Competitive Enrichment Swim Camp Series for Ages 7 to 10
Woollett Aquatics Center
4601 Walnut Ave,
Irvine,
CA 92604
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Introduction
Fitter & Faster is producing a series of swim camps for swimmers ages 7 to 10 years old at the iconic Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine, California during 2025. This exciting and engaging series is designed to help young swimmers build foundational competitive skills, boost their confidence, and foster a lifelong love for swimming. We are also holding two special video filming and analysis sessions for all ages in April and September. Please see below for additional swim camps in Irvine, CA.
COMPETITIVE ENRICHMENT SWIM CAMP SERIES (Ages 7 to 10)
-> Fast Freestyle & Backstroke Swim Camp (April 26 & 27, 2025)
-> Fast Butterfly & Breaststroke Swim Camp (May 31 & June 1, 2025)
-> Starts, Turns, Underwaters & More Swim Camp (September 27 & 28, 2025)
VIDEO FILMING & ANALYSIS
April 13, 2025 & September 27, 2025: Provide your swimmer the opportunity to receive professional video analysis of their stroke, just like the pros. Choose a single registration to have one stroke filmed and analyzed, save with the Camp + Video Bundle, which includes both days of the swim camp along with filming and analysis of all four strokes, or purchase a Video Bundle that includes only the filming and analysis of all four strokes for video sessions.
Click the “Curriculum Menu” below for details about each swim camp and video filming & analysis sessions.
-> Availability in each swim camp is limited to ensure the highest level learning experience.
-> SAVE when you purchase an “Entire Camp Bundle” for your swimmer.
ADDITIONAL SWIM CAMPS IN IRVINE:
-> Ages 13 & Over
-> Ages 10 to 12
Select a curriculum below
VIDEO FILMING & ANALYSIS: April 13, 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!
- YOUR ELITE STROKE ANALYZER: Coach Colby spent 13 years working with America's top swimmers and coaches at USA Swimming Championship meets. He provided them with feedback and detailed video analysis of strokes and races. Now, he will do it for you!
- 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!
FAST FREESTYLE & BACKSTROKE TECHNIQUE SWIM CAMP: April 26 & April 27, 2025
Freestyle and backstroke utilize the same body position, posture, rotation, and an early “catch” to move down the pool with efficiency and speed. They are called the “long axis” strokes because swimmers rotate their hips and torso around their spine. Over two days, your swimmer, no matter their level, will improve their freestyle and backstroke technique, as well as their racing and training skills! This swim camp will be led by Elite Clinician Ryan Coetzee!
- DAY 1 (Saturday, April 26): FREESTYLE TECHNIQUE: Freestyle is the fastest, most efficient, and most widely used stroke in swimming. Because swimmers spend so much time practicing freestyle, it often develops a natural fluidity unmatched by other strokes. However, it also presents the risk of reinforcing bad habits, especially when swimmers are tired . Our elite clinicians will help your swimmer establish strong foundational habits and share strategies for maintaining an efficient stroke, even when pushing themselves in practice.
- Body Position: A strong freestyle starts with an excellent "aquatic line," where the head, torso, hips, and feet align at the surface of the water. This streamlined position reduces resistance, making swimming both easier and faster. Maintaining this alignment is key to an effective and efficient freestyle stroke.
- Body Rotation: Proper rotation of the hips and shoulders together is crucial for generating and delivering power to the arms and hands. By incorporating the stronger back muscles into the pull, swimmers can achieve a more powerful stroke. Our clinicians will focus on teaching swimmers to rotate their hips and shoulders in unison, while establishing proper timing with their arm strokes.
- Breath: A well-timed breath that works together with body rotation is essential to maintaining a strong aquatic line. Instead of lifting the head, which can cause the hips and feet to drop, swimmers should rotate their head at the neck and elevate their chin slightly while breathing. This minimizes unnecessary movements and keeps the body aligned. Our clinicians will work with your swimmer to develop a smooth, efficient breath that complements their stroke.
