Improvements

Many believe that swimming is a constant, and that it will always be the same as their athlete grows in the sport. They know the meets change, and the training changes, but the approach is the same. The problem is that the approach does change, and a lot of frustration comes from not knowing that the changes are coming.

When the swimmer begins, it is all about developing skills and technique. Many times we are asked why we do so little laps, and the reason is that a lot of laps of doing bad habits may help them get faster right at that moment, but it makes it harder to make changes later in their career when they need to change to be able to get to the next level.

At this time the swim meets are different. We tell the kids not to worry about everyone else; just do your best, and try to do what you have learned. Many times this ends up with time improvement. Of course they are normally little kids at this time and their skills are not locked in, so consistently at high rates are not always there. This is the level where the swimmers can literally drop at every meet, even though as coaches we hope that they don't.

This is when coaches may have swimmers try to go to meets very close together, so that they are setting the swimmer up to not improve, and then they can learn how to deal with those times when the swimmer doesn't improve. Recognizing the things they did wrong and the things that they did right, and preparing to go to practice to put a better race together for the next time.

As the age-group swimmer now becomes faster, things change. Now there are championship meets they qualify to compete. The improvements become smaller, as time drops less when you are already fast. The small victories should be enjoyed, but always looking for the things they did well, and what they still need to do better. This level is also the level that we still don't taper swimmers. We may rest for one to three days, but that is not a taper. Without tapering, the swimmer can still do lifetime bests in season, and the small rest and the excitement of a championship meet is what gets them to swim faster at the rest meets.

Then comes the time when your swimmer begins in a group that actually tapers. This means that they will attend meets through the season that they may not be ready to do their lifetime best times. These meets are crucial to get better at strategy; skills in a race environment; learning to swim with fatigue; and taking chances on races. Many people ask, why don't you just taper for every meet? The answer is because then there isn't enough time to really develop the muscles and develop the anaerobic and aerobic systems to reach ones potential. Why do practice with T-shirts on? Why do we wear drag suits? It is a form of resistance to help make ourselves better. Swimming in a meet broken down is the same thing. Getting close to your bests times is normally a good indication that you are ready for a big drop when the taper does come around.

At this time, many swimmers learn their in-season times. Trying to improve on those times while in season, knowing that last time they were in-season, they were just as broken down. That is comparing apples to apples. Comparing life-time bests with in-season swims is like comparing apples and oranges.

These shifts in attitude and approach to training and meets are not common sense. They are learned and can be very hard to deal with the first couple times the swimmer and their parents have to go through it. Hopefully the swimmer has had plenty of meets in their age-group career where they didn't improve, and they have learned to cope with the disappointment in a good and productive way.

For those parents who keep their kids from competitions. Please don't! It is good for them to see their improvement while they are in the development phases, and it also good for them to have some bad meets. Prepare them to be able to handle what will be coming in their future at the higher level of the sport.

The Novice swimmer and Swim Meets

The question comes up many times, "When do I know my child is ready for a swim meet?" First of all this question can be answered fairly easily; if they're on the swim team they are ready. Many teams make sure that the swimmer can swim without the assistance of a coach in the water, so then they are ready.

Is it a good idea to wait? Yes, but not too long. I believe the swimmer should have a foundation that will allow them to be ready for a race. This should be from 3 weeks to 6 months. The first meet should be selected by the coach. There are some meets that aren't great for new swimmers. When I began coaching we had the Olympic League in Central California which was designed for new swimmers, now in Southern California Coastal Section we have Novice Meets. These may have a few ringers, but for the most part they are new swimmers.

I feel like my swimmer is going to feel bad about themselves because they get beat. This is a common feeling from parents. It is important that all around them realize that the swimmer wins just by doing the race. They have accomplished their first swim race and their first swim meet. This is a victory. The young swimmer went up to the block, went into the water, and did their best in front of hundreds of people. They did great. Don't mention anything else. Nothing about their time, nothing about winning, nothing about losing, and nothing about what they did wrong. Allow the coach to talk to them about what they need to work on at practice. This will make it a good experience and establish good experiences at later meets.

Don't be afraid of your child competing. We live in a competitive world, they need to learn some competitiveness. The first meets are looking for improvement, and hopefully they will later develop the desire to race their heat, and then even later down the road; compete against all in the event. Competition in swimming is a development process that begins with the competition against oneself for self improvement, and then progressively to compete against their peers. This process takes years, so that is why I promote even new young swimmers to compete at meets. They learn self improvement through work and practice; perfecting skills. This is pretty much the process for all age-group swimming. Sure we like to see some desire to beat someone in their heat, but winning the event for an award is far from what should excite the young swimmer.

There are some very competitive parents out there. I recommend to you to be a timer for the whole meet, or get trained to be an official. This will force you not to impose your competitiveness on your child while they are in the developing stage of their swimming. There are some parents who don't want their child to be put in a competitive environment because of what it will do to the child's psyche. These are the kids who probably need to go to a swim meet the most. Go in with the right mentality and it will normally be a good experience. If you fall in the middle of these two that's great, and take what is in this article to think about your swimmer competing.

Age-Group swimming is all about development. There is very little to being a great 10 and under swimmer if you aren't great at 17 and 18 as well. It is a process, don't try to rush it, and definitely don't try to postpone it.