USA Swimming (RICE) and Summer League
It is that time of year when we have shaken off another winter and begun to enjoy the spring weather. With April and May right around the corner many questions have popped up about club swimming with RICE and local Summer Leagues. The following is Rice Aquatics (RICE) views and ideas on both club swimming and Summer League swimming in regards to your swimmers.
Please make sure to check the rules of your Summer League about involvement with a USA Swim Club. Most of the teams in our area allow swimmers to be involved with a USA swim club while also swimming with their summer league. While the coaching staff is familiar with many of the local teams we do not know the rules and by-laws pertaining to every local swim team.
Rice Aquatics would first like to recognize the importance of the local summer swim leagues and their involvement with the development within the sport of swimming. Any swimmer who wishes to swim on both RICE and their summer league team has the support of the coaching staff. It is important that during the Summer League season each swimmer maintain their normal practice attendance with RICE, while supplementing their off days with summer league practices. This will help ensure they are still getting the same amount of work and development needed with RICE and get the enjoyment of swimming with their summer team. The month of May is usually the most hectic time with both practices being conducted after school.
Summer leagues are an important source of new swimmers to RICE. RICE swimmers who participate in local leagues can provide motivation for others to join the club while also being piers to others on their team. It also help RICE swimmers achieve some success among another set of piers within swimming. The number of meets alone provides many opportunities for positive feedback to the individual swimmer within a short period of time. Because of these qualities and many others, summer leagues can be very beneficial to younger swimmers when paired with club swimming. As the swimmer matures and achieves greater successes in their year round swimming we do encourage them to swim at the highest level possible, that being USA Swimming club practice and meets. For most swimmers this transition is inevitable at some point in their development. If you or your swimmer has a question concerning these topics the coaching staff is always open to sitting down and going over each individual situation. If a swimmer is not able to swim both RICE and their summer league we do encourage all swimmers to continue with RICE. This will help ensure they are getting the best opportunity for development within the sport of swimming.
Group 1 and 2 have the greatest mix of swimmers who actively participate in summer league swim teams. Please consult coach May, Paul M, and Jason in regards to your swimmers progress, summer intentions and scheduling questions. Swimmers in Group 3 are strongly encouraged to consult the coach Kyle and Jason when making decision about summer league swimming. Swimmers in Group 4 White and Senior 2 should be focusing on year round USA swimming and USA swim meets through out the year.
In closing club swimming is a year round process, many skills and traits we work in and out of the water get reinforced and built upon each practice, week, month and year. Their have been many studies done specific to swimming in regards of swimming club through both Long-course and Short-course compared to starting and stopping off in on in a year. These studies show that endurance and speed decline within 2 weeks of not training and skill traits diminish within a month. More importantly it also shows that once these swimmers do return to the sport the time it takes to re-learn old skills and develop new skills is significantly longer than the swimmer who has swam through the season.
Coach Jason
RICE Aquatics
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