A Field Guide To Pacific Swimming Junior Olympics

A preview for the Pacific Swimming Speedo Adam Szmidt Memorial 14 & under long course Junior Olympics Hosted by Orinda Aquatics, live streaming on FloSwimming.

Jun 30, 2017 by Maclin Simpson

A Field Guide To Pacific Swimming Junior Olympics

2017 Pacific Swimming Junior Olympics

July 7-9, 2017
Moraga, California
MEET INFORMATION

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By Scott Thompson

The Pacific Swimming Zone 14&U Junior Olympics are about to kick off. Widely known as "JO's," this meet features the best age-groupers from the deep and fast Pacific Swimming LSC. This includes all of Northern California and much of Nevada. At a meet like this, we have a chance to appreciate the early days of our rising swim stars.

In an LSC rich with tradition and fast swimming, you can expect to see some impressive races. Many well known teams use this meet as the training grounds for their young up and coming stars: Santa Clara Swim Club, Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics, Orinda Aquatics, Terrapins, and the Pleasanton Seahawks, to name a few. Famous names such as Justin Lynch, Amanda Sims, Maya DiRado, Sean Mahoney Natalie Coughlin, and Maxime Rooney are sprinkled throughout the Pacific Swimming record book.

More importantly than dropping huge names and drawing comparisons between great swimmers and age-groupers:

How do you approach JO's as a parent, family member, spectator, coach, or swimmer?

First & Foremost: Fun. This meet -- and swimming in general -- is about fun. Kids start swimming because it is fun. Parents and coaches appreciate the 'fun' aspect of swimming but also have a focus on the long term benefits that swimming can provide for a person. Discipline, fitness, mental fortitude, getting recruited to college, college scholarship, and much more.

By keeping the sport fun, we ensure that kids continue swimming which in turn gets us to the longer term benefits that come along with swimming. Moreover, kids might bloom in swimming at vastly different times. By keeping the sport fun, we create a situation where kids will continue swimming and give themselves the chance to perform well for their high school, college, or country.

Second: There will be kids with more elite time standards such as U.S. Nationals or Junior National at this meet. Be impressed by these swimmers and appreciate the prodigious nature of dropping college level times at age 14. You never know who might show up to this meet.

There are some fairly elite 13-14's from the Pacific Swimming LSC. Lleyton Plattel (14) of the Pleasanton Seahawks, distance specialist, posted a time of 15:33.36 in the 1500m freestyle at U.S. Nationals this past Tuesday! That is FAST SWIMMING by any measure.

Finally: You can be sure that these age groupers will race hard. Any meet that requires time standards will have a range of participants. There will be the kids who have been trying and trying to get their first JO cut as well as the wily veterans who have cuts in every event.

If you are a coach, family member, or spectator of any kind -- bring your folding chair, sit back, and enjoy watching these 14&U race their hearts out. If you are a swimmer at this meet, get a good night's sleep, eat some pasta, bring your gear, and have fun racing the people next to you. Because this meet is about celebrating all of the swimmers who made the cut, and appreciating the entire spectrum of different achievement levels for these young swimmers.
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