All About Competitive Swimming

[simson]

Competitive Swimming isnt all about getting your kid to a good school, and it shouldn’t be. To take up any sports, one require discipline, perseverance and definitely passion. If your kid were to join competitive swimming for the sake of DSA, she will lose interest in the sport in the long run.


My daughter is a competitive swimmer, and like any other sportsman, she trains up to 14hrs a week. I would say she has not only become more discipline but also learnt to persevere and "take the pain, and continue". It is not about intensive training, but how one manages her time.

It is true that she has broad shoulders and very sporty build (not exactly muscular), but this shows that swimming is a very effective sport. It trains almost all core muscles (thighs, abdominal, back) and most importantly, it keeps one fit and agile. If one participates intensively in any sports, he/she is most likely to become a little muscular, not just in swimming.

Yes, swimming is all about the millisecond. This just shows the importance of time, and how one will strive to improve himself by that millisecond. And to improve, training is a must.

I hope this answers your queries, and will help you make the decision on whether or not competitive swimming is suitable for your kid.

Thank you

[simson]

theclarkies:

Hi everyone. I'm a newbie here. I'm a Singaporean living in New Zealand and coming to visit my parents in December with the whole family. My 14 yr old daughter does competitive swimming and is enjoying it alot. She'd like to train while we are in Singapore but only with a club as that keeps her motivated. I'm just wondering if anyone could recommend a club to us so that we can contact them and see if training with them is possible. We will be staying with my parents in jurong so central location is fine by us. We travel abit for her training sessions anyway in New Zealand. Your help is much appreciated.

Greetings!
The nearest swim club from your house would be Jurong Country Club, but you can try out swim clubs like APS (ferrer park) or Swimfast. They are not far from Jurong if you take MRT

[simson]

3LCYMUM:

thanks for your reply, any feedback for aps?

Hi,

APS was founded by Mr Ang Peng Siong, Spore's well known ex national swimmer. There are various squads/ groups which your child can enroll, depending on his/her ability. You can contact them for trial lessons. Training will be at ACS/ Ferrer Park depending on the squad your child is in.

[IMIM]

Wow, i tink i like jeff replied straight to the point.lol

Tink theclarkes redi stated her 14 yr dd redi into competitive n loving it.
If not wrong they are back for holiday & was asking for recommendation & not asking for feedback whether to go into competitive swim?
Anyway hope u find one nearer to yr home

[theclarkies]

Hi all, thanks for your reply. Yes, just coming back for 5 weeks holiday and my daughter doesnt want to miss out on any training. She has the summer champs end of January in Wellington and with swimming if you stop training for more than a week, your times will suffer. Jeff, my husband sent an email to APS sometime ago but received no reply. Maybe they don’t entertain a one off training just for a month you reckon? I might try and call them today. We don’t mind the travel. I’m surprised that Singapore swimmers train so much. My daughter is a national swimmer making national times and she trains less than 10 hours a week. Her coach wants her to increase only as she gets older so that there is a step up from where she is. Otherwise her body will get use to the training intensity thus nothing more to improve on. It’s just my thought on this. Anyway, she’s too busy with other sports like Netball, Cross country and also her music as well as her studies. One thing for sure, swimming is a very disciplined sport and as a teenager I know that she’s not somewhere out there getting into trouble. Her swimming buddies have the same aspirations and goals so she’s amongst good kids.

[swimironkids]

theclarkies:

Hi all, thanks for your reply. Yes, just coming back for 5 weeks holiday and my daughter doesnt want to miss out on any training. She has the summer champs end of January in Wellington and with swimming if you stop training for more than a week, your times will suffer. Jeff, my husband sent an email to APS sometime ago but received no reply. Maybe they don't entertain a one off training just for a month you reckon? I might try and call them today. We don't mind the travel. I'm surprised that Singapore swimmers train so much. My daughter is a national swimmer making national times and she trains less than 10 hours a week. Her coach wants her to increase only as she gets older so that there is a step up from where she is. Otherwise her body will get use to the training intensity thus nothing more to improve on. It's just my thought on this. Anyway, she's too busy with other sports like Netball, Cross country and also her music as well as her studies. One thing for sure, swimming is a very disciplined sport and as a teenager I know that she's not somewhere out there getting into trouble. Her swimming buddies have the same aspirations and goals so she's amongst good kids.

