Anonymous wrote:Lol, OP. She’s 8 and you’re already thinking of high school and college and beyond.

The poor kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many bitter people jealous of a small child with a dream.

OP, tell your kid that Olympic swimmers work very hard for many years, so if she wants to try for that, she needs to get to work.

No one is “jealous.” We’re just calling a spade a spade.

OP’s own words:

“I am THRILLED about her swimming -- she loves it, she's good at it, she's fast. I'm not going to pretend I don't love it.”

You can’t talk like that about an 8 year and then say “but, hey no big deal if she quits I’m cool.”

OP is really, really into an 8 year old and swimming.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. To be clear, I don't think my kid is going to the Olympics. I'm asking how to respond in a way that is encouraging, since she really enjoys this activity and I think it would be great for her personally to keep pursuing it, without building up a dream that is 99.9999999999% a pipe dream.

Agree we need to look into year round swim options.

Year round is your first step and is a good way to encourage her passion without the Olympics being the end game. Year round swim is very different than summer swim, but 8 is a good age to start and see if she really has a passion for swim. My kid is 11 and as it turns out it is her passion, she started year round at 9 and loves it (the next month is her least favorite time of year because there is no swim). She’s grown out of Olympic dreams, but she’s good and wants to swim in college and now has an understanding that work ethic plays a big part. She loves following her favorite Olympic level swimmers (she was up early to watch finals of the recent World Championships live) and wants her birthday and Xmas present to be a trip to the Olympic trials. I don’t think you need to just “yes, dear” her (I know she’s only 8 but that just seems unnecessarily condescending and unsupportive), let her explore whether this is a passion for her and support her in that effort.

Thank you for this, it's really helpful. I had previously thought 8 was too soon for club swim, and to be honest I'm not sure if I am ready for it because it's a commitment for us, too. But she told me recently that no matter how she's feeling, getting in the pool makes her happy, so the idea of stopping for the next 9 months sounds mean, tbh. I'm hoping to find a relatively relaxed club atmosphere in budget that will let us ease in. Proximity is going to be big too.

But thanks for sharing your experience. I agree I don't 'want to just say "that's nice, dear" -- that' the kind of thing that would have hurt my feelings when I was her age because I agree, it's patronizing. But I want to be careful what I say, too, because the combination of very competitive, obsessed with swimming, and a goal like this feels mildly stressful to me. I don't want her to fall apart when it doesn't happen.

Also want to note I'm a total swimming newbie. Grew up in an area where swimming was not big, I learned to swim but like in a "I won't drown and could use it for exercise if I don't have to share a lane because I'm so slow" way. The level of intensity around swimming here is overwhelming at times and I guess I'm a little unsure about navigating it, but I wound up with a swimming obsessed kid. Just trying to figure it out!

Since it’s August, most of the competitive local clubs (RMSC, NCAP, Machine, etc.) have already completed their tryouts for the 2023-2024 season. However, if she/you are interested in letting her try year round swim most of the lower key teams will probably still take her. The season starts in September so if you are interested now is the time to reach out. The biggest advantage to swimming year round with a club is the ability to compete at meets once a month or so. Year round swim can be drudgery without the carrot of meets.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. To be clear, I don't think my kid is going to the Olympics. I'm asking how to respond in a way that is encouraging, since she really enjoys this activity and I think it would be great for her personally to keep pursuing it, without building up a dream that is 99.9999999999% a pipe dream.

Agree we need to look into year round swim options.

Year round is your first step and is a good way to encourage her passion without the Olympics being the end game. Year round swim is very different than summer swim, but 8 is a good age to start and see if she really has a passion for swim. My kid is 11 and as it turns out it is her passion, she started year round at 9 and loves it (the next month is her least favorite time of year because there is no swim). She’s grown out of Olympic dreams, but she’s good and wants to swim in college and now has an understanding that work ethic plays a big part. She loves following her favorite Olympic level swimmers (she was up early to watch finals of the recent World Championships live) and wants her birthday and Xmas present to be a trip to the Olympic trials. I don’t think you need to just “yes, dear” her (I know she’s only 8 but that just seems unnecessarily condescending and unsupportive), let her explore whether this is a passion for her and support her in that effort.

