I’m home for Thanksgiving and for some reason my parents still have some of my old swim medals hanging on a wall in their basement. I looked at them and found two from my best two events when I was 9-10. The meet was actually 3 days before I aged up to 11. The times were AAA by today’s standards. That was my second year swimming year round and I probably practiced twice a week.

I went on to get junior national cuts in those events in HS, and swam at a D1 program that was not top 25 but somewhere in top 50 where I continued to improve. I did have to work through a rough plateau around 14-15. I started working on other strokes during that time which helped me become more versatile later.

In my opinion and experience there has to be some natural talent apparent by age 10 if D1 is to be a realistic option. But there also has to be a willingness to work very hard and push through the inevitable slumps. Plenty of fast kids quit when the going gets rough and there are more fun things to do with your time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is ridiculous. I swam in college for a top 15 D1 team and had no where NEAR A times at age 10! Plenty of kids blossom late in swimming. Stop getting so hung up on young swimmers' times and read USA swimming's report on the 10 and Under Wonder.

What years did you go to college? Today’s landscape is a lot different. We’ve all seen the 10 and Under Wonder report and it does not mean that the norm in this day and age for swimmers to be B level until HS and all of a sudden take off.

You clearly missed the point of the ten and under wonder report- it doesn’t matter that times are different now. What stays the same is the fast kids under ten don’t stay fast bc if so many extraneous variables

No, that’s not what the report said. As has been said many times in this thread, if you look at today’s elite swimmers not a single one was a B level 10 year old. There are certainly elite 10 year olds that leave the sport, or aren’t elite any more by the time they are in HS, for any number of reasons, but the elite in the sport in HS and beyond were also elite when they were young.

Depending on how "elite" you consider "elite" there are rare exceptions. My kid got his first A time at 14 as he spent his youth swimming at a low level and prioritizing other sports. He now has a US open cut and is committed to a Division I swimming program. He trains with the most elite group at his club and he is the odd ball that didn't "come up" in the elite training groups. So he's a counter point to the folks saying "it never happens", but he can also look around and see that his training group isn't full of swimmers with a track record like his.

Anonymous wrote:I’m going to guess some of this difference is the clubs being searched. I strongly suspect that at clubs like NCAP and RMSC their top 15-18 year old swimmers were not B swimmers at age 10.

It also depends on what age they started swimming competitively. There are definitely kids who didn’t start until 10 or 11 but are very athletic and quickly became fast and made it to the elite level. But, for the kids who were trucking along at the B/C level from ages 8-10, it would be exceedingly rare for them to suddenly become elite at 13.

Anonymous wrote:My swimmer had maybe 1 "A" time at 10, and hit her first futures cut at 14. Has 3 now at 15. No idea what is next, but she loves it, works hard, and hopes to continue in college.

Mom of a college swimmer- your daughter definitely can swim in college with those times. Hope she continues to enjoy swimming!

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy my kid enjoys swimming and it's good exercise and we finally have a great coach. I don't want my kid swimming in college as they have other interests and they aren't going to make it to the olympics nor would I want that life for them. We save for college so we aren't relying on scholarships.

Real question is why are you asking and what is your ultimate goal?

Not the OP, or a parent of fast kids (yet) - I mostly want them to realize how much damn fun it can be to work hard as part of a team. How much confidence it can give someone. How good it is for your body. Yes, I know swimming is mostly individual, but I also think the best programs emphasize being part of something bigger. And winning can be such a fun experience, but it’s not the only worthwhile aspect of competitive sports.

But yeah - also so glad my kids have solid coaches and are making friends. That’s what it’s about.

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy my kid enjoys swimming and it's good exercise and we finally have a great coach. I don't want my kid swimming in college as they have other interests and they aren't going to make it to the olympics nor would I want that life for them. We save for college so we aren't relying on scholarships.

Real question is why are you asking and what is your ultimate goal?

And swim scholarships are a joke so no one should be doing for the money.

I’m going to guess some of this difference is the clubs being searched. I strongly suspect that at clubs like NCAP and RMSC their top 15-18 year old swimmers were not B swimmers at age 10.

I'm happy my kid enjoys swimming and it's good exercise and we finally have a great coach. I don't want my kid swimming in college as they have other interests and they aren't going to make it to the olympics nor would I want that life for them. We save for college so we aren't relying on scholarships.

Real question is why are you asking and what is your ultimate goal?