@cxhw0005 I, too, have a freshman son, also a swimmer. I don’t know what it is about boys and this age, but I have heard very similar stories on pool decks. For some reason, there seems to be almost a late bloomer aspect to some male swimmers around this age. My son is one of those. Has loads of raw talent, goes to every practice, but maybe does 80%. Until midway through this season, he has always been squarely in the “Hey, this is fun, get to hang out with cool people, do my thing” category. Never know what you’re going to get out of him at a meet: killer swim or what the heck was THAT? (drives his coach bonkers). Suddenly, he has decided he wants to get serious. When I bring it up to others, and they ask his age, I get a lot of nodding and tales of similar age epiphanies.
Maybe it’s his team or the coaching style?