News For

SWIM  PARENTS

Published by The American Swimming Coaches Association

5101 NW 21 Ave., Suite 200

Fort Lauderdale FL 33309

___________________________________________________________________

Why is Swimming a Year Around Sport

for Age Group Swimmers?

First, at the competitive level a swimming athlete must train year around just to stay competitive with all the other athletes.  Swimming is both conditioning intensive and skill intensive.  Strength and endurance conditioning for swimming are not readily transferable from other sports or activities so they must be developed in the pool and in swimming specific dryland exercises.  Swimming skills are constantly being developed and refined throughout the swimmer’s career.

Not all swimmers are at competitive levels so what is the point in training year around for them?  The simple answer is that a good swimming program provides far more than swimming skill development and improvements in strength and endurance — it provides active development of life skills.  By “active development” we mean planned —  not by accident and not by coincidence.  Coaches regularly stop practice to take advantage of teaching moments to demonstrate or discuss a life skill and we plan short 10 minute discussions on a variety of topics.  Life skills that are actively promoted by this team include responsibility, self-discipline, work ethic, coping with peer pressure to use drugs, time management, team commitment and loyalty, lifetime fitness, nutrition, setting and meeting goals, learning to extend themselves, challenges, cooperation, and goal setting.

We know through research that sport in and of itself does not build character or life skills.  These skills are developed by the influence of role models, the environment, and through a systematic, planned process.  Our staff does this all year around and it is a very compelling reason to keep your child in the water all year around.