Is Swimming Eating Its Young?

I dont know any marathoners that wear capes when they run or swim ... No me either it's always bright coloured T-back Speedo's...:D

Fortress, Smarty-pants is good. My mom was thrilled that I found swimming and devoted my body and soul to it because it kept me away from "boys." This was the one thing I chose not to participate in: puppy love until I met my goals. My parents were thrilled; to them this made me the golden one (HA, if they only knew what us swimmers got into, but I never kiss and tell.) It has been mentioned to me by other swimmers that we can be quite the party or rowdy crowd. :dunno:what? little ole us? Donna

It has been mentioned to me by other swimmers that we can be quite the party or rowdy crowd. :dunno:what? little ole us? Donna No kidding, smarty pants. Swimmers are notorious for this stuff. I recall hearing stories of all night partying and then betting who could swim the fastest 500 free. I wasn't doing this of course. I was only friends with these cool dudes while participating in another challenging endurance activity. Maybe partying helps them blow off steam and not get burned out?

Okay, Some Guy, I did have one of these experiences of partying, but it wasn't MY idea. It was a swimmer whose initials sound like BS but aren't, and the memories made were I got sick on a 200 back the next day because of it!! My parents were livid that this champion didn't take better care of me!!! But, see? the good thing is it is a memory of mine so swimming has prevented dementia. But back to it......I was in good enough condition thanks to yardage and weights that I came back strong the meet after that one!!! Donna

I'm told that a double dose of accelerade and 2 excederin with caffeine is good for hangovers. (See how short my posts are getting? If they were as long as others, I'd be at 5,000 by now.) Hangover cure: @ botles of gatorade, 1 red-bull, 2 cups black coffee, 1 greasy fried something. Not that I'd know about hangovers...or anything...athough I did drunkenlly sprint into the Med once at around 2am to rescue a drowing airmattress.

Glenn, You are correct that the sport should be fun and kids should be exposed to different physical activities while growing up......... HOWEVER...... this does not lead to better training and aerobic advancement over time at a national level. Pick a sport for pleasure or general physical fitness.... but don't expect talent to overcome lack of training over time when other kids are truly hammering out yardage at a young age. Certainly, quality of training and coaching are paramount, but the fact is, no 14 year old is going to make the top 10 national rankings in their age group in Swimming World magazine if he/she isn't pounding out some early yardage. I have heard several college coaches complain in recent years that kids coming out of highschool don't have the "base" in training yardage they once did in the late 1970s and mid 1980s. The coaches have to spend several years to try and catch them up to where they should be..... if this is even possible by the age of 18 and 19. I hate to say it, but if you don't do a decent amount of yardage (particularly long course) when you are young (9-14) you will have MCUH more difficulty rising to the top of the sport. Then again, if you are just in it for the fun and the general physical fitness...... so be it. John Smith

2. If childhood is so stressful, why does it last so long? I thought kids were starting to live with their parents until 30. For many this is a financially/econimcally enforced choice. For others, they want to spend their days in the parent's basement playing video games. Me I was out at 21, not just out but across the Atlantic living in NY and tying the knot. Today however, you can't get a job filing without a degree, you have to go to school, so if Mom n Pop can't pay that means scholarships, loans or dancing your way through law school. I probably won't be able to pay for 4 years x 2 kids. SO they will be offered a virtually rentfree abode to stay until they pay off any debts. Forget about trying to buy a house...at least up in the NE anyhow.

