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!
Former Member
Thank you Glenn!
I agree with you!! ...but tell that to my son!
He is dropping one activity after the other (Judo, Scouts,...) to concentrate on swimming. I am simply starting to worry that he might never become the great swimmer he aspires to be.
I do know that he enjoys swimming...but I also know that he likes it because he is hopeful to (soon!) see results - and that, for him, means medals.
I am wondering whether he is just not "cut out" to be a really good swimmer? Does that exist? I mean, how much more could a kid his age be doing to be successful???
I really am not the one pushing him (and no one else is either!). He wants to be on that podium so badly, that it is heartbreaking to see him invest so much without getting significantly closer to his dream...
He IS constantly getting better, but so is everybody else...
Long story short: Are there people who will never be really good swimmers, regardless of the effort put into the project (and in spite of having an "athletic build"/being very athletic in general...)???
Thanks!
...you are surely right, and we are more than impressed by his perseverance...
Otoh, he is an excellent skier and judoka, too, and it seems very "risky" to put all apples into one basket (swimming), if what he really is after is "official recognition".
I am seriously worried, that he missed that train in swimming, due to having started late (he started swimming about three years ago, started to become serious about one year ago)...or simply not being "talented" (if that even exists in swimming???).
I am just not knowledgeable enough, to be confident either way...
My "worrisome" mother steered me away from a sport when I was kid because she was concerned about me failing. I went on and did another sport that I wasn't as passionate about in order to appease her.
Twelve years later, I'm too old to compete in that sport and I'm left wondering what if?
I'll never have that peace of mind knowing that I may not have been able to compete at the highest level, but at least I tried. I could have been proud and content with that. Instead, I'm just left wondering what if.
Your intentions are good, but the ramifications of your actions based on your fear of the unknown might leave your son resenting you in the future.
I like it that your son has a goal and is making choices (some of them hard) to meet that goal. Who knows how it will turn out? He'll learn something either way.
