The benefits of team travel for age group swimmers are often talked about in
terms of such matters as building responsibility, developing self discipline, and gaining independence from home -- in other words, life
skills. However, let's not forget that our sport is competitive swimming. Age group swimmers who swim continually within the state or Local Swim Committee area begin to fit into the same type expectations mentioned in the article on camps -- they EXPECT to beat some swimmers while EXPECTING to be beat by others. Even parents are often overheard stating that they expect their child to lose to a specific swimmer. More experienced age group swimmers need to travel outside their immediate area and compete with new faces. They need to learn how to break out of the EXPECTED.