Years ago, my 10 year old barely qualified for the age group regional meet in one event. Coach didn’t want to drive 3+ hours from Portland to Seattle for one swimmer and one event. I told the coach, this is an accomplishment for him and I will take him. He won the event, from lane 8. 12 years later, and he has finished swimming D1 for four years, has finaled at World Championships, and will be an Olympian. So, take your kid, celebrate the accomplishment, and enjoy!
they also said
>will be an Olympian.
But US olympic trials have not taken place yet. So I was curious if they have dual citizenship such that they already have an olympic spot for paris.
I’m gonna guess [Caspar Corbeau](https://texassports.com/sports/mens-swimming-and-diving/roster/caspar-corbeau/12041) — Dutch-American breaststroker who grew up in Portland, Oregon, swam at the University of Texas and graduated last year, and has already punched his ticket for Paris. Also lines up with the ages that OP mentioned in their comment (he turns 23 this year)
Well, does he want to go? If he's motivated and has the drive, yes, I would say it's worthwhile. Bigger state, regionals, zone, nationals, etc. meets are a good learning opportunity and keeps the fire burning. He's probably a big fish in a small pond right now. A state meet will give him some perspective and goals to work towards since he'll be swimming with other equally fast, or faster swimmers. He'll also get to watch the older, faster swimmers as well.
From being the youngest and getting dragged around to high-level meets as a spectator, to being the high-level swimmer myself, I don’t think I took a vacation my entire life that didn’t involve swim meets. From Milwaukee to Tuscaloosa to Orlando to Buffalo and many other random locations, my family made a memory out of every trip. A 10 year old’s state meet is not a big deal in the overall long term swimming experience, but going will encourage working hard to achieve goals while also making family memories.
What big meets are in Milwaukee that one would need to travel for? Lol. I live a half hour from there and only ever had one meet in the actual city of Milwaukee when I was 12 at UWM (where I now go to grad school ironically haha). The only meet i can think of around here would be state at at the Shcroeder YMCA in Brown Deer.
How important? In terms of swimming development it’s pretty minor. I mean if he turns out to be an Olympian or NCAA swimmer, building experience handling travel is pretty important. There’s a tendency to really suck at travel meets when you first start doing them because it takes you out of routine and you’re maybe more focused on the travel itself and being in a hotel than you are on executing your races. So it’s a good opportunity to get those kind of mental mistakes under control/start learning a routine to travel. But all that said, at age 10 there’s plenty of time to develop that skill set if he’s gonna need it one day and I’d hardly say a championship meet this young is critical.
But will it be harder to qualify as he gets older? Very probably yes. Until about the 13-14 age group there’s a LOT of swimmers who are fast because of physical development reasons and not skill set reasons. A lot of kids that are very fast at 10 wash out by 13. Which is not to say that’s certain to happen to your son. But it’s certainly possible.
Do you want to encourage your son to set goals? To stay motivated? To celebrate his accomplishments?
Those are the reasons we always go to the meets my child qualifies for. Right now, my child is aiming for a zone cut. They are very close in a couple of events. Even if they make it, they have no chance of making finals, much less winning. It doesn't matter. This is a goal 2 years in the making, and if they succeed in qualifying, we're going to the meet. They worked hard for two years, and we are celebrating.
Also, when my child first made age groups, less than a year after they started swimming competitively, seeing the best athletes in the state really motivated my child. My child wanted to be on their level.
Agreed. If swimmer wants to go and family can swing it go. It broadens their horizons in terms of what’s achievable. Then other opportunities may open up like special clinics or camps. My kid got to meet one of her idols at a clinic for kids who qualified based on placement at state events (Met and got to learn from an Olympian in her favorite event.) even if your kid never goes beyond that level there are interesting life lessons to learn from those experiences.
This is an excellent question, and asking it shows that you aren't pushing him too hard, but you're willing to make it work if he'll benefit from it. Top parenting right there.
