Greetings all!!
Frequent lurker ... not so frequent poster. I've been swimming Masters for about a year now with my son's USA swim club. After only 45 years out of the water ... I have a LONG way to go, but I am generally feeling better than I have in a LONG time!!
Right now, my wife and I are increasingly concerned about our son who is 14.5 and a sophomore in high school (skipped a grade so he's a bit younger than normal). He's been a age group swimmer since he was 8. From the time he hit about 11, he was the only guy on his team to make it to PNS Champs (we're in Tacoma, WA). He's primarily a breaststroker. (When he was younger, his coach often joked that he ought to swim the *** during freestyle since he was faster doing *** than he was doing crawl!!) In the past couple of years, he has improved to the AG Sectional and Regional Levels. He's still a ways from Jr Nationals (5-10 seconds on his 100/200 *** times). He lettered last year in HS as a freshman and swam at the league and district levels. He was about 4 secs off a state qualifying time. (His immediate goal this year is to make the state time.)
His club swim team coach has ID'd him as having the potential to go much further ... at least into the NCAA level. She's talked to him about it, and he decided that that's what he would like to do. But ...
He also started playing water polo. Played some club last year and is currently on the HS varsity team. He enjoys the fun of the game and being with the guys on the HS team. But, it is taking a lot of time away from his club swim team. And, it's really sapping his energy. He's been pretty sick twice already this school year and seems to always be tired. (I know the easy answer is just to tell him to quit water polo and concentrate on swimming but that's easier said than done. Especially when he's having so much fun with his teammates.)
Our concern is really more than just the polo issue. It's the whole HS vs Club swimming focus. He wants to swim on the HS team again this year (season starts in late November) but it will take away from his club practices. Plus, it takes away a lot of his energy ... last year there were many days where he swam from 5:30-7:00am, then from 2:15-4:30pm with the HS, and then club from 4:30-6:30. Thats a LOT of time for a 14-year old to be in the pool!! (Luckily he's pretty smart so he's able to maintain a 3.5-3.6 GPA without a lot of studying.)
My question is ... how do y'all recommend dealing with this? How, or maybe even should, we balance between club and HS swimming? How did you do it when you were a kid? How are you doing it with your kids now? And, finally, how can we re-kindle and help him maintain his passion for swimming and encourage him to make it to the next level?
My wife and I have never really dealt with this problem before and we really need some advice.
Thanks in advance.
Ken
My question is ... how do y'all recommend dealing with this? How, or maybe even should, we balance between club and HS swimming? How did you do it when you were a kid? How are you doing it with your kids now?
This is one of those things that different states handle differently. I grew up in Michigan and there you either swam high school or you swam club. You didn't do both at once and HS swimming was a big deal. Here in Washington the good swimmers primarily continue to train with their club teams and attend just what is necessary to be a part of their HS team. Most of the HS training tends to be low-key. In fact, I'm amazed your son's team trains more than two hours per day.
I think the bottom line is three workouts a day is excessive. Is there some way he can do the morning club workout and the HS afternoon workout and skip the afternoon club workout? If the coach requires him to attend all the club workouts "just because" he or she is being an ass, IMO. And that's certainly not unheard of. For whatever reason lots of club coaches see high school swimming as sort of Mickey Mouse and something that takes away from their training. My opinion is being part of a team trumps the more serious club training. These are kids, for Pete's sake. Let them have some fun.
As far as polo, I think he should continue playing if he likes it. I've known plenty of swimmers who've been able to do both.
My question is ... how do y'all recommend dealing with this? How, or maybe even should, we balance between club and HS swimming? How did you do it when you were a kid? How are you doing it with your kids now?
This is one of those things that different states handle differently. I grew up in Michigan and there you either swam high school or you swam club. You didn't do both at once and HS swimming was a big deal. Here in Washington the good swimmers primarily continue to train with their club teams and attend just what is necessary to be a part of their HS team. Most of the HS training tends to be low-key. In fact, I'm amazed your son's team trains more than two hours per day.
I think the bottom line is three workouts a day is excessive. Is there some way he can do the morning club workout and the HS afternoon workout and skip the afternoon club workout? If the coach requires him to attend all the club workouts "just because" he or she is being an ass, IMO. And that's certainly not unheard of. For whatever reason lots of club coaches see high school swimming as sort of Mickey Mouse and something that takes away from their training. My opinion is being part of a team trumps the more serious club training. These are kids, for Pete's sake. Let them have some fun.
As far as polo, I think he should continue playing if he likes it. I've known plenty of swimmers who've been able to do both.
