2023 AUTUMN SWIM CAMP: Potsdam, NY (Ages 10 & over)
DAY 1 (Saturday, Oct 7):
-> Session 1: The Fifth Stroke - Underwaters
-> Session 2: Fast Freestyle Technique
DAY 2 (Sunday, Oct 8):
-> Session 3: Explosive Starts & Turns
-> Session 4: Essentials of Sprinting & Pacing

Scroll down for details on the curriculum!
-> Availability in each session is limited to 24 participants to ensure the best learning experience!
-> SAVE when you purchase the “Full Camp Bundle” for your swimmer!

START TIMES:
Sessions 1 & 3: Check in 8:45 AM, Camp 9-11:30 AM
Sessions 2 & 4: Check in 12:15 PM, Camp 12:30-3 PM

Suggested Participants

Our top priority is to provide a world-class learning experience for all participants at all of our camps. This camp has sessions for swimmers ages 10 & older. Participants will range from one-year of competitive swimming experience to AAAA times and faster. If you are the parent of a child under the age of 10 and would like for your child to be considered for the younger sessions of this camp, please complete this questionnaire.

Curriculum

DAY 1, Saturday

Session 1: THE FIFTH STROKE - UNDERWATER DOLPHIN KICKING

Top-level swimmers have faster times in “short course” pools than in “long course” pools because of the power they’re able to generate from the walls. We are going to work with each participant to improve the fastest sequence in every lap of every race race: streamline, underwater dolphin kick and breakout! The techniques covered in this session will help improve swimmers times in every race.

STREAMLINE: The streamline - if done properly - will be the fastest a swimmer travels while in the water. Proper streamlines are even faster than underwater dolphin kicking. Even the most elite swimmers in the world are constantly working on improving their streamline. Your swimmer will get tips to improve their streamline and a better appreciation of what they need to do on every single wall in practice and in races.
INITIATING UNDERWATER DOLPHIN KICKING: Elite swimmers want to maximize their streamline on every single lap. So, they don’t want to start their underwater dolphin kicking while they’re still achieving maximum speed in their streamline. They also don’t want to start the underwater dolphin kicking after their streamline has begun to slow. Your swimmer is going to learn how to time when to begin their underwater dolphin kicking.
POWERFUL UNDERWATER DOLPHIN KICKING: There are a few different techniques that swimmers use when underwater dolphin kicking. The common theme of these techniques is that the best swimmers kick up and down with equal power. We will show your swimmer the different techniques that elite swimmers use and teach them how to implement.
NUMBER OF UNDERWATER DOLPHIN KICKS: Figuring out the optimal number of kicks off each wall, for each race, is essential to fast swimming. Elite swimmers want to spend only the absolute necessary amount of time underwater to establish speed with each length. They want to avoid losing their breath and taking weak kicks.
BREAKOUTS: Many swimmers add movement within their breakout that creates drag and destroys all of the speed created during their underwaters. Participants will work on timing their breakouts to explode into each lap.

Session 2: FREESTYLE TECHNIQUE

Cultivating good habits to swim high level freestyle begins as soon as you learn the stroke. Even if your swimmer is already in high school - it’s never too late to begin practicing techniques that will drastically improve their efficiency, power and times. During session 2, your swimmer will work on techniques to strengthen their bodyline, catch, kick, pull, and breathing pattern.

BODYLINE: A freestyle race is going to be fastest with the proper bodyline. Even the slightest adjustment of the chin, neck, and/or back can make a huge difference. As swimmers mature in the sport and grow physically, their body position shifts and often bad habits are created. Participants will learn and practice proper posture and engagement of their core to have a strong foundation for better technique - creating a full-body connection for more hydrodynamic and efficient strokes.
ROTATION: Freestyle is fastest and most efficient when a swimmer’s body is “rotating” around their spine with each stroke. This part of swimming freestyle has a big effect on maintaining a proper bodyline. Participants will practice activating their core muscles to form a powerful connection from head to toe with every stroke.
KICKING: A swimmer’s kick is the motor behind their freestyle! There are obviously proper and improper ways to kick which we will review at the camp. Just as important, however, is practicing the complexities of how and when swimmers need to “shift gears” in their legs to become stronger and faster racers.
PULL: The pull in freestyle keeps a swimmer balanced and accelerating forward. This is a skill that needs cultivation throughout all swimmers’ careers. Having an early vertical forearm “catch” enables a swimmer to put immediate pressure back on the water. Properly completing the stroke keeps the swimmer moving forward efficiently. The later the “catch” or not “finishing” the stroke has a negative impact on a swimmer’s bodyline and speed.

