Anonymous
Post 08/03/2023 14:49     Subject: Re:Tell me about AM swim practice
Sleep deprivation is a form of torture. Unless I am raising Michale Phelps, no way I am having my kid wake up this early.
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2023 14:44     Subject: Tell me about AM swim practice
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Not what you asked, but please reconsider. Teens that age need 8-10 hours of sleep a night. Unless your child can routinely fall asleep before 8:00 at night, they aren’t going to be able to get that and will go through some of the most critical years of their life sleep deprived.

I did this for swimming as a teenager and it was a horrible mistake. The chronic sleep deprivation affected my mental health and academic performance in ways that still hurt me now as an adult, even though at the time I appeared to be doing great.


NP. Kids need sleep. But if your kid is serious about swimming, they will go to bed before 8 every night. If your kid can’t commit to doing that, then they aren’t going to do well in swimming anyway, so you may as well stay in the afternoons.


I’m the previous poster who regrets morning practices. There was no way I could have gotten to bed by 8 after getting back from evening practice and then doing homework. Most serious swimmers who do morning practice are doing doubles (2x a day workouts) and if they’re taking a typical DCUM load of difficult HS classes, there is little time for sleep.



That's your experience. I can counter with my own anecdote by saying that I feel the morning practices were worth it. I hated every. single. time. that alarm went off. I couldn't go to bed at 8 pm because of my courseload, including AP courses. I did go to bed really early on many Fri and Sat nights because practice on weekends started at 7 or 8 am. Dedication to my goals and a supportive coach/training group got me through.

It really depends on what kind of person you are. From a young age my parents would have described me as a hard worker, disciplined, determined. I applied this to my schoolwork and my sport. I was able to tough it out through the lack of sleep, the feeling of being "broken down" during heavy training, the juggling of various demands. My parents thought it was too much, but I insisted. I worked hard to make sure my grades stayed high so they wouldn't have a reason to tell me to stop. Not everyone can handle this. My sibling is not wired this way and quit club swim once morning practices became a requirement.

OP, if your child is the one pushing for morning practice and is someone you would describe as disciplined, goal-directed, and academically strong, I think you should let them try it. I would have been devastated if my parents had told me no before even trying. It did involve some lost sleep and time for them, but they look back on those years now as some of their favorites because they were supporting their child in chasing their dreams. And the fact that it paid for my college was a nice surprise they did not anticipate.



I’m glad it worked out well for you, but I take issue with “it depends on what kind of person you are” and the implication this is all about character and work ethic. Kids with perfectionist standards for themselves in and out of the pool are the ones most at risk for overdoing it. I could say almost everything you did about being driven, a hard worker, keeping great grades etc. At the time everyone thought I was handling the 10 AP classes and 20 hours a week of swimming really well. But it came at great cost to my health and I never achieved the times needed to be recruited for D1- though plenty of teammates who rarely attended doubles but had much more innate talent did.

There are some kids this can work well for, but the tradeoffs are real and need to be considered very carefully.
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2023 11:45     Subject: Tell me about AM swim practice
Lots of food on the go, carpooling, keep on top of kid’s studies and early bedtime. If they can’t get the sleep I wouldn’t do it. I did it for years, was a college recruit, and quit because my mental and physical health was shot by senior year. It’s not easy.
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2023 11:31     Subject: Tell me about AM swim practice
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Not what you asked, but please reconsider. Teens that age need 8-10 hours of sleep a night. Unless your child can routinely fall asleep before 8:00 at night, they aren’t going to be able to get that and will go through some of the most critical years of their life sleep deprived.

I did this for swimming as a teenager and it was a horrible mistake. The chronic sleep deprivation affected my mental health and academic performance in ways that still hurt me now as an adult, even though at the time I appeared to be doing great.


NP. Kids need sleep. But if your kid is serious about swimming, they will go to bed before 8 every night. If your kid can’t commit to doing that, then they aren’t going to do well in swimming anyway, so you may as well stay in the afternoons.


I’m the previous poster who regrets morning practices. There was no way I could have gotten to bed by 8 after getting back from evening practice and then doing homework. Most serious swimmers who do morning practice are doing doubles (2x a day workouts) and if they’re taking a typical DCUM load of difficult HS classes, there is little time for sleep.



