Over the course of two days, swimmers will work with elite world-class clinicians to refine some of the most important—and often overlooked—skills in racing. From open turns and underwaters to pullouts and breakouts, backstroke starts, turns, and finishes, each session is designed to help swimmers improve efficiency, carry momentum, and build confidence. These technical details take no additional effort, but focusing on them can make a big difference in training and races!

DAY 1 (Saturday, October 11): Butterfly & Breaststroke Turns & Underwaters

Turns are an important part of every butterfly and breaststroke race, and improvements can lead to noticeable time drops. Many swimmers learn open turns early on in their swimming, so it is crucial to make changes as they level up in the sport. This clinic will help your swimmer smooth out and speed up their open turns so they can carry momentum into the next lap. We’ll also spend focused time on underwater dolphin kicks and pullouts—two powerful tools that can give your swimmer a real advantage if done well off each wall.

• 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 actually not “turns”, but more like high-speed pivots. Participants in this session will work on these techniques to have much faster open turns!
• 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! This is especially true in fly and breaststroke where strokes are naturally longer and both arms move together. We will work with participants on the intricacies of approaching every wall at top speed and seamlessly initiating their turn.
• INITIATING UNDERWATER DOLPHIN KICKS: 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 KICKS: 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.
• BREASTSTROKE UNDERWATER PULLOUTS: The breaststroke pullout is an important and unique part of every breaststroke race. We will work with participants on minimizing resistance in their pull-outs and establishing maximum speed. The pullout can be used strategically, depending on the distance of the race, to cover more ground before breaking out.
• BUTTERFLY & BREASTSTROKE BREAKOUTS: Finally we will work on breakouts. In both butterfly and breaststroke the two keys are to time the breakout correctly right at the surface of the water and to get the hips up to the surface right away to establish an efficient body position for the entire length.

DAY 2 (Sunday, October 12): Backstroke Starts, Turns, Underwaters & Finishes

This session will focus on racing skills that are unique to backstroke—specifically the start, turn, and finish. These techniques aren’t used in any other stroke and often don’t get as much focused practice. We’ll work on all three to help your swimmer build confidence, sharpen their technique, and find opportunities to gain an edge in backstroke races.

• BACKSTROKE STARTS: Backstroke starts rely on strong positioning before the start. Your swimmer will learn how to generate force off the wall without slipping and how to engage their leg drive and core for a fast, clean entry. Emphasis will be placed on body position in the air and a powerful leg kick to carry momentum into their streamline and breakout.
• MOMENTUM INTO THE WALL: Top swimmers don’t coast into walls—they accelerate. Most age-group swimmers lose momentum approaching turns, but this session will emphasize maintaining speed all the way into the wall. For backstroke, that means reading the flags, counting strokes, and approaching with confidence. Clinicians will share strategies to build that confidence and consistency.
• FLIP TURNS: Once the turn is initiated, swimmers must flip quickly to their stomachs and get into a tight, fast rotation. Your swimmer will work on initiating the flip efficiently, maintaining a compact tuck, and putting their body in a position to push off the wall with speed.
• STREAMLINE, UNDERWATER DOLPHIN KICKING, BREAKOUT PROGRESSION: In this session, swimmers will build on the streamline-to-breakout work from Day 1, with a special focus on using those skills during backstroke turn exits and breakouts. Dolphin kicking on the back has a few unique technical challenges, so our clinician will share helpful tips—like how to get more power from the back kick and how to manage breath control without water going up the nose.
• FINISHES: Races are often decided in the final few strokes. Your swimmer will learn how to judge the distance to the wall using similar skills to their turn and adjust tempo, so they arrive with a fully extended, high-speed finish.