HS swim teams. Was it worth the time and effort?

This. I have all boys and, left to their own devices, I'm pretty sure they'd be on the computer or the XBOX non-stop if we didn't insist they did a sport in high school :) The oldest just finished his Senior season. He never did USAS and was not ever the fastest - but he lettered and made some good friends. As a great student but an introvert, it was really helpful for him to have been able to include 4 years of swimming and orchestra on his college applications. It's also made him a more well-rounded human being. I think it helps that our high school has a water polo club (it's not an official sport here) and the swimmers get to play polo in the Spring. Do you all have anything like that? Our school also has a triathlon club - maybe your son would want to swim to be able to compete in those? Or maybe he just needs to choose a new sport? They play it once in a while as a fun thing in practice and have a alumni game every year against the team. The kids love it. The coaches are alumni from the school also and play. No official club though. This is a great idea though. Could be a great thing for the girls team also. I will ask/suggest it to the coaches. Could benefit a lot of kids present/future.

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.

Our swim coaches also coach the polo teams (girls and boys - they often practice together). There was quite a learning curve in the beginning for both the coaches and the swimmers. They often have to play in pools that are too shallow at one end to follow the rules exactly but they have a great time. Most of the schools in the district have water polo clubs. There is one team in our district whose coach is too competitive to let his kids do polo. It's a shame, IMO. I know what you mean about coaches. He has great coaches in a small program. They are competitive but not overbearing. Quality but small program.

I think you and your son could be on the cusp of greatness if just a few cards fall the right way. At 6-3 and 215 lbs and a dedicated weight lifter he screams potential. It seems to me with the right coaching and right environment he could be sub 22 in the 50 and have an entirely different attitude on swimming. Ideally maybe he and his best friend could evolve together to make this happen, but I appreciate your position as a parent. I tried to get my son to join a club along with a buddy, but the buddy bailed and there went the swimming. He did play 4 years HS football and his last two years they were state champs so all ended well. In my own situation my HS swimming couldn't have been more formative. In suburban Chicago during the season HS swimming rules. Matt Grevers, Conor Dwyer, and most recently Reed Malone being recent examples. My sophomore year a number of us went to Trials in Detroit and we had 3 swimmers as Trials finalists!!! I swam well enough to be All American eight times. Looking back it was all about the environment. It was very positive and our coach, Dave Robertson, was legendary. The stars came into alignment as they had in the past only in 1961 more so. Sports Illustrated did a piece on the team. I wish you and your son well, and hope the stars come into alignment for both of you. For me I'll continue with Masters Swimming and loving every minute of it. Swim fast, live slow.

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!

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. This is what I was thinking. Although I didn't swim in HS, the friends I had who did only did so because they had a blast with their friends on the team.

Friends and fun will be the telling point here My hs swim career gave me the confidence to go to college and graduate. My hs coach Dave Wallery - revise hs in Burbank il. was my mentor along with my parents to try to do your best ,what ever level that might be. I was never state ranked as a kid and now in my 30th year as a masters have gone on to be better than all my friends that have now dropped out from age - that is the excuse for not working out. Great story, Orca! It was a pleasure swimming against you in Greensboro, and I hope we get together at future meets. To me you epitomize what Masters is all about.

I was a club swimmer for 15 years before I went on to swim in college. The emphasis of high school season from my perspective was to have fun and swim some off events that I would generally not swim during short and long course USS swim seasons. Swimming (any sport) should always be about having fun and competing. If you aren't willing to consistently put in the work, or if you do not enjoy it then you should move on and find something else. As you progress in swimming from age-group, juniors, senior, university, international the commitment and time required only increases. I will admit that after I graduated from college and my swimming career ended I was so burnt out that I had trouble getting into any type of pool for any reason. After my last practice in college, the seniors had a ritual of burning all there swimming equipment as a way to release yourself from the bonds of swimming. It took me 6 years to finally get back in the pool and swim again. I have swam (for fitness, I have no desire to ever race another human being again) consistently for three years now and I have fallen in love all over again with the sport. My advice to your son is to do what he likes and excel at it. There is no reason to press him to do something that he doesn't like and that he will ultimately regret.

Friends and fun will be the telling point here My hs swim career gave me the confidence to go to college and graduate. My hs coach Dave Wallery - revise hs in Burbank il. was my mentor along with my parents to try to do your best ,what ever level that might be. I was never state ranked as a kid and now in my 30th year as a masters have gone on to be better than all my friends that have now dropped out from age - that is the excuse for not working out.