What's the Long Branch summer swim team like? (Or Glenmont or Bethesda?)

[Anonymous]

Any insight folks can share from personal or second-hand experience about the Long Branch summer swim team? (Or the Glenmont, and/or Bethesda summer swim teams if they'd be a better choice?)

Looking for a good fit for an 8 year old who just barely meets the minimum requirements (or at least I think she does-- I guess I don't know how high the standards are for "a coordinated stroke and rhythmic breathing") and has no swim team experience... and her totally clueless swim-newbie parents. Would she (and we) be able to have a fun and fairly low-key experience at Long Branch (or Glenmont, or Bethesda)?

How many practices a week would we need to make sure to get her to? Does it matter if it's morning vs evening?

Is it okay if we take some vacation time during the swim season, or do families usually wait until the season is over? Are there any particularly fun meets/activities/etc that she'd likely be bummed to miss if we were on vacation?

Thanks so much for any insight you can share!

[Anonymous]

Been at LB for many years, very welcoming and open team. Basically if you can make it across the pool (25 yards) in a "stroke" you're good to go.

From start of season (end of may) until end of MCPS, practices are 5:45-6:30P and 6:30P-7:30P M-F Then after MCPS finishes, practices are 7a-8a, 8a-9a M-F and then 8p-9p Mo/Tu/Th. Come to as many or as few as you'd like, with the understanding that the more you go to, the more YOUR SWIMMER will benefit. It is completely fine to come to none! (but you're paying for unlimited practices!). The evening practices tend to be VERY crowded, so your swimmer will get more attention in the morning.

As a new 8 y/o girl (assuming you mean there age will be 8 on June 1, 2024) you definitely have the possibility of getting in some "A" meets (Saturday morning) as I think we just have enough to barely fill lanes (assuming everyone returns that was under 8, and nobody new shows up)

You are 100% fine to take vacation during the swim season (although your swimmer, if she gets into it may put you on restriction!). Being as it's a county pool, there isn't a ton of activities outside of meets except for the end of season banquet (2nd to last weekend in july). There's also Relay Carnival which is on a Sunday usually in the 2nd half of the season, but as a first year swimmer she may not get picked to go, which is also ok!

Parent informational meeting is the Tuesday AFTER memorial day (so May 28, 2024) at 7PM at Long Branch, rain or shine - please show up and bring questions! Swimmers are also welcome.

I can't speak as to Glenmont at all, but I do know the Bethesda team is in a much more competitive division and it may be a little more pressure there.

Welcome to the fun that is MCSL summer swim!

[Anonymous]

Glenmont is low key and their pool is awesome and lots of fun for kid. higher chances for saturday morning A meet. Bethesda has some serious swimmers/club swimmers but could also be low key if you only want to swim B meet. no requirements for # of practices/week for both teams (i guess). as i know, no family waits to take vacations. choose the one close to your home. sometimes team party could last late to 9 or 10 pm after practice or b meets.

Anonymous wrote:Any insight folks can share from personal or second-hand experience about the Long Branch summer swim team? (Or the Glenmont, and/or Bethesda summer swim teams if they'd be a better choice?)

Looking for a good fit for an 8 year old who just barely meets the minimum requirements (or at least I think she does-- I guess I don't know how high the standards are for "a coordinated stroke and rhythmic breathing") and has no swim team experience... and her totally clueless swim-newbie parents. Would she (and we) be able to have a fun and fairly low-key experience at Long Branch (or Glenmont, or Bethesda)?

How many practices a week would we need to make sure to get her to? Does it matter if it's morning vs evening?

Is it okay if we take some vacation time during the swim season, or do families usually wait until the season is over? Are there any particularly fun meets/activities/etc that she'd likely be bummed to miss if we were on vacation?

Thanks so much for any insight you can share!

[Anonymous]

As with so much else, kids get out of summer swim what they put into it. If they only attend a couple of practices every week and don't join in the social events, they won't get to know as many of the other swimmers and won't have as full an experience - and they will also miss out on a certain amount (note: YMMV in this category depending on your vision of child swimming) of conditioning and skills development that they are still essentially paying for. For a new 8U, I'd recommend starting off with an abstract goal of (nearly) once-daily practice ( = about 4 days per week), all of the B meets for which you do not have conflicts, and as many of the social events as fit your family's schedule and tastes. Once you get to know the activity, the team, and DD's feelings (which should only take a couple of weeks), you can either dial it up or ramp it back accordingly.

That having been said, I'm totally willing to out myself here as an MCSL believer. My family joined totally green (parents who never swam anything competitively, young first DC), and we are now all in: my kids do 9 practices + 2 meets per week plus nearly every social event, and we choose to organize travel to miss a minimum amount of summer swim. The coaches and reps are incredibly generous and genuine people, the older kids on the team are great role models, we have wonderful friends in the group, and we don't need summer camp because we have the pool (and the work schedules to take advantage of it).

Obviously, not everyone will feel the same way or have the same team experience as we have. But you'll never know what it could be if you don't try. Totally agree with PP here: welcome to summer swim, OP! I hope it will be a great adventure for DD and a little bit of fun for you, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any insight folks can share from personal or second-hand experience about the Long Branch summer swim team? (Or the Glenmont, and/or Bethesda summer swim teams if they'd be a better choice?)

For your situation, I would recommend either Long Branch or Glenmont over Bethesda. Long Branch and Glenmont are lower division teams so the atmosphere will be more relaxed, there will be more kids of her "peer" age, ability and skill. Bethesda is in a high division so they are stronger across all the age groups/genders. Having said this, as others have noted, I think the primary criteria should be distance - which is closest to you?