- Kick: A great flutter kick in freestyle relies on maintaining a small, fast, and consistent motion throughout the stroke. Each leg should function as an individual kick, even though both legs move simultaneously. Many young swimmers struggle with "scissor kicks," where the feet move out to the side during body rotation to stabilize the body. This disrupts the aquatic line, throws off timing, and significantly reduces efficiency and speed. Our clinicians will help your swimmer correct these habits and develop a propulsive, well-timed kick that enhances their freestyle.
- DAY 2 (Sunday, April 27): BACKSTROKE TECHNIQUE: Competitive backstroke presents unique challenges for young swimmers. As the only stroke performed on the back, it requires a different approach to body position and movement. Additionally, backstroke lacks a natural glide, with arms and legs in constant motion throughout the stroke. Our expert clinicians will help your swimmer develop greater comfort and efficiency in the water allowing them to swim backstroke both faster and longer.
- Body Position: A great backstroke begins with a steady head aligned with the spine. Comfort on the back is crucial, supported by a tight core and a quick, steady kick. These elements elevate the hips and toes, allowing the swimmer to maintain a straight, streamlined body position on top of the water.
- Body Rotation: In backstroke, the hips and shoulders rotate together, enabling the swimmer to position their hand correctly for an efficient catch (the motion of the hand grabbing the water). At the highest point of recovery, the shoulder and hip should be at their maximum rotation. Young swimmers often struggle with body rotation and timing, leading to common mistakes like "crossover," where the hand enters the water behind the head, or placing the hand in the water rather than driving directly into the catch. Our clinicians will teach swimmers proper timing, fast hand entry, and how to engage a powerful catch at the top of their stroke.
- Continuous Arm Motion: Backstroke requires continuous, alternating arm motion. A common error is pausing one arm at the waist, resulting in an inefficient "one-arm-at-a-time" stroke. We will help your swimmer master the skill of keeping their arms opposite each other and in constant motion.
- Kicking: Backstroke kicking should emphasize a whip-like, toe-driven motion, similar to kicking a soccer ball. However, being on their back often causes young swimmers to adopt a bicycle-like, knee-focused kick. Our clinicians will work with your swimmer to develop a compact, efficient, and propulsive kick that enhances their backstroke technique.
- Lane Position and Wall Approach: With their head steady and eyes focused upward, many young swimmers struggle to maintain a straight lane position or confidently approach the wall. Our elite clinicians will share techniques to use visual cues, allowing swimmers to stay straight and accurately gauge the wall without turning or moving their head.
FAST BUTTERFLY & BREASTSTROKE SWIM CAMP: May 31 & June 1, 2025
Butterfly and breaststroke technique are essential for young developing swimmers to build a strong foundation in efficiency, timing, and body control. Over this two-day swim camp, swimmers will go through drills and instruction designed to improve stroke mechanics, rhythm, and power in both strokes. By focusing on key fundamentals, swimmers will develop the skills needed to swim butterfly and breaststroke with better efficiency and confidence.
- DAY 1 (Saturday, May 31): BUTTERFLY TECHNIQUE: Butterfly can be the most challenging stroke for younger swimmers due to its upper body demands and the difficulty in breaking the stroke into manageable drills. Teaching proper technique early, when strength is still developing, allows swimmers to build efficiency and confidence without relying on brute force. With instruction from our elite clinicians, your swimmer will learn a smooth, relaxed, and efficient Butterfly stroke that will serve them throughout their swimming career.
- Body Position: Maintaining a streamlined body position is key in butterfly. Swimmers must keep their head low, chest pressing forward and down, and hips high to reduce drag. The three focus points below help young swimmers keep their bodies up on top of the water making it easier to maintain the proper rhythm.
