Good Canadian Kid

[Topper]

I saw a video of the race last night on X. Damn.

[Meds]

Yeah Donny, those two were so far in front of the pack it wasn’t even funny. Helluva finish. 0.02s difference.

My kid is a competitive swimmer. He missed out on a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle at SwimBC Divisionals in Feb by 0.12s…..silver was 0.3s ahead (gold was a full second+ ahead). It’s wild how tight the finishes are and some aren’t about to how close you are to the wall but literally come down to who brought the arm down sooner to touch.

While he’s only 12 right now he is ranked first in the under 13 age group in the NW. His lofty goal is to compete at the Olympics. I did the internal smile with eye roll when he told me a year ago, but I gotta say, watching him swim, if he will discipline himself to put in the “out of water work”, it’s not an unreasonable thing to chase…..so swimming is something we’ve been paying more and more attention to over the last couple of years.

He loves watching Summer race when he gets the opportunity as she was the first Canadian Olympic swimmer that he heard about (during the ‘24 games). It’s a massively under-appreciated sport imho.

[Topper]

"paying" being the operative word

remember Summer trains in Florida

My kid was semi serious about BMX racing several years ago. Dry land training in the off season for an hour to hour and half a day. Racing 80 times a season and completing multi-day clinics with Olympic medalist racers and coaches. He never had the final drive to get to the very top but was happy on the top 10 in BC shoulder. Then he said said, "Dad, I still want to race and compete, but I don't want to do all that extra training and would rather spend more time camping and fishing." Good on him, we can make that work too.

There are a couple of kids a bit older than him that were dominating their age groups in Canada and the US when my son was racing that are now a year or two away from turning Pro. It is amazing that at 7-10 years old, you can pick out the kids that have it and those that don't. Even then, some of those who have it, drop out or go a different direction. Then it is also a case of parents being able to afford the coaching and training that gets them there.

Current USA Elite Pro Women's champion is a woman from Lethbridge, Molly Simpson. She was 5th in France at the Olympics. Won her first UCI World Cup race last year. Currently sitting 1st in the USA Womens Pro and 5th in UCI Women's Elite. She's defeated both the France Olympic Gold medalist, Aussie Saya Sakiakibera, and the current UCI World Champ, Britain's Beth Schriever, in races this year.

[Meds]

"paying" being the operative word

remember Summer trains in Florida

Oh absolutely that is the operative word.

Swimming is cheaper than minor hockey when it comes to equipment, but the club fees are more over the season, the various swim meets add up to as much as hockey as well.....the travel costs drop when you are in bigger centers, but not by a ton. The majority of the members in our club are healthcare workers, either physicians or dual income earners at the RN level.

The missus and I have already discussed the potential for a move in a few years if it gets him into a bigger club with better coaching and more internal competition.....the latter being as key (if not more so) to development as the former.

The culture in swimming is also way better for the kids, imho, than minor hockey.

It is amazing that at 7-10 years old, you can pick out the kids that have it and those that don't.

This is really something to observe.

One thing we learned early this season, in swimming at least, is that there is a big difference in this observation between boys and girls. Several of the girls in the same age group were being moved up a level despite being poorer swimmers (not looking at times) while my son was not, so my wife inquired as to why. The coach, an old-school eastern European dude, simply told her: "Because he's a boy." After requesting a bit more he said that female swimmers identify themselves before they hit puberty, and if they have it, great, move them up because, with few exceptions, they do not develop into good swimmers after that. Male swimmers can be average or below before puberty and then with dedication become very good swimmers after their bodies naturally mature. The important thing for boys is to get through puberty without any shoulder injuries/issues, so it is important not to over-train them outside of cardio. So even when they obviously identify a natural, they hold them back and let them develop to certain points on their own.

They did move him up a few weeks later when he had just turned 12 and was beating 15 year olds that had been swimming for years.

[donlever]

Yeah...two local employees kids are competitive swimmers.

It's quite an undertaking and pretty damned serious at times.

Interesting....

[Meds]

Yeah...two local employees kids are competitive swimmers.

It's quite an undertaking and pretty damned serious at times.

Interesting....

It's definitely a departure from team sports.

The intensity that they feel as individuals is remarkable, but one thing that I love is that when someone comes in and places last in a heat but blows a chunk of seconds off of their personal best time, they are celebrated by the rest of the swimmers. It's really cool, just the recognition for effort put in, and that ultimately you are always competing against yourself.

It's comical at times at the age my kid is at.....just hitting puberty, riding the hormonal waves. Going from raging mad yelling at their parents after a big disappointment while testosterone is running amok, only to have it suddenly drop off and they return to being sobbing little boys needing their mom.

Fucking muffins.