Switching to High School Practice for the season

Last year I had a club swimmer switch from club swim practice to just the high school swim team workout. She admittedly told me that High School workouts were easier, which is normal as High School athletes must start from very little at the beginning of the season. What was the result of this switch.

She began the HS Dual Meets swimming great. She was getting lifetime bests and was feeling great. There was some improvement through the season. In the end though her times began to flatten out. She finished off with the League Championship with faster times than the last few dual meets, but not as fast as the first couple meets.

What happened? I explained to her that during the fall and winter she came to club practice on a regular basis the improvement was there from the work she had put in. When she moved to HS workouts and to about maybe 1 club workout per week, she began lowering yardage and intensity. She essentially tapered. We saw the great swims from that unplanned taper at the beginning of the season, and then she never put the work back in to get herself ready to go best times at the end of the season. She got close to her times at League out of being excited about League Championships, but it would have been great had we been prepared physiologically to swim our best.

It's something that swimmers need to take into account. Every High School practice is different, so you can't generalize this message. The thing was that she knew the practices were easier, so it should have been an indicator that she needed to put in a couple more club workouts in the week. Understand that High School Coaches want the swimmers to be there for a designated number of days, so that they are part of the group, but also be sure that you don't fall into the trap of thinking a practice is a practice. The reducing the number of club workouts you attend could affect the end results.