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Reply to "If your kid was an AAAA swimmer at 10 and 12?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Can someone humor me and explain why it’s important to have another sport? I’m assuming the poster meant team sport?[/quote]
I think the biggest reason for a 2nd sport is to help avoid the burnout that can come by just focusing on swim starting at 8 years old. I think there are also benefits to developing overall athleticism, but trying to not burn out is the biggest thing. The caveat I will add is that in today’s youth sports environment it’s harder to be a multi sport athlete. My kid is a high level swimmer and they do a 2nd sport that is seasonal. Their schedule while juggling both sports simultaneously is not something they could sustain for more than a season. They also can’t decrease their time in the water because they are in a high performance group (DC is 12). It’s a hard balance for kids to strike now because of how intense youth sports has gotten. [/quote]

NP - kids can avoid burnout by just not training so much, so young.  They don't have to fill that time with a second sport.

Overall athleticism doesn't matter as much in swimming as it does in traditional team/ball and stick sports.  It doesn't hurt (barring injury), but most high-level swimmers aren't also elite in a second sport, the way many professional athletes are.  Swimming is highly technical - and that technique comes from more swimming.[/quote]
It would not be good for my kid to only be spending say 3 days a week (1.5 hours each of those days) in the water with no other physical activity to fill that extra time. My kid is an athlete, physical activity is their outlet, they would be climbing the walls to have 4 days a week with nothing going on. I think part of what contributes to the burnout is kids that started at age 7-8 who are great through age 10, then the advantage of starting so early wears off, puberty comes into play, and they are frustrated and not used to not being the best. They either fight through it or they get to age 13, say they are burned out and do something else. To be sure, there are innately talented 10 and unders that stay great, but you also have standout 10 and unders who were standouts because they’ve been competitively swimming since they were 7-8 years old, not necessarily because they were innately talented. [/quote]

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