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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think it’s universally accepted that summer or late summer birthdays are the best- I remember seeing an article saying that most Olympians also benefit from “good birthdays” depending on their sport and for swimming, most are born in the summer months. There are exceptions, of course[/quote]

It sounds like you’re thinking of summer swim, which utilizes a cut-off date (usually June 1), allowing swimmers to finish their season in a lower age group even after they age up. USA swimming is very different and does not utilize cut-off dates, swimmers age up on their birthday. I have never read anything indicating most Olympic swimmers were born in summer; in fact, at the last Olympics the most common birthday month for swimmers was February, which is usually considered the worst birthday month for age groupers. Michael Phelps has a summer birthday, but it’s June 30, which would be considered terrible for long course in the age group years.

The fact of the matter is that swimming is very different from team sports when it comes to relative age effect. Young swimmers feel it because they earn fewer ribbons and medals at championship meets when they are 12 &u, but there isn’t the long term issue of not being selected for teams, not getting the same caliber training, etc. Coaches look at all times and meets, not just SC and LC champs. And they understand there is a huge physiological difference between a swimmer who just turned 11 and one who is almost 13. Then, during the high school years when athlete comparison really starts to matter, swimmers are compared by times and ranked based on graduation year. The age groups are open, and at that point it’s actually a disadvantage, especially for boys who are likely still growing, to have a spring/summer birthday unless they are redshirted. Swimming is just really different from other sports and the relative age effect really only impacts superficial success at the earliest ages. [/quote]

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