RMSC tryout questions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP, can someone please point me to info on Swim Montgomery? All I found is a brief paragraph on a county site but no info on times, how to sign up, etc. Thanks so much!

It goes on the county rec department swim section but it’s probably not up yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, can someone please point me to info on Swim Montgomery? All I found is a brief paragraph on a county site but no info on times, how to sign up, etc. Thanks so much!

It goes on the county rec department swim section but it’s probably not up yet.

There are two programs. Here is one

https://www.mstcswim.com/

[Anonymous]

My kid did two 12 week sessions of Swim Montgomery prior to joining RMSC and it worked out great. Swim Montgomery gives you the foundation in all 4 strokes. There is no emphasis on speed in the program, they'll have plenty of time to work on that later.

[Anonymous]

Speaking from experience, RMSC is very poor with instruction in the minis. Way too many kids in the lanes. You would be better off going with a smaller club or lessons at this age. My kid developed a ton of bad habits from not being taught the strokes properly to start with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Speaking from experience, RMSC is very poor with instruction in the minis. Way too many kids in the lanes. You would be better off going with a smaller club or lessons at this age. My kid developed a ton of bad habits from not being taught the strokes properly to start with.

This is why I think Swim Montgomery is helpful, because it is nothing but working on developing proper stroke technique. I agree with you about RMSC, your child should be decent in all 4 strokes before you start it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid did two 12 week sessions of Swim Montgomery prior to joining RMSC and it worked out great. Swim Montgomery gives you the foundation in all 4 strokes. There is no emphasis on speed in the program, they'll have plenty of time to work on that later.

Can you share more about what they do? What age typically participates in the program? How is it structured? Like what the previous poster said, I can't seem to find much information about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Speaking from experience, RMSC is very poor with instruction in the minis. Way too many kids in the lanes. You would be better off going with a smaller club or lessons at this age. My kid developed a ton of bad habits from not being taught the strokes properly to start with.

This is why I think Swim Montgomery is helpful, because it is nothing but working on developing proper stroke technique. I agree with you about RMSC, your child should be decent in all 4 strokes before you start it.

Really?? OP kid is only 7 and she should know all 4 strokes before starting RMSC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid did two 12 week sessions of Swim Montgomery prior to joining RMSC and it worked out great. Swim Montgomery gives you the foundation in all 4 strokes. There is no emphasis on speed in the program, they'll have plenty of time to work on that later.

Can you share more about what they do? What age typically participates in the program? How is it structured? Like what the previous poster said, I can't seem to find much information about this.

Yeah I agree, not a lot of info out there on it. When the time comes, the registration will open up on Active Montgomery. This website has a brief description of it:

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/rec/activitiesandprograms/aquatics/competitiveprograms.html

"A developmental program for kids 13 and under who have an interest in competitive swimming and want to build a foundation of related skills. Swimmers must be able to swim 25 yards/meters without stopping."

My son was only able to do an ugly 25 freestyle before starting the program but after 2 of the 12 weeks sessions he could do all 4 strokes pretty well. From what I recall, there was quite a mix of ages, my son was 8 at the time and that seemed like the most common age although there were some younger and definitely several older (11+). It seems like they grouped the kids according to age/ability and there were maybe 5-6 in a lane and it was heavy on the instructional aspect - the coach would mostly have them work on one specific thing at a time (e.g. kicking with a kickboard). Like I said, it was more about learning proper technique of the strokes than going fast, which is more important when you're starting out anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Speaking from experience, RMSC is very poor with instruction in the minis. Way too many kids in the lanes. You would be better off going with a smaller club or lessons at this age. My kid developed a ton of bad habits from not being taught the strokes properly to start with.

This is why I think Swim Montgomery is helpful, because it is nothing but working on developing proper stroke technique. I agree with you about RMSC, your child should be decent in all 4 strokes before you start it.

Really?? OP kid is only 7 and she should know all 4 strokes before starting RMSC?

I’m a DP but yes. RMSCs Minis group is very crowded so a kid that is not legal in all 4 strokes isn’t getting the best stroke instruction there. You would be better off doing something like the county clinic or Fins to become proficient in all strokes, especially at age 7 because you still could get into the Minis group at age 8.

[Anonymous]

Swim Montgomery is taught by some MCSL coaches. It is meant as a program for competitive swimmers who may not be able to make the time commitment for year round club swimming or maybe didn’t have the opportunity to start club swim young enough (and RMSC in particular is quite hard to get into if you don’t flow up from the minis) The kids are up to probably 12-13 or so for ages and they’re split by lanes so they are getting the instruction they need at their swimming level. I agree that it is hard to find out detailed information about it. But if your child doesn’t make minis then it’s a great alternative to keep them swimming and improving. Of course these are also many other clubs in the area who will take the young as well, just depends what clubs are operating in what pools are closest to you.

