Year-Round Training for Swimmers Who Want to Excel

Year Round USA Swimming Practice Groups

Our competitive swimming program runs year-round (August - July) for swimmers between the ages of 5 and 18.

Swimmers are assigned to a practice group by their coaches during their initial evaluation and move up based on the team's Athlete Progression Model.

The focus of this group is on learning rhythmic breathing for freestyle, kick and streamline development, basic freestyle and backstroke drills, and the introduction of dives/starts in a fun environment that fosters teamwork and acquiring new skills. Category 1 swimmers are eligible to compete in mini-meets during the year and our home meets.

Required Equipment: swimsuit, cap, goggles, long blade fins, junior size kickboard. Drylands: Sneakers, Yoga Mat. For Full list of required and recommended equipment, please see our Handbook. For equipment descriptions, please see our New Swimmer Guide.

The focus of this group is consistent kicking, introduction to breaststroke and butterfly, body balance and awareness in the water, refine starts and turns, learning to read a pace clock and introduction to race strategy. Category 2 swimmers are eligible to compete in mini-meets during the year and our home meets.

Required Equipment: swimsuit, cap, goggles, long blade fins, junior size kickboard, junior size pull bouy, junior snorkel. Drylands: Sneakers, Yoga Mat. For Full list of required and recommended equipment, please see our Handbook. For equipment descriptions, please see our New Swimmer Guide.

The focus of this group is refining technique for all 4 competitive strokes, consistent kicking to include development of underwater kicks, refining starts and turns, and learning proper lane etiquette. The Category 3 group is encouraged to maximize practice attendance and meets to prepare for higher levels of competition.

Required Equipment: swimsuit, cap, goggles, long blade fins, full size kickboard, full size pull bouy, snorkel, paddles. Drylands: Sneakers, Yoga Mat. For Full list of required and recommended equipment, please see our Handbook. For equipment descriptions, please see our New Swimmer Guide.

The focus of this is strong kicking with an emphasis on underwater kicks, learning more advanced drills for each stroke, ability to read pace clock for longer training sets, and strong emphasis on race strategy. This group is encouraged to maintain high attendance standards for practices and meets.

Required Equipment: swimsuit, cap, goggles, long blade fins, full size kickboard, full size pull bouy, snorkel, paddles, parachute. Drylands: Sneakers, Yoga Mat. For Full list of required and recommended equipment, please see our Handbook. For equipment descriptions, please see our New Swimmer Guide.

Category 5 swimmers committed to honing their technical skills while also increasing their endurance with more intense training. This group focuses on the details, especially turns and underwater; specific race strategies and intentional goal setting. This group is expected to maintain high attendance standards for practices and meets.

Required Equipment: swimsuit, cap, goggles, long blade fins, full size kickboard, full size pull bouy, snorkel, paddles, parachute. Drylands: Sneakers, Yoga Mat. For Full list of required and recommended equipment, please see our Handbook. For equipment descriptions, please see our New Swimmer Guide.

Designed for athletes age 13+ with a strong commitment to the sport, and a desire to swim at higher levels, this group focuses on excellent kicking, especially turns & underwaters; consistent training to specific race strategies; goal setting; self-commitment to becoming a better athlete; and bringing an attitude of eagerness to excel to new levels in training and racing. Swimmers are invited to this group based on strong commitment to the sport, and successfully meeting and maintaining coach-defined performance, practice and meet attendance standards. These are afforded the opportunity to compete at the highest levels possible.

Required Equipment: swimsuit, cap, goggles, long blade fins, full size kickboard, full size pull bouy, snorkel, paddles, parachute. Drylands: Sneakers, Yoga Mat. For Full list of required and recommended equipment, please see our Handbook. For equipment descriptions, please see our New Swimmer Guide.