The natural progression of swimming

By Alan Tapley

Editor’s note:  Alan Tapley is the parent of two female swimmers, ages twelve and fourteen.  Over the past eight years he has been with them at hundreds of meets and practices.  He has had countless conversations with swimmers about what they would like the public to know about their pursuit of this grueling sport.

Swim lessons.  You hope to make it from one side of the pool to the other.  Your best stroke is underwater, holding breath, with eyes open.  The goal is to make it through the lesson without a bathroom break, and to eventually be proficient enough that your mom doesn’t have to watch you closely at the local pool each summer.

Summer swim.  Your goal is to not finish last in the freestyle or backstroke events, and not get disqualified in the breaststroke or butterfly.  You’ll take a ribbon of any place, any color, and you’ll most likely leave it in your parent’s car for the rest of eternity. 

High School swim.  Your first goal was to make the team, then you realized that everyone made the team.  Your second goal was to make it to State, then you realized that only club swimmers made it to State.  Finally, you hope for a banner, a letter, a picture in the yearbook, or a team championship.  Years from now you can make up your own stories of high school greatness.

Club swimming (under 12).  It starts with simply wanting to not go last in your lane until you dream big and desire to move two lanes over sometime soon.  The next step is moving to the Orange group, or the Red Group.  You honestly don’t know the difference between the groups except that the kids are a little older, a little faster, and your parents pay a little more.  Best times start to drop like flies and you dream of making 12 and under State, then contemplating whether to turn pro before or after the next Olympics.

Club swimming (13-14).  You quickly understand the difference between an older fourteen year old and a young thirteen year old.  You are introduced to morning practices, the 200 yard fly, and Snapchat.  Your parents throw up for the first time as they are forced to buy a technical suit. You throw up as your coaches introduce you to long hard sets and dryland.  You hope for drops, fancy cuts, and travel meets.  You would love to make State, but even more so, you’d love to make an All-star squad, or dare I say it, even Sectionals.

Club swimming (15-18).  You have an exam and a paper due next week and are hoping that practice somehow gets canceled.  You swim six days a week, including three morning sessions, and yet you haven’t dropped time in ages.  Your high school coach expects you to throw down a best time with no technical suit, no taper, at a lousy pool, and on a Tuesday afternoon following a full school day.  You’re just trying to make High School state so the pressure is off a little.  If you made Sectionals you are dreaming of Juniors, and if you made Juniors you are dreaming of the next Olympic Trials.  And no matter how well you have done, you want nothing more than to swim at the division I level at your school of choice, but each day that list expands to division II, and III, and now you’re willing to go almost anywhere.   

High School can be difficult

By Alan Tapley

Editor’s note:  Alan Tapley is the parent of two female swimmers, ages twelve and fourteen.  Over the past eight years he has been with them at hundreds of meets and practices.  He has had countless conversations with swimmers about what they would like the public to know about their pursuit of this grueling sport.

High School swimming.  The assumption may be that 30 kids show up on the first practice of the season and do their best to swim a 50 free.  The season ends having made lots of new friends, hopefully a letter to put on a jacket, and possibly even a high school banner or a yearbook picture to fondly look back on.  But the truth is, high school swimming is hard.

1)      The coaches expect all swimmers to make as many practices as possible, meets as possible, swim near their best times, and be fully prepared for the state championships.  The reality is that most swimmers are exhausted from school, have to juggle their homework, club practices, and high school practices, meets are on a Tuesday afternoon, and the combination of club practices, club meets, and the lack of a good taper or technical suit makes best times next to impossible.  And while everyone wants to do their best at high school state, club swimmers may not be in the best shape as they focus on traditional big meets, still a month out.

2)      The coaches assume that all club swimmers can qualify for state in multiple events with ease.  But each high school swimmer is limited to two events per meet, and will probably only swim at four or five meets before the state championships.  The state cuts aren’t lightning fast, but they are not easy.  Besides, club swimmers often specialize in such events as the 200 breast, 200 fly, 400 IM, or the mile.  None of these events occur at the high school level.