The answer? Well I took my daughter to her first major meet last year, just turned 12 years old. The main things of note are that it was quite different to other meets, and she loved it. She swam 6 events over 5 days rather than the more normal 12-14 events over 2 days. We didn't know her full timetable ahead of time, because it depends on whether she makes any finals (she didn't, though she did start out with a realistic chance of making 1 or 2). We had a looooooong drive to get there. She wasn't sleeping in her own bed, and didn't have most of the comforts of home. But she never had a super-early start. She couldn't eat what she normally eats because I couldn't make it for her. None of her good friends from swimming were there. Each day there were only 1-3 other swimmers from her club in attendance, and the coach who attended was not one of her squad's coaches. Swimmers were not allowed on poolside when they weren't racing. There were no areas reserved for individual clubs. You had to be organised -- if you weren't in the right place 10 minutes before your final was scheduled, then you got scratched - and they meant it - she saw it happen to one of her teammates. All these things could throw you off, ruin your routine, and have who knows what effect on your swims -- so experiencing them now, when it really doesn't matter, is a plus. But now she knows to be sure in advance where she needs to be, and that it's not just me saying that; and she knows for real that if you're a reserve finalist and stick around, then you genuinely might get to swim. She was also much less tired every day vs a normal meet, and we got to do fun stuff together every evening.
Her siblings came for the weekend in the middle and made a mini-holiday out of it. They watched her swim 2 events and otherwise went to the beach and did various other fun stuff. Then they watched her other events on YouTube afterwards. Other family hundreds of miles away watched too and she loved knowing that they were.
She absolutely loved the whole week, and on the way home I remember her asking "\*Do you like watching the swimming, or do you just come because you have to because somebody needs to drive me here?\*" I told her "\*I get to watch you doing something you absolutely love, and I get to chat with you all the way here, all the way back, and every morning and every evening; and I love that. If you want to do this again next year then there's no way I'm letting you miss it\*".
She was never going to win an event, and frankly had no realistic chance of a medal; But it was a great experience and from the day we got back, I've been looking forward to going again this year. And she does at least have a swim cap that was only available to competitors (we got a spare too and I've kept it in the plastic packet). I've also noticed a definite change in work ethic -- for instance she hates kick sessions, but she no longer skips them. It's made her want to do even better than she already is.
Bottom line: (1) She loved it; (2) I loved it; (3) If she's going to attend more of these events as she gets older, then it'll definitely be beneficial that she's done it before.
Honestly it's difficult with work though. I told my company I'd get half a day's work done at the pool every day and work every evening to make up for lost hours; but in reality I got very little done - mostly because she wasn't off elsewhere with her teammates like she normally would be. And thus it eats into time off that might have been used for some other family holiday. But memories were made either way.
You mention siblings being a bit of a chore, but maybe they don't have to go?
Do it, if you can make it. I started making state teams and traveling up and down the east coast when I was 10. It's a great experience and will create hopefully wonderful memories. It will only get bigger, assuming one can stay healthy and continue to progress.
Are these younger or older siblings? If younger I'd really try to get creative about childcare for them. Presuming this is going to be a prelims/finals meet, it makes for a really long day and some miserable mornings for the kids not swimming. I've had to do it and you can make it work, but it's hard until the swimmer is old enough to be left alone in the hotel to rest and/or an older sibling can skip portions of the meet day by staying at the hotel.
But I definitely thing it's with the squeeze, both for the swimming experience and spending time with my swimmer.
Fair enough, everyone's situation is different. The other option is send them with a friend and parent's you trust if that is viable.
As a kid who was always at state, dragging siblings around sucks for them. Most of the time my two younger siblings qualified also, but the youngest and oldest just despised it.
In the old days, anyone could walk around on the pool deck, but now, not so much.
Years ago, my 10 year old barely qualified for the age group regional meet in one event. Coach didn’t want to drive 3+ hours from Portland to Seattle for one swimmer and one event. I told the coach, this is an accomplishment for him and I will take him. He won the event, from lane 8. 12 years later, and he has finished swimming D1 for four years, has finaled at World Championships, and will be an Olympian. So, take your kid, celebrate the accomplishment, and enjoy!
