SWIM TEAM ORIGINAL
VERSION 1428 Darbee Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
November 23, 1994
Floyd Tuttle
W.C. Folsom, Jr.
YMCA
15550 Old Hammond
Highway
Baton Rouge, LA
70816
Dear Mr. Tuttle,
This summer I
coached the Gonzales Swim Team, and through the course of the season we
ran into many problems. The main problem was the great number of
beginning swimmers. It is wonderful that children are interested in
competitive swimming, but most of these swimmers had never swam before.
This caused numerous problems that affected the more advanced swimmers,
but it also affected me, the coach. I had to constantly devote my time
“teaching” the new swimmers the strokes. In return, I spent little time
“improving” the others strokes. I also could not watch every swimmer for
safety.
Katherine
McCanless, our meet director, and I discussed the new swimmer problem and
decided that the main cause was the parents. In the pamphlet on the YMCA
Aquatics Program, parents read that for two weeks of lessons, the price
was $22.00, and for seven weeks of the swim team, the price was $35.00.
Which is the better bargain? Of course the $35.00 swim team is cheaper.
So parents of new swimmers registered their children for the swim team ,
thinking that it is the same as swim lessons. They ignored the fact that
the pamphlet states, under the swim team, “Learn competitive
swimming skills and compete” which is not the same meaning as
“teaching people to swim.”
Having to teach
the new swimmers all four strokes only frustrated them for several
reasons. They could not keep their heads out of the water, nor could they
understand the concept of the strokes. This frustrated both myself and
the youngsters. For me, coaching is helping improve swimmers strokes and
techniques, not teaching swimmers from scratch. During practices, we
could only swim approximately twelve laps because they had to swim one lap
at a time. After each lap, the swimmers had to sit on the wall and wait
for the beginners to finish or for me to complete demonstrations of how
the strokes are swam. Also, because the new swimmers fell so far behind,
the swim meets lasted much longer than scheduled.
If this
mistaken addition of new simmers continues, we may lose many old members
due to the disturbance from the new ones. Even the new swimmers would
drop from disappointment in trying to learn the strokes. At meets, there
would be more disqualification s on the new swimmers because of the
uncertainty of how the strokes are swam. These consequences would hurt
the child and therefore make him/her uninterested in continuing the
sport. Not only do these consequences hurt the swimmers, but also the
YMCA. If the child discontinues swimming, the YMCA lose money in the
aquatics program.
One simple
solution could be to hire more coaches. Hiring extra help would enable
each coach to take a certain number of swimmers and devote individual
attention to help improve their performance. However, this solution has
been tried, and has failed. I was given three extra coaches, but they did
not do their jobs. And, when they were doing their jobs, different
coaches coach with different styles. Therefore the children learn
different techniques and further get confused on what is correct.
Since most of
the swimming problem begin at a young age, another simple solution would
be to eliminate the six and under age group and start at the seven and
eight year old. Six and under are too young to learn the strokes. Still,
this solution would not pass because the problem belongs to a higher
board, the USS Swimming Association. The USS Swimming Association has a
special group called pre-competition, which is devoted to children who are
six years and under to teach them how to swim the strokes.
I propose this
solution for the problem. I recommend that a first-year swimmer that is
interested in joining the swim team be required to take the two week
progressive program swim lessons that are found in the “YMCA Aquatics
Pamphlet.” Because of the child’s age and level of skill, the parents may
choose which of the seven sessions their child belongs in. Additionally,
each swimmer who has not swam for more than two years on the team will
have to take a mandatory swim tryout called a “performance test.” All
swimmers will have to swim three of the four strokes (back, breast, fly,
and free) the whole length of the pool (forty yards). If each swimmer
passes, he/she may join the team. However, swimmers who fail will be
asked to take swim lessons and not be allowed on the team that summer.
Many parents
may find this solution unfair, judgmental, and almost cruel, yet this
solution will benefit both the team and the new swimmers. The practices
will be more productive, with the kids swimming better yardage and
improving strokes, therefore benefiting the team. The coaches will be
able to spend more time with each swimmer, helping their skills and
techniques without the worry of teaching a new swimmer the basics. The
new swimmers will benefit from swim lessons because they will get more
hands-on teaching, learning the very basics of swimming and then moving to
understand each stroke. Furthermore, they will feel more confident about
swimming when they join the team than if they would have joined with now
previous knowledge of the strokes. This also benefits the YMCA because
this new solution will reduce the probability of drowning incidents or
other swimming related accidents, thus giving the YMCA a notable safety
reputation for its aquatics program.
The first step
in implementing my solution would be to produce two separate pamphlets of
information; one for the swim lessons and one for the swim team. Although
this will cost a substantial amount of money, the readers will benefit and
thus be encouraged to join. Therefore, the YMCA will get money from the
new members who join. In the pamphlet for the swim team, parents would
find information discussing the goal of the team, which is for the child
to have fun, but also learn competitive swimming. There will be
information on the job of the coach, and on the new performance test
policy. Another idea to get more families aware and involved would be to
have discounts on the price of the swim lessons. If the child does both
the swim team and swim lessons in the same summer, then the YMCA should
charge half price on the price of the swim lessons. However, the only
requirement to this idea would be that the child must pass the test for
the team and must take lessons for extra skills practice. (I have seen
this happen with a number of my swimmers this summer.)
The best
well-formed solution to the problem of the new swimmers would be to have a
performance test or tryout to determine if the child is capable of
competitive swimming or if he/she should take a session of swim lessons.
If this solution is carried out, the practices will run smoother without
interruptions, which will allow the swimmers to get more attention. The
YMCA will have more interested swimmers join, and therefore , the profits
will increase. Also this solution s will be a better safety policy of the
YMCA aquatics program.
Sincerely,
Jackie Doe
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