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Anonymous wrote:I’m hazarding a guess but RMSC has posted their tryout dates, which are in July. If Club B is RMSC, be realistic about your kid’s times. RMSC is tough to get into because of how many kids they have. Age matters here too, the younger you are the easier it is to get in.

Starting at what age do times really matter?

Probably as early as 10. Certainly by 11/12.

Sadly, it matters at 8 too for the sites that are over enrolled (KSAC for one). If 40 8 year old girls show up, they will take the strongest 3-6 of the bunch if that's how many spots they have. They'll have them swim enough at the try out that they can easily see who's the fastest and who can do legal breaststroke and butterfly. So while your times from summer swimming don't matter at that age, your relative speed vis-a-vis others who try out will.

Are times the only deciding factor at any given age? I can see how they might be the primary factor, but if someone is showing significant time improvement over the past 12 months, that might indicate a higher potential versus someone whose times have not improved all that much.

Depends on the age a bit. But if your kid is under 12, they all drop time a lot and occasionally hit a plateau. So, at least at the biggest clubs this sort of analysis is unlikely to bump a slower kid above a faster one.

Do clubs ever factor in how frequently a child is practicing? One of my kids likes swimming well enough, but currently likes other sports more. So swimming is more of a 2 day/week activity max right now. He's getting to an age where kids who are more committed will be swimming 3-4 days/week. If he decides in a couple years that he is burned out on other sports and wants to swim more, will the bigger/"better" clubs just not be an option because he will be too far behind the kids who committed earlier? He is pretty athletic, has a nice natural freestyle, and a good body type for swim. I think he could be good at middle to longer distance free IF he wanted to make that commitment. Not sure how much coaches factor in potential for kids who aren't training as much as some others...

For RMSC crowded sites, no, you’re not going to earn a spot based on your potential. Could be a tiebreaker if they r picking between 2 boys the same age and close in speed

Once you are in with RMSC you are in, you just wouldn't move up but its very hard to get in except if your kid has very very high times or its pure luck with more spots than kids.

My kid moved to RMSC in 9th grade from a smaller club. They had several sectional cuts. They didn’t try out, just emailed with the club about sites with availability.

Did you email their site administrator? I can’t find their coaches’ email addresses on their website.

RMSC clearly doesn't want you going through group coaches, their emails are not available. The directions for club transfer say to go through PVS process, however, the link is currently dead. In that case, I would email site administrator for guidance.

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Anonymous wrote:I’m hazarding a guess but RMSC has posted their tryout dates, which are in July. If Club B is RMSC, be realistic about your kid’s times. RMSC is tough to get into because of how many kids they have. Age matters here too, the younger you are the easier it is to get in.

Starting at what age do times really matter?

Probably as early as 10. Certainly by 11/12.

Sadly, it matters at 8 too for the sites that are over enrolled (KSAC for one). If 40 8 year old girls show up, they will take the strongest 3-6 of the bunch if that's how many spots they have. They'll have them swim enough at the try out that they can easily see who's the fastest and who can do legal breaststroke and butterfly. So while your times from summer swimming don't matter at that age, your relative speed vis-a-vis others who try out will.

Are times the only deciding factor at any given age? I can see how they might be the primary factor, but if someone is showing significant time improvement over the past 12 months, that might indicate a higher potential versus someone whose times have not improved all that much.

Depends on the age a bit. But if your kid is under 12, they all drop time a lot and occasionally hit a plateau. So, at least at the biggest clubs this sort of analysis is unlikely to bump a slower kid above a faster one.

Do clubs ever factor in how frequently a child is practicing? One of my kids likes swimming well enough, but currently likes other sports more. So swimming is more of a 2 day/week activity max right now. He's getting to an age where kids who are more committed will be swimming 3-4 days/week. If he decides in a couple years that he is burned out on other sports and wants to swim more, will the bigger/"better" clubs just not be an option because he will be too far behind the kids who committed earlier? He is pretty athletic, has a nice natural freestyle, and a good body type for swim. I think he could be good at middle to longer distance free IF he wanted to make that commitment. Not sure how much coaches factor in potential for kids who aren't training as much as some others...

