From 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.
