Parents Swimming before a meet

[SMH]

No such rules for us.
Every year our gym has a ‘fun’ meet where there are team activities in the town the meet is held. This year there was a pool party the night before the level 3’s (and 8’s?) competed.
I did choose to not to have my child attend (not because of the swimming) but because she does not sleep well in hotel rooms, is only 8, and swimming late plus no sleep would be disastrous for her in general.
Our gym is generally very hands off when it comes to what gymnasts can and cannot do.

 

[Lisbeth]

Our gym addresses it in our team handbook. No swimming allowed after 6:30 the night before a meet. Coaches have been known to stroll by the pool around 6:45 to check. There is also a curfew time for girls to be in room, but I'm not sure what that is, as my daughter is always in bed by 9 the night before.

I wish more gyms would follow your gym’s lead and set a curfew. Too many times have I had to ask gymmasts who were running up & down hotel hallways yelling & sometimes knocking on random doors after 11pm to please be quiet and respect other guests who either had an 8am session or were not even there for the meet. I just don’t understand why parents permit their children to run wild and disrupt other hotel guests.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

oh and I placed top 4 in every event and won the all around (out of 17 kids).

Our coaches logic would be well if you didn’t do the slide you would of gotten all firsts rofl

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I just don’t understand why parents permit their children to run wild and disrupt other hotel guests.

I don’t. While I do let her swim. Wind down time and rest is important.

But them I’m the person calling the desk and complaining about the rabble rousing. 15 years of traveling for a living. Oh I have tons of stories.

I’m also the one at checkin requesting the foor above, by multiple floors if possible from the rest of the group/kids

 

[aerials]

If possible I always let me dd swim the night before a meet. She usually has really good meets the next day. I think it relaxes her to a point. We never let her stay in too long just long enough to have fun. In fact her level 8 state meet is this weekend and she is planning on swimming the night before.

 

[reluctant]

This sounds like such a bunch of baloney. There is nothing special about swimming that does something weird to your body. No you should not overexert the day before a meet, but playing in the water for 30 minutes is hardly overexerting. Are swimmers also prohibited from swimming the day before swim meet because of the detrimental effects of swimming?

 

[LJL07]

This sounds like such a bunch of baloney. There is nothing special about swimming that does something weird to your body. No you should not overexert the day before a meet, but playing in the water for 30 minutes is hardly overexerting. Are swimmers also prohibited from swimming the day before swim meet because of the detrimental effects of swimming?

Ha ha! This made me laugh!

 

[tucktwisttumble]

This sounds like such a bunch of baloney. There is nothing special about swimming that does something weird to your body. No you should not overexert the day before a meet, but playing in the water for 30 minutes is hardly overexerting. Are swimmers also prohibited from swimming the day before swim meet because of the detrimental effects of swimming?

*I think* - the reason coaches say no swimming is two-fold
1) Calluses - Fully submerged in a pool for 1+ hours while your skin softens/ prunes. Rips are more likely to happen. That is fact.

2) If you are a highly specialized athlete (i.e. a gymnast, a skiier, a swimmer, a tennis player etc.) you are continually using and developing muscles specific to this said activity. Swimmers focus on different training than gymnasts, than dancers, than rock climbers. So when a gymnast goes and uses their muscles in a different way (a way that is perhaps unfamiliar to the body) the muscles fatigue more quickly. I think everyone who is an athlete of sorts has experienced this. It is just how our bodies are conditioned. Hence why a highly conditioned gymnast could be sore after a day of skiing. Or a high-level skier would be sore after a day of snowboarding (yes - two different sports, two different uses of muscles).

That is why there is a lot of science and studies are critiquing early specialization of sports in youth. This is different than saying a gymnast is not conditioned (because we all know that they are some of the most incredibly conditioned athletes in the world)... but its that highly specialized athletes are more prone to injury due to the repetitive use of particular muscle groups/training versus someone who has cross-trained 2 or 3 different sports.

So - in a long winded way of saying, I believe that coaches do have some scientific backing to say - no swimming, it could fatigue muscles. However - at the end of the day, like I have said above - let kids be kids. Unless this is the Olympic qualifiers - I would let my kids swim if they wanted to.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

This sounds like such a bunch of baloney. There is nothing special about swimming that does something weird to your body. No you should not overexert the day before a meet, but playing in the water for 30 minutes is hardly overexerting. Are swimmers also prohibited from swimming the day before swim meet because of the detrimental effects of swimming?

Our coaches shorten practice the night before a meet. If the girls have an early report time. They place a priority on good rest. Their line in the sand is 12 hours before report time, dial it back.

Me, I’m with you, a half an hour in the pool is not a big thing. But coach would be cranky with me if we got caught.

 

[duyetanh]

This sounds like such a bunch of baloney. There is nothing special about swimming that does something weird to your body. No you should not overexert the day before a meet, but playing in the water for 30 minutes is hardly overexerting. Are swimmers also prohibited from swimming the day before swim meet because of the detrimental effects of swimming?

As someone who swam competitively for almost 20 years and was a sprinter who tapered for a good month before nationals? Yes. No EXTRA swimming. No extra other sports either the night before.

