On the recent broadcast of www.deckpass.com there was some interesting dialogue on age group swimming, Gary Hall Jr, and yes my hero, Jack LaLanne...
Okay... not to digress, but... Sullivan's breakthrough was from technical improvement, not an increase in power output... just an observation.
Jack LaLanne is my hero...
If you swim for fun, you'll always be a winner! Keeping the focus on personal improvement is a great way to hold the "passion" without making comparisons to others. That concept of winning, only being the absolute freaky best, that concept is dysfunctional. If you are in the water regularly, you'll always be a winner; you can feel great about what you are doing.
Swimming is a unique experience, and mastering the water is a joy.
Maybe Fort and I are twins separated at birth, scary.
Other than the small kids, or shrimps are we call them in our summer league (6 and under), I firmly believe that showering kids with trophies, ribbons, etc just cheapens the accomplishments, especially those that actually do win. About 20 minutes of every event these days is the awards ceremony.
Heat winner, place ribbons and time achievements are cool but is it really necessary to give every kid a trophy? If you have a kid who brings the heat at meets and works out hard to help their team achieve, it can be a little frustrating to see the kid who never shows up and could care less needing a u-haul for all the swag they are also given.
There are obvious exceptions. My 4 year old lived for that participant ribbon last summer and it was a big deal. As a parent, I'm making an exception for her.
Maybe Fort and I are twins separated at birth, scary.
Other than the small kids, or shrimps are we call them in our summer league (6 and under), I firmly believe that showering kids with trophies, ribbons, etc just cheapens the accomplishments, especially those that actually do win. About 20 minutes of every event these days is the awards ceremony.
Heat winner, place ribbons and time achievements are cool but is it really necessary to give every kid a trophy? If you have a kid who brings the heat at meets and works out hard to help their team achieve, it can be a little frustrating to see the kid who never shows up and could care less needing a u-haul for all the swag they are also given.
There are obvious exceptions. My 4 year old lived for that participant ribbon last summer and it was a big deal. As a parent, I'm making an exception for her.
