Anonymous wrote:I don’t mean Olympic level swimmers, just kids who make high school swim teams and can compete competitively and get really good. Is 5th grade too late to join the pre competitive team, either summer or fall team? I have a friend who said her son has been swimming since taking lessons before preschool and has been doing swim teams competitively since kindergarten. She said kids who haven’t joined by mid elementary it’s looking too late unless they are natural swimmers by genetics or something. Is she right?

By pre-competitive summer options, do you mean pre-team?

On our team, the pre-team kids are usually 5 - 7. I think that a 10 year old would feel out of place. I'd probably see if I could do some lessons this spring and get him legal in a stroke or two so he could do the team this summer.

As for being too late, I don't think that 10 is too late to learn to swim, to build a possible lifetime option for physical fitness. I don't think it's too late to have fun and enjoy the camaraderie of summer swim, and to possibly join a lower level year round team, or a high school team that's not too competitive. It might be too late for a top level club team, or to be recruited for college, depending on how athletic your kids are, but those would not the goals most of us bring to summer swim.

Like any sport, swimming ability is a combination of natural talent and work ethic (among other things). Starting in 5th may mean it takes a season or two to catch up to more tenured kids, but it doesn’t mean they won’t ever if they have both of the above. My kid didn’t start club “until” almost 9. After a couple seasons, they surpassed the kids that had been doing it since 6. I also imagine that there were kids that started later that eventually surpassed my kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This seems crazy to me. Most of the swimmers I know swim pretty much year round. All the competitive swimmers are swimming for 13 years straight? Is there loads of burnout and injury? I have the same questions about soccer.

Swimming is a year round sport. You don't generally have 5-6 year olds doing crazy stuff. My son was 5 and did a once a week learn to swim program through a USA Swimming team that also let him do 4 mini meets. He stayed at one day a week basically instruction until he was 8, then he did two nights a week. Three days at 11 and four mornings at 14. He is not hurt or burned out-- the 4th morning was his request

I know 6 year-old kids who go to practice 4 times a week. Parents are obsessed about not missing practice. As someone else said, DMV swim culture is a bit insane.

Name the team that is allowing 6 year olds to attend four practices a week. I do not believe this is true for a second.

I think the typical year round swimmer starts lessons around 4-6; summer swim around 7-8, and club around 8-10.

That being said, I think the swimming culture is much better than other sports for starting “late”. 5th grade is not too late.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This seems crazy to me. Most of the swimmers I know swim pretty much year round. All the competitive swimmers are swimming for 13 years straight? Is there loads of burnout and injury? I have the same questions about soccer.

Swimming is a year round sport. You don't generally have 5-6 year olds doing crazy stuff. My son was 5 and did a once a week learn to swim program through a USA Swimming team that also let him do 4 mini meets. He stayed at one day a week basically instruction until he was 8, then he did two nights a week. Three days at 11 and four mornings at 14. He is not hurt or burned out-- the 4th morning was his request

I know 6 year-old kids who go to practice 4 times a week. Parents are obsessed about not missing practice. As someone else said, DMV swim culture is a bit insane.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t mean Olympic level swimmers, just kids who make high school swim teams and can compete competitively and get really good. Is 5th grade too late to join the pre competitive team, either summer or fall team? I have a friend who said her son has been swimming since taking lessons before preschool and has been doing swim teams competitively since kindergarten. She said kids who haven’t joined by mid elementary it’s looking too late unless they are natural swimmers by genetics or something. Is she right?

If your child is athletic, they will be fine starting “late.”

My now 14 year old started at 10, when she beginning 5th grade. She has only done summer prior. As a freshman she has AAA times and will hopefully make it to states. She is obsessed with the sport and far from burn out bc we didn’t push her too young. She decided she was ready.9

It’s never too late to start swimming competitively. People have started Masters in their 70s!

But yes, around here, people tend to start their kids young. 6-8 seems typical for the first season of summer swim. We spend most of our leisure time in or around water, so it was very important we get our kids confident in the water young. Swim team is a really efficient way to do that.

Anonymous wrote:This seems crazy to me. Most of the swimmers I know swim pretty much year round. All the competitive swimmers are swimming for 13 years straight? Is there loads of burnout and injury? I have the same questions about soccer.

Swimming is a year round sport. You don't generally have 5-6 year olds doing crazy stuff. My son was 5 and did a once a week learn to swim program through a USA Swimming team that also let him do 4 mini meets. He stayed at one day a week basically instruction until he was 8, then he did two nights a week. Three days at 11 and four mornings at 14. He is not hurt or burned out-- the 4th morning was his request

This seems crazy to me. Most of the swimmers I know swim pretty much year round. All the competitive swimmers are swimming for 13 years straight? Is there loads of burnout and injury? I have the same questions about soccer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Age 5-7, but anytime is good.

So she is right that most kids start very young, but you’re saying kids who join later can often still be competitive?

Maybe. If by “competitive,” you mean “swim for their HS,” then yes. If you mean swim seriously with a good winter team, probably not.

Swim culture around the DMV is insane.

Anonymous wrote:Age 5-7, but anytime is good.

So she is right that most kids start very young, but you’re saying kids who join later can often still be competitive?

Age 5-7, but anytime is good.

If it matters I am asking specifically about boys swimming.

I don’t mean Olympic level swimmers, just kids who make high school swim teams and can compete competitively and get really good. Is 5th grade too late to join the pre competitive team, either summer or fall team? I have a friend who said her son has been swimming since taking lessons before preschool and has been doing swim teams competitively since kindergarten. She said kids who haven’t joined by mid elementary it’s looking too late unless they are natural swimmers by genetics or something. Is she right?