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 started swimming competitively at 5 and promptly quit. I sucked at 7 and 8. I was not much better at 9 and 10. I got a smidge better at 11 and 12, then was a passable state level swimmer at 13 & 14, but then continued to get better from 15 to 18, working my way onto a spot on the undisputed best college swimming team in the history of the world.
I still think I am learning as a swimmer at 51 years old and, on an age-adjusted basis, getting better.
As a parent of three age group swimmers, I have seen far more cases of kids who stunk at ages 8-12 becoming collegiate and international champions than kids who were great at 8-12. Yes, there are some kids who do start out strong and fast and never slow down, but the lessons to learn from swimming are the need for work, the need for kaizen/continuous improvement. Results will come and go, but character and the ability to grow is a life skill worth far more than any trinket of gold, silver or bronze.
Girl swimmers versus boy swimmers. Guys usually mature slower physically which means they can be late bloomers more. Its the girl swimmers that are making the Olympics in high school with the exceptions of male swimmers like Michael Phelps but even some girl swimmers don't make the National Team until college.
I started swimming competitively at 5 and promptly quit. I sucked at 7 and 8. I was not much better at 9 and 10. I got a smidge better at 11 and 12, then was a passable state level swimmer at 13 & 14, but then continued to get better from 15 to 18, working my way onto a spot on the undisputed best college swimming team in the history of the world.
I still think I am learning as a swimmer at 51 years old and, on an age-adjusted basis, getting better.
As a parent of three age group swimmers, I have seen far more cases of kids who stunk at ages 8-12 becoming collegiate and international champions than kids who were great at 8-12. Yes, there are some kids who do start out strong and fast and never slow down, but the lessons to learn from swimming are the need for work, the need for kaizen/continuous improvement. Results will come and go, but character and the ability to grow is a life skill worth far more than any trinket of gold, silver or bronze.
Girl swimmers versus boy swimmers. Guys usually mature slower physically which means they can be late bloomers more. Its the girl swimmers that are making the Olympics in high school with the exceptions of male swimmers like Michael Phelps but even some girl swimmers don't make the National Team until college.
