I'm sure you guys can help... I am a masters swimmer. Our son is 17, has been a club swimmer for four years, and swims on his high school team. He swims with the senior 1 group, and his practices are 2 hours 45 minutes on the weekdays and two hours on Saturdays. He is a decent, solid swimmer (state but not sectional cuts in numerous events). He is a junior in high school and is currently taking five AP courses (his decision, not my husband's and mine). His grades are good and he works hard.
Recently, he has been feeling a lot of stress due to his workload in school and swimming. He told me last night that swimming isn't fun any more. He says he thinks he still wants to swim club, possibly at the senior 2 level instead, and still wants to swim high school. He actually isn't sure he even wants to drop to a less demanding group; he isn't really sure what to do. While I think his academic load is part of why he is stressed, I know that constantly staring at a black line for hours is playing a large part as well. Aside from being supportive of him and encouraging him to talk to his coach (who is my coach as well, which could possibly complicate things), is there anything I can do to help? I don't want to be one of "those" parents, but I want to do what is best for my son. Obviously I would like him to stay in the senior 1 group, but I'm not the one swimming there. His coach knows him well, as he has been with this coach for four years. Part of the issue is that our son doesn't want to let his coach down. I know it is his call, and I'm trying to stay as objective as possible.
I'm sure many of you experienced swim burnout as a teenager. Any suggestions you can give are much appreciated.
Kristin
As a 22 years H S swim coach ,I saw this all the time! 5 AP 's are the culprit.
He & you must decide if he will be a burned out , over stressed kid that looks for another way out in a not so good way ? ! I have counseled many kids to keep swimming & cut back on the "I must be perfect or my parents ,coach, counselor will not like me idea ! ! !
This seems like weird advice.
Kristen's son sounds like a typical type A intellectual swimmer who likely puts demands and pressure on himself. (Correct me if I'm off base, Kristen.) And it's normal for teenagers to feel some stress in high school. That doesn't mean they shouldn't work hard. The worst option would seem to be to continue in a sport that could be making him unhappy (if that's the case). It can also be hard to cut back and embrace slower times -- who wants or can do that very well? On the other hand, I know our USAS team has a "high school prep" option that is for kids who aren't as serious about swimming. Perhaps cutting back or taking a break (while still staying fit from other exercise) would clarify things somewhat.
Kristin,
I just went through this with my daughter, who recently turned 16 and is a sophomore. She was a Sectional level swimmer swimming with the senior 1 group. But the last couple years, she was not enjoying the sport at all. This was compounded by persistent knee/patella problems that further dimmed her enthusiasm. I told her I would happily support whatever decision she made about swimming as long as she was doing some sport and getting exercise. After about a year of agonizing, she decided to quit club swimming altogether. She still plans to do summer league swimming and high school swimming, but on a very very reduced solo swim schedule. She is now on the high school & club volleyball teams and seems much happier. She misses her swim friends, but doesn't miss the black line and long hard practices. Swimming is a tough sport and, if they don't love it, it can make them miserable. Trying to do 5 AP courses on top of demanding senior workouts seems doubly hard. Sounds like something has to give or he may need a break from the current schedule. I understand the issue of "not letting his coach down," but that's a good basis on which to make decisions for himself. A talk to the coach might be warranted.
Personally, I experienced some burnout as a teenager. But I persisted and didn't quit until I was a freshman in college. I was much happier afterward.
Tell your son you love him, that swimming is his decision, I suggest you enthusiastically support him with whatever he chooses. Support him, let him know it's ok to change his mind.
Ask him to consider talking with:
+ his coach and tell him how he feels and what he feels he needs or
+ a counselor
He's feeling burned out and stressed.
He may need to take a break.
He may need to back off.
He might be in a slump.
He might be depressed.
Swim Faster Faster might help
He needs to find something that makes swimming fun for him.
He may need to figure out some sort of training comprimise.
like bounce between groups or get permission to skip practices or leave early when school is tough.
It's just swimming. Swimming in and of itself is not that important in the grand scheme of things. It is a great stress reliever, gives kids something positive to focus on & let's them be with their friends.
Good Luck
As a 22 years H S swim coach ,I saw this all the time! 5 AP 's are the culprit.
