RACE 2019-20 Swim Season
The group standards will continue to evolve over the next few years to help solidify the best curriculum for swimmer progression.
“Never leave a wall without knowing why.”
RACE Practice Group Advancement Benchmarks (with the exception of attendance, these are intended as reference points for determining a swimmer’s readiness for progression from his or her current group to the group listed)
I. Bronze
A. Attendance (once in the group)—completes at least 2 practices/week with good effort
B. Attitude
1. Respects teammates and coaches
2. Demonstrates desire to improve swimming skills and fitness
C. Skills
1. Swims 25 yards of front crawl, face in water with side breathing
2. Swims 25 yards backstroke
3. Can somersault in water
II. Silver
- Attendance (once in the group)—completes at least 3 practices/week with consistently good effort
- Attitude
- Arrives for practice prepared and punctual
- Pays attention and tries hard
- Focuses on technical improvements
- Begins season-long goalsetting
- Encourages and cheers teammates
- Skills
- Executes a head first dive
- Swims 100 yards of front crawl with alternate-side breathing and flip turns
- Swims 100 yards of backstroke with flip turns and legal finishes
- Swims legal breaststroke
- Swims rudimentary butterfly
- Performs simple drills
a. 12/3/12 on crawl and back
b. Fists on free and back
c. Two kicks and one pull on breast
d. Hand-lead body dolphin for breast and fly
e. Shoulder and pit press balance and kick for free and back
f. One-arm swimming in all strokes
D. Knowledge
1. Uses pace clock to monitor sendoffs using multiples of 30 and 60
2. Calculates times from those sendoffs
3. Leaves five seconds behind next swimmer in lane
4. Knows stroke order of im
5. Knows two-handed touch rule for breast and fly and proper backstroke finish
E. Training
1. Swims continuously when assigned; refrains from stopping or breaking stroke
2. Performs basic dryland movements with developing proficiency, range of motion, and speed of movement
3. 5 x 1 im @ 3:00 (make all)
5. 3 x 4 cr @ 10:00 (make all)
6. Runs a half mile nonstop
F. Has competed in a sanctioned meet
III. Gold
A. Attendance (once in the group)—completes at least 4 practices/week with consistently strong effort
B. Attitude
1. Asks questions and requests feedback
2. Willing to try larger challenges
3. More sophistication and clarity with season-long goalsetting
4. Appreciates link between effort and results
C. Skills
- All strokes
- Spine line head position
b. Executes a head-first dive with moderate push-off
c.Performs a tight streamline and kicks in that position for 25 meters
- Performs basic drills and drill progressions, for example
1) One-arm swimming in crawl, back, and fly
2) Catch-up stroke and front-quadrant swimming in crawl
3) Two pulls and one kick in breaststroke
4) Three basic prone scull positions
2. Freestyle
- Minimal head movement
- Rhythmic side breathing integrated with some body roll
- Backstroke
- Minimal head movement
- Some body roll
- Steady flutter kick
4. Fly
- Dolphin kick
- Simultaneous arms
5. Breast
- Short pulls (no farther back than chin)
- Legal kick
- Pullouts
- Head on the spine line
6. Starts/turns
a. Rudimentary head-snap, hip-push, and leg-lift on backstroke start
b. Head-down dive with explosive legs and steep entry angle on standing start
c. “Hot-plate, ceiling watch” on open turns
d. “Scoop-spear” on flip turns
D. Knowledge
1. Beginning knowledge of stroke tenets, their acronyms, and applications
2. Describes basic drills and knows purpose of each
3. Detects major strengths and weaknesses in others’ strokes at Silver level
4. Explains basic rules of strokes, starts, and turns
5. Uses pace clock to monitor repeat times and send-offs of any multiple of 10 or 15
6. Counts stroke cycles/length and understands importance of increasing distance/stroke (DPS)
E. Training
1. 5 x 2 im @ 5 (<4:00)
2. 3 x 5 cr @ 9:00 (make all)
4. Performs basic dryland movements with moderately high proficiency, range of motion, and speed of movement
F. Racing
1. Has competed in at least 4 meets
2. Has completed races in all four strokes legally
3. Competes at least every other month
IV. Junior
A. Attendance (once in the group)—completes 4-5 practices/week with consistently strong effort
B. Attitude
1. Approaches practice with purpose
2. Formulates clear season-long goals
3. Embraces hard work and big challenges
C. Skills
- All strokes
- Accelerates hands from catch to release of all strokes
b. Pushes off walls underwater in “spear”
c. Dives from blocks keeping head down and goggles in place
d. Propels self efficiently with the three basic prone sculling movements
e. Propels self with three basic supine sculling movements
f. Supports streamline with kick alone for at least 50 yards in each stroke
- Performs intermediate drills and drill progressions, for example
- Crawl and back
- 1-arm swimming with the other arm by side
- Rolling human stroke
- Long-axis drill
- Fly
- One-arm swimming with other arm back and chin-forward breathing
(b) Three hand-lead body dolphins followed by three strokes
- Three sculls with hand-lead body dolphin and pull through on third scull
- Breast
- Two pulls/one kick or two kicks/one pull
- Breast with dolphin kick
- Double-pullouts
- Freestyle
- Head centered and spinelined
- Bilateral breathing
- Moderate body roll
- Beginning hip snap
- Flip turns even when fatigued
- Backstroke
- Head centered and spinelined
- Moderate body roll
- Beginning hip snap
- "Machine gun" kick
- Continuous arm action
- Consistent use of flip turns
- Butterfly
- Dolphin kick initiated from trunk
- "Kick-in, kick-out" timing
- Chin-thrust, low-angle breathing
