Schenectady Swim Club
WITH LOCATIONS AT UNION COLLEGE, SKIDMORE COLLEGE AND BURNT HILLS HIGH SCHOOL 

If you plan to try out, please bring bathing suit, towel and a copy of Legal ID.
Birth Certificate preferred, baptismal certificate or passport are also accepted.

Please feel free to address questions to our registrar, Helen Bopp, by email at:   registrar@schenectadyswimclub.org

Questions can also be addressed to Club President Vic Romanov at 882-9850, or by email at:  vicromanov@schenectadyswimclub.org

Click here for Registration Form

Click here for Medical Information Form

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Schenectady Swim Club (SSC) is a year-round competitive team registered with USA Swimming, the national governing amateur body for amateur swimming. We are the premiere program in the Adirondack District. SSC has made great strides towards being among the best program in the state because of the dedicated nature of our swimmers, coaches and parents. Our national level and developing swimmers are supported by a well-organized and purposeful program. If your son or daughter has the desire to swim competitively and if you, as a parent, can find the time and energy to help support a program your child is participating in, then we welcome you to bring your child to tryouts.

There are progressively increasing time commitments that must be made to be a member of SSC. Youngsters who join our program usually begin in groups that require a minimum of 2 to 3 workouts per week and attendance at meets 1 to 2 times per month. This increases as a swimmer progresses through the program and matures. Swimmers that have learned to be disciplined with their time go on to be successful in both swimming and school. One of our former swimmers and captains who trained daily in our top group was voted the 1994 Swimming Scholarship Athlete for NY. She exemplified the enthusiasm, discipline, and work ethic of swimmers that come out of our program.

There are swim meets available for all levels of competition. All USA Swimming invitational meets are on weekends as are any dual meets outside of the Tri-City area. Attendance is required of all swimmers at certain meets during the year such as Gold Championships in March and the District Championships in late July.

The SSC Swimmers generally range in age from 6 to 18 with some college swimmers added during the summer season. Because of the wide range of swimming abilities in our club, the swimmers can be matched to a practice group suited to their skill level. Our program is proud of the number of swimmers who have developed from C, B, and BB swimmers into A, AA, AAA, and AAAA swimmers. One of our major yearly goals is to find youngsters that have a mix of physical ability and excitement for the sport of swimming.

TRAINING REQUIREMENTS

The team is broken up into six practice groups. Each swimmer is placed with consideration given to their age, ability to work during practice sets, how polished their stroke techniques are, and how much time the swimmer is willing to commit to the sport. Practice group placement is not based upon meet times. Instead swimmers are placed according to their ability and willingness to do what is expected of athletes in that group. In addition, we consider which group placement will have the greatest benefit for the development of that swimmer. Swimmers in all groups are required to attend one meet per month, but swimmers in Groups 1, 2 and 3 should be attending more. 

PRACTICE GROUPS

Group 1 is usually the starting point for new swimmers who join our team. Swimmers in this group are required to attend a minimum of 2 practices a week, though 3 may be recommended for your child. The four competitive strokes and basic start and turn techniques are taught. Elementary stroke drills are introduced at this level. We teach that technique comes first, speed comes later. The ability to swim correctly will pay big dividends in the athlete's competitive future.

Group 2 swimmers have demonstrated an ability to do all four competitive strokes legally and can maintain their stroke for 50 -100 yards. These swimmers are ready to learn slightly more advanced stroke drills. Though, more swimming is done than in group 1, the emphasis is still technique first, speed later. Athletes in group 2 are required to attend 2 practices a week though 3 practices are recommended.

Group 3 swimmers are ready to work on endurance and basic interval training. They are ready, willing, and able to spend more time at the pool than Group 2. Group 3 swimmers learn most of the stoke drills that are taught to our top swimmers. We do start thinking about working on speed and endurance, but not at the expense of stroke technique. Athletes in Group 3 are required to attend 3 practices per week, although 4 practices may be recommended for some swimmers.

Bronze group is the group for older swimmers who are not yet interested in or able to make the necessary committment to the Senior group. Bronze group swimmers are Required to Attend 4 Practices per week. Those with thoughts of one day swimming on the Sharks Senior teams will attend more.

Senior group is for the swimmers who have chosen swimming as their primary sport. Athletes must demonstrate a strong command of the strokes, be able to train at a high level without losing technique and have decided to make a strong commitment of time and energy to reach their goals. These swimmers are training with an eye toward state, regional, and national level meets. Greater sacrifices are made in this group. Desire, character and achievement are qualities that swimmers in the Senior group demonstrate so well. These swimmers are great role models for the rest of the team. Senior group training is challenging, and the swimmers are quite focused. We teach the latest technical advances in stroke technique and drills, race pacing, mental preparation, and training the energy systems. Since the level of commitment is high for swimmers in these groups, practice commitments are discussed individually to make sure the sacrifice matches the desired outcome. Senior group swimmers strive to make every available practice.  Senior group swimmers follow a seasonal practice plan that allows for only 100% attendance.

Pre-Competitive Groups - These groups are designed to help the beginning competitive swimmer who is not yet ready to train with the team. These groups are excellent for the 8 & Under that wants to try out the sport. The basics of the competitive strokes are taught in these groups in the hopes that the swimmer will be ready to move up to the main team. Practices are twice a week, 1 on Saturday afternoons for one hour and 1 additional week night for One Hour (schedule varies). Fall/Winter Pre-Competitive group runs for 1-18 week period (Sept - Feb with approx 2 weeks off for the holidays, 18 weeks of actual practice).