Anonymous
03/17/2024 18:02
Subject: Re:How does swim team work?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Check out the Bethesda Barracudas! MCSL summer team that practices at Bethesda Outdoor Pool. (you don't need to 'join' the pool) It's a great team and welcoming to all levels of swimmers. 4 is a bit too young, but if your 8 year old can swim one lap across the pool, he'll pass tryouts.
MCSL has 92 teams. I would say 88 are more fun and welcoming than Bethesda. Join a neighborhood pool for a better experience
Disagree with the above. My son has been swimming with the Bethesda Barraducas for several years now (starting when he could barely make it across the pool), and he LOVES it. He now swims club year-round, but it's the Barracudas that he looks forward to every year. If you don't want to join a neighborhood pool (not everyone can afford this) and just want to try summer swim, it's a really good option.
Anonymous
03/16/2024 10:18
Subject: Re:How does swim team work?
Anonymous wrote:Check out the Bethesda Barracudas! MCSL summer team that practices at Bethesda Outdoor Pool. (you don't need to 'join' the pool) It's a great team and welcoming to all levels of swimmers. 4 is a bit too young, but if your 8 year old can swim one lap across the pool, he'll pass tryouts.
MCSL has 92 teams. I would say 88 are more fun and welcoming than Bethesda. Join a neighborhood pool for a better experience
Anonymous
03/15/2024 20:56
Subject: Re:How does swim team work?
Check out the Bethesda Barracudas! MCSL summer team that practices at Bethesda Outdoor Pool. (you don't need to 'join' the pool) It's a great team and welcoming to all levels of swimmers. 4 is a bit too young, but if your 8 year old can swim one lap across the pool, he'll pass tryouts.
Anonymous
03/13/2024 21:53
Subject: How does swim team work?
If I had a 4 and 8 year old taking lessons, I would consider joining the neighborhood pool just so the kids are comfortable in the water and use what they learned in the lessons. Since you are not around in the summer and don't have time to spend at the pool it might be difficult.
Anonymous
03/13/2024 21:53
Subject: How does swim team work?
Bethesda pool is an option, but you will miss much of the experience that makes summer swim so great. If u join a summer pool u may not use it much now, but flash forward and in tween years your kids can be spending there summers there when they outgrow camp (and yes they outgrow camp). The camaraderie across age groups is unique. You may not fully appreciate it until you are 2-3 years in. But the community is valuable in many ways. For one, I recall my now college swimmer having summer pool friends that were separate from her school friends- this is a great thing when u hit MD drama-filled years. Look into Wildwood Manor, Seven Locks which I don’t think have a waitlist.
Anonymous
03/13/2024 21:34
Subject: How does swim team work?
Anonymous wrote:If you can pull off summer swim team it’s a really great experience for the kids. Each pool in the Montgomery league is a little different, but the basics are the same.
Swim team runs basically Memorial Day to mid July (a bit longer if your kid is very good and makes end of season meets. In most cases, you’ll have to join a neighborhood pool to participate. Practices will be after school every day until school gets out and every day for the 5 weeks of the summer season. At our pool, practices are in the morning with an evening option for kids who can’t make it during the day. There’s no requirement to be at every practice.
You can make the team if you can make it across the pool. Most kids who join can do a basic (if ugly) free and back stroke. Other kids can join pre-team, which meets a few times a week and is coached by the older team kids. Most pre-team kids are 4-8 (but fewer older kids).
There are A meets (Sat morning) and B meets (weds night) but nul the fastest kids make A meets. Our pool has a pot luck and spirit activities on Friday nights, donuts on Thursdays, and other special events sprinkled throughout the summer. Parents are heavily involved in making all the fun happen and running the meets. It’s a ton of fun - one of my kids favorite parts of childhood and how we’ve met many family friends - but intense!
Club swim is mostly a winter activity. Many teams will have tryouts in July/August. Practices will be a couple times a week over the winter (for younger kids) with giant meets once a month or so that span a weekend. Not much fun but great xercise! There’s also the option of Stroke and Turn clinics if you just want your kids to improve their swimming. Montgomery County has one that starts in fall and happens once a week through winter. Some of the club teams will offer something similar.
+1000. Not OP, but this is a great post. DCUM can be super helpful. Wish I knew all this a year ago.
Anonymous
03/12/2024 10:39
Subject: How does swim team work?
Anonymous wrote:Can anyone please explain how swim team works? New to the area. Never heard of swim teams outside of high school. I have a 8 and 4 year old that are both still learning how to swim but seem to really enjoy it but my question is what happens after they complete lessons????
How good at swimming do kids need to be to participate in swim team? Just get to the other side of the pool? What strokes do they need to know how to do before joining? Are there try outs?
Do we have to join a pool in the summer to partake? I’d really rather not since we won’t be around much in the summer / won’t have much time to spend at a pool.
We live in Bethesda if that matters.
