Explain to me your thought process (parents) with being highly competitive with your swimmer

[Anonymous]

Early start kids get an advantage for a little bit, but later start kids will eventually catch up and any early start advantage usually goes away except for the exceptional athlete and again as the poster above posted, its a grind and it takes a certain type of youth athlete to commit and excel in the pool. Many will quit and parents who push their kid who is questioning their commitment will find their pressure falls on deaf ears and often leads to driving their kid away from the sport faster

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

Kids don't keep getting better forever, eventually they reach their genetic potential. Furthermore, just because someone has more genetic potential, doesn't mean it's actually easier to reach it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

This story of mediocre swimmers suddenly rising to the top and passing all the elite age group swimmers just doesn’t happen often. It’s exceedingly rare, although it is a common fantasy of the parents of 12 year old B swimmers. In reality, the very best elite swimmers generally were always good. There are some who maybe got a late start in the sport, but had they started swimming at 8, they also would have been good all along. Very rarely do you have a kid who plugs along for years barely getting B times, and suddenly at 15 becomes elite. Sorry, that’s reality.

Now, there are some ups and downs during the puberty years as some kids (especially boys) gain size/strength earlier or later than others. But generally the cream will rise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

This story of mediocre swimmers suddenly rising to the top and passing all the elite age group swimmers just doesn’t happen often. It’s exceedingly rare, although it is a common fantasy of the parents of 12 year old B swimmers. In reality, the very best elite swimmers generally were always good. There are some who maybe got a late start in the sport, but had they started swimming at 8, they also would have been good all along. Very rarely do you have a kid who plugs along for years barely getting B times, and suddenly at 15 becomes elite. Sorry, that’s reality.

Now, there are some ups and downs during the puberty years as some kids (especially boys) gain size/strength earlier or later than others. But generally the cream will rise.

No one mentioned mediocre swimmer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

This story of mediocre swimmers suddenly rising to the top and passing all the elite age group swimmers just doesn’t happen often. It’s exceedingly rare, although it is a common fantasy of the parents of 12 year old B swimmers. In reality, the very best elite swimmers generally were always good. There are some who maybe got a late start in the sport, but had they started swimming at 8, they also would have been good all along. Very rarely do you have a kid who plugs along for years barely getting B times, and suddenly at 15 becomes elite. Sorry, that’s reality.

Now, there are some ups and downs during the puberty years as some kids (especially boys) gain size/strength earlier or later than others. But generally the cream will rise.

Torrid Huske might be the best example of a mediocre/good swimmer becoming the ultra elite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

This story of mediocre swimmers suddenly rising to the top and passing all the elite age group swimmers just doesn’t happen often. It’s exceedingly rare, although it is a common fantasy of the parents of 12 year old B swimmers. In reality, the very best elite swimmers generally were always good. There are some who maybe got a late start in the sport, but had they started swimming at 8, they also would have been good all along. Very rarely do you have a kid who plugs along for years barely getting B times, and suddenly at 15 becomes elite. Sorry, that’s reality.

Now, there are some ups and downs during the puberty years as some kids (especially boys) gain size/strength earlier or later than others. But generally the cream will rise.

+1 There are plenty of studies over the past twenty years that have looked at this question. There is some flux/movement, but standouts in their teens sometimes continue to be standouts when they're in their 20s.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1440244021001420
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7028091/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2024.2322253#d1e2065

Do the sport (swim or anything else) for reasons that matter only to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

This story of mediocre swimmers suddenly rising to the top and passing all the elite age group swimmers just doesn’t happen often. It’s exceedingly rare, although it is a common fantasy of the parents of 12 year old B swimmers. In reality, the very best elite swimmers generally were always good. There are some who maybe got a late start in the sport, but had they started swimming at 8, they also would have been good all along. Very rarely do you have a kid who plugs along for years barely getting B times, and suddenly at 15 becomes elite. Sorry, that’s reality.

Now, there are some ups and downs during the puberty years as some kids (especially boys) gain size/strength earlier or later than others. But generally the cream will rise.

Torrid Huske might be the best example of a mediocre/good swimmer becoming the ultra elite.

Uh, she had AAA times at 12.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

This story of mediocre swimmers suddenly rising to the top and passing all the elite age group swimmers just doesn’t happen often. It’s exceedingly rare, although it is a common fantasy of the parents of 12 year old B swimmers. In reality, the very best elite swimmers generally were always good. There are some who maybe got a late start in the sport, but had they started swimming at 8, they also would have been good all along. Very rarely do you have a kid who plugs along for years barely getting B times, and suddenly at 15 becomes elite. Sorry, that’s reality.

