How many swim meets is enough?

The question of how many swim meets a swimmer needs to attend is a good one. It depends on several factors. Age of the swimmer, ability of the swimmer, conditioning of the swimmer and commitment of the swimmer. Generally I like swimmers to attend one meet a month. High school level swimmers will attend many more than this as High school meets are short and sweet. U.S.S. meets tend to be long and take a whole weekend. Young age group swimmers should try to make one meet a month to gain experience and stay motivated with competition. Meets are great learning environments to develop and improve skills and learn to compete against others. Generally young age group swimmers will improve and drop time almost every time they swim. As swimmers get older improvement is not as immediate. There is a training and focus period for older swimmers where they have to concentrate on only a couple of meets a year. Usually these are meets where the swimmer will shave, rest, and peak. For High school level swimmers these meets would include the State Age group championships, State high school championships, and the Sectional Championships.

Coach Ian