Background - she is really new to this and just getting into the sport late. As in, she was a mediocre recreational swimmer who was afraid to try to dive just 6 months ago. But she did a summer swim camp, and then her 7th grade team (a no-cuts team), and she fell in love with it, so we just unloaded a moderate chunk of $$$ to get her into a year-round league/club to train up in the off-season.
She has REALLY come a long way in six months. :) The thing is, at 12, she is only really competitive with the 9s and 10s and some 11s, all of whom have been in organized swimming for far longer than she, even at their age. She is not really competitive with many of the 12s, and next year she will age up, and be forced to compete with the 13-14s.
Right now, she has ok technique, but relatively little strength/stamina, and confidence. Her personal bests are as follows:
50 free: 37.25
50 ***: 45.93
50 back: 44.70
100 free: 1:26.00
100 ***: 1:43.48
100 back: 1:39.71 (that 100 back time she just got at a meet today in an age 11-12 race, and it was her personal best, but it was still only good for #19 place out of 20, not including 2 girls who were DQ'ed.)
She can swim a 200, or a 300 or a 400 in warmups, but not at a race pace; her fall-off from the first 50 to the second (and third, and so on...) is precipitous.
So here are my questions. Sorry for the wordiness. Just being a dad:
Should I be freaked out that she only has 10 months before she ages up?
What is an appropriate cardio and stamina regimen for a 12 y.o. girl - effective, but not obnoxious or oppressive?
What dry land exercises should she be doing?
What do your teens and tweens do on race days as far as eating/drinking/carbs/nutrition, etc...? I mean in terms of timing, quantity, calorie count, types of carbs, etc...?
What are realistic goals? Short-term I mean, say this school year, by June.
Thanks. Any thoughts would be awesome. She loves swimming and I just want her to be happy, but if she has a chance to be really good at it, of course, I want that too.
Don't worry, I swam 42 in a 50 yard breaststroke as a 12 year old and got down to 36 as a 15 yard old. My best was 1:16.1 in 100 yard breastbone which would be more like a 1:13 since the stoke is somewhat different from what it is in the 1970's. I swam a 44 50 yard butterfly at 12 years old and 32 at 15 years old and about 30 at 19 in community college fly. I swam 1:08 100 yard fly at 15 years old and my best time was 1:05.8 at age 18 which is probably about a 1:04 or maybe a 1:03 with the more dolphin kicks that are allowed today compared to the 1970's which were only two underwater. I almost swam in Jr nationals in a relay but the coach wanted me to get faster in LC course fly which I only did 1:15 as 18 years old in fly. I was an average swimmer, A times in ***, Fly and Free and a C swimmer in backstroke my first stroke as a kid. I mean Backstroke was my worst stroke. Your daughter 100 yard breaststroke time helps me feel better since about 2 months from age 60 I did a 1:48.5. I bet your daughter will improved a lot in a year and you will find out if she is a backstroker or breastroker by them. I knew breaststroke was my best stroke and by age 13 fly was going to be my second best stroke. Lots of kids like your daughter will help high school swim teams I did.
Don't worry, I swam 42 in a 50 yard breaststroke as a 12 year old and got down to 36 as a 15 yard old. My best was 1:16.1 in 100 yard breastbone which would be more like a 1:13 since the stoke is somewhat different from what it is in the 1970's. I swam a 44 50 yard butterfly at 12 years old and 32 at 15 years old and about 30 at 19 in community college fly. I swam 1:08 100 yard fly at 15 years old and my best time was 1:05.8 at age 18 which is probably about a 1:04 or maybe a 1:03 with the more dolphin kicks that are allowed today compared to the 1970's which were only two underwater. I almost swam in Jr nationals in a relay but the coach wanted me to get faster in LC course fly which I only did 1:15 as 18 years old in fly. I was an average swimmer, A times in ***, Fly and Free and a C swimmer in backstroke my first stroke as a kid. I mean Backstroke was my worst stroke. Your daughter 100 yard breaststroke time helps me feel better since about 2 months from age 60 I did a 1:48.5. I bet your daughter will improved a lot in a year and you will find out if she is a backstroker or breastroker by them. I knew breaststroke was my best stroke and by age 13 fly was going to be my second best stroke. Lots of kids like your daughter will help high school swim teams I did.
