While I admire the kid's talent and perseverance, I question whether anyone should be giving this so called record any publicity. That swim is not without risks for adults, and it seems reckless to encourage younger and younger swimmers to try it. This is they kind of thing that go from "impressive" to "tragedy" very easily.
Great accomplishment but why do I get the feeling Dad pushed him into this? I have a friend who competed in the Escape from Alcatraz race with her 12 year old daughter and she didn't have to pay her daughter a dime to want to do it...
While I admire the kid's talent and perseverance, I question whether anyone should be giving this so called record any publicity. That swim is not without risks for adults, and it seems reckless to encourage younger and younger swimmers to try it. This is they kind of thing that go from "impressive" to "tragedy" very easily.
I agree with both of you. Although I was applauding the accomplishment of such a little guy, the same thoughts came to mind as well. The idea of paying (bribing?) your child to do something like that doesn't sit well with me at all. :shakeshead:
I come from a running background, not swimming so much. I've learned through the years that the worse thing you can do to a kid who has aspirations of being a serious competitor is to allow them to do very long distances. I believe during your developmental years you should strive to gain power, speed, and strength. Truthfully, when you become as fast/strong as you can be that is a good time to start increasing to long distances. In running it has been proven to me that the kids who run lots of 10K, half marathons, and marathons place high (going slow), get tons of attention (they are cute and precocious), but then really don't enjoy their middle school and high school programs too much since the longest distances are 2 mile in Track and 5K (HS) in Cross Country. It's a tough pill to swallow when you're used to getting a big trophy and lots of attention for a subpar 10K, and not being able to win the 2 mile varsity race in ms/hs and receiving a lousy ribbon for doing so. With that said I also believe keeping people moving is a big issue in society. If I had a child who was begging me to do uber distance events or challenges I'd probably allow it if it got them off their butts and moving.
