College Preparation Swim Camp For Grades 8 to 12
Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center
800 E M.L.K. Jr Blvd,
Charlotte,
NC 28202
- days
- hours
- minutes
- seconds
Introduction
Fitter & Faster is producing a College Preparation Swim Camp in Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 28 & 29! This exclusive 2-day camp is designed for competitive swimmers in grades 8-12 who dream of swimming at the collegiate level.
Gain invaluable insights into the world of college admissions, recruitment, financial aid, and beyond, all while participating in top-tier in-water training sessions. Parents are welcome in all information sessions and even have a specific time carved out for them.
Click the “Curriculum Menu” below for a detailed breakdown of each session and learn how this camp can help you and your swimmer navigate the collegiate swimming landscape while maximizing their opportunities for success.
Select a curriculum below
DECEMBER 28, SESSION 1: FINDING THE RIGHT FIT & CROSS-OVER TURNS
College swimming presents an incredible opportunity, but it's crucial to find the right fit. To start, understanding the different options available through the NCAA (DI, DII, or DIII), NAIA, NJCAA, CCCAA, and CCS is key. Swimmers should assess factors such as competitive level, academics, location, cost, and team role. In Session 1, we'll help participants identify their unique needs, set priorities, and create a strategic college search timeline. Additionally, mastering the back-to-breast crossover turn is crucial for IM races at the collegiate level. This in-water session will address timing, execution issues, and enhancing underwater pullout strength.
- SWIMMERS & PARENTS CLASSROOM SESSION - FINDING THE RIGHT FIT (8:30-9:30 AM): Choosing the right college swimming program is vital for swimmers to ensure a rewarding and successful collegiate experience. It's essential to thoroughly assess various aspects such as the overall college environment, the athlete experience, and the dynamics of the swimming team itself. By carefully evaluating these factors, swimmers can pinpoint a program that closely matches their individual goals and aspirations.
- The Factors: It is important to consider factors such as academic programs, geographic location, cost, the competitive level of the team, the coaching staff, and the swimmer's potential role on the team.
- Needs and Wants: We will guide your swimmer in distinguishing between their needs and wants.
- Priorities: By understanding their priorities, your swimmer can narrow down their college search effectively.
- Timeline: We will assist your swimmer in establishing a realistic timeline and plan for targeting colleges that best suit their goals.
- POOL - CROSSOVER TURNS (9:30-11:30 AM): The back-to-breast crossover turn is a pivotal skill for swimmers aiming to compete at the collegiate level and is essential for excelling in IM races.
- Make it Legal: Despite its importance, the crossover turn is often under-practiced and frequently leads to disqualifications. We’ll focus on ensuring that this turn is executed within the rules.
- Ambidexterity: Many swimmers, including elite athletes, have a weaker turning side. In this session, participants will learn to strengthen both sides of their turn, giving them an advantage.
- The Approach: Disqualifications often occur due to mistimed approaches and a loss of momentum at the wall. We’ll teach swimmers how to maintain speed into the touch and position their head and body to legally and fluidly enter the turn.
- The Turn: Proper rotation mechanics and foot placement are crucial for executing the crossover turn with speed and precision.
- The Pullout: Swimmers often compromise their breaststroke underwater pullout quality when performing the crossover turn. We’ll show how to maximize the push-off strength and maintain a powerful underwater pullout, preserving the competitive advantage gained.
DECEMBER 28, SESSION 2: FINANCIAL AID, ADMISSIONS & MORE AND COLLEGIATE-LEVEL TRAINING
During the parent info session in Session 2, we'll provide you with essential guidance on how to effectively support your child's college search. We'll cover your role in the process, the intricacies of NCAA rules, and explore various financial aid options. Simultaneously, in the pool, swimmers will undergo collegiate-level training, focusing on teamwork, learning, and taking responsibility for their outcomes. By combining these classroom insights and pool experiences, we aim to equip both parents and swimmers with the knowledge, skills, and mindset necessary for a successful transition to college swimming.
- PARENTS ONLY CLASSROOM SESSION - PARENTS INFO (12:30-2:00 PM): This session runs concurrently with pool session for the swimmers. Understanding your role and communicating effectively during the college search process is crucial to helping your child find the best fit for both themselves and your family.
- Defining the Parent's Role: We’ll help you clarify and define your role in the college search, making the journey smoother and more effective.
- Effective Communication: We’ll provide insights and strategies to help you decide how best to support and communicate with your child during this process.
- Rules & Timelines: You’ll gain a thorough understanding of the recruiting rules and timelines for NCAA, NAIA, and Junior College levels, helping you navigate the recruiting landscape with confidence.
- Financial Aid: We will cover different sources of financial aid, such as athletic scholarships, need-based aid, and academic merit scholarships. We'll also keep you informed about other evolving forms of athletic financial support. You'll gain insight into asking the right questions to fully understand the financial aid options available at each school.
- Admissions: We'll provide information on the admissions process and how participation in athletics can support your child in gaining acceptance to their preferred college.
- POOL - TRAINING WITH COLLEGIATE INTENSITY (12:30-3 PM): Collegiate training sessions often have greater pace, intensity, and freedom of choice than most club or high school practices. Our second pool session of this camp will be a physically and mentally stimulating 2+ hour workout that simulates a collegiate practice. This will allow your child to continue their training progress (and reassure their high school or club team coach that they aren’t missing practice by attending camp).
- Teamwork: Collegiate swimming embodies the pinnacle of team-based competition. During practice, athletes will push each other to achieve their best in an environment that blends competition with strong cooperation.
- Knowledge Acquisition: College coaches expect their athletes to bring a deep understanding to each practice, encompassing stroke techniques, race strategies, and beyond. We’ll foster this knowledge-building approach throughout the session.
