Burnout in 17 year old club swimmer

It is possible to take AP courses because you enjoy them. AP Physics was one of my favorite classes in high school. Even AP Math (advanced trig and geometry, pre-calculus - in 10th grade) was fun, although it was so difficult that I ended up with a C. 5 AP classes seems like a lot, but it could be par for the course if the person is already at an advanced level. I would have been bored out of my skull in the regular classes, so I was glad to have the option.

Because of my lack of competitive swim club background and my general contrarian philosophies I have tried to actually hold my kids back from competitive swimming. It wasn't like they were begging us to swim on a competitive team, but we didn't encourage it at all. They swam summer club only and I helped them with some technique that sometimes you don't get in summer club. My twin daughters just started swimming on a competitive team at 13. They are only swimming 3 times a week until they tell us they want to do more (it may never happen). The hope is that they enjoy it more in high school and later in life and don't hit a plateau in high school. I am taking the same approach with my 11 year old son. They play other sports as well and they may choose one of those other sports ultimately. Anyway, that is my little experiment with my children. My concern is more the opposite. In today's more competitive swim environment did we do them more harm then good? Will they get discouraged because they can't compete with the kids that have been swimming longer? Will they never catch-up? I guess only time will tell. Tim I wonder the same about my kids. I have them do summer league because I'm there coaching and they've always enjoyed it. They haven't been interested in swimming year-round and I can't make myself push the issue. Swimming is MY passion--and I don't think it's fair for me to try to force it to be theirs. That doesn't mean I don't secretly hope they catch the bug...:) I know what you mean about wondering if you're doing the right thing, though. Like you, I didn't start swimming seriously (year-round) until high-school and none of my kids are there yet. I worry that I may be under the false impression that you can still start late and have a lot of success. That may not be as true now as it was 25+ years ago.

My concern is more the opposite. In today's more competitive swim environment did we do them more harm then good? Will they get discouraged because they can't compete with the kids that have been swimming longer? Will they never catch-up? I guess only time will tell. I know what you mean about wondering if you're doing the right thing, though. Like you, I didn't start swimming seriously (year-round) until high-school and none of my kids are there yet. I worry that I may be under the false impression that you can still start late and have a lot of success. That may not be as true now as it was 25+ years ago. Coming from a different angle -- myself, and not my kids :), I think much of it is how we define "success." Is success solely beating competitors, or is success enjoying swimming and personal improvement? Very few people will be record holders (or even masters top 10, for that matter), even if they started swimming early in life. As long as the basic swimming skills are there early, I don't think competitive swimming as a child is necessary for high school or masters swimming success. :2cents:Maybe he needs to have a physical - before assuming it's stress alone; have his blood chemistry, blood count checked too. Just to rule out any other type of deficiency. Keep it simple....Good Luck - keep being supportive!!!!!! I actually have thought of that (have obviously been doing a lot of thinking these past few days with all of the discussion going on here :)). We will certainly follow up on a physical reason if this continues for any length of time. In the meantime, I have restocked the vitamins, and am emphasizing proper nutrition and sleep. Thanks to everyone for some great and different points of view!

It's generally possible for a solid swimmer to walk on to a college team (especially DII or DIII schools). Getting a scholarship to a DI school is a whole nether level. I would argue that the AP classes will do the kid a lot more good getting into college then swimming alone will. I dropped club completely so I could play water polo and swim high school...I didn't get quite as fast as I might have been able to but still went on to divisional and sectional championships (good ole California does not have state level).

as a coach of several national qualifiers,champions, and olmpians. I can share the story of a burned out 14 year old who wanted to quit. I allowed him to swim 2 days a week and kept him in the same group. I took slack, but this young man eventually took home a olympic gold medal. Listen to your kids and work on a solution. My own child also swam with 5 ap classes etc.He went to Harvard, and was a senior Nat swimmer. Every kid is different, and has different breaking points. By seventeen it isn' about what we want for them. It is helping them get to where they want to go.

I'm doing this same experiment on my 10 year old. Completely de-emphasizing swimming or competition right now aside from summer league. parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/.../ I am glad to hear others are doing the same experiment because sometimes I look around and it seems like most everyone is pushing their kids hard in one sport or another and it makes you wonder. I also secretly hope that one of them catches the swimming disease/bug without my assistance because it is something I enjoy and it would be fun to share it with them when they get older and have a better understanding of the sport. Tim

I am glad to hear others are doing the same experiment because sometimes I look around and it seems like most everyone is pushing their kids hard in one sport or another and it makes you wonder. Same in my area. Travel and club teams from an early age. (Though I didn't let my 10 year old try out for travel soccer either.) I am somewhat cautiously optimistic in my experiment because my 18 year old played many different sports before finally, and successfully, settling on cross country and rowing at 13 and 15 respectively. Even my burned out swimmer changed sports without problem at age 15. (In retrospect, I wish I had pushed Jadie's solution above a year earlier.)

My twin daughters just started swimming on a competitive team at 13. They are only swimming 3 times a week until they tell us they want to do more (it may never happen). ... In today's more competitive swim environment did we do them more harm then good? Will they get discouraged because they can't compete with the kids that have been swimming longer? Will they never catch-up? I used to coach at this level as well. It's been a whilst so I do not remember exactly how many times per week they were committed to. But what I do remember though, is that these kids were absolutely great. Very brilliant. Not sure about US swim classification, but here in Canada, there's plenty of room for all levels. They're not stupid. They know that having begun at late age, and only swimming a few times per week, they can't compare to the elite guys. And as long as no one tries to brain wash them, they wont. At 13, social is extremely important. Belonging to a group. Having fun with friends. Overcoming obstacles. Improving. Improving is fun you know. And at that age, they do improve consistently. Although I don't remember everything, I do remember a few faces and names. Two names, two completely different outcomes. There was this 13yo girl, slightly overweight. Marie-Helene. She used to apply the Law in our squad. Whenever she'd see something unfair, she would complain. I used to tell her, someday, you'll probably be a lawyer. Well guess what, I meet her (pure coincidence) in the metro last year. Now age 26 I believe. She's a lawyer now. She must has spent 20min reminding me of all the good memories about that good old time. And she was still friend with other female swimmers of this same group. Another one. Alex (female). She was 10 or 11 at the time. Well, she had a successful career as a semi-pro long distance swimmer racing the FINA OW World Cup. I can't think of one single occurrence in which swimming had cause more harm than good for these brilliant little kids.

what works for a middle-aged guy that wants to get vaguely in shape might not be the thing for young athletes with elite aspirations. Exactly. The recovery process is significantly different for a 15yo, compared to 25yo, 35yo, 45yo etc...

as a coach of several national qualifiers,champions, and olmpians. I can share the story of a burned out 14 year old who wanted to quit. I allowed him to swim 2 days a week and kept him in the same group. I'm very curious about this. My intuitioin is the recovery time is critical. Has there peeopel some randomized training regime studies that compare 3 days a week with 5 days a week and with some of the 2 a day regimens? A couple years ago, I made the discovery that when I'm out of shape (all too often) and want to get back into shape, I get in shape faster and better with 3 days a week than I do with anything involving days-in-a-row. On the other hand, what works for a middle-aged guy that wants to get vaguely in shape might not be the thing for young athletes with elite aspirations.