What is Senior Swimming?!?

This is my first post and I thought I would go right to the issue I have to explain most to parents and swimmers.  I have been coaching now for 15 years in 2 different states from entry level to national level swimmers.  The one thing I have learned in all those years is the transition from Age Group Swimming to Senior Swimming is a tough one.  It is tough for parents, swimmers and coaches.  I am going to focus on three different aspects that are different.  Competition, Training and the Role of Parents.

There are two very different mindsets when it comes to training and competing.  As an Age Group Swimmer the thought is always to beat your time.  You are racing the clock every meet focused on shaving minutes, seconds, or tenths off your previous time.  When it comes to Senior Swimming you are more focused on implementing your training into your racing.  There are a lot of meets in Senior Swimming that are just extensions of your training.  This is probably one of the most difficult aspects to grasp.  Parents will get upset when their swimmer does not drop time and most of the time it is because they are not educated on the process.  Unlike other sports, swimming is a very individualized sport that has delayed gratification.  When a swimmer goes to one of these mid-season meets they are focusing on taking the training and implementing it in a race scenario.  So say the swimmer is swimming the 200 Free and during training they have been focused on attacking their turns and increasing tempo and kick third 50 that is what the coach is looking for.  They may add time they may not that is not the focus.  I typically have my senior swimmers focus on 2  to 3 meets a season.  These 2 to 3 meets are the meets we are focused on going best times.  We will have rested and tapered and are set up to swim fast.

Now comes the hard part.  Most people love competing and going to meets but meets are such a small part of the sport.  The majority of the time is spent training.  Now you are probably wondering what the difference could be between Age Group Training and Senior Training.  The answer is A LOT!  There are two different types of Age Group Swimmers.  For the first type, swimming is just one of their sports.  It may be their primary focus, but they also participate in other sports depending on the season.  These swimmers are committed but have other obligations that keep them from practice and limit their practice times. For the second group, swimming is their only sport.  This group can be broken into the swimmer that comes to every practice and the swimmer who shows up occasionally. During Age Group Training they are learning the skills to advance them in the sport.  Things like good under waters, proper technique (to prevent injury), reading a pace clock, etc.  They may practice anywhere from 3-8 hours a week depending on age and commitment.

Senior training is all about commitment.  When you get to this level most teams expect that swimming is your only sport.  This is not because your coach is trying to be mean and tell you to decide between sports it is because the requirement to compete at the highest level means you need to have that level of commitment.  Lots of senior groups have practices offered 10-12 times a week.  If each practice is 2 hours that means they are practicing 20-24 hours a week.  Depending on your coach this can vary.  That does not include commute time, dry land practices and 8 hours of school a day plus homework.  Don't forget to factor in that swimming is a sport that competes 12 months a year!  Now that is a commitment if you ask me.  I have learned over the years that successful swimmers learn how to manage their time well between their swimming commitment and school work. I will never tell you it is easy, but I will tell you it is not impossible.

Lastly, what are the parents role?  This is where I see people make mistakes most often.  In Age Group Swimming parents take the lead on communication with the Coach in regards to practice attendance, meet sign-ups and just about everything else.  This level of interaction between coach and parent greatly diminishes when you get to Senior Swimming.  Senior swimmers have the responsibility to communicate with the coach about everything!  This includes practice conflicts, what meets they will attend, and many other items.  I am not telling parents not to be involved in their swimmers sport, I am just saying the role the parents takes shifts.  Now the parents have become the drivers (for those that are whose swimmers do not drive yet), cheerleader/supporter and anything else the swimmer needs.  You need to remember this is the swimmers sport, not yours.

I know many of you can probably think of a million other aspects that are different, but these are just the three that I see are always the hardest to adjust.

Disclaimer: These are my opinions and are to not be a reflection on anyone other than myself.