FLYING FISH SWIM TEAM

Flying Fish Swim Team General Team Information

 

The primary goal of the Flying Fish Swim Team is to Have Fun!  While we are a competitive swim team, we believe having fun is an important part of any swim program and that emphasizing the pleasure of the sport will create life-long swimmers. We will teach your child all the basic competitive swim strokes: freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and breaststroke. Team members participate in scheduled swim meets held throughout the summer and receive a medal at the end of the season. There are various social activities scheduled throughout the season.

 

Basic Info

  • The swim team is open to children ages 4 to 18.  The minimum swimming requirement is to swim 12 yards unassisted.
  • Practices begin in May
  • May practices are in the afternoon/evening
  • June/July practices are offered in the morning and the evening

It is important to try to attend practice each day, as coaches are teaching skills that overlap from one day to the next, and it is beneficial for the swimmer to receive all of the instruction he/she can. To get the most out of our practices please attend during your age group.The level of coaching will match ability level. ​​

  • Parking DO NOT PARK IN THE BOAT TRAILER SPACES at Fort Caroline. There is grass overflow lot at the front If we all park appriopriately we will fit. Please be respectful of everything at Terry Parker, and Fort Caroline.
  • Equipment: Swimmers should come to practice prepared to swim.  Each participant needs to wear an appropriate swim suit (no street clothes or bikinis).  Goggles and swim caps are optional, but highly helpful. We do offer a team suit for purchase as well as team t-shirts. 
  • Dual Home meets (meets between our team and one other teams) are held on Saturday mornings at Terry Parker HS Pool. Away meets are generally on a weekday afternoon. We have 4-6 dual meets during the competitive season. Click here for our schedule. You can expect a meet to last 3 - 4 hours.
  • Your child will be in an age group depending on his/her age May 1st.  S/he will swim in that age group the rest of the season.  Age groups are:
    • 6 & under
    • 8 & under
    • 9-10
    • 11-12
    • 13-14
    • 15-18
  • A swimmer must swim IN his/her age group—and cannot swim up or swim down.  Boys will compete against boys; girls will compete against girls. Swimmers must be able to complete a lap of the pool unassisted in order to participate in a meet.
  • There are 5 individual events and 2 relay events. 
    • Freestyle—2 different distances
    • Backstroke
    • Breaststroke
    • Butterfly
    • Individual Medley (IM)--one lap of each stroke
    • Freestyle relay (4 team members; each swims freestyle)
    • Medley relay (4 team members; each swims a different stroke)
  • Each swimmer is allowed to swim 3 individual events and 1 relay event.
  • Event distances are according to age group:
    • 6&unders and 8&unders
      • 25 free, 25 back, 25 breast, 25 fly
      • 50 free
      • 100 IM
      • 100 Relay (each swimmer swims ONE lap)
    • 9 – 12 year olds
      • 50 free, 50 back, 50 breast, 50 fly
      • 100 IM, 100 Free
      • 200 Relay (each swimmer does a 50).
    • 13 & up
      • 50 free, 50 fly
      • 100 IM, 100 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast
      • 200 Relay 
  • Disqualifications: Coaches will be working intently with swimmers to ensure they are doing legal strokes.  However, swimming is often not just a one year process.  Sometimes, it takes a little time for a young athlete to perform each stroke correctly.  Swimmers can be disqualified in a meet for incorrectly performing a stroke; please encourage your swimmer to work hard and to be patient—and eventually, DQs will be a thing of the past. You can find information about DQs here.

 

  • The season ends with River City Championships, held in late July. This meet is large—10 teams from across the city.  It lasts 3 days—but don’t worry; you won’t be there the ENTIRE time!  This is a fast meet—meaning that kids generally get personal bests in most of their events! It’s a great way to end the season.

 

TIPS FOR BEING A GREAT SWIM TEAM PARENT

  • Be positive.  Help your child look beyond today and towards his/her goals.
  • Be patient. Swimmers develop at different paces, but everyone needs time.  Don’t compare your child to other swimmers.  Everyone progresses at his/her own rate.
  • Make sure your swimmer arrives to practice/meets on time and ready to swim.
  • During practices and meets, let the coaches coach.  We consider the pool deck a classroom.  Would you interrupt a teacher in the middle of a lecture?  Even if the coach is not talking to the swimmers, he is watching, analyzing, and thinking about the swimmers’ skills.  Wait until after practice if you have comments or concerns. 
  • The coach is the coach, and has been trained.  Swimmers should relate to their coaches concerning competition, technique, and training.  This relationship and bonding between the coach and the swimmer provides the most positive results.  When parents interfere with opinions as to how the child should swim, it can cause considerable confusion as to who the swimmer should listen to. 
  • You’re welcome to watch practice, but please do so from a distance.  Never talk, signal, wave, or admonish your child while he/she is working out. 
  • Although swimming has a strong individual element, your child is, most of all, part of a team.  Try to stay until the end of the meet to show team spirit and pride. 
  • The single most important thing you can do for your child is to help him/her develop a strong sense of sportsmanship and a positive self-image.
  • ENJOY yourself!