For club swimming, sign up for tryouts. Depending on the club, the maximum expectation for a 7/8 year old will be 4 legal strokes, flip turn and dive. Others will take any young kid whose parents are willing to write a check. Personally, I wouldn’t start a kid in club swim without 4 legal strokes, dive and flip turn. I would stick to summer swim and lessons until then. The transition to club swim can be detrimentally difficult for kids who aren’t quite prepared. I’ve seen plenty of kids cry through their first few weeks of practice.
I think many parents are surprised that there is less technique training than expected. A common refrain among parents new to club swimming is, “Is it normal for coaches to do endless drills and sets without correcting my child’s (obviously) incorrect technique?” And yes, it is. All clubs teach technique and even though it may seem like they are not spending the time to correct bad technique, you have to sit back and be patient. They are also teaching focus, building an aerobic base, resilience, true understanding of streamline position, etc. They don’t have the bandwidth to spend 15 min one on one with each kid that needs technique correction. It’s kind of like going from a kindergarten class of 8 kids to a 5th grade class of 30 kids. It’s no longer entirely the teacher’s responsibility to adjust leaking goggles and make sure everyone is paying attention to the demo. It’s up to the kid.
Anonymous
03/12/2024 10:03
Subject: How does swim team work?
Anonymous wrote:Can anyone please explain how swim team works? New to the area. Never heard of swim teams outside of high school. I have a 8 and 4 year old that are both still learning how to swim but seem to really enjoy it but my question is what happens after they complete lessons????
How good at swimming do kids need to be to participate in swim team? Just get to the other side of the pool? What strokes do they need to know how to do before joining? Are there try outs?
Do we have to join a pool in the summer to partake? I’d really rather not since we won’t be around much in the summer / won’t have much time to spend at a pool.
We live in Bethesda if that matters.
Join the pool in your neighborhood. A lot of nice community pools in Bethesda, just steal clear of the Bethesda Public Pool. Summer pools are a great place to meet people and for your kids to make friends. They can try the swim team/pre-team and see if it is for them.
Pool memberships are a great investment. Costs the same as 1 week of summer camp for 1 kid.
Anonymous
03/12/2024 09:34
Subject: Re:How does swim team work?
Summer swim:
Montgomery County Swim League(MCSL): https://mcsl.org/
Most start w/ summer swim and then decide if they want to try out for one of the area clubs that swim year round.
If you aren't interested in joining a pool, the public pool in Bethesda will be your closest option:
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/rec/facilities/aquaticcenters/outdoorpools.html
Here are the some options for "Year round", sometimes called "Winter" and sometimes referred to as "club" swim:
RMSC:
https://rmscswimming.com/
ASA:
https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/pvasa/page/home
NCAP:
https://www.ncapswim.com/
TOLL:
https://tollefsonswimming.com/
JFD:
https://www.jfdolphins.com/
TIBU:
https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/pvtibu/page/home
Montgomery County Swim League(MCSL): https://mcsl.org/
Most start w/ summer swim and then decide if they want to try out for one of the area clubs that swim year round.
If you aren't interested in joining a pool, the public pool in Bethesda will be your closest option:
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/rec/facilities/aquaticcenters/outdoorpools.html
Here are the some options for "Year round", sometimes called "Winter" and sometimes referred to as "club" swim:
RMSC:
https://rmscswimming.com/
ASA:
https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/pvasa/page/home
NCAP:
https://www.ncapswim.com/
TOLL:
https://tollefsonswimming.com/
JFD:
https://www.jfdolphins.com/
TIBU:
https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/pvtibu/page/home
Anonymous
03/12/2024 07:22
Subject: How does swim team work?
Basically if you aren’t thinking of joining a pool due to your summer travel schedule you won’t be around a lot of the summer it may be difficult for you to effectively do summer swim. As other people said there are two meets in summer - Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings (for MCSL). What kind of time commitment do you think you can make during the summer and during the year? In terms of times per week you can get them to the pool?
There are county pools (Bethesda, long branch, Glenmont) that wouldn’t require you to join (and have no waitlist) so it would just be the fee for swim team (around $200)
There are county pools (Bethesda, long branch, Glenmont) that wouldn’t require you to join (and have no waitlist) so it would just be the fee for swim team (around $200)
Anonymous
03/12/2024 06:13
Subject: How does swim team work?
If you can pull off summer swim team it’s a really great experience for the kids. Each pool in the Montgomery league is a little different, but the basics are the same.
Swim team runs basically Memorial Day to mid July (a bit longer if your kid is very good and makes end of season meets. In most cases, you’ll have to join a neighborhood pool to participate. Practices will be after school every day until school gets out and every day for the 5 weeks of the summer season. At our pool, practices are in the morning with an evening option for kids who can’t make it during the day. There’s no requirement to be at every practice.
You can make the team if you can make it across the pool. Most kids who join can do a basic (if ugly) free and back stroke. Other kids can join pre-team, which meets a few times a week and is coached by the older team kids. Most pre-team kids are 4-8 (but fewer older kids).
There are A meets (Sat morning) and B meets (weds night) but nul the fastest kids make A meets. Our pool has a pot luck and spirit activities on Friday nights, donuts on Thursdays, and other special events sprinkled throughout the summer. Parents are heavily involved in making all the fun happen and running the meets. It’s a ton of fun - one of my kids favorite parts of childhood and how we’ve met many family friends - but intense!
