Our kids love swim team. NVSL team. Not Division 1 or 2. All heats in every B meet are timed, so each kid gets a time. We encourage our kids to strive to beat their own time, i.e., improve as swimmers. We don't pay much attention to how they rank up against other swimmers. The daily practice pays off; I do not think the kids would swim as well as they do if we stuck with the weekly lessons at the Rec Center.

It's not just about swimming. The coaches are super-positive and know the kids' names (all the kids). They have friends from school and have met new friends from other schools. Kids also have non-swim team friends. I have met several families through swim team - volunteering together, seeing each other at meets, etc. - that I may not have gotten to know just from going to the same pool (in part because I work and do not go to pool every day).

I don't doubt we could have had a less positive experience with swim team at another pool or with different coaches. If swim team works for your family, great. If not, hopefully you can still enjoy what your pool has to offer.

I'm still upset at my dh signing up for the stupid neighborhood pool at $500 for the summer when we are in within the same distance to a public pool that has a slide and it's bigger.
We have used the pool 8 times. What a waste.
We are not wealthy, snobbish or clicky people. And the bathroom is disgusting. Just so we can meet neighborhood kids there! Only 2 families speaks to us there and they are from the same street. And they have their swim club parents friends. When they have their swim meet, they are usually also open for open swim. Talk about feeling left out there. Ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:

My kids don't pay any attention to their times. This is their 3rd year, and they are 7 and 9. They do want to "win" their heat and have fun swimming. I don't want them to get all wrapped up in their time since they do summer swim team just for fun, and I'm glad they get practice swimming

this is typical, and a reasonable - and yet there needs to be 3 timers? one from each team, and another one - because maybe 2 parents can't handle this task!
it's silly & not reasonable. this is neighborhood swim team, not the olympics.

Yes I am always flabbergasted at how many people are down there at the end. Seriously? 3 timers per lane, 2 stroke and turn judges, 2 runners, a head runner, a head timer, etc. I can't even think of all the positions filled during each meet. Kind of crazy.

My kids don't pay any attention to their times. This is their 3rd year, and they are 7 and 9. They do want to "win" their heat and have fun swimming. I don't want them to get all wrapped up in their time since they do summer swim team just for fun, and I'm glad they get practice swimming

this is typical, and a reasonable - and yet there needs to be 3 timers? one from each team, and another one - because maybe 2 parents can't handle this task!
it's silly & not reasonable. this is neighborhood swim team, not the olympics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes OP, you should switch pools. Our team doesn't do an A meet and a B meet. I think that would suck and cause the B kids to feel badly about themselves. We have different heats, and yes the faster kids are in the first heat, but all the kids swim together at every meet.

We switched pools too because I didn't like the other pool. We went there 3 years trying to make friends or even just chat, and never could. We aren't bosom buddies with people at our "new" pool, but after 3 years on swim team and volunteering, I can have a good chat here and there. We both WOTH, so it is a big time commitment, but I just love to see my kids swim so well. They swim way better than I do, and that makes me happy.

Kids know who the fastest swimmers are on the team. They see the times with their own eyes. Having A and B meets gave everyone a chance to swim and many of the team's fastest swimmers also swam in the B meets for practice.

My kids don't pay any attention to their times. This is their 3rd year, and they are 7 and 9. They do want to "win" their heat and have fun swimming. I don't want them to get all wrapped up in their time since they do summer swim team just for fun, and I'm glad they get practice swimming. That's all it's about for us. They don't even know that heat 1 is the only one timed. They don't even care if we win or lose the meets, and neither do I.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
B meets are the only way most kids get to swim. NVSL regulates swimming in VA and team entries at A meets are limited to 3 boys and 3 girls per stroke for each age group. That would confine swim meets to a very small group of kids and not give others a chance to rise to the A team.

And if you don't want your kid to feel badly for being on the B-team, you're going to have a very difficult time living here.

Every pool in Northern Virginia does not belong to the NVSL. Reston has its own league, there's the Colonial League, Country Club League, etc. Maybe PP lives in Maryland.

This is true. So perhaps OP and others who don't like A + B meets need to explore these options rather than decry the unfairness of a pool that actually recognizes and rewards the fastest swimmers.

