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:

Hello I’ve been swimming since I was 6 years old and I love it so much. I am 15 now and my times are not the best, I’d say okay, but I try my best to improve and I’m sure I will if I train a lot more. It’s also because I had to stop swimming for this past year and a half due to hard work I had at school and also because of a skin problem I had.

I am starting swimming again in september and I am willing to give it all I have to get back on track. So do I have a chance to get qualified for the 2016 olympics if I train more, or is it too late?

I live abroad, in Morocco, if that helps in any way. I am not part of the Moroccan swim team. My team swims 2 hours, 5 times a week. How can I do more? How can I get qualified if it isn’t too late? Thank you Hafsa

ANSWER:

Hi Hafsa, I have always encouraged swimmers to go after their dreams.

The key to you getting back into swimming is to start again and as soon as possible.  If you began swimming in the next week, I would suggest going for 3 x 1/2 hours swims for one week, followed by 3 x 1hr swims the following week.  Each week build up the amount of swimming you are doing until you are doing at least 5 x 1 hr swims a week.  If you can do this through August and early September, you will be semi-prepared to begin back doing the 5 x 2hr sessions with your swim team.

Once you are back into full training for 6 months you will need to lift the number of sessions you do up to 7 or 8 sessions a week and ensure you have quality programs that include all the different components that you need to improve your speed, endurance and racing ability.

As far as qualifying for the Olympics, it will depend on how committed you are to training for the next 4 years, your talent levels and who you will be competing against.  You will have a much better idea in 2 years time when you have built a solid base of training and racing and will have a foundation to go after your goal then.

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hi, should swimming training at a swim club be based on “age” rather than on “ability” of the swimmer?

My daughter is a very dedicated and competitive 11-year-old swimmer who thrives on challenges and achievements. She is genuinely getting bored of her training because she does not find it challenging enough to swim with the younger ones (9, 10 & 11 year-olds) and she is not allowed to train with the next age group (12, 13 plus) because she is “only” 11, even though she is both physically & mentally ahead of her own age!

I’ll be grateful for your advise and opinion. Thank you. J

ANSWER:

Hi J,

Your question is a difficult one to answer because each club or coach may do this a little differently.

In the Clubs I have been involved in as a swimmer and as a coach over the past 38 years they have all selected squads based on both age and ability.  I have been fortunate to be involved in larger clubs so this has been releatively easy for the club to achieve.  The ages of the squads tend to overlap. eg 10-12 years, 11-13 years, 12-15 years.

It is important that children of a similar age get to train together for their social development, however swimmers also need to be challenged and if they are swimming at a level higher than others in their group then they will probably need the stimulus of the next group up.

This is often more the case with girls as many of them tend to mature at a slightly younger age than boys and they often can crave the opportunity to swim with children slightly older than themselves.

Having said that, the problem that many clubs have is that if they only have 3 squads, there may be one for the 9 to 11 year olds, one for 12 to 15 year olds and one for 16 years and over.  While it would seem easy in principle for a coach to take an 11 year old up to train with the next ‘age group’, this will often cause alot of problems with other swimmers parents who believe their child should also be given the same opportunity.

Hope this has helped and if anyone else has some suggestions, please add a comment below.

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hi,   My daughter is 10 and has competed since she was 8 with good times in all strokes especially fly and free. She has had about 2 months off as a result of Osgoods Schlatters and then an accident with her pony. She is now worried her times will not be as good as her friends in the squad and they will all move to the next squad without her. Is there anything specific she should be doing on returning to training as the coaches have just said do what you can.   Thanks   CS

ANSWER:

Hi CS, The situation you find yourself in with your daughter is very similar to the one many swimmers come across during the junior swimming years.  From my experience if a swimmers aged 10 years has 2 months out of training, it will take them a good 2 months to get back into the full swing of training again.  Whilst their short term performances may not improve a period of 2 months out of the water due to injury or illness will make no difference in the long term.

The advice you have received from the coaches sounds pretty good to me and I encourage your daughter to keep working on her skills and fitness at each training session and she will be fine.

In regards to friends moving up squads, this will happen to every swimmer at some time and I strongly encourage your daughter to keep doing the work that her coaches are providing her and I am sure she will also be considered for a move to the next squad when she is ready.

Some of the specific things she can do in training is focus on her stroke technique, keep practising her skills like starts, turns and finishes, and rebuilding her aerobic fitness.

If you would like more advice on how you support your daughter’s journey in competition swimming go to www.SwimmingForParents.com.

Regards

Gary