Hi,
At APS main page under Contact us there are diff staffs you can contact.
Unless you got the wrong email they should get back to you.
Yes best is to call them if you still do not get a response which imo very unlikely becos tis reflect the reputation of the Club.
Yes competitive swimming is a very disciplined sports + many other benefits if u are into it...it also makes u smarter..hehe
Infact a 4yrs studies is ongoing at this moment involving 10,000kids in Aus, NZ & US wheter swimming makes one smarter and the early results are promising...think this research project shld be completed in 2014
C swimming also bonds u & your child closer becos in this case the mum as u wld be the one accompanying her to her training all the time.
Here generally its a 2hr session depending on the season (early, mid or late) 3-5times per week, some training involving morning & evening
You are not wrong to say if she hits a plateau, the body adapts to it & cnt improve further, therefore intensity needs to increase, etc..well its to technical to go into details.............
Normally the rest period for off or post season is 1-2weeks before they starts all over again & during this period cross training comes in so as to maintain their fitness level.
Good that your daughter is good into sports & esp swimming, pls come back we need her into our national sqad if she is good..we dun need Tao Li, we need our original Sporean..lol
David Lim told me once if I find or think I find one swimmer that is good bring the kid/s to him
Can..hehe
All the best
Jeff

[simson]

IMIM:

Wow, i tink i like jeff replied straight to the point.lol

Tink theclarkes redi stated her 14 yr dd redi into competitive n loving it.
If not wrong they are back for holiday & was asking for recommendation & not asking for feedback whether to go into competitive swim?
Anyway hope u find one nearer to yr home

Hi IMIM,
Sorry for the misunderstanding. My previous post was not targetted at anyone. (esp not at theclarkies) I just wanted to share my two-cents worth, and to give my opinions to fellow netizens who are deciding whether or not to take up c. swimming.
Hope you understand

simson

[theclarkies]

Hi simson,


I know you weren't targeting your reply to me so don't sweat abt it. I'm just overwhelmed by the help I get from here. I've been in NZ for 10 yrs and just found this site by chance!! Lucky me

Quite excited to come back to Singapore for a visit. Hope the weather stays good with not much rain. I've been reading some posts from several ppl and some mentioned DSA. Whats that?

Cheers,
Theclarkies

[IMIM]

simson:

IMIM:

Wow, i tink i like jeff replied straight to the point.lol

Tink theclarkes redi stated her 14 yr dd redi into competitive n loving it.
If not wrong they are back for holiday & was asking for recommendation & not asking for feedback whether to go into competitive swim?
Anyway hope u find one nearer to yr home

Hi IMIM,
Sorry for the misunderstanding. My previous post was not targetted at anyone. (esp not at theclarkies) I just wanted to share my two-cents worth, and to give my opinions to fellow netizens who are deciding whether or not to take up c. swimming.
Hope you understand

simson

Simson,
no worries..my apology cos was reading from the handphone so also misunderstood..hehe..paiseh..its more to the general.....good info

theclarkies,
DSA:
Direct School Admission - Secondary (DSA-Sec)

DSA-Sec is an admission exercise to allow participating schools to select some P6 students for admission to Secondary 1 based on their achievements and talents before the PSLE results are released.
Why do we have DSA-Sec?

The DSA-Sec is to provide students an opportunity to demonstrate a more diverse range of achievements and talents in seeking admission to a secondary school.
Taken from MOE - Ministry of Ed

[burp]

theclarkies:

Hi simson,


I know you weren't targeting your reply to me so don't sweat abt it. I'm just overwhelmed by the help I get from here. I've been in NZ for 10 yrs and just found this site by chance!! Lucky me

Quite excited to come back to Singapore for a visit. Hope the weather stays good with not much rain. I've been reading some posts from several ppl and some mentioned DSA. Whats that?

Cheers,
Theclarkies

If it rains too much, the more reliable place is the covered pool at the Singapore Sports School. There is a club that trains there, Speediswim- try looking up on the net. Just curious, 10 hrs a week for a 14 year old swimmer is enough for national times? Is it spread over 5 days, is there dry land exercises, and is that included in the 10 hours?