3)      Coaches pick your events.  At least most of the time.  High school has rules about how many swimmers you can enter in the finals at the state championships.  So, if the coach thinks it makes more sense for you to swim the 500 free for points, instead of your favorite, the 100 fly, you do it.  It’s also possible that the coach will put a senior in your spot on the relay, keep you out of your best event, or simply never let you swim the 100 breast despite your seed time, their choice.

4)      At State, you only get one chance.  50 swimmers end up qualifying for your event, and you know all of them from your club meets.  Now you get one shot to make the top 16, top 8 if you want to make the A finals.  And all of the top 8 are on their way to big time colleges when their careers are over.  One bad swim, or bad start, and that’s it.

5)      The state championships are in February.  Since you were twelve you’ve been building up for important meets on the calendar.  An early winter meet in December, and a travel meet in late March.  Before high school, February was for long training practices, doubles, and 5am swims in the freezing cold.  And now your high school coach expects you to go a best time.

6)      Everything is different at high school meets.  You warm up less, cool down less, socialize a lot more.  Fans don’t know swim etiquette and yell out at the wrong times.  At some meets, you have to swim three events, including a relay, within minutes of each other.  At other meets, there could be diving, no qualification times, and ten minute 500 frees that make the meet last for days.

It's not a surprise that Missy Franklin won multiple State Championships at the high school level.  But it is surprising that she went a best time at them, more than once

Saving pennies

By Alan Tapley

Editor’s note:  Alan Tapley is the parent of two female swimmers, ages twelve and fourteen.  Over the past eight years he has been with them at hundreds of meets and practices.  He has had countless conversations with swimmers about what they would like the public to know about their pursuit of this grueling sport.

Nothing drains the pocket book like club swimming.  It’s a continuous fee followed by an ongoing expense.  Many families cut costs by volunteering time, forgoing travel meets, or buying used technical suits.  But the bills keep coming.  Monthly fees, torn suits, lessons, meet expenses, hotels, airfare, the list never ends.  Add a half second at a meaningless early November meet at your local pool and you can live with it.  Add a half second at a big travel meet that included hotel, airfare for two or more, a new technical suit, and rental car, and you feel terrible.  But as a swim dad that sees thousands go to the cost of my children swimming, I almost pulled off the impossible.  The perfect meet.  The event was Winter Junior Nationals, the location was College Station, Texas.  The home of Texas A&M.

Airfare – While nothing is free, my wife travels so often for business that our family had just enough miles to book a round trip ticket to Houston for my daughter and I, all paid for by points.  The plane trip from Houston to College Station would have cost a bit more, but it was suggested that to drive that distance, if you have the time, was just as convenient.  So technically, the whole flight was covered.

Car rental – The rental car was paid for by points as well.  I had to open up a gold card with the rental car company at no cost, then my wife was able to transfer her points to my account.  Sure, I had to pay for gas and there is always some kind of tax or fee as well, but basically it was free.  It wasn’t a Porsche, but it was still free.

Hotel – We lucked out on this one.  With only four members of the team going to Juniors, we weren’t obligated to pay for the hotel through our team and thus, could try to book it ourselves.  The team was nice enough to reserve a room for us, and it just happened to be the same hotel chain that my wife often stays at.  With a little convincing after a talk with the hotel manager, the room was paid for using hotel points.  And although my daughter never takes advantage of it, I think breakfast was included.

This all sounds pretty easy, but understand that most of this is based on pure luck and timing.  If our airline didn’t have flights to Houston, or we had used up any travel points at the last meet or vacation, we would have had to pay.  If the rental company wouldn’t let my wife transfer points to me, we would have had to pay.  If the hotel had to be a specific one, we would have had to pay.  Honestly, the stars were aligning.

Technical suit – Now, I have no idea whether a sponsor provides free stuff at large meets, or the team decides to outfit their own swimmers?  But we ended up with a free technical suit, swim bag, warm up suit, and warm up swim suit.  It wasn’t the most expensive technical suit, but it had comfort straps, came in black, and was the right size.  My daughter would have preferred the $450 version, but hey, free is free.  It was new, and let’s be realistic, she was only swimming two events and maybe a time trial.

