I began working with children in 2004. It wasn't until around 2010 that I started to notice significant differences between children in relation to their level of intelligence and type of giftedness. As a coach of a group of children under 10 years old, I had a unique opportunity to observe how they cope with challenges in the aquatic environment.
I'd like to share with you several cases from my practice that significantly influenced my perspective on working with gifted children.
I remember a boy with exceptional mathematical talent who had skipped at least two grade levels compared to his peers. He was skilled, a communicative extrovert with high self-confidence. He enjoyed learning new things and believed in himself. However, at competitions, he faced one problem - he wasn't winning, which was completely unfamiliar to him. Outside of swimming, he was very successful and had no problems with anything; everything came naturally to him. After finishing a race, he would almost always cry because he wasn't first. His internal conflict lasted a long time, and despite the efforts of those around him, including his parents at competitions, we couldn't prevent his psychological collapse.
Another example was a young pianist with artistic talent. She excelled in playing the piano, was very skilled, but as an introvert, she was less communicative. Outside of swimming, she was equally successful and had no problems at school. In the water, however, she struggled with a low level of physical fitness and lacked aggressiveness. It bothered her that she wasn't the best, as she was accustomed to being when playing the piano. After swimming her event, she wouldn't cry, but would withdraw and try to deal with her internal conflict.
I currently work with gifted children much more frequently.
Recently, I worked with a 14-year-old boy whose grandparents brought him in due to posture problems. From the information provided, I knew that his educational process and excessive sitting had a significant impact on his health. Although he had reportedly participated in various sports activities, I was surprised by the state of his health. The boy was an extrovert, confident, and loved water. However, sports didn't go according to his expectations, as if he was still searching for his place in them. He often tried different sports - I believe he was looking for the right one where things would come naturally to him, which he was accustomed to in activities outside of sports. In the water, however, this didn't happen. He didn't want to understand that he first needed to learn to perceive his body's language, which requires time, concentration, discipline, and emotional control.
Another example is a 12-year-old girl whose mother asked me to help with proper swimming technique and posture. As an introvert, she was confident and had a very good movement foundation thanks to her parents - former athletes - and years of gymnastics training. She was fully focused on every training session and had an excellent understanding of her body's language both on land and in water. The training process was challenging for both of us, as she wasn't used to talking about herself, let alone sharing her feelings in the water while mastering a new technique. Over time, she learned to come out of her inner world and began to naturally describe her feelings in the water. I consider this a significant achievement on her part.
Emotions and Gifted Children: The Hidden Challenge
Concentration, discipline, and emotions are part of any activity regardless of age and intelligence level from the time we are born. However, it's important to realize that the learning process is also a process of discovering our own emotions, which science divides into seven basic groups:
Joy (happiness, pleasure, contentment)
Sadness (grief, disappointment)
Anger (rage, frustration, irritability)
Fear (worry, anxiety, nervousness)
Surprise (astonishment, shock)
Disgust (aversion, distaste)
Shame (guilt, embarrassment)
This model of seven basic emotions is based on the work of psychologists like Paul Ekman, who originally identified six universal emotions, and other scientists who expanded this classification.
In the context of gifted children, it's important to note that many of them have rich experience with positive emotions (joy, surprise), but limited experience with the more challenging ones (frustration, shame from failure), which are equally important for their overall development.
When we think about gifted children who have easily progressed from birth, it's logical that they predominantly experience pleasant emotional states. However, the opposite polarity of the emotional spectrum often remains hidden and unexplored for them. In practice, I frequently find that above-average gifted children don't recognize their own negative emotions, and therefore aren't able to regulate them effectively or use them to their advantage. Ultimately, this is natural since they generally succeed in many activities.
We mustn't forget that one emotion can trigger others and create various combinations, resulting in the development of our own "emotion library" for activities that have become part of our lives. Practice clearly confirms that knowledge and control of emotions acquired in the school environment doesn't automatically transfer to sports. Even in swimming, gifted children must go through the entire process again.
The center of emotions is located in the midbrain, where the amygdala resides, while emotion regulation involves the frontal part of the brain, which is characterized by complex thinking and planning at a conscious level. We would be surprised if we could see the difference in activity in this part of the brain between children with a richly developed emotional center gained through sports activities and children who lack this experience.
In joint training sessions with gifted children, I therefore first use exercises focused on developing movement preparation on land and in water to recognize their own emotions and subsequently regulate them. Only when they are able to work with them, understand them, and not succumb to their influence do I allow them to begin the process of acquiring effective movement technique. Here too, it's necessary to realize that this requires an individualized approach and time.
Practice confirms that children who have richly developed emotions from various activities and social life are able to adapt more effectively to rapidly changing circumstances and handle new, stressful, or unfamiliar situations. The ability of gifted children to regulate their own emotions has a very positive effect on their relationships with parents, at school, in sports, and in other activities where they previously didn't feel comfortable.
Why Water in Particular?
From adult swimmers, I often hear that they return to the water mainly for the silence they find there. The moment they submerge, they realize they are finally alone, surrounded by no one, and can truly rest. After a long time, they feel relief and peace of mind.
