My daughter just turned 13 years.  She is tall for her age, 5’ 8” with very long legs and a medium torso.  She has long arms and broad shoulders but does not seem to be getting the benefit of this.  Despite constant reminders from her coach she seems unable to “complete her stroke”, but always brings her hands out of the water just below her waist.  She also has a very weak flutter kick, except in the 50m sprint.  She hardly kicks at all in any race over 100m and insists that when she kicks she goes more slowly!  Yet, she loves to swim and compete.  Despite training 8-9 times per week her times have shown little improvement over the past year - long course:  50m free 31sec; 100m free 1.09; 200m free 2.26; 400m free 5.05; 800m free 10.25.  

What could possibly be wrong? 
Also, my second question, what are the best kind of fins to buy for such a child?

Hi Jennifer,

Thanks for your email and support of www.SwimClub.com.au.

From my coaching experience, I have often found that children who grow quickly and are quite tall and have long limbs around 12 to 15 years also have a relative lack of strength relative to their size. 

In regards to completing her stroke – often when children who have long limbs and a good feel of the water want to swim many laps at a solid pace, they will pull out short to enable them to turn their arms over fast enough and move forward.  If your daughter did push back further, she would feel like she is going slower because her underwater stroke is taking longer than normal.  What is also happening is that if she pushes back further, her body will be moving forward through the water for an increased distance on every stroke, meaning that she will take less strokes per lap and become more efficient.  If she can practice pushing back further every day in every lap she swims she will gradually get stronger, become more comfortable using a longer stroke and will more than likely swim faster in the end.  It will take time, and a lot of concentration and focus on her behalf.

Often children with long legs will struggle with any kick until their muscle development catches up to the bone growth.  This will take time and is different for every person.  I encourage your daughter to keep practicing her kick as it does give you 20-30% of your forward propulsion in freestyle. 

Often children will plateau somewhere between 13 years and 15 years.  This is very normal and usually comes at a time when the body is either growing or there are changes taking place.  If she has plateaued for about a year, now would be a really good time for your daughter to really focus in training, especially in the quality sets and aim to swim faster than she ever has before in these sets.  By doing this she will not only train her body to swim fast, she will gain confidence each day she swims well in training and this will lead to confidence and improved performances in races.

In regards to fins, coaches seem to have different thoughts.  I lean towards short blade fins as they assist the swimmer to do a natural kick like they do without fins, however it gives them the extra propulsion and speed swimmers like when using fins.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs

 

I wonder if you might have any information regarding what would be the best water temperature for an outdoor primary school swimming pool? The pool is used by children aged 5 to 12 during Terms 1 and 4 of the school year. What temperature range would you recommend? Thank you.

If you are looking to run learn-to-swim in the pool, I would suggest somewhere between 30.5 degrees C and 31.5 degrees C, depending of course on the air temperature.  If the air temperature is normally 25 degrees C or above during the day you may be able to keep the pool water temperature a degree or two less than this.

For a squad training pool, 27.5 to 29.5 degrees C would be more suitable with 28.5 probably ideal.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs

 

Hi,
My son is quite a competitive swimmer. He has excellent pull under water but has a frustratingly slow stroke rate. If he could increase this he would really pull the seconds off quickly. His times are very good for his age (12) but he needs some tips on improving his stroke rate. Any suggestions??????

Hi and thanks for your email,

The fact that your son has an excellent underwater pull is a very good sign as that tells me that he has a good feel of the water and holds the water well.  The slow stroke rate will most likely be due to a lack of strength in his arms and therefore an inability to pull through the water faster.

The strength in his arms and body will develop as he grows and matures and for some boys this may be around 13 to 15 years however for many it could be as late as 18 to 21 years.

The best thing for your son to do is to continually practice applying more pressure on the water on every arm stroke.  He can do this by accelerating his hand through the water on every arm pull whilst still maintaining good stroke technique.  He may only be able to do this for 2 or 3 strokes out of each turn originally however he should work on then increasing it to 4 or 5 strokes over time and then more strokes when he can.  He will really need to concentrate to achieve this and his arms will hurt more in every training session, without even trying to go faster.

The other way to get a faster stroke would be to allow his hands to slip more through the water and I would not recommend this as his feel and catch on the water will become a huge asset.

