have a good enough training cohort with the Marlins of kids that are say 11-13. So the club either lets the swimmer train with the senior group or the swimmer jumps to NCAP or Machine.

Correct. The club doesn't want to lose the 12-year old swimmer to a better club, so they let the kid swim against/with more challenging swimmers in the next higher age bracket. That bracket is typically 15+, so that 3-year difference isn't a big deal if the 12-year old can keep up. The club probably can't get better coaching in the 11-14 group, so this is how the club is handling it.

And it is not appropriate for a variety of reasons. It is overtraining for the swimmer. A senior group is swimming more yards and time which would never be appropriate for a 12 year old. Recipe for injury and burn out. Also a swimmer will peak early not training appropriately.

This is completely true. If I was the parent in this situation I would bite the bullet and switch clubs so that my kid could train in an age appropriate group while still being challenged. I also can’t imagine swim is fun for a 12 year old training with kids 15+.

This isn’t actually happening. The younger kids practice at the same time as the seniors with similar but affair sets. There are no 12 year olds swimming in the lanes with the teenagers.

This is happening with the Marlins. I am with the club. The parents are obnoxious (well the one) and have pushed and pushed. It is apparent they do not understand swim and because their kids have talent (and a lot of it) they are pushing and living through them. It is inappropriate and injuries will happen (and are) - if the parents really wanted what was best they would move to NCAP so that there swimmers were with kids that are the same age and speed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what are the main clubs' reps?

We have the folks on here saying Marlins are small and give more attention, others saying they only care about l.aps and not technique

Many Older Machine swimmers at our summer pool seem to be in physical therapy by 13, but they churn out very strong athletes?

Marlins have a lot of coaches that do garbage yardage. It is part of their culture. They push kids to swim WAY too much way too early. And similar to Machine I suspect a lot of burn out and injuries at 15/16. Their best swimmers in each age group swim way too much, particularly in their 13&U ages. They have kids that have not gone through puberty in the water several hours a day, six days a week. Most age group programs are 3-4 days and less hours at that age. It accounts for some of the speed gains but will be tough as they age up and their peers start catching up with their increased yardage when it is age appropriate.

It is one of the few clubs I do not recommend.

This whole screed is confusing for me. Marlins have little ones in the water much less then other comparable clubs. I've heard of zero overuse injuries. The most negative thing I'd say about the club is that older teenagers get lured away to the bigger clubs (just look at their records and you see a lot of names that moved to other clubs).

Our DS is with the Potomac Marlins and trains at Cub Run. I could not have picked a better club for our kid. Coaches are amazing, he gets a lot of attention and he has improved so much since we moved over from another team. There are great swimmers in the roster. I cannot thank his coaches enough. We are very happy with our club.

I am not impressed with the Marlins. They have a 12 year old practicing with the senior group which is completely inappropriate. I am sure it was crazy parent driven but they allowed it. That is not an indicator of a good club. York would never allow that and they are similar in size.

I’m not a Marlin parent but I have an 11-12 swimmer who is pretty good, so I know who the swimmer you’re referring to likely is. This is the problem that the smaller clubs have, I’m sure that swimmer does not have a good enough training cohort with the Marlins of kids that are say 11-13. So the club either lets the swimmer train with the senior group or the swimmer jumps to NCAP or Machine.

Correct. The club doesn't want to lose the 12-year old swimmer to a better club, so they let the kid swim against/with more challenging swimmers in the next higher age bracket. That bracket is typically 15+, so that 3-year difference isn't a big deal if the 12-year old can keep up. The club probably can't get better coaching in the 11-14 group, so this is how the club is handling it.

And it is not appropriate for a variety of reasons. It is overtraining for the swimmer. A senior group is swimming more yards and time which would never be appropriate for a 12 year old. Recipe for injury and burn out. Also a swimmer will peak early not training appropriately.

This is completely true. If I was the parent in this situation I would bite the bullet and switch clubs so that my kid could train in an age appropriate group while still being challenged. I also can’t imagine swim is fun for a 12 year old training with kids 15+.

This isn’t actually happening. The younger kids practice at the same time as the seniors with similar but affair sets. There are no 12 year olds swimming in the lanes with the teenagers.

This is happening with the Marlins. I am with the club. The parents are obnoxious (well the one) and have pushed and pushed. It is apparent they do not understand swim and because their kids have talent (and a lot of it) they are pushing and living through them. It is inappropriate and injuries will happen (and are) - if the parents really wanted what was best they would move to NCAP so that there swimmers were with kids that are the same age and speed.

Swimming with/against older kids is what all the kids with spring birthdays (and their parents) are doing now to get ready for summer swim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what are the main clubs' reps?

We have the folks on here saying Marlins are small and give more attention, others saying they only care about l.aps and not technique

Many Older Machine swimmers at our summer pool seem to be in physical therapy by 13, but they churn out very strong athletes?

Marlins have a lot of coaches that do garbage yardage. It is part of their culture. They push kids to swim WAY too much way too early. And similar to Machine I suspect a lot of burn out and injuries at 15/16. Their best swimmers in each age group swim way too much, particularly in their 13&U ages. They have kids that have not gone through puberty in the water several hours a day, six days a week. Most age group programs are 3-4 days and less hours at that age. It accounts for some of the speed gains but will be tough as they age up and their peers start catching up with their increased yardage when it is age appropriate.

It is one of the few clubs I do not recommend.

This whole screed is confusing for me. Marlins have little ones in the water much less then other comparable clubs. I've heard of zero overuse injuries. The most negative thing I'd say about the club is that older teenagers get lured away to the bigger clubs (just look at their records and you see a lot of names that moved to other clubs).

