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February 11, 2004
Feb. 11, 2003
Jeff Rouse: Is five too young to start swimming?
Apolo Anton Ohno: Do you just have a "feel for the ice?"
For Jeff Rouse
My son is five-years-old. He has just discovered swimming and now begs to try out for the team. He can do what it takes to become a member of the developmental team. I really know nothing about the sport. My husband and myself were in different sports as children. Is five too young to start on the swim team? I am concerned about interest, burnout and pacing.
Melissa Carwin
Fredericksburg, Va.
 Melissa:
It's wonderful that your son is interested in swimming at such a young age! There are many different options for you son if he wants to keep swimming. If he has not had formal swim lessons yet, you may want to consider enrolling him in private or group lessons. Your local YMCA, health club, or swim team will have lessons available throughout the year.
Another option is to swim competitively in your local summer league. The season will usually run for 2 to 3 months during the summer. Your son will begin learning all the strokes, and have the opportunity to race as well. The time commitment will be minimal and it will be his first chance to really discover if he likes swimming enough to take it to the next level - year around swimming for a USA Swimming team.
I began swimming at age 5 for my local summer league, and enjoyed the sport enough to start swimming competitively year around when I was 9 years old. This may be the path that your son chooses, or he may decide his own.
Five is never too young to learn how to swim. Whether your son's interest in the sport continues or not, learning to swim is a valuable skill that he will carry with him for a lifetime. If he does choose to swim competitively, burnout can be avoided by ensuring that swimming never becomes more stressful than it is fun.
Good luck!
Jeff
 For Apolo Anton Ohno
When you are on the ice do you think about your footing, or do you just have a "feel for the ice" and do whatever? When you are getting taught a new move, do you train off the ice first?
Ashley Donovan
Scranton Pa.
Ashley:
When I am on the ice, I am in total concentration but not on my footing more on the race at hand. I guess you could call having a "feel for the ice" part of the zoning out plan. Being in the zone is the most exhilarating experience for an athlete to have, it's like everything is in automatic.
When I am getting taught new techniques I practice both on and off the ice. This allows me to do "dryland" (off ice) training to get the fundamentals and basics down, then moving to the ice to apply what I have just learned.
Apolo
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