On dryland, it may be worth doing a little bit of work with stretch cords focusing on the front part of the stroke, the middle part of the stroke and the back part of the stroke as well as the whole stroke.  Building up to 3 sets of 10 of each one would be good however be really careful of any soreness, especially through the shoulders.

I hope this helps.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs

 

hi, my names danny and ive been swimming since i was about 3. its a bit cliche however, i would like to know what competitions i need to get into to actually be part of the olympic team. ive read information about VIS programs, however theyre a little confusing. can you explain to me what exactly i need to do to make in into an australian team?

Thanks for your email. As you have mentioned the VIS I am assuming that you live in Victoria Australia. Depending on how old you are, you need to become involved in a swimming club.
A full list of Swimming Clubs in Victoria can be found here>>

You first need to compete at a swim meets and aim to qualify at your State Championships. Once you have qualified for State Championships, you need to aim to qualify for the Australian Age Championships. Once you have qualified for these you need to aim to qualify for the Australian Open Championships held in March each year. At the Australian Championships, Swimming Australia sets qualifying times and selection criteria which is published on their website www.swimming.org.au at least 6 months prior to each major Championships.

To make an Australian Open Team you must meet the qualifying times set and also meet the selection criterion which is often first or second place, or top three for meets like the Commonwealth Games. There are also many Australian age group and youth teams that are promoted each year and these are normally selected from the Australian Age Championships and Australian Short Course Championships.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs




Hello I am fifteen, I play basketball at a very high level and run track(sprints) I have always loved swimming and wanted to pursue it. At my age is it still possible to become and olympic swimmer and if so how?

Yes it is still possible to become an Olympic swimmer at your age however you would need to get involved in a strong squad training program immediately. Most swimmers at your age will be training 6 to 8 times per week for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, so it is a fair commitment.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs




Hi, I need more informaion on technique and swimmer improvement for my daughter cant seem to finish a race with the same speed she starts. Im not sure if she is breathing right.

In regards to technique and breathing at the right time, the following references should assist.
Freestyle Technique
Backstroke Technique
Breaststroke Technique
Butterfly Technique

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs



Hi-my name is Brooke and iam 12 years old and swim for a swimming club in Canberra. I have been swimming for 3 years know and iam loving swimming. My best stroke is breaststroke, my arms and legs are both very strong, but when I swim butterfly I seem to tyre out very easily.

For my 50m Butterfly time is 34:91 which is a pretty fast time but then my 100m butterfly time is 1:34.56 which gets so much slower. Is there anything that I can to so I don't slow down as much in the 100m and the 200m Butterfly????

In regards to butterfly technique, go to this page which has butterfly technique information.

Yes, your 100m fly time should be faster than it is if you can go 34.91 for the 50m.  For many swimmers doing sets of 25’s butterfly actually helps them to improve their 100 and 200m butterfly.

Example sets are:
3 sets of 8 x 25m fly on 40 sec with 60 sec rest between each set
Gradually work these down to doing them on 35 sec and then 30 sec over time.

You should eventually be aiming to go at least 40 x 25 fly fast on 30 seconds.

Once you can do this work on sets that include 50’s and 25’s of fly eg. 1 x 50, 4 x 25, 1 x 50 and do this set 3 times through.  This will help build speed and endurance for your 200 butterfly.

The other thing you need to work on is your mindset. Be positive about the 100 butterfly; don’t be scared of doing it.  If you don’t think you will go well, you probably won’t.  If you go into the race with a positive attitude, you will do well.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs





Hello my name is Sara, and I want to know how old to be training to be in the Olympics . PS I am 11 and 10 months.

Hello Sara, The age of Olympic swimmers varies from around 16 years to 32 years. If you are now nearly twelve years, you should be aiming to swim up to 6 times per week for around 46 weeks of the year. At this age you should be working on your skills like starts, turns and finishes as well as improving your technique in all four strokes.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs



Hello,
I was wondering if you were planning to include the rankings for Open Water Swimmers on your website for both the 5km and 10km distance, kids and adults?

The only rankings you may find are those for the Grand Prix Series held in Australia once a year or the World Cup series held around the world once a year.

We are not aware of any rankings for Open Water Swimmers in Australia or overseas.  Because every OWS race is completed under different conditions, there is no way of comparing one swimmers time in one open water event which may be conducted in the ocean, to another swimmers time which may be swum in a lake.

