Three years ago, I was less than two years into my divorce, navigating life as a single mom, and struggling just to survive. Kristofer was a senior in high school. He wanted to swim in college. When he started his senior year, we hadn’t started the college swim recruiting process and we hadn’t visited any […]
Swimming
It Starts At The Top
Today’s swim practice did not go the way I wanted it to. The girls were off, and the energy was off. I was super frustrated, and I launched into lecture mode. I know better than anyone that lecture mode rarely accomplishes anything. Anything positive, anyway. I came to swim practice today with bad energy. And […]
Everyone Gets Their Own Box
I don’t buy much processed food anymore; fueling the kids with healthy options is a priority for me. But now that they are all in high school and often going from morning practice to school and back to practice right after school, I want them to have some stuff that’s easy to keep in their […]
Swim Parents Should Expect a Return on Their Investment
Competitive swimming is extremely expensive. In Connecticut at the 13&over level, it costs well over $12,000 a year per swimmer. Here is the cost for Gretchen to compete just for the short course season (September to early April): program fee: $2400 team dues: $425 Y membership: $744 required equipment: $97.50 required team suit: $66.25 meet […]
Make It Easy To Raise The Training Bar
Long-term development in swimming is my goal as both a parent and swim coach. My objective isn’t to get my own children or the kids I coach to be as fast as possible as soon as possible. A full scholarship at the best possible college program is not the goal. Longevity is. The potential for […]