Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money and willingness to pay $$ for year round teams and private lessons. Not genetics.

I agree with this, for most of these swimmers it's more about $$$ spent and length/amount of time practiced than genetics. Go to enough swim meets and you gain perspective on this.

To me genetics come into play when someone who doesn't swim much is able to keep up with more seasoned swimmers or when a swimmer is absolutely dominating the competition at every meet.

Agree. DH and his siblings are strong swimmers. They took tons of lessons when they were growing up. None of them have any other standout athletic abilities to say it’s genetic.

That’s not entirely fair either though. Most great swimmers don’t have other standout athletic abilities. I wouldn’t be surprised if Michael Phelps could barely throw a ball or would look incredibly awkward running 100m.

What? I don’t think you know much about swimming.

Caeleb dressel has a 43” vertical jump. The average nba player has a 28” vertical jump.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/athletics/news/us-swimmer-caeleb-dressel-vertical-leap-nba/11j6llogcmqlz1ahelzfakobgp

Tim Duncan and Kris humphries are former standout swimmers who chose bball over swimming.

I think you are conflating the fact that many kids who are not considered athletic in other sports find their way to swimming. But the top swimmers are definitely athletes.

Kyle Chalmers might take up Aussie football after the next Olympics.

You’re citing one physical attribute which actually ties directly to being a great swimmer. Having a powerful jump is important for a good start. I am sure he has done a ton of work on jumping targeting those leg muscles just for that. That doesn’t mean he is going to run a 10 (or even 12) second 100m or throw a baseball 90mph.

What exactly is your point, that only baseball players and sprinters are good athletes? I’m sure Shohei Ohtani can’t swim like Michael Phelps either, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a phenomenal athlete.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money and willingness to pay $$ for year round teams and private lessons. Not genetics.

I agree with this, for most of these swimmers it's more about $$$ spent and length/amount of time practiced than genetics. Go to enough swim meets and you gain perspective on this.

To me genetics come into play when someone who doesn't swim much is able to keep up with more seasoned swimmers or when a swimmer is absolutely dominating the competition at every meet.

Agree. DH and his siblings are strong swimmers. They took tons of lessons when they were growing up. None of them have any other standout athletic abilities to say it’s genetic.

That’s not entirely fair either though. Most great swimmers don’t have other standout athletic abilities. I wouldn’t be surprised if Michael Phelps could barely throw a ball or would look incredibly awkward running 100m.

What? I don’t think you know much about swimming.

Caeleb dressel has a 43” vertical jump. The average nba player has a 28” vertical jump.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/athletics/news/us-swimmer-caeleb-dressel-vertical-leap-nba/11j6llogcmqlz1ahelzfakobgp

Tim Duncan and Kris humphries are former standout swimmers who chose bball over swimming.

I think you are conflating the fact that many kids who are not considered athletic in other sports find their way to swimming. But the top swimmers are definitely athletes.

Kyle Chalmers might take up Aussie football after the next Olympics.

You’re citing one physical attribute which actually ties directly to being a great swimmer. Having a powerful jump is important for a good start. I am sure he has done a ton of work on jumping targeting those leg muscles just for that. That doesn’t mean he is going to run a 10 (or even 12) second 100m or throw a baseball 90mph.

Anonymous wrote:Money and willingness to pay $$ for year round teams and private lessons. Not genetics.

Not always. We are a big soccer family (not me lol but my boys) and my eldest is just a good athlete who regularly out swims most of the year round swimmers, never done a days worth of extra coaching either! He just does summer swim this is his second year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money and willingness to pay $$ for year round teams and private lessons. Not genetics.

Definitely not the case. We’ve got a number of year round swimmers on our summer team and they are not particularly good (some don’t even make A meets). I’m sure they are better than they would be without swimming year round, but they still are not good.

It’s mostly about general athleticism, height and body type, particularly at younger ages. As you get older, you have to also train hard.

We've got a boy at our pool who used to swim year round, but dropped it in favor of lacrosse in middle school. He's still challenging pool records five years later because he's just a freak athlete.

We’ve got 10 year old girl who only swims during the summer. She beats every other 9-10 girl on our team (including 2 club swimmers) in every stroke and usually places first at A meets.

We’ve got one of those at our pool. But it’s just that she grew early and is at least a head taller than everyone else.

We have a boy like this at our pool. Just a great athlete but also very tall/large so even though he only swims in the summer he's placing very high. It was most prominent in the younger ages when the lengths were shorter but the swimmer looks less incredible as the distances get longer as the kids get older.

What do you mean by amazing swimmers? They have all-star times?
We have a lot of "amazing" sibling swimmers but only one is usually truly amazing. The others ones are just great swimmers by summer swim measures and are just okay club swimmers and they are not getting all star times. I can think of 8-10 families like this where 3 kids swim and they all make A meets but only one is in the highest NCAP group or RMSC NTG.

A lot of families put kids in swimming together for the ease of driving to activities and as one PP said one kid may be really great at it and the others just tag along and then end up getting okay at it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money and willingness to pay $$ for year round teams and private lessons. Not genetics.

I agree with this, for most of these swimmers it's more about $$$ spent and length/amount of time practiced than genetics. Go to enough swim meets and you gain perspective on this.

