Courtesy of Nikki Flynn, SwimSwam intern. Follow: @NikkiFlynn3
Ask any college level swimmer when they started swimming, and they will most likely say somewhere between the ages of 6-10 years old. However, you may find a swimmer that has just broken into the community, and they are an enigma. If you are one of those few and far between, you know these things to be true:
ONE
Your parents pretend to know what’s going on, and they will always be proud of you. “Great job, you looked great!!” “Dad, I gained 4 seconds in a 50…”
TWO
You probably started swimming because of an inability to perform in another sport. Whether it was due to an injury or getting cut your freshman year from your dream team, you wanted to keep active and there was always room on the swim team.
THREE
You have to have some natural talent to make it. Initially. You would have never kept swimming if you didn’t have some natural talent that was recognized early on.
FOUR
You realize your talent won’t get you to your goal, and you start working your butt off. Once this happens, people actually start to take you seriously. Workouts become daily challenges to help you reach your goal.
FIVE
You secretly like to brag about how few years you have been competing. “You’ve only been swimming for 8 years??” “I actually didn’t get competitive until about 3 years ago…”
SIX
You may not have known how to do a certain stroke or turn when you got to college. Since you didn’t start from the beginning, you never truly learned how to do some things that are taught in basic swim lessons. To your coach’s dismay, you finally learn how to do that pesky open turn, or swim backstroke like the rest of the swimming community.
SEVEN
People don’t think you work hard, because you don’t have 10+ years of training under your belt. Initially, there are the naysayers that call you out for “sandbagging” or being a Sally Save-Up. Little do they know you had no idea how to swim the set properly due to lack of experience.
EIGHT
You still love the sport, unconditionally. Swimming can truly be a love-hate sport, but for new swimmers there is significantly more love. You haven’t had enough time to “burn out”, and there is still so much progress to be made.
NINE
At the end of your career, you aren’t ready to be done. You simply haven’t had enough time to do what you love!
I used to swim when I was 10 and was getting to a competitive level and was ok for that age, I am now 15 and haven’t been swimming with a club for 5 years. I want to start again and was wondering if there was any point, I don’t know if any one will see this, but I am curious.
I started swimming when I was 17, joined the school team and am great for it being my first year but you realize you can’t compete with those who’ve been swimming 8+ years
I have always love swimming but in my early childhood I was kind of a slacker and didn’t have time to take up swimming. Also I was pretty heavy set and still kind of am. I was wondering even though I’m now 20 and still need to lose a lot of weight could I still become an Olympic swimmer if I work extremely hard for it.
I was wondering the same thing but im 23 and i want to learn how to swim my dream is to one day represent the USA in the olympics as a kid i really couldn’t afford it
I am 13 and since this year for the first time since i have seen the 2016 olympics people have been telling me that i can’t be in the 2020 olympics but don’t ever let your age get to you becomes dreams can become into reality,whatever age you are
hi
#4 is so true. I started when I was 13, I’m 16 now and watching my teammates burn out…sometimes I wonder about how good I’d be if I started when I was 7 like my teammates, but then I remember that I wouldn’t have the work ethic I have today if this were my 10th swim season rather than my 3rd
I’m 12 right now, is that too late to start swimming? I’m pretty good at swimming right now but can I really join this late?
It’s never to start swimming! I started squad when I was 12 and I caught up to the others fairly quickly! Just a bit of advice which is to try not to compare yourself to others and don’t think like this “OMG IM SOOO SLOW A 10 YEAR OLD IS FASTER THEN ME!!” As if you just work hard in a few seasons you will be up to par and even gaining some qualification times for some big meets!
Im 14 years old and already had a swimming lesson this year, and I’m planning to continue to learn the other three competitive strokes, how can I tell my mom and my coach that I want to join a swim team? I’m a very shy person, and I really lack confidence.ugh.
Loved this! #1, 4, 8, and 9 resonated with me especially.
I didn’t start swimming competitively until I was 20 years old, when I joined a local community college team. Six years later, it’s still the best decision of my life.
Go DACA!
Two, five and eight so true and number 6 was only lucky that teamates except for one didn’t like 440 (that dates it) time trial week before first meet. Then have a briliant coach in a little DIII school who says it is who gets there first not the way it looks no style points are used. If you never want to leave sport just go into coaching tto give back the enjoyment and what it did for you.
Nice job Nikki!! I too just started swimming at the age of 52! It is never too late to learn to swim…that’s the good news. And you are awesome, amazing and a great representation of what hard work can look like! Love you!!