Check out JFD. Your timing is off(most try-outs are over) and requirements are narrow(want meets, want stroke instruction, but don't want to drive and and can't spend too much time due to other sports....). Further complications and limiting factor might be his age...a bit of a needle in a haystack here but JFD might work:

https://www.jfdolphins.com/

Anonymous wrote:I would do a Toll stroke and turn class with an endurance practice. At Georgetown Prep.

There is no competition involved in either of these though.

I would do a Toll stroke and turn class with an endurance practice. At Georgetown Prep.

Given what you described, SDS probably fits what you are looking for best. A low key club where swim doesn’t have to be your kid’s primary sport, but he can still participate in meets. Club meets are also a different experience if say your kid is 9-10 and has never raced anything longer than a 25 in the strokes other than free. A low key club is a good way to assess whether swim is something your kid wants to devote more time to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My son is motivated by the competition, so meets are a huge plus. My son is athletic and therefore has done really well solely based off that, but he needs stroke work. Wondering what that looks like at SDS?

SDS is the bottom of the barrel- how old is your child? If you're in Potomac I'd do Tollefson, ASA, or NCap at Holton (the only downside is that it feeds to AU and is further afoot in the later years)

NP - Tollefson team tryouts are done. ASA regular programs are actually pretty competitive. NCAP isn't necessarily at Bronze level, but availability is a concern.

Stroke work depends on the coaches, mostly. He might get at SDS, maybe not. Tollefson training and endurance could be a great fit, but again, no competition. There's a dearth of programs that meet the OP's requirements: not too intense, lots of technique work, competitive, *and* not far from Potomac.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My son is motivated by the competition, so meets are a huge plus. My son is athletic and therefore has done really well solely based off that, but he needs stroke work. Wondering what that looks like at SDS?

SDS is the bottom of the barrel- how old is your child? If you're in Potomac I'd do Tollefson, ASA, or NCap at Holton (the only downside is that it feeds to AU and is further afoot in the later years)

OP here. My son is motivated by the competition, so meets are a huge plus. My son is athletic and therefore has done really well solely based off that, but he needs stroke work. Wondering what that looks like at SDS?

Tollefson for stroke and turn and endurance classes

FINS, ASA rising stars, Tollefson

Stroke and turn thru moco. It’s once a week with no meets.

+1 for Fins

Do you think he wants to do meets? PPs recommendations are non-competitive, but also low commitment if that’s what you are looking for.

My non-competitive, good stroke training recommendation is FINS (finsswimming.com).

We are a long time RMSC KSAC family. Many KSAC families come from Potomac. In the regular training groups, they have more than the recommended/required number of practices on the schedule. This always worked well for my multi sport kids. For example, minis (8&unders) has 4 practices per week (M-Th) and suggests 2. You can schedule those two however you like and it doesn’t have to be that same week to week. You just show up as works best for you. Meets are monthly, so you would try to make at least one day of that work when they are scheduled.

The problem is they’ve already had tryouts and demand is high, spots are low.

Hopefully you get some other recommendations that have worked for multi sport kids. One nice thing about swimming is that the schedules tend to come out earlier and are more consistent than field/gym permit sports.

County stroke and turn or swim Montgomery. City of Rockville also has a preteam

In VA I recommend Stroke Mechanics with Machine Aquatics that I what my multi sport kids does because swimming is not our main sport. https://www.machineaquatics.com/stroke-mechanics-maintenance

Hi! Looking into a DC area swim program. We are located in Potomac and don’t want to drive too far for convenience sake. My son plays other sports, including a club sport which takes up a good amount of his time, so I’d like something that isn’t too intense. I’d like him to really learn stroke technique and see if swimming year round is something that would be a good fit for him without jumping right in to something like NCAP. Any thoughts on where to start? He’s a natural athlete and would do well, just want him to learn and have fun at same time!