Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. The funny part about it is that he has a good backstroke. If he could do that all the way down the lane for tryouts, he'd have no problem. But I think he has a harder time with freestyle because he has to focus on arms, legs, and breathing all at once.

Why can’t he do backstroke for tryouts? He could swim backstroke in any freestyle event.

He could...but have you ever seen that at a meet...ever?

I grew up swimming with a girl who would do fly in freestyle events. She even won sometimes. Clueless officials would hassle her though.

The rule allow for different strokes in some of the competitions. Mine did the worn stroke once and I was surprised he wasn't DQ'ed and actually did better too. Coach said it depended on the stroke/rule.

If he wants to do a meet, he just signs up for the strokes he is legal in. The issue is he has to be legal in the stroke or he'll get DQ. Look for a swim team prep program for right now till summer starts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. The funny part about it is that he has a good backstroke. If he could do that all the way down the lane for tryouts, he'd have no problem. But I think he has a harder time with freestyle because he has to focus on arms, legs, and breathing all at once.

Why can’t he do backstroke for tryouts? He could swim backstroke in any freestyle event.

He could...but have you ever seen that at a meet...ever?

I grew up swimming with a girl who would do fly in freestyle events. She even won sometimes. Clueless officials would hassle her though.

If he can't make it down the 25 freestyle, he would not make our team. While officially our rule is make it the length of the pool- I've seen the coaches reject kids who make it, but its messy and wears them out. They move them to the junior team. If they rapidly improve on junior team, they are sometimes allowed to move up- but usually there is only a week left in the season.

This year, if we open pools in Phase 3, I would expect teams to be even more strict about who they allow on. They have to maintain 10 foot distance, and they can't have coaches in the water. That limits them to kids who can continue to swim back and forth the length of the pool for practice- not just barely make it across the pool on a 25 and then need to get out and rest for a while.

OP where are you located? Happy to make some suggestions for lessons that you could get now. If he wants to do it, its worth getting into lessons now- I agree, most junior teams don't have much for 8 year olds- I have seen tall 7 year olds feel out of place.

On our team they’d probably give him the choice between swim team or pre-team. And they move kids up mid-season fairly often. It’s a pretty welcoming program. If he really wants it, maybe sign him up for some private lessons over the next couple months to solidify his 25 free.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. The funny part about it is that he has a good backstroke. If he could do that all the way down the lane for tryouts, he'd have no problem. But I think he has a harder time with freestyle because he has to focus on arms, legs, and breathing all at once.

Why can’t he do backstroke for tryouts? He could swim backstroke in any freestyle event.

He could...but have you ever seen that at a meet...ever?

I have seen kids swim other strokes in freestyle events to get an idea of their time in the other stroke, but we aren't talking about a meet. We are talking about tryouts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. The funny part about it is that he has a good backstroke. If he could do that all the way down the lane for tryouts, he'd have no problem. But I think he has a harder time with freestyle because he has to focus on arms, legs, and breathing all at once.

Why can’t he do backstroke for tryouts? He could swim backstroke in any freestyle event.

He could...but have you ever seen that at a meet...ever?

On our Nvsl team, they have to do 25 free without stopping. If he’s almost 9 and can handle 2 of the 3 parts of freestyle, could he do a 25 free without stopping for a breath? I’d do lessons now because otherwise he will be one of the biggest mini swim team kids or on the full team and one of the weakest swimmers. I don’t know any kids on our full team who can’t do a 25m free. BUT you have the time now for him to easily get there.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. The funny part about it is that he has a good backstroke. If he could do that all the way down the lane for tryouts, he'd have no problem. But I think he has a harder time with freestyle because he has to focus on arms, legs, and breathing all at once.

Why can’t he do backstroke for tryouts? He could swim backstroke in any freestyle event.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you in MD or VA?

VA, on a fairly competitive team. It's a neighborhood league. I don't know what level. How do I find that out?

Just name the pool. It’s the easiest way to get real info. If it is a fairly competitive team there will be a whole bunch of kids in his position. You are not outing yourself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you in MD or VA?

VA, on a fairly competitive team. It's a neighborhood league. I don't know what level. How do I find that out?

If you are in the NVSL look at the division standings.

https://www.mynvsl.com/standings

Anonymous wrote:OP are you in MD or VA?

VA, on a fairly competitive team. It's a neighborhood league. I don't know what level. How do I find that out?

OP are you in MD or VA?

It depends on the team. Some take everyone, some don’t. However most kids that age will be a bit better so he may be with younger kids. But worth doing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He would be in on our teAm if he can do it. We are lower division NVSL.

What division?

We’ve gone back and forth 14-16 in recent years.

Anonymous wrote:He would be in on our teAm if he can do it. We are lower division NVSL.

My division 3 pool takes everyone. They may never make an a meet, but they can swim b meets