My son is a 10th grader. He is the best swimmer on his team, he is struggling with continuing on. At times he likes it, other times he really dislikes it. Small school Div 3 in Michigan. He is not a phenom swimmer, could maybe swim in college which he does not want to do (which I understand, especially for a walkon or a partial scholarship, you need to really love the sport). Not likely he will be involved in any other sport in HS. He likes weight lifting so he will stay in shape via personal work outs lifting and some running. He has a life guard job (very part time) but will be around the water.
He swam club from 3rd to 7th grade taking springs off. Took 8th grade off and then swam HS for 9th. He is a big kid. 6' 3" 215 pounds with size 16 flippers. Mostly a sprinter but can swim all strokes any distance. 23.39 50 SCY is his best time. No prep for this season, just weight lifiting and some running this past summer. No club swimming.
Team and Coaches would miss him. Coaches are very understanding and are very flexible in dealing with swimmers as individuals. They really look at swimmers as individuals and customize their program to the type of team and swimmers they have.
I am thinking he will not be back next year. I think he will regret it later. But in the end he must want to do it.
Any thoughts on how you felt about HS swimming? any motivating tips?
Does he have friends on the team or is he kind of a lone wolf? One of the biggest reasons the kids I know continue to swim HS (in addition to club) is because it's fun. They represent their school, hang with their friends at meets and HS meets are usually more relaxed than USS meets.
Representing their school is actually a bigger deal than I originally thought - these are kids who (usually) don't play other sports so being able to be on a team and potentially get a Varsity letter is a big deal.
I would also say it ultimately has to be on him. The teens I coach who swim because their parents are pressuring them or "make them" are unhappy and many end up quitting.
His best friend is on the team. He is newer to swimming and swam club in the summer between last/this season. Made a big improvement and is the teams long distance specialist. Flirting with state times now and a 10th grader also. 3rd best swimmer behind a senior captain.
This season started slow for my son. He caught some guff from this captain before the season because he did not swim club in the summer/fall or maybe my son was talking about not swimming just before the season. Not sure when this tension began. Just fond out about it during the past week. He had a minor weight lifting injury just before the season. One of the Coaches is really good at positive motivation and convinced him to swim this year. The injury healed fast and he started the first meet as fast as he was last season. He was part of a state qualifying 200/400 relay with 3 seniors. Was neck and neck with the #2 senior at end of the season last year.
He stalled a little about 1/3 of the season mark this year. Got sick with a sinus infection did not swim great going into a big mid season meet against bigger area schools. Missed some practices. Has a bad meet for him on a Tuesday then prelims on Thursday swims great. Was on antibiotics for a few days by then. Swims great turning PB in the 50/100 and helps his 200im/200FS relays qualify for finals also. Turns PB again in finals 50/100 taking 4th both times against 11/12th graders.
Never seen him so happy. Relays finish 5/6th he swam well in both, their school is much smaller than the other teams. Then he has another decent meet then something happens. Has a couple of bad practices and appears to have strained his shoulder weight lifting in a PE class. The captain comes down on him and it spirals down to "I hate swimming".
Not going to condemn this captain. Boys will be Boys. He is a dedicated swimmer. I think there is tension between them though. My son does not do well with negative criticism, never has.
I don't know if he is feeling pressure as the season winds down about making state cuts for the relays or individual events. It is not coming from the coaches. The relays are weak, compared to last year. Strong senior class last year. Rebuilding year only 2 seniors this year. Even if my son dropped 3 seconds on his 50 they won't make states this year.
We are not putting pressure on him to make states. Hey I would be happy about it for him. But it is not a critical issue at all. The numbers are what they are. Swimmers times go up and down some.
I guess I am just frustrated things looked so positive 2 weeks ago and now they look so negative.
He had a meet Thursday and he did well.
He qualified (at that big meet a couple of weeks ago) for the 50 for MISCA, meet is tomorrow. It is a state wide meet all divisions meet. I am only talking to him about swimming when he brings it up. Trying to be positive. Hoping things can be more positive for the last 1/3 of the season.
Does he have friends on the team or is he kind of a lone wolf? One of the biggest reasons the kids I know continue to swim HS (in addition to club) is because it's fun. They represent their school, hang with their friends at meets and HS meets are usually more relaxed than USS meets.
Representing their school is actually a bigger deal than I originally thought - these are kids who (usually) don't play other sports so being able to be on a team and potentially get a Varsity letter is a big deal.
I would also say it ultimately has to be on him. The teens I coach who swim because their parents are pressuring them or "make them" are unhappy and many end up quitting.
His best friend is on the team. He is newer to swimming and swam club in the summer between last/this season. Made a big improvement and is the teams long distance specialist. Flirting with state times now and a 10th grader also. 3rd best swimmer behind a senior captain.
This season started slow for my son. He caught some guff from this captain before the season because he did not swim club in the summer/fall or maybe my son was talking about not swimming just before the season. Not sure when this tension began. Just fond out about it during the past week. He had a minor weight lifting injury just before the season. One of the Coaches is really good at positive motivation and convinced him to swim this year. The injury healed fast and he started the first meet as fast as he was last season. He was part of a state qualifying 200/400 relay with 3 seniors. Was neck and neck with the #2 senior at end of the season last year.
He stalled a little about 1/3 of the season mark this year. Got sick with a sinus infection did not swim great going into a big mid season meet against bigger area schools. Missed some practices. Has a bad meet for him on a Tuesday then prelims on Thursday swims great. Was on antibiotics for a few days by then. Swims great turning PB in the 50/100 and helps his 200im/200FS relays qualify for finals also. Turns PB again in finals 50/100 taking 4th both times against 11/12th graders.
Never seen him so happy. Relays finish 5/6th he swam well in both, their school is much smaller than the other teams. Then he has another decent meet then something happens. Has a couple of bad practices and appears to have strained his shoulder weight lifting in a PE class. The captain comes down on him and it spirals down to "I hate swimming".
Not going to condemn this captain. Boys will be Boys. He is a dedicated swimmer. I think there is tension between them though. My son does not do well with negative criticism, never has.
I don't know if he is feeling pressure as the season winds down about making state cuts for the relays or individual events. It is not coming from the coaches. The relays are weak, compared to last year. Strong senior class last year. Rebuilding year only 2 seniors this year. Even if my son dropped 3 seconds on his 50 they won't make states this year.
We are not putting pressure on him to make states. Hey I would be happy about it for him. But it is not a critical issue at all. The numbers are what they are. Swimmers times go up and down some.
I guess I am just frustrated things looked so positive 2 weeks ago and now they look so negative.
He had a meet Thursday and he did well.
He qualified (at that big meet a couple of weeks ago) for the 50 for MISCA, meet is tomorrow. It is a state wide meet all divisions meet. I am only talking to him about swimming when he brings it up. Trying to be positive. Hoping things can be more positive for the last 1/3 of the season.
