7 Things Swimmers Need From Parents During Championship Season

Swim parents are the backbone of the swimming world. Not the swim coaches. Not even the swimmers. That’s because without swim parents, the whole system falls apart. Especially come championship season.

As swim coaches, it is incredibly obvious to us which parents are working to help their child succeed and which are making it about themselves. When swim parents are there for your kids, miracles happen. The swimmer blossoms and develops lifelong skills that make them successful in all types of adversity.

For that reason and so many others, I will always be eternally grateful for great swim parents.

That’s also why I aim to use my channels to educate swim parents and help them be the backbone we all need! When it comes to championship season, here’s what your swimmer (and their swim coach) needs from you…

Let’s Get Started

#1) Calm Energy

Swimming can be an incredibly challenging and taxing sport. When swimmers deal with inevitable adversity, they’re going to look to you to see how to handle it.

Swim parents provide a sense of grounding and perspective to the sport. No matter how up or how down a swimmer gets, if the parents remain calm throughout, the swimmer will mirror that back.

Not only that, but this energy teaches swimmers how to navigate uncertain and anxiety-inducing times like before a championship season race.

#2) Trust In Their Swim Coach

The way you speak about a swim coach is the way the swimmer responds to the swim coach. Let swim coaches coach while they let swim parents parent.

Swimmers absorb so much of what you say and do in the privacy of your family! That means that speaking and showing the trust that you have in their swim coach will be reflected back on deck.

Swim parents, if you have a concern, bring it directly to the coach! Don’t let it leak out to your interactions with your swimmer.

#3) Sleep Structure

Setting the tone at home for good sleep positively impacts swimmers in their races and in every aspect of their daily life. We all know how a great night of sleep feels! It allows you to take on the world. When a swimmer is pushing their body to the limit during the day, this becomes especially important.

If your swimmer is struggling to sleep with their sore shoulders, we recommend this blog post!

#4) Nutrition Structure

Swimmers both look to you and depend upon their parents for nutrition. In most cases, it is up to the parents to provide their children with the right building blocks to help their bodies recover. If it’s feasible, seek out the advice of a nutritionist to help support your family’s nutrition!

#5) Logistical Help

There are a lot of logistics involved in getting all the way to swim race time.

Especially for younger swimmers, swim parents are in charge of teaching swimmers how to read a heat sheet, how to tell when it’s time to line up for their race, and how to get to warm up with plenty of time to prepare.

Most swimmers from my generation have either fond or not-fond memories of having their race numbers and “eat my bubbles” written all over their arms. This is the time to show swimmers how to handle logistics in a positive way.

Show your swimmers how to set themselves up for race success.

#6) Post-Race Safety

Swimmers need to be able to get in the car post-race and relax. Whether the race went amazing or it went poorly, swimmers need to know that you will be there to listen to them and to support them.

Too often, I see parents going into analytical mode post-race. Although there is a time and place for this with their coaches, post-race is a very vulnerable and raw time. It’s far more effective and helpful for your swimmer to know that you will be there for them to vent to, to celebrate with, and everything in between!

Be the emotionally safe car ride home for them.

#7) Joy

On the other side of the calm and the emotional safe place is the place of joy! It is truly an honor to get to watch your swimmer challenge themselves.

Let your swimmer know how excited and happy you are for them! When you feel joy in watching them grow and reach for the stars, that joy will be mirrored back in them.

Swim parents! Do you have anything to add to this list? If you start with these 7 components, you will have a very healthy and happy swimmer on your hands!

And, on behalf of the entire swim community, we thank you for all that you do (seen and unseen)!

Until next time,

Abbie Fish and the Swim Like A. Fish Team