Reply to Swim team 101?

Forum Index » Swimming and Diving

Reply to "Swim team 101?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here.  Thanks all.  I sounded unclear about summer vs club swim because I was/am unclear.  We have never done any kind of swim team before, just lessons, so I'm still trying to understand what the options are in order to figure out what might work for us.

It sounds like if we want to start with something low-key and fun, we should just wait for next summer and see how she likes it, is that right?  In an ideal world we'd start sooner but I don't want to turn her off the whole idea if the school-year options aren't the best starting point.

And then you basically have to join a private pool to get the summer swim team experience, is that right?  (Or would the summer options at the Silver Spring YMCA or the public pools still be fun?)  Any suggestions for SS/Wheaton area pools that have no wait list, evening practices, aren't picky about kids attending every practice, and have a fun swim team atmosphere for an 8 year old joining as a newbie?  (The pool where most of the neighborhood kids go has a huge waitlist so that's out.)[/quote]

So your timing is a little off for most(but not all!) current club swim options - they typically have tryouts over the summer(Jun/July) for the club swim "year" that starts in September.  PPs have mentioned possibilities at Fairland and that is probably your best bet at this point if you want to try and get started now.

There are also options between now and next summer that might actally be a better fit for her(and your expectations) -- FINS, Stroke and Turn through MoCo Rec, SwiMontgomery through MoCo Rec to name a few that would work for where you live - these may not have opening at this very moment but could have openings over the next months.

Personally, if I were in your shoes, I would not wait until next summer, I would try to keep her in the pool with lessons or something at least a few times a month, if possible.  Then she can "hit the water" ready to go next summer and be ready for club tryouts next summer it that's something she's interested in.

In terms of a pool, several of the public pools in the county that swim in the summer in MCSL(Bethesda and Glenmont, for example) so that's an option.  Many of the private area pools do have a waitlist so you'd need to check with each to find out their status.  I know there is one larger pool in Silver Spring/Wheaton, Connecticut Belair, that the last time I checked, did not have a waitlist.

[/quote]

OP -- I live near you. My kid is older than yours, but we stumbled into competitive swim from Goldfish.

Summer swim and winter swim are, at your kid's age, different pools and different programs.

While I'd love to have you at West Hillandale (my pool) this summer, there's a waitlist. It's not as long as the lists for Glenwood, Northwest Branch, Franklin Knolls, or Daleview, but there is a list. In your shoes, I'd go to Long Branch for the summer. Long Branch has a solid team and the kids are so happy. Between neighborhood and winter swim friends, I know a lot of families there. You can always put in for a private pool and wait to come off the list while at Long Branch. Some pools will offer August-only memberships (no swim team), which gives you preference for a full summer membership the next season.

Winter swim is not as fun, but the kids who love it ... they LOVE it. At this point, your best bet is to call around to find space at non-county programs. RMSC did tryouts in the summer, and it was intense. I know the Y in Silver Spring is currently doing tryouts. They do twice a week practice. Other programs in the area:

FAST
MSSC
ASA (probably full)
Joe Flaherty's Dolphins (probably full)
Hydrosonic Tiburones
NCAP (probably full)
Tollefson (also has stroke development classes)
Machine

MoCo Stroke and Turn is great, but you'd have to wait until the next session.

I'm sure I missed some!

My kid enjoyed Goldfish's swim team prep class as well.

Your options might be more limited than two months ago, but there's a way to swim.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics