Debates and discussions always occur among open water swimmers.
What is the right drink to hydrate with? How much training should you do? How does one define cold water? When should you pull a swimmer? What constitutes a butterfly swim? How young can you be to do a channel swim?
There are no universally accepted rules among the hundreds of governing bodies in the sport, especially given the multitude of venues and conditions that athletes face. This seems increasing true as the sport gains in popularity.
One ongoing discussion involves the minimum age of marathon swimmers. Currently, the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation, the Channel Swimming Association, FINA and all of its 202 member organizations, and the Tsugaru Channel Swimming Association have a minimum age of 14 years. The Catalina Channel Swimming Federation even goes further and stipulates that no one aboard an escort vessel should be under the age of 14, while the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation has a minimum age rule of 16.
There are various reasons for this arbitrary division between athletes who are 13 years 364 days old and those who are 14 years old.
Primarily, the rule was established after a number of incidents around the world where it was felt that young athletes were exploited, pressured, mistreated and unnecessarily and immorally exposed to risk and injury, especially where coaches and parents had something to gain whether it was financial gain or some kind of perceived or actual social standing. When there were records to be achieved that related to the youngest swimmer to participate in or swim across various bodies of water, there was an aggressive push by a number of parents and coaches to identify young swimmers to break these records. Another reason, backed by a number of medical professionals, is that young athletes had not matured enough either physically or mentally to handle the requisite training and stress of competition or channel attempt.
14 was chosen and it falls somewhat in line with other sports from diving to gymnastics where constant daily commitment is required and risk of injury is significant.
While this decision on the age of 14 was decided upon by administrators in various governing bodies, the online marathon swimming community collective opinion seems to be different. In particular, the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association which has long supported swimmers under the age of 14 who want to swim in the waterways it governs. Young swimmers are also allowed to attempt solo and relay swims in the Cook Strait and Strait of Gibraltar, so there are several notable exceptions to the general rule accepted by the global open water swimming community.
While no definitive study or research have been completed to confirm the wisdom of this minimum age rule, it does appear that very few of the open water swimming prodigies (i.e., those who complete a channel under the age of 14) continue on with their marathon swimming careers past the age of 18. There are exceptions, of course. Women such as Lynne Cox have demonstrated that starting off at a young age can be a precursor to a lengthy career of many successful swims.
But just as exceptions can be identified, problems with young athletes being pushed relentlessly to the satisfaction of overbearing parents and coaches can be noted ten-fold or more. These athletes who are reportedly doing marathon swims of their own volition suddenly burn out or have a variety of difficulties in their teenage and young adult years.
With online forums and social media, it appears that at least some in the marathon swimming world want to either redefine the minimum age (to some lower number) or discard the minimum age rule all together. Scott Zornig, president of the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association, is an eloquent and passionate advocate of capable young swimmers. In the Marathon Swimmers forum, he explains, “…I feel every applicant must be vigorously screened
regardless of age… I don’t believe in setting arbitrary age limits. There is
always an exceptional kid out there…”
While the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association and a number of marathon swimmers accept young swimmers to its community, how does their push affect other swims – shorter, local swims – in the global open water swimming community? How young should – or can – athletes be to participate in open water races? Like the marathon swimming world, a minimum age rule remains a debatable topic that depends on the local traditions and venues.
Many race directors around the world host open water swims under 1.6km. Is it reasonable to make exceptions if young swimmers are skilled and capable of completing the distance and have the explicit, written permission of their coach and parent? Race directors are asked all the time if a 7-year-old swimmer is too young? What if the swim is conducted in shallow water with easy access to the shoreline? What if the 6-year-old is accompanied with his father? What if the 4-year-old swims alongside her mother? These are very real issues for some race directors who, frankly, are ultimately responsible for the safety of all the swimmers even with a parent swimming alongside or walking along the shoreline.
A global survey of race directors came up with a variety of recommendations based on their decades of experience of dealing with young athletes and their parents and coaches.
