Written and courtesy of Elizabeth Wickham
I helped out at a high school swim meet last week and it reminded me of how exciting the high school season can be. Hopefully, your club team and high school coaches will work together and communicate. I’ve witnessed some instances where a high school coach wouldn’t allow swimmers to compete or attend practice with their club. The kids had to make the tough choice of whether or not to swim club or high school, and not get the experience of both.
“When a swimmer, a club coach, and a high school coach are all on the same page, high school swimming is a great experience,” said Jeff Conwell, CEO and Head Coach of Piranha Swim Team and Palm Springs High School Varsity Coach. “It should come down to what does the athlete want first and foremost. If an athlete’s number one goal in swimming is to qualify for Olympic Trials or qualify for Junior Nationals in the mile, I can see why high school swimming could get in the way. As a high school coach, I would respect that and make concessions to allow for that athlete to pursue those goals as a priority and compete on my team as well,” Conwell added.
“As a club coach, my goal is to produce kids prepared for college swimming but in a way that makes them want to swim in college, not burned out before they get there. And that’s a fine line. Not everyone is made for that. High school swimming can be a positive part of that. It’s great in teaching the kids to race when tired, swim for place and points more than time, and to step up on relays on a regular basis.”
Here are a few other reasons why it’s a good idea for swimmers to compete on their high school teams:
ONE
Team Spirit.
Competing for high school is more about the team, kind of like college swimming, rather than focusing on the individual swimmer. Although it’s important to swim fast, winning the race becomes the focus rather than a best time. It’s scoring points for the team that matter. How exciting is it to watch a close relay and have two high school teams at the end of the lane cheering and screaming?
TWO
Recognition.
Finally, after years and years of training and hearing friends ask over and over, “Practice, again?” the world knows why. All those hours staring at the black line at the bottom of the pool pay off. It’s a moment for club swimmers to shine and get a little glory in a sport that doesn’t get much attention from their high school peers.
THREE
Fun.
One of my kids said his favorite thing about high school swimming was riding the bus to and from meets. Hanging out with a group of kids and traveling to meets is fun. High school swimming can be less pressure and bring an element of excitement and keep our kids passionate and enjoying the experience.
FOUR
New Swimmers.
Our kids get to help out brand new swimmers. For some families, the only exposure they have to the sport of swimming is through high school. It’s an opportunity for club parents and swimmers to reach out to newbie families and hopefully get them hooked on swimming and into your club team. We can be ambassadors and let these families know how great swimming has been for our kids.
FIVE
Racing.
High school offers lots of opportunities to race. Instead of a meet once a month, your kids will race at dual meets weekly. They’ll be racing in events wherever the team needs them–and they’ll often race tired.
Why do you think it’s important to swim for high school?
Elizabeth Wickham volunteered for 14 years on her kids’ club team as board member, fundraiser, newsletter editor and “Mrs. meet manager.” She’s a writer with a bachelor of arts degree in editorial journalism from the University of Washington with a long career in public relations, marketing and advertising. Her stories have appeared in newspapers and magazines including the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Parenting and Ladybug. You can read more parenting tips on her blog: http://bleuwater.me/.
thanke you very much!!!!!!!!!
Good point but this article does not apply to the entire state of Ohio… OH does not allow swimmers to have a choice. If you are high school swimmer you are forbidden to practice and/or take part in club swimming during the hs season. Period. Also, we live in a district that does not support our swimmers at all. Literally. It is a varsity sport but the district does not put one cent towards it. Our kids must travel 20 miles to the practice pool and pay $600/season to be coached by a “volunteer” who just happens to be a USA coach also. If you are lucky enough to live somewhere that your kids are accepted as athletes and the… Read more »
Great and timely topic! As a former high school swimmer (never swam club, wish I did) who loved every amazing moment of it, I am strongly encouraging my son to do the same when he becomes a freshman this fall. After speaking at length to his forthcoming HS coach, I understand why it’s so hard for a HS program to integrate club swimmers – the pool is too small to host both elite and HS swimmers. The coach told me that until the HS upgraded its aquatic facilities to an Olympic size pool this year, he didn’t have enough lanes to isolate the club swimmers from the rest. He knows that club swimmers want to maintain their edge during the… Read more »
Several state do not allow students to compete in both high school and club at the same time.
I swam high school through my junior year but I could not bring myself to do it for a fourth year. We got a new coach my junior year and it was clear he hadn’t had much experience due to the repettiveness of sets and the always present theme of “garbage yardage”. He also a very uninspiring and even demeaning coach I often felt useless when he would talk to me after a race. I actually went into a bit of a depression and lacked motivation to continue with the sport up until I worked up the courage to tell him I was not going to be swimming for him my senior year. I went and trained with my club… Read more »
Not saying they’re all bad, just unfortunately I did not have a good experience my last year as a high school athlete and that has left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth
I’d like to offer the perspective of one high school coach.
The vast majority of my colleagues (high school coaches in my area) have experience as both high school and club swimmers. A fair number (myself included) also have collegiate experience. Some also have positions as club coaches. I run into them at coaching clinics periodically. I think that painting high school coaches as automatically inferior is inaccurate and unfair. I learned things from my own high school coaches that I didn’t learn from my own club coaches, and vice versa.
Years ago, there were a few teams around the state that would have swimmers who never practiced with their “teammates,” but competed in meets. In some cases, those swimmers… Read more »
The problem isn’t always inferior coaching. The real problem is taking an athlete out of a training system for 2-3 months. Most high school coaches are more than capable of writing a workout. Some high school coaches actually go overboard trying to prove they can run a hard workout when high school athletes train with them. The focus and season plan of a high school team and that of an athlete training year around are completely different. The majority of High school swimmers have spent several months if not 9 months, out of the water and need to be at their peak in 8-10 weeks.
Being a part of a team? The club athletes are a part of a team,… Read more »
Couldn’t have said it better. Thank you!
Feeling very lucky that as my son goes off to high school next year, his club coach and high school coach are brothers.