WAT GROUPS 

 

COPPER –

Formerly known as "Pre-Team", Copper is for our youngest (around 5-6 years old) swimmers who are not quite able to swim 25 yards of front stroke or back stroke.  Pre-Team practices a few times a week for shorter durations due to the average age of the team.  Pre-Team does NOT compete in any meets.   Copper does have a minimum required number of swimmers needed each session. 

BRONZE –

Swimmers are at practice approximately 3-5 hours per week.  Swimmers should be able to swim 25 yards of freestyle and 25 yards of backstroke with relatively good form.  The primary focus is teaching the swimmers the proper stroke technique while having fun.  Kickboards and fins are used often for drills.  90/10 teaching/training.  Bronze swimmers should attend at least one meet per session not including any WAT home meets.

SILVER –

Swimmers practice 5-8 hours per week.  Swimmers should be able to swim 50 yards of freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke and 25 yards of butterfly.  Swimmers should also be able to perform a flip turn.  The focus of the silver group shifts more to training.  They use kickboards and fins for training and drills.  70/30 teaching/training.   Silver swimmers should attend 75% of meets offered per session. 

GOLD –

Swimmers practice approximately 8-10 hours per week.  Swimmers should be able to swim 100 yards of freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke and 50 yards of butterfly.  Swimmers should expect to perform flip turns throughout their practices.  Focus is divided between training and teaching with a split of 50/50.  Gold swimmers should attend 85% of meets offered per session. 

PLATINUM –

An invitation only group that practices an extra hour or two per week.  Swimmers who have good work ethic and practice attendance and are the leaders of their team make up the Platinum group.  Swimmers should be proficient in all the strokes and turns.  The focus of this group is self-motivation and training.  As leaders of WAT, Platinum swimmers should plan to attend all meets offered. 

DIAMOND –

Formerly known as the “High School Swimmers”, these 14-18-year-old swimmers swim on Diamond during their high school off seasons.  Diamond swimmers should expect to attend 3-4 meets per session. 

SAPPHIRE –

Sapphire swimmers are high school aged swimmers who spend the Fall or Winter season swimming with their high school teams and upon completion of that season return to WAT for conditioning.  Sapphire swimmers are limited to a maximum of two practices per week and have no meet requirements.  

Final group placement is determined by the coaches. 

 

 

 

 

USA SWIMMING LEVELS OF ACHIEVEMENT

 

There are several different age group classifications recognized by United States Swimming (the governing body of the sport):

  • 10 & under
  • 11-12
  • 13-14
  • 15-16
  • 17-18

Most meets also have events for 8 & unders and combine the 15 and older swimmers into events under the classification of “Senior” or “Open”.

All swimmers may participate in open events but only swimmers 15 years old or above may participate in the senior events. There are no “time standards” for 8 & under swimmers but they may swim in 10 & under qualifying events. Not all age group classifications are offered at every swim meet. The swimmer’s age on the first day of a meet will govern the swimmer’s age for the entire meet. 

Within each age-group, there are different nationally recognized levels of achievement based on times. All swimmers begin as “C” swimmers. As they improve, they advance from “C’ to “B” and so on. The times required for each ability level are published yearly by United States Swimming. See the "Motivational Times" tab for current times!