This Year's Backstroker is Next Year's Butterflyer.

About this episode

Wayne Goldsmith discusses the misconceptions around young swimmers being labeled as stroke specialists and emphasizes the importance of a balanced approach to swimming development.

By Wayne Goldsmith Let’s get this right from the start: There are NO 7 year old backstrokers. There are NO 9 year old freestylers. There are NO 10 year old IMers. There are just kids who swim — who, at that point in their development, swim one specific stroke a little better than the other strokes. Now I know coaches and parents everywhere are reading this and thinking “ He’s wrong. Johnny the 8 year old just broke the club record for 50 backstroke. He’s a backstroker.” WRONG x A MILLION. Little Johnny is just an eight year old kid who, for whatever reason, happens to swim backstroke faster than the other eight year old kids. Coaches — we need to stop referring to young kids as stroke specialists. Why? Because parents and swimmers develop the expectation that: a. My child / I am a “champion” backstroker or freestyler or breaststroker — and there are NO 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 year old champions. b. My child / I don’t need to do the other strokes or learn the other events because I’m a “backstroker” or “freestyler.” The truth is this. A young swimmer could be brilliant at freestyle this year. Then they grow, their limb lengths change, and POW — they can’t swim freestyle very well…

People in this episode

Host: Wayne Goldsmith

Topics covered

• youth swimming
• stroke specialization
• coaching
• swimming development
• athlete growth

Keywords

• backstroke
• freestyle
• butterfly
• swimming
• youth athletes
• coaching tips
• stroke development

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