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?
It was a waste of time for me because my best events weren't high school events and all the meets took up too much time away from training. It would be beneficial for a sprinter. Plus, my high school team(we didn't have a pool or alot of practice time for the swimmers who didn't train at an age group club) sucked. We lost to Glen Mills(the local Juvenile Hall High school) like twice. One time, it was due to no one came to the meet but me for real! Talk about blowout. However, masters swimming is never a waste of time. It is more of an adventure. Plus, you compete and meet swimmers who want to compete instead of being around swimmers who seem forced to do it by their parents or even community. I can count on one hand all the swimmers that I grew up with that I see at masters meets. I look for them too!
It was a waste of time for me because my best events weren't high school events and all the meets took up too much time away from training. It would be beneficial for a sprinter. Plus, my high school team(we didn't have a pool or alot of practice time for the swimmers who didn't train at an age group club) sucked. We lost to Glen Mills(the local Juvenile Hall High school) like twice. One time, it was due to no one came to the meet but me for real! Talk about blowout. However, masters swimming is never a waste of time. It is more of an adventure. Plus, you compete and meet swimmers who want to compete instead of being around swimmers who seem forced to do it by their parents or even community. I can count on one hand all the swimmers that I grew up with that I see at masters meets. I look for them too!