DAY 2, Sunday

Session 3: EXPLOSIVE STARTS & TURNS

The momentum generated from an explosive start and turns are the FASTEST that elite swimmers are moving in a race! The more efficient, powerful and hydrodynamic your swimmer is, directly impacts their speed and distance they travel in the water before taking their first stroke!

BLOCK STARTS: To ensure an explosive start, a swimmer needs to set themselves up properly on the block. The elite clinicians will work with participants on the optimal positioning of your swimmer’s entire body to allow for a quick reaction time and optimal speed.
BREAKOUTS: Many swimmers add movement within their breakout that creates drag and destroys all of the speed created during their underwaters. Participants will work on timing their breakouts to explode into each lap.
FLIP TURNS: Flip turns are an opportunity for your swimmers to increase momentum in the middle of a race! Flip turns in which the athletes slow down or have “mechanical” movements negatively impact the speed at which a swimmer comes off the wall. We will work with your swimmer to produce fast flip turns so that they can explode off the walls at maximum speed.
OPEN TURNS: Elite butterflyers and breaststrokers utilize speed from their last lap to create momentum and even more speed at the beginning of the next lap. Their open turns are actually not “turns”, but more like high-speed pivots. Participants in this session will work on these techniques to have much faster open turns!
FINISHES: Setting yourself up for a fast finish is very similar to setting yourself up for a strong turn in any race. Races are won and lost by hundredths-of-a-second at every swim meet. Many races come down to the last few strokes. At this camp, your swimmer will learn techniques to set themselves up for a well-timed finish when they are still about 10 yards from the wall.

Session 4: ESSENTIALS OF SPRINTING & PACING

Swimming fast requires good technique, efficiency, power, and a hard working athlete. Elite swimmers are always working on this. In this final session, participants will advance their skills that apply to fast swimming in every stroke.

BODY POSITION: A competitive swimmer’s body position is the key to fast swimming. Most swimmers are NOT hydrodynamic in the water - and that has a big effect on how fast they “allow” themselves to swim - especially as they get older. Let’s find the right body position for your swimmer.
STROKE LENGTH: Lengthening their stroke will enable your swimmer to “catch” and hold onto more water to propel them as they swim. Whereas a short stroke is inefficient and not sustainable for very long. The clinicians will work with participants on this important skill for fast swimming.
TEMPO: When sprinting short races young swimmers often tend to take too many strokes (“spin their wheels”) and not “hold onto the water”. At this camp we will find the appropriate tempo to maximize their own personal speed.
SPRINTING: Earlier, your swimmer worked on body position, tempo and length of stroke. Then, we are going to apply those skills to swimming “all out” on top of the water with efficiency and power.
PACING: The first half (front-end) and second half (back-end) of a race can be “broken up” to ensure an effective plan. Some swimmers go out really fast and hang on, while others control the first part of their race, then try to “back-end” the race at full speed. Testing new pacing strategies at this camp will give your swimmer confidence in their next race.
SPRINTING & PACING APPLICATION: Swimmers at this session will work on applying their newly developed skills during racing scenarios. As with all the other segments of this camp, the clinicians will provide feedback for your swimmer to take home and apply at upcoming practices and meets.

ASK QUESTIONS

Swimmers and parents are invited to ask the clinicians questions during a Q&A session. Gain insight into their training regimen, diet and nutrition, and recovery tactics.

WATCH THE CLINICIANS

Observe clinicians swim at full speed and demonstrate a progression of perfectly executed drills to achieve powerful, efficient and fast swimming.

PUT YOUR SKILLS TO THE TEST

Swimmers will get to practice what they've learned by taking their stroke to your top speed with some of the best swimmers and coaches in the world! They'll work on holding onto their form while challenging themselves.

Take a photo, get autographs, and chat with your clinicians!

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