The Swim
Why
is the swim marathon mandatory?
We’ve
talked about how the funds raised by the swim marathon help the YWCA to
continue to provide healthy aquatic programming as well as support those who
are victims of violence and racial injustice. In addition to raising
critical funds for the Y, however, the swim marathon is an annual measure of
how all of our swimmers are progressing.
Why
is it important as a measure of a child’s swimming
development?
When
preparing for practice daily and placing swimmers within practice groups from
season to season, it is necessary for us to see how ongoing swimmers meet
this challenge each year. Swimmers are placed into groups based on stroke
mechanics, how many seasons they’ve been on the team, maturity level and
endurance/aerobic capacity. It doesn’t matter how fast someone swims the 50
free (or any particular event) or what place they come in at a meet in any
event (not a controllable). Keep in mind the following – even though best times
and places at a meet are used to motivate and as tools to teach, they are in no
way a true indicator of swimming development/improvement. A few of the best indicators
of swimming improvement are the following; keeping swim mechanics together with
increased workload, repeating sets at faster interval levels (usually senior
training) and swimming longer distances in fixed amount of times – the swim
marathon.
The
very nature of swimming from the very beginning levels (tadpoles, bullfrogs …)
to upper swim team levels is to help swimmers become comfortable being
uncomfortable – physically, socially, emotionally, and psychologically. When
children find themselves challenged in one of these areas, it is an opportunity
for them to grow and mature not only as a swimmer but as a person. I often see
parents take these opportunities to learn and grow away from their child
because of the fear of them hurting, feeling disappointment and/or failing. But
putting children in these types of situations and challenging them to keep
going even when they want to quit is one of the most valuable teaching tools we
have.
It
is normal for both parents and their swimmers to be anxious before the swim,
but each year both parents and swimmers come away with an appreciation for how
far they have come in a year and a realization that they are capable of far
more than they thought possible. For swimmers, parents and coaches alike, it is
one of the most exciting and gratifying events of the year.
If you are interested, there are a number of articles on the USA Swimming website, www.usaswimming.org (click on the "parents" tab) which help provide additional insight on many aspects of swimming development. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me or talk to your child’s coach. Thanks.
Pete