Bronze: 

In order to be in Bronze, a swimmer must be able to complete one length of the pool on their stomach without stopping and the same on their back.  Swimmers will learn the four competitive strokes (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly).  Emphasis is on the basic skills necessary to learn the four competitive strokes and advance to the Silver group.  Practice sessions are 45 minutes in length and offered up to 4 times per week.

Silver: 

Designed for elementary and some middle school aged children to improve swimming technique, general strength, fitness and racing skills.  Swimmers will be introduced to aerobic conditioning of swimming, a basic understanding of a workout environment and reading the pace clock is also introduced.  Practice sessions are 75 minutes in length and offered up to 5 times per week.

Gold: 9-12 yrs old 

Swimmers in this group must have the ability to read the pace clock. They also have achieved a Q2 or Q1 time standard (Junior Olympic or State Championship qualifying time) Swimmers must be able to kick 10 x 50 @ 1:15 or faster and swim 8 x 100 @ 1: 50 or faster. Swimmers in this group will continue to refine stroke and turn technique and while increasing their training. Swimmers in this group are expected to swim 50, 100 and 200 of all 4 strokes including the 200 IM and 500 Free. More advanced swimmers in this group are expected to also swim the 400IM along with the longer distance events chosen by the coach.

Senior (13 years and Up)

This is for the advanced age group and high school swimmers that are ready for a high level aerobic workout. Swimmers in this group have a good background already in technical development and are expected to be ready to advance their aerobic training to a much higher level than a beginning age group swimmer. These swimmers are expected to practice a minimum of 3 out of the 6 practices offered per week.

Lightning 1 (13 years and up)

This group is for the high school and year round swimmers who have state qualifying standards and can handle higher level aerobic workouts. These swimmers will be preparing to compete at the state, zone and potentially sectional level competitions. The overall workload and expectations increase as athletes are exposed to more practice hours, endurance training and higher levels of competition. The swimmers are expected to practice a minimum of 4 out of the 6 practices offered per week.

Lightning 2 (13 years and Up)

This group is for the high school and year round swimmers who have multiple state, sectional and National qualifying standards. The structure will be designed for developing swimmers to compete at a high level at state, sectional and national competitions. The overall workload and expectations increase as athletes are exposed to more practice hours and endurance training. The swimmers are expected to practice a minimum of 5 out of the 6 practices offered per week. Practice requirements at certain times during the season may include morning practices during the weekdays when conflicts with the evening schedule occur.

**Parents cannot move their child to another group without the consent of the Head Coach and/or Age Group Head Coach.  It is often difficult when a child’s friend or sibling moves to a different group before they do.  However, when a child moves into a group and does not possess the skills necessary for that group, the child will have a difficult time developing the skills necessary in the long run.  It is better for the child to wait until they are ready.