Now, there are some ups and downs during the puberty years as some kids (especially boys) gain size/strength earlier or later than others. But generally the cream will rise.

+1 There are plenty of studies over the past twenty years that have looked at this question. There is some flux/movement, but standouts in their teens sometimes continue to be standouts when they're in their 20s.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1440244021001420
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7028091/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2024.2322253#d1e2065

Do the sport (swim or anything else) for reasons that matter only to you.

Did you read the articles. "Practical implication
Considering that approximately two-thirds of elite senior swimmers did not reach the elite level during their junior career but rather were considered sub-elite swimmers, it is possible to suggest that talent identification and development programmes dealing with young adolescents should consider alternatives to performance as the main selection criterion."

talent identification... Where have I seen that be an issue before. But, wait we all know they are milkin' the short kids bank accounts for trips to high altitude training camps. I didn't need a science article to tell you that correlation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

This story of mediocre swimmers suddenly rising to the top and passing all the elite age group swimmers just doesn’t happen often. It’s exceedingly rare, although it is a common fantasy of the parents of 12 year old B swimmers. In reality, the very best elite swimmers generally were always good. There are some who maybe got a late start in the sport, but had they started swimming at 8, they also would have been good all along. Very rarely do you have a kid who plugs along for years barely getting B times, and suddenly at 15 becomes elite. Sorry, that’s reality.

Now, there are some ups and downs during the puberty years as some kids (especially boys) gain size/strength earlier or later than others. But generally the cream will rise.

Torrid Huske might be the best example of a mediocre/good swimmer becoming the ultra elite.

Uh, she had AAA times at 12.

😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

This story of mediocre swimmers suddenly rising to the top and passing all the elite age group swimmers just doesn’t happen often. It’s exceedingly rare, although it is a common fantasy of the parents of 12 year old B swimmers. In reality, the very best elite swimmers generally were always good. There are some who maybe got a late start in the sport, but had they started swimming at 8, they also would have been good all along. Very rarely do you have a kid who plugs along for years barely getting B times, and suddenly at 15 becomes elite. Sorry, that’s reality.

Now, there are some ups and downs during the puberty years as some kids (especially boys) gain size/strength earlier or later than others. But generally the cream will rise.

+1 There are plenty of studies over the past twenty years that have looked at this question. There is some flux/movement, but standouts in their teens sometimes continue to be standouts when they're in their 20s.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1440244021001420
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7028091/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2024.2322253#d1e2065

Do the sport (swim or anything else) for reasons that matter only to you.

Did you read the articles. "Practical implication
Considering that approximately two-thirds of elite senior swimmers did not reach the elite level during their junior career but rather were considered sub-elite swimmers, it is possible to suggest that talent identification and development programmes dealing with young adolescents should consider alternatives to performance as the main selection criterion."

talent identification... Where have I seen that be an issue before. But, wait we all know they are milkin' the short kids bank accounts for trips to high altitude training camps. I didn't need a science article to tell you that correlation.

I’m so sorry that your kid didn’t get selected for an OTC trip but you might want to consider letting it go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

This story of mediocre swimmers suddenly rising to the top and passing all the elite age group swimmers just doesn’t happen often. It’s exceedingly rare, although it is a common fantasy of the parents of 12 year old B swimmers. In reality, the very best elite swimmers generally were always good. There are some who maybe got a late start in the sport, but had they started swimming at 8, they also would have been good all along. Very rarely do you have a kid who plugs along for years barely getting B times, and suddenly at 15 becomes elite. Sorry, that’s reality.

Now, there are some ups and downs during the puberty years as some kids (especially boys) gain size/strength earlier or later than others. But generally the cream will rise.

+1 There are plenty of studies over the past twenty years that have looked at this question. There is some flux/movement, but standouts in their teens sometimes continue to be standouts when they're in their 20s.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1440244021001420
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7028091/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2024.2322253#d1e2065

Do the sport (swim or anything else) for reasons that matter only to you.

Did you read the articles. "Practical implication
Considering that approximately two-thirds of elite senior swimmers did not reach the elite level during their junior career but rather were considered sub-elite swimmers, it is possible to suggest that talent identification and development programmes dealing with young adolescents should consider alternatives to performance as the main selection criterion."

talent identification... Where have I seen that be an issue before. But, wait we all know they are milkin' the short kids bank accounts for trips to high altitude training camps. I didn't need a science article to tell you that correlation.

I’m so sorry that your kid didn’t get selected for an OTC trip but you might want to consider letting it go.