- Body Undulation: Butterfly relies on coordinated undulation (up and down movement) of the hips, shoulders and feet, which drives the arms through the water and helps move the head into position for breathing. Young swimmers often disrupt their timing when attempting to do two kicks during their stroke. While we want to add a second kick, establishing a single undulation for each stroke cycle is more important and should be tackled first.
- Early Breath: Proper breath timing is crucial for maintaining an efficient body position in the water. Young swimmers often begin their breath too late, resulting in most of the breath occurring while their arms are out of the water during the recovery. With their head lifted and no arm support, their body tends to sink. To avoid this, the breath should begin as the swimmer initiates their pull, and by the time their arms exit the water, the head should already be moving back down. This timing allows the pull to support the body during the breath, keeping the hips high and reducing drag.
- Arm Momentum: Butterfly can be a demanding stroke, but it offers an opportunity to pause and glide with the arms extended in front and the hips pressing upward. This brief pause helps swimmers move quickly through the back end of their stroke, generating momentum for the recovery while minimizing the time their head remains lifted out of the water. Our clinicians will work with your swimmer to eliminate any unnecessary pauses with their hands at their sides, promoting greater fluidity and consistent momentum throughout their stroke.
- DAY 2 (Sunday, June 1): BREASTSTROKE TECHNIQUE: Of all the strokes, competitive breaststroke differs the most from the foundational form taught to young swimmers. This makes it one of the most challenging techniques to master. Our elite clinicians are here to help your swimmer develop race-ready breaststroke skills!
- Gliding: Competitive breaststrokers glide with their hands extended in front, reaching toward the far wall. They hold this extended position until and for several moments after the kick is completed. Maintaining a long, almost streamlined bodyline during the glide is key to maximizing efficiency and speed.
- High Hips: A fast breaststroke requires swimmers to keep their hips high in the water at all times. This involves minimizing the time their head stays out of the water. Swimmers will learn to initiate their breath early in the pull and avoid pausing with their hands near their chest—a critical step for maintaining momentum.
- Kick: The kick is the powerhouse of breaststroke. Swimmers will work on lifting their heels (instead of pulling their knees forward) and snapping their feet quickly around and back to generate strong propulsion. Emphasis will be placed on maintaining the kick within the same horizontal plane and rotating the ankles throughout the motion to develop a powerful and legal kick. Our clinicians will guide participants in refining and strengthening their kick to achieve maximum forward momentum.
- Pull: The key to breaststroke is generating propulsion with the pull while minimizing resistance—and quickly returning to a straight bodyline for a high-speed glide. Many young swimmers have too big of an armstroke which impacts their timing and can even lead to disqualification. Swimmers in this clinic will learn to establish a proper "catch," keeping their hands and elbows high in the water and in front of their shoulders throughout the pull. These techniques will help them maintain forward momentum and achieve their fastest breaststroke.
STARTS, TURNS, UNDERWATERS & MORE SWIM CAMP: September 27 & September 28, 2025
The momentum generated from explosive starts and turns are the FASTEST that top age group swimmers and elite swimmers are moving in a race! The more efficient, powerful, and hydrodynamic your swimmer is, the more distance they travel in the water before taking their first stroke!
- DAY 1 (Saturday, September 27): STARTS, UNDERWATERS & BREAKOUTS: Transitioning to competitive swimming involves mastering racing starts from the blocks. This Competitive Enrichment clinic is designed to help swimmers elevate their skills by building confidence and transitioning from basic dives to powerful racing starts. Participants will focus on improving their starts, underwater dolphin kicks, and breakouts—the fastest and most efficient part of any race.
- Block Starts: Confidence on the blocks begins with proper setup. Our elite clinicians will teach swimmers how to position their bodies for a stable base, allowing them to remain steady while poised to launch into their start at the sound of the horn.
- Water Entry: A smooth, shallow entry into the water is key to carrying momentum from the blocks into the race. This session emphasizes improving water entry, a crucial skill for maximizing speed and efficiency right from the start.
