Poolside-Chat-parents-of-competitive-swimmers

[Glittertwins]

Hopefully this will work as we’re at 999 on the other!

When mine were much smaller, the best incentive for them was a "speeding ticket" as it meant that their just achieved PB was too fast for the meet. These were far more coveted than any medal!!

That sounds awful, I must have been lucky not to come across much of that attitude from parents. Maybe I miss it as I’m normally poolside at meets, but I definitely haven’t seen it in our club.

From what I have seen so far, the ones who hit puberty later and/or are younger in their age group have to play the longer game and wait to catch up, I can’t remember what age your son is @Hellocatshome but from my observation for boys it’s particularly the 14 age group and to a slightly lesser extent the 13s at counties where you see some who look like men and some who still look young and small. It sounds like you’re doing a great job at focusing on his own PBs not what everyone else is doing though

Just popping on to reinforce what others have said about "late developers". There are a couple of older boys who were unremarkable in their early teens (but had swim siblings and keen, encouraging parents) who didn't really start getting fast until they were 16 or 17. They'll never be olympians, but I am sure that they are glad that they stuck with swimming. It builds such resilience.

It is shocking if it is the norm for a club to have kids in tears after a race. Once or twice I have seen a child upset when their goggles came off or they've messed up a turn (and that is in 6 years of competitions). I would think seriously about moving clubs if that is/was the team atmosphere. It is supposed to be fun!

First weekend of counties for us (I’m shattered today!). Great weekend though, eldest had 4 events, just outside his PB in the first, but had three really good PBs in the others, and achieved his aim of making the final in one. He just missed the regional time in the heats, but hopefully that will come at the next open meet. Youngest had 3 events, and came away with a bronze and two silvers, three big PBs and three regional times. He looks small compared to most of the boys in his age group and I think probably has less training hours than many at 4 hours a week, so I don’t know how he does it!
It’s so nice to have them both having a good weekend, eldest has had some tough times with swimming in the last 18 months so it’s brilliant to see him doing well again

@Madcats don't worry its not the norm at our club either at least not in DS's squad I managed to find myself sat with a certain group of parents that I would normally avoid and coupled with this they all seem to have girls in the top squad who seem to be extra hormonal at the moment.

@Eccle80 he is 12 swimming as a 13 year old and obviously at this age there is a wide range between the have hit puberty and long way off puberty boys.

Well done to your swimmers sounds like a fantastic weekend.

Some of the 13 yr old boys were towering over me at the weekend, plenty of them are virtually fully grown

@Hellocatshome thank you!
I had a feeling he might be that sort of age, definitely starts to make a difference with some hitting puberty then. One of my older DS’s friends was about 6ft when swimming in that age group last year!

it’s all about PBs

Well until they swim badly or are struggling but get a medal. Then I’d say well done for that. But the thing about medals is it depends who’s there and the level of the competition and the kids know that so a pb’s always better.

TBF re the crying dd1 has been known to do that, and it wasn’t because I’ve ever commented negatively on a time however badly it’s gone, I’m just massively proud that she gets up and races. She can just sometimes behave like a toddler unfortunately 🤦🏻‍♀️.

It also isn’t pressure from the club it’s just her.

Oh yes. Those parents are draaaiiiiinnnning!

I can't stand the glass half full ones that always look for the negatives.

They seem to think because ds is doing so well currently and on a programme I'm "lucky".

I point out that ds worked hard - still works hard - and these kids are not robots. They all have peaks and troughs. Just that ds doesn't make a fuss when he doesn't pb and always comes out of his raves smiling so they think he's PB'd. But usually he's happy he's executed his race plan well and so he'll make progress as the season goes on.

And we also see so many of them drop out at 15/16 because they don't medal every time. Because their happiness comes from the wrong thing.

Yay - go your boys

Absolutely - DS’s friend could easily have passed for 18 at age 13, he was huge and very muscular. Fortunately his coach was careful in picking meets / events for him so he didn’t crowd out the other 13/14 yd olds. He still had a lot of junior records.

We've had a pretty successful set of counties so far, one more weekend to go. He knows he can't PB forever and is just somewhat shocked that his recent times have improved again. He'll take that for the good times while it lasts.

A PB doesn't necessarily mean a good race and no PB doesn't mean a bad race either.
As for meets and medals - well that definitely holds true around here. One club's meet had him struggle for a medal (got PBs and race practice) whereas the next club's meet results a week later showed he would have got medals in everything entered in the other meet. All depends on the entries

A PB doesn't necessarily mean a good race and no PB doesn't mean a bad race either.

Amen to that!

The coaches spend ages explaining to the performance swimmers that they are swimming counties unrested- especially because ours goes over 3 weeks! With a weekend inbetween each session. They have target meets which they'll rest for and end of season meets where they are aiming for their best times.

I don't think swimmers are always realistic (or put too much pressure on themselves) when they want to pb at a counties meet on times set at summer British and home nations nationals!

We went for out usual walk this evening whilst they swam and that was eventful. Took some beautiful pictures of the water that was flat clam with beautiful reflections, popped into Tesco for stock cubes and witnessed a car crash where the car that caused it drove off

It changes so much as they grow. I'm sure as well that lots have seen big PBs after lockdown which are now starting to narrow, making it more challenging. My DS rarely places but he loves swimming and is still getting PBs and has qualified for a good range at Counties. He's now 15, started as one of the fastest, got over taken by nearly everyone and is now gaining again but still isn't fast enough for regionals. He has been coming about mid way in his age group at Counties which he's happy about. He was always small for his age but shot up in lockdown, but still hasn't gained much muscle.

He did have a gala a couple of months ago where the faster ones from his club were swimming elsewhere and there was a max of 4 boys in his age group so he came away with 7 medals!

I don't mix much with the other parents but there does tend to be a mix of very driven parents and those that are totally relaxed about the whole thing, which is where I am. I'm not a swimmer so the whole thing baffled me for a long time! I love to see DS do well but the taking part and achieving his own gains is enough for him.

We have a date through for ds international classification - yay

Good luck to all swimmers (and parents!) who are at counties this weekend.

Ours is our 10-14yo this weekend so any involvement I have will purely be supporting via live stream!

Good luck for the classification!!

DD13 is about to head off for her first warm weather camp with the club. She’s excited but mainly terrified. She’s the youngest which is making it harder for her I think. There’s a big difference between 13 and 16! Any last minute tips or hints for her from those of you who have experienced it before?

Has she been away on any meets with her club before?

My club is good with younger ones as they'll pair them with some of the older ones for support and friendship.

Eg. if they're rooming, could be 2 older girls and one younger or one older and 2 younger.

Trips are great for fostering the club culture. I'm sure she'll have a great time

She'll have a great time and the older ones will look after her and it will be a good team bonding experience too.
I'd stick an AirTag in her case so it doesn't go awol if she's flying anywhere though!

Thank you. This is her first trip away with them. No weekends before now. More nerves than excitement today!

Where have they gone?

I'm Sure they'll have a great time. And perfect timing as the weather turns cold here again!

It's going to be quite cold here over the next week. Lots of early morning car scraping!

Yeah we've been spoilt with no car scraping for a bit.

I thought I'd have to do mine today but escaped it. Not sure I'll be so lucky tomorrow