Poolside Chat: parents of competitive swimmers

[2ducksandI]

Seems I managed to fill the other thread with talk of taking fridges to away galas! And I didnt even mean a fridge I meant an electric cool box So I've started another thread. Hope you all find it.

Yes please!

I'm thinking of a 1 litre crock pot but if you have any better ideas?!

Half my issue is that ds is bloody fussy! He eats a great diet but he doesn't like things like the instant mash pots or the sauces made by water I can add to cold pasta.

He won't eat noodle pots (but loves noodles). Won't eat the ready made pasta pots (but loves pasta and tuna and chicken etc).

Get a portable single induction hob - you can do a lot with it from porridge in morning to pasta for lunch / dinner.

I've seen other parents turn up with microwaves, toasters etc too

I swear the staff at Premier Inn probably know what's going on when they see the swim contingent turn up with half a house for a few nights stay

Not that i need it, but using a single induction hob is genius (they are comfortably under £100).

You can get them middle of Lidl or IKEA for about £30 - £40 and they're great as an extra hob for Christmas or parties so won't just be a "swimming" purchase.

I'm jealous of all the meet prep talk! DD has had a bad run of sickness this year, and is sick again so missing her last 2 weekend meets to improve her times so may not hit the times she wants. At least we are away for our Div 2 nationals, so she won't be too upset at not qualifying, I hope. Will have to plan some exciting Spainish diversion for that weekend.

Thanks so much for the portable hob suggestion. Think it might be a lifesaver in Sheffield next week. Airbnb prices were crazy so we are in hotels all week for the first time.
I am just concerned about the hotels not liking us cooking in the room. Are they really okay with it?

You're not technically meant to cook in hotel rooms so we're usually very discreet about it ie nothing too smokey to set off alarms.

Pasta etc is just steamy like kettle, which is usually available in rooms.

Test your hob before using it in hotel room as I find mine really quite strong and fast so I use it on medium settings.

I'm pretty certain the hotel staff know what's going on but turn blind eye - don't set off fire alarm!

@turkeyboots - Div 2 in Limerick is the best and most fun competition. We used to do it and the kids all looked forward to the water fights at the end but I think that's banned now :/

@Porseb, Div 2 is great, such a fun atmosphere and DD loves the merch! And there is a big gang going from our club for the first time ever.
But she's the bottom of her age group this year (Ireland always does mixed age group, 11&12, 13&14 etc etc) so we decided to book a holiday for that weekend after she missed 8 weeks before Christmas. Took the pressure off her.
Looking forward to next year though!

@turkeyboots oh so sorry - I mis-read your post.

I thought she was going to Div 2 - no worries, there's always next year :) and a Spanish waterpark would be better! Better weather anyway

@chinook

Thanks so much for the portable hob suggestion. Think it might be a lifesaver in Sheffield next week. Airbnb prices were crazy so we are in hotels all week for the first time. I am just concerned about the hotels not liking us cooking in the room. Are they really okay with it?

Is that British champs?

The spectator tickets are enough without the air B and B prices!

Luckily there's not para swimming so I've managed to avoid that one!

Ds was buzzing at training this evening!

They did a sprint set. Meant to be holding times. (Eg as close to pb as possible and swimming max).

He held 27.4 the whole way through (his official time is 27.8) and then smashed out a 27 flat from nowhere!

That's pretty good for an S9 swimmer.

He was a bit hit and Miss with his 75's but his coach was like "I don't care if you can smash out 50's like that' 🤣🤣

Thats brilliant well done mini Weird. Whenever I ask DS what he did at training he says "I swam" or "stuff" I like to hope he actually pays attention when he's there

IIRC your ds is about 11? My ds only entered competitive swimming then. I didn't really get much feedback and even though I watched I wouldn't have had knowledge of it all or what they were doing as such.

Mines 17 now and at that age where it's literally his life and his absolute passion and what he wants to do above all else. So he talks about what he does. Also I watch him swim some of the session so I kinda see it (I don't really absorb what he's doing 🤷‍♀️🤣).

At his age and stage they do certain type sets Eg threshold, lactate etc.

He also has to log everything for his swim England development programme so has to recall the times he swam off, what speed and pace he was holding and be able to analyse when he's holding quicker pace.

So today he came out and told me they did a pace set at threshold and did however many 50m he told me on 1:40 and he was holding 29s each 50m and 4 months ago he was holding 31s.

I sometimes miss the days of driving home I'm silence 🤣🤣🤣🤣

@itsgettingweird yes he's only 11 so that is probably the difference, your son sounds very committed I hope all his swimming dreams come true.

This is probably a stupid question but if the fina label has come off the back of some jammers do I actually need to bother getting it stuck back on? DS only swims at county and regional level so does it actually matter?

Hope not! Ds has also come off his jammers!

I don't think iirc that at level national and below it needs to be fina approved swimwear and they can check anyway due to the brand and make.

Ds managed another 27.3 50m free in training this evening. At the end of a session! I think we can safely assume he's now managed to drop that all important little bit and he's going to pull of a good swim in a race even if it's not his best day 🤞

His strength and conditioning coach spoke to me today and said he seems to be stronger and he's noticed an improve,ent in his gym work.

It's all a bit of a guessing game with ds because his leg muscles are wasting if we can build those wasting up a bit or just build the ones not affected up and it'll automatically make those stronger as a reaction (iyswim?).

His kick certainly looks stronger but he doesn't get the same splash as the others and loses out on his push off the wall.

It's usually the larger meets like the British Champs or international meets that you need to ensure the Fina label is intact.

I've seen officials actually check this.

How do you get it attached again just for interest. Although we don't know where ds label is as it fell off at nationals in wales 🤣🤣🤷‍♀️

I think Allens Swimwear offers a race suit repair service. They rebond seams etc and you can ask if they re-attach Fina logos

That's helpful to know thanks.

Sadly his current pair the label is god knows where but it's also helpful to know if he swims British champs I may need to get him a new pair with label attached 🤣🤣

Although they are arena shorts and the label glue is still there!

Yes I think Allens reattach then. DS now informs me when I told him to put the label somewhere safe he did but now can't remember what that place is! Oh well he's likely to grow out of them soon anyway and if he ever gets as far as British Champs I'm sure I might stretch to a new pair.

Good luck to all at British champs this week.

I have a random question you all may be able to help with. Our club is taking in a young Ukrainian swimmer. Any idea where we can find a translation of key swimming terms which we can laminate for poolside?

Doe the child/parent not speak any English at all? I would reach out for help on facebook/twitter there will be a Ukrainian speaking swim coach somewhere out there.

Google translate is usually good for keywords.

Our club has contact with 2 Ukrainian swim families too and are trying to support them.

Thanks everyone. I'm in contact with their social worker and slowly getting answers now. A friend of a friend of a friend is doing some translation of key swim terms for us in case they can be helpful for anyone else.
People are being amazing with donations and our local swim kit shop is providing free equipment sets to arriving swimmers which is really lovely of them.