Summer Swim Team Recs?

[Anonymous]

New to the area and looking for a good and fun team for my son and daughter. We live near Franklin Middle School. They are solid swimmers and pretty competitive. Any recommendations?

[Anonymous]

Whichever pool nearest to you doesn’t have a waitlist. Welcome to Virginia. NVSL rules require you to be a pool member in order to join the swim team. Close in many pools have waitlists.

Check the nvsl website and start contacting pools closest to you to get on waitlists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New to the area and looking for a good and fun team for my son and daughter. We live near Franklin Middle School. They are solid swimmers and pretty competitive. Any recommendations?

Here is a link to a map of NVSL pools. There are a few options near Franklin.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?msa=0&mid=1Mj716UsylIzpt0TOtO5iuIoAW3o&ll=38.84871530525667%2C-77.2635255&z=11

There are also some CSL pools in that area.

[Anonymous]

Check out Colonial Swim League teams too

[Anonymous]

Given the area you mentioned look at Franklin Farms, Fox Mill and Fair Oaks. Hopefully others will chime in on which one of those is good, bad or indifferent b

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check out Colonial Swim League teams too

+1
Think Franklin Farm is in here. It is a smaller league than NVSL which I think helps cut down on the crazy inherent in summer swim.

[Anonymous]

Franklin Farm (CSL), Fair Oaks (NVSL), and Fox Mill Woods (NVSL) are probably your best bets. Those 3 allow members outside the boundary of their HOAs and don't have wait lists. There are also a bunch of CSL pools in that area, but I believe they all restrict membership to families that live in their respective HOAs. I could be wrong though so worth checking out if one is really close to where you live.

[Anonymous]

The best recommendation someone gave us was to join where our children’s school friends attend. If you homeschool, join where you find a positive pool culture. Do a summer membership the first year before purchasing the bond. If your kids swim club (USA Swimming), you may also decide to look at pools where their club teammates swim.

Finally, for NVSL pools, look at the times of the swimmers for the pools you are considering. In the whole U.S, only one summer league is sized similar to (or maybe larger than) NVSL (Atlanta Swim Assoc), but surely there is nothing quite like the top-to-bottom talent you will find in NVSL. If your kids’ times do not position them to swim A Meets, they probably won’t have the opportunity to swim relays (unless the pool does relays in B meets). And, let’s face it, summer league should be about snow cones and relays! (The use of “A” and “B” meets in the DC suburban leagues is something very different than we find in other summer leagues around the country).

You can go to this page - https://www.mynvsl.com/leaders - and use the “Criteria” fields to select 2023 + the pools and age groups of interest. This will show you generally which kids were swimming A Meets in 2023.

Fair Oaks is a very nice pool, but has limitations for joining (you must live within a 5 or 8 mile radius, I believe).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Given the area you mentioned look at Franklin Farms, Fox Mill and Fair Oaks. Hopefully others will chime in on which one of those is good, bad or indifferent b

Franklin Farm- Pool is nice and in a beautiful area with nice tennis courts. Great community feel. Colonial League, so don’t know much about the swim team.

Fox Mill- there are two pools: Fox mill woods and Fox mill estates. Both NVSL. Both lower divisions so swim team is less competitive/more fun. FMW has beautiful facilities and is surrounded by woods so feels very secluded.

Fair Oaks- NVSL division 3. Much more competitive. Your swimmer would most likely need to be swimming year round if they wanted to do A meets. No tennis courts, but pool is decent.

Pinecrest- Not on PPs list, but if you are in the 20171 zip code, you are eligible to join this club. Friendly, tight-knit community. NVSL division 5. Also probably need to be a club swimmer if you want to swim the A meets. Nice pool with great diving boards and slide. Really nice tennis courts. Clubhouse was refreshed over the summer so changing facilities/ bathrooms are brand new.

[Anonymous]

If you’re fast you should consider the Rockville Rays. The glory is worth the drive

[Anonymous]

Summer swim is about having funs with friends. Join a pool close to you where they have friends that go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given the area you mentioned look at Franklin Farms, Fox Mill and Fair Oaks. Hopefully others will chime in on which one of those is good, bad or indifferent b

Franklin Farm- Pool is nice and in a beautiful area with nice tennis courts. Great community feel. Colonial League, so don’t know much about the swim team.

Fox Mill- there are two pools: Fox mill woods and Fox mill estates. Both NVSL. Both lower divisions so swim team is less competitive/more fun. FMW has beautiful facilities and is surrounded by woods so feels very secluded.

Fair Oaks- NVSL division 3. Much more competitive. Your swimmer would most likely need to be swimming year round if they wanted to do A meets. No tennis courts, but pool is decent.

Pinecrest- Not on PPs list, but if you are in the 20171 zip code, you are eligible to join this club. Friendly, tight-knit community. NVSL division 5. Also probably need to be a club swimmer if you want to swim the A meets. Nice pool with great diving boards and slide. Really nice tennis courts. Clubhouse was refreshed over the summer so changing facilities/ bathrooms are brand new.

How are the coaches for these clubs? Any insight?

[Anonymous]

Sully Station (D9) is pretty close to that area, as are Brookfield and Greenbriar (both D11).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you’re fast you should consider the Rockville Rays. The glory is worth the drive

lol.. no way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given the area you mentioned look at Franklin Farms, Fox Mill and Fair Oaks. Hopefully others will chime in on which one of those is good, bad or indifferent b

Franklin Farm- Pool is nice and in a beautiful area with nice tennis courts. Great community feel. Colonial League, so don’t know much about the swim team.

Fox Mill- there are two pools: Fox mill woods and Fox mill estates. Both NVSL. Both lower divisions so swim team is less competitive/more fun. FMW has beautiful facilities and is surrounded by woods so feels very secluded.

Fair Oaks- NVSL division 3. Much more competitive. Your swimmer would most likely need to be swimming year round if they wanted to do A meets. No tennis courts, but pool is decent.

Pinecrest- Not on PPs list, but if you are in the 20171 zip code, you are eligible to join this club. Friendly, tight-knit community. NVSL division 5. Also probably need to be a club swimmer if you want to swim the A meets. Nice pool with great diving boards and slide. Really nice tennis courts. Clubhouse was refreshed over the summer so changing facilities/ bathrooms are brand new.

How are the coaches for these clubs? Any insight?

Can’t speak for the others, but the coaches as Pinecrest are great. The head coach is a former Marlins coach and current SLHS swim coach. Super fun a laid back but works you hard. Does a great job of creating an atmosphere where good sportsmanship and team spirit thrive.