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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I skipped a grade and turned 18 in March of my freshman year of college. Why can’t I compete as an 18 year old in an 18 and under league?  Not a 19 year old, or even an old 18 year old. I was a year and a half younger than most of my classmates - grew later, drove later, etc.  Let me have this one thing![/quote]
So as a college sophomore you would have wanted to spend your summer participating in summer swim with a group of high school kids and younger, none of whom were your classmates? Sure :roll: [/quote]

Yes. I was the coach and taught swim lessons and lifeguarded. It was my summer job. And I swam in the meets, with people who I had been teammates with for years and were on my high school team. It’s not like I was competing against the 8 year olds.  The funny thing is that even though I was a Division I swimmer, I was a distance swimmer, so I wasn’t very good at the summer league sprint races. But I wasn’t trying to rack up medals, it was something done for fun.[/quote]

So were you getting first place in your events at All Stars, or were high schoolers beating you? I posted that I think it’s pathetic because I would have won my events easily being a stroke and IM swimmer. That would have felt so empty considering I had access to NCAA training with certified strength and conditioning coaches at a university in a power conference. I could see it being a little different if you’re a distance swimmer at a smaller D1 program. There’s a wide range even within D1.

The example of a 17 year old high schooler placing at National is different. That high schooler is doing USA club swim training like everyone else in high school. That’s a more even playing field. [/quote]

I wasn’t winning. I swam random things like breaststroke that I didn’t swim in college. I think I swam 50 free and was like 4th or 5th. The others in the heat were also going to swim in college. We were the same age. My high school club swim training was basically the same as my DI college swim training, I’m not sure why people think there is a big difference. The senior groups at clubs like NCAP or RMSC are as high level training as you can get.

Also not sure why people think that regular swimmers don’t want to compete against high level swimmers. I know someone who swam against Katie Ledecky at a high school meet. Katie won easily without
 even trying. But the other kids there thought it was cool, and they can always say they raced Katie Ledecky. What’s wrong with that?[/quote]

A random high school meet is different from someone’s final summer swim meet after competing their entire childhood. It is in poor taste for someone who won their events (or close to it) at 17 to then come back after a year of D1 swimming and win everything again. That takes the opportunity away from an 18 year old senior who won’t be able to come back after a year of college. There’s a time to be in the spotlight and a time to let others shine.  [/quote]Huh?  So it's unfair that a kid is good enough to win at both 17 and 18 yo?  You want them to sit out so your kid can win at 18 yo because your kid is old for their grade or were redshirted?  What if the other kid wasn't winning at 17 yo but matures and then is good enough to win for the first time at 18 yo?  Is that unfair?[/quote]

I’m not worried for my own kids, LOL. I doubt either will be in this position. They are young, probably won’t ever be at that level, and have terrible summer swim birthdays. I would have been that 18 year old who came back after college and won everything. A high schooler that can win as a junior at 17 and again at 18, great for them. Coming back after you’ve graduated so you can beat a graduating senior who won’t have the chance to do what you’ve already done? Tacky. But I’m sure you crazy parents won’t agree because you don’t understand the point of summer swim, as evidenced by this thread. [/quote]

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