Championship Preparation Swim Camp (Ages 10 & Over)
The Thoreau Club
275 Forest Ridge Rd,
Concord,
MA 01742
- days
- hours
- minutes
- seconds
Introduction
Fitter & Faster is producing a 2-day swim camp for competitive swimmers ages 10 & Over at The Thoreau Club in Concord, Massachusetts on March 1 & 2, 2025! On March 1st, we are also producing a video filming & analysis session for swimmers of all ages that we encourage you to sign your swimmer up for.
CHAMPIONSHIP PREPARATION SWIM CAMP (Ages 10 & Over)
DAY 1 (Saturday, March 1):
Session 1: The Fifth Stroke - Underwaters
Session 2: Fast Starts
DAY 2 (Sunday, March 2):
Session 3: Flip Turns, Open Turns & Finishes
Session 4: The Essentials of Sprinting
VIDEO FILMING & ANALYSIS
Saturday, March 1st (2-4 PM): Swimmers who register for the Championship Preparation Swim Camp are also able to purchase video analysis of their strokes. Video filming and analysis is NOT available to those who are not registered for the Championship Preparation Swim Camp.
Click the “Curriculum Menu” below for details on the Swim Camp and the Video Analysis session!
-> Availability in each session is limited to 24 participants to ensure the highest level learning experience.
-> SAVE when you purchase a “Bundle” for your swimmer.
Select a curriculum below
CHAMPIONSHIP PREPARATION SWIM CAMP: March 1 & March 2, 2025
In this four-session swim camp, your swimmer will receive world-class guidance from elite clinicians at Fitter & Faster, focusing on key elements essential for enhancing overall racing performance! We understand that achieving peak performance demands ongoing refinement, which is why even the most elite swimmers are dedicated to perfecting the very skills we'll be honing with your athlete.
- DAY 1: (Saturday, March 1)
- Session 1: THE FIFTH STROKE - UNDERWATERS: In the first session, our Elite Clinicians will work with participants to enhance the fastest sequence for each race lap: streamlines, underwater dolphin kicks & breakouts. Finessing these techniques not only reduces drag and enhances efficiency, but also contributes significantly to overall speed and performance in the water!
- 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.
- Session 2: FAST STARTS & BREAKOUTS: In this session, swimmers will work on executing fast starts and carrying momentum through their breakouts. The skill of generating explosive power at the start, while also effortlessly integrating the skills developed during session 1, 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.
- 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.
- 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!
- Underwaters & Breakout Reinforcement: 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!
- Relay Exchanges: In relays, reaction time is crucial! At this camp, your swimmer will learn skills that the best swimmers in the world use to time the “exchange” just right! If we react too quickly, we’ll start before the other swimmer finishes - and we’ll get disqualified. If we start too slow, we can lose our positioning in a race! Learning the proper technique for a well-timed start and an explosive relay dive will make your swimmer a valuable teammate.
- DAY 2: (Sunday, March 2)
- 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: At the elite level of swimming, walls aren’t just used for turning around - they are used to generate speed and momentum going into the next lap. Outside of the elite ranks, most 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: 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”.
- 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, 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 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: 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 camp, 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 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.
VIDEO FILMING & ANALYSIS: March 1, 2025
Since so much of the stroke happens below water, it is incredibly important to see what’s going on below the surface! Small adjustments to your stroke can lead to big time drops! This is your opportunity to get beautiful footage of your stroke and get analysis from an expert… and you can review with your coach as well!
- ANALYSIS: Our Fitter and Faster expert will use a video analysis application to record their comments on your technique. They will use slow motion, pause the video at specific points, and draw on the swimmer's video, all while explaining where opportunities for improvement are. Each stroke will have approximately 3 to 5 minutes of expert commentary that you can review with your coaches at home!
- DRILL RECOMMENDATIONS: You will receive recommendations for drills to correct the technique of each swimmer.
- SIGN UP: Select to have one stroke filmed. Or, SAVE by choosing to have all four strokes filmed. The "multi-stroke options" are for individual swimmers and cannot be split.
- ARRIVING AT THE POOL (Retain your order number): You will receive an e-mail approximately one week before the filming session with the specific time for your swimmer to check in, warm up, and be filmed. Please retain your order number - this is how swimmers will be identified on that schedule. When you arrive at the pool, you will be greeted by Fitter & Faster staff who will provide you instructions on the filming process.
- WARM UP: Participants will have an opportunity to warm up before filming.
- FILMING: Our camera operator will have you swim two 25s at a strong pace of each stroke purchased (1 stroke or all 4 strokes). The filming of each stroke will take about three minutes. The video will capture a side angle and a front angle below the water to get an accurate view of your technique.
- SESSION LEGNTH: Depending on the number of strokes you are getting recorded, your session time will run between 5 and 15 minutes.
- TIMELINE: All videos will be analyzed and returned within 14 days of the camp. The analyzed videos along with the original video will be sent via email for you to keep!
START TIMES:
- Sessions 1 & 3: Check in 7:15 AM, Camp 7:30-10 AM
- Sessions 2 & 4: Check in 10:45 AM, Camp 11-1:30 PM
- Depending on the number of strokes you are getting recorded, your session time will run between 5 and 15 minutes.
- The Video Filming & Analysis session is separate from the swim camp. Camp registration does not include this session.
- You will receive an email a week before the filming session with the specific time for your swimmer to check in, warm up, and be filmed.
- Swimmer's scheduled time will be between 2-4 PM.
- Elite Video Filming & Analysis is for ALL swimmers ages 8 & Over, including adults!
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!
