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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Age 5-7, but anytime is good. [/quote]

So she is right that most kids start very young, but you’re saying kids who join later can often still be competitive? [/quote]

Maybe.  If by “competitive,” you mean “swim for their HS,” then yes.  If you mean swim seriously with a good winter team, probably not.

Swim culture around the DMV is insane.  [/quote]
Swim culture is insane here but it is absolutely not true that if you are not on a team by age 7 you cannot swim seriously with good winter team. There are kids at our site of a big club that didn’t start year round swim until age 9 and started hitting sectional cuts at 13 (girls). I wouldn’t recommend waiting past age 10, but saying you have to be between the ages of 5-7 is ridiculous.

If all your kid is interested in is being able to make the HS team that is very dependent on the school. Some of the local HS swim teams are no cut, some have cuts but you don’t need to be much more than legal in the strokes to make it, and some you need to be a better than mediocre year round swimmer to make it. If you are mapping out a starting point for a young kid, I would start this winter/spring with a once a week stroke and turn type program. If the kid enjoys it, do summer swim team this summer. If your kid enjoys summer swim and participating in meets then consider whether they want to join a club team or do a non competitive year round program to stay in the water and work on their strokes. [b]Most of the clubs around here have a mini program if your kid is 8 and under[/b], and the meets they do have short distance options like summer swim. [/quote]

It can be highly strategic to join minis if your club has limited spaces in its older levels.  It will be far easier to pass the mini tryouts than the tryouts for the next group up.  If you can take on the activity and are contemplating either trying out for minis or waiting a year to see if your swimmer improves, the best plan is often to go for minis.[/quote]

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