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BY MARCUS ROBERTSON - VICTORIAN INSTITUTE OF SPORT
Over the last 10 years, the 'swimming parent' - that person living through their child and obsessed with their success; stopping at nothing to ensure that their little treasure reaches that potential which they are positive exists, has become almost the epitome of all that is evil. In reality, however, 99% of swimming parents are exactly the opposite. So I have decided to take an in depth look at those 'swimming parents from hell' and attempt to answer those questions most frequently asked of a swimming coach.
* What should parents expect from their child?
* What are reasonable expectations of a swimming coach?
* How can parents best encourage and maximise a young swimmers enjoyment of, and achievement in swimming?
Parents of new swimmers usually have little idea of what they are letting themselves in for! When people see Mrs Perkins and Mrs Hackett on the TV screen, weeping for joy and pride after watching their sons win Olympic gold and break world records, most say something like, "Oh"! They are so lucky to have such talented sons like that!"
What they don't realise is that both ladies are probably suffering form terminal exhaustion and self-inflicted poverty. Both have committed themselves to driving their sons to the pool at 4.00a.m. every morning for the last ten years, and thriftily managing the housekeeping to pay for the never-ending sustagen, coaching and physiotherapy bills! And these are the lucky ones whose offspring made it through the ranks of State Championships, Age Nationals, Open Nationals, injury and illness to the top of the elite tree!
What of the hundreds of thousands of devoted parents who suffer the same early mornings and expenses, for the multitude who never make it to the top? It is not the glamorous life that people make it out to be, believe me! My own mother openly states that if she had her time over again, she wouldn't allow me to take a bath, let alone swimming lessons!
Becoming a swimming parent is, in many respects, like entering an entirely new culture! Words like 'splits', 'feet on wall' and 'dying in a race' or 'lactates' can be very intimidating. Some new parents like to assume that they know what is going on ~ "Oh! Sarah had a split of 33 feet on wall, then died and had a lactate of 12" "Did she - Oh that's marvellous, well Bill came third, but he touched the wall with his hands and I bloody well hope he's not lactating!"
Seriously though, it is extremely difficult for new parents to pick up all the jargon, and to know exactly how much input to have in their child's progress. In short, because there is no instruction manual entitled "How to Become a Perfect Swimming Parent" it's a rough road ahead.
Parents of swimmers should be both an anchor and a stabilising force in their child's swimming careers. Over the years parental attitudes and actions will have a profound effect o the degree of satisfaction the swimmer derives from his or her sport. Through involvement in your child's swimming, assisting the swimming club whenever possible, and always striving to ensure that the sport is a positive experience, you can be sure that your child will gain the most from his or her sport.
The coach-parent relationship is often quite precarious, with parents uncertain as to quite how much input they should have. Coaches can seem intimidating, even domineering at times.
Parents need to realise that coaches want, expect and hope that the swimming experience will benefit not only the swimmer but the swimmer-parent relationship as well. Coaches, however, to their detriment, are not always adept at showing their desire for 'parental growth' and the quality and degree of parental education offered by coaches varies from excellent to less than adequate. Suffice to say that a coach's best ally in their efforts to develop a swimmer is a well-educated parent.
Conversely, a certain path to failure with a swimmer is to be negligent in educating and informing the parent as to exactly what the coach is trying to achieve. Ideally, it should be a team - the coach, the swimmer and the parent working in unison for the benefit of the swimmer. This does not necessarily mean that the coach is always right. The coach deals with primarily one aspect of the child, his sport. The parent on the other hand deals with the child on every level - health, growth, school, sport, social, extra curricula activities etc and is the person ultimately responsible for ensuring that a balanced lifestyle is maintained.
No child will win the Olympic games at the age of 12, and no amount of training will alter this. Only one male in the history of the world has ever won a World Championship at the age of 15.
Some swimmers reach their peak in their late teens, many not until early adulthood and beyond. Parents need to ensure that their child has the time to be just that - A CHILD, and experience a wide range of activities.
Training 11 times a week at the age of 12 or 13 makes it incredibly difficult for a child to have a balanced lifestyle. Personally I believe that school should be the major emphasis up to year 12, by which age a swimmer has the maturity to identify their talent, or lack of it. At this age with the pressures of secondary schooling behind them, swimmers can concentrate on swimming, with the knowledge that when they retire they have a secondary or tertiary education to fall back on.
Children can still be very successful at swimming during their age group years without training to the extreme. After all a swimmer can only get so fit!
Responsible parents discuss these issues with their child and their child's coach and together, as a team, find balance that will enable success in a number of areas - sport, education, socially, musically, etc.
I spent a substantial amount of time identifying the traits of successful and non-successful swimming parents. Hopefully this should give new parents some ideas as to decoding the swimming language and culture and a guide to a successful swimmer, parent and coach relationship.
Swimming parents you are beautiful when:
You cheer for lots of swimmers who are not your own
You ask your swimmer "What did the coach say?"
You play up the importance of team activities such as relays
You help new parents gain perspective on the sport
You work ten-hour days helping at swimming meets and then want to know where the team function is.
