2021-22 Program Overview
Competitive Groups
LSC Competitive Program Overview
The Lakeshore Swim Club competitive program caters to young swimmers aged 6 through high school. The club is divided into 6 training groups, each with a dedicated coach. There are 3 “Junior” groups – Yellow, Blue, and Junior Provincial; and 3 “Senior” groups – Regional, Senior, and Lakeshore Performance. Each group is comprised of swimmers of comparable training and racing speed, at a similar stage of development. A swimmer’s progression through the groups depends on their individual development pathway.
The goals of the program include general physical development, swimming skill instruction, development of team spirit and confidence, and the promotion of individual success at every level from grassroots to graduation. These are achieved through program values of effort, attitude, teamwork, and professionalism.
The LSC training philosophy promotes appropriate development of each athlete. We train speed in an aerobic context, and work on fitness and skills concurrently in each training session. All aspects of the athlete’s swimming are dealt with in each group. We encourage full event exploration before specialization, using a FR/IM aerobic base. We believe in the principle of progressive overload – as swimmers progress through the program, they will see a gradual increase in training hours and mileage.
All LSC athletes in the competitive program will race at meets once every few weeks/once a month. Meets are targeted to give athletes positive competitive opportunities, choosing meets that match each swimmer’s level. We encourage athletes to race every event, while allowing them to gravitate toward their strengths when appropriate. We believe in a team approach to racing and emphasize relays to create a culture of pride and accountability between teammates.
The Lakeshore program strives to help swimmers be at their best at maturity, build valuable life skills, and meet great teammates along the way!
Non-Competitive Groups
The Fundamentals program at Lakeshore Swim Club is a developmental swim program for swimmers age 6 and up. This program introduces swimmers to competitive swimming in a structured and FUN environment! Swimmers will learn technique and skills for the four competitive swimming strokes: Freestyle (front crawl), Backstroke (back crawl), Breaststroke, and Butterfly.
Sessions are led by professional and experienced coaches, who are registered with Swim Ontario. Swimmer to coach ratio does not exceed 15 to 1 in order to ensure quality supervision and individual instruction.
The Fundamentals program is divided into 3 levels. Fundamentals 1 is a one day per week program for swimmers who can pass a deep end test (complete one length of a 25-metre pool). No tryout is required for this level as long as this condition is met. Fundamentals 2 and 3 practice two and three times per week, respectively. These groups require a tryout prior to registration. Swimmers progress through the Fundamentals levels as they acquire and improve their skills.
The goal of the Fundamentals program is to develop the four competitive strokes, in order to graduate into Lakeshore Swim Club's competitive program. Swimmers in the competitive program compete in regular meets, and practice more frequently depending on age and ability.
The Fundamentals program is not part of Lakeshore Swim Club's formal competitive program. Participants in this program are not members of Lakeshore Swim Club, and are not subject to the volunteer requirement listed in the Parent Info section of our website.
For more information, visit our Fundamentals Page
