As championship season approaches, every detail counts for faster times! In this four-session swim camp, your swimmer will work with elite Fitter & Faster clinicians to focus on essential skills like underwaters, starts, turns, and sprinting, enhancing their overall race performance. Even the best athletes know that peak performance demands continual improvement, and we’re here to help your swimmer gain every possible advantage for their fastest races yet!

Session 1: THE FIFTH STROKE - UNDERWATERS

We are going to work with participants during this session to improve the fastest sequence in every lap of every race: streamline, underwater dolphin kick, and breakout! The techniques covered in this session will help participants improve their times in every race.

• STREAMLINE: The streamline - when done properly - is 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 gain 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: FAST STARTS

During session 2, swimmers will work on executing fast starts and carrying momentum through their breakouts. The skill of generating explosive power at the start, while integrating the skills developed in the first session, will give swimmers a distinct competitive edge!

• 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.
• WATER ENTRY: Starting the race with a smooth entry into the water will boost your swimmer's speed, and carry the momentum generated off the block or wall. Becoming skilled at the water entry is crucial for any start, and significantly contributes to your swimmer's overall race!
• STREAMLINE, UNDERWATER DOLPHIN KICKING, BREAKOUT PROGRESSION: Since fast underwaters are crucial for every start and turn, our clinicians will work with your swimmer on reinforcing the key skills learned during session 1.
• BACKSTROKE STARTS: During this session, swimmers will work closely with elite clinicians to actively learn and practice high-performance backstroke starts. Participants will refine their foot, arm, and body positions, focusing on the technique of powering off the wall with an arched form, to seamlessly slice through the water with maximum efficiency.
• RELAY EXCHANGES: Relay exchanges have two advantages over traditional starts. First, you can generate greater momentum by stepping forward with a strong arm swing. Second, reaction time can be almost eliminated with a well-timed relay "exchange". At this session, your swimmer will learn skills that the best swimmers in the world use to both leave the block with great momentum, and to time the exchange just right while avoiding disqualification!

Session 3: FLIP TURNS, OPEN TURNS & FINISHES

Quick, powerful turns and finishes are crucial to fast times and winning close races. The top age group and elite swimmers aren't using walls just for turning around - they are used to generate speed and momentum going into the next lap. Elite swimmers are constantly working their turns and looking for areas to improve them. During session 3, we're going to work with your swimmer on taking this crucial part of every race (and practice) to the next level!

• MOMENTUM: The fastest swimmers use walls to generate speed and momentum going into the next lap. Outside of the elite ranks, many swimmers stop or slow down while going into the wall, which kills their momentum! We will work with participants on the intricacies of approaching every wall at top speed and seamlessly initiating their “turn”.
• 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 not actually “turns”, but more like high-speed pivots. Participants in this session will work on these techniques to have much faster open turns!
• STREAMLINE, UNDERWATER DOLPHIN KICKING, BREAKOUT PROGRESSION: At this session, participants will continue to work on the progression covered during session 1.
• 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 session, 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: THE ESSENTIALS OF SPRINTING

Swimming fast requires good technique, efficiency, power, and a hardworking athlete. Participants in this session will advance their skills that apply to fast swimming in every stroke. Now is the time for swimmers to establish and cultivate habits to swim their shorter races as fast as possible, with good technique that will position them for success as they mature.

• 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 session, we will find the appropriate tempo to maximize their own personal speed.
• SPRINTING: Earlier in the session, your swimmer worked on body position, tempo, and stroke length. Now, we are going to apply those skills to swimming “all out” on top of the water with efficiency and power.
• SPRINTING & PACING APPLICATION: Swimmers at this session will work on applying their newly developed skills during racing scenarios. As with all the other sessions of this camp, the clinicians will provide feedback for your swimmer to take home and apply at upcoming practices and meets.