What Is The Hilton Area Swim Team (HAST)?

HAST was formed in 1990 as a non-profit, parent-run, age group competitive swim team. Swimmers learn and/or perfect the four Olympic strokes - freestyle, back, butterfly, and breast stroke from certified coaches. Meets offer our swimmers a chance to compete, learn and have fun.

HAST Mission

Hilton Area Swim Team (HAST) strives toward the development of good sportsmanship, honesty and loyalty in the pursuit of competitive swimming

 

Explained below are some of the important terms, events and activities in which the Hilton Area Swim Team participates:

USASwimming (USAS)

USAS is the abbreviation for United States Swimming, Inc. the national governing body for swimming in this country. The headquarters are located at 1750 East Boulder Street, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80909.

Niagara District

This is our USA Local Swimming Committee (LSC) for western New York. Our district consists of 76 clubs with approximately 4500 swimmers. The geographical area covered by our district is Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Binghamton. We are the sixth largest LSC in the country by the number of registered swimmers.

Genesee Valley Swim League

The Hilton Area Swim Team (HAST) is a member of the Genesee Valley Swim League which is comprised of 11 teams, including:

  • Fairport Area Swim Team (FAST)
  • Greece Swim Club (GRSC)
  • Victor Swim Club (VSC)
  • Irondequoit Swim Club (IRON)
  • Pack Swim Team of Pittsford (PACK)
  • Rochester Rapids Swim Team (RRST)
  • Rush-Henrietta Swim Club (RHSC)
  • Sea Dragons Swim Club (SDSC)
  • Sharks and Eagles Aquatic (SEAS)
  • Webster Swim Association (WEBS).

The league sponsors a dual meet season, which is competition between only two clubs at one meet. At the end of the season, the league holds championship meets.

Dual Meets

There are 4 dual meets from Mid-October to the middle of February. The dual meets are usually held on Saturdays against one other club from the Genesee Valley Swim League. The swimmers compete in separate age groups: 8 & under, 10 & under, 12 & under and 13 & over, for both boys and girls. Your swimmer is entered in all league dual meets by the coaching staff.

Invitational Meets

Throughout the year individual clubs in the Niagara District (NI) and United States Swimming (USA) sponsor Invitational meets. Invitational’s are meets with many teams competing with each other. As a team, Hilton Area Swim Team will enter several of these meets throughout the year. Attendance of these meets is highly recommended by the coaching staff and club. This gives the club a chance to win a Team or Age Group Trophy which are given out at those events. Swimmers can also enter these meets as individuals, information about the meets HAST has planned is posted on the Events tab of our web site. Meet packets can be downloaded from links on this page.

Several types of Invitational Meets are held and are based on NI’s short course and Long Course Standards.

Short Course Standards

During the short course season, Niagara uses primarily uses two sets of standards and our meets are built around them. The standards we use are found on the Niagara LSC Short Course chart above. The two standards are Niagara Championship and Niagara BB standards. Niagara Championships are age-group based (10&under, 11-12, etc.), while the Niagara BB times are single age based. We generally have a series of 5 meets, and they are governed by the following standards.
  • NI Power Point (PP) Qualifier (fall)  - Uses a SLOWER THAN NI Championship Cut
  • NI PP Championships (fall)  - Uses a FASTER THAN Niagara BB Cut
  • NI BB Qualifier (Winter)  - Uses a SLOWER THAN Niagara BB Cut
  • NI Championship Qualifier (Winter)  - Uses a FASTER THAN Niagara BB Cut and SLOWER THEN NI Championship cut.
  • NiagaraSC Championships (Spring)  - Uses a FASTER THAN Ni Champs Cut

 

Annual Banquet

The banquet is to celebrate the end of the Genesee Valley Swim League timed finals meet and the Championship meets. Awards and other recognition are given for performances during the year.

Join HAST

Hilton Swim Team is accepting swimmers who are looking to participate in our year-round, competitive swimming program. Practices are generally Monday through Friday, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Swimmers are encouraged to attend 2-3 practices a week to see improvement.
 
HAST places emphasis on teaching proper technique while maintaining a fun, yet challenging, environment. HAST seeks to provide facilities, training and encouragement for increased proficiency fit competitive amateur swimming in addition to furthering the interest and education of children and parents in competitive swimming and encouraging and developing good sportsmanship, individual integrity, and team play.
 
We are a member of USA Swimming , abiding by its rules and regulations for competitive swimming, and a member of the Genesee Valley Swim League