swimming club when do they start

[lexcat]

dd 6 loves swimming has a group lesson and at the moment 1:1 lesson every week. I also try to take her swimming at least every other week. She's a litle fish and thinks of going swimming a treat.
She just got her asa level 7 and her teacher is going to do her level 8 and 200 metres after christmas.
How far can she go before she will be wanting more and possible do training with the local swim club. Their is an y3 who goes to swim cub trains twice a week loves it. Is eaisly the youngest in the club. It just seems to young or is that just me.

DD's friend is just 7 (Y2) and swims in galas, trains several times a week etc. However she really is amazing and well beyond the swimming lesson stage IYSWIM. Her mum is driving it (i.e. made the decision to sign her up with local squad)but the DD loves it. It seems very intense to me but on reflection i'm not sure it's all that different to my own DD's music lessons and groups in trems of time committed.

Thanks but when is beyond swimming lessons stage. I know dd is not there yet but seen to be on a learning curve. I don't want to push she but am aware of the fact she loves swimming and is very confident in the water, and I don't want her to lose intrest because she's bored.

My swimming club (am 32 so this was ages ago) took children for the swimming lesson stage. Children started off in the armbands section (they were v tiny) and the progressed through the lessons until they joined the development squads.

There were about 4 development squads so lots of opportunity for galas; I think I was 6 at my first one.

It is a big commitment. By 11 I was swimming twice a day at training sessions but I think things may have changed a little. But you will get to read a lot while you watch your child swim up and down.

I don't regret spending my childhood in the pool. I learnt how to teach swimming, lifesaving skills as well as competitiveness and all that. And I was fit! There was a social life too; there were often discos after galas and the parents went the pub on club nights. Most of them got involved in timekeeping at galas. Anything to pass the time really.

If your child is really good then he/she might be put into some sort of advanced squad which will call for a real commitment to train regularly and not miss sessions. It can also be financially a big commitment. Pool hire etc isn't cheap.

It kept me off the streets, anyhow!

llareggub thanks sounds great but still not sure. Was thinking 6months time she will be 7 and I will have to take it from there.
Found out it's 1 hour lane training twice a week to start with it quite a comittment for a young child. But I suppose if that what she what and is still loving swimming I not going to stop her.

I think the commitment on is on the part of the parent tbh. I loved swimming but now admire my parents for the early mornings and evenings.

Check the times too lexcat.
Our swimming club do take children from 5 or 6 if they show talent, even if they can only just swim. (They 'scout' in the beginners' lessons section, and invite likely prospects to join; also get a lot of siblings of course.)

But many of the training sessions are 'late' [IMO] in the evenings for very young children to be out/up.

My ds1 (10) swims with the club now but only in the bottom/non-competitive squad, which is nice. It's only twice a week (45 mins)and no pressure - he enjoys it.
If/when he gets promoted he will have to go 5 times a week

The price is good though. We pay £3/wk for 1.5 hrs in the pool/week. This is much better value than lessons which cost c.£4 for 30 mins in the pool.

Go for it. I'm an ex competitive swimmer, and agree with everything llareggub says. I swam 3-4 times per week from around 11 onwards, plus galas at the weekend. I loved it - all the swimming, travelling around to galas, the friends I made (some I am still friends with now, some 30 years later), the social side. And for me it led onto volunteer beach lifeguarding, which was pretty much the same but with shed loads of alcohol! No regrets here either.

I am really hoping that dd will want to be a swimmer too. She's just joined a club and she's 4, but it's not a competitive club, none of them round here take them until they're 5. But as much I'd love her to do it, I will be taking the lead from dd and if she is keen and wants to then all well and good I will support her, but if she isn't she can just do more recreational swimming.

Sounds as though she's doing really well and has potential to be a good club swimmer. Clubs do vary quite a bit in terms of 'seriousness' - it might be better to look out for a less serious (ie fewer training sessions per week) club to start with (you can always move later if you want), but it would also be good to find a club where there's one or two other young ones as well or she might feel rather isolated.
All this assumes you live somewhere where there is a choice! For now it could be good to look up what is available in your area and ask a few questions about when they like them to start (and at what ability), whether there's a waiting list and what sort of training schedule they would give your dd and what the ages of the people she would be swimming with would be.

meant to add at our club at about level 7 the kids move into a teaching group where they have a 30min widths class and a 30min lengths session to build their stamina. Then at about level 8 or 9 they move into a development squad with 2 1hr length sessions per week. I think a 6 year old would take longer to build the necessary stamina for that. It's actually not a bad thing to work on technique over short distances for longer as bad habits can be corrected straight away rather than getting ingrained.

Great info there snorkle one thing she does need to do is build up her stamina. She just moved up class where she will be swimming about 30 min widths instead of 30 mins 1/2 widths. That is one thing about her 1:1 lessons her teacher does get her swimming lenghts.
Have been told they have be level 10 but dd school mate started swim club just after she got level 8. I think it depends on the childs ability over all.
One of the training session is 7-8 or 8-9 on a Saturday morning the others start 7 in the evening. Not much choice of clubs, local one is about 5 miles or I have to go about 10-11 miles for more choice.