Reply to Why doesn’t USA Swimming use cut-off dates like every other youth sport?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If your kid isn't making any JOs cut times at the bottom of the age bracket, they're not that good.

And if all they care about is making JOs cut times, they're not long for the sport.

There are champs meets all year long.  JOs is only one meet. Simmer down. [/quote]
Harsh but true. The parents that care about this the most are the ones that have swimmers that are marginal champs level swimmers only when they are at the top of the age grow. This is a non-issue for those kids that are hitting cuts when they are at the low end of the age group. [/quote]

There is a difference between hitting those cuts at the low end of the age group (like an 11 year old) and having to hit them while you are still in the previous age group (a 10 year old having to make 11-12 cuts). This is the situation for kids who age up days before the meet and only the truly elite age groupers can do it in multiple events. [/quote]
Being 10 years 11 months is not that different from being 11 years and 2 months though as many have pointed out, and there are definitely a number of kids at the lowest end of the age group making champs meets. It’s not just the truly elite than can hit the next age group’s cuts before they age up. Yes, all those kids are excellent, but we are with one of the big clubs and it is not unusual for this to happen. [/quote]

Yes, you are making the same point - those kids might be 11 years + a month at champs, meaning they had to qualify for that meet as a 10 year old. Then they are competing in the meet against kids who will turn 13 days or weeks after the meet.

I would argue that kids who are doing that ARE truly elite. The champs cuts for 11-12 where I am are equivalent to 10 &under AAAA times. Yes, there are kids who can do it, but I think it’s safe to say they are elite swimmers. [/quote]

+1.  It’s very very rare for a kid to make JO qualifying times for the next age group. There are only 7 10 year olds boys in all of PVS who have 11-12 times for 100 free.  [/quote]

I’m not weighing in on the merits of the original argument, but this simply isn’t true that it’s “very very rare”. There are a lot of PVS swimmers that hit 13/14 times at 12. A lot. Don’t get me wrong, making PVS champs is a great accomplishment for an age group swimmer, but it’s not an elite meet. Plenty of the stronger swimmers will make cuts for the next age group before they age group. And I see your 100 free point, but did you look at how many current 11 year olds made the cut before they turned 11? I bet it’s more than you’d think.

Again, I don’t have a strong opinion on age up approach (someone is always disadvantaged by the system depending on their birthday in every system), but it’s also very standard for age group swimmers to practice with a range of ages based on ability, not strictly age. I’m not suggesting an 8 year old practices with a 14 year old, but it’s normal to have a range of ages so that a competitive swimmer that ages up in March was likely practicing with a competitive peer group swimming that new age group at champs.  [/quote]

There are three 12 year old boys in all of PVS with 13-14 cuts in 100 free. [/quote]
Again, this is a flawed approach. How many 13 year old boys made the 100 free cut before they turned 13?  You can’t just look at current 12 year olds or your entire argument falls apart.

PS - girls swim too :)

At our club, of the 13 year old kids swimming 13/14 champs, most of them got their cuts before they turned 13. We are one smaller club and it’s more than 3 per event at one club, much less the entire LSC.

It sucks for kids that age up in March, not minimizing that. But it’s just not that rare to qualify before you do. [/quote]

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