Many people are not aware that the Barron Swim School has an in house swim team. When we were developing our curriculum, we felt very strongly about adding a competitive element to our program. We felt that we owed our students who have come through the program a chance to be introduced to the competitive swimming world within a comfortable environment and by a professional who spent 25 years in the competitive coaching arena.
Today, kids are being required to make a greater commitment to sports at a younger age. Swimming is no different. Many of the USA Swimming programs in our area require a multiple day commitment to join their beginner level groups or team. We feel a bit differently. We firmly believe we can deliver a quality introduction to competitive swimming by offering a one-night, one-hour program per week.
What are we trying to accomplish with our team program? Primarily a swimmer must be able to swim correctly before they will ever swim fast. Our program will be based on great technique and proper stroke mechanics. In addition, we hope to accomplish the following:
- A fun and positive experience
- An introduction to what it’s like to be part of a team
- Introduction to swim workout etiquette:
- How to circle swim and share your lane
- How to use a pace clock to time your strokes
- Competition starts and timing for races
- Improvement in stroke technique, then speed
- Aerobic and interval training for endurance and athleticism
- In House Meets held quarterly for race experience and personal accomplishment
Participation in our swim team is by invitation only. Swimmers in our classes will be evaluated for team by Jack Young, Aquatics Director, after completing all 4 class levels. Students will stay in our upper class level until they are able to show competence in all strokes (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly) as well as endurance to swim the 60’ length of the pool for an hour long practice. We are also happy to evaluate swimmers from other programs for entry into our classes or team.
We hope this answers your questions about our team and gives insight into our philosophy of building skills for life.
