I have three kids swimming.
Two girls (8 & 10) and a son 12.
All the kids started together (private lessons) about three years ago. Today they are involved in age-group swimming. The girls are seeing great results (best/fourth in our country), ds is still busy "catching-up". He is incredibly dedicated and ambitious, his dream being to come home with medals...
He does enjoy swimming...but, we can turn it any way we want, he is after measurable performance! Ds is good, and has come a long way. Still, I am wondering whether he will ever excel...
He is athletically built and will likely be tall. These past months he has trained five times per week (2h), and will step it up to 6/7 times per week in the fall. I am wondering whether this "will do", or whether we should gently steer ds towards a sport where he can truly succeed (by his standards!!).
I don't know a thing about swimming, so am in no position to judge this situation. Most of all, I am not a "pool-mom", and my only concern is, that my sun might be chasing a shadow....
Thank you for any insights!
Whenever someone worries about future athletic success for a child, I am always reminded that John Naber got a relatively late start, yet went on to be a tremendous swimmer. Success shouldn't necessarily be measured in terms of gold medals or college scholarships though. For now, if he's happy, that should be enough. It may be something he continues for a long while, or it might be a stepping stone to something else. Maybe we he gets to high school he'll discover water polo, for example. Or something else entirely.
I never swam in high school, did a year as an over-18 "age group" swimmer when I lifeguarded at a YMCA during college, then did very little after that. When I turned 50 I returned to swimming as the toll on my body from a number of gravity-limiting sports (basketball, volleyball and running) began to reveal itself. I don't swim with nearly the objective success many people here have, but I still enjoy it. Recollections of swimming when I was younger were at least partly responsible for me returning to the sport after all these years.
Whenever someone worries about future athletic success for a child, I am always reminded that John Naber got a relatively late start, yet went on to be a tremendous swimmer. Success shouldn't necessarily be measured in terms of gold medals or college scholarships though. For now, if he's happy, that should be enough. It may be something he continues for a long while, or it might be a stepping stone to something else. Maybe we he gets to high school he'll discover water polo, for example. Or something else entirely.
I never swam in high school, did a year as an over-18 "age group" swimmer when I lifeguarded at a YMCA during college, then did very little after that. When I turned 50 I returned to swimming as the toll on my body from a number of gravity-limiting sports (basketball, volleyball and running) began to reveal itself. I don't swim with nearly the objective success many people here have, but I still enjoy it. Recollections of swimming when I was younger were at least partly responsible for me returning to the sport after all these years.