[Anonymous]

it really depends on kids. my son is quite stubborn and not easy to learn strokes from group sessions. before last summer, we signed up him for county stroke and turn for a season, nothing really changed. but some kids, especially many girls, they followed instructions well and had huge progress.

we got rejections almost everywhere, but ended up in one of RMSC sites, only after I coached my son by myself to have his fly look like legal two weeks before that last tryout.

so no program works for all kids. if the kid needs more personal attention, go find a private coach. if the kid excels in listening and following, group lessons like country stroke and turn should be good enough.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, can someone please point me to info on Swim Montgomery? All I found is a brief paragraph on a county site but no info on times, how to sign up, etc. Thanks so much!

It goes on the county rec department swim section but it’s probably not up yet.

There are two programs. Here is one

https://www.mstcswim.com/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid did two 12 week sessions of Swim Montgomery prior to joining RMSC and it worked out great. Swim Montgomery gives you the foundation in all 4 strokes. There is no emphasis on speed in the program, they'll have plenty of time to work on that later.

Can you share more about what they do? What age typically participates in the program? How is it structured? Like what the previous poster said, I can't seem to find much information about this.

Yeah I agree, not a lot of info out there on it. When the time comes, the registration will open up on Active Montgomery. This website has a brief description of it:

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/rec/activitiesandprograms/aquatics/competitiveprograms.html

"A developmental program for kids 13 and under who have an interest in competitive swimming and want to build a foundation of related skills. Swimmers must be able to swim 25 yards/meters without stopping."

My son was only able to do an ugly 25 freestyle before starting the program but after 2 of the 12 weeks sessions he could do all 4 strokes pretty well. From what I recall, there was quite a mix of ages, my son was 8 at the time and that seemed like the most common age although there were some younger and definitely several older (11+). It seems like they grouped the kids according to age/ability and there were maybe 5-6 in a lane and it was heavy on the instructional aspect - the coach would mostly have them work on one specific thing at a time (e.g. kicking with a kickboard). Like I said, it was more about learning proper technique of the strokes than going fast, which is more important when you're starting out anyway.

Thank you! This is really helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it really depends on kids. my son is quite stubborn and not easy to learn strokes from group sessions. before last summer, we signed up him for county stroke and turn for a season, nothing really changed. but some kids, especially many girls, they followed instructions well and had huge progress.

we got rejections almost everywhere, but ended up in one of RMSC sites, only after I coached my son by myself to have his fly look like legal two weeks before that last tryout.

so no program works for all kids. if the kid needs more personal attention, go find a private coach. if the kid excels in listening and following, group lessons like country stroke and turn should be good enough.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, can someone please point me to info on Swim Montgomery? All I found is a brief paragraph on a county site but no info on times, how to sign up, etc. Thanks so much!

It goes on the county rec department swim section but it’s probably not up yet.

There are two programs. Here is one

https://www.mstcswim.com/

What do they do at the stroke and turn? What strikes do they work on? Is this more like a regular county class that meets maybe 8 times?

[Anonymous]

SwiMontgomery was a 30+-week program. The kids who started off as the weakest swimmers were actually the ones who received the most attention and support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:it really depends on kids. my son is quite stubborn and not easy to learn strokes from group sessions. before last summer, we signed up him for county stroke and turn for a season, nothing really changed. but some kids, especially many girls, they followed instructions well and had huge progress.

we got rejections almost everywhere, but ended up in one of RMSC sites, only after I coached my son by myself to have his fly look like legal two weeks before that last tryout.

so no program works for all kids. if the kid needs more personal attention, go find a private coach. if the kid excels in listening and following, group lessons like country stroke and turn should be good enough.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP, can someone please point me to info on Swim Montgomery? All I found is a brief paragraph on a county site but no info on times, how to sign up, etc. Thanks so much!

It goes on the county rec department swim section but it’s probably not up yet.

There are two programs. Here is one

https://www.mstcswim.com/

What do they do at the stroke and turn? What strikes do they work on? Is this more like a regular county class that meets maybe 8 times?

It goes from October to May most sunday nights. They concentrate on stroke fundamentals (the younger kids are mostly free/back) the older ones get into breast and fly. At our location each week they alternate the last 15 minutes of working on turns and starts. One of my kids definitely benefited from the focus on starts. They are much better this year. This is geared to keep summer swim kids in the pool so they are ready to go in the summer. One of my kids was already an A meet swimmer. The other one was in a much more competitive age group. This allowed them to make A meets in several strokes. Neither kid has interest in club swim so this is perfect for them.