Teaching the science of swimming since 2003!

PHD SWIM SCHOOL

Competitive StrokeFACTS:

For students who can swim all 4 strokes for 25 meters each

Teaches success in USA Swimming

Competitive Stroke

This class is for children who are very strong swimmers and interested in competition swimming. The purpose of this class is to learn to swim technically proper competitive butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle for long distances. Students will learn advanced technical details of long axis strokes including pull and follow through stroke phases, starts and turns, and advanced body positions.  Short axis strokes are taught after mastery of both backstroke and freestyle.

Competitive Stroke

Why should my child do stroke classes?
Most students at this level are recreational swimmers or beginner competitive swimmers who desire to improve their skills and swim for fun, social interaction, exercise, and/or competitive success.  They may be interested in participating on a swim team for the first time or may have a year or two of competitive experience on an amateur team.  Fun activities are still incorporated, although this is a more technique-focused class designed for children with the attention span and interest level appropriate for learning advanced swimming technique.  Many families use these classes as a substitute for swim team participation if they do not have the schedule flexibility or desire to participate in multiple swim team practices per week.

Can my child start your program in this class?
We will accept a new student only if they can demonstrate that they can swim 25 meters of each stroke legally on the first day of class.

What age is this appropriate for?
5 years and up.  Generally children participating in this level are between age 7 and 12.

Why do you recommend semi-private lessons?  Can we do private lessons?
This is a technically-focused class, and as such students can greatly benefit from watching someone of similar age and ability attempt the skills.  We also incorporate partner work where students help each other practice and/or critique the skills being learned.  Sharing a lesson with a friend also allows for social interaction which is especially important for our students who swim primarily for fun and fitness.  We will accept private students in this level but highly encourage semi-private. 

What are the skills-specific goals of this level?
-- Continue to reinforce the goals of advanced stroke classes 
-- Introduce technically proper advanced details of all 4 strokes
-- Distance swimming (legal for at least 50 strokes) of all 4 strokes
-- Legal starts, turns, underwaters, finishes, and racing skills
Students who are finished with this level will generally be able to swim 100 meters of all four competitive strokes and be well-prepared for the intermediate levels of Age Group USA Swimming.