If we have 15 year olds taking gold, I don’t see how anyone who actually takes up swimming in middle school (10-12 years old) making it beyond U.S. Olympic Trials.
You mean that there’s a pretty good chance that you or I aren’t going to be on the 2016 squad? Crap.
Gold medalist from Athens who started swimming at 14:
Someone who starts later is the exception. Rebecca Soni didn’t start until she was 10 and she did all right.
You also probably should think deep thoughts about women’s gymnastics and the starting age for those athletes. Or, how old they are when they retire.
You also probably should think deep thoughts about women’s gymnastics and the starting age for those athletes. Or, how old they are when they retire.
3 years old to 21 years old? (assuming they do gymnastics in college).
You also probably should think deep thoughts about women’s gymnastics and the starting age for those athletes. Or, how old they are when they retire.
3 years old to 21 years old? (assuming they do gymnastics in college).
So it’s safe to say that if you haven’t started gymnastics by the age of 12…
You also probably should think deep thoughts about women’s gymnastics and the starting age for those athletes. Or, how old they are when they retire.
3 years old to 21 years old? (assuming they do gymnastics in college).
So it’s safe to say that if you haven’t started gymnastics by the age of 12…
well I said all-american swimmer by time of age 12, not just start. I doubt you can be the fastest swimmer at your local high school if you start completely at age 12.
Generally speaking that’s true. There are exceptions, particularly if you’ve had some training in a sport that translates in part to swimming, e.g. running, soccer, etc. But, if you want your kid to be a world champion, you’d better have great genes and you’d better start them early. Tiger Woods was putting en ventra sa mere! 
Probably…
This is a frequent topic on many of the sports forums. For instance, 14 year olds who discover tennis and love it are always asking if they have a chance to turn pro. Of course they have a chance. One in a million…maybe.
-Robert
Rick Say (Canadian olympian who finalled in 200m free in Athens) apparently didn’t start swimming until he was 18. I think he was very good at other sports before that though.
Miss Soni is 25 so she has been at it for a pretty long time. It is freeking hard to make the USA Olympics in swimming. Look at our trials times and the depth of the fields. Most of our Olympic swimmers were pretty darn good whiz kids as babies and showed early talent and got picked up by strong colleges or age group programs.
There are exceptions to most generalizations, but I would guess that 90% plus of the swimmers from around the world at London were pretty good little age grabbers back in the day. It is just for some of them, back in the day was only a few years ago. They start age groups at 8 and under, so starting at 10 is not exactly a senior citizen in the swimming pool.
As opposed to rowing (another grunt sport), where most of the Olympians from USA probably get there start in late HS or college, it is a rare bird indeed that starts swimming in college and goes to the Olympics.
Does anyone have kids who are in a swim club? In the pool I go to I see 7 year old kids swimming countless laps at a pace much faster than I swim. I am curious what mentality they must have to swim like that at such a young age. I certainly did not possess it (wish i did). I wanted to go to the pool but it was not to swim laps and put in work like that. I wonder does it take much influence or motivation from the parents to get kids involved in a swim club or team, or do the kids just take to in naturally?
My daughter is on a pretty competitive swim team and they say if you don’t make the team when you are 8under it becomes very difficult as a 9/10 year old. Seems ridiculous. Lot of pressure on very young kids. I want her to play soccer( team sport, running around, etc,) as well as swim but her travel soccer schedule conflicts with swimming Forget about school and everything else that is so much more important.
It appears that these kids have to make a decision at a very young age on One sport.
My daughter is on a pretty competitive swim team and they say if you don’t make the team when you are 8under it becomes very difficult as a 9/10 year old. Seems ridiculous. Lot of pressure on very young kids. I want her to play soccer( team sport, running around, etc,) as well as swim but her travel soccer schedule conflicts with swimming Forget about school and everything else that is so much more important.
It appears that these kids have to make a decision at a very young age on One sport.
parents make the decision. kid either goes along or raises enough hell for parent to change their mind.
I doubt a 7 year old is so into swimming that they can’t wait to swim 7 days a week, 3 hours a day.
There are kids on my daughters team who can swim 25 yards under 18 seconds. I don’t know how fast this is nationally but it looks fast when they are in the pool and get out and are barely over 3’ tall.
They swim tons of laps at practice too. All 4 strokes, dive off the blocks, the whole deal.
Don’t know if you have to be an All American by age 12 but you better be swimming at a very high level very soon after. I have had back when my daughters were on age group teams the opportunity to watch an Olympian gold medalist train and watch what would be there national team train and you could clearly see there was a huge(did I say huge) seperation in ability and talent between those two groups. Olympic swimmers are very special people, with lots of God given ability and talent that is beyond the norm. To go even further they have to stay very motivated and be very well coached. Those big old flappy flat feet are good for something if you know what to do with them.
I agree. Its hard to judge when they need a break sometimes. Once in a while she says she doesn’t want to go to practice and I let her stay home. Then sometimes I bring her anyway and she clearly has fun. Its a juggling act.
I’m just trying to keep it fun so she stays with it.
Depends on which event you’re trying to compete in. Distance events, especially for women, have particularly young swimmers.
my daughter didnt start swimming until age 13 last summer. she is already pretty fast, it only took her 3 months to get down to a 1:09 100 and she is getting faster all the time.
obviously not olympic caliber times but you can see how quickly a natural swimmer can progress.
Does anyone have kids who are in a swim club? In the pool I go to I see 7 year old kids swimming countless laps at a pace much faster than I swim. I am curious what mentality they must have to swim like that at such a young age. I certainly did not possess it (wish i did). I wanted to go to the pool but it was not to swim laps and put in work like that. I wonder does it take much influence or motivation from the parents to get kids involved in a swim club or team, or do the kids just take to in naturally?
They can possess the athlete’s drive to the be the best even at that age. I was swimming a workout recently and in the next lane this little 8 yr old was leading a workout for her 2 other friends, the 3 of them circle-swimming. She had this whole workout thought out and memorized in her head. These girls were good little swimmers but they didn’t appear to be super gifted. I’ve also seen several 7 or 8 yr old swimmers get in and train on their own for 45 min or so, with no adult telling them what to do. I think these kids’ drive is a combo of innate drive plus observation of what the older top swimmers do. Certainly sometimes their parents had something to do with it but I’ve had a couple of women tell me that they have no idea where their kid’s swimming motivation comes from, since neither of the parents really were into swimming.
Speaking strictly from my own personal experience, many young kids acquire greater drive and determination after a traumatic event, such as death of a parent or divorce. Some end up drinking too much or doing heroin, but others use the drug of swimming and/or running to wear themselves out so that they can sleep. Some keep doing this into adulthood and end up on ST:)
Also, back on the original thread’s assertion, Rowdy Gaines did not start swimming until age 17 but won 3 golds at the 84 Games: 100 free, 400 free relay, and 400 medley relay.