How to get used to 4:30 am swim … for parents

[Anonymous]

Its unfortunate that kids have to do this. Very few kids come out of this grueling schedule wanting to swim in college. At least wait until HS.

[Anonymous]

My cousin went to Yale on a diving scholarship. 5am deck time all through high school.

[Anonymous]

My DH did swimming all through high school and got a college scholarship. Like others, 5am deck time. He still swims and still get up 4:30am all these years later. I sleep in til 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My cousin went to Yale on a diving scholarship. 5am deck time all through high school.

No he didn’t- Ivy leagues don’t have sports scholarships.

[Anonymous]

We realized very quickly that we could not do this. OP, I would consider this very carefully before committing.

It would mean the entire family would have to shift to this schedule whether they were swimming or not.

Most of us are not Margaret Thatcher. Waking up at 4 am is beyond being an “early bird” - that is seriously disruptive. And getting everyone to bed at 8pm is no joke either. And don’t even get me started on Daylight Savings Time and all the other transitions.

I know families who do this, but now that I think about it, the ones I personally know who have done it successfully are the ones who have an only child and two parents who are both entirely on board with the lifestyle.

Swimming scholarships are incredible rare especially for boys. My goal for my 16 year old swimmer is that he will continue enjoying summer, club, and high school swimming. If he has a fantastic Junior year (which he might well, based on his performance trajectory) and if he really wants to, maybe D3 swimming. Otherwise I’m just happy he has something keeping him fit, healthy, and motivated and connected with friends. For the vast majority of kids, that is as good as it gets.

[Anonymous]

Some of these responders seem overly negative. OP, my family has done morning swim for years (multiple children!!). As others said, you will adjust. It get's easier when they drive themselves- but even though I no longer have to drive I still find myself getting up with them!

[Anonymous]

I like the routine of getting up at the same time every day, so I actually like the summer schedule of daily 5 am practices better than school year schedule of two days per week.

Get into a carpool only if it helps you and saves you time and frustration. If someone is late or cancelling at 430 am, that's not helpful. I also only want those morning carpools with people who live quite close by. (Best was when a kid in my son's group moved in 3 doors down from us!!)

[Anonymous]

This is why I don't have good memories of competitive swimming as a child. My kids are all amazing swimmers but I was so happy when they expressed zero interest in competitive swim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you never will. it sucks worse than anything else.

hopefully your kid is motivated to set alarm and get up, but be warned it gets hard in the cold winter months to go and leave in the dark.

Your whole family has to be quiet after 8 pm.

You won't be able to go to bed at 8pm, so you will be chronically sleep deprived.

Your child will have to stay up late occasionally or will want to, then they will be sleep deprived

This depends on the kid. I used to fall asleep around 8:30 out of sheer exhaustion. It never occurred to me to stay up for “fun”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My cousin went to Yale on a diving scholarship. 5am deck time all through high school.

No he didn’t- Ivy leagues don’t have sports scholarships.

I knew someone who went to Yale for swimming. She had a “merit” scholarship, but it was clearly because she was an athlete. She had been recruited by the swim coach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My cousin went to Yale on a diving scholarship. 5am deck time all through high school.

No he didn’t- Ivy leagues don’t have sports scholarships.

I knew someone who went to Yale for swimming. She had a “merit” scholarship, but it was clearly because she was an athlete. She had been recruited by the swim coach.

Yale doesn't give merit- but gives generous financial aid. for many on this site, you will be paying sticker price to go to an ivy as an athlete.

[Anonymous]

Of course you will get used to it, people get used to almost any type of schedule. And 14 is only a couple of years away from a driver’s license, so you have that to look forward to. We have been doing the same for my now 15 year old for a year and it’s not that bad. I didn’t adjust my 11 year old’s schedule and I just go to bed at 10 pm instead of midnight on the nights before. I feel fine off 6-7 hours of sleep, but I needed more sleep, I would just go to bed earlier. Have your kid pack the night before though, that makes it easier. And it’s crazy, but sharing an early morning drive alone with your teen is pretty nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you never will. it sucks worse than anything else.

hopefully your kid is motivated to set alarm and get up, but be warned it gets hard in the cold winter months to go and leave in the dark.

Your whole family has to be quiet after 8 pm.

You won't be able to go to bed at 8pm, so you will be chronically sleep deprived.

Your child will have to stay up late occasionally or will want to, then they will be sleep deprived

This depends on the kid. I used to fall asleep around 8:30 out of sheer exhaustion. It never occurred to me to stay up for “fun”.

Your kid will never have lots of HW? After school he'll never go to a basketball or football game? And I say this as a parent of 2 HS swimmers who now in HS are doing mornings. It ain't good

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My cousin went to Yale on a diving scholarship. 5am deck time all through high school.

No he didn’t- Ivy leagues don’t have sports scholarships.

I knew someone who went to Yale for swimming. She had a “merit” scholarship, but it was clearly because she was an athlete. She had been recruited by the swim coach.

They don’t offer merit scholarships either. All need based!

[Anonymous]

Did this all through high school. Still wasn’t fast enough to swim D1 despite all the hard work. Seriously regret spending my teen years so extremely sleep deprived. Weigh the costs of this very carefully if you aren’t all naturally early risers.