Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they are a strong swimmer they can do one B meet at the end of the season just to give them a kick - but only if they can swim fast enough not to slow the meet down. Beyond that no.

Ok - what do they do if they can swim a full 25 at 4 but no one wants them to compete? I feel like it will get boring to work on strokes with no immediate purpose

For summer swim a 4 year could hypothetically compete but for club swim it seems inappropriate. But swim is not the sport for a kid who gets bored swimming lap after lap.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the team has an empty lane and the 4 year old can swim it, sure. Why not?

Not unless the 4yo can finish at roughly the same times as everyone else.

We have older swimmers that don’t finish roughly the same time as everyone else. To fill lanes we swim up swimmers that are much slower. What’s the difference?

4-hour B meets if it gets out of hand.

When my kids were in swim, we had a 5 year old on the team, and boy was she good. She was called Tiny But Mighty

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the team has an empty lane and the 4 year old can swim it, sure. Why not?

Not unless the 4yo can finish at roughly the same times as everyone else.

We have older swimmers that don’t finish roughly the same time as everyone else. To fill lanes we swim up swimmers that are much slower. What’s the difference?

Anonymous wrote:If the team has an empty lane and the 4 year old can swim it, sure. Why not?

Not unless the 4yo can finish at roughly the same times as everyone else.

Anonymous wrote:I see no 4s posting times in MCSL this summer. Doesn’t mean some may have swam B I can’t find. Interestingly though one of the few 5s that posted a 25FR time did it at a division A meet as well….

I believe the child you referred to is almost 6 and it was on the July 4th weekend where a lot of kids were away.

I have seen 5 year olds do OK in a B meet (summer). I would definitely not sign up a 4 or 5 year old for any kind of competitive winter swim situation.

They do a "mini meet" at a our pool for the pre team where they basically simulate a meet for the little ones. It's run by the swim team. A swim team member accompanies each child as they swim across the pool. They time them.

Anonymous wrote:Can a 4.5 year old compete?

You are behind, the 3.5 year olds have already made the team no more space, try next year.

I see no 4s posting times in MCSL this summer. Doesn’t mean some may have swam B I can’t find. Interestingly though one of the few 5s that posted a 25FR time did it at a division A meet as well….

I once coached a 3 yo who competed in summer swim, but that’s very rare. 5 yo is the typical starting age.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they are a strong swimmer they can do one B meet at the end of the season just to give them a kick - but only if they can swim fast enough not to slow the meet down. Beyond that no.

Ok - what do they do if they can swim a full 25 at 4 but no one wants them to compete? I feel like it will get boring to work on strokes with no immediate purpose

If they're bored, get them rings to dive for or play a game. Maybe they want to do cannonballs in the deep end?

If the team has an empty lane and the 4 year old can swim it, sure. Why not?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they are a strong swimmer they can do one B meet at the end of the season just to give them a kick - but only if they can swim fast enough not to slow the meet down. Beyond that no.

Ok - what do they do if they can swim a full 25 at 4 but no one wants them to compete? I feel like it will get boring to work on strokes with no immediate purpose

My kids, both late July birthdays, swam their first meets at almost 5. It wasn't something we set out to do, but my oldest has pretty severe asthma that was triggered by cold when he was little, so we spent a lot of time at the indoor pool as a way to burn energy, and he just put it together. No lessons, just playing. Plus he was attending summer swim meets because we had a relative who was dying, and we'd go to cheer on her kid, so he knew what were and was eager to try. Then little brother knew from watching him.

But when summer swim ended, we went back to just playing in the pool. They didn't "work on strokes", they played sharks and minnows, or dove for things on the bottom of the pool, or raced their cousins, or whatever, and when they came back at 5 turning 6 they had more stamina and more strength and were ready to add another stroke.

I think competing was fine, but if they hadn't known about swim team, not competing would have been fine. If your kid gets bored "working on strokes" go back to playing in the water. There is no reason to rush this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they are a strong swimmer they can do one B meet at the end of the season just to give them a kick - but only if they can swim fast enough not to slow the meet down. Beyond that no.

Ok - what do they do if they can swim a full 25 at 4 but no one wants them to compete? I feel like it will get boring to work on strokes with no immediate purpose

You're projecting your adult brain in a 4yo scull - that's not how it works - they don't think like that.