16 year old wants to keep swimming five days a week through IB DP

citrus_veranda_257915 Oct 2026

Daughter is in DP1. She's been swimming competitively since she was 10, five mornings a week before school. She wants to keep it up through the diploma. A couple of people in the family think she should drop it now that it's 'serious time'. I'm mostly on her side. Swimming is where she switches off, and her grades have been fine so far. But DP2 is a different animal from what I hear, and early training plus late assignments is a lot of hours. Anyone whose teen kept a serious sport going through 11th and 12th? Did you cut days, or keep it as is and let something else give?

2 comments

fern_moon_962015 Oct 2026
I see this from the school side. The students who keep one activity they care about usually cope better than the ones who drop everything. What slips first is sleep. You might talk to her coach now about dropping to three days during exam blocks, rather than stopping.
cedar_trail_963415 Oct 2026
My daughter stopped her badminton when 10th class started. We thought it was better for studies. Now I am not sure that was correct. She is more tense before every test without it. If your daughter is managing her marks, I would not stop it completely.
- citrus_veranda_257916 Oct 2026
  That's the part I keep coming back to, that taking it away might make the stress worse, not better. Sorry about your daughter's exam nerves. 10th is a hard year for that. Hope the tests go a little easier for her this term.