The Swimming Expert

For many parents having a “swimmer” in the family is not something they planned.  Most swimmers begin in a learn-to-swim program and progress through to advanced lessons. From there they are asked to complete a couple of sessions in a junior squad and before you know it they are entrenched and absorbed by the sport of swimming.  By this stage, parents begin to realise the commitment required by a swimmer to complete the necessary training and competitions offered in the sport.

As a swimmer I had the opportunity to observe my own parents first hand and how they managed me as a swimmer, and how they worked with, and communicated with my coaches.  I was also fortunate enough to be coached by three of the most talented and experienced swimming coaches in the world - Julie Dyring, Bill Sweetenham and Leigh Nugent.

As a coach for more than a dozen years I worked closely with swimmers of all ages and have been directly involved in the introduction of parents to the sport of swimming.

For a swimming parent, understanding the role of the coach, the role the parent is required to undertake, and the responsibilities of a swimmer is critical to ensuring a positive and successful experience for the whole family. Yes, the whole family is affected by having a swimmer in the family and learning how to balance your time and other family member’s needs around the swimming schedule can be a challenge.

Over the years I have observed many parents who are introduced to swimming for the first time when their child is promoted to a junior squad.

For most swimmers who train for competitions, the measurement of their improvement is through performance and parents are encouraged to understand the many different aspects to training and competitions in an effort to provide parents with a more complete understanding of the sport and what a swimmer is experiencing.

One of the aspects I love about swimming is that when swimmers compete, no one else can affect their performance.  They have their own lane and no one can tackle them, bowl them out, hit the ball past them or affect their performance in any way.  It is just the swimmer and the black line.

Children who choose to train and swim competitively learn so many life skills as they become more exposed to the sport.

In general their grades improve at school, their time management skills improve and they learn how to win and how to lose with grace.  They are introduced to goal setting and taking responsibility for themselves.  They are also exposed to the concept that if you work hard on a skill and commit to doing something correctly over and over again, it will improve.

‘Swimming for Parents’ is a vital resource for all swimming parents.  The book, available also as an eBook with instant delivery, is a lifelong project that draws on many of my experiences as a swimmer, coach, swimming administrator and now as a parent of young children who enjoy swimming.

This book has been written to educate parents of junior and teenage swimmers and has sold more than 3000 copies all over the world.

The second edition is now available at www.SwimmingForParents.com.

QUESTION:

Hi Gary,

My daughter is 10 and my son is 9 and I was wondering how they can improve their swimming times to be able to compete in the NSW Country Swimming Championships . My daughter missed out last year but she is keen to go this year.   She is competing in different carnivals over the next few months and would love to see her achieve her goal.  She is between 3 sec – 5 seconds off her goal in 3 events of 50, 50 & 100 metres.

Does competing in carnivals improve their times or should they just keep training and show up for the main carnivals? Any advice would be helpful. I sometimes think it’s in the mind.

Many thanks, Ingrid

ANSWER:

Hi Ingrid,

Yes, competing in Carnivals will assist a young swimmers development as they will learn how to start, turn and finish in a racing environment and also practice their pacing for each lap and swimming fast.

Your coach will work with your children in regards to the balance between the number of carnivals versus having some weekends off to recover from the week’s training.

Training well continues to be important in between each carnival.

And yes, sometimes it is in the mind.  Some would argue more often than not for young swimmers, so it is really important that positive encouragement is provided around training and competition so that each child builds their own self-confidence, as well as their physical preparation.

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hello, My daughter is 12, and has been swimming competitively for the last 3 years with a small local club. She’s now at the stage where she’s in top ten in state age champs for some events, and a few seconds away to her first national age qualifying time. However, some of her competitors, mostly from bigger clubs, are few seconds ahead, and have been like that for the last year or so.

We are considering moving to a different club.

How do you choose the right club?

Is it the size of the club, the facilities, the coaches?   If coaches are important, what is it to consider in a coach?

Do coaches have different principles/methods? If so, how do you know which one is right for you?

Thanks in advance for you advice.

Regards, K

ANSWER:

Hi K,

At 12 years of age and with the results she has achieved, your daughter is more than ready to train to compete at a National level.

