York, NCAP, or Machine for 14 year old swimmer with mostly AA, some AAA cuts

[Anonymous]

Hello,

We are moving for jobs in Tyson's Corner at the end of the summer, and plan to buy in McLean or Falls Church. We have 3 swimmers, but only one who is currently serious about the sport. She is 13.5 years old and has mostly AA times, with 3 AAA cuts currently. She is a sprinter, so not looking for a program that focuses on lots of yardage as their main training philosophy. She would hate that. Our current club coach recommended these 3 options to consider. I would love to hear from parents who have experience with one or more of these teams in Virginia.

I should add - we are not used to morning practices (besides Saturday) and would prefer to keep it that way as long as possible.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

We are moving for jobs in Tyson's Corner at the end of the summer, and plan to buy in McLean or Falls Church. We have 3 swimmers, but only one who is currently serious about the sport. She is 13.5 years old and has mostly AA times, with 3 AAA cuts currently. She is a sprinter, so not looking for a program that focuses on lots of yardage as their main training philosophy. She would hate that. Our current club coach recommended these 3 options to consider. I would love to hear from parents who have experience with one or more of these teams in Virginia.

I should add - we are not used to morning practices (besides Saturday) and would prefer to keep it that way as long as possible.

Thank you!

NCAP MU (Gold 1 Group has morning or afternoon options and 3 VERY FAST 13-14 year old girls moving up)
Machine is opening a new location at Chesterbrook and also has afternoon options

York great for young kids but not for older swimmers

[Anonymous]

Hydra is probably the fastest and most fun team

[Anonymous]

How is Hydra the fastest and most fun team when they haven’t even started yet? Or are we finally admitting that Tuckahoe NVSL and Hydra are one in the same?

Serious questions. No meet schedule. No known roster. Nothing proven.

[Anonymous]

OP ignore the Hydra side show. That’s a side issue some parents are very hyped up about but not really relevant to you and the clubs you asked about. I would also recommend you check out NCAP Marymount (MU). They’ve just had a bit of restructuring in terms of their practice groups but if your swimmer will still be 13 at the start of next season you’ll want to reach out to the Silver 1 and Gold 1 coaches to see where your swimmer would fit based on her age and times. They have a VERY strong cohort of girls your daughter’s age. We don’t swim there but my DD is around that age and knows the fast 13-14 MU girls from various meets and training camps and she also says they are super nice and fun to be around. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hydra is probably the fastest and most fun team

In all seriousness. Hydra is a new team. They just got sanctioned by ISA Swimming. They don’t have a meet schedule for the upcoming season yet. The owner is young and clearly motivated but a polarizing individual in the swim community so it’s unknown what meets and how many kids will join his Club. It is also affiliated with Tuckahoe swim club so may be unwelcoming to newcomers in the sense that swim friends will already be established.

In terms of summer swim. Join a ISA swim club, find a house, and then decide what summer swim team to join based on where school friends/swim friends go and proximity to your home.

[Anonymous]

Sorry to dip into the thread, but how is MU for 13-14 boys?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to dip into the thread, but how is MU for 13-14 boys?

They are a talented group of 11-14 boys. A lot either staying in Silver 1 or Gold 2. Boys are tricky at this age because puberty plays such a huge role in times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to dip into the thread, but how is MU for 13-14 boys?

They are a talented group of 11-14 boys. A lot either staying in Silver 1 or Gold 2. Boys are tricky at this age because puberty plays such a huge role in times.

Doesn’t puberty play into girl times?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to dip into the thread, but how is MU for 13-14 boys?

They are a talented group of 11-14 boys. A lot either staying in Silver 1 or Gold 2. Boys are tricky at this age because puberty plays such a huge role in times.

Doesn’t puberty play into girl times?

Yes, but more at the 11-12 age group. Most girls by 13-14 have already hit puberty. When you look at the time standards the biggest jump for the girls is from the 9-10 to 11-12 group but for boys it’s the 11-12 to 13-14 group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to dip into the thread, but how is MU for 13-14 boys?

They are a talented group of 11-14 boys. A lot either staying in Silver 1 or Gold 2. Boys are tricky at this age because puberty plays such a huge role in times.

Doesn’t puberty play into girl times?

Yes, but more at the 11-12 age group. Most girls by 13-14 have already hit puberty. When you look at the time standards the biggest jump for the girls is from the 9-10 to 11-12 group but for boys it’s the 11-12 to 13-14 group.

Yes. If you look at time standards for some of the bigger meets they are fairly close between the boys/girls at the 11-12 age group but by 13-14 the boys are expected to be significantly faster than the girls. For boys that hit puberty early it is fine but for a lot of boys they aren’t close to those times until they are closer to 14.

[Anonymous]

How big is her current swim club and does that matter to her? Does she care if she does relays at meets? Does she want to potentially swim in college? Have you settled on schools (public vs private)? Most clubs do at least a few mornings, but if you are shooting for afternoons, you will want to consider school dismissal times.

[Anonymous]

Would also ask about attending a practice if you happen to be around at any point to get a feel for coach, program, and peer group.

[Anonymous]

OP - thank you all for the feedback. Her current team is large, but not nearly as large as NCAP. We will be visiting a few times this summer to house hunt so I will look into having her drop into a few practices. It sounds like NCAP and Machine are better bets for a training cohort. I looked at times for York and there are not many strong swimmers her age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

We are moving for jobs in Tyson's Corner at the end of the summer, and plan to buy in McLean or Falls Church. We have 3 swimmers, but only one who is currently serious about the sport. She is 13.5 years old and has mostly AA times, with 3 AAA cuts currently. She is a sprinter, so not looking for a program that focuses on lots of yardage as their main training philosophy. She would hate that. Our current club coach recommended these 3 options to consider. I would love to hear from parents who have experience with one or more of these teams in Virginia.

I should add - we are not used to morning practices (besides Saturday) and would prefer to keep it that way as long as possible.

Thank you!

NCAP MU (Gold 1 Group has morning or afternoon options and 3 VERY FAST 13-14 year old girls moving up)
Machine is opening a new location at Chesterbrook and also has afternoon options

York great for young kids but not for older swimmers

Agree with PP. MU has a strong group of girls and it’s about to get stronger. They just got a fast 15 yr old from TY with two more likely to come from the TY 14-15 age group to MU.