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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Just read through this thread as I used to swim (but my kids do not) so many posts brought back memories of my summers from many, many years ago.

I am in a way relieved to hear of all the drama these days with summer swim, club level swim, etc. My kids play soccer competitively and I often wish that they had gotten into more "objective" sports where the decision for advancement is not based on a coach's subjective observation but an objective measure like a clock. It is almost a relief to hear that even in a time-based sport like swimming the parent drama exists![/quote]

My kids do soccer and swim. I find soccer less stressful. The way they evaluate players is definitely more ambiguous, but my oldest seems to come out on the good side of that at least for now. He is a hard worker, unselfish, and really hustles on defense so I think that those things work in his favor as opposed to a kid with an ego always asking to play up front. And in a team sport there is at least some appreciation that they all have different roles to play and that they have to play as a team to succeed. Not too many politics yet, maybe we have been lucky.

The way summer swim is done here really does pit friends against each other, and certain parents egg it on. I get very annoyed when I hear my friend’s kid talking smack to mine and hearing their parents try to motivate them to specifically beat my kid in races. I tell my kids it’s about doing your own best times and however that plays out in the ladder is what it is. The A meet/B meet structure creates a haves vs. have nots dynamic that goes against the message that summer swim is for fun. And sending out the ladder is nice for transparency but bad for parents who obsess over everyone else’s times. I loved summer swim as a kid but as a parents it’s kind of a love/hate.
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The second part of your post is spot on. It’s why I much prefer the club season to  summer swim. At club, everyone in your practice group swims the same non-champs meets. And for champs meets, when you hit the cut time you’re in, you don’t need to be faster than another kid, you just need to worry about your time and whether it’s under the cut. [/quote]

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