Can a small slow swimmer, grow to be fast one day?

[SuperTiredAgain]

To any experienced swim mums out there!..

Can a small, slow swimmer grow into a big fast swimmer? Did you have a small slow swimmer age 11?

DS is 11. All his friends have grown up and past him and are v fast (and I mean very fast). He plods along in the slow lane lagging behind those he used to beat. He's small, December birthday so no regional or county times yet. All those he used to beat when they were 9 are getting regional times now


Have you ever known a small, slow, young for year swimmer grow into a fast swimmer?

I'm always told times at age 11 don't matter. But looking around I can't help but feel that's not true! Those speedy ones in the squad look pretty amazing to me, and I can't imagine DS would ever catch up! (the speed gap is widening not slowing!) He v much wants a regional time next year. I've said to keep trying and focus on counties as a first goal. But part of me thinks it won't ever happen for him. He trains a lot (6 times a week) because he wants to be fast one day, but it's sad to watch him striving for something that maybe he won't ever achieve? I'm trying to encourage him to enjoy the journey (it doesn't help that the coach favours the speedy ones!) He probably loves swimming the most out of all the kids in the squad, so it doesn't seem fair that his passion and hard work get him nowhere!! (except backwards!)

Should I keep supporting his dream and saying he will get there one day if he keeps trying, or should I try to help him modify his dreams!?

Any advice?

Do medals and times at 11 correlate to fast times at 15/16 and beyond? (I'm told no, but I can't find any top swimmers who weren't smashing it at age 11! From what others in the club have said, those in top squad now we're pretty decent fast swimmers at 11.

[SoggyPaper]

At this age, speed correlates very strongly with height. You can very often predict finish order by looking across the blocks.

after puberty you would have a much better idea of how good they actually are.

[SoggyPaper]

There are plenty of successful swimmers who weren’t smashing it at 11.

Really don’t worry about it.

[Eccle80]

Things definitely switch around, it was noticeable at our counties this year in the 13s and 14s that some of those winning lots of medals two years ago when they were 11 and 12 were no longer doing so, and different swimmers were winning, mainly down to which ones had grown earlier. I think it evens out when they have all finished growing and developing. My eldest has found it hard this year, he isn’t 14 until near the end of the year, and many of the boys in his age group look like proper adult men, whereas he hasn’t had the big growth spurt or broadening out yet.

I definitely wouldn’t give up if he is enjoying it, I know there is a swimmer in our club who went to his first counties this year at 16. Also their progress isn’t a straight line, there are periods their times plateau no matter how hard they try, and other times it suddenly comes together and they improve rapidly. Hopefully things will come together for you son soon.

[Madcats]

Stick with it if he loves it.

Admittedly we had a gap of 18 months, but I know plenty of male swimmers who only started doing Counties from age of 15/16. They were lucky to have supportive parents who reassured them that they should focus on technique and enjoying the friendship's until they had that post-puberty body.

Do you ever watch; would his technique benefit from a few tweaks?

[SoggyPaper]

Sometimes being small (and late to grow and develop) is a long term advantage. The ones that shoot up early often win everything really easily, so they can get away with poor technique. It can be harder to motivate them to really work at the boring bits that add up to better technique when they feel they’re doing better already.

The smaller ones have to train hard and improve their technique to try to keep up. Then, when they have their huge growth spurt, they’re comparably sized but also benefiting from all that emphasis on technique.

Maybe tell your DS that. It might feel like he’s working really hard but not seeing the results others are. But all the work he’s doing is useful.

[Mumtofourandnomore]

I think it really depends what his technique is like. I agree that smaller swimmers have to perfect their technique to try and keep up.

However, when they say that the swimmers at 14+ are not the same swimmers that win at 10/11, in my experience it’s because new swimmers have come in (and better training makes them even faster) rather than the slow ones in the same squad who have sped up.

My daughter is in a competitive squad at a very large club, but she’s quite slow. It’s been that way for years, she’s just matured and hasn’t sped up ! She gets times for L3 galas and loves doing them, but is generally in the bottom 5. She swims 6 hours week and loves it - her work ethic is brilliant, she always tries to swim at the front of her lane. I can see that her technique has flaws that faster swimmers don’t have, although she improves all the time - if she were at a smaller club she’d probably be above average.

On the flip side, when she plays hockey she scores loads of goals in the last 15 minutes because everybody else is knackered !!

if your ds loves it, let him swim - he’s still very young. As they get older, fast kids who do millions of hours quit, and age groups are much smaller at 13+. My daughter got three medals at a gala recently (there were still 7 of them I hasten to add….) and was delighted ! And if your son does have good technique, if he’s smooth and strong, he does still have a chance. My 17 year old grew 8 inches over lockdown and his sports times (cycling) definitely improved.

