age group

Question
My 10 yr old son has completed 1 1/2 years of competitive club swimming. His coach says his greatest asset is his natural endurance/stamina, although he possesses some speed too.  You'd think that his "cut" times would be progressively better with increased distance up to the 500 free given his coach's assessment. But his cuts vary. For example, he has AA times in the 50 and 100 free but only A times in the 200 and 500 free. He has AA time in the 50 back but only A time in the 100 back. Yet he has A time in the 100 IM and AA time in the 200 IM. And AAA times in the 50 and 100 flys. albeit he is much better at the 100 fly. So his times are all over the board with respect to distances. I am struggling to find out which strokes and distances he is best at.  How could he be better at the 200 IM over the 100 IM but reverse with respect to the free? And if his stamina is so strong, why aren't most or all of his times consistently better with distances regardless of the event?  

Answer
Jon-
First of all, don't be concerned with the inconsistencies you're seeing.  At 10 years old with only a year and a half of experience behind him, he is bound to be pretty inconsistent with his times.  Very rarely will a 10 year old be able to understand and use pacing in longer events.  Judging by the standards that you have written in your question, your son is doing an excellent job with his technique and aggressiveness in his races.  It sounds like you have a talented athlete in your son, as long as it remains fun.  Don't worry too much about specializing in any one or two events at his age, if he can continue to improve in all four strokes he has the potential to be an outstanding IM'er as a teenager and beyond.
I hope this helped some, remember as your son grows and matures he will begin to understand how pacing works and how to be able to control his speed throughout the longer events, this takes a lot of practice and patience.  Don't pressure him to focus on any one thing until he has a couple more years of experience behind him.
Best of Luck and keep it fun
George