Is swimming good for running?

Local burnout wrote:

One last question for those of you who have had kids in competitive swimming around 5th grade. Did your clubs provide your kids the opportunity to compete in the longer distances, or was it all 25-50 meter races? I know my daughter is not built to be a sprinter, even if it wouldn't kill her to work on it. Thanks.

I swam from 9 to 19, and never heard of a 25-meter race. You must be in some podunk league. Kids should be racing 50/100/200, even 400 if they like it.

Why swimming is good wrote:

I like that swimming coaches make kids swim well with great form in shorter distances before young swimmers compete in other events. I know 33 seconds for fifty yard freestyle isn't great, but I find it interesting that my daughter's swim coach won't consider a girl for varsity in other events until a girl can swim sub- 33 seconds for 50 yard freestyle. I'd like to see that in track & field. Get all girls, sub-33 for 200 metres before T&F female athlete is considered for varsity in other events.

That is a good idea, although what a low standard for varsity. I was a terrible competitive swimmer and I swam 33 at 11.

As I'm sure has been covered, and it seems like you're well sat in this mindset, your kiddo will fall in love with something and we admittedly all hope it's a sport. But it might not be what you fell in love with :) That being said, as long as she has healthy tendons, swimming is actually pretty neat, because she'll actually develop bigger lungs, this is unique to swimming. The physical space that her lungs occupy will increase, obviously this is great for running, imo it's one of the early sports that can really make a difference in yours 20s for endurance sports.

Background - Swam a couple of years year-round as a youth (11-12), summer swim team from 9-18, one year of high school swimming. D-1 Runner.

Let her decide what she wants to do. If she doesn't enjoy it, she will ultimately quit. She's in Fifth Grade, right? Try to make sure she is doing something weight bearing (running, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, field hockey, etc.) outside of swimming. Make it fun! Just get her moving on land.

Swimming is great aerobic prep for running, from my experience. Every day was like low-end V02 Max work, without the pounding. Kick sets kept hips and quads powerful, glutes and core engaged. If I was running and swimming, I always felt "tighter" (in a good way), while running. However, you will be tired, and nothing in the water translates to fast running - you still have to work at speed. I did notice that I could keep running volume relatively moderate and still maintain good fitness if I was swimming at least 3 times a week (3,000 + meters a day).

Finally, swimming does prepare you to work! While you cannot get anywhere near max. heartrate because of the water and horizontal position, doing hard swim sets with 5-10 seconds rest will make the long rests of track work seem easy, at first...

Good luck - keep her moving!

Appreciate all of the advice here. As I stated previously, we have tried all "ball sports," and she doesn't like any of them. She likes dancing and a bit of running, but her true passion seems to be swimming. So we are going to let her pursue that however far she wants to take it.

As another poster mentioned, she is in a "podunk" league, though I think her team is really focused on form, which I gather from all the posts here is really the most important thing. Plus, I don't want to hammer her w/too much training at this age. I just wish she had the opportunity to swim longer distances occasionally as I think that's in her wheelhouse.

My 9 yr old daughter recently found ballet and loves it. She has tried all sorts of sports and I never had any experience with dance but I have noticed that dance class is no joke. They work hard and it is pretty athletic. Anyways since she started dance her last 5k was 10 minutes faster and easy for her. Maybe it is just the fact that she really loves to dance but for her, dance has made her a better runner than swimming, soccer, or some of the after school running programs she has done.

Dancing builds power and flexibility - see Shannon Rowbury. Focused on form = awesome! Swim training should be about increasing efficiency in the water, especially at her age - Get the form right, reduce drag, slowly get stronger.

Dr. Pepper wrote:

Dancing builds power and flexibility - see Shannon Rowbury. Focused on form = awesome! Swim training should be about increasing efficiency in the water, especially at her age - Get the form right, reduce drag, slowly get stronger.

Yep, I think dancing is great for strength, core, and maybe even the plyometric aspect. But my kid is not very flexible and doesn't seem committed to working on it. I do hope she stays w/ballet though, and I certainly enjoy the recitals.

BINGO! We have a winner! Best advice on this thread IMHO. Thanks for sharing!

Why swimming is good wrote:

I like that swimming coaches make kids swim well with great form in shorter distances before young swimmers compete in other events. I know 33 seconds for fifty yard freestyle isn't great, but I find it interesting that my daughter's swim coach won't consider a girl for varsity in other events until a girl can swim sub- 33 seconds for 50 yard freestyle. I'd like to see that in track & field. Get all girls, sub-33 for 200 metres before T&F female athlete is considered for varsity in other events.

totally agree. the same standards should be in place for anyone running. your form is better when swimming or running fast. by just slogging out miles or yards, you get sloppy and it leads to injury.

One last question for those of you who have had kids in competitive swimming around 5th grade. Did your clubs provide your kids the opportunity to compete in the longer distances, or was it all 25-50 meter races? I know my daughter is not built to be a sprinter, even if it wouldn't kill her to work on it. Thanks.[/quote]

My daughter began swimming the 500 at age 10 and the 1000 and 1650 by age 11

My daughter is a high school swimmer now. When she was younger, it was just short events. That's ok. Longest high school event is 500 yard freestyle

week (3,000 + meters a day).

I just wish she had the opportunity to swim longer distances occasionally as I think that's in her wheelhouse.[/quote]

I have never seen a good distance swimmer that wasn't pretty fast in shorter events. Its not like running, where a good XC guy can't sprint a 100 m to save his life.

V$ wrote:

I have never seen a good distance swimmer that wasn't pretty fast in shorter events. Its not like running, where a good XC guy can't sprint a 100 m to save his life.

I tend to agree. The technique in swimming is so much more important than in running. I'd guess Katie Ledecky could hold her own in a 50.

Only if your are injured and trying to maintain some aerobic fitness. At some point you can combine the laps with running in the water. If your not injured you are probably better of going for a walk for recovery or going to the gym for some upper body and strength work.