Practice groups and criteria are designed to help swimmers be successful in the sport. We encourage younger swimmers to be involved with other sports and activities as well. The practice groups are designed around age with flexibility between them. Performance is a consideration in finding the right group for each swimmer. Also, to be considered is physical and emotional preparedness.
Please call Amber at (610) 353-2326 to schedule a tryout with Coach Tim or email [email protected]
Equipment needed for practice: Equipment is a vital part of our practice and training. See our team store to purchase the correct equipment.
- Mini Group: Practice Suit, Goggles, Cap, Fins, Kick Board
- White Group: Practice Suit, Goggles, Cap, Fins, Kick Board
- Blue Group: Practice Suit, Goggles, Cap, Fins, Paddles, Pull Buoy, Kick Board
- Royal, Platinum and Senior Groups: Practice Suit, Goggles, Cap, Fins, Paddles, Pull Buoy, Kick Board,Snorkles (NEW Equipment), Jump rope(New Equipment)
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Mini Team: Training times are offered 3 days a week for 45 minutes; Saturday training will be 1 hour . (Tues/Thurs/Sat or Mon/Weds/Sat) There will be no training on Saturdays that are meet days. Your swimmer’s place in the training group days is exclusive to those days for reasons of planning and safety for the coach.
Description: The swimmers in this group are ages 8 & under who may be new to the sport. They can complete 1 lap of freestyle and are comfortable on their back. This group is limited to 4-5 swimmers per practice. Mini Team is only offered in the Fall and Spring.
Goal: The goal is for swimmers to be efficient in freestyle and backstroke. The swimmers will attempt starts. The swimmers will prepare to swim in the White Group.
Focus: Training will teach freestyle and backstroke technique in a small group environment. Swimmers will learn swimming language. Swimmers will build endurance through kicking and games. Swimmers are strongly encouraged to compete in Mini meets. Mini Championships staged in March is the goal for this group.
White Group: Training times are offered 3 days a week for 1 hour. (Tues/Thurs/Sat or Mon/Weds/Sat) There will be no training on Saturdays that are meet days. A swimmer’s place in the Training group days is exclusive to those days for reasons of planning and safety for the coach.
Description: This group is for swimmers ages 8 & under who can complete a lap of freestyle and backstroke. Swimmers should be comfortable doing multiple laps at a time.
Goal: The goal is for swimmers to be able to swim all four strokes and complete an Individual Medley (IM). Swimmers will be comfortable using the starting block. They will also begin learning turns. Swimmers will prepare to swim in the Blue Group.
Focus: The swimmers will be learning to swim all 4 strokes, IMs, starts and turns. The practice will concentrate on swimming with great technique. Swimmers will continue to build endurance through kicking and games. This group will continue to develop the understanding of swimming terminology. Swimmers will be introduced to USA Swimming’s IMR and IMX programs. It is expected swimmers in this group attend Mid Atlantic Mini meets. Swimmers are expected to attend the Mini Championships in March. Bronze and Silver Champs are options for swimmers ages 9 and over in/before March.
Blue Group: Training times are offered 4 days a week for an hour. (Tues/Thurs/Fri/Sat or Mon/Weds/Fri/Sat) There will be no training session on Saturdays that are meet days. Your swimmer’s place in the Training group days is exclusive to those days for reasons of planning and safety for the coach.
Swimmers are expected to attend 3 or more practices each week. They are expected compete in Mid Atlantic meets and attend a Mid Atlantic Championship Meet in March.
Description: This group is for advanced 8 year olds (must have competed in 3 or more Mid Atlantic meets and have MA Silver Champs times in 2 or more events), 9-10year olds and new 11 year old swimmers. Swimmers should be able to do all 4 strokes and be comfortable with starts and turns.
Goal: Swimmers will be able to swim all 4 strokes at the 50 and 100 yard distances. Swimmers will also be able to swim a 200 freestyle, 100 IM and 200 IM.
Focus: Swimmers will continue to focus on technique. They will build endurance through kicking, technique work and training sets. Swimmers will be introduced to training sets that last 20 to 30 minutes. The swimmers will learn to read the pace clock. Swimmers will participate in USA Swimming’s IMR and IMX program as they are swimming in Mid Atlantic meets. Swimmers are expected to swim 1 or more of the Mid Atlantic Championship meets.
