Fair to say if you aren't an All-American swimmer by 12 years old, you have no shot at olympics?

Triathlon Forum
21

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.

Ya, if they have some degree of innate ability they can start at any age. Phelps could have started at 18 and still would have been a star.

Congrats on your kid BTW; at this rate she might be able to get a swimming scholarship in college and save you some bucks:)

22

No. He started swimming year round that year at UVic. He swam summer club for quite a while before that in Salmon Arm. I raced Rick quite a bit over the next 3-4 years.

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Congrats on your kid BTW; at this rate she might be able to get a swimming scholarship in college and save you some bucks:)

fingers crossed, thats what im hopng for! :wink: her school team starts again on monday!

24

One guy I swam with in HS (different schools, but same club) didn’t start until he was 13 but clearly showed some talent early on… went from being a scrub as a freshman to about even with me as a soph (when I was a senior, not real fast but good enough to make it to state as the slowest guy on a relay), then district champ as a junior and state champ as a senior, just barely good enough to get a D-1 schollie and eventually made it to NCAA champ and a 3rd at the '92 Trials (but not in 100/200 free so no relay spot); one place out from going to Barcelona. So, not making the Olys, but close enough I’d say having “a shot” at it.

But yeah, in general I’d agree. Outside of a few rare exceptions, all the top swimmers back in my day and again now on my kids’ teams are/were pretty obvious standouts at a young age. I think it might be slightly more common to have late bloomers on the boys/men’s side, just because puberty comes later and makes a much bigger difference in physical athletic development, whereas the girls physically peak younger (and often too much ‘blossoming’ actually becomes a handicap).

25

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

my friend’s son just got a D1 swim scholarship to a top 20 (but not top 10) school as a sprinter and he didn’t start swimming until he was 13. he made all-american status in 5 events as a senior in HS. i’m sure he’s the exception and not the rule however as he has something you can’t coach, a 6’2" frame with the wingspan of someone who’s 6’5". i’m sure having a 46" chest and a 32" waist didn’t hurt either.

26

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.

Wow, swimming 100 in 1:09 in only 3 months! That’s impressive. Sadly, I’ll probably never be that fast.
How much did she swim in those 3 months?

27

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.

Wow, swimming 100 in 1:09 in only 3 months! That’s impressive. Sadly, I’ll probably never be that fast.
How much did she swim in those 3 months?

twice a day nearly every day. on many days she actually wanted to swim a 3rd time in the evening and i wouldnt let her. she really is quite a natural fish and i love swimming with her.

edit: she is also a decent runner so she had the engine before she started swimming. i actually encouraged her to take up cross country but she wanted to go into swimming so i encouraged her in that instead.

28

Whoops. Many of the media profiles on him aired during the Olympics would say he started at 18, but I guess yours makes more sense and is more likely to be true.

29

I recall one 15 year old winning a gold, I recall a 17 year old and countless in their 20’s a bunch in their late 20’s. Not sure how one person makes your arguement? I started training at 13, didn’t win a gold but got to compete…!

30

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.

I don’t think you need to be on a national stage before even highschool to be an olympic athlete…There are so many factors here…However, given the current high level of athletes at any sport laying the foundation probably has to come very early…But there is a difference between building a skill/adapation and building fitness and speed…The skill and adapatation happen over a long period of time (ie…why these top swimmers start young)…The focused training to build peak fitness and speed and strength can happen in a much more condensed time frame and usually later in development…as long as you have the foundation to handle it…

Example…I am pretty sure if Michael Phelps waited to really start swim training until late in his High School Years, but started swimming 2x’s per week most of the year from the time he was 7 to 10 years old… He still would be and Olympic Gold Medalist…Everything would have been pushed back…Gymnastics is totally different by the way…with respect to peak years…

Boys/Men best years come between the years of 18 to 24…Girls maybe a little earlier.

The bottom line here is not the age…but the person…I would say that if you aren’t a genetic freak when you are born, you have no shot at the olympics!

31

Breeja Larson won trials in the 100 Br and this was her first tapered long course meet, didn’t take up swimming at the club level until 17. It is extremely unlikely but it is possible.

32

I dont know how long he did summers before uvic just that he had done multiple seasons. I kicked his ass a few times before he figured out how to pace.

33

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.

Even with soccer. My take is the very best are 1) very well off, and 2) have success-driven parents.

The question I have is, how many Olympians started off poor, and with parents who were not Type A “driver” personalities who pushed their kid to the highest levels possible.

I am going through this with my 14-year old son now. Will he do triathlon for fun or for competition? Will we make the time and money available to go to national-level qualifying races to give him an opportunity to get to the Elite level? If we do, will he succeed? If he does, will his success get noticed?

The way I reason it out, if we do go to some regional and national level qualifying races, if he does succeed to a moderate level, but he does not make the elite level, and does not become an Olympian, we are OK with that. He has found a sport and has had fun doing races for something he can do the rest of his life.

34

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.

