Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 4 and 5 and just stumbled into a swim team practice in our neighborhood pool 2 weeks ago. I just found out the season is over but planning for next year.

What is swim team all about? What is pre-team and what should I expect for my kids. There is practice daily? There are meets weekly? Help me navigate this for next year. I have asked neighbors and some love it and some can’t handle it. Give me the scoop.

Dig through and read the swim related threads here over the past 2 months and you'll have a pretty good picture of summer swim.

You'll be in pre-team next year so no need to over-think this, you'll learn most of what you need to know between now and the end of next season.

Not necessarily. My 6 year old DD swam 8U this year and made every A meet and divisionals.

That's a nice humble-brag but if you are completely honest, you have to admit that this is fairly exceptional and very atypical, don't you agree?

OP seems to know nothing about about swim(hence the question) so the chances that her now 4 and 5 year olds are doing anything other than pre-team is unlikely. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Lol, if PP is humble bragging her 6 year old imagine how insufferable she will be when her kid is 10.

One of the fun things about the summer swim teams is that the little kids are just as important as the big kids. They all swim together and if you are lucky, your kid finds some older kids that are amazing with them.

Almost always fun for the little ones. It can be a fun way to keep kids structured in the summer without doing camps. If your kid does well and has potential the coaches will push you to get involved in a year round swim program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 4 and 5 and just stumbled into a swim team practice in our neighborhood pool 2 weeks ago. I just found out the season is over but planning for next year.

What is swim team all about? What is pre-team and what should I expect for my kids. There is practice daily? There are meets weekly? Help me navigate this for next year. I have asked neighbors and some love it and some can’t handle it. Give me the scoop.

Dig through and read the swim related threads here over the past 2 months and you'll have a pretty good picture of summer swim.

You'll be in pre-team next year so no need to over-think this, you'll learn most of what you need to know between now and the end of next season.

Not necessarily. My 6 year old DD swam 8U this year and made every A meet and divisionals.

That's a nice humble-brag but if you are completely honest, you have to admit that this is fairly exceptional and very atypical, don't you agree?

OP seems to know nothing about about swim(hence the question) so the chances that her now 4 and 5 year olds are doing anything other than pre-team is unlikely. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 4 and 5 and just stumbled into a swim team practice in our neighborhood pool 2 weeks ago. I just found out the season is over but planning for next year.

What is swim team all about? What is pre-team and what should I expect for my kids. There is practice daily? There are meets weekly? Help me navigate this for next year. I have asked neighbors and some love it and some can’t handle it. Give me the scoop.

Dig through and read the swim related threads here over the past 2 months and you'll have a pretty good picture of summer swim.

You'll be in pre-team next year so no need to over-think this, you'll learn most of what you need to know between now and the end of next season.

Not necessarily. My 6 year old DD swam 8U this year and made every A meet and divisionals.

If your kids are interested in swimming, inquire with your pool reps now. Even though summer swim has ended, our swim team also does winter swim (geared more towards the younger swimmers (typically 4-12) to get them proficient in the water and swimming regularly). It’s a nice way to get to know the younger coaches, see pool friends, and is usually pretty reasonable for weekly practice sept-May.

I agree with the PPs. At our pool, swim team is a community! The commitment can be intense: daily practice, 1 B meet (open to all swimmers) per week, 1 A meet (for selected swimmers), a Friday pep rally. But the positives outweigh any of that. It’s really social for both the kids and the parents! My kids get to know the older swimmers on the team, who teach them cheers and who encourage them during the meets. It’s fun to see your swimmer drop time week over week and see their hardwork pay off. And when we go to the pool, they now have so many swim team friends who they go off to play with. I’ve grown my social circle too. It’s a fun community and summer swim is one of my favorite times of year.

Some teams are really chill and fun, some are really intense. See if you can find out the vibe for your neighborhood team.

You don’t necessarily need a stay at home parent. We get a summer babysitter who takes the kids to the pool daily and does other activities. For two kids it’s cheaper than camp.

Anonymous wrote:Your kids are the perfect for pre-team/swim team!

Our family did it for the first time this year and it was really fun. I have zero experience with swim so I signed them up with the goal of being water safe and I was surprised at how social the whole experience was. It felt like summer camp. The kids had an hour practice every morning. Then there was a B meet on Wednesday night which goes from 5 - 9pm, then a pep rally Friday afternoon. There were also popsicle outings and social gatherings for the kids separate from official practice. Obviously, this means you need a SAH parent (or very flexible WFH parent) to take the kids to the pool all the time. You also need to volunteer a significant amount, 6 jobs is fairly common but some pools require less. They can’t run meets without parental support. Overall, it wasn’t a big deal to help time while your kid swims or set up ribbons or whatever.

Check your pool website, there’s usually a handbook with swim team information. There was another recent thread with swim team cost and it’s fairly cheap at around $200 (on average) for the season.