You ask a number of questions in regards to sourcing a new club and coach and all your questions are relevant. If have answered these questions briefly below.  If other coaches or parents have advice, they are welcome to make comments below.

• How do you choose the right club?

Watch the different clubs in your area?  Watch how the swimmers behave and how they prepare themselves to race at competitions.  Watch the way the compete, are they showing improvement over time. Watch how the parents behave and support their kids in the stands.  Is there a supportive vibe coming from the kids and the parents?

• Is it the size of the club, the facilities, the coaches?

The larger the club, the more likely there will be swimmers of a similar age and ability to your daughter, so size can be important.  Check if the club has appropriate pool access and other facilities so that when she does dryland training and eventually gym work, the facilities are available.  In my opinion the coaching offered is one of the most important aspects of your decision-making process.

• If coaches are important, what is it to consider in a coach?

This is a very complex question as each family will look for something different in a coach.  There are a number of attributes that I look for.  These include: • the ability to communicate effectively with children and parents; • a strong knowledge of swimming technique, skills and training principles; • the ability to impart their knowledge to the swimmers; • their ability to provide a challenging and encouraging environment for swimmers at practice and at competitions.

• Do coaches have different principles/methods?

Yes. These are often based off their learnings over the years.  Some will look to have variety in every session, others may offer the same session once a week for 4 weeks to measure progress and improvement.  Some coaches believe in building aerobic fitness as a priority from a young age while others will focus more on correct technique and skills.

• If so, how do you know which one is right for you?

Apart from watching the coaches, swimmers and parents in a program, the best way to gauge whether a coach / is right for your daughter is to meet with the coach and ask them questions like you have in this email and if you get a good vibe and feel that this environment is a place where your daughter will thrive, see if the coach will allow your daughter to participate in one of the training sessions to see if she enjoys it.

One word of warning when changing coaches or clubs is to always be open and honest with your current coach, especially if you have made a decision to move on.

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hi Gary,

I would like to know a couple of exercises for my butterfly kick and the easiest possible ways out of water and in! Is that possible?

Thanks Jade

ANSWER:

Hi Jade,

The best way to learn butterfly kick is in the water.  Your legs will start together and your toes will be pointed away from the body.  As your body undulates through the water, your hips will press down, and your legs will follow downwards.  Your knees will then bend slightly.  As your hips begin to rise, your knees will straighten as your feet quick downward in a fast action.  Your legs and feet will then follow the upward movement of your hips in preparation for another downward kick, and so on.

The best drills are to begin doing some butterfly (dolphin) kick on your back so that your face is out of the water and just focus on the movement of your hips, legs and feet.

Another great drill is to do dolphin kick on your front, with your hands beside your legs and push off underwater doing the dolphin movement.  Because you have water above and below you, this drill enables you to feel the water of your hips, legs and feet and fully understand what they are doing. This is my favourite with swimmers who are learning butterfly kick.

One further drill is to do butterfly kick on your side so that your hips, legs and feet are pressing from side to side, with plenty of water to displace.

Practicing dolphin kick both with and without fins (flippers) will assist you to develop the butterfly kick more quickly.

Hope this helps Jade,

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hello, I have a 15 year old daughter who is in her third year of swimming. She has made states and age nationals for butterfly and freestyle.

In the first 50m she would be leading and then the last 50m she slows down to 4th as the top of her legs start feeling like concrete. When she gets out they hurt so much. She is very sporty and has very large muscles in her legs. She is the sort of girl that doesn’t complain but you can see it when she races like the legs are heavy.

Her dream is to go to the Olympics but we need to work out what is wrong.

Thanking You, Nathan

ANSWER:

Hi Nathan,

Congratulations on your daughters efforts and results so far with her swimming.

Without watching your daughter race, my gut feel is that she is experiencing a build up of lactic acid in the large muscles in her legs.

If it is a build up of lactic acid there are a few things she can do.  The first is to do some ‘lactacte tolerance’ work in training.  Her coach will be able to help her with this.  This sort of work will mean she does some hard swims with 10 – 20 sec rest between each one and after a few she should start to feel a little bit of lactic acid building up and by doing a few more repeats, she can train her body to tolerate (or even remove) the lactic acid in her legs.

