Why are kids faster now days?

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

Former Member — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 05:27:16 GMT

First off, it's not just the kids who are swimming faster. My 2006 almanac shows that all of the men's world records in swimming were set in 2000 or later, and that the same is true in women's swimming except for some long-standing distance freestyle records set in 1988 and 1989 by Janet Evans and a 200m backstroke record set in 1991 by Kristina Egerszegi. The record board at my local YMCA bears out what you are saying, though. But it also gives some clues about what the cause may be. There are quite a number of long-standing records in the 8 and under age group. In fact, the only records from this millenium were set by a boy who, significantly, has two older brothers and two older sisters who are competitive swimmers, and who consequently began swimming at a very young age (I know he was competing by at least age 6). But there are only a few old records in the 9-10 age group, and there are no old records in the 11-12 age group and above! The message is pretty clear! First, the cause of the faster times is not new swimming pool design, or better lane lines, or better starting blocks, or better swimsuits, or electronic timing systems. All of the swimmers, regardless of age, would benefit from these things, so they can't explain why the improvements are not being seen in the youngest swimmers. Nor is it the rule changes. First, beneficial rule changes have been made for only some strokes, but the improvements have been seen for all strokes. Second, the rule changes should, if anything, benefit younger swimmers more, since they were trained to take advantage of the new rules from the beginning, whereas older swimmers have had to retrain their strokes to take advantage of the rule changes. Third, most of the rule changes weren't all that recent. Backstroke flipturns have been allowed for more than a decade, so that can't explain why so many backstroke records have been set since 2000. What has changed is improvements in training and technique. And that can also explain why the improvements don't appear in the youngest age groups, who have only had one or two years of competitive training, but gradually appear over the next few years. Bob

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

aquaFeisty — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 09:53:38 GMT

Beetle, Do the kids take a bus to get their swim lessons or do the elementary schools have pools in them? If so, that is fantastic! I went to 3 different high schools and only one of the 3 had a pool. I think mandatory elementary swim lessons is a great idea, if for safety more than any other reason. The problem here (in the US) is pool access.

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

Former Member — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:26:32 GMT

Can speak for the US but I think in Australia more kids learn to swim today (and hence talent is noticed early) than 30 years ago. Swimming lessons are compulsory in all primary schools.

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

Former Member — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 07:20:43 GMT

I'm not sure that there is much difference from when I was in hs (14 yrs ago). The top times are just about the same, but there is way more depth. Instead of two girls per team going 53-54 in the 100 free there are 7-8 girls in that range. I just attribute it to the fact that there is more pool time at an earlier age.

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

ande — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 12:02:44 GMT

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

Former Member — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 10:17:34 GMT

Interesting thought Allen. What else can a great swimmer do to promote the sport to increase attendance and stop the drain to soccer and other sports? Seems like swimming doesn't promote itself as well as other sports. No doubt money and marketing are the reasons, but how many great swimmers in our lifetime spend as much time as say, Rowdy, promoting the sport that made them great to begin with. Arguably the greatest swimmer of all, Spitz, is seldom seen in the national media positively addressing or promoting the sport for its own sake. Perhaps this discussion is best left to another thread. John Smith

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

The Fortress — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 09:35:07 GMT

I agree with Jeff and John. The really elite swimmers aren't that much faster. But I think in general there are more swimmers competing at a higher level. I don't think it's all technique though. Where I live, a lot of kids are swimming 5-6x a week at age 10. (That's way too much, I think.) So it might be obsessive yardage or obsessive parenting that makes more kids fasters. Although I will say that my daughter really loves shaving down and putting on her fastskin...

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

Allen Stark — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 05:12:01 GMT

Swimming in general,goggles. Goggles became popular in the early 70s,yardage went up and times went down through the 70s,but have leveled off for men since,except for dropping after a rule change.For women,title IX. Womens times continue to drop,and more girls are swimming(the number of boys swimming has been relatively stagnant.If Michael Phelps and Cullen Davis attract more boys to swimming then the mens times will begin to drop faster again.)

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

swimmieAvsFan — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 02:44:27 GMT

I don't know if kids (age groupers) these days are really that much faster that kids from years past here's where you can see the All Time Top-100 Times for Age Groupers in the US www.usaswimming.org/.../DesktopDefault.aspx today's kids have every opportunity to swim faster, there's: + dolphin kicking + fast skin suits + the dolphin kick in breastroke and + freestyle turns in backstroke there's still several times and records holding up from years ago that aren't likely to be broken any time soon like: Jesse Vassallo 1500 free in 13 & 14 boys, he went 15:31 in 1976 One issue swimming faces is great athletes (people who could have been awesome swimmers) gravitate towards other sports I follow the results year after year from the Texas state high school championships, around 20.5 tends to win the 50 even though swimmers are now going 19 low, 18 high I think the difference is strength that comes from weight training and maturity Ande the craziest thing about Jesse Vassallo's record is the fact that the 13-14 boys 1650 free record is only a 15:26.93 (which converts to around 15:50.70 for LCM, so 4th in the top 100)... And Vassallo's best 1650 time is only a 15:30.66, also good enough for 4th in the top 100. I know some people excel at one course or the other, but that's insane! :eek: i agree with ande, i don't see that record going anywhere anytime soon...