Club swim is mostly a winter activity. Many teams will have tryouts in July/August. Practices will be a couple times a week over the winter (for younger kids) with giant meets once a month or so that span a weekend. Not much fun but great xercise! There’s also the option of Stroke and Turn clinics if you just want your kids to improve their swimming. Montgomery County has one that starts in fall and happens once a week through winter. Some of the club teams will offer something similar.
Swim team runs basically Memorial Day to mid July (a bit longer if your kid is very good and makes end of season meets. In most cases, you’ll have to join a neighborhood pool to participate. Practices will be after school every day until school gets out and every day for the 5 weeks of the summer season. At our pool, practices are in the morning with an evening option for kids who can’t make it during the day. There’s no requirement to be at every practice.
You can make the team if you can make it across the pool. Most kids who join can do a basic (if ugly) free and back stroke. Other kids can join pre-team, which meets a few times a week and is coached by the older team kids. Most pre-team kids are 4-8 (but fewer older kids).
There are A meets (Sat morning) and B meets (weds night) but nul the fastest kids make A meets. Our pool has a pot luck and spirit activities on Friday nights, donuts on Thursdays, and other special events sprinkled throughout the summer. Parents are heavily involved in making all the fun happen and running the meets. It’s a ton of fun - one of my kids favorite parts of childhood and how we’ve met many family friends - but intense!
Club swim is mostly a winter activity. Many teams will have tryouts in July/August. Practices will be a couple times a week over the winter (for younger kids) with giant meets once a month or so that span a weekend. Not much fun but great xercise! There’s also the option of Stroke and Turn clinics if you just want your kids to improve their swimming. Montgomery County has one that starts in fall and happens once a week through winter. Some of the club teams will offer something similar.
Anonymous
03/12/2024 05:34
Subject: How does swim team work?
Welcome to the area! In the DMV, there are a couple primary types of swim teams for younger swimmers: summer league and club swim. I don’t know anything about the main Maryland summer league (MCSL), but summer swim typically runs Memorial Day - July. While some teams are more competitive than others, summer swim is known for fun, team spirit, donuts, etc. The kids compete as a team against other pools in the league. It’s not affiliated with USA Swimming and at least in the main VA league (NVSL), you need to belong to the pool to participate. Usually you need to be able to get across the pool to be on the team and then they’ll help teach the strokes.
Club swim is the year round swim team option, with varying levels of intensity depending on ability. Swimmers join private clubs that are governed by USA Swimming. There are a lot of options in the DMV for kids ranging from 6ish on up. Kids practice according to age and ability and complete in ~monthly meets. They are competing as individuals, not as a team. Club swim is typically not a learn to swim program. A swimmer needs proficiency in at least a couple strokes and does have to try out (again, typically). It varies by club, but the vibe is usually very different than summer swim. Oftentimes, a kid will enjoy summer swim and then decide to pursue club swim to continue to improve.
Note that summer and club aren’t mutually exclusive. Many, many club swimmers also compete for a summer team. Many swimmers will often compete with their club team in parallel with their high school teams as they get older.
If you don’t belong to a summer pool and don’t want to, I’m sure many people on this forum will have suggestions for club teams local to Bethesda and the eligibility requirements.
Good luck!
Club swim is the year round swim team option, with varying levels of intensity depending on ability. Swimmers join private clubs that are governed by USA Swimming. There are a lot of options in the DMV for kids ranging from 6ish on up. Kids practice according to age and ability and complete in ~monthly meets. They are competing as individuals, not as a team. Club swim is typically not a learn to swim program. A swimmer needs proficiency in at least a couple strokes and does have to try out (again, typically). It varies by club, but the vibe is usually very different than summer swim. Oftentimes, a kid will enjoy summer swim and then decide to pursue club swim to continue to improve.
Note that summer and club aren’t mutually exclusive. Many, many club swimmers also compete for a summer team. Many swimmers will often compete with their club team in parallel with their high school teams as they get older.
If you don’t belong to a summer pool and don’t want to, I’m sure many people on this forum will have suggestions for club teams local to Bethesda and the eligibility requirements.
Good luck!
Anonymous
03/12/2024 00:14
Subject: How does swim team work?
Can anyone please explain how swim team works? New to the area. Never heard of swim teams outside of high school. I have a 8 and 4 year old that are both still learning how to swim but seem to really enjoy it but my question is what happens after they complete lessons????
How good at swimming do kids need to be to participate in swim team? Just get to the other side of the pool? What strokes do they need to know how to do before joining? Are there try outs?
Do we have to join a pool in the summer to partake? I’d really rather not since we won’t be around much in the summer / won’t have much time to spend at a pool.
We live in Bethesda if that matters.
How good at swimming do kids need to be to participate in swim team? Just get to the other side of the pool? What strokes do they need to know how to do before joining? Are there try outs?
Do we have to join a pool in the summer to partake? I’d really rather not since we won’t be around much in the summer / won’t have much time to spend at a pool.
We live in Bethesda if that matters.