Swim club

[101Missdaisy]

Hi, my daughter is interested in joining the swim club, which she can do when she finishes stage 7. However she is only 7 and I have been told she would not be able to compete until she is 9. Is this the same everywhere? Thanks

They can't compete outside club till they are 9 but should be able to do in club stuff like club championships and

personal best galas. Possibly development meets too but I can be 100% sure off top Off head.

Not the case at the club my daughter swims for. In fact she was at a gala tonight and is competing in another gala next week.

She is only 7 but really loves it and her times are good for her age group. She does the club gala’s and the inter town (like a friendly league) she can’t take part in some competitions but has enough options for now.

The experience will be invaluable to her when she gets older as she can already dive and tumble.

Different clubs will operate differently some clubs won’t see you until 9 but other clubs will take as soon as the child can swim 25m In all 4 strokes.

Where do you live?

I've just checked ASA website and they can do level 4 which are development meet type but level 3 upwards you need to be 9. My son has swam since 7 and is now qualifying for counties 2 years later. To be honest I think starting them gently in that sort of level is good as it's friendly and not as serious as level 2/3.

Hi, as others have said, they have to be 9 to compete for L3 galas. However, don't forget, it's difficult to start competitive swimming at nine, and go straight into competitions, it would be much better to start at 7 and then work on the required skills - competitive swimming requires many more skills than just following the ASA badges. My daughter started competitive swimming at six, and has now just started competing at nine. So if your daughter is keen, I'd get into a competitive club as soon as you can, we've found it really helpful for other sports too - my daughter is also good at long-distance running !

Thanks everyone, having looked at their website in more detail it shows some race results for younger ages so guess they must do some races. And yes, is probably best to start training earlier when It is a less serious level.

Def best to start now as joining straight to compete at 9 is a shock!
Ds got disqualified at 7 in club champs which seemed harsh and he had a strop, sat in tears and decided swimming was stupid and he wasn't coming back. Coach calmed him down told him they'd all been there and not to give up. It's not been the last time, he's made stupid mistakes since but it's character building, teaches resilience and has had huge health benefits for a child who finds lots of other sport difficult. At 9 he's qualified for counties and did well in 10/11 year age group. Good luck 😀

A lot of competitive galas are grouped "age at 31 December". This means that there are lots of 8 years old swimming in the '9' category at licensed meets. The months fly past.

Almost certainly your club will be running "club" galas in which all the children get to compete.

Go along with lots of encouragement, a good sense of humour and plenty of snacks. The transition to club swimming is a bit of a shock (for the children and the parents who watch all technique go out the window as the child tries to build up their stamina).

Level 3,2,1 galas are very strictly umpired (they need to be, even if it does seem a bit unfair on the tiny ones). I'd like to say that, once DQ'd, it doesn't happen again.

Enjoy your gala-free weekends while you can, but club swimming has been great for my daughter.

We paid for small lessons. Round about badge 7 or 8 her teacher increased the group size and started doing squad-style warm ups and life-saving etc. It made the transition to club swimming a little easier.