Brookfield, Connecticut Swim Camp Series (Ages 12 & over)
Youth Development and Aquatic Center
10 Huckleberry Hill Rd,
Brookfield,
CT 06804
- days
- hours
- minutes
- seconds
Introduction
Fitter & Faster is returning to the Youth Development & Aquatic Center in Brookfield, Connecticut to produce two, 2-day swim camps in October of 2023 & April of 2024! This swim camp page is for competitive swimmers ages 12 & over! Please click here for the camp page for ages 9 to 11!
BROOKFIELD, CONNECTICUT SWIM CAMP SERIES (Ages 12 & over)
-> Championship Preparation Swim Camp - October 14 & 15, 2023
-> Fast Butterfly & Breaststroke Swim Camp - April 27 & 28, 2024
Click the “Curriculum Menu” below for details about each swim camp!
-> Availability in the swim camp is limited to 24 participants to ensure the highest level learning experience
-> SAVE when you purchase an “Entire Camp Bundle”
Select a curriculum below
Championship Preparation Swim Camp - October 14 & 15, 2023
Every detail matters when swimming fast! This camp is designed to help your swimmer improve their performances at their upcoming Championship Meets! Day one of this camp focuses on fast starts, turns, underwater dolphin kicking and finishes. On Day 2 we will work with participants on their race strategy for 100's and 200's of all strokes... and executing that strategy!
- DAY 1: Starts & Turns (Saturday, October 14): 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.
- 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!
- 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.
- 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.
- Day 2: Race Strategy & Execution for 100's & 200's (Sunday, October 15): “How should I swim this race?” How many times have you heard this? Swimmers of all ages and abilities have the same question. There are many different ways to swim a fast 100 and 200 in every stroke. The name of the game is understanding all the different ways to execute the race and seeing what works for you!
- Race Strategies: At this camp your swimmer will learn various strategies that elite swimmers have executed with top results. Before your camp you will be emailed links to several elite level races of 100 and/or 200 yards/meters across all strokes, along with a brief summary of each. At the camp we will discuss and practice those strategies.
- "Easy Speed": Establishing stroke length with the proper tempo after the breakout is essential to setting up a strong 100 and 200 in any stroke. Going as fast as we can with ease is the key to “easy speed”. We don’t want to kick or pull too hard on the first 25 in the 100 or the first 50 in the 200. This will cause early fatigue. Swimmers will work on techniques to swim as fast as they can in all strokes with “easy speed”.
- Control: Your elite clinician will teach participants how to manipulate their speed and energy at different points in a race.
- Front-end & Back-end Speed: The first half (front-end) and second half (back-end) of the 100 and 200 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 strategies at this camp will give your swimmer confidence in their next race.
- Underwater Kick Count: Figuring out the optimal number of kicks off each wall is essential to a fast 100 and 200. Your underwater strategy is likely to be different in the 100's versus 200’s. A swimmer wants to spend only the absolute necessary amount of time underwater to establish speed with each length. We want to avoid losing our breath and/or taking weak kicks.
- Breathing Pattern: Establishing a breathing pattern will help the swimmer stay focused and relaxed on their own swim. It will also help them finish the race with enough oxygen to close the race at full speed.
- Establishing a Plan: A racer should have a plan for the race before it is swum! What’s your plan for front-end and back-end speed? How much time will you spend underwater before your first breath? How often will you breath each length?
- Test the Plan in Practice: Now we test it! Swimmers will do a complete short set at the end of the session to practice racing the plan and stroke under race conditions. We’ll get off the blocks and practice some front end swims, push some back end swims, and race some straight 100’s or 200’s depending on the sessions.
- Confidence: One of the essential elements to dropping time and swimming fast is being willing to try new strategies when swimming a race. It’s ok to feel nervous and a little bit uncomfortable before your race! Entering a race with a strategy will help your swimmer with their confidence… and that confidence will help propel them to the results they aim to achieve.