Royal Group: Training sessions are offered 4 days a week for an hour and 30 minutes (15 additional minutes of dryland will be incorporated 2 days a week). Swimmers are expected to attend a minimum of 4 training sessions each week. They are expected to attend Mid Atlantic meets. There will be no training sessions on Saturdays that are meet days.
Description: This group is for swimmers ages 9 to 12 years. 9-10 year old swimmers must have 3 MA Silver Championship times or be able to finish 8 x 100 on 2:00. The test set will be offered at the end of October, December, January and March. Swimmers are expected to swim 1 or more of the Mid Atlantic Championship meets in March.
Goal: Swimmers will be able to swim all 4 strokes at the 50 and 100 yard distances. They will be also be able to swim a 200 freestyle, 500 free, 100 IM and 200 IM. 11-12 year old swimmers will also be encouraged to compete in 200’s of strokes.
Focus: Swimmers will focus on conditioning and technique. Additionally, swimmers will build endurance through training sets, kicking and technique work. Training sets will last between 20 to 50 minutes. Swimmers will participate in USA Swimming’s IMR and IMX program. Focus will be to prepare swimmers to compete on the local, state, regional and national levels.
Platinum Group: Training is offered 5/6 days a week for an hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours. Dryland will be incorporated into practices. Swimmers in this group are focused on swimming as their main sport for most of the season. The swimmers are expected to attend training 5 or 6 days a week. Swimmers are expected to attend Saturday morning training session. Swimmers will attend Mid Atlantic swimming meets and should be attending multiple sessions in the meet. Carpooling to aid families in attendance is encouraged.
Training sessions in the Fall and Spring will be offered early and late. Swimmers may choose a training session based on their schedule.
Description: This group is for swimmers ages 11 to 14 who are highly committed to attending practice and meets. 11-12 year old swimmers must have 3 or more MA Silver Championship times or be able to complete 10 x 100 1:45. The test sets will be offered at the end of October, December, January and March. Swimmers are expected to be leaders in and out of the pool. They should have competed in 4 or more Mid Atlantic meets before joining the group. Swimmers will be swimming 1 or more MA Championship meet in March.
Goal: Swimmers will become students of the sport. They will track training through training logs. Swimmers will compete in all IMR and IMX events. Platinum Swimmers will compete in all strokes at all distances includes 50, 100 and 200 of each stroke, 100, 200 and 400 IM, 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle.
Focus: Swimmers will focus on conditioning and performance. The Platinum swimmer will complete training sets of 20 minutes to an hour. Training sets’ intensity will increase. Swimmers will develop team leadership skills including but not limited to supporting younger swimmers. Swimmers will participate in USA Swimming’s IMR and IMX program. Focus will be to prepare swimmers to compete on the local, state, regional and national levels.
Senior Group: Training is offered 5/6 days a week for 2 hours each day. Dryland will also be incorporated into training during the season. It is expected that during the high school “off-season”, swimmers will be focused and dedicated with the same level of commitment as coming out of the Platinum Group. During the High School season, there will still be the Senior training group. Please discuss options with the Coach.
Training sessions in the Fall and Spring will be offered early and late. Swimmers may choose a training session based on their schedule.
Description: This group is for our High School age swimmers and older. Swimmers are expected to attend practice on a regular basis and attend MA meets.
Goal: Swimmers are preparing to compete on the high school, district, state, regional, national levels and beyond. They will be trained to compete in IMR and IMX events with a focus on their individual events. The Senior Team's goal is to prepare swimmers to compete beyond the High School Level.
Focus: Swimmers will focus on conditioning and performance. Swimmers will complete training sets of 20 minutes to one hour. The intensity of the training sets will increase. Swimmers will develop team leadership skills. The Group will be split into 3 training groups during practice (Sprint, Mid Distance/Stroke and Distance) to build training systems for maximum performance. Practices are designed to prepare swimmers to compete at all levels and with a push towards swimming in college. Swimmers are expected to compete in 1 or more Mid Atlantic Championship meet in March.
