IF he keeps it up I am pretty sure he’ll be beating me within a year certainly less than two years, esp on Backstroke.
I’m not as quick as I was though, my PB was 2.21 for 200 free, the best I could hope for now would be a 2.40, but I am in my late 50s !
37.9 for 50 free at 9 is good, probably about the same as the 17.5 for 25m that the Little Olympics up here (in 2014) was won in ?
My lad stands more chance in the Back, partly because he’s a natural at it, and partly because fewer swimmers, esp kids, are good at backstroke.
It’s not quite the case he has no swimming background, though he has got no competitive background. He swam 25m a week before his 3rd birthday (very poor stroke though ! ) and a lot for a couple of years after that. But then, from the age of 5 till about three months ago, probably only went swimming twice a month or so, plus, just like me and the rest of us, none for 7 months during Covid (Boo Hiss).
El Niño back/breast are his most competitive although his breast is what he generally likes best. 40.02 pb 50br and 1:27 dead for 100. Back is 35.6 and 1:17. He is a “natural” fly swimmer, just had that rhythm from young age that is very difficult to teach, not got the power through the pull other kids his age have yet but improving which is all you can ask. Won a bronze at weekend in 100fly with a low 1.20 (37.03 pb for 50)
We lost a year to Covid. Club pool didn’t reopen till October, so scratched around for odd sessions during Aug/Sept. Then the november lockdown, then a couple weeks before London locked down until mid april again. First gala from 15th March 20 (yes 200kids poolside a week before lockdown ) was July 21 . Was a tough time for the kids. The younger ages we are seeing the problems now, 10 and 11 AG are very low numbers of participation where kids didnt start who might have or didnt return after.
Is your lad big or small for his age ?
My lad is small, which was advantageous when he used to swim in deep pools at 4 because he looked 3 or younger and it got a lot of interest from staff and other swimmers ! But now it makes it that much harder for him to compete. The difference in size between kids of the same age is HUGE, it’s almost like it would be fairer if kids were grouped by height not age !
What happened during Covid was a disgrace, it depressed me a lot. What ****es me off was when people used to say stuff like “oh you couldn’t swim, that doesn’t matter, shutting the leisure centres is no big deal”. Yeah, it was no big deal to them because they don’t swim, and certainly not as seriously as us, soddin’ hypocrites.
On the positive side, because it happened when my lad wasn’t doing much swimming anyway, it did at least mean my lad is not even further behind the best kids than he would otherwise have been !
above average currently but not massively tall (Im 6ft 5 but shot up at about 18) he’s quite slim as hes had a bit of a spurt but has the size potential to swim at a reasonable level as he ages.
Not too bad at a local level, gets a few medals and has County time in 50bk, 50br and 100bk and 100br nearly there also. At this age there’s such a difference, some kids just develop so much faster and you can see it with the times, but I just say to all the kids I coach , just keep turning up, keep trying your best, have fun and when you are 14 or 15 then the gaps will start to close.
I think my lad will get a bit of a shock. As I mentioned earlier, mainly because I took him so often (5X in one particular week when he was about 4), he was exceptional in the water and constantly getting people in and around the pool telling him so. I can remember one instance clearly, he was about three and a half (but looked like he was 2) we went swimming in Ripon pool and all the staff came out to see him. And that wasn’t unusual. So he’ll go from that to, for the first time, possibly being beaten by kids his own age ! It’s partly his own fault as he didn’t do that much swimming for about three years and lost his advantage, but I think I’ll have to start preparing him for what might happen. Not sure how to though !
Project refocus is underway ! I keep asking him what is the most important thing about his upcoming gala ?
To win ? he replies.
No, that’d be great, but not the most important thing.
To get a PB ?
No, you probably will swim a PB and that will be great too, but not the most important thing.
To enjoy myself ?
Yes, correct answer.
I managed to buy the Sonr off E Bay, it didn’t seem to work when we tested it at work but, for some reason I cannot fathom (pun intended) it started working when my lad insisted on trying it at home. So we took it to the pool and whilst he swam he said it worked he could hear pretty much everything I said. It was marvellous, e.g. he was swimming back and he was pausing at the end of his pull, “you’re pausing at the end of your pull, keep going continuously, like a windmill”, and like magic that’s what he did, instantly. It was brilliant, it worked as well as I could have hoped, the sky is the limit here I thought, until a life guard came up to us and said “you can’t use that here”. “Why” I asked, “because the duty manager said not”. So I went and spoke to the DM who seemed to take the view ‘why should you be allowed to use that’ ? ! ? Typical of modern society, everything is banned unless specifically allowed… Anyway, she said she’d ask for permission from the Facilities Manager, but I am cynical about managers, why would they say yes to anything that might, even if only in very unlikely circumstances, come back to bite them on the bum ? The Duty Manager made one or two attempts at excuses “it might interfere with our radios” (none of the staff on duty said it did) and “no electronics are allowed on the poolside” (even though all their staff on the poolside have radios on them ! ).
We will see, I am not optimistic, but, I can report the Sonr works well.
This is Londons best kept secret, costs me £300 a year, unlimted use between 7 and 7 weekdays , odd day closed 9-11 for schools. Saturday 7-1 but im never in London then.
Usually get a lane to myself or worst is split lane. It’s busy if theres 6 people this past year!
It’s not a public pool and has been low use since I started swimming there about 20 years ago. Usually a lane each, 2 to a lane isnt too bad but i cant remember the last time we had 3 or 4 to a lane.
Im fine swimming alone at lunchtimes, I switch off and enjoy the water.
There is a heart warming (but at the same time deeply sad) tale about access to swimming pools. My 9 year old loved that Sonr and was very upset when we were told we could not use it anymore, it is possible they will relent but I am not holding my breath (pun intended).
He said “Daddy, if they won’t let us use it at Stocksbridge why don’t we build our own swimming pool ? I’ll help you.” I replied ‘I’d absolutely love our own pool but sorry we can’t afford it’. To which he said “I’ll go on an economy drive round the house and I have money in the bank, we can use that !”.
My heart was aching… B****s.
) was July 21 . Was a tough time for the kids. The younger ages we are seeing the problems now, 10 and 11 AG are very low numbers of participation where kids didnt start who might have or didnt return after.