Butterfly and Breaststroke Technique Camp - April 27 & 28, 2024
Butterfly and breaststroke utilize similar body position, “undulating” movements, and an early “catch” to get across the pool with efficiency and speed. They are called the “short axis” strokes because swimmers do not rotate their body at the spine, as is done in freestyle and backstroke. Rather in butterfly and breaststroke, swimmers bend at the hips to generate power and forward momentum. Over two days, your swimmer, no matter their level, will improve their butterfly and breaststroke technique, racing and training skills!
- DAY 1: BUTTERFLY DAY! (Saturday, April 27): At the highest level of swimming, butterfly is the second fastest stroke and beautiful to watch because of its rhythmic and powerful strokes. There are some complexities to establishing a smooth, rhythmic fly, but with practice and attention to detail your swimmer can master the stroke and begin swimming it for longer distances and at very fast speeds!
- Bodyline: A butterfly race is going to be fastest with a 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 bad habits can emerge. 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 butterfly strokes.
- Kick: Each butterfly stroke has two kicks to propel the swimmer towards the other end of the pool! If the kicks are properly timed and equally strong, they can positively impact your swimmer’s efficiency and stroke timing! Your swimmer will work on how and when to kick in butterfly for maximum speed.
- Pull: Long and smooth strokes allow swimmers to have a more efficient and fluid butterfly. The pull in butterfly keeps a swimmer accelerating forward. Your clinicians will work with participants to establish an early vertical forearm, “the catch”, enabling the swimmers to put immediate pressure back on the water. Properly completing the stroke keeps the swimmer moving forward efficiently and fast.
- Timing: The timing of the breath in butterfly has a direct relationship on a swimmer’s body position, pull, kick and TIMES! At this camp, we will work with participants on breathing with their chin low to the water... and WHEN to breathe in their stroke cycle so that they develop the most efficient stroke possible!
- DAY 2: BREASTSTROKE DAY (Sunday, April 28): Out of the eight finalists at the Olympic Games, you might see eight different styles of breaststroke! A swimmer's timing and ability to eliminate resistance are hallmarks of an efficient and powerful breaststroker. No matter your swimmer’s level, this session will strengthen their technique and lead to faster and more efficient breaststroke races… and faster IM’s!
- Bodyline: A breaststroke race is going to be fastest with a proper bodyline. Even the slightest adjustment of the chin, neck, and/or back can make a huge difference. Elite breaststrokers focus on minimizing drag by “catching water” on their hands and feet as quickly as possible, so they can shoot back into a “straight bodyline” where they can glide at top speed.
- Kick: The kick creates a lot of the power in breaststroke. Swimmers need to keep their knees high in the water and snap their feet quickly around and back to create a powerful kick. Our clinicians will work with participants to strengthen their kick for the ultimate propulsion forward!
- Pull: The name of the game in breaststroke is to create as much propulsion as possible in the pull while minimizing resistance… and then quickly getting back into a straight bodyline to establish a high speed glide. Participants at this session will focus on setting up a proper "catch" and keeping their hands and elbows high on the water throughout the entire pull. The techniques your swimmer will practice will minimize resistance and enable them to maintain forward momentum for the fastest breaststroke.
- Timing: Fast, flowing breaststroke is the result of proper timing between a swimmer’s hands and feet. Establishing proper timing in your swimmer’s breaststroke will allow for more fluidity, power and speed. Participants in this session will learn how elite swimmers time their breaststroke for ultimate efficiency and the fastest races.
START TIMES FOR ALL SESSIONS: Check in 12:15 PM, Camp 12:30-3:30 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 12 & over. 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 12, click here!
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!
Elite Clinician
Fitter and Faster clinicians are Olympians and National Team members who have achieved at the highest level of the sport of swimming... and who have the unique skill to teach what they know from a technical perspective to swimmers of all ages and abilities.
Inquisitive, Educated Swimmers are Faster Swimmers! Sign up today!
