What to Know about High School Swimming

The end of November is here and that means high school swim season is fast approaching. High school competitive swimming can be wonderful.  It is a chance for your athlete to shine among their peers and to enjoy the thrill of competing for one’s school.  However, the high school swim season can also bring major stresses to the families of club swimmers.   Every swimmer’s situation will be unique and family situation different, so it is good that you have an open and honest conversation with your athlete about what will be coming down the pike.   Encourage your athlete to keep lines of communication open with Coach Pat and the other Senior age group coaches.

The heart of the high school season corresponds to the prime training period for championship season so there will be some tradeoffs.  It is important that you read carefully through Coach Pat’s document on managing swimming in high school while at our club.  As we have worked through these issues with our athletes in our own family, we have found it helpful to know the following three things, your school’s program, your athlete, and your athlete’s goals.

Know Your High School’s Program

By my count at SAY we have had athletes over the years representing at least 12 different high schools! That means a multitude of coaches and program requirements, so never assume that the SAY coaches know what’s happening on your athlete’s high school team.   

The first thing you should be aware of is your school’s practice requirements, as that will have the biggest effect on your athlete’s daily time management.   According to the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association, swimmers are required to attend six practices before their first meet.  There are a few high schools where that is all that is required of club swimmers.  Once their requirement is fulfilled they can just attend meets, but be aware that may not be your athlete’s school.  Remember that there are usually two dual meets per week during the high school season.

Our daughter only swam for SAY while in high school, because her school’s program required that athletes attend the practice the day before each meet in addition to the six required practices.   The timing meant that she would miss at least 4 practices per week at SAY.  Then we had the kitchen table conversation about where she would like to swim and she chose to swim at SAY exclusively.   Our son’s school requires one practice per week in addition to the required six by the state, so he would only miss a SAY practice when racing.  The timing works out well for balancing club and school swimming, so he does both.

Knowing your high school coach’s priorities is also critical.  How intense is the coach, what will the coach ask of your athlete?  For example, our son swam the same two individual events in every meet, and one of them was not even near his best event.  The coach put him where he needed him to score points. 

Look at the schedule and determine what end of season meets or invites your school may attend, so you can plan things out well.  Other questions are: When does your high school coach want your athlete to wear a tech suit? Will they miss classes to attend meets? Where is the practice pool?  These are just some of the questions we have dealt with in our family.  There are more.

Know Your Athlete

More importantly, as parents we need to be aware of our athlete’s physical, emotional, social and academic status as we manage the competing priorities of high school and club swimming.  Is she getting enough sleep to stay healthy?  How are his grades? Can our athlete handle the extra pressure?  Do they need one more thing on their plate in addition to club swimming, school, college searches and all the other things going on in their lives?  

We need to remember that our athletes need not do everything.  One of the things that works well for our family at SAY is that the coaches encourage us to make our own choices about what works best for our family.  The gift of Y Swimming is that it prioritizes overall wellbeing over other narrow agendas. We have really appreciated the document that Coach Pat has shared with us about high school swimming and have referred to it many times over the past season to help us make decisions about how to engage high school swimming.

Know Your Athlete’s Goals

In the film King Richard there is a powerful scene where Richard Williams informs Venus and Serena’s coach that the two best tennis prospects in the world will not be playing Junior Tennis. They did the healthy thing.  They set priorities, they made choices; instead of having it all, they decided to do what is best. The reason Richard Williams made his choice was because he was aware of his daughter’s higher order goals.  

When approaching high school season we need to be in conversation with our athletes about their higher order goals.  Your family needs to remember your athlete’s goals when making decisions about adding any new activity while in high school, not just high school swimming.  Does you athlete want to compete in college?  Is your athlete looking to qualify for Y-States or even Nationals?  Or are they swimming for fitness and conditioning?   Is swimming their only sport, or do they have others? Keeping one’s goals in the forefront helps one make decisions and to how to communicate one’s needs.   

Our experience is that Coach Pat and the other SAY coaches have been supportive of us in all our decisions.  Our family prioritizes our SAY season over the high school season because it is what is best for our children.  Your family may choose differently and that is OK.  What has worked best for us is to be proactive in communicating with the coaches, our fellow swim families, and our school about our needs, and not waiting for problems to arise.   Please never hesitate to reach out to me if you need to talk something through.  We really want our athletes to thrive and have the best possible experience with the sport and are really glad your family is part of our team.

See you on deck,

Dave Knecht

SSPO President