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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If he doesn’t like 3 times a week as a 9 year old, he will really hate 4 times a week as an 11 year old. I would find out now if this is something he loves. Even though it seems logical that a 10/11 year old would find it easier to adjust to swim practice than a 9 year old, it is actually the opposite. By 10/11, many kids have been swimming for 2-3 years. I had one kid join at age 7 and one kid join at age 10, and[b] it was harder for my 10 year old to catch up to his age group.[/b]

My 7 year old played academy soccer twice a week and swam twice a week and loved both. When he turned 9, he moved from academy to a club team that practiced 2-3 times a week, and he swam 2-3 times a week. He wanted to swim more, but couldn’t because of soccer. He is now turning 13, and is giving up club soccer so he can focus on swim, but I’m glad he did both for 4 years, even though it was clear that he loved swim more than soccer. It kept him from being burned out and focused at swim practice. He will still play soccer at a lower level, but didn’t want to continue soccer practice 3 times a week.

That’s not to say that starting at age 10/11 won’t work - my older kid played basketball with club swim until 12 and is now 15. It took him longer, but he is now achieving the AAA times he has been dreaming about since he was 10. But it was harder for him than it was for my younger one. [/quote]

This is what my DH is arguing.  [/quote]

DP - it may be harder, but what are the trade-offs?  How important is it to your family that your kid excel at swim?  What's it worth?  Those are questions only you and your DH can answer, OP.  It's okay to prioritize family time or downtime or whatever else over optimizing your kid's swimming.  Humans typically can't optimize everything.[/quote]

I totally get that it's our call on the trade-offs.  I'm just trying to figure out whether it's true that he'd be so far behind that he wouldn't be able to catch up within a few months or even make a club team at that point?[/quote]

OP, it is highly unlikely that a qualified 10 year old couldn't make any club team.  Could they definitely make a competitive training group closest to your house?  Maybe not.  But there are so many options for clubs.  Heck, my oldest started club swim at 11, almost 12, and our team was happy to have her.  We opted for a less intense training group for her first year but she could have started with a more intense one.  She's moving up this year and looking forward to it.  One benefit of the bigger clubs is that kids can start with a less intense training group and have the option to move up as they advance.  They don't need to start in the fastest group to join the club.

If you or your DH have very specific achievement goals for your kid, that's a separate issue.  [/quote]

+1[/quote]

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