Last weekend, I was at a USS swim meet and heard parents and coaches complaining about the "distraction" of many swimmers now. They blame this distraction (in addition to the rise of the boy/girl crazy period) on the advent of cell phones and IM-ing, etc. Apparently, at meets, and I've seen it, the kids spent scads of time on their cells phones, phoning friends, phoning kids across the pool, texting constantly (even to kids 5 feet away). Then they go home and IM for hours, checking and gossiping over the instant meet results and who beat who. Now, all the swimmers seem to know each other because, even if they're not on the same team or live in different states, they now can communicate easily via IM-ing and texting. I heard one coach say he's not sure how to get his swim kids to focus in this new techo-age. Obviously, some kids are focused like lasers, but I see an abundance of chatting and cell phone use too. Would kids do better without cell phones at meets? And is technology distracting them? Some seem to be swimming blazingly fast, but are others not swimming up to their potential because of this?
I will say at our last big meet in January(500+swimmers), it was very noticable that every kid had a phone, and they sat there and texted. One of our coaches commented on it. I cannot say I noticed that before as much. I rely on my phone at meets, because I give my number to coaches as contact in case they have an issue and need to let me know. When running postive check in, it helps to know if a team is struggling with ice and snow, and is running late. We also use radios on deck to help with our organization, and our cell phones to communicate with each other to smoothly run the meet.
I will say at our last big meet in January(500+swimmers), it was very noticable that every kid had a phone, and they sat there and texted. One of our coaches commented on it. I cannot say I noticed that before as much. I rely on my phone at meets, because I give my number to coaches as contact in case they have an issue and need to let me know. When running postive check in, it helps to know if a team is struggling with ice and snow, and is running late. We also use radios on deck to help with our organization, and our cell phones to communicate with each other to smoothly run the meet.