That's your experience. I can counter with my own anecdote by saying that I feel the morning practices were worth it. I hated every. single. time. that alarm went off. I couldn't go to bed at 8 pm because of my courseload, including AP courses. I did go to bed really early on many Fri and Sat nights because practice on weekends started at 7 or 8 am. Dedication to my goals and a supportive coach/training group got me through.

It really depends on what kind of person you are. From a young age my parents would have described me as a hard worker, disciplined, determined. I applied this to my schoolwork and my sport. I was able to tough it out through the lack of sleep, the feeling of being "broken down" during heavy training, the juggling of various demands. My parents thought it was too much, but I insisted. I worked hard to make sure my grades stayed high so they wouldn't have a reason to tell me to stop. Not everyone can handle this. My sibling is not wired this way and quit club swim once morning practices became a requirement.

OP, if your child is the one pushing for morning practice and is someone you would describe as disciplined, goal-directed, and academically strong, I think you should let them try it. I would have been devastated if my parents had told me no before even trying. It did involve some lost sleep and time for them, but they look back on those years now as some of their favorites because they were supporting their child in chasing their dreams. And the fact that it paid for my college was a nice surprise they did not anticipate.
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2023 01:19     Subject: Re:Tell me about AM swim practice
Long time crew mom here.
My kids' earliest practices were 5:30 am, 4:30 seems like the middle of the night to me!
Anyway, preparing nourishing food to have ready on the stove for the early birds to eat early was key. I also had another kid who afternoon/evening activities so we didnt have many weekday full family sit down dinners in those days. Crew kids are in college now.
I made pans of food (baked ziti, chicken enchiladas, roasted veggies, spaghetti and meatballs, roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, chili, soup, etc.). Good satisfying food that I could make a big batch of that could be heated as needed.
My kids learned to manage time very well because of early crew practices.They knew they didnt have time to waste so they got homework done and they knew to prioritize sleep. I never had to wake them for practice. And we were not an early rising kind of family before crew. We all learned to get to sleep earlier.
Overall, those were great days.
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2023 00:12     Subject: Tell me about AM swim practice
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Not what you asked, but please reconsider. Teens that age need 8-10 hours of sleep a night. Unless your child can routinely fall asleep before 8:00 at night, they aren’t going to be able to get that and will go through some of the most critical years of their life sleep deprived.

I did this for swimming as a teenager and it was a horrible mistake. The chronic sleep deprivation affected my mental health and academic performance in ways that still hurt me now as an adult, even though at the time I appeared to be doing great.


NP. Kids need sleep. But if your kid is serious about swimming, they will go to bed before 8 every night. If your kid can’t commit to doing that, then they aren’t going to do well in swimming anyway, so you may as well stay in the afternoons.


I’m the previous poster who regrets morning practices. There was no way I could have gotten to bed by 8 after getting back from evening practice and then doing homework. Most serious swimmers who do morning practice are doing doubles (2x a day workouts) and if they’re taking a typical DCUM load of difficult HS classes, there is little time for sleep.

Anonymous
Post 08/02/2023 22:43     Subject: Tell me about AM swim practice
My son has enjoyed his early practices. Yes, it’s early & it requires adjustment. But he feels more focused at school after the workout. Getting to bed at a decent time is key. What time does the pm practice end?
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2023 21:54     Subject: Tell me about AM swim practice
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:AM practices suck. My kids tried and it's a fight to get out the door. We stopped. They were lagging at the end of the day. Couldn't do their homework without a nap. It messed up their days and mine too. Mid-afternoon and I am a basket case. They just do the PM practices.


It’s genetic--either you are born with the right gene for this or not. No one in our family could do it. With that being said if you have this gene you are probably more inclined for success in life everything else being equal.


That’s crap! Waking up at 4 AM for swim practice will not make you more inclined for success. There is no gene for that smarty. You keep believing that.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2023 21:26     Subject: Tell me about AM swim practice
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Will your child go directly to school from practice? Or home for a while first? If the former, see if there’s an older teen who lives nearby and is driving to practice then school that your child can get a ride with. Make a plan to give them some gas money. If the latter, see if you can find another parent who either likes early mornings or is willing to alternate with you.

