Give your swimmer the tools to race faster and with confidence! The Essentials for Faster Racing camp is designed to develop key techniques, power, and efficiency needed to excel in competition. Each session focuses on building effective habits and practicing essential race segments, setting your swimmer up for success now and in the future. Don’t miss this chance to help them reach their full potential!

Session 1: STARTS, UNDERWATERS & BREAKOUTS

The better a swimmer’s technique is off the starting block, the more speed they will carry into the water. Session 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 camp, participants will focus on perfecting their breakout timing to maintain momentum and power into each lap.

Session 2: BUTTERFLY & BREASTSTROKE TECHNIQUE

Butterfly and breaststroke utilize similar body position, “undulating” movements, and an early “catch” to get across the pool with efficiency and speed. They are called the “short axis” strokes because swimmers do not rotate their body at the spine, as is done in freestyle and backstroke. In butterfly and breaststroke, swimmers bend at the hips to generate power and forward momentum.

• BODYLINE: A strong, streamlined bodyline is essential for both strokes. Small adjustments to the chin, neck, and back significantly reduce drag and enhance speed. Swimmers will focus on posture, core engagement, and building body awareness to create a full-body connection, laying the foundation for more hydrodynamic, efficient strokes.
• KICK: Proper kick timing and strength are critical in both strokes. In butterfly, the double kick maintains rhythm and speed, while in breaststroke, a high-knee, snapping kick generates powerful propulsion. Swimmers will develop timing and strength to maximize efficiency and power.
• PULL: Smooth, powerful pulling is key to maintaining momentum. In butterfly, participants will work on creating an early vertical forearm “catch” to apply pressure on the water, while in breaststroke, they’ll focus on generating propulsion and minimizing resistance by quickly returning to a streamlined bodyline. These techniques will enable swimmers to sustain forward movement and keep each stroke effective.
• TIMING: The rhythm of breathing and movement affects body position, pull, and kick in both strokes. Swimmers will practice synchronizing their breath with the pull and kick in butterfly, keeping their chin low to the water, and developing the timing between hands and feet in breaststroke. This approach will help swimmers achieve smooth, efficient strokes for faster races and sustained energy throughout each length.

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: 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 during session 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.

Session 4: RELAY EXCHANGES & 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.

• RELAY EXCHANGES: Relay exchanges have two advantages over traditional starts. First, you can generate greater momentum by stepping forward with a strong arm swing. Second, reaction time can be almost eliminated with a well-timed relay "exchange". At this session, your swimmer will learn skills that the best swimmers in the world use to both leave the block with great momentum, and to time the exchange just right while avoiding disqualification!
• 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 session, we will find the appropriate tempo to maximize their own personal speed.
• BREAKOUTS: Many swimmers add movement within their breakout that creates drag and destroys all of the power created during their underwaters. Participants will work on timing their breakouts to accelerate into each lap.
• 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 & PACING 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.