There are rankings publicized after each Australian OWS Championship event, however these are only the race results for the open or age group events.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs





Hello SwimClub.com.au!
 
I am the parent of a college swimmer in the USA.
 
If my daughter comes to Australia to study abroad, will there be a chance for her to get into a competitive team?
 
What is the way of australian college swimmers to train and compete: do they stay with their college team and participate in intercollegiate championships? Or they get affiliated with swim clubs aside from the college? Are colleges/universities teams as strong as club teams? Is it common for an australian high level competitive swimmer to do both college academics and swimming simultaneously? Or most of them do just training?
 
Hi Irina,

The system in Australia is different to the USA.  There are very few university programs and those that do have swimming programs are structured nothing like the ones in the USA.

Swimmers who come to Australia affiliate with local swimming clubs and our main coaches all work in these programs.

Yes, most swimmers who are aged 18 years and over also either work part-time or study at University.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs

We would love some advice on running a successful swim carnival. Our carnival is in October, in Toowoomba. How do we attract some good Brisbane clubs? Your advice is appreciated.
Julie

Running a successful swimming carnival is very important for most clubs in Australia as they provide an income stream for the club, provide club members the opportunity to compete and they assist in promoting your club to swimmers all over the State.

Once you have your swim meet program, promote it throughout your district or region as well as through any avenues offered by your State Association.

If you are looking to attract swimmers from Brisbane Clubs, it is the coach at each of these clubs that you need to target as they will generally make the decision on whether to attend a meet. If your coach or representative made personal contact with the coaches of the top 20 clubs in Brisbane and explained the benefits of competing in your meet, you would hopefully get some takers.

Ensure your meet finishes at a reasonable time so that Brisbane swimmers can get home on the Sunday night and be ready for training and school on the Monday morning.

The other suggestion is to negotiate some cheap accommodation in Toowoomba on the Saturday night and make an offer to the Brisbane Clubs to come up after training on Saturday morning and then train in the afternoon, have a team dinner, stay the night and then compete on the Sunday. Many clubs would find this appealing.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs





Hi,
My name is Leon. I would like to know if I could tone up the various muscles of my arm just through swimming alone (and not the gym). Does it reduce the impact stress on the joint? What style do I have to swim to train which part of my arm?

Hi Leon,
Yes, you can definitely tone up your arms by swimming.  Each of the four competitive strokes will tone up your arms.  You will also need to do a mixture of aerobic swimming and fast swimming to assist.

Other sets that will assist you are butterfly sets eg 8 x 25 Fly fast and you can do this up to 4 times with a 100m easy swim between each set of 8.

Try also band only pull in 25’s swimming at max effort as this is a power set and will help develop power in your arms.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs




Hi my names Emma
Im a competitive swimmer. Im 15 turning 16.
Due to moving alot over the past year i havnt been swimming.
So its been over a year with out training.
I did a 29 for my 50m free. 1.03 for my 100m Free
I want to get back into it and get my times back.
I live in a small mining town and there pool closes over winter.
I realy want to start and i want to know if its possiable for when it opens back up that if i train hard i'l eventualy start going back to those times?

Thanks =]
Hi Emma,

If you have the right attitude (which you seem to) and keep fit over the winter, there is no reason you cannot get back to these times or faster.

You need to do some aerobic work at least 3 times a week, eg go for a run and then do some simple exercises 3 times a week on alternate days.

See if you can find out who the coach is at the local pool and make contact with them to see if they can give you a dryland program for winter.

I hope this helps.
Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs

Hello,
My Name is Brooke and i'm 11 years old. I have been swimming competitively for 2 years. I train most afternoons. i have really strong legs and a really good kick but my arms need to rotate faster. i have strong shoulders for Butterfly and freestyle, i would like to improve my strokes beacause i have got to drop nearly 1 second in the 50m Freestyle and 1.5 seconds in 50m Butterfly to qualify for short course championships in Winter. What is the best way for me to make my arms go faster is there any excercises?