Okay, look.  I know that we’ll fork out plenty in Entry Fees, Starbucks, lunches and dinners.  There’s usually a charge for coach’s expenses and time trials.  We’d stock up on bottled water, snacks for the meet, and energy drinks.  We’d buy a tank top, t shirt, and hoodie as souvenirs.  We’ll probably end up going to a movie on an off day, buying a pair of goggles when one snaps, and forget something important like Advil or shaving cream.  But after all the years of draining our bank account, I’m calling this meet basically a freebee.  And believe me, there’s a huge difference between enjoying the journey of a young swimmer when it doesn’t cost three grand

26 hours of swim

By Alan Tapley

Editor’s note:  Alan Tapley is the parent of two female swimmers, ages twelve and fourteen.  Over the past eight years he has been with them at hundreds of meets and practices.  He has had countless conversations with swimmers about what they would like the public to know about their pursuit of this grueling sport.

7:00p My daughter has returned from a day that included a high school swim practice in the morning, a long day of school, and an afternoon swim practice with her club team.  It’s cold and dark as the carpool drops her off at our door and she enters slowly, throws her wet swim bag by the closest, her school bag by the table, grabs a chocolate milk from the fridge in the garage, and asks what time dinner is ready.  I’m just thrilled that the car pool got her as everyone’s schedules are all over the place.

7:45p As our daughter goes upstairs to do homework and go to bed, my wife and I try to figure out who will take her to morning practice.  If it’s a high school practice it isn’t until 6:30a, but it’s a club practice, so it’s at 5:15a.  At least she has a ride to school from practice.

9:00p My wife said she’d drive in the morning, so I quickly make a lunch that can easily be grabbed and stuffed in a backpack at 4:55am.

4:30a The wife and daughter are up.  I assume the daughter has her lunch, her school bag, a swim bag with two suits and two towels in it, and maybe a cold muffin that I left on the table for her. 

4:55a I hear the coffee grinder go off, but minutes later I hear the garage door open and close.  The coffee maker beeps minutes later implying that the coffee is now ready.

6:30a I’ve had my coffee, but my wife is taking off again to get my daughter from practice to school with a stop at Starbucks on the way.  Carpool issues.

6:55a Change of plans.  They are coming home first before school, no Starbucks, and a request that I make breakfast for her.  Needs to be fast because they need to leave the house in 30 minutes. 

7:30a Wife drives daughter to school.  Fortunately, youngest daughter has a late start day and doesn’t need to leave until 9:00a.

3:30p Carpool picks up daughter from school and speeds to pool for 4p club practice.

4:00p Practice is difficult and lasts until 6p, is followed by half an hour of dryland.  To make things worse, most of the other swimmers got out early and skipped dryland due to their taper meet coming up.

6:00p After feeding youngest daughter some dinner, we load the car full of her swim gear and head to the pool for her practice.  She swims three days a week, same pool, different hours.

6:30p Dropped off one kid, picks up the other.  She’s tired and hungry, but there’s a spaghetti dinner that night for the team.  I ask where, and which team?

8:35p After returning to the spaghetti dinner and picking up one child, I return to the pool and pick up child number two. 

9:00p It’s dark and cold when we finally get home. Both daughters grab a chocolate milk, throw their swim bags near the closest, only one asks for more dinner, and my wife and I discuss who is driving to practice for tomorrow morning’s practice.  Tomorrow could be tough.  High School practice, class is over at 1:50p, physical therapy session at 3:00p, afternoon club practice at 4:00p, no, make that 5:00p.  Most of the team and our car pool is gone due to the travel meet, practice was changed.  Oh, and there’s a spaghetti dinner, high school this time if she’s going.  I quickly make a lunch that can be easily grabbed and stuffed in a backpack…. 

Five practices

By Alan Tapley

Editor’s note:  Alan Tapley is the parent of two female swimmers, ages twelve and fourteen.  Over the past eight years he has been with them at hundreds of meets and practices.  He has had countless conversations with swimmers about what they would like the public to know about their pursuit of this grueling sport.

