George asked whether age group swimmers are being bullied/pressured into swimming by parents, coaches and friends. Are they? Are parents living out their "unfulfilled dreams" through their young ones, as Geek suggested in another thread? Share your funniest/saddest story about overbearing swim parents or coaches.
Parents eventually were barred from the pool deck at practice, mainly because the crazy parents that I mentioned in another thread would terrorize their kids during sets. They had two kids, a boy and a girl, swimming in our senior group. Their parents would both come to practice and would follow them up and down the lane during a hard set, or come and yell at them if they saw them pulling on the lane line or not trying hard enough. They'd even film practice sets. They'd yell "What are you doing?!" "You should be going harder!" "Come on, you'll never win nationals with that attitude!" They'd try to take over and tell our coach what is best for them. Our coach got so fed up, he told them they couldn't be on deck during practice anymore. Unfortunately, since we swam at the O'Connell Center, they could stand up on the second level and see just fine. It was always fun to look up at them pacing or shaking their heads and fists when their kids got scolded by our coach or swam slow. Poor kids. Both burnt out first year of college.
Parents eventually were barred from the pool deck at practice, mainly because the crazy parents that I mentioned in another thread would terrorize their kids during sets. They had two kids, a boy and a girl, swimming in our senior group. Their parents would both come to practice and would follow them up and down the lane during a hard set, or come and yell at them if they saw them pulling on the lane line or not trying hard enough. They'd even film practice sets. They'd yell "What are you doing?!" "You should be going harder!" "Come on, you'll never win nationals with that attitude!" They'd try to take over and tell our coach what is best for them. Our coach got so fed up, he told them they couldn't be on deck during practice anymore. Unfortunately, since we swam at the O'Connell Center, they could stand up on the second level and see just fine. It was always fun to look up at them pacing or shaking their heads and fists when their kids got scolded by our coach or swam slow. Poor kids. Both burnt out first year of college.
