General Practice Information
We like to focus on technique of the swimming strokes because what a swimmer does in practice will be what they do in a meet when trying to swim fast. Swimmers in the:
- 10 and under age groups will mostly swim 25s (or one length of the pool) since that is what they will be swimming in meets.
- 11 and up will swim mostly 50s (two lengths of the pool).
Each practice, except for Saturdays, will focus on a single stroke. We will switch the days a stroke is offered each week. For example, one week Wed will be breaststroke, Thursday backstroke and Saturday butterfly. The next week it could be Wednesday backstroke, Thursday butterfly and Saturday freestyle. This is usually decided each week after the meets.
The practice regimen is broken down as follows:
- 5-10 minutes of stretching (while the previous age group finishes)
- 8 minutes of warm-up
- 8 minutes of stroke specific kick -> kicking is very important for body position in the water. The better the body position, the easier it is to move through the water.
- 8 minutes of stroke specific drill -> these can be any type of drill. Usually the drill will be to correct something seen at a previous meet.
- 8 minutes of stroke swimming -> putting it all together.
- remaining time is spent on starts, sprints and relays.
Practices right before meets will focus on each stroke and fixing any issues that may cause disqualification. We will also spend more time on starts, turns and relays on other days.
- Coach Katia