Hi Brooke,
Swimming training is probably the best exercise for all swimmers as the more often you swim, the faster you will improve. Often your arm speed through the water is dependant on your feel of the water (a good feel will take longer to move through) and how strong you are. To build up strength in your arms you may want to do some general exercises like push ups and chin ups however one of the better exercises would be to get yourself a set of stretch cords and then simulate the freestyle and butterfly motions on dryland using the stretch cords. By increasing your strength you will increase the speed your hands will move through the water, without slipping.
Good luck with your swimming.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs

Hi - our son is 14 now and swims at a competive level. We are concerned with the amount of reaction he gets after the swimming sessions - sneezing, sinusses blocked and itchy eyes. We thought it may haveen the Chlorine, but it's the same with salt water at the beach. Is there some way that swimmers can deal with this? Would be greatful for some ideas on who to talk with about this, someone that may have some expertise in this area. GP's don't seem to be able to offer any assistance here. Appreciate you reply.

My only suggestion is for your son to try wearing a noseclip like many of the synchronized swimmers do and more and more competition swimmers. A noseclip should stop all water from going up his nose and assist to clear up any sign of blocked sinuses. This should make it a lot easier for him to breathe when not in the pool. The downside is they take some getting used to and some swimmers feel like they limit the amount of air they get into their lungs. With most swimmers only breathing through their mouth anyway a noseclip should not really affect his breathing.

The only other suggestion is to buy a product called Aquacare (in Australia) or similar barrier cream and put this onto his face before swimming. This product provides a barrier to the skin so that the water does not truly come into contact with the face where it has been applied.

I hope these suggestions help.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs




Hi,
I'm 14 years old and I train about 3 times a week.
My best strokes are butterfly and freestyle.
I also work out at the women's gym Curves 3 times a week. What other land activities can I do to strengthen myself in butterfly and freestyle?
Dalia.

Hi Dalia,
While dryland exercises are not my strength I would suggest doing some stretch cord work simulating the butterfly pull. You can do the front part of your stroke, the back part of your stroke and the whole stroke as three different exercises. The best strength training you can do for swimming is to swim more often as every armpull helps to strengthen your arms. I am not sure what your individual situation is and how far you live from a pool however if you can train more often, this would help a lot.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs




Hi, I'd just like to know some tips for the breastroke technique. When Racing, do your arms pull in a Y shape, and then in towards the chest? What is the most efficient way to gain more, and use less effort?
Thanks Julian

Hi Julian,
There is a comprehensive description of the breaststroke arm stroke on the following page http://www.swimclub.com.au/resources/articles/coaches/breaststroke_technique.htm.
This technique would stay the same whether you are going slow or fast. It is important that your hands do not pull back too far otherwise this will create drag when you need to recover them.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs




I have been teaching Swimming for over 10 years and coaching squad for about the last 2 years. I have a boy in my squad who also does Triathlon. His parents have brought him to me as when he swims freestyle he does not use a flutter kick. He instead uses Breaststroke kick.  I have tried alot of drills to try and break this kick and make him flutter kick. Can you please give me some suggestions on what I can do?
Chris. VIC

Hi Chris,
This is actually a very common problem with children who are natural breaststrokers!
You have a couple of options:
1. Train him to enter breaststroke events because he will probably do really well over time (however they may not want to hear this!)
2.Provide him with stretching exercises for his ankles and feet – dorsi flex then planter flex as well as doing circles with his ankles. There is no quick fix solution and it often takes time and concentration on the swimmers behalf to improve it.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs




My daughter loves her swimming. Although is a skillful swimmer she is smaller and skinnier than girls her age. This seems to disadvantage her.

What can I do to help her be stronger in the pool? I also wanted to know how many land and water sessions she should be doing at her age and what sort of break between sessions?
Louise

Hi Louise,
Every child will develop at a different rate and those who develop earlier will often achieve better results at a young age. As each child gets older, the rate of improvement from growth and development reduces and their improvement becomes more based on natural ability, frequency, duration, concentration and motivation or the athletes desire to achieve.

Without knowing your daughter’s age it is hard to be exact however it is often difficult to increase the size of a child if they are naturally skinny.

Dryland exercises using stretch cords may be an option and body weight exercises are also useful (sit ups, push ups, chin ups, burpees…).

As far as the number of sessions goes, I would need to know your daughters age and ability to guide you. I am currently writing a book to assist parents with young swimmers and below is an extract from a section that discusses the number of training sessions. These are of course my thoughts, however they may assist you.

