re: If any of y'all have a child that swims competitively, we can all celebrate.

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that at age 14, my kid would have a personal swim coach, a breaststroke coach, and a frickin personal strength coach - all above and beyond his regular practices which are 2 hours a day and 3 hours on Saturday.

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And still will never touch 2:00 in the 200IM, go sub 1:00 in the breast, and never go under :50 for free, back, or fly. But there's still hope he will make a State final with relay.

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Is your kid named Brayden, Jayden, Aiden, or Braxton by chance?

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This board has serious insecurities about other people's kids being active/competitive. Your kids must be arse at sports.

Do the moms get drunk at the hotel and act like whores??
If not yall need to step up your game.

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my kid would have a personal swim coach, a breaststroke coach, and a frickin personal strength coach

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Seriously? I would have just let talent take over at 14…but I can relate. Just trying to get our son to college happy and healthy…their nutrition and weight program will get him where he needs to be. Coaches seem fine with that anyway.

Swimming really is a brutal sport. It’s fantastic and brutal all at once. It’s the hardest sport I ever did. Not saying getting beat up on the football field is easier, by any stretch. But, I did distance swimming and the mental challenge of those events at a higher level is as much as the physical. Staring at that black line, feeling like you’re going to puke and you’ve only just begun. There were meets that I’d get out of the pool after a really hard race and my lips would be so blue, and not from the temperature of the water. There were several events I’d get out the water and go straight to the bathroom to vomit. Electrolyte up, protein, move on and get ready for championship heats. I honestly do not miss competitive swimming.

Probably why my workouts “have to” be so hard for me as an adult. I don’t feel like I’ve worked out unless I’ve almost died.

my daughter just completed her last competitive races with Regionals. She did club for a bit and did quite well but she limped through this last year as a Victory Lap with her high school team. She was burnt out of the sport by Sophomore year.

For those asking about costs for club swim: I can say that it is light years less expensive than dance, cheer, or volleyball. As club team sports go, it's a bargain.

But use her as a cautionary tale: you will hear lots of people say that swimming is a great sport and easy on the body. This is far from true at the club level (easy on the body). Lots of great swimmers, especially girls, taken out with shoulder injury or repetitive motion problems. Turns out swimming 3 hours a day is rough on a person's body.

She HATED long course as a sprinter.

I'm quite glad she stuck through this year as she had a blast just enjoying her friends and esprit de corps.

Yeah, because it’s awful. 500 or above is vomit territory. Maybe I’m subconsciously keeping my kids out to avoid that PTSD

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Maybe I’m subconsciously keeping my kids out to avoid that PTSD

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I am going to force the boy to do it. I have paid wayyyy too much fricking money for dance with the girls. Ready for a cheap sport.

Swimming is not easy on your body. Maybe less impact for lower body and avoiding knee/ankle injuries more common in other sports… but my shoulders were so jacked by my sophomore year that the ortho surgeon wanted to operate. Dad said no, and instead I had to quit all strokes besides free, hence why I ended up with only 200 free and distance. I loved the IM. But, had to go to PT EVERY DAY between swimming and music practice to avoid surgery.

Endurance is my thing. In life, and in sports. IYKYK.