[Shanksponyorbust]

Yes I had a slow one who grew and surpassed the kids who could swim better than him at age 11. At 13 he’s a much faster swimmer than them now and in a higher squad. He did have a massive growth spurt and the swimming techniques clicked.

[DorritLittle]

Good swimming comes from working hard, and he is doing. His December birthday is a slight drawback but don't let it put him off. FWIW my nephew didn't join a swimming club til he was 12 and went to the nationals.

[SuperTiredAgain]

Thank you all. I'll share some of this with him tomorrow as I think it will give him a boost. He loves it all, which is the main thing! His technique in all strokes is pretty good I'd say. There is one stroke which he is vvvvv slow at!! So he's working on improving his technique more in that one at the moment. But he's got lovely technique in the other 3 strokes, so maybe that'll pay off one day :)

[itsgettingweird]

My ds is a para swimmer so obviously a little slower than his age group swimmers.

However he joined late to club swimming at 11.

Pre covid he was a good 10 seconds behind his peers at 100m free and then had his growth spurt (my ds looked about 10 until he was 14 and then looked 14 about 3 months later 🤣).

Post covid and coming back he's improved again and is now swimming just behind those who were way ahead of him years ago. He's even managing to hold times in training faster than them in threshold 200 sets and he doesn't even swim 200's as an S9 swimmer!

I think it's often harder mentally for those who are winning everything at 10/11/12 and going into 13/14. They can often not understand the need for that hard training at aerobic threshold and those who push themselves to the limit to keep on top can burn out or get bored after years of doing it.

My ds is 17 now and as a recently classified para swimmer competing at his first county, regional and national events. But he's got the motivation still because he's still building up to it rather than fighting to remain at it iyswim?

[3swim]

Was on here looking for the same question and advice about how to support a wavering 11 year old. DS2 has been in a good club since he was 6. He is small for age and although has neat technique is nowhere near county times (we live in a large fast county; looking at others he would have got some where I grew up & used to swim). He used to get medals at club level galas at age 7/8/9
and loved it. He’s not afraid of harder events eg 100 fly, 200IM but is just slow and finishes near the bottom.
He’s had had success in other sports at national schools events (gym, biathlon).
He is getting demoralised with swimming . He’s been doing 5.30 am sessions for a year now, and although has great friends through swimming and usually comes out of training happy , he’s finding it hard to maintain enthusiasm as there is not much reward at the moment . Long galas with no medals whilst his friends are clinking with metal.
I keep reminding him he will grow but all his peers have hit that breakthrough already and their times improve at every gala but his are static (eg around 39 for 50 free )
Wondering how I can reassure him, or whether psychologically it is bad persuading him to stick at a hard sport that he is not well suited to?
I am told boys swimming massively changes at puberty . Is it worth keeping going until this happens ? It seems a shame to stop now after all the years he has spent but not sure whether it’s unkind to keep him going in a sport he’s less well suited to?
Interested to hear from parents of swimmers that quit or anyone with boys that got through this difficult age period .

[jadedagain]

Are you and his dad tall? Just wondering if he is likely to grow tall. Swimming is an early development sport but 11 is too early to decide you won't ever be good enough to win medals. The main question is whether he is enjoying it as it is one of the most demanding sports. From my experience most give up at 15 years anyway as you cant fit school work or any other hobbies in around swimming. If he is not enjoying it now I personally would give up and take up a few different sports which can be more enjoyable and take up less time.

[3swim]

@jadedagain yes , we are both taller then average and his brothers are also tall but no-one in family has hit growth spurt yet so how long will he wait ??I used to swim (in 80s)but seemed much less pressure then ,small club , no early mornings , no ranking lists that we could see and county times came easily but weren’t the focus , so very enjoyable to point that swam at uni too. It’s different now & if many quit at 15 agree may be better to get out now . Just need some perspective as I think I’m influenced my own good memories!

[Precipice]

Does your club not do club champs? The step below county, and probably an easier aim.

Even if he won't be winning medals, he'll become a fast swimmer through consistent club training. Aside from his swimming ability, it'll be very healthy for him too. It's just that he might not be one of the very fastest in his age group in his races. I did swim club until 18 and I was never that. While cutting down your time is good and so is becoming a better swimmer overall, I don't think winning is really the goal of club training.

[3swim]

@Precipice I agree that would be a good move and more sustainable long term. He’s competitive though and would need to get his head round it as nothing like a club champs to remind you all your friends are faster ! Fitness section of the club is a bit sidelined .But training for fitness without quitting completely would be a good compromise if he gets fed up with this unrewarding stage , better that than just slowly getting more demoralised .

[Fantail]

I was a fab 11 and 12 year old swimmer. Loved the training and squad environment. Then I stopped growing and others kept going. It’s a tough thing when physical attributes such as height can make or break your ability to perform at higher levels. But there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.

I moved on to waterpolo, got my lifesaving badges and taught swimming through university which was a fantastic part time job.