I largely second this PP's experience - my kids did it for the first time this summer and I hadn't had experience with swim team myself growing up. They enjoyed the swimming and it was great to see them improve week over week (my competitive kid got really into the competitive part, my other one just had fun), but I was surprised (and really loved) the team/social experience and how the older kids looked out for and helped the younger kids and how independent and confident my kids got just from having a lot of time at these activities. We also met some other parents and families at our pool who we didn't otherwise know, which was nice, and we'd see families we knew from other clubs at the meets.

Our pool does an early morning practice for those who can't make the midday practices due to camp, working parents, etc., so my kids did that. It was an early AM commitment, but the kids did it mostly without complaint (and it was only about a month/5 weeks after school got out and now it's done). There are definitely volunteer requirements (read around here for lots of fun opinions on those), but they weren't unmanageable and seemed like legitimate needs.

It's apparent on DCUM that things can get more intense and pools/teams have their own drama, etc. - but we didn't notice any of that in year 1 (and with not-competitive swimmers) and it was a really good experience. Definitely recommend giving it a shot!

If you can swim the logistics and have a good local pool, swim team can be great source of fun, exercise, mental and physical growth, inter-age friendships and community for the whole family. It’s been one of my kids favorite parts of childhood (they are middle and high school age now) and similar in some ways to my childhood summer camp experiences and it’s also been part of how DH and I have expanded our community.

Our team operates a lot like what PP described. Pre-team is a few times a week, coached by the swim team coaches but with older kids in the pool as helpers. It’s a great way to get started. Most kids join the actual team at 7 or 8 but there are some 5 and 6 year olds who are already proficient swimmers.

The first season can be a challenge for some kids (it can be chaotic, the water is cold, and they’re being asked to do hard things) but I honestly credit swim team for teaching my kid how to struggle through something and come out the other side stronger, which has been a huge life lesson. And the other aspects were so fun that the struggle was all worth it in their eyes. It’s one of the few activities 18 year olds snd 8 year olds can do together, and listening to the senior speeches at our team banquet the other night I was in tears.

Also, there’s lots of junk food involved.

(Note, this post all applies to the MCLS version of swim team. The country club swim team I suffered through as a child offered few of the same benefits)

At our pool, the pre-team has daily practice overseen by teen coaches and helpers. The main swim team starts right after Memorial Day, and the pre-team starts a week or two later. They have one meet (with other area pre-teams). They're invited to all social events (e.g. weekly pep rallies and the end-of-year banquet).

Your pool's web page might have details. Here's what ours is like:

This is a developmental “pre-team” for young swimmers, usually ages 5-8 years old. Attention will be given to improving stroke technique and endurance. Interested children can come to the first week of practices (see the calendar tab for time and date).

Eligibility: A child must be able to swim unassisted the length of the pool with alternating arm stroke. The coaches will assess each child's abilities in the first week or so of practice to be sure he/she is ready for pre-team. As a swimmer progresses, he or she might be encouraged to join the “big team” and perhaps swim in meets later in the summer.

The pre-team is NOT a replacement for swim lessons. If the coaches decide that your child is not ready for pre-team we encourage you to register for swim lessons. Our swim lesson program is designed to prepare the children for the pre-team. Additionally, participating in the pre-team along with group or private swim lessons is a great way to support your young swimmer's skill development.

Your kids are the perfect for pre-team/swim team!

Our family did it for the first time this year and it was really fun. I have zero experience with swim so I signed them up with the goal of being water safe and I was surprised at how social the whole experience was. It felt like summer camp. The kids had an hour practice every morning. Then there was a B meet on Wednesday night which goes from 5 - 9pm, then a pep rally Friday afternoon. There were also popsicle outings and social gatherings for the kids separate from official practice. Obviously, this means you need a SAH parent (or very flexible WFH parent) to take the kids to the pool all the time. You also need to volunteer a significant amount, 6 jobs is fairly common but some pools require less. They can’t run meets without parental support. Overall, it wasn’t a big deal to help time while your kid swims or set up ribbons or whatever.

Check your pool website, there’s usually a handbook with swim team information. There was another recent thread with swim team cost and it’s fairly cheap at around $200 (on average) for the season.

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 4 and 5 and just stumbled into a swim team practice in our neighborhood pool 2 weeks ago. I just found out the season is over but planning for next year.

What is swim team all about? What is pre-team and what should I expect for my kids. There is practice daily? There are meets weekly? Help me navigate this for next year. I have asked neighbors and some love it and some can’t handle it. Give me the scoop.

Dig through and read the swim related threads here over the past 2 months and you'll have a pretty good picture of summer swim.

You'll be in pre-team next year so no need to over-think this, you'll learn most of what you need to know between now and the end of next season.

Find out who your team rep is. The team rep will be able to fill you in on specifics as they relate to your team and league.

My kids are 4 and 5 and just stumbled into a swim team practice in our neighborhood pool 2 weeks ago. I just found out the season is over but planning for next year.

What is swim team all about? What is pre-team and what should I expect for my kids. There is practice daily? There are meets weekly? Help me navigate this for next year. I have asked neighbors and some love it and some can’t handle it. Give me the scoop.