Three days into the Pan American Games, host city Guadalajara, Mexico, has already seen many inspiring performances on the bike and the trampoline. The Games are an Olympics qualifier for many athletes in many sports, and competitors like Brazil’s Fabiana Murer (pole vault) and Canada’s Dylan Armstrong (shot put) are hoping to win their events and slide into London early.
Ashton Baumann is the 18-year-old swimming son of Canada’s great 1980s pool sensation Alex Baumann (until recently the head of Canada’s Own The Podium program). The young Baumann (beautifully profiled by Lori Ewing in the Globe & Mail) is a fast-rising star in breaststroke and is in Mexico for his first big international meet. A few choice sections from Ewing’s article stand out for parents of young athletes – parents wondering if & how much to push their kids to excel.
Baumann said his dad never steered him (into swimming). He let his son find his own way. “I did other sports growing up but nothing really consistently, I’d try something for a while but I never really did anything competitively or consistently for more than two or three months,” said Baumann. His dad maintains a low-key demeanour when it comes to his son’s sporting endeavours. Before Ashton’s race, he sent a good-luck text. “He said, go out and have fun, try to go fast but in the end it doesn’t matter, just go for the experience,” Ashton said.
“I never really did anything competitively or consistently for more than two or three months.” “Go out and have fun.”
These are words rarely heard in the world of competitive kids’ sports. And yet the number of talented kids quitting their chosen sports in their teens is legion. Ironic that the “fun” message comes from the man who helped shape the program designed specifically to move Canadian athletes away from the just-glad-to-be-here attitude that used to characterize some awe-struck Canadians competing at major internationals and toward a winning perspective.
Guess Alex Baumann is better than most at knowing when & how to push.
One thought on “Pan Am Games: Ashton Baumann, Canada, swimming”
Great story. Great message. The sports brain is funny: I was a late bloomer in soccer, became totally (and happily) focused on the game for 5-7 years and ended up a pro – and now I have very little desire to play the game at all. Instead I play ball hockey. I guess I got everything I wanted to out of soccer? I still love to watch and analyze though – obviously, given all of my footie blogging. But playing? It’s like – “I’ve done that; it’s done; rather do something else.” Hmm. I think this story is then more for parents and coaches than the athletes themselves. If you want to get the best out of your children and players maybe you should use the Bowman approach and just support your kid’s desires and dreams…
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