Something else that may assist her is to do some solid kick sets, both freestyle and butterfly kick, on a regular basis and once again her coach will be able to help her with these.

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

I have a 8 year old girl and a 9 year old boy.

They get entered into galas having to swim 800m as well as 200m IM, 100m freestyle, up to 7 or 8 races at a time. Is this very good for them?

As a parent I would like to ask the question, at what age is it healthy/unhealthy to make kids swim such big distances so young?

Thanks AJ

ANSWER:

Hi AJ,

Seven to eight races in a single day is a lot for a young swimmer, especially if there are one or two longer distance swims in there.

“Is this good for them?”  It really depends how they cope on the day.  To me the number of races seems a bit excessive for this age group and in my coaching experience I often found 4 to 5 good quality races would be the right number.

In regards to young children swimming 800m swims, I believe this is fine and so long as they are using correct technique, will be beneficial for them over time.  I’m not sure they need to do them all the time, as swims like this can also have the opposite affect and turn some children away from swimming – especially those who just like to race short distances or have short concentration spans.

The other benefit of doing a few 800m races is that those swimmers who practice on a regular basis will often perform better and see improvements in their times than those swimmers who turn up for practice irregularly and do not always put in a solid effort.

Some swimming coaches would even argue that children at a young age should only be allowed to race 200m events upwards because the 50 and 100 metre events can often reward the early developers who are stronger  at a young age, whilst the distance events reward the children who put in a consistent effort at practice.

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hi, I am 15 years old and I quit swimming 2 years ago.

I have still done swimming in between but now with a club and at a competitive level.

Now I want to get back into swimming but I have very low endurance, how would you suggest that I improve?

Sarah

ANSWER:

Hi Sarah,

I would begin Sarah doing 3 x 1 hour sessions a week and then 2 weeks later do 3 x 1 1/2 hour sessions for 2 weeks.  Once you are comfortable doing this, you should increase to 4 x 1 1/2 hour sessions and work towards doing 5 x 1 1/2 to 2 hour sessions in the following month.

By gradually increasing the length of each training session and the number of sessions you do each week, your endurance levels will improve over time.

If you went straight into 5 x 2 hour sessions a week, you risk injury and may do too much, too early and not be able to sustain it.

If you are then serious about competive swimming, at 15 years of age, you will need to then increase the number of sessions you do each week to 7-8 and be guided by your coach on any additional swimming and dryland work.

When you are only doing 3 to 5 sessions per week, other activities like walking or bike riding will also assist you to improve your aerobic fitness.

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hi Gary,  I have twins.  They are 9 years old.

I started swimming very late in life and I love the sport a lot, but I don’t want to be overbearing with my kids so I have them do all sports. Currently they are in basketboll 2-3 times a week and every weekend they swim for an hour about 1k.

I want them to love the swimming as much as I do.  One kid loves to compete and the other loves the water but two years ago when he was too young we went to a competition that was freezing and he did not liked the experience so he is not too keen on competing in swimming but he loves competing in basketball

My question is what do I do for them to like swimming and competition.  They are both very competitive boys but I am perplexed why the one that likes competing in other sports does not like competing in swimming.  If I made a mistake by sending him to a competition too young. Is there anything I can do to reverse the mistake?  And also in the summer I am planning for them to swim everyday 1k  (except Sat and Sun) and basketboll three times a week. They will have no other activity.   I wanted to send them to a summer camp in Florida but thougth their level is not great.. and  instead of raising their self confidence in swimming I may be hurting them.. any advise?  I will be greatful for any advise you can give me.

VF

ANSWER:

Hi VF,  Firstly, I admire that you would like your children to enjoy swimming for a lifetime, like you do.  It is a great sport and fitness / recreational activity for people of all ages.

In regards to your son who does not like competing in swimming, he may just want to try other sports and there is nothing wrong with this.  While a child’s first experience at a swim meet should be a positive one, it does not necessarily mean that they will not come back to competition swimming one day.  I would keep encouraging him to do some swimming and over time he may want to take part in a competition again.  The swimming will help his fitness and body development for other sports especially a game like basketball.

One other suggestion is that when you take them swimming over summer, once they have swum the 1k play some games and include in them some mini races.  This would be a great activity to guage how competitive he is in the pool, whilst having fun at the same time.

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert