Olympic Mum

[CPearl]

My daughter really loves swimming. She is obsessed and we watch all the champs on TV. She is now talking about wanting to compete in the Olympics (luckily she'll be too young for 2012). Should I push her in her training or just wait to see what develops. I'm scared of being an Olympic Mum! The pressure on the kids is huge. Any advice or experience out there?

YABU to put this here. There must be a better place to post this.

How old is she and how much training is she currently doing? Does she compete regularly?

She needs a good coach, who will know how hard (or not) to push her. Be careful - I used to swim competitively and a huge number of very talented children stopped swimming early (before the age of 16) due to injuries.

For example, I knew a girl who was European junior champion. By the age of 14 she completely stopped swimming due to a back injury.

Also, it depends on how talented your daughter is. It requires a huge amount of dedication - from her, but also from the parents who ferry her around to training and competitions. I used to train before school too, which obviously impacts on your school performance!

my daughter is an excellent swimmer too! Whatever you do, don't push her. Get her lessons, get her into a competitive swimming club so she can compete in regional gala's and see where it goes. It's got to be the kids thing, not the parents IMO.

I think swimming is one of those sports where you have to invest a huge amount of time as a young child to get anywhere near the standard to compete internationally (gymnastics is another). It will affect her whole childhood (all those 4am starts) and she will be able to do much, much less 'other stuff' than other children due to the commitment and with no guarantee of success (indeed only a small probability of success) at the end.

IMO you should only go down that route if she is absolutely sure it is what she wants (ie no pushing required from you). Otherwise, she may well resent you for it later on.

I think swimming has a relatively low injury rate compared to other sports (more children drop out due to burn out than injury in my experience), but it does have a much higher training requirement than most. Done at a more recreational, but still competative level it is a fantastic sport - the swimmers are hugely fit compared to the general populace and can still get a lot of fun from it without it taking over their lives.

I swam in local and regional competitions from about 10, but gave it up in mid teens. Best thing is to find a good club with lots of available sessions and good, supportive coaches. Then she can do as much or as little as she likes. Should be able to do 4-5 sessions a week evenings/weekends before you have to consider the 5am before school sessions.

There were times when I didn't want to get up in the morning and my mum had to cajole me, but I always enjoyed it when I got into the pool. So long as she enjoys the swimming itself, don't worry about pushing her to get to the seesions. Also remember, she will need extra sleep when she can get it as that much excercise is very tiring on a growing body.

It will take a lot of commitment from you, mostly with travel to and from sessions and competitions. It might be hard if she does decide to give up further down the line, but that doesn't mean your efforts have been wasted, good training is never forgotten. I am far from fit now, but can still beat most of my male friends over a couple of lengths. Good luck :)

Myself and my siblings were all swimmers (DB's were Commonwealth Swimmers)

We grew up in Singapore until I was 15, and muy Father ran the local swimming club. The Australian National coach at that time was in the Australian Army and lived next door.

We swam everyday, twice a day, not because we had to but because we wanted to.

Although I really enjoyed it, by the time we came home I had enough, the nearest pool was 45 minutes away, so after a year I gave up.

My two younger brothers carried on till they went to Uni, at which point they had other interests.

Although I dont ever regret it, my self and next brother down have problems with joints and muscles ( I have Lupus) when I went to see the specialist, he said he had never seen such over developed shoulder muscles (which are now causing me to have a 'hump')

I swam 400m Fly for 6 years, it can do that to you.

To give you an idea: I swam at local and regional level. I trained 4 - 5 sessions a week - an average of 10 hours. I had competitions most Saturday evenings, a few Sundays and a couple of weekends a year we were at the pool from 9am Saturday until 7pm Sunday (my mum HATED those weekends! )

I swam evenings and mornings, including a Sunday morning session from 7am .

It can also affect your social life - for example, I was never allowed to go to an ice skating birthday party, because I usually had a competition at some point in the next few days. I did see my friends and I had a couple of other hobbies, but you really have to get good at organising when to do your homework etc., in order to free up several evenings a week plus your weekends.

I loved swimming and it was never a chore. I don't regret it as it has kept me fit, even now. But you mustn't underestimate the commitment that is needed.

Thanks for all the help and support everyone. I will take it slow and see if she keeps up with it. :)