Age

Chronological age is important for group placement, however, emotional and physical maturity can vary greatly among children of the same chronological age. Even, if a swimmer is fast, he or she may not be prepared for the workload of a particular training group. Social considerations are prioritized to ensure children have a positive social experience while training.

Background

Athletic history is strongly considered when assigning new swimmers to a particular training group.

Swimming Skills

Participants must possess the swimming skills necessary to swim with a given group. If a child has not yet mastered the skills necessary to move up to the next group it is more difficult to progress through the next set of skills. Consequently, that group’s coach will be unfairly focused on that swimmer, neglecting the others who have mastered those skills.

Coach's Decision

The coaching staff possess decades of experience working with children in schools, as parents and as coaches. All of them were competitive swimmers. This experience guides the coach’s intuition in placing a candidate in the right practice group and, ultimately, supports the coach as an instructor and role model.