Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cost of pool rental and insurance for starters is very $$$

Came here to say the same. Clubs rent space per lane per hour, which isn’t cheap given the high cost to operate an aquatic facility. Then there’s coach and any other employee compensation. Then whatever fees the club I assume has to pay to the LSC and USA Swimming. Then insurance (which is high for anything pool-related), technology platforms, etc.

It doesn't add up though, compared to what you pay to use lap lanes there are way more kids per lane. Usually, six to eight but way more if it's a popular summer league. Even crowded public lap lanes are seldom that full and general admission is way cheaper per person the expensive private pools usually just one or two people per lane.

I think it is more driven by the cost of the meets and swim coaches.

IMO, they should make it way cheaper for kids to swim together on swim teams so as to keep the kids from splashing the old ladies in deep-water running lanes.

People take that sport way too seriously for what it is and what the kids get out of it.

There is more than just coaches, meets and pool time. There is training equipment, timing equipment, pool maintenance, insurance, travel, website fees, marketing, insurance, accounting fees, office fees, IT needs, etc.

The athlete typically covers the meet fees, their own travel fees, and some gear costs. The club’s pool fees are highly dependent on whether they own their pool or if they rent, any funding from local government, and pool scarcity.

We paid over $5k a year for club fees (meet fees not included) for a 10 year old who attended 3 practices and 1 dryland a week in manhattan. Five years later, we pay $1300 a year for him to go to 8 practices and 3 drylands a week in a smaller town.

Compared to club soccer, the dues are lower and the travel depends on whether your kid is qualifying for higher level meets. With soccer, you travel for tournaments at every level of the play, but in swim, typically only kids who qualify for faster meets are traveling regularly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cost of pool rental and insurance for starters is very $$$

Came here to say the same. Clubs rent space per lane per hour, which isn’t cheap given the high cost to operate an aquatic facility. Then there’s coach and any other employee compensation. Then whatever fees the club I assume has to pay to the LSC and USA Swimming. Then insurance (which is high for anything pool-related), technology platforms, etc.

It doesn't add up though, compared to what you pay to use lap lanes there are way more kids per lane. Usually, six to eight but way more if it's a popular summer league. Even crowded public lap lanes are seldom that full and general admission is way cheaper per person the expensive private pools usually just one or two people per lane.

I think it is more driven by the cost of the meets and swim coaches.

IMO, they should make it way cheaper for kids to swim together on swim teams so as to keep the kids from splashing the old ladies in deep-water running lanes.

People take that sport way too seriously for what it is and what the kids get out of it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cost of pool rental and insurance for starters is very $$$

Came here to say the same. Clubs rent space per lane per hour, which isn’t cheap given the high cost to operate an aquatic facility. Then there’s coach and any other employee compensation. Then whatever fees the club I assume has to pay to the LSC and USA Swimming. Then insurance (which is high for anything pool-related), technology platforms, etc.

It doesn't add up though, compared to what you pay to use lap lanes there are way more kids per lane. Usually, six to eight but way more if it's a popular summer league. Even crowded public lap lanes are seldom that full and general admission is way cheaper per person the expensive private pools usually just one or two people per lane.

I think it is more driven by the cost of the meets and swim coaches.

IMO, they should make it way cheaper for kids to swim together on swim teams so as to keep the kids from splashing the old ladies in deep-water running lanes.

People take that sport way too seriously for what it is and what the kids get out of it.

Anonymous wrote:My swimmer is now a sophomore in college, the travel and suit costs added up when he started making cuts for travel meets. Add a few thousand to the program fee.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did PAC and it was $105 a month.
Practice was at Fairland. I thought the price was good compared to other teams.

I think this is the old price but it is not much more as I think it is like 120-130. That being said, I do not think PAC (my kid is on their team also) is of the same caliber as some of these other clubs. I do not know enough about swimming to compare but most of the coaches are young compared to other coaches which to me means more experience.

This is probably true but if you have swimmers that just love the sport but aren’t at the RMSC level, it’s a good value.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did PAC and it was $105 a month.
Practice was at Fairland. I thought the price was good compared to other teams.

I think this is the old price but it is not much more as I think it is like 120-130. That being said, I do not think PAC (my kid is on their team also) is of the same caliber as some of these other clubs. I do not know enough about swimming to compare but most of the coaches are young compared to other coaches which to me means more experience.

Anonymous wrote:This is why I am a stroke and turn official. And why DC kept trying out for RMSC until she finally made it in at 12. We’re better positioned to pay now than when they were younger, but getting into RMSC and then getting the officials discount is how we’ve been able to pull off 7 years and counting of 2 kids in club swim.

Anonymous wrote:We did PAC and it was $105 a month.
Practice was at Fairland. I thought the price was good compared to other teams.

Anonymous wrote:All in, I'm paying ~4500 for my kids to swim twice a week this year, not including the meet fees. They're enjoying it, but I'm not sure it's going to be sustainable for us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cost of pool rental and insurance for starters is very $$$

Came here to say the same. Clubs rent space per lane per hour, which isn’t cheap given the high cost to operate an aquatic facility. Then there’s coach and any other employee compensation. Then whatever fees the club I assume has to pay to the LSC and USA Swimming. Then insurance (which is high for anything pool-related), technology platforms, etc.

It doesn't add up though, compared to what you pay to use lap lanes there are way more kids per lane. Usually, six to eight but way more if it's a popular summer league. Even crowded public lap lanes are seldom that full and general admission is way cheaper per person the expensive private pools usually just one or two people per lane.

I think it is more driven by the cost of the meets and swim coaches.

IMO, they should make it way cheaper for kids to swim together on swim teams so as to keep the kids from splashing the old ladies in deep-water running lanes.

People take that sport way too seriously for what it is and what the kids get out of it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cost of pool rental and insurance for starters is very $$$

Came here to say the same. Clubs rent space per lane per hour, which isn’t cheap given the high cost to operate an aquatic facility. Then there’s coach and any other employee compensation. Then whatever fees the club I assume has to pay to the LSC and USA Swimming. Then insurance (which is high for anything pool-related), technology platforms, etc.