Anonymous wrote:Yes OP, you should switch pools. Our team doesn't do an A meet and a B meet. I think that would suck and cause the B kids to feel badly about themselves. We have different heats, and yes the faster kids are in the first heat, but all the kids swim together at every meet.

We switched pools too because I didn't like the other pool. We went there 3 years trying to make friends or even just chat, and never could. We aren't bosom buddies with people at our "new" pool, but after 3 years on swim team and volunteering, I can have a good chat here and there. We both WOTH, so it is a big time commitment, but I just love to see my kids swim so well. They swim way better than I do, and that makes me happy.

Kids know who the fastest swimmers are on the team. They see the times with their own eyes. Having A and B meets gave everyone a chance to swim and many of the team's fastest swimmers also swam in the B meets for practice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also dislike the culture among the parents. It feels a lot like a fraternity and sorority.

+ 1

I didn't realize joining a community pool was going to be like going back to high school, and that my perfectly nice non-team member child would be on the social dud list. This is just so fucking weird and cliched. Can't wait to get away from this $700 summer of watching a bunch of little snots and their nasty parents hang out together.

+1 the parents are so ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:
B meets are the only way most kids get to swim. NVSL regulates swimming in VA and team entries at A meets are limited to 3 boys and 3 girls per stroke for each age group. That would confine swim meets to a very small group of kids and not give others a chance to rise to the A team.

And if you don't want your kid to feel badly for being on the B-team, you're going to have a very difficult time living here.

Every pool in Northern Virginia does not belong to the NVSL. Reston has its own league, there's the Colonial League, Country Club League, etc. Maybe PP lives in Maryland.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Needing so many volunteers shows that the adults are very inefficient.

What a stupid comment. Again, if you can do it more efficiently, make some suggestions.

Agree. The need for volunteers at the meets is really to ensure fairness. Three timers per lane, with the median time selected. A head timer, an assistant head timer. 4 judges to check that strokes are legal. A starter, a ref, and lots of rules. Representatives from both teams handling automation, etc...

OP I would also agree that you need to find a new pool. Find a team that is lower ranked, which means less intense, and less competitive people around you. With a smaller team, all your kids will be able to swim more A meets. Yes, it means pitching in more as a parent, but the team is more supportive as a whole.

Anonymous wrote:Yes OP, you should switch pools. Our team doesn't do an A meet and a B meet. I think that would suck and cause the B kids to feel badly about themselves. We have different heats, and yes the faster kids are in the first heat, but all the kids swim together at every meet.

We switched pools too because I didn't like the other pool. We went there 3 years trying to make friends or even just chat, and never could. We aren't bosom buddies with people at our "new" pool, but after 3 years on swim team and volunteering, I can have a good chat here and there. We both WOTH, so it is a big time commitment, but I just love to see my kids swim so well. They swim way better than I do, and that makes me happy.

B meets are the only way most kids get to swim. NVSL regulates swimming in VA and team entries at A meets are limited to 3 boys and 3 girls per stroke for each age group. That would confine swim meets to a very small group of kids and not give others a chance to rise to the A team.

And if you don't want your kid to feel badly for being on the B-team, you're going to have a very difficult time living here.

Yes OP, you should switch pools. Our team doesn't do an A meet and a B meet. I think that would suck and cause the B kids to feel badly about themselves. We have different heats, and yes the faster kids are in the first heat, but all the kids swim together at every meet.

We switched pools too because I didn't like the other pool. We went there 3 years trying to make friends or even just chat, and never could. We aren't bosom buddies with people at our "new" pool, but after 3 years on swim team and volunteering, I can have a good chat here and there. We both WOTH, so it is a big time commitment, but I just love to see my kids swim so well. They swim way better than I do, and that makes me happy.

Sometimes I feel like summer swim team is more about the parents' social life than the kids. Face it, it's really a form of socializing for parents. I know quite a few families where the kids are lukewarm about swim team but coerced to do it because the parents enjoy the social circle more. Or because a sibling is doing it and it's just easier to stick all the kids into it since it requires so much time and volunteering.

Anonymous wrote:Needing so many volunteers shows that the adults are very inefficient.

What a stupid comment. Again, if you can do it more efficiently, make some suggestions.