WINTER SWIM TEAM

St. Albans Sharks Winter Swim Team






Welcome to the St. Albans Sharks, winter edition! The mission of the St. Albans Sharks Swim Team is to foster an environment conducive to developing balanced IM swimmers, with an emphasis on individual improvement through both hard work and team work.

Great White Sharks & Reef Sharks Eligibility:

Swimmers must be able to swim 25 yards, repeatedly, for the entirety of the specified practice time. Swimmers must be able to legally swim ALL 4 competitive strokes (Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Freestyle). Swimmers must want to be part of this team.

Cat Shark Eligibility:

Swimmers must be able to swim 25 yards, repeatedly, for the entirety of the specified practice time without a flotation device. Swimmers must be able to demonstrate safe swimming skills, but they do not need to legally swim all 4 of the competitive strokes. Swimmers must be at least 4 years of age.

Age Guidelines:

Age guidelines are in place to safely divide swimmers, and to set them up for success. Therefore the age restrictions are simply a guideline and is not set in stone. It is the coaches discretion to decide if a swimmer shall be moved to a different group. Swimmer performance, endurance, and attitude are all taken into account to decide where they will do best!

Swimmer Categories

For Great White & Reef Sharks, we strongly encourage all swimmers to attend at least 2-3 practices per week. However, we also understand that winter brings a lot of other commitments (school, sports, clubs etc) Therefore, we do not require swimmers to attend all practices. Cat sharks are recommended to attend at least 1 of the 2 sessions per week.


Great White Sharks: (Ages 11 to 18 years) We recommend swimmers attend at least 3 of the 4 practices per week. The focus is on building endurance, power, and speed through technique refinement, IM swimming, and training tailored to sprint or distance events. Both dry land training & in water sessions are incorporated. Training snorkels & fins are strongly recommended for practices - but not required.

Reef Sharks: (Ages 10 and under) We recommend swimmers attend at least 2 of the 4 practices per week.. The focus is on building endurance and strengthening technique in order to develop balanced IM swimmers. Both dry land training & in water sessions are incorporated. 

Cat Sharks: (Ages 4+) We recommend swimmers attend at least 1 of the 2 practices per week. The focus is on building endurance and stroke development, while creating a fun and inviting atmosphere. (DOES NOT START UNTIL JANUARY)

There will not be practice during school vacations, holidays, and school closures/winter storms

HOME MEETS:
There will be 1 home time trial per month (TBA) (UNOFFICIAL & OPTIONAL)

TRAVEL MEETS:

Swimmers will have the option to compete in USA Swimming sanctioned meets throughout New England. Extra fees not included.

Sanctioned meets the coaches plan to attend:
Upper Valley Aquatic Center: 11/8 - 11/10
Upper Valley Aquatic Center: 12/6 - 12/8
Upper Valley Aquatic Center: 1/5
Norwich University: 1/12
Championship meets in Jan/Feb (must qualify)

*Most travel meets in session 2 require qualifying times, so if swimmers did not participate in a USA swimming sanctioned meet in session 1, chances of them attending a meet are slim*

ALL SWIMMERS & PARENTS MUST BE REGISTERED IN SWIMTOPIA:
SWIMTOPIA REGISTRATION

TRAVEL SWIMMERS & PARENTS MUST BE REGISTERED WITH USA SWIMMING:
USA SWIMMING REGISTRATION