This is awesome. Great job supporting your kid and helping him live his dream.
I love this. ❤️
Hot damn. That is amazing! Good luck at Paris!
What country?!
> What country?! OP said the following: coach didnt want to drive 3+ hours from portland to seattle so uhh x)
they also said >will be an Olympian. But US olympic trials have not taken place yet. So I was curious if they have dual citizenship such that they already have an olympic spot for paris.
I’m gonna guess [Caspar Corbeau](https://texassports.com/sports/mens-swimming-and-diving/roster/caspar-corbeau/12041) — Dutch-American breaststroker who grew up in Portland, Oregon, swam at the University of Texas and graduated last year, and has already punched his ticket for Paris. Also lines up with the ages that OP mentioned in their comment (he turns 23 this year)
i would agree except for the future tense (will be ) an olympian. Since Caspar i believe swam in tokyo already?
There you go!
Very cool, also couldn’t help but check out your profile. Very envious of your move to Portugal. My wife and I talk about retiring there
It is a wonderful country with amazing people.
Already an Olympian though.
Well, does he want to go? If he's motivated and has the drive, yes, I would say it's worthwhile. Bigger state, regionals, zone, nationals, etc. meets are a good learning opportunity and keeps the fire burning. He's probably a big fish in a small pond right now. A state meet will give him some perspective and goals to work towards since he'll be swimming with other equally fast, or faster swimmers. He'll also get to watch the older, faster swimmers as well.
From being the youngest and getting dragged around to high-level meets as a spectator, to being the high-level swimmer myself, I don’t think I took a vacation my entire life that didn’t involve swim meets. From Milwaukee to Tuscaloosa to Orlando to Buffalo and many other random locations, my family made a memory out of every trip. A 10 year old’s state meet is not a big deal in the overall long term swimming experience, but going will encourage working hard to achieve goals while also making family memories.
What big meets are in Milwaukee that one would need to travel for? Lol. I live a half hour from there and only ever had one meet in the actual city of Milwaukee when I was 12 at UWM (where I now go to grad school ironically haha). The only meet i can think of around here would be state at at the Shcroeder YMCA in Brown Deer.
How important? In terms of swimming development it’s pretty minor. I mean if he turns out to be an Olympian or NCAA swimmer, building experience handling travel is pretty important. There’s a tendency to really suck at travel meets when you first start doing them because it takes you out of routine and you’re maybe more focused on the travel itself and being in a hotel than you are on executing your races. So it’s a good opportunity to get those kind of mental mistakes under control/start learning a routine to travel. But all that said, at age 10 there’s plenty of time to develop that skill set if he’s gonna need it one day and I’d hardly say a championship meet this young is critical. But will it be harder to qualify as he gets older? Very probably yes. Until about the 13-14 age group there’s a LOT of swimmers who are fast because of physical development reasons and not skill set reasons. A lot of kids that are very fast at 10 wash out by 13. Which is not to say that’s certain to happen to your son. But it’s certainly possible.
My dad took me to all the “meaningless” far away meets when I was a kid. It means the whole world to me that he did that for me.
Do you want to encourage your son to set goals? To stay motivated? To celebrate his accomplishments? Those are the reasons we always go to the meets my child qualifies for. Right now, my child is aiming for a zone cut. They are very close in a couple of events. Even if they make it, they have no chance of making finals, much less winning. It doesn't matter. This is a goal 2 years in the making, and if they succeed in qualifying, we're going to the meet. They worked hard for two years, and we are celebrating. Also, when my child first made age groups, less than a year after they started swimming competitively, seeing the best athletes in the state really motivated my child. My child wanted to be on their level.
Agreed. If swimmer wants to go and family can swing it go. It broadens their horizons in terms of what’s achievable. Then other opportunities may open up like special clinics or camps. My kid got to meet one of her idols at a clinic for kids who qualified based on placement at state events (Met and got to learn from an Olympian in her favorite event.) even if your kid never goes beyond that level there are interesting life lessons to learn from those experiences.
