Anonymous wrote:No one can predict what is going to happen.

My kid was a B swimmer until 13 then grew in height and now is a AA/AAA swimmer. Her friend who was tall at 10- made JOs was fast and strong- stopped growing at 10 and is now a slower than B swimmer.

I think that you see this more often. A lot of kids sprout at 10-11 and are taller than their peers. But they stop growing around 5th or 6th grade on the early bloomers. A lot of taller kids are slower to grow and end up being later. I tend to look at parents, to see what the height is on mom and dad. The average height parents tend to have taller kids earlier in the sport. Whereas the taller parents there kids are later.

No one can predict what is going to happen.

My kid was a B swimmer until 13 then grew in height and now is a AA/AAA swimmer. Her friend who was tall at 10- made JOs was fast and strong- stopped growing at 10 and is now a slower than B swimmer.

I have seen swimmers go either way - up or down - as long as they are having fun it is okay.

My 12-year old swimmer was solidly BB, and then at 13 AA with AAA times as well. I think still WAY too soon to know the trajectory.

Former D1 scholarship swimmer here. I agree that most kids who are decent and love to swim can find somewhere to do it, but it will not be for a scholarship and may be a small expensive college. Some kids would be better off competing with the club team at a larger school. My sister did club sports at her college and had a great time without the pressure and the grind that I dealt with. 20 years later I can’t do certain things with my shoulders. I barely made it to the end of my senior year thanks to rotator cuff tendinitis.

It is important to remember that college coaches recruit based on both times and potential. Someone on an upward trajectory may get looked at more closely than someone who is fast but has been going those same fast times for 2 years. Height plays a pretty big role in one’s potential. Most kids don’t so serious strength training in HS. College coaches love a kid who has a tall/long frame that can add muscle at college once they’re working with strength coaches.

Just out of curiosity I looked at my old summer league’s website and was able to find archived results going all the way back to my time. So crazy to see all the old names! For whatever it’s worth it looks like I was in the AA/AAA range in my best events when I was 12. I was not the superstar kid. The ones winning all stars had AAA/AAAA times. I got better through HS and by the time we got to college I was beating the people who used to beat me when I was 12. But I am really tall so I guess my potential was greater than someone who stopped growing early. It really is all a crapshoot OP. Tell your son to keep working at it as long as he gets enjoyment from it. You never know what can happen. Be realistic but open to seeing where the sport takes him. It truly is a great lifelong sport.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Around 15 or 16 you will know. 12 is way too early. Also, what are your genetics, which will play a huge role.

But like a PP said, focus on technique. I would assume your kid is swimming 6 days a week at this point with those times.

My kid has similar times/age but have kept him at 4/week except in summer when it is more bc if summer swim league. Is my instinct to hold back a bad idea? Swim seems so all encompassing so quickly. My thought was to try and keep it 4/days few/no early morning until high school. He is making JOs and better meets. Figure there will be time for sectionals and futures later.

This is totally fine. My kids have gone through the top middle school group at a major club and they typically practiced 5d per week. We did not obsess about making sure it was 5 each and every week. They had a life and a week with 4 days happened from time to time. I agree with PP, if they are successful and happy at 4, go with it for now. Often the cost of an extra day (or crazy early morning) outweighs the benefit of that particular workout.

The goal is that they are still swimming in high school, not that they are middle school superstars.

Anonymous wrote:If the only reason he's swimming is for college prospects, you will be disappointed.

Look at swimcloud under recruiting and see the lists by year of males who committed to colleges. Scroll through the pages to see where the commitments start to drop off and where the colleges start to become small regional schools you've never heard of. Then click on the profiles of the swimmers on the next page where no one is recruited. It is sobering; moreso when you sort by state. Very, very strong swimmers do not get recruited. Some get recruiting attention from schools that are an inadequate academic match for the student.

There may be a point where the colleges you might be able to swim for and the colleges that are a good academic match cross, but for many swimmers, those lines never cross.

This is pretty spot on except it assumes that all those kids not reporting a school (1) are not swimming and (2) wanted to swim. I don't think swimcloud's info is perfect and I know a number of very talented swimmers who chose not to swim in college. There are a lot of opportunities to swim Div III and you don't have to be particularly fast. But, those schools may be expensive, liberal arts schools that are not academic power houses. So, if your kid is ok going to a lower caliber academic school and can either 1) get merit aid or 2) you can afford for them to pay $70k to let them swim, you'll find a place to swim. The challenge is finding the spot that matches their academic interests and makes sense to the family financially. But, my guess is your kid will improve and have lots of options.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Around 15 or 16 you will know. 12 is way too early. Also, what are your genetics, which will play a huge role.

