My son has decided that when we take our family trip to St. Croix so that I can do the lovely Coral Reef Swim (5 miles from Buck Island to the Bucaneer), he would like to do the 1-mile option.
He's got a great stroke, is really strong, but has never done anything like this before. He's going to do the fins option, since it's his first time, and I am wondering about anyone who has trained their kid for something like this.
He's comfortable in open water, and has grown up going to these swims with me, so he's not nervous about that part.
My concern is making sure he can complete the distance. My husband is going to do the mile with him, so he won't be alone, and my husband will pull an open water buoy, just in case. It's from one beach, around a point, and to another beach, so there is an element of being somewhat off shore for a bit.
Right now, he's swimming about 1300 yards a workout, with a combination of distances and intervals in there, and I'm upping it a bit each time. He is training every other day so he doesn't burn out. He's doing his training swims without fins, for the most part, so he can get accustomed to what that feels like.
The swim is in one month so he will need to increase his yardage fairly quickly. I'm trying to go gradual so he doesn't end up hating it.
He has NEVER expressed any interest in a competitive athletic event before so this is huge for him mentally. And he's very psyched for it.
Any tips from other parents? Or coaches?
Thanks!
Having your husband swim with him is a great idea. Years ago, I took my daughter on her first 4K lake swim like this and it worked great. She was probably about that age. We just did it for completion, not worrying about speed and I encouraged her to stop, stop me and rest whenever she needed to.
I agree with ourswimmer's comments about the fins. I'd strongly recommend against them, especially in salt water.
I'd also encourage your husband / son to mix up freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke in their training and the swim itself. Switching strokes around helps rest different muscles.
Finally, to the extent possible, I'd encourage your husband to do most of the sighting and allow your son to sight the race by simply swimming next to your husband. There's a lot of energy used in lifting your head forward; there will be plenty of time for your son to learn that skill once he gets his first experience underway.
The only issue I see with doing this swim is that you're going to set his expectations very high for the beauty of OW swimming by starting him off in St. Croix ;)
Having your husband swim with him is a great idea. Years ago, I took my daughter on her first 4K lake swim like this and it worked great. She was probably about that age. We just did it for completion, not worrying about speed and I encouraged her to stop, stop me and rest whenever she needed to.
I agree with ourswimmer's comments about the fins. I'd strongly recommend against them, especially in salt water.
I'd also encourage your husband / son to mix up freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke in their training and the swim itself. Switching strokes around helps rest different muscles.
Finally, to the extent possible, I'd encourage your husband to do most of the sighting and allow your son to sight the race by simply swimming next to your husband. There's a lot of energy used in lifting your head forward; there will be plenty of time for your son to learn that skill once he gets his first experience underway.
The only issue I see with doing this swim is that you're going to set his expectations very high for the beauty of OW swimming by starting him off in St. Croix ;)