To me genetics come into play when someone who doesn't swim much is able to keep up with more seasoned swimmers or when a swimmer is absolutely dominating the competition at every meet.

Agree. DH and his siblings are strong swimmers. They took tons of lessons when they were growing up. None of them have any other standout athletic abilities to say it’s genetic.

That’s not entirely fair either though. Most great swimmers don’t have other standout athletic abilities. I wouldn’t be surprised if Michael Phelps could barely throw a ball or would look incredibly awkward running 100m.

This.

My outstanding swimmers are mediocre at running and can't throw a ball if their lives depended on it. I've tried to train them too.

But but but my one anecdote and Michael Phelps’s lax

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money and willingness to pay $$ for year round teams and private lessons. Not genetics.

Definitely not the case. We’ve got a number of year round swimmers on our summer team and they are not particularly good (some don’t even make A meets). I’m sure they are better than they would be without swimming year round, but they still are not good.

It’s mostly about general athleticism, height and body type, particularly at younger ages. As you get older, you have to also train hard.

We've got a boy at our pool who used to swim year round, but dropped it in favor of lacrosse in middle school. He's still challenging pool records five years later because he's just a freak athlete.

We’ve got 10 year old girl who only swims during the summer. She beats every other 9-10 girl on our team (including 2 club swimmers) in every stroke and usually places first at A meets.

Well I hope so she’s the oldest

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money and willingness to pay $$ for year round teams and private lessons. Not genetics.

Definitely not the case. We’ve got a number of year round swimmers on our summer team and they are not particularly good (some don’t even make A meets). I’m sure they are better than they would be without swimming year round, but they still are not good.

It’s mostly about general athleticism, height and body type, particularly at younger ages. As you get older, you have to also train hard.

We've got a boy at our pool who used to swim year round, but dropped it in favor of lacrosse in middle school. He's still challenging pool records five years later because he's just a freak athlete.

We’ve got 10 year old girl who only swims during the summer. She beats every other 9-10 girl on our team (including 2 club swimmers) in every stroke and usually places first at A meets.

We’ve got one of those at our pool. But it’s just that she grew early and is at least a head taller than everyone else.

That’s what people mean by genetics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money and willingness to pay $$ for year round teams and private lessons. Not genetics.

Definitely not the case. We’ve got a number of year round swimmers on our summer team and they are not particularly good (some don’t even make A meets). I’m sure they are better than they would be without swimming year round, but they still are not good.

It’s mostly about general athleticism, height and body type, particularly at younger ages. As you get older, you have to also train hard.

We've got a boy at our pool who used to swim year round, but dropped it in favor of lacrosse in middle school. He's still challenging pool records five years later because he's just a freak athlete.

We’ve got 10 year old girl who only swims during the summer. She beats every other 9-10 girl on our team (including 2 club swimmers) in every stroke and usually places first at A meets.

We’ve got one of those at our pool. But it’s just that she grew early and is at least a head taller than everyone else.

For the best of the best, it’s both. Can’t make the Olympics without elite training and great genetics.

For little kids, could be one or the other. DS started swimming late, has terrible form but crushes kids on summer swim. He’s about two heads taller than them and much stronger. There’s another smaller kid whose parents are intense sport parents and he smokes kids too. Unless my son improves his form, and the other kid grows/gets strong, neither of them will be great by high school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 3 kids and only the youngest is a good swimmer. It's not that she started younger, although she did. She is more competitive and coordinated.

Swimmers are not coordinated that’s why they’re in the pool

Keep trolling

Anonymous wrote:I have 3 kids and only the youngest is a good swimmer. It's not that she started younger, although she did. She is more competitive and coordinated.

Swimmers are not coordinated that’s why they’re in the pool

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dressel is only a generous 6-3 and it says nothing about lateral movement or speed in the article. He picked the right sport even if he is pretty coordinated.
Who wouldn't love to see LeBron swim a 50 free after a year of training?

Dressel would never come close to LeBron after a year of basketball training. He wouldn’t even be as good as the best middle schooler, probably. LeBron would never come close to Dressel after a year of swim training. He definitely wouldn’t be as good as the best middle schooler.

So, what’s your point? Sounds like you have a narrow view of what makes a person athletic. Whether it’s table tennis, handball, kayaking, or rock climbing, athletes are athletes. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Jump in a lane with the 10u group of your local swim club and you’ll see how athletic they are.

There’s a video of Shaq racing Phelps. Phelps spots Shaq 100m on a 200m and still crushes him.

I have 3 kids and only the youngest is a good swimmer. It's not that she started younger, although she did. She is more competitive and coordinated.

Anonymous wrote:Dressel is only a generous 6-3 and it says nothing about lateral movement or speed in the article. He picked the right sport even if he is pretty coordinated.
Who wouldn't love to see LeBron swim a 50 free after a year of training?

Dressel would never come close to LeBron after a year of basketball training. He wouldn’t even be as good as the best middle schooler, probably. LeBron would never come close to Dressel after a year of swim training. He definitely wouldn’t be as good as the best middle schooler.

So, what’s your point? Sounds like you have a narrow view of what makes a person athletic. Whether it’s table tennis, handball, kayaking, or rock climbing, athletes are athletes. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Jump in a lane with the 10u group of your local swim club and you’ll see how athletic they are.