But like a PP said, focus on technique. I would assume your kid is swimming 6 days a week at this point with those times.

My kid has similar times/age but have kept him at 4/week except in summer when it is more bc if summer swim league. Is my instinct to hold back a bad idea? Swim seems so all encompassing so quickly. My thought was to try and keep it 4/days few/no early morning until high school. He is making JOs and better meets. Figure there will be time for sectionals and futures later.

If he is doing that with 4/days a week I would hold personally. He will improve and get faster once he starts really competitively practicing (6 days/2 hour sessions) but if he is happy keep it. Now if he is pushing for more time in the water and most of those kids are, then you have to decide.

I was holding mine back for a while but she was begging to be in the water. I was so worried she would burn out and resent it. I finally relented and she is so much happier. And in the end if she wants to quit, that is on her as well. I am not going to push one way or another.

Anonymous wrote:Around 15 or 16 you will know. 12 is way too early. Also, what are your genetics, which will play a huge role.

But like a PP said, focus on technique. I would assume your kid is swimming 6 days a week at this point with those times.

My kid has similar times/age but have kept him at 4/week except in summer when it is more bc if summer swim league. Is my instinct to hold back a bad idea? Swim seems so all encompassing so quickly. My thought was to try and keep it 4/days few/no early morning until high school. He is making JOs and better meets. Figure there will be time for sectionals and futures later.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Around 15 or 16 you will know. 12 is way too early. Also, what are your genetics, which will play a huge role.

But like a PP said, focus on technique. I would assume your kid is swimming 6 days a week at this point with those times.

There will be a point where other factors come into play. Soon. Genetics. Willingness to push through pain and discomfort. Willingness to put in the time with drylands. Willingness to give up social opportunities.

My brother was a D1 swimmer his times were always there and it was what he loved. He loved it over everything else. He was an introvert and swimming was his life. He also ended up being 6'5" which didn't hurt.

If your child loves swimming enough to want to continue in college already, that will go a long way toward helping him get there. See what happens, but encourage him not to put too much pressure on himself. As others have pointed out, you'll have to see if the swimming times and academic expectations of the school (and his academic interests) align.

Anonymous wrote:Around 15 or 16 you will know. 12 is way too early. Also, what are your genetics, which will play a huge role.

But like a PP said, focus on technique. I would assume your kid is swimming 6 days a week at this point with those times.

There will be a point where other factors come into play. Soon. Genetics. Willingness to push through pain and discomfort. Willingness to put in the time with drylands. Willingness to give up social opportunities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op again. Not interested in scholarships. But DS wants to keep swimming.

I ran D1 track in college. D1 sports are a real job, and can be a real grind. If my kids want to continue with sports in college - unless they are real superstars (which is unlikely) - I would recommend D3 to them. FWIW. That said, I am not familiar with how good you have to be to do D3 swimming.

My DH was set to go to a D1 university for his sport. He would have lost in the hugeness of it, but it had a good program. (Good enough to make the team, but would never be the superstar.) At the last minute he decided to go a (much better academically) D3 school with a much smaller program for his sport. He got to be a superstar there and got a great education. He had an amazing college experience and it set him up for a tremendous amount of confidence going forward.

Around 15 or 16 you will know. 12 is way too early. Also, what are your genetics, which will play a huge role.

But like a PP said, focus on technique. I would assume your kid is swimming 6 days a week at this point with those times.

you answered this question yourself the best - he hasn’t grown yet so you have no idea what will happen.


There is anecdotal evidence for every scenario - good and bad. 10 year old PVS record holders who drop off to kids swimming B times at 12 who go on to make Futures at 14. It is so specific to your kid and their story. We really can’t predict.

If your kid is talking about swimming in college, he must love it. Focus on maintaining that love through the grind that is daily swimming and the rest will hopefully follow.

(But my one piece of advice is to study and save money. I have talked to coaches who say it is hard to find kids who make grades and can pay bc there is often no money in swimming. That sweet spot can sometimes land a kid on a team).