... NKFrench, were you referring to Dana Vollmer? She seems like she is back in great form, and ready to serve notice in Melbourne, good luck to her! Yes. Dana seems to be doing quite well. At a recent college invitational she swam some lifetime bests to get NCAA automatic cuts. She has struggled with more adversity in her swim career (mono, back/shoulder injuries, reconstructed knee ACL, heart radio ablation, and symptoms of Long Q-T syndrome; the 50-minute drive each way to practice for 2-a-days) than most of us face in a lifetime. Sometimes the adversities and downtime let you reflect on what you want, and this is all her choice to continue. The international competition landscape in the 200 Free (her Olympic individual event) will be very different in 2008 and who knows what can happen between today and then. Her brother is also an extremely talented swimmer, but did not have the goal of being an elite swimmer. His heart is with karate, where he is a black belt and began his own studio business in high school. He is a good example of how things work out best when the kid gets in a program that match his goals. It can be hard - the fitness/high school group would not be able to challenge him in practices; yet the elite/senior group had attendance commitments that exceeded what he wanted to put in.

It sounds like we can actually agree on a couple points with this. Some kids get pushed way too hard and burn out. Some kids don't have the opportunity OR don't get pushed hard enough by coaches and never get to the level they personally want to be at. Some kids need a fitness swimming outlet. Some need a mild-moderately competitive outlet. Some really want and need that extra dose of working out to make the goals they know they want. It seems like what really needs to happen here to prevent burnout is kids need to be put in the appropriate group for their goals. Just because you are lightening fast doesn't been you want to be on the elite team. Just because you are moderate speed doesn't mean you don't want to get to the elite team. It sounds like a whole lot more communication between the swimmers, coaches, and parents at the beginning of the season would do a whole lot of good in preventing burnout. Some coaches do this but likely not nearly enough. What it seems like is you have to be on a team that suits your goals rather than go into the correct program on the same team. Many kids don't have a choice on the team they end up on unless they are already a superstar. They go to the local team where it's easy for parents to drop them off and pick them up. They're told, that's the team you swim on or you can't swim. Or, their friends are on that team, so if they leave in persuit of their individual goals, they are traitors. If that team doesn't have an outlet for the different levels and goals of swimmers, there is a high liklihood of either frustration or burnout. It sounds like more programs with different tracks (fitness, competition, national/elite) for all ages and a goal setting process at the beginning of each season with a status report halfway though would be the optimum for younger swimmers. If only those types of teams weren't few and far between and cost a fortune. (At least around here.) There.:2cents: Now, off to swim...

If they're ready to rock and roll, let them become rock stars. You only live twice. For gymnastics the gymnast must turn 16 in the year of the Olympics ... But for as many burn out stories as there are there are also success stories, just as for every training "rule" there is an exception (think every stroke breathing on fly by Phelps or less yardage by Coughlin) On the partying front, swimming hung over is not so much fun ... it makes flip turns interesting. My teammates and I are fans of trying a shot realy, do a shot swim to the other end, do another shot swim back ... you know a few of those ... that'd be interesting, probably messy though ... The goal of some sets is building mental and physical toughness, they probably are pointless, but I'm guessing that is the goal, as well as endurance, not saying I agree ... As for the hangover cure ... Vitamin Water has a purpleish one that is "Revive" actually made to cure hangovers, depending on how fun the night before was it make take more than one bottle ... NKFrench, were you referring to Dana Vollmer? She seems like she is back in great form, and ready to serve notice in Melbourne, good luck to her! As for the burn out ... I don't think there is one right or wrong answer ... some kids will burn out, others won't and will win Olympic medals as teens (Beard, Peirsol, Sandeno, Munz, Bennett, Quann-Jendrick, and on and on) then keep on going and going and going ... it goes back to my same old theory of the coach needing to know their swimmers, who to push and when and how much and how far, who is really hurt and who isn't and on and on ... When I coached gymnastics it did not take long to realize which kids I needed to "hand hold" through things to get them to do it and which kids I needed to say, "Get your butt on that beam and do it NOW!" to. On the same day I had one girl I had to spot on beam and she finally went and she gave me a huge hug and another where I did actually tell her to go now or to leave, she went she did her skill (a tough dismount) perfectly and was mad at me of course, but she needed that kick in the ***, both girls were about the same age, about the same level of talent and ability ...