Poolside Chat - parents of competitive swimmers continued

[Glittertwins]

Getting a bit close to the end of the previous one!

The other thing is you say it was a friendly low pressure event. Some of them seem to rise to big occasions and swim better in that environment.

I’d measure him once a week to keep a track of his growth.

I used to find that DS would put a load of time on and on his next height measurement he’d be a couple of cm taller.

He still reckons that he didn’t reach his full height potential due to all the training between 11 and 16.

This one has been growing gradually for the past 6 months and weirdly pretty much PB'd virtually time or within a small margin (apart from a couple of distance clangers). We all know this is very unusual and unsustainable in the long run - no illusions here.

My 11 year old most of the time doesn’t look that good, then she’ll randomly pull a really fast massive pb out of the bag. Her two most unbelievable were at level 3 meets with electronic timing so definitely correct!

She then won’t swim that fast again for months 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

She has finally hit puberty growth spurt (after a long time of being smaller than the other girls her age) so that will be interesting. Dd1 had hers over lockdown so it’s a new experience for me.

Thanks all! Maybe some growth thing. I'll measure him today! :(

👍👍that's great! That seems to be happening with all DSs friends who are just speeding ahead of him. Meanwhile, he adds 5 seconds ... :(

Please don't go too overboard with measuring him etc children especially those involved in competitive sport can very easily get hung up on things like their height/weight and it is not healthy.

You dont especially need to identify the reason for him having a 'bad' gala. It is what it is he needs a positive attitude and to focus on the things he can control and his height and growth is not one of them.

I agree re controlling what you can control - I always tell my two girls you can’t control what that dastardly board says.

Looking back at the times database, at age they were getting a PB and then nowhere close for another 3-4 months, all strokes and distances.

Yeah they can be seconds out quite easily.

My ds is older.

He tends to do a pb then not pb until the following year!

Training cycles will affect it - as in what they are doing in training.

Also the heat, making sure they are still eating enough despite appetites dropping when it's hot, drinking enough, bodies changing, some will be doing more sport in school preparing for sports days, school end of year camps.

It's never one thing ime.

I’d never advise weighing children (or adult swimmers either), but mine liked seeing their height marks on the doorframe. With older DS you knew when he was about to grow.

We also used to give them ORS hydration drinks at galas, especially in hot weather, as a drop in electrolytes can also have a big impact.

Like everything it depends on personal circumstances it would be soul destroying for my DS to be measured as he is small for his age and shows no signs of growing anytime soon.

Its just important to always be mindful about these things and consider your motives for doing them.

If its a bit of fun and everyone is happy then thats fine. If you are doing it to try to find a reason for not PBing like the above poster it will have to be handled very carefully.

At the time DS’s club were measuring swimmers height weekly anyway to track against performance - I did tell the coach where to go when he started talking about weight (as did all the other parents). At development camps they’d do all sorts of measurements and keep track of changes.

I believe that weighing is now banned by Swim England after the bullying that went on.

It's banned for under 18's.

My ds and a few of the other 18+ national swimmers do height and weight.

Everyone else just does height and wing span.

I’m going back a few years and a different NGB, and the head coach wasn’t someone I would trust when it came to the well being of adolescents.

Doesn't sound at all good

It should be banned full stop.

I’ve seen it used to manipulate swimmers, even those at the top- if you don’t get to x weight you won’t be selected for y competition.

funding is the biggest bullying tactic now. They use it to exert power and keep athletes compliant.

My ds hasn't found that attitude to him with funding.

His weight is important because he has a muscle wasting condition - we need to maintain it. He's not bothered and gave permission but he's weighed every year anyway at the hospital by the consultants 🤷‍♀️

You’re right - it wasn’t. Formal complaints through the club to the NGB didn’t go anywhere because the coach was part of the inner circle.

Sounds like a lot of organisations.

IMO that coach should have been fired, for H&S and safeguarding failures. Hard for parents to put their heads above the parapet because you know that the kids would be sidelined. So glad when DS was able to switch clubs.

You are absolutely right the coach should have been fired!

It’s only recently (10 years on!) that DS has told me some of the stories. This person would have been fired from any other job for sure!

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