“It is difficult to provide a blanket answer for this question as each child will have a different background and will be at a different stage of development. Ten year olds should be doing a minimum three sessions per week for one to 1 ½ hours each and many complete four. Strong 11 year old and 12 year old swimmers should be training 5 to 7 sessions per week if they wish to have the background to perform in competitive swimming in the short and long term future. Strong 13 year old swimmers should be completing 5 to 8 sessions each week.

The number of sessions a child trains will vary for each individual and the numbers provided above should be used as a guide only. The number of sessions a child trains will also depend on what other activities a child is doing during the week and the degree of seriousness the child has about swimming”.

If you are interested in knowing when the new book will be released
please register for SwimClub.com.au updates.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs




Where do I get advice on how to swim in rough sea - not surf but waves in port Phillip Bay?
Bryan

Hi Bryan,
The best source for you is freestyle_technique with the following modifications to swim in open water:
1. Every 20 strokes, lift your head slightly to ensure you are heading in the right direction;
2. With your arm recovery, you may need to swing your hand a little bit higher than normal to ensure that your hands do not hit the waves when recovering;
3. Technique under the water is exactly the same as what is in the freestyle tips;
4. You may need to turn your face slightly higher than normal when you breathe so that you do not take in mouthfuls of water;
5. If the waves are coming from one side of your body, breathe to the other side to avoid taking a mouthful of water.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs




My daughter is 9 years old her stroke is breaststoke & I would like to know what dry land training she could do to help strengthen her.She needs it for her arms as she is not real strong in the top half
Michelle, NSW
Hi Michelle,
At 9 years of age, the best exercise that your daughter can do is swimming. This can be combined with some body weight exercises like sit ups, push ups, burpees and the many variations however I wouldn’t recommend any weights being involved at this age.

My best suggestion if you are after a book with dryland training for children is to check out these training books. If you want to find some others, click on one of the books (this will take you to a bookshop website) and enter the words ‘dryland training for children’ or similar in the search box.

I hope this helps.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs




My daughter is ten and we would like to know what the state qualifiying times are for her age? Could you tell me what internet site I could find this information?
Fiona, Tas

Hi Fiona,
Each State in Australia has their own “State Championships”. For these Championships each State will have different qualifying times for different age groups based on their program of events, depth of swimmers in the State and the number of days the Championships is conducted over.

Your first step is to look up your own State’s website. These can be found at www.swimclub.com.au/swimming_links.htm. Most States have a page called “Events”. Once on the Events page click on “Events Calendar” or similar. Look through the calendar to identify the Championship you are interested in. In most cases, if you click on the event name, it will bring up a page with the event details and qualifying times.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs




My name is Eliza. I am 10 years old. We live over an hour away from my swimming club, so I often only get to train 2 sometimes 3 times a week. I live on a farm. I would like to try and do some other sort of training that I can do at home so I will get faster in the pool. I know this is not the best way, but I know that as I get older I need to train more.
Eliza, NSW

Hi Eliza,
There are many different exercises that you can do to improve your swimming.

Stretching is very important part of your exercise and One Hundred Stretches: Head to Toe Stretches for Exercises & Sports is very good book for guiding you through on what stretches to do.

In regards to exercises, the first series of exercises should be based around improving your fitness. If you like walking or running, then you can do some of this around the farm. It will help you to get fit and build up your lung capacity.

You can also try some exercises to improve your core body strength. General exercises like sit-ups and push-ups, burpees and dips are very good. You could even put together a circuit outside your home where you may do a whole series of exercises as a circuit. You could start with 30 sec of exercise and 30 sec rest with 8 different stations (or exercises). After 2 weeks increase the number of stations to 10 and increase the time you do exercise to 40 sec with 20 sec rest. Two weeks late increase exercise to 50 sec and have 10 sec rest.

You could work towards doing 12 exercises, which would take 12 minutes and eventually do the circuit twice, with a two minute break at halfway.

As far as specific exercises you can get a number of good books:

Fitness for Children

Progressive Plyometrics for Kids with DVD

Fitness Training for Girls:
A Teen Girl's Guide to Resistance Training, Cardiovascular Conditioning and Nutrition

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs



My daughter has been invited to move up to the next squad in her club and this involves 7 sessions per week. While my husband and I are happy to support her, we are aware that she is not ranked too highly and do not want her to be disappointed if she doesn’t achieve better results.
Rosemary, Brisbane

Hi Rosemary,
There are many reasons why children train for swimming, but the three most important ones are:-

(1) To improve competition performances
(2) To be involved in a disciplined exercise regime
(3) To be a member of a group with common interests and a desire to achieve.

