Poolside Chat - parents of competitive swimmers continued

[Glittertwins]

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

Oh no not another pool? Which one was this due at?

Ours isn't fully functioning. We have the shallow end permanently at 1.35m and the boom only goes down to that level. So it's changes from 2m to 1.35 quite dramatically!

Well I had hoped regionals at out pool would run so smoothly they would keep it here next year as well. No such luck, scoreboard not working...again 🙈

@itsgettingweird just GL1, it’s a fairly average small-time competition pool.

DD sometimes swims at GL1 and I know some of our Masters were hoping to compete there on Sunday. I take the opportunity to wander over to Gloucester Quays these days!

I am keeping my fingers crossed that Plymouth's floor/boom behaves next weekend (though we have a nice seaside Airbnb booked for that weekend).

Good luck to anybody doing Regionals this weekend, BTW.

We had a good day at the pool, he's regional champion for his age group on an event he refused to race a year ago.

Brilliant well done Mini Glitter @Glittertwins

Stonking result for miniGlitter

Good luck to anybody swimming Cotswold League finals shortly/already.

This is brilliant well done mini glitter

DD has a solid performance at counties this year (11 age group - November birthday so only 10) she came 2nd and 4th in her favourite events (200 breast, 200 free) and placed 4th in two 100m events so she was super pleased. Her coach talks about aiming for regionals next year which I'm sure she would love to qualify for, but in our region (South East) the times just seem so far from where she is at. Eg the slowest qualifier in the 11-12 age group for the 200 breast is 3.16 - this is 18 seconds faster than her current time, and the time that earnt her a silver at counties. Is it really possible to drop that much time?? Just seems so hard to me, but then I'm not a swimmer so what do I know!

Well done to her for her Counties performance that is brilliant. At that age its possible to drop 4 or 5 seconds everytime you compete so yes its possible and even if she doesnt make it its a good goal to strive for.

Yes, it is possible to drop large and regular amounts of time at age- she'll be ok

Brilliant. Well done to mini glitter 🥳

So DS's evening before Regionals worry this time is that his new jammers are more pink than red. Honestly he will find anything to fixate on rather than just admit he is nervous. So here is me trying to find photos of his swimming heros wearing pink jammers!

Hi. We are south east too. It's known for being a tough region! It's also a huge region!

But yes - they can drop phenomenal amounts of time when they are younger (and some even do it when a bit older).

If they race something 6 times a year and drop 3 secs each time that's your 18 seconds! Not suggesting it's easy or all will do it - but I've seen it done!

Double age groups are also tough. You'll often see only 2-3 11yo in a double 11/12 girls age category because it's when most girls have their burst! And even then it's often the 200m+ rather than the sprints.

@itsgettingweird it does seem a massive region!! I noticed that not many 11s were in it this year, so I guess if she has a chance it'll be next year. I think she's already so proud of reaching county level that she will be okay if she doesn't make it, but it is good to have a target.

In fact, she did a meet in April and knocked off 5 seconds from her 200 free county time but virtually nothing off her 200 breast - so I can see it's possible!

That's great.

Was that a long course meet in Easter too? Don't forget short and long course times vary a lot.

A lot of swimmers will qualify county/ regionals on short course conversions rather than shirt course. Especially at the younger age groups.

I'm not sure how many counties we have in SE region but I'm sure it's a lot and a lot more than other regions! We also have some very string clubs in various counties in the region so it's always interesting when they come together at regionals and all the top swimmers in each county go head to head.

Well done to your DS

@itsgettingweird yes it was another long course meet. DD is lucky as our club has a great 50m pool with lots of spectator space so many meets, including counties and sometimes regionals, are at our pool. We don't often travel for meets.

Yes I have noticed the long to short conversion thing and wondered how accurate those are?

The difference between long and short course gets bigger the greater the distance of the race. A 100m short course has 3 turns which,if turns are reasonable, approx 5m minimum less per 25m to swim thanks to the wall so compare that to a LC pool where there is only 1 turn - 5m or so saved swimming compared to 15m saved. Scale that up and it's a huge difference when you get to 1500m.

Not very accurate at the younger ages, especially over longer distances. My DS is often faster long course than short course when it should be the other way round because he loses rather han gains times on the turns due to having weak little legs, one day he will grow. But they are what is used so we just have to accept them for what they are and go with it.

My ds is quicker long than short!

He only really races 50/100m free (and 400 against his better judgement!). But he loses time off wall because of his legs.

DS is better LC as he loses time on turns. They're getting better but we're exasperated at times! It's become a bit of standing joke

The LC to SC and vice versa are a bit off for the juniors. Also it is about having exposure to 50m pools or not, as the case may be.
Our Counties are swum LC and it is sad to see some of the newbies compete.

DD used to rely on SC times/turns for breast and fly to get her into Regionals as a Junior.

I was always annoyed about the lack of practice of starts / turns / finishes at DS’s club, and was forever being fobbed off with ‘they’re growing, it changes all the time, there’s no point in practicing because it’ll be different next month’. Great starts and turns are where you can shave so much off swim times.

At 15, DS switched to a club that didn’t do the 15 hrs a week slogging up and down but instead did 6 x 1 hr sessions, training at racing pace and focussing on stroke, starts, turns, breathing etc. He was always a good sprinter (when he was allowed to swim 50s) but on joining this club he took seconds off his 50 times. He learned more in 4 months than he had in 4 years with the previous club.

Good coaches will have training plans that take them through the season and apply them according to what is needed and when. We have times of the year where it is more distance and stamina building before they go into race practice mode.