The aquatic environment often becomes a place of relaxation and meditation.
For children, I don't encounter this type of expression, but I believe they naturally come to many of these realizations on their own. That's why I often see them spending time underwater. For gifted children, the aquatic environment is an ideal place where they can be alone with themselves and find peace for their minds.
Swimming provides several key benefits for gifted children:
Equal Starting Line
All children, regardless of talent, undergo the same preparation
Neural architecture only defines the speed of learning
Swimming requires true understanding of one's own body
Development of Physical Awareness
Necessity to listen to signals from one's own body
Building a relationship between mind and body
Improving coordination and spatial orientation
Emotional Growth
Learning to handle failure
Development of patience
Building healthy self-confidence
Is High Intelligence an Advantage in Swimming?
Based on many years of experience, I can definitively say that it does not.
Practice confirms several important findings:
There is no direct connection between high intelligence and faster acquisition of swimming technique
Swimming requires:
Interest in understanding one's own body
Understanding emotions
Ability to make decisions based on bodily sensations
It is a complex, long-term process
All children must go through the same learning path
This "fairness" of the aquatic environment often surprises gifted children and their parents. Here it becomes evident that high IQ alone does not guarantee faster progress.
Working with gifted children, I am sometimes surprised by their unexpected reactions. One 11-year-old boy who excelled in mathematics and physics asked me after his first training sessions: "Why do I feel so clumsy in the water when everything at school comes easily to me?" The contrast between his academic confidence and uncertainty in water obviously surprised him. Equally interesting was the case of a girl who played the violin. She constantly searched for the perfect rhythm in her movements but was frustrated by the unpredictability of the aquatic environment. "In music, when I play the notes correctly, harmony is created. In water, I do exactly what you show me, but the result is different each time," she confided in me after one training session. These moments remind me how important it is for gifted children to experience areas where they don't have immediate control.
This loss of control and the need to cope with it isn't simple for gifted children. It often represents a deep internal conflict that can lead to frustration, feelings of failure, or even rejection of the activity. How do these children react when something doesn't come as easily to them as usual? How do they deal with the feeling that their talent doesn't help them in the pool as much as they would expect?
When working with gifted children, I often encounter various risks and challenges that require special attention.
Risks and Challenges
In practice, it often happens that gifted children in particular don't follow recommendations regarding cool-down swimming after an intense training session. Instead of using a different type of movement for mental relaxation, they continue with demanding exercises. When asked why they don't go for a cool-down swim, they often remain silent, as if they themselves don't understand their decision.
The main risks and challenges include:
Physical Risks
Overexertion from excessive training
Incorrectly learned movement patterns
Ignoring fatigue and the need for recovery
Psychological Challenges
Coping with slower progress
Frustration from lack of immediate success
Internal conflicts when facing failure
Specific Pitfalls
Tendency to use intellect instead of intuition
Striving for perfection at the expense of natural movement
Underestimating the need for rest
Success Lies in Collaboration
The success of gifted children in water is often the result of a well-functioning triangle: coach – parent – child. Mutual trust and open communication form the foundation of this relationship. Children with high intelligence have their unique personality traits and needs, which parents sometimes don't consider important to share right at the beginning. Interestingly, when I describe my observations about their child to parents after training, they often remain surprised by the accuracy of my insights. It's precisely these moments that usually break down initial barriers and open space for deeper collaboration, where we can honestly exchange information and jointly create a strategy for the child's development.
What Can a Coach Do?
Approach each child uniquely, respecting their individuality
Perceive and understand the special needs of talented children
Show patience and empathize with the child's world
Know how to adapt training to the current needs and capabilities of the child
How Can Parents Help?
Speak with the coach openly and honestly
Share important information about their child
Stand by the child when a challenge or difficulty arises
Have realistic ideas about what the child can handle
What Does the Child Need to Bring?
Be open to new ways of learning
Give their body time to adapt and grow
Accept that some things cannot be learned in one day
Final Reflection
This topic is challenging and could be developed in many directions. My intention was to bring to light information from my practical experience. Currently, as I dedicate myself exclusively to swimming instruction, each year I am approached by more and more parents of above-average intelligent children.
Based on my own experience, I can say that working with gifted children requires a certain degree of personal maturity. It's not a job for everyone. I believe that much can go wrong here if there is a lack of close collaboration between the parent and coach. It requires honesty, trust, and patience.
Being gifted means having a certain advantage over peers. However, it's important to realize that when more is added somewhere, it may be lacking elsewhere. That's why I believe that individuals with exceptional talents need help gaining learning process experiences that will enable them to reach their full potential more safely and consciously. Water can be the right environment for gifted children, where they learn not only movement skills but also important life lessons about patience, perseverance, and accepting their own limitations.
In water, there are no shortcuts to success - and that might be the most valuable lesson of all.
Note: This article is based on my many years of experience as a swimming coach. Each child requires an individual approach based on understanding their specific needs and abilities.
If you like my training system and approach, don't hesitate to contact me and book your child for a first trial training session.
I look forward to it!
Check out more information about children's swimming training sessions HERE.
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