Why We Want to Encourage Competition

Why do we encourage our swimmers to go to meets?

It’s really not just about the times.

Especially with younger swimmers, meets give them a chance to learn things that are hard to teach in practice.

They get nervous and have to race anyway. Sometimes they have a great swim and sometimes they don’t. They learn pretty quickly that one bad race isn’t the end of the world. Talk to your coach, figure out what you can do better, and get back to work.

I think that’s a pretty important lesson for kids to learn.

Not everything is going to go your way. Sometimes you work hard and don’t get the result you wanted. Other times everything comes together and you get to see all that work pay off.

Meets also teach kids how to be part of a team. Cheer for your teammates. Be happy when someone else succeeds. Learn how to win, learn how to lose, and understand that you can always come back and try again.

Of course we want our swimmers to get faster. We want best times, cuts and big goals.

But swimming can teach kids a lot more than that.

Confidence, independence, dealing with pressure, handling disappointment, being a good teammate and learning that getting better at something takes time.

A swim meet is a pretty great place for kids to start learning all of those things.

That’s a big reason why we encourage our HTX swimmers to compete.

The times matter, but what they learn along the way matters a lot too.

HTX Swims — Where Houston Swims.

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