Anyone ever swam competitively as a child

tracey turnblad

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone could help me. My son is 11. He just got into the pool about 4 years ago and could just swim, without having any lessons. (Front crawl) I then brought him to lessons where he was lucky enough to have classes on his own for nearly two years once a week. He is a very good swimmer at the four strokes. I brought him to a club last year but he was too shy to join he suffered with anxiety which he has overcome with some help I put him into lane swimming but it closed down. .i put him into life savers which was brutal as there were way to many kids in the class (25 I counted to one teacher and the pool was tiny) I recently put him in advanced lessons they are doing a little bit of life saving aswell. He had a different teacher a couple of weeks ago and this week she approached me and told be he was an excellent swimmer that his technique is excellent and he could be a great competitior she kept saying it. She told me to try get him into the lanes again, but they are all bloody booked out. He has a real talent I can see it he flies along. Anyways I'm wondering how I could get him into swimming competitively. Do I try get him lanes or go to a club? I feel if I dont nurture his talent now he could lose it. I'm not a pushy parent.. I just feel he is talented and want him to make the most of it, any advice?

gutenberg

Where are you based? I'd say you should try to get him into a swimming club. Once he's there, he'll be swimming lengths, improving his technique etc., and he'll get a chance to enter galas when the opportunity arises. I don't think just turning up at a public lane session would really cut it if he's interested in competing: part of the joy of club swimming is the friendship circle you build, and the sense of swimming as part of a group and a club, not to mention having a coach to structure sessions, advise on technique, etc. Swimming by himself in a public lane session would likely eventually lead to boredom, plus he/you would have to think up sessions for him to do.

Swim Ireland keeps a list of swimming clubs, divided by province, here. Take a look and see if there's one near you, though I don't know how up-to-date that list is. Drop any nearby clubs an email or a phone call, and also try to call down to the pool when a group is training in order to chat to the coaches. A lot of swimming clubs will have a bit of summer break (at least the younger groups would), so now might not be the absolute best time to try & get him started, but you could try & arrange that he starts in late August/September when most groups start back up.

If he enjoys swimming I would definitely try and get him into a club. I swam with a club as a kid/teenager, and I loved it. I wasn't massively talented and didn't win tons of medals or national championships, but I made some amazing friends and always enjoyed the experience of swimming with a group. I also think it teaches kids amazing self-discipline and focus.

griffin100

Definitely try and get him into a club. They'll work on his technique across all 4 strokes and bring him on no end. Find a local club and talk to a coach, some only take new members following trials at certain times of the year. Swimming is a great gift to give a kid. My two older kids swim with a club and love it. Just be prepared for some early mornings if he decides to keep it up long term

Kurt_Godel

If he is anxious and shy and enjoys swimming, he should be encouraged to a swim club. Not that everyone in swim clubs are anxious and shy, but its a solitary sport in the main, and would suit those shy and anxious kids better than a team sport might, for example. Try and encourage him to stick with the club (for a month, for a term, for a year; whatever it takes). He'll enjoy it once he's swimming, and will get over any awkwardness pretty soon.

_Brian

My daughter swims competitively at a high level.

Definitely get him to a club, if he knows anyone in a club I'd start there.
Most clubs will have club galas so he's initially be swimming against his own club members.
Then the clubs would have "development" galas where Gaining experience is the key rather than winning.

Speak to the coach in advance and explain, the club will have a children's officer too so you should chat with them too.