As the high school swim season began and my daughter, now a Sophomore, handed in her registration papers, doctor’s physical, and Code of Conduct form, she sighed.  After all, she would still need to attend five practices before becoming eligible to swim at a meet, and that thought seemed daunting.  Wait, just five?  For the week, right?  No.  Five total practices for the entire high school swim season.  It is different state by state, and often a coach or high school changes the rules and asks swimmers to show up twice a week, or even every practice.  But in our state, the rule is that a swimmer must attend five practices before they are eligible to swim at a high school meet, and with an extremely large high school swim team and limited pool space, at my daughter’s school, just five practices are required.  So why the sigh?

School started back in August and included a back-to-school swim party as well as introducing the full- time pre-season swim and conditioning program.  But since the official season doesn’t begin until November 14^th, no practices would count towards the five.  But so what?  November 14^th to the end of the season in February is a ton of time. 

Actually, while the State Championships are in February, the coach really wants everyone eligible by the first major meet, the Coaches Invite, a prelims/finals high school meet against many of the state’s top swimmers on December 17^th.  Still, November 14^th to December 17^th, that’s a month plus to get five practices in.

November 14^th-20^th was a bit rough.  Remember that club swimmers are trying to juggle their daily practices, expectation of coaches, their next big meet, school and fatigue when trying to pick which high school practices to make.  The first day, November 14^th, was following a three day meet, no one was going to high school practice that day.  Day two was simply blown off, after all, there’s still plenty of time.  Day three was doubles at club practice.  Day four was club practice and a physical therapy session for a tired shoulder.  And the next two days were occupied by an invite only, Long Course Meter camp that included swimming Friday night, twice on Saturday, and once more on Sunday.

November 21^st -27^th was rough too.  Could barely move on day one thanks to the camp, and with the Thanksgiving schedule, high school practices were only available on day two and three.  And neither were going to work.  Attending high school practice would mean missing the club practice, and with a huge meet coming up, that wasn’t going to happen.

November 28^th – December 4^th.  First practice attended on Monday, November 28^th!  A morning practice with some high school girls, followed by a club practice that night.  Tuesday, another high school practice in the morning, followed by another club practice that night.  Wednesday, doubles at the club practice, no high school.  Thursday was another day of high school practice in the morning and a club swim at night, and technically, the start of the coach’s taper for Junior Nationals on December 7.  Friday, another high school morning practice but only because the club morning swim was canceled, but the night session wouldn’t be.  Four practices down, one more to go, and despite all the two-a-days, the shoulder is doing better.

December 5^th – 11^th.  Could have attended practice on Saturday, but the coach wanted the Junior National swimmers to attend a meet in the morning and just get a few token swims in.  Monday and Tuesday were available for high school swimming, but probably not a good idea to mess with a taper schedule.  Wednesday to Sunday would be a trip to Junior Nationals that included a flight to Houston, a drive to Texas A&M, three days of swimming and a late return flight.  Just need one practice, with one week to go.

December 12^th-December 16^th.  Timing is everything as it is the week of finals.  Exams in Spanish, Pre-Calc, Science, History, English, and a project due.  Club practice each day, and doubles on Wednesday.  On Friday morning, December 16^th, one day before the high school swim deadline, there is no school unless you are taking a make up exam, you decide to skip a 5am club practice, and you stroll into the rec center at 7am to finish off your last required practice.  Mission accomplished.

The things I've seen

By Alan Tapley

Editor’s note:  Alan Tapley is the parent of two female swimmers, ages twelve and fourteen.  Over the past eight years he has been with them at hundreds of meets and practices.  He has had countless conversations with swimmers about what they would like the public to know about their pursuit of this grueling sport.

It has been about seven years since my children starting swimming.  From swim lessons, to summer swim leagues, high school, and club team.  And for the most part, the meets are pretty routine.  A swimmer adds or drops a tenth or two, a couple of DQ’s, someone’s goggles come off, and six hours later we all go home.  But go to enough meets and you’ll witness a few things that stand out among the countless back and fourths.  Here are my top ten.

1)      I once witnessed a young swimmer dive into the pool in an energy filled relay race, only to be followed by a dog jumping in after them.  The dog was not on the heat sheet.

2)      In a long course meet with chaser starts, an older male swimmer in the fastest heat of the 100 fly caught a struggling young swimmer in the slowest heat of the previous race at about the flags.  The older swimmer then swam underneath the young swimmer without losing his pace, flipped turned off the wall, went underneath the boy a second time, and continued on to finish his race.

