St. James

[Anonymous]

Which clubs practice there? Alternatively, do you have any experience with the in-house club?

considering dropping out of our current club next year and switching since we have to be there for another sport all the time.

[Anonymous]

Shark Tank

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shark Tank

Thanks—any details you can share that aren’t on the website? Looks like some of the swimmers in the age group were looking at swim comparable times so that’s good. Cost? Schedule? Coaching style?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shark Tank

Thanks—any details you can share that aren’t on the website? Looks like some of the swimmers in the age group were looking at swim comparable times so that’s good. Cost? Schedule? Coaching style?

Tank did lose some of their fastest boys over the summer-- so if you're looking for a teenager, he may find himself without a lot of company.

The St James team practices there, obviously. No other teams have the majority of practices there though some have once a week there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shark Tank

Thanks—any details you can share that aren’t on the website? Looks like some of the swimmers in the age group were looking at swim comparable times so that’s good. Cost? Schedule? Coaching style?

Tank did lose some of their fastest boys over the summer-- so if you're looking for a teenager, he may find himself without a lot of company.

The St James team practices there, obviously. No other teams have the majority of practices there though some have once a week there.

Thanks. The program looks fairly competitive, the summer has some A times but isn’t gifted in any particular stroke, 11-12 age group. They can only do 2x per week — goal is to stay fit and compete occasionally, but swim team is not their priority. Wonder if the St. James team might be better for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shark Tank

Thanks—any details you can share that aren’t on the website? Looks like some of the swimmers in the age group were looking at swim comparable times so that’s good. Cost? Schedule? Coaching style?

Tank did lose some of their fastest boys over the summer-- so if you're looking for a teenager, he may find himself without a lot of company.

The St James team practices there, obviously. No other teams have the majority of practices there though some have once a week there.

Thanks. The program looks fairly competitive, the summer has some A times but isn’t gifted in any particular stroke, 11-12 age group. They can only do 2x per week — goal is to stay fit and compete occasionally, but swim team is not their priority. Wonder if the St. James team might be better for that.

St James team has a lot of kids that fit this description. Some pop in and out depending on their other sports too. The flexibility of registering for separate fall, winter, and spring sessions and the flexibility of attending whichever days work for your kid's schedule make their program very conductive for kids who play multiple sports.

[Anonymous]

VLAC also practices at St James and you can sign up by session (fall/winter/spring).

[Anonymous]

Fairfax Foxes has groups Practice there everyday and they seem to have decent swimmers and coaches.

[Anonymous]

Machine has a site at Audrey Moore just down the road. We have been extremely pleased with the coaching and the passion they’ve put into developing our swimmers even though they aren’t close to being the fastest in their respective groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VLAC also practices at St James and you can sign up by session (fall/winter/spring).

My oldest swam for VLAC when they practiced out of Tysons area. We loved the team and the coaches. The move to St. James made it too difficult for us to sustain and we switched teams. Coach Shawn and Coach Lee are amazing.

[Anonymous]

The people I know whos kids swim for the in house St James team do it for convenience. they like that they can participate in 3 month increments vs committing to a full 9 months. However, I have not been impressed with any of the kid I have seen who swim there. Their technique is pretty bad. Not sure it that is because of poor coaching or because these kids just aren't that committed.

[Anonymous]

I wasn't super impressed with SJ at all. So many kids in the lanes, no stroke correction at all, chaos. But it is flexible.
Shark Tank Prep was good. For multi-sport kids, I found it flexible. There weren't as many kids as SJ, and I thought the coaches knew the kids. It seemed to be a program to keep kids in shape for summer swim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The people I know whos kids swim for the in house St James team do it for convenience. they like that they can participate in 3 month increments vs committing to a full 9 months. However, I have not been impressed with any of the kid I have seen who swim there. Their technique is pretty bad. Not sure it that is because of poor coaching or because these kids just aren't that committed.

Yet, there was one event at NVSL all stars where St James kids claimed 3 of the top 5 spots. You might not have been impressed by that but I others were.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The people I know whos kids swim for the in house St James team do it for convenience. they like that they can participate in 3 month increments vs committing to a full 9 months. However, I have not been impressed with any of the kid I have seen who swim there. Their technique is pretty bad. Not sure it that is because of poor coaching or because these kids just aren't that committed.

Yet, there was one event at NVSL all stars where St James kids claimed 3 of the top 5 spots. You might not have been impressed by that but I know others were.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The people I know whos kids swim for the in house St James team do it for convenience. they like that they can participate in 3 month increments vs committing to a full 9 months. However, I have not been impressed with any of the kid I have seen who swim there. Their technique is pretty bad. Not sure it that is because of poor coaching or because these kids just aren't that committed.

Yet, there was one event at NVSL all stars where St James kids claimed 3 of the top 5 spots. You might not have been impressed by that but I know others were.

Lol 1 event.

I can tell you swimmers from other clubs dominated a lot more than 1 event.

I can can tell you that the kids on our team who swim for st James did not come even close to making all stars. Heck, some barely made A meets and have terrible technique. Not at all impressed with the St. James program.