- Streamline: A proper streamline is the fastest a swimmer can move in the water. Even elite swimmers continually refine this technique. Participants will receive tips to improve their streamline, helping them maximize speed off starts and on every wall during practice and competition.
- Powerful Underwater Dolphin Kicking: Underwater dolphin kicking is a vital skill, with the best swimmers generating equal power on the up and down kicks. Our clinicians will introduce different techniques used by elite swimmers and teach participants how to leverage them for faster starts and walls.
- Breakouts: Breakouts are often a trouble spot, with many swimmers inadvertently creating drag through unnecessary movements. This session will focus on refining breakout timing to maintain momentum and power into each lap.
- DAY 2 (Sunday, September 28): FLIP TURNS, OPEN TURNS & FINISHES: For developing competitive swimmers, mastering turns and finishes is a critical step toward transitioning from simply swimming to racing. While proper turn technique is vital, the process begins well before reaching the wall and the impact of a great push off will carry speed through the next length. Similarly, a well-executed finish can make the difference in close races, with the preparation for a great finish beginning far before the final touch.
- Flip Turns: Racing flip turns require precise technique. Swimmers must drop their head quickly without pausing, keep their hands narrow during the rotation, and finish with foot placement and body position that allow for a powerful push-off. Our clinicians will teach swimmers how to turn for maximum speed and efficiency.
- Open Turns: Open turns often require swimmers to re-learn technique. Instead of turning to the side, swimmers will practice bringing their knees and feet straight to the wall, almost like a backflip. They’ll also learn to stay low in the water and use smooth arm movements that lead to optimal foot placement and streamlined push-offs.
- Momentum Off the Wall: The push-off is the fastest part of each length, and carrying that speed into swimming strokes is essential. This clinic will teach proper push-off positioning and tight streamlines to maintain speed.
- Maintaining Speed: One key to both great turns and finishes is maintaining or even increasing speed in the final five yards. Swimmers will develop the habit of “swimming through the wall,” ensuring they carry speed from the flags to the wall and come out ahead in races.
- Finishes: Strong finishes involve eliminating breaths inside the flags, maintaining stroke length and speed, and touching the wall with force just below the surface. Our clinicians will help swimmers build these habits to consistently deliver competitive finishes.
VIDEO FILMING & ANALYSIS: September 27, 2025
Since so much of the stroke happens underwater, 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 FOR ALL SWIM CAMPS:
- Check in 9 AM. Camp: 9:15-11:45 AM
- Depending on the number of strokes you are getting recorded, your session time will run between 5 and 15 minutes.
- 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.
- These sessions are separate from our swim camps. Signing up for a swim camp on its own does not include video filming and analysis unless you purchase a bundle.
- APRIL 13: Swimmer's scheduled time will be between 4-6 PM. This session will take place at Northwood High School - 4515 Portola Pkwy, Irvine, CA 92620
- SEPTEMBER 27: Swimmer's scheduled time will be between 4-6:30 PM.
- Elite Video Filming & Analysis is for ALL swimmers ages 7 & Over
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!
Ryan Coetzee
Ryan Coetzee maintains a focused learning environment for Fitter & Faster Swim Camp participants by setting clear boundaries to allow the swimmers to have fun and improve their skills. “Kids are at the camps to get something they’re not getting in their regular practice, and I want to ensure they leave with something.”
Scott Colby
Scott Colby is a former Performance Development Advisor for USA Swimming, where he spent thirteen years interacting with athletes and coaches at USA Swimming Championship meets providing feedback and detailed video analysis of strokes and races. He says, “A lot of times it’s not obvious what problem a swimmer may be having until you analyze video of their stroke. Given that opportunity, you may be able to see and fix something that makes the athlete more efficient in the water.” He goes on to say that video analysis is not about training volume over time, but about “one or two things you can do tomorrow to get faster.”
Inquisitive, Educated Swimmers are Faster Swimmers! Sign up today!