One of the above reasons will probably be your daughter’s main reason for her involvement. For example; one particular individual may have a far greater personal need to be involved in a disciplined routine than to improve their competitive performances, whereas, on the other hand, competitive performances may be a priority to someone else.

While there is no doubt all swimmers wish to improve, it is not always the dominating factor in their keenness to participate in the sport.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs



I have two sons who both train at least 6 times a week in swimming. One son, Mitchell, trains extremely hard and seems to be able to do everything that is asked of him, whereas my other son Thomas is unable to do everything that Mitchell does. Their coach is happy for Thomas to train a little bit less than Mitchell for the time being, however we are concerned that the gap between the two of them might widen.
Brian, Scarborough, WA

Dear Brian,
It is important for us to understand that there is great physical and psychological diversity in the human race. This diversity or variability is carried through to each individual's capability to train. Some people are able to train hard for long periods, whereas others are not as resilient.

Coaches are skilled at recognising a persons training capabilities and under the ideal condition will subject them to the appropriate routine. It is important that the parent has confidence in the coach’s judgement on these matters. Too much training or not enough training can end lead to the same result - poor performance.

It sounds like their coach is on the ball and looking after the needs of both your sons. I have no doubt that the coach will increase Mitchell’s training load when he can cope with it again.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs



Hi, my name is Robert and I am 13 years old. My coach wants me to train more often but I can’t really find them time. I like playing other sports and don’t know if I just want to be a swimmer. Can you please help me make this decision?
Robert, Perth WA

Hi Robert,
Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to make this decision for you, as only you can do this, but I can provide you with some guidance. It is necessary for competitive swimmers to train morning and night by the time they get to your age, if they wish to be competitive at a State or National level. We do know of many swimmers who have successfully combined 2 or even 3 sports at a fairly high level up to the age of 15 or 16. Fortunately swimming provides you with a terrific aerobic base that will assist you to improve in many other sports as well, particularly sports like football, cricket, tennis, basketball, hockey and netball. Often at 15 or 16 you will need to make a decision on which sport to pursue if you wish to be highly successful.

If you would like to swim more and still retain involvement in other sports, sit down with your coach and parents and see what sort of timetable you could produce, combining all the activities you would like to do. Try doing more morning sessions if they are offered as this will free up some time in the afternoons. At your age, it is important that you maintain involvement in more than one sport. Good luck.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs

I am a relatively new parent to the sport of swimming and I am amazed at how intense some parents can be at training and swim meets. I am not sure if I want my child involved in a sport were some parents seem to live their own dreams through their kids. Do you have any advice for new parents on how they can best assist their child to swim, without being overbearing?
Michelle, Pakenham, Victoria

Hi Michelle,
Thanks for your email. I am not sure if you have read ‘An Open Letter to Every Swimming Parent in the World’, as I believe you would enjoy reading it.

It is extremely important that a parent loves their child regardless of performance. If you are disappointed with a swim race performance, then they will probably be 10 times more disappointed and will need your support.

Swimming is a great sport and yes, you will observe parents who publicly berate their coach and their children. In many cases, these parents are a very small percentage of the total squad and over a period of time they often move on as they do not fit the culture of the club.

Enjoy reading the article and keep an eye on the website for new articles to be released soon.

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs




Hi can you please tell me if a 10 year old boy is allowed to compete in the 1500 and 800 metre freestyle event in a swimming club in the Rockhampton region?
Leslieane, Rockhampton, Queensland

Hi Leslieane,
It is often difficult to find 800m and 1500m freestyle events for younger swimmers. When these two events are held in local, regional or State competitions they often have a qualifying time which the swimmer must have swum to enter the event. The reason it is hard to find 800 & 1500m events in most swim meet programs is because of the time it takes to run the event.

We have not been able to locate the contact details of any swimming club in Rockhampton; however your best bet would be to phone your closest swimming club and ask them if they have any 800 or 1500m freestyle events for 10 year olds. Most Clubs run a distance time-trial meet at least once a year.

If you still have problems, please contact Swimming Queensland

Regards
Australian Swimming Clubs