He & you must decide if he will be a burned out , over stressed kid that looks for another way out in a not so good way ? ! I have counseled many kids to keep swimming & cut back on the "I must be perfect or my parents ,coach, counselor will not like me idea ! ! !
I hope you don't project this anti-intellectualism onto the kids you coach. This kid may enjoy taking hard classes and achieving strong academic results. He may enjoy the work he does in the classes more than he enjoys the work he does in the pool, and he may get more pride from his academic results than he does from his swimming results. If so, cutting swimming might be a good choice for him for now. He can always pick it up again if he decides he misses it, and unless he is a serious candidate for a college scholarship he won't have lost anything irreplaceable by pausing at 17 to think about how he wants to organize his limited and valuable time.
Kristin,
Great advice from both Fort and Ande. I imagine almost every swimmer who went through hard core club level and/or college like your son can relate to his burnout feelings. It didn't hit me until my junior year in college, but it hit hard. What worked for me was to stay in the pool, but to switch my training focus considerably, from a distance orientation to an IM orientation. Though at the collegiate level, this didn't mean switching "groups" like it does for your son at the club level, the effect is likely the same: variety, different intensity and, possibly, some emotional relief by not feeling the same level of internal or external expectations.
Your son is clearly motivated and, like Ande said, it's still just swimming. On the whole, swimming should be a net positive in his life; if it's not, there's no harm in cutting back or even taking a break to see if doing so helps. There's a lot of "macho" in our sport with respect to over-training and a number of coaches might not see eye-to-eye with a break or a downgrade in training group, but, if it keeps the kid happier and healthier, he might return to the sport even more invigorated.
One of the big things I've learned as a masters swimmer is that taking breaks is not going to ruin your sport; yeah, it'll take a little longer to get back into shape, but it's totally doable. As a young kid, taking an extended break won't even phase him; his body's still going to grow and get stronger. If he comes back to the sport in a better mental space, he'll more than likely swim faster.
I hope you don't project this anti-intellectualism onto the kids you coach. This kid may enjoy taking hard classes and achieving strong academic results. He may enjoy the work he does in the classes more than he enjoys the work he does in the pool, and he may get more pride from his academic results than he does from his swimming results. If so, cutting swimming might be a good choice for him for now. He can always pick it up again if he decides he misses it, and unless he is a serious candidate for a college scholarship he won't have lost anything irreplaceable by pausing at 17 to think about how he wants to organize his limited and valuable time.
Well said.
Don't lay it on the kid's intellect, many coaches just do not know how to handle their swimmers and don't recognize what they should change to stop burnout.
This could be true.
Frankly, I think there should be a sprinter option in more USAS programs. There is a volume intensive, anti-sprinter bias in most USAS training. Some kids would do just fine or even prosper in 50s and 100s on very little, but very quality, training. Burnout and time problem solved, for some.
I hate to see him agonize like this.
I think this is inescapable when a child becomes very invested in their sport and has to make difficult decisions. But it is hard to watch as a parent.
Not sure why guidance counsellors always push AP courses. It seems like there is plenty of time to take advanced courses in college and graduate schools. Bottom line: if you are a good enough swimmer, you can get into any university.
I never found swimming fun as an age-grouper. I think to be good at anything takes work (2 per days) and becomes like a job. I think in anybody's world it is hard to call 15-20 K per day fun.
Obviously, your student needs to back off on the swimming or the school (or you can go the tough love route and call him a ***--kidding :))
Not sure why guidance counsellors always push AP courses. It seems like there is plenty of time to take advanced courses in college and graduate schools. Bottom line: if you are a good enough swimmer, you can get into any university.
I never found swimming fun as an age-grouper. I think to be good at anything takes work (2 per days) and becomes like a job. I think in anybody's world it is hard to call 15-20 K per day fun.
Obviously, your student needs to back off on the swimming or the school (or you can go the tough love route and call him a ***--kidding :))
All true. And I know someone with very average grades who just got into Columbia.
As for the first sentence, though, colleges do look very closely at the difficulty of the classes you are taking. Sometimes that can make the difference as to whether you get into a particular school, I am told. Still, 5 AP classes seems a bit excessive.