3)      One time, a swimmer dove in for the 100 fly in a long course pool, and as everyone hit the halfway mark and flipped turn, she simply got out of the pool.  She had had enough.

4)      In a summer league meet, a beginning swimmer jumped in the pool to swim the breaststroke, throwing his arms forward at the same time as he would kick his legs out.  So, for more than a minute of vigorous swimming, he had failed to move forward.

5)      Pleasing the crowd and teammates, but not the meet officials, I once saw a swimmer launch of the blocks for a 50 backstroke race, Long Course Meters, and simply stay underwater until he touched the wall on the other side.

6)      I once saw a three way tie, but to be honest, I think there was a problem with the timing system so they gave all three swimmers a tie to make sure they would advance to finals without more controversy.

7)      I’ve seen a swimmer do backstroke in a 200 free, and fly in a 50 free.

8)      One time a swimmer was late for the start of the race and he jumped in with a running start while the others were at the 15 meter mark.  He lost.

9)      I once saw a three man relay win a 4 x100.  Although to be fair, they only won because the third swimmer simply pressed the touch pad twice after his leg.

10)   In a summer league meet, a boy asked his mom if he could buy something at the concession stand before his swim.  Minutes later, the boy swam an awkward 25 free as he seemed to punch the water a little too much with his stroke.  When he got out of the pool, he reached his closed fist out to his mother, and gave her the change, still clinched in his right hand.

Okay, I wasn’t around to witness number ten on this list, but it’s a true story anyway

The Hoodie

By Alan Tapley

Editor’s note:  Alan Tapley is the parent of two female swimmers, ages twelve and fourteen.  Over the past eight years he has been with them at hundreds of meets and practices.  He has had countless conversations with swimmers about what they would like the public to know about their pursuit of this grueling sport.

The first year my children made the Summer Swim Championships was awfully exciting.  The venue was an old, indoor pool, and the teams would put up tents outside the facility for their swimmers and family to rest and hide from the heat of the sun.  We watched our kids swim, volunteered to time or work concessions, and of course, bought a clothing item of some sort to remember the event.  A pair of shorts, maybe a tank top, possibly a hooded sweatshirt.

A few years later, my then ten year old made her very first club State Championships.  One event, the 50 fly, a timed final, swimming unattached, and seeded 28^th out of 32 swimmers.  We cheered from way up high at the Colorado Air Force Academy pool as my daughter dropped a little time, finished 23^rd, we bought a shirt or sweater, and headed back home.

Over the next few years, the events started to add up, as did the cost.  Three meets in California, one in Arizona, one in Seattle, one in Hawaii, and two State Championships, every year, locally.  Each meet would mean airfare, hotel, rental cars, and entry fees.  Each meet would mean hundreds spent on restaurants, technical suits, and bottled water.  And each meet would be accompanied by the purchase of a hoodie with a logo to wear proudly soon after to remember the occasion.  We purchased a hoodie when my daughter made her first Sectional meet in Oregon.  She bought a bright orange University of Texas hoodie after her first big meet in Austin.  She purchased a very nice Arizona State hoodie after attending a swim camp one summer, despite the hundred degree plus temperatures. 

Last weekend we had just returned from Texas A&M for my daughter’s first Junior Nationals.  Five days in a hotel, two plane tickets, one rental car, and of course, a hoodie.

As a swim parent I believe that a swimmer should no longer have to actually attend the meet they qualify for in order to receive a t-shirt or hoodie from the meet in question.  Furthermore, I am petitioning that the swimmer also receive a bag tag to proudly display off their swim bag.  Think about it.  You make the Far Western Championships in Northern California?  Instead of five days of travel, missing work, missing school, air fare, hotel, and all of the rest, you pay $39.95 for a hoodie (with logo) and a bag tag.  Your kid wears it school, after all, they did qualify for the event, and you save thousands.  Make a sectional cut?  Order the t-shirt or hoodie and stay home.  And if other swim families complain that your swimmer received the hoodie to the State Championships they never attended, I guess we could add a small stitching, somewhere oblivious to most, that simply reads, qualifier.