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
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