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.

Para swimming conditions are out for British champs - whooo whoop!

Is he in???

Using the information available it looks like he could be in for 50/100/400 free and 100 fly.

Then 200im and 100 back at nationals. Although I doubt we'll do nationals as he isn't really competitive at those strokes! (A lot of cost for 2 swims totalling about 4 minutes 🤣🤣)

Email today.

Ds qualified all 6 races in British - however his IM is just before 50 free so he's hoping his coach will agree he doesn't swim it - he's last entry anyway!

You could always accidentally forget to do that particular race entry 😆

I could probably except we have to deselect the races he doesn't want to enter rather than select the ones he does 🤣🤣

Emailed his coach and director of swimming and just said he'd like not to do 200Im and prefer not to do back and asked their advice.

He's a freestyler.

His 2 main events are Monday and Tuesday which would have given him Sunday off after after his 400m free but not if he does back.

Fly not an issue as last event and last day so can swim it and head home (he won't be making a final!)

We deselected a 400 before a 50 too.

It depends on aim of the races but at tapered meets, coaches are less likely to ask swimmers to swim everything they qualify for.

Good luck to all swimmers with upcoming end of season meets.

I'm looking forward to the summer break

Good luck to anyone else swimming this weekend.
Am sat watching the swimsuit fashion parade of girls warm up. Its all about the neon, lots of skinny straps with a knot all of a sudden. Was all crazy prints in 2019 when we last had Leinster Championships.

I daren't do the tie back cossies!
Out club is all about the tie back Amanzi ones, DD has some very bright ones.

Skinny tie straps with high cut legs were quite the "thing" with certain groups of late teens in our 2020 Counties. I didn't notice it when I was marshalling in SW Regionals (nearly everybody was in race gear for the duration or popped a cropped swim top over). I have a hazy recollection that one kid was asked to change into something more decent one year.

The third wetsuit DD tried passed muster, so I think she's back in a quarry tomorrow.

Good luck with the Leinster Champs turkeyboots

Yeah the girls at ds club are all about the tie up amanzi ones. A few have just got bright ones and now there seems to be a race to glow the most 🤣🤣

Most of the boys wear the wide side trunk and they have some bright ones.

Ds wears plain black jammers 🤣🤣🤣.

His coach agreed to drop IM and back at British so just doing the 4 races. I think that's enough for 5 days when 1 is the 400 free!

Good luck 🍀

DD and I have had many conversations about the very skimpy bottom coverage of some of the suits she wants. I have officially turned into my mother!
Racing going OK thanks everyone. A bad year for injuries and illness but she'd holding pbs which is as good as we can expect.

I'm glad I have a swim son not a swim daughter as the whole swimming costume thing seems to be a nightmare and judging by the girls in DSs club they each have a multitude of then. DS has 2 training jammers and 2 racing jammers and thats it.

Bit of light relief at todays gala when one of the judges fell in the pool and as it was an age on day gala DS wasn't racing against his friends which meant he actually did quite well medals wise which was nice.

As a judge, falling in is my biggest fear! I’m sure it would give the swimmers some amusement though! 😂

I saw my first judge fall in a few weeks ago.

Actually was knocked flying by a swimmer who should have known better than to be pushing and shoving through poolside at speed.

I often feel sorry for them trying to judge with people crowded round the pool.

Glad your ds did well hello I do think she on day and at end of year makes a difference.

I think it's good to have a balance of both.

We are finding some of the 16yo are currently forgetting next year they'll be joining their teammates (also 16 but end of year 17) in the 17+ (open age) next year. Recently at an age at date gala it all changed

I also agree boys are much easier swimwear wise. Even the cost of racing suits!

Although because ds has to bum shuffle across the poolside when his leg spasms his do wear out quicker than most!

Tripping over a swimmer's stuff and falling in is my worst nightmare too. I tend to ask the coaches to get them to stand back from where I'll be walking beforehand and, fingers crossed, all has been okay so far. Why do we have to wear white with so much water around though??

Fortunately I never slipped or was pushed in the pool as a judge - I have seen it happen though. Used to get pretty soaked at the turns when the big guys were doing fly (one coach helpfully suggested that I might want to stand back when her swimmer was approaching the wall - I didn’t and she wasn’t wrong!)

And yes to having to wear white - awful and goes see through far too easily. We sometimes used to get a different colour shirt for finals sessions, but it was always white trousers / skirt.

A lot of our galas run off parent volunteer time keeping and turn judge, so we don't have to wear white as often only get 10mins of training! But I have been soaked by turns and once ended up wading as the moveable pool floor started to sink until the weight of 10 15+ mens freestyle relay teams.

We are done with galas for the year! DD is doing state exams this year so no more galas til September. She ended on a high with a good pb for 100 free which was great for her. Good luck for the rest of the season everyone!

That coach should have known you didn't have the option of standing back for a fly finish!

Well DD claims to like new wetsuit in 15 degree quarry (and it was raining), so we are a happy house.

We're getting through training suits like crazy (though hanging them on the hot water pipes in the airing cupboard can't have helped). I thing we're giving up on Speedo and Zoggs, but Funkita seem to be reasonably bomb proof? I think we have a couple of Finis somewhere (and Arena seemed to last a fair while). Are there any other recommendations?

Well, quite (I was on turns but still no option to stand back) - she wasn’t trying to slip anything through though and she was right in that I did get absolutely soaked. I remember so well because the swimmer was a rising star and went on to be a medalist at Worlds, Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

It's turns like that that make me happy I've been the stroke judge on the uncontested side of the pool!

Glad the wetsuit is a success mad

I'm looking for bomb proof suits for ds so I'll look at funkita brand. I just think though we have to accept that bum shuffling across the pool is going to wear the seams of the arse out quicker than most peoples do 🤦‍♀️🤣🤣