For RMSC crowded sites, no, you’re not going to earn a spot based on your potential. Could be a tiebreaker if they r picking between 2 boys the same age and close in speed

Once you are in with RMSC you are in, you just wouldn't move up but its very hard to get in except if your kid has very very high times or its pure luck with more spots than kids.

My kid moved to RMSC in 9th grade from a smaller club. They had several sectional cuts. They didn’t try out, just emailed with the club about sites with availability.

Did you email their site administrator? I can’t find their coaches’ email addresses on their website.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hazarding a guess but RMSC has posted their tryout dates, which are in July. If Club B is RMSC, be realistic about your kid’s times. RMSC is tough to get into because of how many kids they have. Age matters here too, the younger you are the easier it is to get in.

Starting at what age do times really matter?

Probably as early as 10. Certainly by 11/12.

Sadly, it matters at 8 too for the sites that are over enrolled (KSAC for one). If 40 8 year old girls show up, they will take the strongest 3-6 of the bunch if that's how many spots they have. They'll have them swim enough at the try out that they can easily see who's the fastest and who can do legal breaststroke and butterfly. So while your times from summer swimming don't matter at that age, your relative speed vis-a-vis others who try out will.

Are times the only deciding factor at any given age? I can see how they might be the primary factor, but if someone is showing significant time improvement over the past 12 months, that might indicate a higher potential versus someone whose times have not improved all that much.

Depends on the age a bit. But if your kid is under 12, they all drop time a lot and occasionally hit a plateau. So, at least at the biggest clubs this sort of analysis is unlikely to bump a slower kid above a faster one.

Do clubs ever factor in how frequently a child is practicing? One of my kids likes swimming well enough, but currently likes other sports more. So swimming is more of a 2 day/week activity max right now. He's getting to an age where kids who are more committed will be swimming 3-4 days/week. If he decides in a couple years that he is burned out on other sports and wants to swim more, will the bigger/"better" clubs just not be an option because he will be too far behind the kids who committed earlier? He is pretty athletic, has a nice natural freestyle, and a good body type for swim. I think he could be good at middle to longer distance free IF he wanted to make that commitment. Not sure how much coaches factor in potential for kids who aren't training as much as some others...

For RMSC crowded sites, no, you’re not going to earn a spot based on your potential. Could be a tiebreaker if they r picking between 2 boys the same age and close in speed

Once you are in with RMSC you are in, you just wouldn't move up but its very hard to get in except if your kid has very very high times or its pure luck with more spots than kids.

My kid moved to RMSC in 9th grade from a smaller club. They had several sectional cuts. They didn’t try out, just emailed with the club about sites with availability.

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Anonymous wrote:I’m hazarding a guess but RMSC has posted their tryout dates, which are in July. If Club B is RMSC, be realistic about your kid’s times. RMSC is tough to get into because of how many kids they have. Age matters here too, the younger you are the easier it is to get in.

Starting at what age do times really matter?

Probably as early as 10. Certainly by 11/12.

Sadly, it matters at 8 too for the sites that are over enrolled (KSAC for one). If 40 8 year old girls show up, they will take the strongest 3-6 of the bunch if that's how many spots they have. They'll have them swim enough at the try out that they can easily see who's the fastest and who can do legal breaststroke and butterfly. So while your times from summer swimming don't matter at that age, your relative speed vis-a-vis others who try out will.

Are times the only deciding factor at any given age? I can see how they might be the primary factor, but if someone is showing significant time improvement over the past 12 months, that might indicate a higher potential versus someone whose times have not improved all that much.

Depends on the age a bit. But if your kid is under 12, they all drop time a lot and occasionally hit a plateau. So, at least at the biggest clubs this sort of analysis is unlikely to bump a slower kid above a faster one.

