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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Can someone give me the Swimming for Dummies explanation of how club and school swimming work together (or conflict). Calendar, schedules, etc? We're leaving the DMV before DD is in middle school, so general is more helpful than specific.[/quote]

I can give you an answer for outside DC, with the caveat that this doesn't apply to the kids who definitely know they'll have trials times and are basically on track for the Olympics. I can think of 1-2 of those kids here and I don't even know if they do HS swim.

Kids are affiliated with their club year-round. The HS meet season where we are does not overlap with the important part of the club swimming season and when HS season concludes, that's when club really ramps up. Most of the HS coaches have affiliations with a club and coach there the rest of the year, so training is fairly aligned and coordinated. HS championships are dominated by club swimmers in the biggest division in our state, with the exception of a few rare athletes who do HS water polo + one more HS sport in their off-season and club workouts in the summer.[/quote]

Thanks, this is exactly what I wanted to know![/quote]

Here's the thing though... there are states that do not allow participation in both at the same time. Kids put club "on hold" for HS season, they train and compete with HS team during that time. Maybe they get lucky and have a club coach who also coaches HS or maybe they don't and they could have a major downgrade in training during that season as compared to their usual training, depending on level (or opt out of HS swim depending on goals/preferences). Ohio is one of these states, I think some others in the midwest as well. . I know swimmers can get special permission to swim a "big deal" club meet during the season (i.e. Winter Juniors in December).

There are states where boys and girls have different HS seasons as well. For example, MN girls are fall and boys are winter. I think fall swimming benefits club swimmers, it's really hard to keep everything going with a season like DMV where in the heart of the winter/early spring season has many HS meets and kids gearing up for club championship meets.

As far as the fastest kids around here (Olympic Trials cuts and such), the majority do HS swim. Katie Ledecky, Jack Conger, Phoebe Bacon, Erin Gemmell, all did. They pop in for meets as needed. The exception would be areas without HS swimming (Howard County for example). Around here, the norm is for club swimmers to practice with their club teams all the time and compete in as many HS meets as works.[/quote]

I was the PP at 12:25 and my experience is with both Ohio (boys and girls in winter) and the west coast (girls in fall, boys in winter). I think the Ohio schedule is ideal. Because of where it falls in the club season, HS swimming remains nearly as intense as club at the powerhouse suburban and independent high schools, most of which have their own pools and elbow out clubs for in-season pool time. Smaller and rural schools are different. It is fully expected that club swimmers will swim HS in the winter and clubs work around that; kids who are at high schools that don't run doubles or weekend practices might pick up morning club practices during HS season. The HS I know best and that produces at least 2 and up to 10 D1 recruits per year between both teams runs 2-a-days that are semi-optional. Kids who are club swimmers and on state-bound relays are at every single practice for sure. A non-club swimmer who occasionally picks up the 3rd entry in varsity meets might not do every morning practice but will be at every afternoon practice and dryland/lift.

My most recent west coast state experience is in WA state, and those HS practices seem way more casual, are 1x/day, and girls don't fully step off the club practice circuit in fall. We have very limited pool space, though, so take my observation with a grain of salt.[/quote]

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