All About Competitive Swimming

[gogoahead]

swimironkids:

You can join sunlight7 at Swimfast aquatic club (SAC)

this is only available at ACS? quite far away from my home. Any class recommend in north area?

[sunlight7]

gogoahead:

swimironkids:

You can join sunlight7 at Swimfast aquatic club (SAC)

this is only available at ACS? quite far away from my home. Any class recommend in north area?

You can check out their website but I think the ACS barker road one is the most inspiring because all the good coaches are there. I am happy with swimfast except some of the foul-mouthed kids. They give a one week trial period.

But just a couple of points :
1. The concrete steps in the pool area very hard , so can sit until \"backside pitchia\". So I bought a collapsible fishing chair to sit on and read my newspapers/novel \"macam steven spielberg\". You can see many parents sitting there like a row of fisherman reading and doing stuff on ipad.

2. The training hours are long 1730 hrs stretching until 1815 hrs , then swim until 2000 hrs, so be prepared to adjust your kid's dinner time.

3. The coaches, while strict, are also very nice to the kids. When my DS first joined, he was in shock because the training is so tough, so its an adjustment for him. But the coach was nice and just said to him,\"If you are tired, tell me and rest but if really tired, you can stop, ok\". Now, after one month, he can last the whole session whereas he would struggle at the tail end when he first started. I think maybe the muscles have adjusted themselves and also he made friends and they become \"friendly competitive\".

I would really recommend swimfast although I dont know how the rest are because they either do not respond to me or half-hearted replies. The person who originally answered my phone call in swimfast (not a coach, admin or something) was friendly and responsive, thats how I first got started as I have \"no clue\" who is what.

Incidentally, our family are also Methodists and my son is going to ACJS (same as Joseph Schooling :boogie: ) next year, so its sort of part of the family although, having said that, alot of the kids are also fromdifferent schools. Dont get me wrong, its open for everyone, not just ACS kids.

[gogoahead]

sunlight7:

gogoahead:

[quote=\"swimironkids\"]
You can join sunlight7 at Swimfast aquatic club (SAC)

this is only available at ACS? quite far away from my home. Any class recommend in north area?

[/quote]hello sunlight7, thanks a lot for your reply, just want to ask a few questions:
1. the swimfast club need some qualification swimming? for example, it only take kids swim fast? Or need kids to be Bronze level pass?

2. The training is once per week? May i know the cost? And only weekdays?

3. The pool is indoor one? In case it is raining, course start as usual?

Thanks a lot!

[Swimtutor]

I must admit Swimfast aquatic club is good. Even in the recent inter club compeition at toa payoh where I was the refree there, they took most of the top positions. Keep up the good work Swimfast.

[Wolfgirl]

Yes Swimfast is producing our nation’s young swimmers… they are the top club now!



My girl trains at APSC at Farrer Park. 4 times a week. 6.30-8.30 pm weekdays and 7.00- 9.00 am Sunday.
As the youngest kid, the coach still ‘sayang’ her quite a bit by allowing her to swim 60% of what others do.
Besides swimming, they do jogging, land exercises and play water polo.

Parental support is very important and it really takes a lot of dedication from both the young athlete and the parents…

[sunlight7]

[/quote]

hello sunlight7, thanks a lot for your reply, just want to ask a few questions:
1. the swimfast club need some qualification swimming? for example, it only take kids swim fast? Or need kids to be Bronze level pass?

2. The training is once per week? May i know the cost? And only weekdays?

3. The pool is indoor one? In case it is raining, course start as usual?

Thanks a lot![/quote]

1. Your kid needs to be able to already swim the 4 strokes to join but i think you better call and let their coach assess your kid. I don’t know what is bronze level pass. Sorry.

2. The competitive squad trains everyday except Sunday. Your kid can swim everyday or selected days, it’s up to you. Just turn up at the 1730 hours and join in. It’s $120 per month plus some admin fee when you first join.

3. Outdoor pool, if it rains, the coach will decide.

Hope this helps.

[DTJ]

sunlight7:

Hi Friends,

I just need a bit of perspective, my 6 year old son does 23s for 25m freestyle, is that fast or slow in general ?
Thanks in advance.

Hi there,
When u say 6yo son , do u mean your son is in K2 this year ? Or P1?
Coz in competitive swimming, age computation is as of 1 JAN 2012
So all P1 kids (with some already hitting 7yo) will swim in 6yo category and those 6 yo kids (K2 this year) will be considered 5yo category - and yes, usually for age-group meets, this does favour those born earlier in the year esp for the younger kids
But it wouldn't matter much once they hit 9yo (and above) - 'coz experts ever said that usually those born yearend would be able to catch up at/by around 9yo (thereabouts).. and so far it seems to be the case

So if your son is in P1, yes he'll need to do some catching up which i'm sure the coach at swimfast is currently looking into it
IF your son is in K2, it is actually not that bad (not the fastest of course but I would say a good timing for someone who only just started competitive training) ...

This year's P1 (ie 6yo category) \"record\" for 25m free is 16.38sec

There was a 5 yo (ie K2 boy) who clocked 20.89 sec - I'm sure by now, with the intensive training going on, your son should be near that or maybe even better than that .. so I think he is in good hands... He has potential

Hope this little info helps

[sunlight7]

He is in K2 now, will be in P1 come 2013. Thanks for the info. I dont need a superkid, just wanted a reference point…actually my main concern is that he doesn’t burn out in his teens.

[DTJ]

Unfortunately that is what is happening to our kids. Burnout. I remembered reading in the papers some months ago where it was reported that our youngsters peak way before they are in their teens and most fizzle out when they hit their teens or maybe even before that, whereas in the States, competitive training only seriously begin when a child is around 10-11 … and they peak around 16-21 … most (not all) of our swimmers would have "retired" by then


I guess besides burnout, it could also be a "priority issue"… In Singapore, our focus is still very much on academics instead of swimming, which is understandable.

[Wolfgirl]

OT a bit… instead of swimming and just swimming…after a short 3 months of tennis when she was 4yo, I am ‘restarting’ Tennis lesson with my girl. (mum and kid lesson).


Hope to have a more ‘holistic’ development for her…

Wet weather recently, thus the coach has been doing quite a bit of land training.