I find this really interesting.
At what age do kids start dreaming of elite sporting success ? I suspect that at primary school level kids aren't dreaming about anything more than success at the next event they compete at. I think kids pretty much live in the moment. I suspect that a lot of parents spoil childrens' sport. But there may well be kids that truly love swimming and being in a pool. Are they being " drilled" ?
I have noticed that with for example motorsport, success is linked to starting at a young age. ( Binder, Rossi, Verstappen, Pastrana, Carmichael, Stoner etc.)
I am sad that we no longer have inter provincial xco racing for nippers and sprogs. I was told that this was because the parents were overly competitive and this made the competition undesirable. I took my child to interprovincials. It was an opportunity to go away for a weekend, make friendships with people from other provinces and for the kids to play with peers at these events. Sometimes the races were disappointing because of crashes, mechanicals etc. But the race was a small part of the weekend. Overall it was really enjoyable. I can't think of any event that was not worthwhile.
I posted previously that a 10 year old is too young for training. I stand by that but it is important to ensure we all agree on what training is. I don't regard riding 45 minutes to an hour on a couple of weekdays and perhaps an hour and a half at the weekend as training. It's just fun time together. Training is when you ''have" to ride. When riding includes intervals either on an indoor or outdoors uphill. Training is less fun. But is often still rewarding. (Seeing progress is motivating.)
With cycling it is also less fun because it is an individual sport. So is swimming, but that is usually a club activity and kids are in pools with numbers of other children. I think that is an important difference.
I don't know the answers to these interesting issues, but I think it unfortunate that adults form strong opinions and attempt to control what other people may enjoy. ( I have no idea what happens in china and I am not advocating for kids to be taken away to train for the glory of a country. ) But I do think it sad that kids are prevented from inter provincial xco racing, while provincial races and schools races are permitted to go ahead. If parents are the problem, they must be a problem at any level of competition, not just inter provincial. I think inter provincial is important because kids in smaller provinces do not get to glimpse elite athletes at their provincial events. It is inspiring for kids to meet the likes of the Hatherleys and Lills. But these elites only compete in the WC and perhaps to a lesser extent near Gauteng.