Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Ok but 5 days a week still likely means that kid is only swimming. No time for other sports, already specializing at ages 9-10.

Doing something for 45 minutes of your day means there is no time to do anything else???

Anonymous wrote:

Ok but 5 days a week still likely means that kid is only swimming. No time for other sports, already specializing at ages 9-10.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up swimming in Georgia and recently moved down here from New York and this is the first time I’ve ever seen teams charge by # of days and not just by group. Y’all here are so caught up in solely the number of days your swimmers are doing but in reality that has isn’t what impacts a swimmers trajectory, it’s what they are doing in those practices!

For example: 3 1.5 hour practices at 3000-3500 yards a practice would be way worse for a 9-10 year old that is going to 5 max 1 hour practices but each practice is 1200-1500 yards but y’all here would be like “OMG YOU ARE GOING 5 DAYS A WEEK AT 9?!?!? Mine’s doing 3 so mine’s not gonna get injured and yours is going to burnout” and that’s couldn’t be further from the truth.

Ok but 5 days a week still likely means that kid is only swimming. No time for other sports, already specializing at ages 9-10.

Anonymous wrote:What is great about this thread is watching experienced swimmers try to explain the burnout risks of this sport being lectured by swim parents who are drinking the kool aid of age group coaches trying to get their kids to peak for JOs

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We as parents have to acknowledge that the sport is changing. To swim at a competive mid major 20 years ago you only needed to be like a 1:45 in the 200 free for boys and now you have to be sub 1:42 to even get a look at ANY D1 school and it’s just getting faster.

People may have been successful in getting to swim D1 swimming by swimming 3 days a week until high school in the past but it’s obvious that you are going to have to do ALOT more to be able to go sub 1:40 at 17 than go sub 1:45 at 17 and that difference isn’t just in a 2-3 year timeframe.

Horseshit. Training has improved. There still is not a need to overtrain. This is a myth. And I didn't swim 20 years ago. I swim FIVE years ago and coach now.

I wouldn’t say it’s a myth since it’s undisputed that the larger clubs have practice requirements for their elite age groupers that exceed 3 days a week. A minimum of 4 or 5 (which means that 5 or 6 is really what is expected) seems to be the norm from age 11-14.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We as parents have to acknowledge that the sport is changing. To swim at a competive mid major 20 years ago you only needed to be like a 1:45 in the 200 free for boys and now you have to be sub 1:42 to even get a look at ANY D1 school and it’s just getting faster.

People may have been successful in getting to swim D1 swimming by swimming 3 days a week until high school in the past but it’s obvious that you are going to have to do ALOT more to be able to go sub 1:40 at 17 than go sub 1:45 at 17 and that difference isn’t just in a 2-3 year timeframe.

Horseshit. Training has improved. There still is not a need to overtrain. This is a myth. And I didn't swim 20 years ago. I swim FIVE years ago and coach now.

Anonymous wrote:We as parents have to acknowledge that the sport is changing. To swim at a competive mid major 20 years ago you only needed to be like a 1:45 in the 200 free for boys and now you have to be sub 1:42 to even get a look at ANY D1 school and it’s just getting faster.

People may have been successful in getting to swim D1 swimming by swimming 3 days a week until high school in the past but it’s obvious that you are going to have to do ALOT more to be able to go sub 1:40 at 17 than go sub 1:45 at 17 and that difference isn’t just in a 2-3 year timeframe.

Anonymous wrote:this person who keeps saying you can't just start practicing more at an older age and expect to be in a top level group is literally ignoring D1 swimmers telling them otherwise. i'm guessing this poster has a fast age grouper who they have been pushing since they were little. your kid will surely be the egg that doesn't crack when thrown at the wall

Anonymous wrote:this person who keeps saying you can't just start practicing more at an older age and expect to be in a top level group is literally ignoring D1 swimmers telling them otherwise. i'm guessing this poster has a fast age grouper who they have been pushing since they were little. your kid will surely be the egg that doesn't crack when thrown at the wall

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:The swimmer is at Chinquapin and Mt. Vernon. They are in the water six days a week. They are not even a teen yet. Yes, it is happening. The swimmer's parents pushed for it and have been pushing since their swimmer was 10, Barry finally gave in when the swimmer turned 12.

The # of days in the water wouldn’t be so much of a concern for me. I’m fairly certain I know who you’re taking about, and my kid in the same age group (with a big club) is in the water 5-6 days a week. The difference is the actual training my kid is doing is geared toward kids that are 11-13 years old not HS kids.

You should be concerned. Swimming 5-6 days a week before high school is insanity. -Former d1 swimmer whose daughter is 11, swims 3 days a week and still finals at JOs.

I’m not. My kid has not been injured or had any aches and pains. She’s training appropriately for her age. I’m calling BS that she was 11 last year and finaled at JOs training 3 days a week. You can final at age 10 with that but once you get past the 10U group you are way behind the curve if you’re only in the water 3 days a week.

That is far from true. My made JOs at 11-12 with 3 day a week practices and I know lots of kids that do. I agree that at 13, five days a week is the standard.

The PP was talking about making finals, not just making JOs. It takes about an A time to make JOs, which is not that difficult for a talented kid to do in the shorter events.

Who cares about finaling at JOs. The goal should be for your child to be their best and still love the sport as they grow older. Maybe actually do their best times as a senior in high school or beyond. You mock people who have their kids swim 3 times a week as an age grouper, saying their kid is gonna fall behind, but ignore the countless people who tell you that’s not true. You should probably listen to people who try to warn you about the dangers of burnout. But you’ll convince yourself it won’t happen to your kid.
-signed former US National swimmer who swam 3-4 times a week until they were 15. (But what do I know)

You are conflating a whole bunch of things here. Reference to finaling at JOs was made because that was part of the discussion that was being had. Everyone understands that of course the goal is for your kid to love the sport and do their best, but the reality is that for some kids that is intertwined with performance at high level meets. My kid loves the sport but part of their love for it is their love of competition (they would be like this with any sport, it’s who they are), seeing that the hard work yields results. No one was mocking anyone, but it’s disingenuous to suggest that being in the water only 3x a week up to age 13 is not going to set a kid behind. That is just the reality of today’s youth sports environment. At the high level clubs a swimmer only in the water 3x a week isn’t going to advance to higher level training groups, which often have attendance requirements. Would an exception be made for a burgeoning Katie Ledecky, of course, but is the exception not the rule. In today’s world you can’t just rock up at age 15 and state ok now I’m ready to kick it up a notch and practice more than 3 days a week and expect entry into a high performance training group. Not every kid wants to be in that kind of group, and that’s totally fine. One of the great things about this area is that there is a club and training group for pretty much everyone. But practicing 3x a week until HS is not realistic for a kid who wishes to compete at a high level.