I would like to ask your opinion on my 10 yr old daughter.  At the beginning of the year when she turned 10 she was developing well and hitting county and regional times, and over the months she has been slowly deteriorating.  Her technique does not appear to have changed, but her times are getting slower and slower and now her fellow swimmers of the same age are moving past her rapidly.  Can you give me any advice to try and rectify the problem as I don't want her to lose her motivation. Many thanks, Jaime ANSWER: Hi Jaime, As children grow and develop their body shape, size and weight changes.  These changes can often affect their body position in the water, the drag experienced by the swimmer and their power to weight ratio when swimming. I have seen over the years many children fluctuate wildly with their performances as their body grows.  For example if the child grows taller and puts on 5kg over time, the speed at which their muscles develop may not grow at the same pace. The result is slower swimming because their body weighs more however their strength and power has not increased YET!  It will though and when it does, swimmers often see a sudden drop in their times even though they had been swimming the same speed or slower for a long period of time. The sections on Athlete Development and Female Development in www.SwimmingForParents.com will help you to further understand the changes