At most high schools in NOVA, swim is a cut sport. There are kids who grew up with club swimming who get cut. For guys at my school, these are the cut times for JV:
So how do you make these times?
You be fast.
But no way is a JV 200IM ācut time" a 2:02. Typo? 200 FR is a 2:02.
There are areas where swimming is just so fast, those are barely average guys times. Swimflation. Just the way it is.
my state (WA) has a boys 4A state qualifying time of 1:59:50 for 200IM. No way any JV squad requires 2:02
I think 0:54 in 100free was our teamās varsity cutoff for water polo way back when I played, so it seems plausible for JV swim team - if a program has JV cuts at all.
Probably meant 2:12
thereās no way these cut times are real. If a hs couch cuts a 14 yr old whoās not a club swimmer thatās a 24 high in the 50?free he/she is an idiot. Kids like that go 21 all the time by their junior year.
High School swimming should be about developing kids.
For sprinting absolutely. But most of the stroke development is done in the clubs. Get athletes and train for the 50 and the relays. And the club kids fill out the skill events. Itās plausible those are true JV cut times, but I agree with your sentiment. Itās not the norm despite there being some real fast pockets of swimming around the nation.
what are the ages for these times to give some context? what does being on the school team mean, you are likely to go swim at college as well? i assume some kids swim as part of college teams but they are not on scholarship for sport?
Because there is only so much space in the pool. Most coaches donāt want more than 30 males and females on the team. And swimming is popular enough where you can fill the whole team with just club swimmers
American HS JV is usually underclassmen, so 9th/10th grade or anywhere from 14-16 years old likely. So, decent times, not world beating, but thatās a tough cut for maybe a seasonal swimmer only. Like ajt said, thatās nuts to cut, say, a 14yo kid going 24 in the 50 especially if heās not a club background. Put some muscle on that kid and 2 years of growing and sprinting he could be 21.x by 11th/12th grade.
Pool space is a consideration but letās be honest, any HS in America that has JV swimming probably doesnāt have a facility or coaching issue. There are HS that carry 40 kids on their girlsā roster because they have the space.
I donāt know, swimming is hot in NOVA, kids practically fall out of elementary school going 24 in the 50. There are places itās tough.
they do seem pretty fast for good swmmers not coming from a club background. and even kids who come from a club background who are not right at the tip. so what does making a team like this mean in practice for kids? just interested from a cultural perspective - is it they get into the HS or they just get onto the team at the HS and then can have better training and keep up the sport? i figure that a kid only going 54 at 16 is probably not fast enough to make d1 or d2
Most likely, without a growth spurt or a serious drop. From a cultural perspective, HS swimming is a lot of fun. Depending on where you are in the US, the HS team may have incredible facilities and coaching staffs, or they may just be riding the coattails of the local club scene. Your top kids, with rare exception, are developing at the club level and being recruited from their clubs and club meet performances. Your non-club HS kids can turn into nice D3 swimmers in a good college setting where swim isnāt the be-all/end-all of life.
Adding a little bit to the culture aspect, some HS team coaches understand that club teams butter their bread. Some do not. In my local school district there are two schools and at one of the schools the coach has mandatory attendence at her practices to swim on her team. If my son were subject to that, heād have to quit HS swimming.
Yes that 200IM is certainly a typo, and for sure in some places this could be and is legit. Many of the pools are 6 to 8 lane 25yd ones these schools swim in, and it just becomes a practical matter. My college had a 6 lane all shallow pool, so we had a couple months pre season of 32, and then a cut to 24 once the season started. Its just a lot of folks in the pool at the same times.
I agree that it is shitty as some of those cut kids would go onto be great swimmers, but this is the gauntlet of US high school swimming. You really donāt get to develop in HS, you have to show up with pretty great skills already. Of course there are places where it is a lot less, around here there are a ton of kids that just start swimming in HS and are part of the team(Antelope Valley CA) Not a swimming culture historically, and a huge minority population base. Move down the road to Orange County and probably some schools that are tougher to get into the pool than some college programs.
Ive been to a few NoVa (Cub Run, South Dulles, and Georgetwon Prep) swim pools and these are big pools. more than 8 lanes. Maybe they share them with other schools?
But I must admit this does make sense. It didnāt occur to me that pool access is a problem.
Ya most the high schools have their own smaller 25 yard pool, or have to rent space in a community one. All the schools around here rent pools that are 6 to 10 lanes, donāt think any have their own pools anymore. Way cheaper to rent a few hours than keep your own up and running, and sports budgets are always on the red lines of making it or getting cut..
Thatās crazy. Around here every damn school has a pool even if they donāt have a team. They never open them to the public either. Usually 6-8 lanes 25y of course. We are starved for non-team lap swimming yet have a pool in every school district.
Right near me, a minute away, is a 25m outdoor around 4 lanes. Never seen anyone in it and Iāve lived here 6-7 years. A private school pool. What a joke, would be a great one to swim at if they let some masters or lane hire before school starts.
Those times are generally only going to be swum by kids that swim at clubs year round or they swam at clubs earlier for multiple years growing up, perhaps have quit year round swimming, maybe just do summer, and already have very good technique.
Plus, at most high schools the club swimmers donāt train with their high school, but do their practices with their clubs. Some high schools require once a week practice session from their club swimmers. Iām familiar with many high schools and they are all no cut swimming. Since club swimmers are not generally at practice, thereās plenty of room for the remaining swimmers. The coaches really just want the club swimmers to race the meets and show their work ethic maybe once a week to the non club swimmers.
Is NOVA Northern Virginia? What are the cuts for Varsity swimmers? Is this a boarding or private or public school?
I donāt know any high school that is full of club swimmers AND require all their swimmers to train everyday at high school, which would likely miss their club afternoon practice. Something doesnāt seem right, unless itās a sport specific boarding high school.
Which pisses me off how bullshit high school sports have become. If you donāt have rich parents that can put you in clubs from a young age, you are locked out of sports. And what pisses me off more is that there are athletes and former athletes that defend this nonsense. I never got the opportunity to play any sports any high school, and I will never get that experience in my life.
I hadnāt been in the swim forum but came in and saw this title. My first thought was, ābe rich enough that your school has a pool and swim team and be rich enough that your parents could afford to take you to any sportā.
Like you, I did zero organized sports before I got to high school, but just playing pickup sports in the local park in Canada (this was a thing at the dawn of time), I was able to walk onto the high school, soccer, track, and cross country teams. Eventually I got a newspaper route when people actually read them, delivered newspapers and then I was able to pay for my fees for city league soccer and baseball and tennis. But parents were too busy scraping by earning a living for them to take me to do sport. But we had ādisorganized sportā at the local park. There were a lot of kids who were in the same socioeconomic bucket and we just played and made ourselves better with no coaches, just watching stuff on TV and trying to do the same stuff.
When I see the swim team kids show up at the local pool, on the one hand I am happy they have that opportunity, on the other hand I doubt any actually realize the headstart in life they are starting from.
By definition, almost every so called starving pro triathlete came out of the higher layer of socio economics.You donāt get that good at swimming starting at 19 working a part time job putting yourself thru college and trying to learn adult onset swimming!