You drive car pools on routes that would make a cab driver crazy
You help run team raffles car washes garage sales and more for fund raising purposes
You realise that you as the swimming parent are there to offer comfort and reward and the coach offers constructive criticism
You realise that no 'one swimmer ' is important and it is the whole picture that matters
You remind your child that talent is genetic but that effort is your own
You know that there is nothing heavier to carry than a great potential
You realise that coaches also make mistakes and feel badly for them
You realise that every child can be a winner if you know that winning is doing your best
Unfortunately, you are not so beautiful when:
You think that every swim will be a best time or a first place
You say, "You didn't try!"
You say, "It's only a relay!"
You only converse about your own swimmer to other parents
You bring a stop watch to training
You talk to your child during training
You view the swimming group as a gossip machine
You interrupt the coach during training
You are a bigger show at swim meets than the athletes
Your ego is involved in the progress of the child
You demand as much of the coach's time as your child
In conclusion, all parents will exhibit some traits from each of the categories. That's O.K, because just like coaches, you are at your most beautiful when you are trying to recognise problems, trying to learn, trying to grow and trying to become better swim parents and trying to do what is in the best interest of your child. That is what swimming is all about 'growing in wisdom'.
Parents could do much worse than to use the National Bank's motto as their own:
NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF THE BIGGER PICTURE, AND NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF WHAT YOU SET OUT TO ACHIEVE!
The majority of parent's first place their children in swimming lessons for enjoyment, safety and personal fulfillment - need I say more?
Nutrition
What contribution does nutrition make to swimming performance? Not only does proper nutrition provide the required fuels for energy production, but also aspects of nutrition are linked to resistance to illness, recovery from fatigue and psychological well being.
NUTRITION OBJECTIVES
The ability to make food selections, which contain the nutrients, needed for normal growth, development and maintenance of good health. On top of this an awareness of the additional energy demands of training.
An understanding of why and how a desirable level of lean and fat tissue is maintained, while still satisfying the high energy needs of training and competition.
The need for a sound understanding of dietary practices that assist in the recovery from training. This includes the replenishment of carbohydrate stores and fluid lost during training.
An understanding of the long-term benefits of good nutritional practices.
Sensible eating practices on race days.
TIPS FOR FOOD SELECTION
Eating a variety of foods and observing a few simple guidelines for good nutrition will allow swimmers to have all the energy they need and keep their body weight at an acceptable level while enjoying their meals.
Without variety any diet will become boring. Be prepared to try different sources to meet nutritional needs. Try breads with different grains. Make the most of fresh vegetables and fruit. Mix foods as often as possible. Use many sources of carbohydrates: rice, pasta, cous cous, potato, sweet potato and corn.
Base your meals around high carbohydrate and low fat foods. The focus of each meal should be the foods, which provide energy for training. Select carbohydrates high in fibre, but low in salt and sugar. Starchy vegetables are an excellent source of carbohydrate, while salad type vegetables are high in vitamins and minerals. Select a wide variety of vegetables to provide different nutritional needs.
Enjoy sweetness from a variety of fruits. Remember that cakes, puddings, chocolate and ice cream are high in fat. Don't try to eliminate sugar totally, but restrict it to about 10% of the total energy intake.
Take care to rehydrate after training. Most people do not drink enough water.
Foods which supply iron are essential, but the body absorbs iron better from red meat sources than green vegetables.
FLUIDS AND GLYCOGEN REPLENISHMENT
Training and competition environments impose a heat stress on the swimmer. This results in fluid loss due to sweating. Swimmers should be encouraged to consume water before during and after training. It is often convenient for swimmers to have sealed plastic drink bottles at the poolside so that small amounts of water can be consumed throughout a training session. Swimmers must never share drink bottles and they must be thoroughly washed out between training sessions
COMPETITION DAY
Swimmers should only use small variations to their everyday diet on race day. Practices of eating extra protein of 'carbohydrate loading' may have a place in other sports, but not in swimming. Swimmers should be more concerned with the timing of the meal and avoiding foods, which may upset the stomach during competition.
On race day eat about 4 hours before competition. This should be a high carbohydrate and low fat meal with a small amount of protein.
It's a mistake to take a high dose of sugar as a snack because this will trigger an increase in insulin, which actually lowers the blood sugar level at the time of competition. A complex carbohydrate snack about 1 - 2 hours prior to competition is preferable.
Fluids must be replaced regularly and further carbohydrate replacement should be available.
Avoid spicy and fatty foods as they may upset the stomach.
Uncle Toby's bars are a good snack choice as is a container of fruit cut up in bite-size pieces for your swimmer to snack on throughout the day- these are good fruit choices:
* Grapes
* Rockmelon
* Watermelon (best to eat just before heading for marshalling)
* Strawberries
* Bananas
* Kiwi Fruit
* Blueberries
Lollies and sweets are NOT snack options! Leave these for the coach to dispense as "rewards" and "treats".
Acknowledgement also to: Richards J.R. (1996) pg 138
CLUB UNIFORMS
For any UNIFORM enquiries, please see or contact: Caroline BATES, Nicole GWYNNE or Tracey PEARSON during office hours on Tues, Wed, or Fri.
TELEPHONE (08) 9593-4000 / EMAIL rockswim@iinet.net.au
