Today more children than ever before are taking part in swimming. Some do so just for fun, other children take the sport more seriously and spend many hours every week training to perfect their technique and increase fitness. Whatever the level of participation, parents play an important role. They are naturally interested and want to help out as much as possible. Indeed in many cases the support and interest of one or more parent is crucial to a child's participation. 

Some parents and guardians help by taking their child to and from training or competitions, others by coping with extra washing, early mornings and irregular mealtimes. Sometimes however, a mother or father can become over involved and inadvertently put pressure on the child to train harder than they should, or to win at the expense of enjoying taking part in swimming galas.

Watching your child can be an emotionally draining experience. However, you may be taking your child's sport more seriously than he or she is. Of course most parents are only trying to help. It is important that the young swimmer learns to see training and competition not as a threat, but as an enjoyable CHALLENGE. It is very important that the child knows EFFORT as well as success will be rewarded. An over-emphasis on winning by parents can result in fear of failure - with your love and respect being seen by your child as conditional upon winning. 

It seems that much of the problem may be that parents are not sure how they can best help their child. This guide is aimed at the swimming-parents who want to learn to maximise their contribution, while at the same time ensuring that their child enjoys their involvement in swimming. 

Before reading on think for a moment about how much your child's sport means to you. Now gauge your involvement in your son or daughter's sport by reading through the questions listedbelow. 

• Do you want your child to win events more than he/she does? 
• Do you show your disappointment if he/she has a poor result? 
• Do you feel that you have to “psyche” your child up before a race? 
• Do you feel that your child can only enjoy swimming if he/she wins? ? Do you conduct “post mortems” immediately after events or training? 
• Do you feel yourself frequently wanting to interfere during training or competitions thinking that you could do better?
• Do you find yourself disliking your son or daughter’s opponents? 

If you have answered "yes" to any of the questions above you may be putting unnecessary pressure on your child, which in turn could lead to his or her eventual rejection of the sport or even lasting damage to your child/parent relationship. The Do's and Don'ts which follow will help you maximise your contribution to your child's sport whilst minimising any adverse effects. Have you answered the above questions honestly? 

Don't respond to a bad result or mistake with punishment or criticism - give your child time to work out for him or her why things went wrong. If they ask your advice, first compliment them for something he or she did right, then give advice emphasising the positive results if the instruction is followed rather than the negative consequences of a mistake or not following the instruction. It is VITAL for a parent to avoid giving an impression that they do not still value a child after a loss.

Don't turn a blind eye to any bad behaviour, cheating or bad manners by your child - in such instances reasonably prompt action is appropriate. To do otherwise will infer that you condone such behaviour or at least do not consider personal standards and respect of people and rules important in sport.

Don't forget that your child is still growing - training which may be appropriate for an adult (eg, prolonged repetitive activities and work with heavy weights) can have adverse long term effects on the growth and development of a young child.

Don't ignore aches and pains - children are often reticent to describe sports-related injuries, especially if it means missing training or a competition; so keep an eye on persistent grumbles about health; it is important to take injuries seriously. If your child has an injury, get professional advice as soon as possible from your GP, Physiotherapist or local Sport's Injury Clinic.

Don't ignore other children in the family - sometimes brothers and sisters may feel left out or bored if the whole household revolves around the needs of the young swimmer. It is important to try to keep a balance between swimming and the interests of the other members of the family.

Don't allow the situation to develop where your child is frightened of losing because of the way you respond - a fear of failure can often result in children feigning injury and not entering or withdrawing from competitions.

Don't force a young child to specialise entirely on swimming - children should be allowed to develop their own preferences.

Don't always greet your child with "Did you win?" - why not start "Did you enjoy it?"

Don't attend every training session and competition - it is important for your child's future development in sport that he or she is trusted to make the correct decisions during either training or competition. This is the first stage in the development of self-motivation and self-reliance. Constant parental supervision can result in the swimmer becoming emotionally, and otherwise over-dependant on
your presence and advice.

Don't say "we" won or "we" lost - it is important that you don't become over involved in your child's
swimming. Remember it is your child who is participating - you are there to support and encourage, not
compete.