It’s only natural for parents of new swimmers to want their child to do well at the first meet. It’s very tempting to compare your swimmer to other children and to rate their performance based on other swimmers’ achievements. It’s also natural to feel disappointment when your child performs below their ability.
If your swimmer is aware of this type of thinking it will only cause your child’s confidence to weaken and can make their first competitive experience in swimming to be associated with negative feelings. In addition, it will cause your child to begin thinking that their success is based on how they measure up to others versus doing the best that they can do.
- Keep your child focused on their achievements
- Step back and let the coach talk to your child after the race and point out things done well and things that need to be worked on
- Don’t focus on place or time in comparison to other swimmers
- Remind your child that they are racing themselves and trying to improve on their time
- Reassure your child that other swimmers are nervous and you would be nervous too
- Make sure your child knows that what matters to you is that they do their best and have fun
- Tell them that you are proud of them
For further reading, I recommend:
10 Commandments for Swimming Parents
by Rose Snyder, Managing Director Coaching Division, USOC Former Director of Club Services, USA Swimming
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