Do clubs ever factor in how frequently a child is practicing? One of my kids likes swimming well enough, but currently likes other sports more. So swimming is more of a 2 day/week activity max right now. He's getting to an age where kids who are more committed will be swimming 3-4 days/week. If he decides in a couple years that he is burned out on other sports and wants to swim more, will the bigger/"better" clubs just not be an option because he will be too far behind the kids who committed earlier? He is pretty athletic, has a nice natural freestyle, and a good body type for swim. I think he could be good at middle to longer distance free IF he wanted to make that commitment. Not sure how much coaches factor in potential for kids who aren't training as much as some others...

For RMSC crowded sites, no, you’re not going to earn a spot based on your potential. Could be a tiebreaker if they r picking between 2 boys the same age and close in speed

Once you are in with RMSC you are in, you just wouldn't move up but its very hard to get in except if your kid has very very high times or its pure luck with more spots than kids.

My kid moved to RMSC in 9th grade from a smaller club. They had several sectional cuts. They didn’t try out, just emailed with the club about sites with availability.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hazarding a guess but RMSC has posted their tryout dates, which are in July. If Club B is RMSC, be realistic about your kid’s times. RMSC is tough to get into because of how many kids they have. Age matters here too, the younger you are the easier it is to get in.

Starting at what age do times really matter?

Probably as early as 10. Certainly by 11/12.

Sadly, it matters at 8 too for the sites that are over enrolled (KSAC for one). If 40 8 year old girls show up, they will take the strongest 3-6 of the bunch if that's how many spots they have. They'll have them swim enough at the try out that they can easily see who's the fastest and who can do legal breaststroke and butterfly. So while your times from summer swimming don't matter at that age, your relative speed vis-a-vis others who try out will.

Are times the only deciding factor at any given age? I can see how they might be the primary factor, but if someone is showing significant time improvement over the past 12 months, that might indicate a higher potential versus someone whose times have not improved all that much.

Depends on the age a bit. But if your kid is under 12, they all drop time a lot and occasionally hit a plateau. So, at least at the biggest clubs this sort of analysis is unlikely to bump a slower kid above a faster one.

Do clubs ever factor in how frequently a child is practicing? One of my kids likes swimming well enough, but currently likes other sports more. So swimming is more of a 2 day/week activity max right now. He's getting to an age where kids who are more committed will be swimming 3-4 days/week. If he decides in a couple years that he is burned out on other sports and wants to swim more, will the bigger/"better" clubs just not be an option because he will be too far behind the kids who committed earlier? He is pretty athletic, has a nice natural freestyle, and a good body type for swim. I think he could be good at middle to longer distance free IF he wanted to make that commitment. Not sure how much coaches factor in potential for kids who aren't training as much as some others...

For RMSC crowded sites, no, you’re not going to earn a spot based on your potential. Could be a tiebreaker if they r picking between 2 boys the same age and close in speed

Once you are in with RMSC you are in, you just wouldn't move up but its very hard to get in except if your kid has very very high times or its pure luck with more spots than kids.

My kid moved to RMSC in 9th grade from a smaller club. They had several sectional cuts. They didn’t try out, just emailed with the club about sites with availability.

Did you email their site administrator? I can’t find their coaches’ email addresses on their website.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hazarding a guess but RMSC has posted their tryout dates, which are in July. If Club B is RMSC, be realistic about your kid’s times. RMSC is tough to get into because of how many kids they have. Age matters here too, the younger you are the easier it is to get in.

Starting at what age do times really matter?

Probably as early as 10. Certainly by 11/12.

Sadly, it matters at 8 too for the sites that are over enrolled (KSAC for one). If 40 8 year old girls show up, they will take the strongest 3-6 of the bunch if that's how many spots they have. They'll have them swim enough at the try out that they can easily see who's the fastest and who can do legal breaststroke and butterfly. So while your times from summer swimming don't matter at that age, your relative speed vis-a-vis others who try out will.

Are times the only deciding factor at any given age? I can see how they might be the primary factor, but if someone is showing significant time improvement over the past 12 months, that might indicate a higher potential versus someone whose times have not improved all that much.

