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
It is interesting that you refer to this as a "problem" when it is basically self induced. The world is full of kids who can almost make junior cuts and who can potentially swim at the NCAA level. The real issue is how many times a week he should be swimming to keep in in the sport and advance his swimming career.
As a high school and a club coach and as a parent of a kid who does both, here is what I would suggest. The camaraderie of high school swimming is hard to beat and will provide him with a lifetime of good memories. However, I fully recognize that club swimming is where you get your swimming chops. I require my year round swimmers to attend one HS workout a week, often as peer coaches. Forcing these kids to do both daily would likely result in nothing good, for me, the school, the school team, the club team, or, most importantly, the student athlete. The only focus should be what is best for the kid and the two coaches should figure this out. Right now you are in a situation where the coaches and you are doing nothing good for this kid. 5 hours a day is ridiculous.
It seems there are a lot of different situation on this nationwide, often varying from state to state. I realize this often poses conflicts but it doesn't have to if adults keep the focus on the student athletes instead of their trophy cases.
It is interesting that you refer to this as a "problem" when it is basically self induced. The world is full of kids who can almost make junior cuts and who can potentially swim at the NCAA level. The real issue is how many times a week he should be swimming to keep in in the sport and advance his swimming career.
As a high school and a club coach and as a parent of a kid who does both, here is what I would suggest. The camaraderie of high school swimming is hard to beat and will provide him with a lifetime of good memories. However, I fully recognize that club swimming is where you get your swimming chops. I require my year round swimmers to attend one HS workout a week, often as peer coaches. Forcing these kids to do both daily would likely result in nothing good, for me, the school, the school team, the club team, or, most importantly, the student athlete. The only focus should be what is best for the kid and the two coaches should figure this out. Right now you are in a situation where the coaches and you are doing nothing good for this kid. 5 hours a day is ridiculous.
It seems there are a lot of different situation on this nationwide, often varying from state to state. I realize this often poses conflicts but it doesn't have to if adults keep the focus on the student athletes instead of their trophy cases.