Our DS is with the Potomac Marlins and trains at Cub Run. I could not have picked a better club for our kid. Coaches are amazing, he gets a lot of attention and he has improved so much since we moved over from another team. There are great swimmers in the roster. I cannot thank his coaches enough. We are very happy with our club.

I am not impressed with the Marlins. They have a 12 year old practicing with the senior group which is completely inappropriate. I am sure it was crazy parent driven but they allowed it. That is not an indicator of a good club. York would never allow that and they are similar in size.

I’m not a Marlin parent but I have an 11-12 swimmer who is pretty good, so I know who the swimmer you’re referring to likely is. This is the problem that the smaller clubs have, I’m sure that swimmer does not have a good enough training cohort with the Marlins of kids that are say 11-13. So the club either lets the swimmer train with the senior group or the swimmer jumps to NCAP or Machine.

Correct. The club doesn't want to lose the 12-year old swimmer to a better club, so they let the kid swim against/with more challenging swimmers in the next higher age bracket. That bracket is typically 15+, so that 3-year difference isn't a big deal if the 12-year old can keep up. The club probably can't get better coaching in the 11-14 group, so this is how the club is handling it.

And it is not appropriate for a variety of reasons. It is overtraining for the swimmer. A senior group is swimming more yards and time which would never be appropriate for a 12 year old. Recipe for injury and burn out. Also a swimmer will peak early not training appropriately.

This is completely true. If I was the parent in this situation I would bite the bullet and switch clubs so that my kid could train in an age appropriate group while still being challenged. I also can’t imagine swim is fun for a 12 year old training with kids 15+.

This isn’t actually happening. The younger kids practice at the same time as the seniors with similar but affair sets. There are no 12 year olds swimming in the lanes with the teenagers.

This is happening with the Marlins. I am with the club. The parents are obnoxious (well the one) and have pushed and pushed. It is apparent they do not understand swim and because their kids have talent (and a lot of it) they are pushing and living through them. It is inappropriate and injuries will happen (and are) - if the parents really wanted what was best they would move to NCAP so that there swimmers were with kids that are the same age and speed.

Swimming with/against older kids is what all the kids with spring birthdays (and their parents) are doing now to get ready for summer swim.

What kind of stupid statement is this??? Summer swim? If that is seriously a goal for club there are some issues. Are you talking about long course season? The international standard for swim?

[Anonymous]

This thread has turned toxic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread has turned toxic.

I don't think you've really seen a toxic thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what are the main clubs' reps?

We have the folks on here saying Marlins are small and give more attention, others saying they only care about l.aps and not technique

Many Older Machine swimmers at our summer pool seem to be in physical therapy by 13, but they churn out very strong athletes?

Marlins have a lot of coaches that do garbage yardage. It is part of their culture. They push kids to swim WAY too much way too early. And similar to Machine I suspect a lot of burn out and injuries at 15/16. Their best swimmers in each age group swim way too much, particularly in their 13&U ages. They have kids that have not gone through puberty in the water several hours a day, six days a week. Most age group programs are 3-4 days and less hours at that age. It accounts for some of the speed gains but will be tough as they age up and their peers start catching up with their increased yardage when it is age appropriate.

It is one of the few clubs I do not recommend.

This whole screed is confusing for me. Marlins have little ones in the water much less then other comparable clubs. I've heard of zero overuse injuries. The most negative thing I'd say about the club is that older teenagers get lured away to the bigger clubs (just look at their records and you see a lot of names that moved to other clubs).

Our DS is with the Potomac Marlins and trains at Cub Run. I could not have picked a better club for our kid. Coaches are amazing, he gets a lot of attention and he has improved so much since we moved over from another team. There are great swimmers in the roster. I cannot thank his coaches enough. We are very happy with our club.

I am not impressed with the Marlins. They have a 12 year old practicing with the senior group which is completely inappropriate. I am sure it was crazy parent driven but they allowed it. That is not an indicator of a good club. York would never allow that and they are similar in size.

I’m not a Marlin parent but I have an 11-12 swimmer who is pretty good, so I know who the swimmer you’re referring to likely is. This is the problem that the smaller clubs have, I’m sure that swimmer does not have a good enough training cohort with the Marlins of kids that are say 11-13. So the club either lets the swimmer train with the senior group or the swimmer jumps to NCAP or Machine.

Correct. The club doesn't want to lose the 12-year old swimmer to a better club, so they let the kid swim against/with more challenging swimmers in the next higher age bracket. That bracket is typically 15+, so that 3-year difference isn't a big deal if the 12-year old can keep up. The club probably can't get better coaching in the 11-14 group, so this is how the club is handling it.

And it is not appropriate for a variety of reasons. It is overtraining for the swimmer. A senior group is swimming more yards and time which would never be appropriate for a 12 year old. Recipe for injury and burn out. Also a swimmer will peak early not training appropriately.

This is completely true. If I was the parent in this situation I would bite the bullet and switch clubs so that my kid could train in an age appropriate group while still being challenged. I also can’t imagine swim is fun for a 12 year old training with kids 15+.

This isn’t actually happening. The younger kids practice at the same time as the seniors with similar but affair sets. There are no 12 year olds swimming in the lanes with the teenagers.

This is happening with the Marlins. I am with the club. The parents are obnoxious (well the one) and have pushed and pushed. It is apparent they do not understand swim and because their kids have talent (and a lot of it) they are pushing and living through them. It is inappropriate and injuries will happen (and are) - if the parents really wanted what was best they would move to NCAP so that there swimmers were with kids that are the same age and speed.

I am with the club. I have seen the rosters and have teenagers. This is not happening. Stop making stuff up.