You liked that one didn't you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

This story of mediocre swimmers suddenly rising to the top and passing all the elite age group swimmers just doesn’t happen often. It’s exceedingly rare, although it is a common fantasy of the parents of 12 year old B swimmers. In reality, the very best elite swimmers generally were always good. There are some who maybe got a late start in the sport, but had they started swimming at 8, they also would have been good all along. Very rarely do you have a kid who plugs along for years barely getting B times, and suddenly at 15 becomes elite. Sorry, that’s reality.

Now, there are some ups and downs during the puberty years as some kids (especially boys) gain size/strength earlier or later than others. But generally the cream will rise.

Torrid Huske might be the best example of a mediocre/good swimmer becoming the ultra elite.

Uh, she had AAA times at 12.

Which was when she hit puberty. She started swimming at 6 and was not a phenom at a young age by any stretch. In fact, she went pretty unnoticed until 11-12.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

This story of mediocre swimmers suddenly rising to the top and passing all the elite age group swimmers just doesn’t happen often. It’s exceedingly rare, although it is a common fantasy of the parents of 12 year old B swimmers. In reality, the very best elite swimmers generally were always good. There are some who maybe got a late start in the sport, but had they started swimming at 8, they also would have been good all along. Very rarely do you have a kid who plugs along for years barely getting B times, and suddenly at 15 becomes elite. Sorry, that’s reality.

Now, there are some ups and downs during the puberty years as some kids (especially boys) gain size/strength earlier or later than others. But generally the cream will rise.

+1 There are plenty of studies over the past twenty years that have looked at this question. There is some flux/movement, but standouts in their teens sometimes continue to be standouts when they're in their 20s.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1440244021001420
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7028091/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2024.2322253#d1e2065

Do the sport (swim or anything else) for reasons that matter only to you.

Did you read the articles. "Practical implication
Considering that approximately two-thirds of elite senior swimmers did not reach the elite level during their junior career but rather were considered sub-elite swimmers, it is possible to suggest that talent identification and development programmes dealing with young adolescents should consider alternatives to performance as the main selection criterion."

talent identification... Where have I seen that be an issue before. But, wait we all know they are milkin' the short kids bank accounts for trips to high altitude training camps. I didn't need a science article to tell you that correlation.

Spot on

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I keep thinking she’s 10 so she has 8 more years to develop since she’s on younger side. But swim is such a tough sport. Older kids play soccer, volleyball, team sports. It’s very different when it all falls on you.

Be slow. I think when they are young it is so tough to see all the things that they can do better. I always told mine, that is great. It means you can learn (X.Y. or Z) and you will drop time. And you know what? The take it slow approach pays off. My kids are in their teens and dropping time every year. When they were 11-13 and barely keeping up with the superfast kids, and now those kids have plateaued.

So now there are two scenarios - plateaued swimmers will keep having to wake up early and grind it out. They might not have their next drops this year, or next, but have to keep working. That is VERY hard to do mentally. And the longer you can prolong that the better.

Less pushy or coming to the sport a bit later. Keep making time drops as they improve. Less time/chance of plateauing and feeling that frustration. So breaks for vacations are great. Take a day off to do fun stuff or be with friends every once in a while.

Swim is a mental long game and your swimmer will have bad seasons or flat seasons. So they need to love it and want to be there, even if they are not having success.

This story of mediocre swimmers suddenly rising to the top and passing all the elite age group swimmers just doesn’t happen often. It’s exceedingly rare, although it is a common fantasy of the parents of 12 year old B swimmers. In reality, the very best elite swimmers generally were always good. There are some who maybe got a late start in the sport, but had they started swimming at 8, they also would have been good all along. Very rarely do you have a kid who plugs along for years barely getting B times, and suddenly at 15 becomes elite. Sorry, that’s reality.

Now, there are some ups and downs during the puberty years as some kids (especially boys) gain size/strength earlier or later than others. But generally the cream will rise.

Torrid Huske might be the best example of a mediocre/good swimmer becoming the ultra elite.

Uh, she had AAA times at 12.

Which was when she hit puberty. She started swimming at 6 and was not a phenom at a young age by any stretch. In fact, she went pretty unnoticed until 11-12.

At least based on what I’ve observed through my own swimmer, it’s not uncommon for there to be changes at the top with the girls when they hit the 11-12 age group. Puberty, kids that didn’t start swimming until they were 9-10 but are now hitting their stride, etc. all make a big difference at that age. What I have not seen a lot of is girls who are still B/BB swimmers at 11-14 all of sudden hitting AAAs when they are 15/16/17.