Let's talk about how to pick events for competition. Whether you are the parent or the competitor there are many things you should consider before making a final selection.

Parents. Parents don't pick all your swimmer's events. Please. This takes away ownership and responsibility. Help them, but don't do it for them. Here we can try to help everyone make good choices for themselves and their swimmers.

It's important to have variety, but it is also important to have consistency. So what is the middle ground? Let's say for a moment you are helping your 12 & under pick events. At 12 years old they likely have a favorite stroke or a favorite event. Support that! But at the same time encourage them to try events they do not like. During the course of a season make a goal of swimming every event in their age group one time.

The great thing about variety in this modern age of technology is tracking progress. USA Swimming has a great program called IMX, it promotes this very idea of variety and puts the brakes on specializing in one stroke too early. Swimmers can log in and see where they rank on a national scale.

This is a great program for 13 & up swimmers as well. It is more likely by this time they have a true primary event/stroke but the goal of swimming every event once a season is still a good one. Yes, even if your primary event is the 50 free swimming the 1650 is still a good thing!!! Likewise if you are a distance swimmer try your sprints out at least once a year. I can say personally I never looked forward to my sprint events but they are necessary!

If you are new to the sport or have a very young swimmer defer to your coach. Ask questions. Start with the 25's of stroke and build into the 50's. Some young swimmers are intrinsically driven and will ask to do 100's or even 200's of stroke. Let them try, but build them into it. Don't jump from a 25 butterfly to a 100 butterfly, but build 25 to 50 and 50 to 100. When in doubt ask the coach, they will tell you if they think your swimmer is ready.