I don’t think you need to be on a national stage before even highschool to be an olympic athlete…There are so many factors here…However, given the current high level of athletes at any sport laying the foundation probably has to come very early…But there is a difference between building a skill/adapation and building fitness and speed…The skill and adapatation happen over a long period of time (ie…why these top swimmers start young)…The focused training to build peak fitness and speed and strength can happen in a much more condensed time frame and usually later in development…as long as you have the foundation to handle it…

Example…I am pretty sure if Michael Phelps waited to really start swim training until late in his High School Years, but started swimming 2x’s per week most of the year from the time he was 7 to 10 years old… He still would be and Olympic Gold Medalist…Everything would have been pushed back…Gymnastics is totally different by the way…with respect to peak years…

Boys/Men best years come between the years of 18 to 24…Girls maybe a little earlier.

The bottom line here is not the age…but the person…I would say that if you aren’t a genetic freak when you are born, you have no shot at the olympics!

I agree 100% but think Phelps and most of the Olympic swimming team could have started swimming period at 14 or 15 and would have still been great swimmers, because they have the innate skills needed: great engine, great flexibility, excellent muscle strength, etc. At my club, I’ve seen some guys/girls get in the pool w/ no swim background, i.e., swimming with head out of water, but give them a kickboard and they’re motoring at 1:40/100 SCY, which is pretty fast kicking for someone who has never even practiced it before. They just “get it”. While these guys/girls might not be able to make it to the Oly level, they do illustrate the role of natural talent.

Also, a small but significant %age of competitive Masters swimmers took up the sport in their 20s, 30s, or 40s, and swim very fast times. If these folks had taken up the sport in their teens, they would’ve been at least at the Trials if not on the team.

35

Thats similar to the way I feel. I just want her to find a sport (physical activity) that she can take into her adult life and maintain health and fitness.

36

My daughter is 9 months old and in swimming lessons. Let’s see if she makes the Olympics (eye rolling). but, you never know.

37

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.

Even with soccer. My take is the very best are 1) very well off, and 2) have success-driven parents.

The question I have is, how many Olympians started off poor, and with parents who were not Type A “driver” personalities who pushed their kid to the highest levels possible.

I am going through this with my 14-year old son now. Will he do triathlon for fun or for competition? Will we make the time and money available to go to national-level qualifying races to give him an opportunity to get to the Elite level? If we do, will he succeed? If he does, will his success get noticed?

The way I reason it out, if we do go to some regional and national level qualifying races, if he does succeed to a moderate level, but he does not make the elite level, and does not become an Olympian, we are OK with that. He has found a sport and has had fun doing races for something he can do the rest of his life.

Phelps was never poor but his Dad was/is a state trooper or police officer and think his Mom is a middle school principal, so certainly not what most would consider “well off”. In swimming you need some amount of money to pay the monthly fee to be on your local team, but I swam with lots of guys/girls whose parents were blue-collar workers. Not poor but certainly far from rich.

As for motivation, the parents can push but ultimately the kid must have it himself.

In any case, agree 100% on your final conclusion, as that is how it works out for most of us. Only around 1/100,000 can become truly “elite” in any sport.

38

I doubt you can be the fastest swimmer at your local high school if you start completely at age 12.

I’d b ewilling to bet IF Michael Phelps started when he was 12, that he’d be the number one guy on his high school team by the time he’s 15 or 16.

Talent and consistent hard work will go a long way when compared to # of years in an endurance sport. Most kids on a high school team don’t swim double sessions year round.

I will say this much, though. If you start swimming at a young age and busting you rbutt day in and say out, and you aren’t competing at the top top level by the time you are 15…yeah, you probably don’t have the talent to go to the Olympics.

39

My daughter is 9 months old and in swimming lessons. Let’s see if she makes the Olympics (eye rolling). but, you never know.

waited too long.

40

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 7yr old daughter is on a summer swim team so she swims two months out of the year, June and July. For her, it’s a social thing, she is best friends with the girls on the team. While coming from different schools they do the play date/sleep over thing often during the summer. She loves the meets, doesn’t care much about the competition, she just loves hanging out playing UNO and yapping with her friends. From the practices I have seen, they are 4-8 in a lane so they sprint from one end to the other, rest, then repeat, for about 45 minutes, five days a week, meets on the weekends. She seems to love it. There are four of them that have been on the team since she was 5/the rest 6, so they have swam together for the last three years. The won their league meet in the 8&U 4X25m free relay with a 1:19:XX and each of the girls qualified for the state meet between 18:50 and 19:50 for the 25m which would have put them around 15-25th place at the state meet, they all ended up swimming different events at state.

After the season ended a few weeks ago, she asked if she could swim a couple of days a week during the winter, seems a couple of her friends are so she suddenly wants to. She qualified for state in 5/5 of the events she can swim legally as a 7yr old in the 8&U (25, 50, 100 free, 25 fly and 25 back, dern breast, kills her IM as well) and it will be interesting to see what she can do with 5 months of training compared to the two that she has the last three years or if she will flame out and decide she wants to be the next Taylor Swift, which would be fine with us.