Swimming - weaker swimmers on higher stages

[SwimMum1]

My Dd swims and competes at a swimming club (trains with the club 3 hours a week). On top of this she has an hour swimming lesson. She is currently Stage 8. Where she swims Stage 8, 9 and 10 are taught together. She has continued with her lessons as she wanted to complete the stages. I am getting quite frustrated though as for some reason her teacher doesn't want to complete her for the last 20 percent on her stage 8. The issue is that she is a better swimmer than other children who I know are on a higher stage. I suspect (though I can't be sure), that the pool say they have to be at a stage for a certain length of time. Obviously though given my daughter is doing 4 hours of swimming a week, she is progressing quicker than if she was just doing a 1 hour lesson (as the other children are). Does anyone know if this practice actually goes on? My sister thought the same when my nieces took lessons in a completely different area of the country.

My experience was that the levels were completely open to interpretation. DD1 spent a few years at stage 5, DD2 did it on about 6 weeks for example. DD2 was no where near the level of DD2 when she completed it... but was a lot better than others in the stage 5 class when she was in stage 4.

We left at that stage as it was so pointless.
Its really not worth it.

I’d ditch the lessons and just go with the club training sessions. If she’s thinking of going down the competitive route then she’ll get all the technique she needs from the coach.

One of my daughters did all the stages. She was in 8,9,10 at 90% for at least a year! IME it’s completely arbitrary when they move them.
Mine was similar in that she was doing a lot of other hours of swim training outside of lessons.
I’m glad those days are behind us now!

I think the issue is they have a tick list of things that have to be passed in each stage. Some of them might be things like 'swim a length in clothes' or 'do a tumble turn' which the teachers will only do with the class quite infrequently, as most of the lessons are focused on swimming front crawl etc. So you can't pass the stage til everything has been ticked off. In our lessons you could see which things had been ticked off on an app. Ask the teacher?

My DDs, both now teens, are competitive swimmers. Boy was it painful getting them through the stages. From getting the eldest out the small pool that you could stand up in and didn't involve much actual swimming when she could swim 25m, to actually completing stage 10... she was a naturally strong swimmer from the start but didn't get to stage 10 before she was age 10. And that was only because she'd been accepted into swim club and only had a few weeks of lessons left, so I went and asked if she was ever going to get her stage 9. The teacher looked at the records and advised that actually she should have been awarded her stage 9 and only had one thing to complete on stage 10, which they then did the following week. Said DD is now paying it forward as a swim teacher at the same pool! Younger DD is a strong character who knows her own mind and doesn't stand for any nonsense. When she got into swim club she refused to carry on with lessons as well just for the sake of getting the badges.

So yes - they drag it out unnecessary as a money spinner. See also driving lessons.

This was before the days of being able to view progress on an app.

Thanks all. It is interesting to hear from those of you who have been through the same.

I have the App and can see her progress. Her teacher hasn't even passed her for the 25m breaststroke section. This is my Dds best stroke. Today she was doing breaststroke and lapping children on a higher stage who were doing front crawl. I know speed isn't everything within the stages, as they mark on technique, but her coach at swimming club often gets her to do demonstrations for the other kids in breaststroke as her technique is so good. She is also not a naturally fast, powerful child, her speed is due to spending a lot of time getting her technique right.

On a side, she just took part in her swimming clubs Championships for the first time and came first in her age group. There is a part of me that definitely thinks just ditch the lessons, as her achievements are at least being recognized else where. Another part of me though, thinks she has come this far, it seems a shame not to complete the stages, especially when my Dd is so keen to.

You haven’t said how old your DD is, but it sounds like she’s progressed beyond the LTS levels. If she’s doing 3 hrs a week with a club (so I’m thinking she’s 7 or 8) then another hour with LTS isn’t necessary. You don’t need to collect certificates.

I’d also say that children that are natural BRS swimmers can find other strokes more challenging, so bear that in mind when it comes to club swimming.

I'd just speak to the teacher in your case.

You don't say that you've actually spoken to her about this

@SabrinaThwaite LTS levels are Stage 1-7. She's on stage 8 which is a competitive swimming level. She is actually 9 years (coming up 10). Her swimming club usually only takes kids from age 8 and she has been there a year. You are right about finding other strokes more challenging. That said, her butterfly is good. Freestyle has been her weakest stroke and a challenge for a while, then at training this week, it's like it just clicked and she was doing great times.

Just take her out of swimming lessons. There is no need to compete the stages and she will learn far better technique and stamina in swim club. My DS only got his 10m badge (they didn't do the official stages) at swimming lessons but joined a swimming club at 8 and has competed at national level and completed marathon swims before retiring at 15.

And quite honestly, better technique from the club especially on breaststroke. We despair on how it’s taught and it’s been brought up with the schools and higher.
Neither of mine went past stage 7, they went to club swimming. One managed county championship level, the other British champs so if your DC wants to carry on down the competitive route, stages are not worth it.

Our child joined a swimming club and never completed the final Swim England swimming badge. She's county level now and the swimming badges are long forgotten. Your DD must have got a medal at her club championships so is it time for a chat about how she has moved beyond the lessons and badges now she's training?

Our other child however did go through all the swimming badges as it was a way to encourage DC to keep going - definitely not keen on joining a club! DC passed Stage 8 and 9 at the same time so I don't think there is a fixed amount of time they need to be at each stage, they just need to tick all the boxes.

It sounds like your DD's swimming lessons have too many children and the teacher is not being strategic about ensuring she does the activities she needs for her badge.

Ah, I’m used to the old Scottish levels, before they introduced the equivalent Club Ready top tier of LTS.

Having looked up Stages 8 - 10 then I’d definitely ditch them and stick to club coaching sessions.

Have you raised that with the trainer? Maybe she's got certain weaknesses she needs to improve on