Be Careful of What You Wish for ...
My son has been swimming on a rec swim team for 5 years (this is his 6th year). Until last year, he was always a middle of the pack swimmer. Not motivated to work at getting better, swim team was a social activity for him. A way for him to spend Saturday mornings in the summertime with his friends. When they were all young, they would play their Gameboys. As they got older, they started to play poker. It made me feel good to see my son participating in something active. But I always wanted him to catch that 'bug' and become more motivated to work at it.
Two years ago, he moved himself up to the top of the middle of the pack. He still did not win any races, but he started to place and I think he even contributed some points to the team at the championships. Last year he exploded. He started to hit puberty and with that little bit of extra testosterome, he won races left and right. All of a sudden, I had a 'top' swimmer on my hands. He won over half the individual races he swam, received 2 first places and a third in the championships, and was in the top 10 for all 5 individual events (he only swam backstoke once and breast a couple of times).
This year has started out the same way. In the first meet in a full sized pool, he knock time off his previous PRs in everything he swam (including over 8 seconds off his IM (Individual Medley) PR). He is pumped now. He feels he can break most, if not all, the records of the events he swims (and I think he can). He is talking about doing extra work that I never expected him to want to do (like ... fall swim). I think he caught the 'bug', even more so than I ever imagined that he would.
Some of this may be the hormones starting to flow even more. I know that some of it is just getting a taste of winning (in his IM race, he beat a very good 14 year old .... he is only 13). It does make me wonder how far he will take this. How committed he will be to this in the long run. How consumed will he become with it all. Some of these questions come from looking at the way I approach things .... and something about apples and how far they tend not fall far from the tree.
No, I am not worried. It is fun to see him motivated, especially about something athletic. Right now I am going to just sit back and watch. Do what I can to help him keep it in perspective, let him do what he wants to do. Let him be what he wants to be, not what I want him to be.
Two years ago, he moved himself up to the top of the middle of the pack. He still did not win any races, but he started to place and I think he even contributed some points to the team at the championships. Last year he exploded. He started to hit puberty and with that little bit of extra testosterome, he won races left and right. All of a sudden, I had a 'top' swimmer on my hands. He won over half the individual races he swam, received 2 first places and a third in the championships, and was in the top 10 for all 5 individual events (he only swam backstoke once and breast a couple of times).
This year has started out the same way. In the first meet in a full sized pool, he knock time off his previous PRs in everything he swam (including over 8 seconds off his IM (Individual Medley) PR). He is pumped now. He feels he can break most, if not all, the records of the events he swims (and I think he can). He is talking about doing extra work that I never expected him to want to do (like ... fall swim). I think he caught the 'bug', even more so than I ever imagined that he would.
Some of this may be the hormones starting to flow even more. I know that some of it is just getting a taste of winning (in his IM race, he beat a very good 14 year old .... he is only 13). It does make me wonder how far he will take this. How committed he will be to this in the long run. How consumed will he become with it all. Some of these questions come from looking at the way I approach things .... and something about apples and how far they tend not fall far from the tree.
No, I am not worried. It is fun to see him motivated, especially about something athletic. Right now I am going to just sit back and watch. Do what I can to help him keep it in perspective, let him do what he wants to do. Let him be what he wants to be, not what I want him to be.
posted by gym at 8:52 PM
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