- Breaststroke
- Pull-breathe-kick-glide timing
- Out-slow, in-fast pull
- Feet wider than knees on kick
d. Performs moderately long pullouts
6. Turns
a. Accelerates into wall
b. Long, powerful pullouts and fast-snappy kickouts
c. Deep-arm breakouts (ba and cr) and no-breather breakouts (fl and cr)
D. Knowledge
1. Knows half of stroke tenets, acronyms, and applications
2. Describes intermediate drills and drill progressions and knows purpose of each
3. Explains minor rules of strokes, starts, and turns
4. Explains proper technique and diagnoses stroke flaws at Gold level
5. Uses the pace clock to monitor repeat times and send-offs of any multiple of 15
6. Counts stroke cycles for 50 yards and adds count to the 50 time
7. Takes 6-second pulse check and converts to heart rate (HR); explains relationship between HR
and exertion level and change in HR and fitness level
8. Recalls racing times in best six events and all goal-set times
9. Knows relevant time standards for these events
10. Sets seasonal training and racing goals and discusses them with the coach
E. Training
1. 20 im < 40:00
2. 20 x 1 cr @ 1:45 (make all)
3. 5 x 2 im @ 5 (<3:15)
4. 3 x 5 cr @ 9:00 (< 7:00)
5. Runs long gravel loop (1.6 mi) in < 15 min
6. Performs basic med ball and other dryland movements with moderate range-of-motion and speed-of-movement
7. Descends short practice sets; holds pace on long ones
F. Racing
1. Has completed 200 IM, 200 and 500 free, and 100 in back, breast, fly
2. Has KY State times in at least 3 events
3. Performs warm-ups and cool downs at meets; checks on relays; cheers teammates
4. Begins to evaluate own races objectively and consults with coach
5. Competes at least one day/month
IV. Senior
A. Attendance--completes 5-6 practices/week with consistently strong effort
B. Attitude
1. Never leaves a wall without knowing why
C. Skills
- All strokes
a. Achieves clean, high-elbow (HEC) and hand acceleration w/ little slippage
b. Accelerates into every wall and spears off with aggressive kickout/pullout
c. Uses “hot-plate, ceiling-watch” in all open turns
d. Uses “scoop-spear” and deep-arm breakouts in free and back turns
e. Uses “no-breather” finishes on fly and free; “no-look, no-hesitation” finishes on back; “full-stroke” finishes on all strokes
f. Explodes out of standing and backstroke starts and enters the water through “one hole”
g. Executes a well-timed, reverse-arm-circle relay start
h. Propels self efficiently with three basic supine sculling movements and has mastered offset sculling
i. Kicks repeat pool widths underwater in spear in all strokes and body positions
j. Splits 100-yard goal-set swims within 1 second of “even” and descends short practice sets
k. Approximates 50-, 100-, and 200-yard race pace for short distances in practice
l. Performs advanced drills and drill progressions
a. Crawl and back
(1) Long-axis drill sequence
(2) Hip-snap sequence
(3) Rolling human stroke sequence
(4) Balance sequence
(5) Sprint drill
b. Fly
(1) Balance sequence
(2) Sprint drill
(3) Two-up/four-under fly
c. Breast
(1) Balance sequence
(2) Sprint drill
(3) Three-up/three under breast
2. Freestyle
- Strong hip snap
- Pronounced reach and roll
- Front-quadrant swimming
- 2-beat and 6-beat kicks
3. Backstroke
- Strong hip snap
- Pronounced roll to deep catch
- Accelerates through final downsweep into release
- "Rifle-barrel" recovery and shoulder-line entry w/ palm down
4. Butterfly
- Early breathing timing
- Blast-spin-fling hands
- Roll arms in at shoulder on recovery
- Chest press front end
- Long, low stroke
5. Breaststroke
- Minimal head bob
- Shoulder-width or wider outsweep on pull
- Moves through pronounced stretch each cycle
- "Out-slow, in-fast" kick timing
- Claps soles of feet together at end of kick
D. Knowledge
1. Knows majority of stroke tenets, acronyms, and applications
2. Describes execution and purpose of advanced drills and drill progressions
3. Diagnoses stroke flaws at the Gold level and explains their inefficiency in terms of basic concepts of fluid resistance and propulsion
4. Uses the pace clock to follow send-offs that are multiples of :05 or :10 and calculate times
5. Uses the pace clock as an objective marker of effort
6. Uses subjective markers of effort (breathing rate and depth, muscle heaviness, body and skin temperature)
7. Knows past and current racing and training times as well as State, Sectional, and National time standards
8. Sets long-term racing and training goals and discusses them with coach
9. Explains purpose of practice activities
10. Begins to regulate certain aspects of lifestyle (sleep, diet, other activities) to enhance training and racing
E. Training
1. 40 im < 65:00
2. 30 x 100 crawl @ 1:20
3. 5 x 2 im @ 5 (<2:45)
4. 3 x 5 cr @ 9 (<6:00)
5. 8 x 100 fly @ 2:00 (<1:20)
6. Descends long practice sets and adheres to times for short “up-down” sets
7. Executes all dryland activities with great range-of-motion, speed-of-movement, and frequency of repetition
8. Runs long gravel loop (1.6 mi) in < 13:00
9. Pushes oneself in practice without relying on coach or teammates
10. Understands the value of a team ethos of hard work and encourages peers
F. Racing
1. Has completed 200’s in all the strokes; 400IM; 1000 and 1650 free
2. Has KY State times in 3 strokes and IM; within 2% of Sectional cuts
3. Plans meet day diet to eat “light and right;” saves energy at meets to swim fast
4. Even-splits 100’s and approximates even splitting in longer races
5. Predicts upcoming performances based on training record and other factors; assesses own performance; evaluates pre-race prediction in light of actual results
6. Competes at least 2 days/month
Revised 12/26/18
