synonyms – encouragement, promotion, fostering, development, cultivation,boosting, furtherance, advancement<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
We had no idea that our little girl would love water that much, that her first career wish, aged 6 would be to be a swimmer<\/em> and that at an early age, she would excel at what she loves doing most and that is swimming. \u00a0I think that if we knew, we would have prepared more…..<\/p>\n Prepare more? \u00a0You would ask. \u00a0Well, if we knew what we know now (please note it is still early days) then we most likely would have changed careers, moved to a town where we live close to the pool with top coaches and private schools where the parents are approached with scholarships just because the kid is a good swimmer.<\/p>\n Instead, we stayed in our small town as we love living here (it just happens to be Amanzimtoti where Penny Heyns hail from) and are now sweating it out with our swimmer. \u00a0In the one LinkedIn post,\u00a0Swimming Road Block<\/a><\/span>, I explain the roadblock we hit the first year of Age group swimming and how we overcame the obstacle. Bottom line is that we are doing the best we can with what we have.<\/p>\n In one of the swimming blogs I follow, this comment was made by a poster and it prompted me to think about the harshness of the swimming world as some do not believe we should nurture swimmers especially if they show talent at a young age:<\/p>\n \u00a0The problem is everyone has or has experienced “that kid” in their club or area that is just phenomenal and breaks all the records but in 99% of the cases they plateau and or lose interest in swimming, so just understand that people will be skeptical and honest in their discussion here.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Let’s take a look at some points that came to mind when we decide whether we should allow nature to just run its course or nurture swimmers:<\/p>\n Here is the question: Should we just let our talented swimmer swim as long as they have fun and give it up when they had enough or should we nurture this love for water, love for the sport, competing and winning to grow\u00a0our swimmers\u00a0<\/em>into the athlete that he or she could be?<\/p>\n I like to base decisions on facts and research done on other athletes and here is a very interesting read that I found the other day called\u00a0Long-term development in Swimming<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n On the first page of the document, you will find a paragraph referring to the\u00a0Ten-year-rule\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>which identified that it takes, at least, ten\u00a0years\u00a0or 10,000 hours for talented athletes to achieve sporting excellence.<\/p>\n The top female swimmers such as Katie Ledecky confirms the above research. \u00a0She started swimming when she was 6 and qualified for her first Olympics aged 15 (2012)<\/a>. \u00a0I tried to find more information about her younger years but other than sweet moments when she was young, nothing was to be found – guess they have a book coming :).<\/span><\/p>\n This is just my personal opinion, but I think\u00a0it is a bit of both. \u00a0Let me explain. \u00a0We let nature take its course in the sense of having fun through swimming fun galas while we nurture swimmers by teaching them to swim correctly, learning the rules so that they are FINA compliant and be mentally strong when competition is tough.<\/p>\n Nature:<\/strong><\/em> With Monica, we are very clear in our communication before events as parents and her coaches – for example on 13 March 2016, Monica will swim a fun gala (MiniLympics) with a best friend whom we are helping improve her strokes. \u00a0This little project is a mom-daughter project and on Saturdays, we help our neighbor and friend in her home pool with some stroke correction. It is an act of love for the sport paying it forward without expecting anything back. \u00a0It would be interesting to see how our guidance plays out with this swimmer in such an informal way. The important point I want to make is that we grow the love for what we do through acts of kindness and sharing the gift.<\/p>\n Nurture swimmers:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0SSA L1 champs is held from 31 March – 4 April 2016. \u00a0At this event the nurture part comes into play as this is serious business – we compete for times and we prepare for it. \u00a0The event is spread over 4 days of extensive competition against 10-year-old swimmers. \u00a0In preparation for this event we eat right, sleep more, work hard, focus and mentally prepare to race. \u00a0It is a culmination of 12 months’ of training and the last time before the end of the season where she could change her 10 & Under ranking. \u00a0Monica loves the process and the routine – in March 2015, she told dad and Coach after the SSA L1 champs that she\u00a0loves racing.<\/em> \u00a0She just turned eight and it was quite a commitment at such a young age.<\/p>\n I just feel that we cannot leave the talent just to have fun and\u00a0see where it goes.<\/em> \u00a0As parents, we have an obligation to make the kids’ dreams come true (or, at least, try our best) through growing the passion and at the same time prevent boredom with the sport in a supportive and responsible manner.<\/p>\n During the school holidays, Monica met a 12-year-old swimmer from another province. \u00a0Monica’s friends and family of the swimmer mentioned to her that Monica is also a pretty good swimmer in our local province (KZN). \u00a0The 12-year-old receives the Victrix Ludorum trophy in her local school every year and is now a level 2 swimmer. \u00a0While playing, she asked Monica what her times were and where she place in the rankings – Monica replied with:\u00a0I do not know.<\/em><\/p>\n Yes, it is the truth. \u00a0Monica does not know her times and she does not know where she ranks. \u00a0She is eight-years-old. (Swimming South Africa rankings<\/a><\/span> are available on their website.\u00a0Provincial top 30 rankings<\/a><\/span> on Swimmersden)<\/p>\n Humility is something that cannot just be left to nature. \u00a0It is natural for children to develop a sense of pride as far as their achievements are concerned. \u00a0Rightly so, as swimming takes a lot of hard work, dedication and commitment. \u00a0There is, however, a big difference when arrogance sets in. \u00a0And a huge difference when a swimmer is confident versus arrogant.<\/p>\n It is the cornerstone and one of the building blocks we are laying down in the foundation. \u00a0Our rule is simply to never assume you will win. \u00a0There is always someone better than you. \u00a0Nobody can swim in your lane and you should swim your own race against your own time.