RMSC winter tryouts?

[Anonymous]

Has anyone done this?

On the website they still only have the summer dates on the winter tryout pdf. When does it happen? (I’m looking general information like the month)

Any advice or things to do to prepare? (My kid tried out for minis but didn’t make it in July. They actually gave us feedback that it was because they weren’t legal in butterfly. I’m trying to figure out best way to prepare for next year.)

[Anonymous]

I think that they only do Summer tryouts now. I would join a smaller club or find a stroke and turn clinic. also consider private lessons to focus on getting legal in fly. Your summer coach may be a good POC to finding a good winter option that is not club swimming. My swimmer (now is college) did not join club until they were 10. It is a lot, and a lot of kids burn out.

[Anonymous]

If your kid really does want to swim year round and participate in meets, I would just find another club to join for this season. The way my kid got comfortable with fly was not just practice but doing it regularly at meets. It is not uncommon for kids to start with one of the small, low-key, less-competitive clubs and then transfer to one of the bigger ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid really does want to swim year round and participate in meets, I would just find another club to join for this season. The way my kid got comfortable with fly was not just practice but doing it regularly at meets. It is not uncommon for kids to start with one of the small, low-key, less-competitive clubs and then transfer to one of the bigger ones.

+1.

This is the way.

[Anonymous]

I think there is some confusion regarding the season of the RMSC club program vs the season when the tryouts for that program take place.

"Winter" tryouts are for the winter season, ie the 2023-24 club season and these take place during July the prior summer(ie last month). There are no tryouts that occur during the winter, your next chance to tryout for RMSC will be next summer, typically in July.

Other than looking at other clubs, the best advice for a young aspiring club swimmer in or close to MoCo is the Stroke and Turn clinics and SwiMontgomery which you can register for through the MoCo Rec at https://web1.myvscloud.com/wbwsc/mdmontgomeryctywt.wsc/splash.html

All the current SwiMontgomery options are currently full but there openings showing for some of the Stroke and Turn sessions.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I think there is some confusion regarding the season of the RMSC club program vs the season when the tryouts for that program take place.

"Winter" tryouts are for the winter season, ie the 2023-24 club season and these take place during July the prior summer(ie last month). There are no tryouts that occur during the winter, your next chance to tryout for RMSC will be next summer, typically in July.

Other than looking at other clubs, the best advice for a young aspiring club swimmer in or close to MoCo is the Stroke and Turn clinics and SwiMontgomery which you can register for through the MoCo Rec at https://web1.myvscloud.com/wbwsc/mdmontgomeryctywt.wsc/splash.html

All the current SwiMontgomery options are currently full but there openings showing for some of the Stroke and Turn sessions.

Good luck!

RMSC used to have mid-season tryouts, but I don’t believe they are doing that anymore since they are full to capacity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I think there is some confusion regarding the season of the RMSC club program vs the season when the tryouts for that program take place.

"Winter" tryouts are for the winter season, ie the 2023-24 club season and these take place during July the prior summer(ie last month). There are no tryouts that occur during the winter, your next chance to tryout for RMSC will be next summer, typically in July.

Other than looking at other clubs, the best advice for a young aspiring club swimmer in or close to MoCo is the Stroke and Turn clinics and SwiMontgomery which you can register for through the MoCo Rec at https://web1.myvscloud.com/wbwsc/mdmontgomeryctywt.wsc/splash.html

All the current SwiMontgomery options are currently full but there openings showing for some of the Stroke and Turn sessions.

Good luck!

RMSC used to have mid-season tryouts, but I don’t believe they are doing that anymore since they are full to capacity.

Correct, several years ago, they transitioned to July-only official tryouts and a new billing cycle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid really does want to swim year round and participate in meets, I would just find another club to join for this season. The way my kid got comfortable with fly was not just practice but doing it regularly at meets. It is not uncommon for kids to start with one of the small, low-key, less-competitive clubs and then transfer to one of the bigger ones.

+1.

This is the way.

+2

But there aren't that many small, low-key clubs around that still have spots. JFD? Sea Devils? Machine isn't small or necessarily low-key, but they might still have space for the little ones at Fairland or UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid really does want to swim year round and participate in meets, I would just find another club to join for this season. The way my kid got comfortable with fly was not just practice but doing it regularly at meets. It is not uncommon for kids to start with one of the small, low-key, less-competitive clubs and then transfer to one of the bigger ones.

+1.

This is the way.

+2

But there aren't that many small, low-key clubs around that still have spots. JFD? Sea Devils? Machine isn't small or necessarily low-key, but they might still have space for the little ones at Fairland or UMD.

I would reach out to JFD, TIBU, Sea Devils, PAC. I can’t imagine that all their programs are filled to capacity. I’ve not really heard stories of people being tuned away from those programs.

[Anonymous]

FAST at Fairland has been _great_ for my kids. Significant improvements in both speed and stamina (and getting legal in breast and fly), great attitude, smaller size team.

[Anonymous]

Rockville site is the only site still having winter (in mid March) tryout. their fall winter season ends in March, spring summer starts in April.
county sites have no winter tryout anymore.

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone done this?

On the website they still only have the summer dates on the winter tryout pdf. When does it happen? (I’m looking general information like the month)

Any advice or things to do to prepare? (My kid tried out for minis but didn’t make it in July. They actually gave us feedback that it was because they weren’t legal in butterfly. I’m trying to figure out best way to prepare for next year.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid really does want to swim year round and participate in meets, I would just find another club to join for this season. The way my kid got comfortable with fly was not just practice but doing it regularly at meets. It is not uncommon for kids to start with one of the small, low-key, less-competitive clubs and then transfer to one of the bigger ones.

+1.

This is the way.

+2

But there aren't that many small, low-key clubs around that still have spots. JFD? Sea Devils? Machine isn't small or necessarily low-key, but they might still have space for the little ones at Fairland or UMD.

I would reach out to JFD, TIBU, Sea Devils, PAC. I can’t imagine that all their programs are filled to capacity. I’ve not really heard stories of people being tuned away from those programs.

Also Tollefson. They have a stroke and turn program and I believe that kids can transition onto the team during the year.

[Anonymous]

When DS didn’t get into RMSC, we went to Machine and we’re thrilled. It was a much better fit and they have many levels where your child can join based on ability. We went from barely legal to making JO cuts the first year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid really does want to swim year round and participate in meets, I would just find another club to join for this season. The way my kid got comfortable with fly was not just practice but doing it regularly at meets. It is not uncommon for kids to start with one of the small, low-key, less-competitive clubs and then transfer to one of the bigger ones.

+1.

This is the way.

+2

But there aren't that many small, low-key clubs around that still have spots. JFD? Sea Devils? Machine isn't small or necessarily low-key, but they might still have space for the little ones at Fairland or UMD.

I would reach out to JFD, TIBU, Sea Devils, PAC. I can’t imagine that all their programs are filled to capacity. I’ve not really heard stories of people being tuned away from those programs.

JFD at Prep has been full for over a month. Not sure about the others, but most places were holding tryouts in July. No, likely not all of them are filled to capacity, but not all of them are likely to be a good fit, either.

The Tollefson suggestion is a good one, specifically for their Endurance and Training program (their comp team had tryouts in July). I've heard good things about FAST at Fairland, too. No clue what their capacity is.