Is Swimming Eating Its Young?

My son quit because of burn-out, and the things Donna points out. At 16, he wanted to spend more time with friends, who because our school has no swim team were not swimmers. He said he was very, very tired of going to practice every day, and wanted to do other things. He had been swimming since he was 8. He also said there was no where to take it after high school. The schools he was interested in attending had no men's teams because they had been cut long ago. The things that had been motivating, such as making Nationals, and such, no longer were important to him. It was hard for him to make the decision, but we pointed out that it is always there, if he found out he missed it he could go back. And since he is a late grower, he would probably find he was stronger with growth. At 18, he has not gone back, except to be a life guard. I asked him last summer if he missed it at all. He said he misses competing, and his swim team friends, but he does not miss going to practice at all. My daughter is 13, and not at a very high level at all. She was angry when he quit, because she saw it as such a waste, he was the one that won all the medals and such, and he was throwing that away. She has gotten over that, and actually is starting to struggle with the same thing. Her friends at school are not swimmers. Next year when she goes to High School, and her swim team friends have high school teams, it may change and she will not want to swim. I already know she will not even have time to swim until November because she will be in marching band, and in drama, and the fall play takes a lot of time. Then the band and chorus is going to Hawaii in December, so there will be lots of additional practices. If the swimming were local, it would not be as hard to fit in, but fitting the driving time in as well, is going to make it real hard for her to stick with it. So with her, I have been trying to sell the fitness swimmer aspect. Maybe she will not be highly competitive, but she can get in and swim, keep in touch with her swim friends, but not swim as many days as it takes to achieve at a higher level. She actually really enjoys swimming practice more than meets, so she is different than my son, who swam practice for the meets. She also likes to swim with me(and beat me), and likes the idea of being on a Masters relay some day with me.

My son quit because of burn-out, and the things Donna points out. At 16, he wanted to spend more time with friends, who because our school has no swim team were not swimmers. He said he was very, very tired of going to practice every day, and wanted to do other things. He had been swimming since he was 8. He also said there was no where to take it after high school. The schools he was interested in attending had no men's teams because they had been cut long ago. The things that had been motivating, such as making Nationals, and such, no longer were important to him. It was hard for him to make the decision, but we pointed out that it is always there, if he found out he missed it he could go back. And since he is a late grower, he would probably find he was stronger with growth. At 18, he has not gone back, except to be a life guard. I asked him last summer if he missed it at all. He said he misses competing, and his swim team friends, but he does not miss going to practice at all. My daughter is 13, and not at a very high level at all. She was angry when he quit, because she saw it as such a waste, he was the one that won all the medals and such, and he was throwing that away. She has gotten over that, and actually is starting to struggle with the same thing. Her friends at school are not swimmers. Next year when she goes to High School, and her swim team friends have high school teams, it may change and she will not want to swim. I already know she will not even have time to swim until November because she will be in marching band, and in drama, and the fall play takes a lot of time. Then the band and chorus is going to Hawaii in December, so there will be lots of additional practices. If the swimming were local, it would not be as hard to fit in, but fitting the driving time in as well, is going to make it real hard for her to stick with it. So with her, I have been trying to sell the fitness swimmer aspect. Maybe she will not be highly competitive, but she can get in and swim, keep in touch with her swim friends, but not swim as many days as it takes to achieve at a higher level. She actually really enjoys swimming practice more than meets, so she is different than my son, who swam practice for the meets. She also likes to swim with me(and beat me), and likes the idea of being on a Masters relay some day with me.