RMSC tryouts for 2025-26 season

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got an email saying 150 kids are trying out for 10-20 spots, so I think it's unlikely that my kid is going to make the cut. Does RMSC provide any kind of evaluation or standards of what they are looking for if you don't make it?

Are these 10-20 open spots across all age groups, or specific to the older swimmers? Our DC is scheduled for the final tryout and I'm just trying to get a sense of how much of a longshot he might be as an 8&U.

No way to know - they will be measured against the cohort they are trying out against at that session as well as the previous session and then it's a function of how many slots are available. There is also, in my observation, clearly factor of age in that they don't just want all the best 8yo, they want some 7yo and few 6yo to develop and have for more than a year.

They have "minimum" requirements but the slots are limited so if your child is just meeting the minimum, their chances won't be as good as if they exceeded the minimum. They say up front on their website that not all swimmers who meet the minimums will get spots. The criteria they are evaluated against will vary by age - younger kids will obviously be judged against a lower standard. Having said that, regardless of the age, the more strokes they are proficient at the better and the faster they are at any given stroke, the better.

You'll have a better idea of where they are once you see how they stack up against the other children that are there at their session.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Thank you for your generous response -- fully understand all of those factors, but I'm asking a different question: whether the reference above to 100+ aspirants for 10-20 slots related to the entire team or just the senior groups. Your response seems to suggest that it is club-wide, which is helpful to know (if slightly daunting!).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got an email saying 150 kids are trying out for 10-20 spots, so I think it's unlikely that my kid is going to make the cut. Does RMSC provide any kind of evaluation or standards of what they are looking for if you don't make it?

They won’t likely provide them. How old is your swimmer?

11M - He's usually in the top 5 of the B meets, but we are on a very competitive team with a large 11-12 M group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got an email saying 150 kids are trying out for 10-20 spots, so I think it's unlikely that my kid is going to make the cut. Does RMSC provide any kind of evaluation or standards of what they are looking for if you don't make it?

Are these 10-20 open spots across all age groups, or specific to the older swimmers? Our DC is scheduled for the final tryout and I'm just trying to get a sense of how much of a longshot he might be as an 8&U.

The email I received specified 9-12 age group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got an email saying 150 kids are trying out for 10-20 spots, so I think it's unlikely that my kid is going to make the cut. Does RMSC provide any kind of evaluation or standards of what they are looking for if you don't make it?

Are these 10-20 open spots across all age groups, or specific to the older swimmers? Our DC is scheduled for the final tryout and I'm just trying to get a sense of how much of a longshot he might be as an 8&U.

The email I received specified 9-12 age group.

Very helpful context - thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got an email saying 150 kids are trying out for 10-20 spots, so I think it's unlikely that my kid is going to make the cut. Does RMSC provide any kind of evaluation or standards of what they are looking for if you don't make it?

Are these 10-20 open spots across all age groups, or specific to the older swimmers? Our DC is scheduled for the final tryout and I'm just trying to get a sense of how much of a longshot he might be as an 8&U.

No way to know - they will be measured against the cohort they are trying out against at that session as well as the previous session and then it's a function of how many slots are available. There is also, in my observation, clearly factor of age in that they don't just want all the best 8yo, they want some 7yo and few 6yo to develop and have for more than a year.

They have "minimum" requirements but the slots are limited so if your child is just meeting the minimum, their chances won't be as good as if they exceeded the minimum. They say up front on their website that not all swimmers who meet the minimums will get spots. The criteria they are evaluated against will vary by age - younger kids will obviously be judged against a lower standard. Having said that, regardless of the age, the more strokes they are proficient at the better and the faster they are at any given stroke, the better.

You'll have a better idea of where they are once you see how they stack up against the other children that are there at their session.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Thank you for your generous response -- fully understand all of those factors, but I'm asking a different question: whether the reference above to 100+ aspirants for 10-20 slots related to the entire team or just the senior groups. Your response seems to suggest that it is club-wide, which is helpful to know (if slightly daunting!).

The answer for RMSC for all the groups/locations is it's always tough and a bit of a "long shot". A couple of years ago there were 2 or 3 slots open for the junior group at KSAC and there were over 100 kids trying out(search the threads here).

That 10-20 slots PP was referring to would likely be for the group at the site they were trying out for, not club-wide. There are roughly 100 kids trying out for each group at each location - 50 per session x 2 sessions... so your child will be in a session of 50 kids trying out for a group at that location and the session last month for that group/location would have been similar so there is now a pool of 100 candidates for consideration for that group/location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got an email saying 150 kids are trying out for 10-20 spots, so I think it's unlikely that my kid is going to make the cut. Does RMSC provide any kind of evaluation or standards of what they are looking for if you don't make it?

Are these 10-20 open spots across all age groups, or specific to the older swimmers? Our DC is scheduled for the final tryout and I'm just trying to get a sense of how much of a longshot he might be as an 8&U.

The email I received specified 9-12 age group.

Which site? Olney?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got an email saying 150 kids are trying out for 10-20 spots, so I think it's unlikely that my kid is going to make the cut. Does RMSC provide any kind of evaluation or standards of what they are looking for if you don't make it?

Are these 10-20 open spots across all age groups, or specific to the older swimmers? Our DC is scheduled for the final tryout and I'm just trying to get a sense of how much of a longshot he might be as an 8&U.

The email I received specified 9-12 age group.

Which site? Olney?

Germantown

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got an email saying 150 kids are trying out for 10-20 spots, so I think it's unlikely that my kid is going to make the cut. Does RMSC provide any kind of evaluation or standards of what they are looking for if you don't make it?

Are these 10-20 open spots across all age groups, or specific to the older swimmers? Our DC is scheduled for the final tryout and I'm just trying to get a sense of how much of a longshot he might be as an 8&U.

No way to know - they will be measured against the cohort they are trying out against at that session as well as the previous session and then it's a function of how many slots are available. There is also, in my observation, clearly factor of age in that they don't just want all the best 8yo, they want some 7yo and few 6yo to develop and have for more than a year.

They have "minimum" requirements but the slots are limited so if your child is just meeting the minimum, their chances won't be as good as if they exceeded the minimum. They say up front on their website that not all swimmers who meet the minimums will get spots. The criteria they are evaluated against will vary by age - younger kids will obviously be judged against a lower standard. Having said that, regardless of the age, the more strokes they are proficient at the better and the faster they are at any given stroke, the better.

You'll have a better idea of where they are once you see how they stack up against the other children that are there at their session.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Thank you for your generous response -- fully understand all of those factors, but I'm asking a different question: whether the reference above to 100+ aspirants for 10-20 slots related to the entire team or just the senior groups. Your response seems to suggest that it is club-wide, which is helpful to know (if slightly daunting!).

The answer for RMSC for all the groups/locations is it's always tough and a bit of a "long shot". A couple of years ago there were 2 or 3 slots open for the junior group at KSAC and there were over 100 kids trying out(search the threads here).

That 10-20 slots PP was referring to would likely be for the group at the site they were trying out for, not club-wide. There are roughly 100 kids trying out for each group at each location - 50 per session x 2 sessions... so your child will be in a session of 50 kids trying out for a group at that location and the session last month for that group/location would have been similar so there is now a pool of 100 candidates for consideration for that group/location.

Thank you for this additional color - very helpful! So we basically have to roll a hard eight lol.