This swim camp is designed to prepare swimmers for championship season by honing the skills that can make all the difference in their race times. Explosive starts and turns generate the highest speeds achieved by top age-group and elite swimmers, allowing them to maximize distance and maintain momentum before taking their first stroke. The more efficient, powerful, and hydrodynamic your swimmer becomes, the better they’re set up for success in every race.

DAY 1 (Saturday, January 11): EXPLOSIVE STARTS, UNDERWATERS & BREAKOUTS

The better a swimmer’s technique is off the starting block, the more speed they will carry into the water. Day 1 of this swim camp will help your swimmer improve their start, underwater dolphin kicking, and breakouts! This sequence is not only the fastest part of every race, but it is also the part of the race in which elite swimmers cover the most ground with the most efficiency.

• 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: 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: Top age group and elite swimmers maximize their streamline on every single lap. They don’t 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 unintentionally add movements in their breakouts that reduce speed by creating drag. In this session, participants will focus on perfecting their breakout timing to maintain momentum and power into each lap.

DAY 2 (Sunday, January 12): FAST 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. Today, 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 on Day 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.