Thank you for this, it's really helpful. I had previously thought 8 was too soon for club swim, and to be honest I'm not sure if I am ready for it because it's a commitment for us, too. But she told me recently that no matter how she's feeling, getting in the pool makes her happy, so the idea of stopping for the next 9 months sounds mean, tbh. I'm hoping to find a relatively relaxed club atmosphere in budget that will let us ease in. Proximity is going to be big too.

But thanks for sharing your experience. I agree I don't 'want to just say "that's nice, dear" -- that' the kind of thing that would have hurt my feelings when I was her age because I agree, it's patronizing. But I want to be careful what I say, too, because the combination of very competitive, obsessed with swimming, and a goal like this feels mildly stressful to me. I don't want her to fall apart when it doesn't happen.

Also want to note I'm a total swimming newbie. Grew up in an area where swimming was not big, I learned to swim but like in a "I won't drown and could use it for exercise if I don't have to share a lane because I'm so slow" way. The level of intensity around swimming here is overwhelming at times and I guess I'm a little unsure about navigating it, but I wound up with a swimming obsessed kid. Just trying to figure it out!

Anonymous wrote:OP here. To be clear, I don't think my kid is going to the Olympics. I'm asking how to respond in a way that is encouraging, since she really enjoys this activity and I think it would be great for her personally to keep pursuing it, without building up a dream that is 99.9999999999% a pipe dream.

Agree we need to look into year round swim options.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does she swim year round yet? I get the sense she isn’t. If not, you really don’t know if she’s good. I mean, she may be amazing for summer swim but you don’t know if she’s a good swimmer overall. Summer swim has no dive blocks, no flip turns (for an 8 year old), and all events are very short. This is why some kids (including older ones) make it to all stars with NVSL and they don’t even swim club. They have great swimmer bodies and they know the strokes. A boy on my son’s varsity team swims summer swim. He went to all stars this year as a 13-14 year old (really 15 years old) in 2 strokes. Clearly a strong summer swimmer. On the varsity swim team, however, his failure to swim club is evident. He’s a very mediocre swimmer, since all but the 50 free are longer events.

You sound excited at the prospect and that’s where I’d suggest you put the brakes on a bit. She’s competitive and fast- which is great. She loves swimming - even better. Club swimming is completely different than summer swim. Try it first and see if she still likes it.

Oh, I'm aware summer swim is it's own thing. This was our first year and it was an education. Agree club swim is next step, just looking for ways to talk to her about it that encourage without setting her up for a big disappointment if, for instance, she does club swim and hates it or discovers she has to work harder than she wants to be successful. Just looking to set the right tone. I'm excited for my kid to have a thing she loves; I actually feel a lot of trepidation about the idea of her competing at a high level in such an intense sport.

Anonymous wrote:Does she swim year round yet? I get the sense she isn’t. If not, you really don’t know if she’s good. I mean, she may be amazing for summer swim but you don’t know if she’s a good swimmer overall. Summer swim has no dive blocks, no flip turns (for an 8 year old), and all events are very short. This is why some kids (including older ones) make it to all stars with NVSL and they don’t even swim club. They have great swimmer bodies and they know the strokes. A boy on my son’s varsity team swims summer swim. He went to all stars this year as a 13-14 year old (really 15 years old) in 2 strokes. Clearly a strong summer swimmer. On the varsity swim team, however, his failure to swim club is evident. He’s a very mediocre swimmer, since all but the 50 free are longer events.

You sound excited at the prospect and that’s where I’d suggest you put the brakes on a bit. She’s competitive and fast- which is great. She loves swimming - even better. Club swimming is completely different than summer swim. Try it first and see if she still likes it.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. To be clear, I don't think my kid is going to the Olympics. I'm asking how to respond in a way that is encouraging, since she really enjoys this activity and I think it would be great for her personally to keep pursuing it, without building up a dream that is 99.9999999999% a pipe dream.

Agree we need to look into year round swim options.