Anonymous wrote:
Looking for a good fit for an 8 year old who just barely meets the minimum requirements (or at least I think she does-- I guess I don't know how high the standards are for "a coordinated stroke and rhythmic breathing") and has no swim team experience... and her totally clueless swim-newbie parents. Would she (and we) be able to have a fun and fairly low-key experience at Long Branch (or Glenmont, or Bethesda)?

Typically they want to see a kid that is comfortable in the lanes(ie "big" pool) and who can get across(25m) comfortably without having to grab the wall or rope.

Anonymous wrote:
How many practices a week would we need to make sure to get her to? Does it matter if it's morning vs evening?

Morning vs. evening doesn't matter. In terms of frequency, you want to make as many days as possible(no need to go twice a day). You'll be swimming in the "B" meets on Wednesdays so I would say that you want to shoot for making practice a minimum of 2 other days; again more if your daughter wants/is willing.

Anonymous wrote:
Is it okay if we take some vacation time during the swim season, or do families usually wait until the season is over? Are there any particularly fun meets/activities/etc that she'd likely be bummed to miss if we were on vacation?

Thanks so much for any insight you can share!

Vacations are fine, you won't be the only one. Some kids/families at the higher level plan their vacations around the season but many do not, especially at the lower/starting out level.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much all-- this is really helpful! For those mentioning distance, we are roughly similar distance to all 3, slightly closer to Long Branch but not by much. Sounds like we should do either Long Branch or Glenmont.

Would especially appreciate any further insight on which weeks of the season have social events or meets that we might regret being gone for (I'm guessing the first and the last?) since we need to make our vacation plans pretty soon.

Anonymous wrote:As with so much else, kids get out of summer swim what they put into it. If they only attend a couple of practices every week and don't join in the social events, they won't get to know as many of the other swimmers and won't have as full an experience - and they will also miss out on a certain amount (note: YMMV in this category depending on your vision of child swimming) of conditioning and skills development that they are still essentially paying for. For a new 8U, I'd recommend starting off with an abstract goal of (nearly) once-daily practice ( = about 4 days per week), all of the B meets for which you do not have conflicts, and as many of the social events as fit your family's schedule and tastes. Once you get to know the activity, the team, and DD's feelings (which should only take a couple of weeks), you can either dial it up or ramp it back accordingly.

That having been said, I'm totally willing to out myself here as an MCSL believer. My family joined totally green (parents who never swam anything competitively, young first DC), and we are now all in: my kids do 9 practices + 2 meets per week plus nearly every social event, and we choose to organize travel to miss a minimum amount of summer swim. The coaches and reps are incredibly generous and genuine people, the older kids on the team are great role models, we have wonderful friends in the group, and we don't need summer camp because we have the pool (and the work schedules to take advantage of it).

Obviously, not everyone will feel the same way or have the same team experience as we have. But you'll never know what it could be if you don't try. Totally agree with PP here: welcome to summer swim, OP! I hope it will be a great adventure for DD and a little bit of fun for you, too.

Thanks, PP! Are you at Long Branch, or which team are you at? When do the social events tend to happen?

[Anonymous]

Bethesda is pretty cut throat

[Anonymous]

I’m a rep for a team that swims against Long Branch frequently, and I can’t say enough nice things about the kids, the parents, the reps, and the pool. In fact, given our waitlist, LB is where I direct friends who want their kids to swim for the coming summer.

We love going there!

I can’t speak to the coaching or social events, though.

[Anonymous]

OP, every team has a different schedule for social events. For our team, there's team breakfast at the pool every Friday late morning, plus usually one other event per week. There are also B meets on Wednesday evenings, team lunch out after the A meets on Saturdays, and some weekend celebrations for the whole pool community where many team families attend, as well as the end-of-season celebration. It's going to sound strange, but one early priority for you could be your team's time trials, which is really an intramural meet where everyone on the team swims all of their legal strokes to get start times for the season. It's kind of a kickoff, and a great way to get DC understanding what a meet will look and feel like.

[Anonymous]

Since no one else has yet, I'm going to give a big plug for the Bethesda Barracudas. It's an amazing team - great kids, great parents, great team culture. There are swimmers of all abilities, and everyone is super supportive. My son started when he was 7 and could barely swim 25 yards. But he caught the bug during his first summer and is now swimming year round on a competitive club team.

[Anonymous]

OP - maybe you know about MLK pool

I share as if you are in SS it is another option

[Anonymous]

MLK pool doesn’t have a summer team. For MCSL your primary criteria are going to be distance to the pool, and at the same time which pools have no waitlist to join. The county pools don’t have a waitlist but then there’s also not a ton of social events because it’s not a membership based organization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since no one else has yet, I'm going to give a big plug for the Bethesda Barracudas. It's an amazing team - great kids, great parents, great team culture. There are swimmers of all abilities, and everyone is super supportive. My son started when he was 7 and could barely swim 25 yards. But he caught the bug during his first summer and is now swimming year round on a competitive club team.

Not sure if you are from Bethesda Maryland or if you are referring to a different Bethesda Barracudas team. The Bethesda team in MCSl has mean nasty parents who are ambitious and all about winning. The team is not spirited whatsoever, they do not cheer at all. Most of the kids just show up for the meets on Saturday. And they’ll add kids throughout the season from club teams if it looks like they are going lose a meet, bumping kids who have been there all season down the list. One year they brought in 20 kids from Ugandas national team to improve their team.

I would steer clear of Bethesda if you want your kids to enjoy swimming or have fun in MCSL.