Ignacio Martinez Sela of Navia, Spain recommended that race organizers must consider the type of course and can offer floating aids for the youngest swimmers. He believes encouragement at the early years is important as long as safety remains the foremost issue with the race director, safety personnel and volunteers. In Spain, if a swimmer is officially licensed, insurance covers liability for damages, subject to compliance with Spanish regulations that are in accordance with FINA rules (where 14 years is the minimum age for the FINA competitions that range from 5km to 88km). “The youngest participants are 6 years old swimming 1.1km downstream in a river and with their parent(s). In the Descenso a Nado de la Ria de Navia, we are privately insurance that covers all cases that fall outside of what the federal insurance offers, in addition to requiring parental consent.”
“Security measures are never enough. The risk is always there despite all precautions and safety measures, both in water with boats, kayaks and surfers and on land with a medical area and doctors and ambulances. In a safe course, I have no problem in principle to admit swimmers under the age of 14.”
Sela also recalls that the issue of youth can be viewed from the opposite end of the age scale. “In LEN European Masters Open Water Swimming Championships, they have generous minimum time marks (i.e., slow) that must be achieved either in a pool or in the open water. But the problem is how to confirm these qualification times, especially when the number of participants exceeds 3,000 individuals. There is always risk whether the swimmers are young or old.”
Chip Carrigan of the USA who runs the Ohio State Open Water Swimming Championships stated, “Firstly, we determined our customers (age groups). Then we determine the distance and define the time standards for entry.”
Jose Ferreira Pinto in Hong Kong said, “In 5km events in Hong Kong, there is a cut-off time and swimmers are classified based on their previous performances in shorter distances (3km and 3.5km), but we have had one girl and one boy both 12 years old do the 5km race.”
Radek Taborsky in the Czech Republic where there are many established open water swims told the group, “In the Czech Republic, we have also limited ages for open water races. No open water swims for those under the age of 10 years. Up to 1km for 10 year olds. Up to 3km for 11 – 12 year olds. Up to 5km for 13 – 14 year olds.” Radek provides another experienced vote of experience when he mentioned an important factor regarding water temperature. “Another limitation in the Czech Republic results from the water temperature. We do not allow any swim for swimmers younger than 14 years when the water is below 16°C (60.8°F). Also, if swimmers are younger than 14 years, they are only allowed to swim 50% of total distance if the water temperature is below 18°C (64.4°C).”
Elizabeth Fry of the SWIM Across The Sound gave some perspective to this issue. “Our stated age minimum is 19 years old for the solo and two-person relay participants and 13 years old for team relays. The SWIM Committee has discretion to allow the age minimum requirement to be waived. Since 2007, we have had only 3 underage swimmers petition for consideration to our 25km race: a 16-year-old solo swimmer who had participated on team relays for four consecutive years, a 15-year-old who swam a two-person relay with his father for multiple years, and a 12-year-old for a team relay who is a very accomplished age group swimmer and daughter of Marcia Cleveland who was also on the relay.”
“The requirements were initially developed for an under-age solo swimmer and were later tailored for the relays. Because we are concerned that this under-age group (i.e., 16 – 18 years olds) have tremendous pressure and time constraints in their junior and senior years of high school, we took a fairly rigorous approach with the hope that the requirements would assist in providing the highest probability of a successful crossing. The objective was to insure that the petitioning swimmer understood the commitment, the prioritization as it relates to academic and family responsibilities and received the training, guidance, and support system necessary from his/her family, coaches, school and community.”
The written requirements for solo swimmers under the minimum age of 19 years old are quite detailed:
The physical and mental capabilities and potential scholastic impact to high school academics due to the time and training commitment will be considered. A swimmer under the age of 16 on the day of the event will not be considered under any circumstance. The following minimum requirements must be met for acceptance of a swimmer under the age of 19 years:
1. Written consent from custodial parent or guardian.
2. At least 3 prior years participating on a SWIM Across The Sound relay to ensure that the swimmer has specific SWIM Across The Sound experience.
3. A written letter of recommendation from swim coach – stating that the swimmer can complete the swim safely in the allotted time. The letter should include previous and proposed training schedule, level of commitment to assist in the training of this swimmer, workout ethics, etc. Letter must be submitted no later than the application deadline date of May 1st.
