Saw one of the more interesting articles about the past, present, and future aspects of competitive swimming on SwimInfo's website the other day from Wayne Goldsmith..
www.swiminfo.com/.../7720.asp
I think it provokes a great deal of thought in this arena and specifically within this group since many of us either participate, have friends/relatives who participate, or remember participating in competitive swim meets.
I particularly appreciate the parents perspective provided in the article. While I have little children (5 and almost 3 years old), the thought of going through what my parents did with me makes me hesitate to sign up for the first set of SwimAmerica lessons or summer club swim team to introduce them to swimming. While I swam through my school age years, I didn't really consider just what my parents had to go through right along with me.. I was always thinking about what i was going through. Wow!
Check out the article and see what you think...
Rob
Parents
Former Member
Summer rec teams in Phoenix are very popular. Just the type of format, time commitment, and recreation that many of you have addressed.
It amazes me to watch kids at those meets having the time of their life and creating lifelong memories and comparing to age group meets with kids the same age not having fun at all. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this dynamic, just thought I'd throw it out.
One example of "Fun" is the parent's relay at the end of the summer season. It is a ball and the kids love cheering on their parents. Have we ever seen this at USS meets?
Don't get me wrong, swimming takes a great deal of comittment and seriuosness, but with that comes having fun and I think many USS programs are forgetting that.
Summer rec teams in Phoenix are very popular. Just the type of format, time commitment, and recreation that many of you have addressed.
It amazes me to watch kids at those meets having the time of their life and creating lifelong memories and comparing to age group meets with kids the same age not having fun at all. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this dynamic, just thought I'd throw it out.
One example of "Fun" is the parent's relay at the end of the summer season. It is a ball and the kids love cheering on their parents. Have we ever seen this at USS meets?
Don't get me wrong, swimming takes a great deal of comittment and seriuosness, but with that comes having fun and I think many USS programs are forgetting that.
