Anonymous wrote:I was a very fast swimmer as a little kid. Set a state record for 9 year old breaststroke.

I attribute it to 1) height. I grew really early and was consistently the tallest girl in my grade through middle school. 2) learned to swim early (age 3) because my mother loved swimming and took me swimming all the time as a toddler. 3) I loved swimming, and wanted to do it all the time. 4) starts and turns. A coach taught me a breaststroke pull out around age 6, and I just loved the feel of it. I would practice it for fun a lot. The feel of the water rushing past you with a good pullout is still a feeling I really enjoy.

For what it’s worth I did not continue to be an elite swimmer as I got older, especially as my peers caught up on height. I swam in college, but I was a good but not great division 3 swimmer in college.

Love this. I think the breaststroke pullout is so elegant!

As an aside for OP, some 8 year olds are just stronger and more aggressive than others. I have seen plenty of little kids who just thrash the water with a high tempo and go fast, while others with better technique are slower.

I think this is the reason why USA swimming got rid of 8u motivational times and age group nationals. Although there are so many age group wonders who did became olympians, for the most part, focusing on times for youngsters did more harm than good. 8u is by far the cutest, goofiest, and sweetest phase of swimming, so just let them have fun.