Will he ever improve?

Oh man, I relate to your son so much. I'm also a late-bloomer and went from zero athletic experience to obsessed with swimming in the span of my last couple years in high school. I think it's really impressive and encouraging that your son's motivation seems to be intrinsic - yes, he might be hard on himself or discouraged at times, but from how you describe him it sounds like he really wants to swim because this is something he loves and wants to improve at. It's also really good that it sounds like he has an accurate perception of his performance - that's hard to do, I know when I first started I over or underestimated my abilities. An accurate perception of your current performance is key to achieving your future goals. Overall, if he loves it and wants to get better at it, it sounds like swimming will have a positive impact on his life, in fact, overcoming and facing the struggles may help build resilience and true commitment. Even when I was of the slowest swimmers on my HS team, and I struggled with guilt and shame about my underperformance compared to my HS peers, swimming still had a highly positive impact on my life because, good or bad, I was able to live out something I loved. "If something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly." Is a quote I adore that is relevant here. I loved my swimmer identity and loved the version of myself willing to put in hard work even for minimal results. Swimming was worth my time, $, energy, and emotions, and if being a slow swimmer was what it took to be a swimmer, that's what I had to take. And while gradual, I did start to marginally improve my times. I improved the most by having seasons of real ambition and nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic... followed up by bouts of rest and putting my swimming into a greater perspective in my life. Some days I was a hardworking swimmer. Some days I was just me, and it was not necessary to align swimming performance with identity. The former kept me going and improving. The latter kept me forgiving and realistic. I'm still battling the insecurities and guilt that comes with not being as good as your peers, and being hard on yourself when you're new enough to not be experienced; but not new enough that your novice status can waive your lack of ability and skill. What has worked for me best is keeping it all in perspective. Even as a young adult, this is difficult to do some days. It's important to remember that discouragement and set-backs are part of ANY process, relationship, or goal in life. Sometimes being hard on yourself or unsettled with your circumstance is a silver lining, something that's going to activate emotional energy that drives you to put in the work and stick out the uncomfortable or hard parts. As a person, you have a right to make time to improve yourself, your physical strength, your performance in your swimming... Of course, sometimes being hard on yourself is counteractive, and makes you so hyperaware of yourself that its hard to improve, because you've lost appreciation that improvement could happen beyond where you can perceive it. For most of us, swimming is a balancing act. EDIT: In response to your last post, OP, hell yes, he will definitely improve in the next months and years if this is what he still desires and acts on. Swimming is one of the least elitist, least discriminating sports I've encountered, personally. Anyone of any background can jump in the water and improve to personal achievements. You can still track for international competition in swimming later on if you know your stuff, and it's a lifelong sport. That's the message most of Masters is here to communicate - that it's not too late to enjoy or participate in swimming! :cheerleader: - There are plenty of cool stories out there of swimmers with open minds and devotion who turned the tables on convention and accomplished swimming later in life. One of my favorites is Lynne Cox, who swam 20+ miles in open ocean in her early teens, and continued on to marathon swims in Antarctica and Alaska in her adulthood, unbelievably. If you search USMS archives, you occasionally find handfuls of 20-40 somethings qualifying for Olympic Trials. You'll get as far as your hard work takes you.

Oh man, I relate to your son so much. I'm also a late-bloomer and went from zero athletic experience to obsessed with swimming in the span of my last couple years in high school. I think it's really impressive and encouraging that your son's motivation seems to be intrinsic - yes, he might be hard on himself or discouraged at times, but from how you describe him it sounds like he really wants to swim because this is something he loves and wants to improve at. It's also really good that it sounds like he has an accurate perception of his performance - that's hard to do, I know when I first started I over or underestimated my abilities. An accurate perception of your current performance is key to achieving your future goals. Overall, if he loves it and wants to get better at it, it sounds like swimming will have a positive impact on his life, in fact, overcoming and facing the struggles may help build resilience and true commitment. Even when I was of the slowest swimmers on my HS team, and I struggled with guilt and shame about my underperformance compared to my HS peers, swimming still had a highly positive impact on my life because, good or bad, I was able to live out something I loved. "If something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly." Is a quote I adore that is relevant here. I loved my swimmer identity and loved the version of myself willing to put in hard work even for minimal results. Swimming was worth my time, $, energy, and emotions, and if being a slow swimmer was what it took to be a swimmer, that's what I had to take. And while gradual, I did start to marginally improve my times. I improved the most by having seasons of real ambition and nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic... followed up by bouts of rest and putting my swimming into a greater perspective in my life. Some days I was a hardworking swimmer. Some days I was just me, and it was not necessary to align swimming performance with identity. The former kept me going and improving. The latter kept me forgiving and realistic. I'm still battling the insecurities and guilt that comes with not being as good as your peers, and being hard on yourself when you're new enough to not be experienced; but not new enough that your novice status can waive your lack of ability and skill. What has worked for me best is keeping it all in perspective. Even as a young adult, this is difficult to do some days. It's important to remember that discouragement and set-backs are part of ANY process, relationship, or goal in life. Sometimes being hard on yourself or unsettled with your circumstance is a silver lining, something that's going to activate emotional energy that drives you to put in the work and stick out the uncomfortable or hard parts. As a person, you have a right to make time to improve yourself, your physical strength, your performance in your swimming... Of course, sometimes being hard on yourself is counteractive, and makes you so hyperaware of yourself that its hard to improve, because you've lost appreciation that improvement could happen beyond where you can perceive it. For most of us, swimming is a balancing act. EDIT: In response to your last post, OP, hell yes, he will definitely improve in the next months and years if this is what he still desires and acts on. Swimming is one of the least elitist, least discriminating sports I've encountered, personally. Anyone of any background can jump in the water and improve to personal achievements. You can still track for international competition in swimming later on if you know your stuff, and it's a lifelong sport. That's the message most of Masters is here to communicate - that it's not too late to enjoy or participate in swimming! :cheerleader: - There are plenty of cool stories out there of swimmers with open minds and devotion who turned the tables on convention and accomplished swimming later in life. One of my favorites is Lynne Cox, who swam 20+ miles in open ocean in her early teens, and continued on to marathon swims in Antarctica and Alaska in her adulthood, unbelievably. If you search USMS archives, you occasionally find handfuls of 20-40 somethings qualifying for Olympic Trials. You'll get as far as your hard work takes you.