4. Written acknowledgement and acceptance by student, parent and responsible high school counselor or teacher of consequences including exclusion from event should academic standing suffer or decline.
5. Submission of 16-week training log submitted weekly to the Committee beginning March 15th. The average yardage per week should be approximately 30,000 yards.
6. Documented completion of four indoor training sessions of 2 hours or more with ‘qualified/designated’ workout partners.
7. Documented completion of six open water training session of 2 – 4 hours with ‘qualified’ long distance swimmers.
8. Documented Completion of a 6-hour Qualifier Swim
9. Parent or legal guardian required as crew. The parent or legal guardian cannot act in a medical or EMT capacity. The parent or legal guardian cannot be the boat pilot.
10. An Official Observer shall be placed on the boat to monitor and assess the swimmer. The official observer shall be in sole charge of the supervision of the swim, and shall be responsible for the interpretation of the rules, including the right to cancel the swim in adverse conditions and/or danger to the swimmer.
11. If all of the above requirements met, commitment by swimmer and parent or guardian to fundraising activities.
Similar requirements apply to the other categories, explains Fry. “However, 12-year-olds for a team relay are the youngest we consider. Our event is geared toward fundraising and our focus is safety first. The Long Island Sound is not a shoreline swim and can be rough physically and mentally for the inexperienced open water swimmer, even if on a team relay. Any distance above 3km should have 13-year-old minimum, with prior open water credentials. You can develop a natural progression for increasing distances as the children get older.”
Colin Hills, the visionary behind the Great Swim Series and Technical Manager for the Olympic 10km Marathon Swims explains his perspective, “I think that you have to be careful when you look at guidelines or rules from FINA and other governing bodies. Their events are often specifically for competitive swimmers, whereas the events that we organize (i.e., Great Swim) are aimed at fun (recreational) swimmers. But it is good to have your distances at least based off something, in the case your safety plan is challenged.”
In the one-mile Great Swim Series, the swims are for swimmers over 16 years old and 500 meters for those over 11 years old. The triathlon rules in the UK include the following:
8 years old = 100 meters maximum in the open water
9 – 10 years old = 200 meters maximum in the open water
11 – 12 years old = 300 meters maximum in the open water
13 – 14 years old = 350 meters maximum in the open water
15 – 16 years old = 750 meters in the open water
British Swimming has the following rule for its competitive swimming community, “410.4 Open Water. Events up to and including 1,000 meters, [the minimum age is] 11 years. Events up to and including 2,000 meters, [the minimum age is] 12 years. Events up to and including 10,000 meters, [the minimum age is] 13 years. Events over 10,000 meters, [the minimum age is] 16 years.”
Rob Kent in Canada explains, “This is something we struggled with for the LOST Race in Lake Ontario. 13 seems to be a good age and give the race committee some discretion, as some of these young kids are much faster and stronger than their age.”
Erik Van Loon of the Rotterdam Swimming Ambassadors and the Rondje Noordereiland uses 12 years as the minimum age, although the Dutch Swimming Federation has other rules where the minimum ages are higher.
At the FINA Junior World Open Water Swimming Championships, there were specific categories to encourage young athletes who wish to compete at the world-class level: the Youth events where the ages are 14 – 16 years and the Junior events where the age are 17 – 18 years.
The Youth boys and girls swam 5km while the Junior boys and girls compete in the 7.5km. There was also be a mixed-gender 3km Team Pursuit race with 3 swimmers, either 2 boys and 1 girl or 2 girls and 1 boy in both the Youth and Junior categories. Younger swimmers could ‘swim up’ – so the 14 – 16 year olds may swim the 7.5km or 3km Team Event if their national federation so decides. There are no special requirements other than the athletes are representatives of their national federation.
We agree with the marathon swimming organizations that have established a minimum age rule of 14 for channel swim, but it appears that there will always be opportunities somewhere in the world where both precocious and unprepared young athletes can attempt a variety of marathon swims and channel swims – and these opportunities appear to be increasing Likewise, there are an increasing number of opportunities for young children to do a number of much shorter swims.
Copyright © 2012 by World Open Water Swimming Association