Swim team for an 8 year old?

[ChristusG]

I'm wondering if DD8 would enjoy joining the swim team at the YMCA this summer. Does anyone have kids around this age who have been on a swim team?

 

She enjoys swimming....we have an in-ground pool in our backyard. She took survival swim lessons when she was 5 and 6 years old and now swims pretty well but she doesn't know any actual strokes.

 

She has always been extremely shy, but she is finishing up a season of soccer and has really come into her own. She played when she was five and had a horrible time of crying on the field. But this year she's actually been going after the ball and even volunteering to play goalie. She's still shy and won't say hardly anything to anyone but she's eagerly participating now and actually enjoys it.

 

Since swimming is less of a team sport, I was wondering if she would like it even more than soccer.

 

I got an email from our local YMCA and it said there's a morning practice and an afternoon practice. Each is 2 hours long. She would choose *one* of these, right? Not both, I'm assuming. Two hours is a long time....what do they do during that whole time? Seems like it would be really tiring to be in the water for that whole time. I assume they are closely supervised, right? Water + kids freaks me out. And are practices usually 5 days per week? Would you stay at a practice for your 8 year old or drop them off? I also have a 5 year old and a 6 month old with me too.

[momofkhm]

I've only done neighborhood swim team at that age. Around here the Y team is for the better swimmers, or at least the kids who are willing to put more into it.

 

But for the neighborhood, at 8 they were expected to pretty much know how to swim. Instructional time was at a minimum. Practice was only an hour and only once a day. They were loosely supervised. There was a coach either in the pool or on the side who could jump in at a moments notice. But like I said, they expected 8 yo to know how to swim. 4 days a week practice. Tuesday nights were meets so practice Tuesday morning was optional. No practice Wednesday morning but you were expected to go Wednesday afternoon. And Friday was fun day. 1/2 hr practice and then a game. When my kids were 8, I always stayed. But I think it was a pool rule too: There had to be an adult for kids under age 10. (And that was when I had 2 younger ones there too.)

[Lolly]

I'm wondering if DD8 would enjoy joining the swim team at the YMCA this summer. Does anyone have kids around this age who have been on a swim team?

 

She enjoys swimming....we have an in-ground pool in our backyard. She took survival swim lessons when she was 5 and 6 years old and now swims pretty well but she doesn't know any actual strokes.

 

She has always been extremely shy, but she is finishing up a season of soccer and has really come into her own. She played when she was five and had a horrible time of crying on the field. But this year she's actually been going after the ball and even volunteering to play goalie. She's still shy and won't say hardly anything to anyone but she's eagerly participating now and actually enjoys it.

 

Since swimming is less of a team sport, I was wondering if she would like it even more than soccer.

 

I got an email from our local YMCA and it said there's a morning practice and an afternoon practice. Each is 2 hours long. She would choose *one* of these, right? Not both, I'm assuming. Two hours is a long time....what do they do during that whole time? Seems like it would be really tiring to be in the water for that whole time. I assume they are closely supervised, right? Water + kids freaks me out. And are practices usually 5 days per week? Would you stay at a practice for your 8 year old or drop them off? I also have a 5 year old and a 6 month old with me too.

 

 

Definitely worth a try. Give them a call and get the particulars. Yes, it would be a choice of the morning or evening. Some kids like to go to both, but at 8 it really isn't a great idea! The two hours wouldn't be all swimming. In fact, her ability/age may just swim an hour of that. They most likely also do dryland (sit-ups, push-ups, and stuff) during that time. As far as how supervised they are, that will totally depend on the team. You might want to make sure you go to the first couple of practices to see how things are run. Personally, I like to stay at practice with an 8 yo, but many parents do not. Practices are usually 5 days a week. Once meets start, one of those days will have a meet with another team. It is good for the kids to make as many days a week as they can with summer teams. However, year round recommend 3 days a week for that age.) Just watch out, the 5 yo may want to swim too. (Mine went ahead at that age just because they were there (and could swim). One last thing, some teams require that the kids can swim the pool length to join the team. Others just give them kickboards.

Edited April 26, 2012 by Lolly

[In The Great White North]

All the teams I have been affiliated with required one length of the pool to start. 8 year olds were NOT expected to know all four strokes (rotary breathing would be nice). There are lots of 7-8 year old swimmers, but only a few 5 year olds.