 

[Flippin'A]

It sounds like your particular child on this particular day might have overdone it (half a day at the pool would definitely wipe my DD out.) It's also possible that even though she said she didn't feel tired, since she is a younger, lower level gymnast, she didn't quite recognize that rubbery muscle feeling as being tired. Next time maybe cap the swimming after an hour or two and come up with a non-physical bonding experience to suggest to the team (maybe bring a board game from home? A favorite movie? Non-gymnastics talent show? Something like that.) That way they can all make sure they're well rested but your DD doesn't miss out on team bonding time. Out of curiosity, did any of the other gymnasts at the pool with her have a tough meet?

 

[rosiekat]

We are told no before the meet, and have at it all you want after.

 

[gymgal]

This sounds like such a bunch of baloney. There is nothing special about swimming that does something weird to your body. No you should not overexert the day before a meet, but playing in the water for 30 minutes is hardly overexerting. Are swimmers also prohibited from swimming the day before swim meet because of the detrimental effects of swimming?

Have never met a child who was ok with going to the pool for just 30 minutes. That's more hassle than its worth as a parent in my book. Better to just say no from the beginning if you are sticking with 30-45 minutes.

As far as swimmers, the answer is "yes, they are prohibited". DS has been a competitive swimmer for almost 9 years and his team rule is no rec swimming on meet weekends. Each meet facility has a warm-up/down pool that is also closely monitored. Lap swimming only. Besides, after swimming 10-15 hours a week, the last thing they want to do the night before a meet is to jump back in the pool to goof around.

 

[rebcoola]

No rule at our gym and I always let DD but I do limit time and push fluids. Is not like they are really swimming I don't think she expands more energy than the girls for major all day shopping excursions. Of course DD does summer swim team each year on top of gym so maybe she's not the best example.

 

[NY Dad]

OP with some additional details and answers. (Sorry for the long post)

First, thanks so much for all of the great responses. I’ve been given a lot to think about.

The risk is actually quite low either way at this level, IMHO, not b/c swimming will or will not impact results but b/c those results don't matter that much, nor does missing out on one day in the pool.

Good point, but for an 8 year old, in the moment, both seem like a big deal. I’m not sure how my dd would have reacted if I had told her that spending time in the pool would impact her performance and how I would have explained why it would affect her but not her friends. At this point, she’s doing gymnastics for fun but she works hard in class and she worked really hard to get where she is, so I’m sure that she wouldn’t intentionally do anything that she knew would negatively impact her performance at a meet.

The fun experienced is just as valuable as the competition.

Good point, that’s why we stayed at the hotel.

No you should not overexert the day before a meet,

Whether or not it was just the swimming, I’m guessing this is more likely the culprit. Both inside and outside the pool.

So when a gymnast goes and uses their muscles in a different way (a way that is perhaps unfamiliar to the body) the muscles fatigue more quickly.

That’s what I was thinking that day. It’s like playing, but with resistance, and having so much fun/getting caught up in it that you don’t realize how much you’re exerting yourself.

It sounds like your particular child on this particular day might have overdone it (half a day at the pool would definitely wipe my DD out.) It's also possible that even though she said she didn't feel tired, since she is a younger, lower level gymnast, she didn't quite recognize that rubbery muscle feeling as being tired. …

Out of curiosity, did any of the other gymnasts at the pool with her have a tough meet?

Yes, I agree with the first part.
I don’t think it’s fair for me to judge other gymnasts’ performances.

My dd was in the pool for approx 3 hours the afternoon --> night on the day before the meet. She was mostly playing. She’s not a very strong swimmer so the swimming that she did took a lot of effort. That being said, I did see her playing a lot in the pool (not taking it easy). She’s not great at moderation when she’s excited. This hotel has a large outdoor pool that’s very warm/hot. She was in the outdoor pool for about an hour. Sitting/standing/walking but not playing other than running out of the pool to grab large chunks of ice/snow and watching how quickly they melted in the water .

Regarding sleeping in hotels, she was excited to stay at a hotel. As usual, I didn’t sleep that night but it did appear as though she slept through the night. I let her get up a little later than usual because she got to bed later than usual. On meet day, she didn’t do anything too active.

Just to clarify it wasn’t the whole team that was swimming, I only coordinated with other two families. One of her friends was in the pool the whole time with my DD but one of them arrived at the hotel in the evening so she missed about half the time my dd was in the pool. I didn’t see anyone else from her team that I knew hadn’t already competed while we were at the pool. Considering we were at a hotel filled with gymnasts it was surprising how few of them were in the pool. (Which, at the time, made me think that it probably wasn’t a great idea.)

 

[sce]

Sounds like maybe some moderation would be good next time. Don't take away the fun with her friends, but 3 hours at the pool and staying up later than normal could both have impacted her the next day.

 

[spider_monkey]

They are kids. Let them be kids and have fun. My daughter would never let me forget it if I wouldn't let her swim for awhile at the hotel the day before the meet. Not for hours on end, but long enough to have fun with friends and still get to bed at a decent time. She's placed 1st/2nd AA at every meet but one this season, and she's swam at the hotel the day before nearly every meet. Honestly the injury potential of the pool is scarier to me than the muscle fatigue, but such is the life of raising an active child.

 

[Natasha]

Lots of research out there on how changes to sleep routine affects performance. A good chance that staying up later/getting up later was as much if not more of an effect than playing in the pool...however there will be lots of meets that you can't control this with sometimes having early morning or later than normal bedtime meets or time changes with travel meets, etc....