<\/p>\n We also have little\u00a0boxes. \u00a0<\/em>At an early age, we realized that Monica has the ability to shut out all other distractions and just focus on the task at hand. \u00a0We created virtual boxes. \u00a0School box, music box, swim box, play box. \u00a0It helps a lot to have these virtual boxes as when the swim box is closed, it is closed. \u00a0She does not talk about it, think about it, dream, write or sleep about swimming.<\/p>\n The one time we threw a question out on Social media before the start of an event. \u00a0Monica looked very focused in the photo. \u00a0The question was:<\/p>\n What do you think goes through her mind before she swims?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n We received some awesome inspiring quotes from friends and family that follow us on Facebook. The answer, however, was Nothing<\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0It showed us that she is not stressed, arrogant, or thinking anything until she gets on that block for the start. \u00a0It is a very important trait to have and as a swim mom, I really do hope that this does not change when she grows older.<\/p>\n It is our responsibility as parents to nurture humility in our swimmers – if we leave it to nature the swimmers are just bound to become arrogant – something which they might regret later in life as swimming is a long road.<\/p>\n We soon realized that it is not easy being the parents of\u00a0that kid <\/em>within the two years of being swim parents.<\/em> It did not take long before Monica had a target on her back with 8-year-olds up to 12-year-olds swimming to beat her.<\/p>\n Inevitably with the children swimming together, parents also meet up and become friends. \u00a0At one of the swim meets, a swimmer stated that she would like to beat Monica in the 50-meter backstroke. \u00a0Her mother mentioned it to me and said she commented\u00a0not today,<\/em> as one of Monica’s strong strokes are backstroke.<\/p>\n I kindly advised her to start thinking about it from another perspective. \u00a0If their youngest daughter is chasing Monica, she will most likely swim one of her best times. \u00a0So instead of saying\u00a0not today,\u00a0<\/em>it might be more motivational to tell her\u00a0Go for it.<\/em> \u00a0Monica is not unbeatable and a good challenge is sometimes what she needs as well. \u00a0We should nurture swimmers and guide them to believe that nothing is impossible – if we put our mind to it, we could do it.<\/p>\n In support of the humility point, good sportsmanship goes hand-in-hand with humility. \u00a0As swim Mom, I teach her to thank the other swimmers for a good race if she raced well and was challenged.<\/p>\n It does not always work out the way we would like to as during an age-group-gala, Monica thanked a 12-year-old the one time for the race. \u00a0The response was a nose-in-the-air with no comment to Monica. \u00a0Our eight-year-old did not understand this. \u00a0I saw it happen and later had a discussion with Monica about it by asking her what happened there. \u00a0She was a bit confused as she said she really enjoyed racing with this teenager but did not understand when they got out of the pool and received this reaction to her thanking the athlete for a good race.<\/p>\n Age group 2 Gala results where the 8-year-old delivered her first level 2 time in the 100 m freestyle aged 8.<\/p><\/div>\n It opened the opportunity to prove my point about sportsmanship. \u00a0I explained to her that her comment was not received well as she touched before the 12-year-old swimmer. \u00a0In the spirit of good sportsmanship, Monica did the right thing to thank her for the race but the other swimmer obviously still needs to learn this so her reaction was dismissive as she is obviously very good at what she does and did not like to be defeated.<\/p>\n It is very important never to think that you are unbeatable and to display dismay when a younger and better performer on the day beat you at your game. \u00a0The right and polite thing to do\u00a0is to congratulate the swimmer for a fair and challenging race. \u00a0It will earn respect from fellow swimmers when you display good sportsmanship. \u00a0You can always go back to the drawing board and look at where the competitor put more effort in to\u00a0win that race on the day.<\/p>\n It is never easy to be the parent of\u00a0a talented kid and it is a personal decision whether you should let nature take it course and see how far swimming goes or whether we, as parents, should nurture swimmers.<\/em> \u00a0We are doing it the hard way, not by choice, but by necessity. \u00a0It is a journey, it is a long road. \u00a0I would like to believe we are doing right by our ways, guiding and teaching our young swimmer to become a responsible, humble, respected adult and athlete displaying good sportsmanship. \u00a0There are elements in life which you could leave to nature and there are elements which you need to nurture. \u00a0The decision is, however, up to you, the parent but, in my opinion, we should also nurture swimmers especially when it comes to humility and sportsmanship.<\/p>\n Please subscribe to our blog below if you would like to follow our journey or comment whether we should just let nature takes it course in swimming or do you think we should nurture swimmers to be the best they can be?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Should we nurture swimmers or just let them have fun? The term nurture\u00a0is defined as the following: the action or process of nurturing someone or something. “the nurture of children” synonyms – encouragement, promotion, fostering, development, cultivation,boosting, furtherance, advancement There is no way that we could predict the future the moment you hold your child […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":352,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[64,68,87,105],"class_list":["post-317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-swim-blog","tag-nurture-swimmers","tag-parents-of-swimmers","tag-swim-parents","tag-swimparents"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Nature](\"http:\/\/www.e-spectations.com\/swimming\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/netcare2daysold-225x300.jpg\")
There is no way that we could predict the future the moment you hold your child in your arms for the first time. \u00a0The Doris Day song\u00a0Que Cera<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/em>come to mind, but we all know that it is just not as easy as\u00a0Doris’ song makes it sound.<\/p>\nNature vs nurture swimmers:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Nurture humility:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"Pre-race](\"http:\/\/www.e-spectations.com\/swimming\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/what_thinking.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNurture sportsmanship:<\/strong><\/h5>\n
![\"Results](\"http:\/\/www.e-spectations.com\/swimming\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Age2_8Aug15_10Ufirst.jpg\")
Should we nurture swimmers? \u00a0In conclusion:<\/h6>\n