Depends on the age a bit. But if your kid is under 12, they all drop time a lot and occasionally hit a plateau. So, at least at the biggest clubs this sort of analysis is unlikely to bump a slower kid above a faster one.

Do clubs ever factor in how frequently a child is practicing? One of my kids likes swimming well enough, but currently likes other sports more. So swimming is more of a 2 day/week activity max right now. He's getting to an age where kids who are more committed will be swimming 3-4 days/week. If he decides in a couple years that he is burned out on other sports and wants to swim more, will the bigger/"better" clubs just not be an option because he will be too far behind the kids who committed earlier? He is pretty athletic, has a nice natural freestyle, and a good body type for swim. I think he could be good at middle to longer distance free IF he wanted to make that commitment. Not sure how much coaches factor in potential for kids who aren't training as much as some others...

For RMSC crowded sites, no, you’re not going to earn a spot based on your potential. Could be a tiebreaker if they r picking between 2 boys the same age and close in speed

Once you are in with RMSC you are in, you just wouldn't move up but its very hard to get in except if your kid has very very high times or its pure luck with more spots than kids.

My kid moved to RMSC in 9th grade from a smaller club. They had several sectional cuts. They didn’t try out, just emailed with the club about sites with availability.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hazarding a guess but RMSC has posted their tryout dates, which are in July. If Club B is RMSC, be realistic about your kid’s times. RMSC is tough to get into because of how many kids they have. Age matters here too, the younger you are the easier it is to get in.

Starting at what age do times really matter?

Probably as early as 10. Certainly by 11/12.

Sadly, it matters at 8 too for the sites that are over enrolled (KSAC for one). If 40 8 year old girls show up, they will take the strongest 3-6 of the bunch if that's how many spots they have. They'll have them swim enough at the try out that they can easily see who's the fastest and who can do legal breaststroke and butterfly. So while your times from summer swimming don't matter at that age, your relative speed vis-a-vis others who try out will.

Are times the only deciding factor at any given age? I can see how they might be the primary factor, but if someone is showing significant time improvement over the past 12 months, that might indicate a higher potential versus someone whose times have not improved all that much.

Depends on the age a bit. But if your kid is under 12, they all drop time a lot and occasionally hit a plateau. So, at least at the biggest clubs this sort of analysis is unlikely to bump a slower kid above a faster one.

Do clubs ever factor in how frequently a child is practicing? One of my kids likes swimming well enough, but currently likes other sports more. So swimming is more of a 2 day/week activity max right now. He's getting to an age where kids who are more committed will be swimming 3-4 days/week. If he decides in a couple years that he is burned out on other sports and wants to swim more, will the bigger/"better" clubs just not be an option because he will be too far behind the kids who committed earlier? He is pretty athletic, has a nice natural freestyle, and a good body type for swim. I think he could be good at middle to longer distance free IF he wanted to make that commitment. Not sure how much coaches factor in potential for kids who aren't training as much as some others...

For RMSC crowded sites, no, you’re not going to earn a spot based on your potential. Could be a tiebreaker if they r picking between 2 boys the same age and close in speed

Once you are in with RMSC you are in, you just wouldn't move up but its very hard to get in except if your kid has very very high times or its pure luck with more spots than kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hazarding a guess but RMSC has posted their tryout dates, which are in July. If Club B is RMSC, be realistic about your kid’s times. RMSC is tough to get into because of how many kids they have. Age matters here too, the younger you are the easier it is to get in.

Starting at what age do times really matter?

Probably as early as 10. Certainly by 11/12.

Sadly, it matters at 8 too for the sites that are over enrolled (KSAC for one). If 40 8 year old girls show up, they will take the strongest 3-6 of the bunch if that's how many spots they have. They'll have them swim enough at the try out that they can easily see who's the fastest and who can do legal breaststroke and butterfly. So while your times from summer swimming don't matter at that age, your relative speed vis-a-vis others who try out will.

