Hello all,
Even though this is a masters forum, I was hoping someone knows of any stories about collegiate or even world class swimmers who struggled when they were in 7-8s or 9-10s. I am looking for some stories to give my daughter some hope. She is 10, loves swimming, and it has been great for her development. But despite really good improvement, she is getting discouraged by a lack of results; and after this weekends champs, she was really down in the dumps despite setting 5 best times. I fear that she will throw in the towel if it feels hopeless to her, so I would like to be able to point to some concrete story of success just to give her hope. I remember I gave up swimming in High School after years of getting beaten like a drum no matter how hard I worked, so I know how discouraging it can get. If she gives up in High School, I would actually be okay with that, but she loves it so much I would hate to see her give up earlier.
I know most top level swimmers have been are great athletes all the way through life (Michael Phelps was the best player on his youth soccer and lacrosse teams) but I was looking for any anecdotes about the classic late bloomer.
I admire her competitiveness, but the main thing she needs to worry about at 10 is fun, and getting her technique right. And developing a work ethic. 10 is nothing. Besides, at 10, you have a few early bloomers who have already grown and tower over their peers, who are usually beating the snot out of everyone. That advantage will be gone by 14.
Only something like 10% of kids ranked nationally at 10 are still ranked nationally at 18. Anecdote, my daughter went from the slowest kid in the pool at 8 to A times at 10 to AAAA at 12.
That said, if she's not putting in the work, she won't get there. And I don't mean showing up for practice, I mean challenging herself on every interval, every set in practice.
Very well said!
Keep it fun and don't get too wrapped up in placing, especially at that age. Even at the the highest level of the sport, if you watch interviews, many of the swimmers will preach that they "focus on what they can control" and "don't get too wrapped up in the result." To illustrate 67king's point, take a look a this tweet from a world championship finalist/NCAA Champ:
twitter.com/.../969953922134757376
I admire her competitiveness, but the main thing she needs to worry about at 10 is fun, and getting her technique right. And developing a work ethic. 10 is nothing. Besides, at 10, you have a few early bloomers who have already grown and tower over their peers, who are usually beating the snot out of everyone. That advantage will be gone by 14.
Only something like 10% of kids ranked nationally at 10 are still ranked nationally at 18. Anecdote, my daughter went from the slowest kid in the pool at 8 to A times at 10 to AAAA at 12.
That said, if she's not putting in the work, she won't get there. And I don't mean showing up for practice, I mean challenging herself on every interval, every set in practice.
Very well said!
Keep it fun and don't get too wrapped up in placing, especially at that age. Even at the the highest level of the sport, if you watch interviews, many of the swimmers will preach that they "focus on what they can control" and "don't get too wrapped up in the result." To illustrate 67king's point, take a look a this tweet from a world championship finalist/NCAA Champ:
twitter.com/.../969953922134757376