 

I have never seen a team have 8 year olds swim four hours a day. At the most, an hour a day. Summer teams often have them come every day, winter teams usually do not.

 

I would talk to the actual coach, not "the Y". The front desk rarely actually knows what's what and will just see "swim team" on their pool schedule without paying any attention to which groups swim when.

 

Whether or not she will enjoy it has more to do with the people (coaches and other swimmers) and weather (assuming an outdoor pool) than anything else.

[Swimtaxi234]

We were blessed to have an amazing summer program when our children started swimming.

 

The head coach would joke that it was the cheapest swimming lessons on the planet because the children were in the water for 7-8 weeks every day. We had a lot of lane coaches, so the instruction time was probably more than average. Plus, we always had in-the-water coaches for the young swimmers (where my youngest started).

 

Two hours a day sounds like a lot of practice for an 8-year-old because that is what my two children swim each day, but they average 4,500 meters a practice (plus jogging 1-2 miles before practice).

 

It will be harder on you with your younger children, but I wouldn't leave the pool area.

[nono]

Both my children started on the year round swim team here at age 5. They like it, but my kids like everything.

 

I started back in the dark ages on a summer league at age 8. I've been swimming for a couple years on a Master's swim team too. So, it's definitely a sport that can have longevity for a person. :)

[Mommyfaithe]

My kids started at all different ages...and teams have new swimmers of every age....usually. Try it....she may really like it....and if nothing else, she will learn to swim really well.

[5knights3maidens]

We will be signing up our dds 8 and 6 for the local summer swim team. I never did this with my other dc. Last summer, my dh talked to the man in charge and he said they do not have to be good swimmers, they will teach them. I'm excited for them. :001_smile:

[sassenach]

I have 2 swimmers. One has been swimming since age 6, the other since age 5. Have a conversation with the Y about the team. In our town, the Y is the most entry level, easy going team. It sounds like that can really vary depending on where you are. 2 hours is a long practice. I would definitely want to know what's up with that. Even my high level 9 year old practices for a max of 1 1/2 hours. We love swimming. I think it's a fantastic sport for young kids (and old ;-)

[TravelingChris]

Two hours does seem like a long time. I didn't have one that young in swimming but my youngest started at 12. She didn't know how to do the strokes correctly but learned very fast. She was a strong swimmer. At our last pool, the 8-12 year olds practiced one hour a day plus before meets. The 13 year olds practiced an hour and a half. That was a lot of practice even for the older kids. Yes, as someone said, they do do dryland practice too. That involved a lot of running, sit ups, push ups, etc. The whole time is not necessarily spent in lap swimming either- some time they practice starts, or flips. Sometimes they played games. Two hours seems like a long time to begin with but I would ask what happens during that time. I know my dd would work with the younger kids to help them learn the strokes after she was in the older kids's program. The eight year olds all knew how to swim but not all the strokes. We had some kids start under 8. At least in our league, kids under 10 didn't do the butterfly.

[MrsBear]

2-hours is a long practice time for under 12 swimmers - too much IMO.

 

DS7 started swim team this summer at our local club, enjoyed it a lot and so he joined the regional competitive swim team. The two are night and day for what they do in practice and what's expected from the swimmers.

 

Under 10's practice at least two days a week (4 days are offered) for an hour, they can go 2-3-or-4 days, it's up to them, the expectation is two days a week though.

 

Practice is an hour and the coaches teach the strokes as part of practice, so to join, DS had to show he could swim the length of the pool, then show what strokes he could do (he could do all four) so the coach could see where he was strong and where he needed work to place him appropriately with a group within his age group.

 

The team has four home meets a year and ten away meets, under 10's are not expected to swim all meets, qualify for regionals or nationals - they're certainly invited and encouraged, but at that age, the coaches focus more on skill and enjoyment over the competitive in competitive swim team.

 

We have gone to two away meets this year and DS swam in one of two home meets so far. He'll do the next home meet and we'll wait again until fall for away meets since he's going to be doing the local club team this summer again, so that means weekly meets for eight weeks, plenty of swimming for him!