If you are competing with the top level athletes it might be good... idk where his HS competes.

Here are the results this year for Washington Metro Championship.

https://www.collegeswimming.com/results/139912/event/7/

You can also look at the scores at (Page 23ish)

https://www.gprep.org/uploaded/final_results_2.3.18.pdf

But if he made Varsity at his school he is doing great for his school.

A letter is an honor. Some teams have specific requirements. For example, on a cross-country course, achieve a certain time. Others might subjectively pick the top quarter of the team to earn letters, and they might consider leadership qualities in addition to athletic skill.

At my kid's school, most freshmen don't make the swim team, so he is probably good. OTOH, at the high school where I went, they desperately needed swimmers. As for gifted, you can only know if you compare his times.

Anonymous wrote:Both of my sons lettered as Freshman. They are good at their sport, but won't be playing in college or anything like that.

What sport?

Both of my sons lettered as Freshman. They are good at their sport, but won't be playing in college or anything like that.

A completely uninformed parent here: what does “letter” mean? Is it some sort of recommendation? There are also official USA swimming meets: what difference does it make if a swimmer does 22 seconds on 50FR at a regular meet vs high school meets?

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the school. My son (same time 50 FR) lettered as a freshman. I would not consider him a gifted swimmer by any means. The really gifted swimmers swim much faster than that. He is a very good swimmer (doesn't swim year round anymore because he's focused on a different sport). Many schools go by the point system so you may be on V, but don't get a letter unless you score the requisite points. At his school, there is a JV team and if you make V (through time standards) you get a letter.

My oldest is 9, so I have no experience at that level / age but fwiw I did think it was a pretty good time.

It depends on the school. My son (same time 50 FR) lettered as a freshman. I would not consider him a gifted swimmer by any means. The really gifted swimmers swim much faster than that. He is a very good swimmer (doesn't swim year round anymore because he's focused on a different sport). Many schools go by the point system so you may be on V, but don't get a letter unless you score the requisite points. At his school, there is a JV team and if you make V (through time standards) you get a letter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you make the varsity team, you will likely letter.

Some coaches outright do not let Freshman on varsity. Even if they are good players, they want a more mature team.

Other coaches don't care. It's not uncommon either way.

Hmm - I used "letter" and "varsity" interchangeably. I thought if you were varsity, you letter (clearly I did not do athletics in school).

Anyway, here's a time.

50 Yd Freestyle 23.00

To letter you have to have a certain number of points. Athletes get points for scoring, placing, filling a varsity spot, making all practices, etc.

Of course if your grades drop or you get in trouble, then you do not letter no matter your individual points as a varsity player.

Anonymous wrote:If you make the varsity team, you will likely letter.

Some coaches outright do not let Freshman on varsity. Even if they are good players, they want a more mature team.

Other coaches don't care. It's not uncommon either way.

Hmm - I used "letter" and "varsity" interchangeably. I thought if you were varsity, you letter (clearly I did not do athletics in school).

Anyway, here's a time.

50 Yd Freestyle 23.00

Is there a JV? At my school basically anyone who wanted on the swim team could be on the team (although that didn't mean you got to race in the meets).

Sorry -- posted without intent -- \\

Anyway, I think a kid who does the work to the coaches' expectations should get a letter whether or not they won a specific number of points.

Yes -- it is all a big "it depends".

Is there a JV swim team at the school? I am not aware of JV swimming. Certainly not in my area. If you are curious -- get on line for the school, and check out their swim team. Is there a JV team or not. If not -- there's your answer. Everyone who swims is technically on the varsity team.

What matters for winning or losing is whether you earn points for your team. A young swimmer certainly can do that if they are good vis a vis other kids on the team. Different schools can have different criteria for earning a letter in a sport. They might have to win a certain number of points, for example. Or, swim for points a certain number of times. That is up to the school and the coach really.

As an aside -- I am personally in favor of giving a kid a letter who






My kids were not high school swimmers. They did, however, go to a school that routinely was rolling out school and individual state swim championships. And, it was a reasonably big public school (about 1200 kids). There was no JV swim team. Everyone was on the "varsity" team. What matter though was whether you swam for points, and whether you earned points for the team.

Different schools

If you make the varsity team, you will likely letter.

Some coaches outright do not let Freshman on varsity. Even if they are good players, they want a more mature team.

Other coaches don't care. It's not uncommon either way.

Lol who knows. We can’t tell you. If you post some of his times people could tell you how good he is. Depends how big the school is and how competitive the swim team is. DC area and CA are big on swimming. From what I can tell the rest of the country is not so much.

I have a 5 year old so this is not my realm.

My nephew (doesn't live in DC) is not quite 14 years old and he just found out that he made the varsity swim team. I'm pretty blown away by this - he must be pretty gifted right? I thought this site would be a good reality check bc everyone is so competitive - it IS kind of a big deal to achieve something like this, correct?