- Ownership: Success in collegiate swimming hinges on taking ownership of one's training and results. We’ll coach athletes to not just complete the practice but to fully engage and take responsibility for their outcomes, helping them translate their practice performance into competitive excellence.
DECEMBER 29, SESSION 3: NAVIGATING THE RECRUITING PROCESS & MASTERING RELAY STARTS
In Session 3, we’ll again split our focus between the classroom and the pool. In the classroom we will provide comprehensive guidance for both swimmers and parents on navigating the college recruiting process. In the pool, swimmers will learn elite level relay start techniques allowing them to excel in high-stakes races.
- SWIMMERS & PARENTS CLASSROOM SESSION - NAVIGATING THE RECRUITING PROCESS (8:30-9:30 AM): In the classroom portion, swimmers and parents will delve into the intricacies of the recruiting journey, including NCAA rules, effective communication with coaches, college visits, scholarships, and decision-making strategies.
- The Process: We’ll walk your swimmer through each step of the recruiting process, from initial interest to final commitment.
- Contacting Coaches: Learn the best times and methods for reaching out to coaches to make a strong and lasting impression.
- Being Inquisitive: Discover the most insightful questions to ask coaches to gain a deeper understanding of potential programs.
- College Visits: Understand the differences between official and unofficial visits and how to decide which schools to visit.
- Scholarships: Timing and tact are key when discussing scholarships. Learn when to ask and what to consider regarding financial offers.
- Making a Decision: Gain clarity on the timeline and factors to consider when choosing the right college, ensuring a well-informed and timely decision.
- POOL - RELAY STARTS (9:30-11:30 AM): College swimming takes the importance of relays to the next level. Swimmers will learn advanced relay start skills helping them decrease their splits and increase their chances of grabbing a coveted relay spot.
- Generating Momentum: Relay starts offer a unique opportunity to build additional momentum off the blocks. Swimmers will practice leveraging both footwork and arm swings to maximize their launch speed.
- Perfect Timing: Eliminating reaction time is crucial in relay starts. Swimmers will learn to precisely anticipate the incoming swimmer's touch, optimizing their entry into the race.
- Techniques: We’ll explore a variety of relay start techniques—including the one-step, two-step, hop, and step-over starts—allowing each swimmer to find and refine the method that works best for them.
DECEMBER 29, SESSION 4: RACE ANALYSIS
Session 4 is dedicated to teaching swimmers the advanced skill of race analysis—a crucial tool used by the world’s best athletes to refine their performance. By understanding and applying race analysis, swimmers and coaches can devise optimal race strategies, tailor their training with precision, and achieve peak performance. We’ll also explore race statistics from elite swimmers, giving participants insights into their own paths to improvement. This session includes both classroom instruction and a pool workout where swimmers will apply their newly acquired knowledge. Swimmers are encouraged to bring videos from their latest championship meet for a personalized analysis of their races. By the end of this session, your swimmer will be equipped with the tools and confidence to elevate their training and gain a competitive edge.
- SWIMMERS ONLY CLASSROOM SESSION - LEARNING HOW TO ANALYZE RACES (12:30-1:45 PM): We begin in the classroom, where swimmers will delve into analyzing their own race performances and study the race analysis of top international swimmers.
- Stroke Rate: This measures how fast swimmers are moving their arms during the race, varying by lap and even within laps. Maintaining a consistent stroke rate, especially through a 50m lap, can be key to converting short course success to long course.
- Stroke Count: Monitoring the number of strokes per lap provides insights into a swimmer's distance per stroke and overall efficiency in the water.
- Kick Count: Underwater kicking is now recognized as the 'fifth stroke' in competitive swimming. Elite swimmers plan their kicks per lap based on their kicking speed, endurance, and race strategy.
- Splits: Splits reveal a swimmer's race strategy. When combined with stroke rate, stroke count, and kick count, splits can offer a clear path to performance enhancement.
- POOL - USING RACE ANALYSIS IN TRAINING (1:45-3:15 PM): Next, we take the insights gained in the classroom to the pool, where swimmers will practice race-specific techniques to challenge them physically and mentally.
- Counting Strokes: We’ll focus on counting strokes to enhance distance per stroke and improve efficiency at race speeds.
- Working With Tempo: Using Tempo Trainers or stopwatches, we’ll experiment with different stroke rates to find the optimal pace.
- Kick Count Discipline: Developing a consistent kick count during practice lays the foundation for disciplined race performance. Swimmers will establish a personal kick standard to maintain during race-pace training.
- Balancing Factors: Stroke rate, distance per stroke, and kick count need to be balanced. For some, taking fewer strokes can lead to improvements, while for others, increasing the stroke rate may be beneficial. We’ll help each swimmer discover the best balance for their races.
SESSION TIMES: Saturday (Day 1):
- SESSION 1:
- Check-in: 8:15 AM
- Classroom session for swimmers and parents: 8:30-9:30 AM
- Pool session: 9:30-11:30 AM
- SESSION 2:
- Check-in: 12:15 PM
- Classroom session for parents only: 12:30-2:00 PM
- Pool session for swimmers: 12:30-3 PM
- SESSION 3:
- Check-in: 8:15 AM
- Classroom session for swimmers and parents: 8:30-9:30 AM
- Pool session: 9:30-11:30 AM
- SESSION 4:
- Check-in: 12:15 PM
- Classroom session for swimmers: 12:30-1:45 PM
- Pool session: 1:45-3:15 PM
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
Throughout the camp, swimmers will practice what they've learned with some of the world's most elite Swimmer Clinicians and coaches!
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!
