Anonymous wrote:My now 16yr only did summer swim at 9, I think she started LC season at 10. Has national level cuts now. Just let them enjoy and learn to love the sport.

(meant to say she did club only during the school year until 10, if that wasn't clear).

My now 16yr only did summer swim at 9, I think she started LC season at 10. Has national level cuts now. Just let them enjoy and learn to love the sport.

The kid is 9. Just chill and let him/her enjoy summer swim. Reassess in middle school.

Anonymous wrote:OP's post was very different than what I think of when I see the words, "making the most of summertime," especially where children are involved.

LOL

Anonymous wrote:At what age group does skipping LC become a progress killer?

I don’t know about progress killer, but the swimmers in the top training groups at the big clubs are all doing LC season by the time they are in the 11-12 age group. If you’re in a high performance group you don’t have the option of skipping LC season.

Keep it fun. Let him enjoy summer swim. As others have said, swim is a long game, and in my experience (two teen boys who really came into their own around age 12) there’s no benefit in pushing the grind early.

One of my kids started swimming LC at 12, the other at 10. Honestly, I see little value before high school - and even with my 15yo (older kid), I kind of wish he had the option of taking a break and only doing summer swim! He’s on the cusp of burning out completely.

At what age group does skipping LC become a progress killer?

Anonymous wrote:What is A, BB and LC?

A, BB, etc refers to USA Swimming National Age Group Motivational Times

LC=Long Course

Agree, keep it fun.

My DC (now swimming D1 in college) did not do LC until summer before their junior year of HS. Going to Trials next week. We let them have fun in summer swim (and they played another sport) until it was clear they needed some LC experience and times.

OP's post was very different than what I think of when I see the words, "making the most of summertime," especially where children are involved.

What is A, BB and LC?

Agreed with PPs. Keep it fun at this age.

No, it's not a progress killer to focus on keeping swimming fun for your 9 year old. Pushing them too much, too soon might be, though. Swimming is a very long game.

At that age I do not think it’s a progress killer to just do summer swim this year. Your child will be in the water swimming through the end of July and club will pick back up in September. Maybe in the downtime between July and September your child can do a couple Fitter Faster type weekend clinics to work on specific skills. Next year when your child is on the cusp of entering the 11-12 age group my answer would probably be different.

DC is 9.5yo and chasing A times (has crossed over BB) in almost all their events, but is not yet in their club group that swims the LC season. Summer swim at our local pool has 2x/day practices and plenty of lesson opportunities with college-age coaches, along with the usual huge amounts of fun and friends. DC is a happy and ambitious swimmer so far, and I don't want to kill that by rushing off to an open-enrollment summer program with a different club just because the practice sets might be longer. On the other hand, there would likely be different expectations that might be beneficial, too.

More experienced swim parents, is it a progress killer to just stick with summer swim this year? If you'd recommend a different path, what might it be? And what's a productive strategy for lessons? I feel like we need to make an initial plan with some specific goals and then try to meet them through steady, regular sessions.