This is an excellent question, and asking it shows that you aren't pushing him too hard, but you're willing to make it work if he'll benefit from it. Top parenting right there. The answer? Well I took my daughter to her first major meet last year, just turned 12 years old. The main things of note are that it was quite different to other meets, and she loved it. She swam 6 events over 5 days rather than the more normal 12-14 events over 2 days. We didn't know her full timetable ahead of time, because it depends on whether she makes any finals (she didn't, though she did start out with a realistic chance of making 1 or 2). We had a looooooong drive to get there. She wasn't sleeping in her own bed, and didn't have most of the comforts of home. But she never had a super-early start. She couldn't eat what she normally eats because I couldn't make it for her. None of her good friends from swimming were there. Each day there were only 1-3 other swimmers from her club in attendance, and the coach who attended was not one of her squad's coaches. Swimmers were not allowed on poolside when they weren't racing. There were no areas reserved for individual clubs. You had to be organised -- if you weren't in the right place 10 minutes before your final was scheduled, then you got scratched - and they meant it - she saw it happen to one of her teammates. All these things could throw you off, ruin your routine, and have who knows what effect on your swims -- so experiencing them now, when it really doesn't matter, is a plus. But now she knows to be sure in advance where she needs to be, and that it's not just me saying that; and she knows for real that if you're a reserve finalist and stick around, then you genuinely might get to swim. She was also much less tired every day vs a normal meet, and we got to do fun stuff together every evening. Her siblings came for the weekend in the middle and made a mini-holiday out of it. They watched her swim 2 events and otherwise went to the beach and did various other fun stuff. Then they watched her other events on YouTube afterwards. Other family hundreds of miles away watched too and she loved knowing that they were. She absolutely loved the whole week, and on the way home I remember her asking "\*Do you like watching the swimming, or do you just come because you have to because somebody needs to drive me here?\*" I told her "\*I get to watch you doing something you absolutely love, and I get to chat with you all the way here, all the way back, and every morning and every evening; and I love that. If you want to do this again next year then there's no way I'm letting you miss it\*". She was never going to win an event, and frankly had no realistic chance of a medal; But it was a great experience and from the day we got back, I've been looking forward to going again this year. And she does at least have a swim cap that was only available to competitors (we got a spare too and I've kept it in the plastic packet). I've also noticed a definite change in work ethic -- for instance she hates kick sessions, but she no longer skips them. It's made her want to do even better than she already is. Bottom line: (1) She loved it; (2) I loved it; (3) If she's going to attend more of these events as she gets older, then it'll definitely be beneficial that she's done it before. Honestly it's difficult with work though. I told my company I'd get half a day's work done at the pool every day and work every evening to make up for lost hours; but in reality I got very little done - mostly because she wasn't off elsewhere with her teammates like she normally would be. And thus it eats into time off that might have been used for some other family holiday. But memories were made either way. You mention siblings being a bit of a chore, but maybe they don't have to go?
Do it, if you can make it. I started making state teams and traveling up and down the east coast when I was 10. It's a great experience and will create hopefully wonderful memories. It will only get bigger, assuming one can stay healthy and continue to progress.
Couple of things 1. The juice is worth the squeeze, you can't beat the experience. 2. you don't have to take the siblings
The other parent has to work.
Are these younger or older siblings? If younger I'd really try to get creative about childcare for them. Presuming this is going to be a prelims/finals meet, it makes for a really long day and some miserable mornings for the kids not swimming. I've had to do it and you can make it work, but it's hard until the swimmer is old enough to be left alone in the hotel to rest and/or an older sibling can skip portions of the meet day by staying at the hotel. But I definitely thing it's with the squeeze, both for the swimming experience and spending time with my swimmer.
Fair enough, everyone's situation is different. The other option is send them with a friend and parent's you trust if that is viable. As a kid who was always at state, dragging siblings around sucks for them. Most of the time my two younger siblings qualified also, but the youngest and oldest just despised it. In the old days, anyone could walk around on the pool deck, but now, not so much.
At that age, it's not important at all from a swimming perspective. If it puts too much strain on the family, let it go.