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

Former Member — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 16:36:38 GMT

I beg to differ with the premise of this thread. As I look back to my own age group and highschool experience in the late 1970's in Ohio and compare for example the winning state championship times to the winning times from last year, many of the events seem to have improved very little or none at all. Certainly, stroke changes in back, *** and fly have allowed times to fall in comparison to times back then, but freestyle has had no major changes and appears to be similar when compared to times a quarter of a century ago. Certainly Phelps and others have lowered the mark, but age groupers don't seem that much faster to me now..... many seem slower. John Smith

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

Former Member — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 09:47:46 GMT

How many seconds are gained due to the changes. Better dives the dolphin kick, the wave buster lane ropes, the turn not having to touch the wall with the hand, again the dolphin kick off the turn, the thousands of yards more of training. The new bathing suits mine as a kid a double knit Janzen. I am sure I missed a couple.

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

Jeff Commings — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 05:38:57 GMT

I agree with John. Heck, the time that got me third at NCAAs in the 100 *** in 1993 would have been sixth two years ago. The best way to determine if swimmers are getting faster is to take the first and 16th times from the age group Top 16 lists and compare them. I doubt the average swimmer is getting faster, if you take out the rule changes allowing dolphin kicks and whatnot.

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

Former Member — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 14:37:12 GMT

These are in addition to the other answers. Goggles - When your eyes aren't burned out from pool chemicals, it's easier to train longer and farther and still get homework done. Swimsuits - good riddance to the ill-fitting swimsuits that trapped air and water and rode up and made it hard to feel the water flow around the body. Improvements in pools - waveeater laneropes, starting blocks, and electronic timing (the humans who manage the timing in meets can be very inaccurate). Changes in the rules allowing breaststrokers to dolphin off the start/turn, go underwater; allowing the backstroke flip turn. Innovations such as the underwater race and dolphin-kicking off walls vs flutter, the butterfly itself. Technique - more use of the core muscles, timing, more emphasis on holding a good line, better streamlining. Finally, mental. Once one swimmer proves that something is possible and breaks through a barrier, others also will follow.

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

Former Member — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 10:53:56 GMT

Technique.

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

knelson — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 09:34:39 GMT

I don't know, are kids really that much faster now? I think if you go back far enough then, yes, they are. But I swam in high school 20 years ago and I think my times would put me pretty close to where they did at that time. Now if you go back 40 years I'm sure it's a different story.

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

bbpolhill — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 09:08:05 GMT

Technique, training, and size...probably in that order. Consider this: My daughter is 14 years old, 5' 0", less than 100 lbs. and swims the 100yd free regularly at 56 seconds untapered and unshaved. If technique and training improvements were not made over the past 30 years then you would expect her to be incapable of breaking a minute. There is no doubt that size (especially height) gives you a distinct advantage, but that would not necessarily explain the improving times of all swimmers. I believe it is a scientific fact that the human race is increasing in size, so you cannot discount this as part of the reason that times as a whole have dropped - I just don't think it's the biggest factor.

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

dorothyrde — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 08:31:24 GMT

I think kids are bigger these days. When I went to HS, I was one of the bigger people at 5-4. There were some girls bigger, but not many. Now if you go to a HS, there are not many girls that are small. It seems each generation is getting bigger, and I am not talking weight.

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

Former Member — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 07:23:09 GMT

Technique wins out in comparison to what we were doing thirty years ago. Have a look at this clip of Mark Spitz for example. (His start is nearly a perfect belly flop.) The whole bunch of them for that matter create a mini tsunami in unison. We don't teach any of our kids stuff that was promoted back in the 70's. Lots of underwater "swimming"....hand over hand...squeeze the ears with the biceps. Big difference. I've high school got kids who can darn near kick a 100 yds dolphin in a minute. video.google.com/videoplay

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

Former Member — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 07:06:22 GMT

It is all time related we had great swimmers for our day but techniques are better, the kids get more time in the pool. When we swam everyone tried to swim like Johnny W - Tarzan, now everyone tries to swim like Thorpe, Hacket or Phelps.

RE: Why are kids faster now days?

Former Member — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 05:31:10 GMT

I think kids today start earlier with year round programs, swim more/harder, and have better coaching. Their technique is better. They have also benefited from rules changes in some events like back/***. But watching my two teenage boys swim - I'd say the single biggest thing is that they got "serious" earlier than me. My 16 yr. old is about my height (5'8) but weighs 20 lbs more than I did when I was 18 and just as lean. He is far stronger than I was and his technique is similarly better.