Are times the only deciding factor at any given age? I can see how they might be the primary factor, but if someone is showing significant time improvement over the past 12 months, that might indicate a higher potential versus someone whose times have not improved all that much.

Depends on the age a bit. But if your kid is under 12, they all drop time a lot and occasionally hit a plateau. So, at least at the biggest clubs this sort of analysis is unlikely to bump a slower kid above a faster one.

Do clubs ever factor in how frequently a child is practicing? One of my kids likes swimming well enough, but currently likes other sports more. So swimming is more of a 2 day/week activity max right now. He's getting to an age where kids who are more committed will be swimming 3-4 days/week. If he decides in a couple years that he is burned out on other sports and wants to swim more, will the bigger/"better" clubs just not be an option because he will be too far behind the kids who committed earlier? He is pretty athletic, has a nice natural freestyle, and a good body type for swim. I think he could be good at middle to longer distance free IF he wanted to make that commitment. Not sure how much coaches factor in potential for kids who aren't training as much as some others...

For RMSC crowded sites, no, you’re not going to earn a spot based on your potential. Could be a tiebreaker if they r picking between 2 boys the same age and close in speed

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hazarding a guess but RMSC has posted their tryout dates, which are in July. If Club B is RMSC, be realistic about your kid’s times. RMSC is tough to get into because of how many kids they have. Age matters here too, the younger you are the easier it is to get in.

Starting at what age do times really matter?

Probably as early as 10. Certainly by 11/12.

Sadly, it matters at 8 too for the sites that are over enrolled (KSAC for one). If 40 8 year old girls show up, they will take the strongest 3-6 of the bunch if that's how many spots they have. They'll have them swim enough at the try out that they can easily see who's the fastest and who can do legal breaststroke and butterfly. So while your times from summer swimming don't matter at that age, your relative speed vis-a-vis others who try out will.

Are times the only deciding factor at any given age? I can see how they might be the primary factor, but if someone is showing significant time improvement over the past 12 months, that might indicate a higher potential versus someone whose times have not improved all that much.

Depends on the age a bit. But if your kid is under 12, they all drop time a lot and occasionally hit a plateau. So, at least at the biggest clubs this sort of analysis is unlikely to bump a slower kid above a faster one.

Do clubs ever factor in how frequently a child is practicing? One of my kids likes swimming well enough, but currently likes other sports more. So swimming is more of a 2 day/week activity max right now. He's getting to an age where kids who are more committed will be swimming 3-4 days/week. If he decides in a couple years that he is burned out on other sports and wants to swim more, will the bigger/"better" clubs just not be an option because he will be too far behind the kids who committed earlier? He is pretty athletic, has a nice natural freestyle, and a good body type for swim. I think he could be good at middle to longer distance free IF he wanted to make that commitment. Not sure how much coaches factor in potential for kids who aren't training as much as some others...

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Not sure where all your kids swim, but my non championship kids have never had a problem getting into a club. Is this a MD thing? And no, they don’t make JO cuts….

It’s club dependent, there are so many clubs in the DMV that any swimmer should be able to find a place to swim. However, for the bigger and more competitive clubs (RMSC, NCAP, Machine) tryouts are competitive. The other piece is that once you are in at one of these clubs, you do not lose your spot even if you do not end up developing into a champs level swimmer. As a result there are a decent number of slots in the 9 and over groups that are already taken by the kids that started with the club at 7 or 8, making it even more competitive for the kid trying to join at age 11-12.

A number of the clubs have at least two groups for kids 11 and up. One group is the serious competitive one (often requiring 4 or 5 days a week practice), and the other is not so competitive (3 days a week or so) even though they usually still go to meets.

My kid swims with NCAP and at our site 11-12 is where you see a lot of kids stop swimming. We don’t have a less competitive option for swimmers that age, so the choice is to either make the commitment to the more competitive group or leave the club. There is a less competitive HS option, but that doesn’t help the kids in 7th-8th grade who like to swim but it’s not their primary sport, or they don’t want to practice 5-6 days a week with some early mornings.