Carpools and rides were the only way I could make it work as a swimmer whose parents hated early mornings/couldn’t do all that driving due to their work schedules. It seems like fewer people do carpools nowadays and I’m not sure why.


Don't put it on another teen or parent to drive your child. And, for safety reasons its not good to have a new driver drive other teens.


Especially not to pre-dawn swim practice. Remember the Olivia Aull tragedy.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2023 21:22     Subject: Tell me about AM swim practice
Anyone who tells you it’s not bad is fooling themselves.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2023 21:16     Subject: Tell me about AM swim practice
Anonymous wrote:AM swim practices are too early for me. I give the kids my Uber app and sleep in.


This for the win. I wished I had done it! Many years of waking up at 4am. It sucked. We made our swimmer wake us up- if they were not all in then we were not driving them. They missed less than a handful of am practices in all of those years.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2023 19:16     Subject: Tell me about AM swim practice
Anonymous wrote:Not what you asked, but please reconsider. Teens that age need 8-10 hours of sleep a night. Unless your child can routinely fall asleep before 8:00 at night, they aren’t going to be able to get that and will go through some of the most critical years of their life sleep deprived.

I did this for swimming as a teenager and it was a horrible mistake. The chronic sleep deprivation affected my mental health and academic performance in ways that still hurt me now as an adult, even though at the time I appeared to be doing great.


NP. Kids need sleep. But if your kid is serious about swimming, they will go to bed before 8 every night. If your kid can’t commit to doing that, then they aren’t going to do well in swimming anyway, so you may as well stay in the afternoons.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2023 19:15     Subject: Tell me about AM swim practice
A lot of negative comments but not necessary. You can make it work since your child wants to swim in the AM and is motivated. We’ve been doing early mornings for 3 years and once you adjust its fine. My swimmer loves to have the evenings free for homework and free time. Our school is a late start so he has time after practice to shower and eat. Key to your routine is you live close to pool and work from home. Hopefully your swimmer can wake up quickly, eat a breakfast on the drive and be ready to swim.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2023 19:14     Subject: Tell me about AM swim practice
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Will your child go directly to school from practice? Or home for a while first? If the former, see if there’s an older teen who lives nearby and is driving to practice then school that your child can get a ride with. Make a plan to give them some gas money. If the latter, see if you can find another parent who either likes early mornings or is willing to alternate with you.

Carpools and rides were the only way I could make it work as a swimmer whose parents hated early mornings/couldn’t do all that driving due to their work schedules. It seems like fewer people do carpools nowadays and I’m not sure why.


You're not sure why fewer people do carpools nowadays? It's because of people like you, who just find it inconvenient to do any driving and constantly ask for favors and expect others to cart their kids around. I'd love carpools where both sides are able and willing to do the driving, but for reasons of convenience we team up. In most cases though it's that one family just can't get their life together and expect others to pick up the slack.


Nowhere in my post did I say that I don’t reciprocate in a carpool. I was talking about my own experience growing up where my parents did their share. It sounds like you have a real problem trusting people and getting along. Maybe if you had a bigger social circle you would find the families who do their part in a carpool.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2023 19:06     Subject: Tell me about AM swim practice
Anonymous wrote:Will your child go directly to school from practice? Or home for a while first? If the former, see if there’s an older teen who lives nearby and is driving to practice then school that your child can get a ride with. Make a plan to give them some gas money. If the latter, see if you can find another parent who either likes early mornings or is willing to alternate with you.

Carpools and rides were the only way I could make it work as a swimmer whose parents hated early mornings/couldn’t do all that driving due to their work schedules. It seems like fewer people do carpools nowadays and I’m not sure why.


You're not sure why fewer people do carpools nowadays? It's because of people like you, who just find it inconvenient to do any driving and constantly ask for favors and expect others to cart their kids around. I'd love carpools where both sides are able and willing to do the driving, but for reasons of convenience we team up. In most cases though it's that one family just can't get their life together and expect others to pick up the slack.