Welcome to the “How to Be a Shark” information page!

If you would like to swim with the Sharks, please e-mail Kristina Matthews

 

Thank you so much for your interest in the Sharks!

Please contact us if you have any questions - CLICK HERE to send us an email for more information.

Before starting with the Sharks, your swimmer will need to come swim with a coach for a tryout.

Please be sure to do the following.  It will facilitate the process for you and our volunteers that run the tryouts.
  1. Before the Season Starts: email the registrar (Kristina Matthews) Ask any questions, you'll be added to the interest list and sent notification when try-outs are scheduled.
  2. During the Season: email the registrar (Kristina Matthews)  A try-out will be scheduled around practice times.
  3. Be ready to swim!!  Your swimmer(s) will be asked to show the coaches how he/she swims. So have them bring a suit, cap, goggles and a towel.  The coaches will talk with you and will be able to tell you better if your swimmer is ready to join the team, and what group they would be assigned to.

There will be time to ask the coach questions at tryouts.  We will have several volunteer parents also available for questions.

The following is a description about the Sharks' training philosophy.  It is an important part of what make us who we are as a team.

Sharks Swim Club is a developmental program – from top to bottom. Our interest is not in creating the fastest 12 year old. 10 year olds are developmental swimmers - 13 year olds are developmental – high school seniors are developmental. It is in that belief that our training philosophies are born. Our program is based on the long-term benefit to the athletes. Keep in mind that a fast 10-year-old does not equate to a happy and fast 18-year-old. The record books are full of fast little kids that didn’t stay in the sport to their teen-age years.
 
While we strive to do our best at all times, swim meet times are not the only way we judge our progression.  It is more important to us that we teach kids to be coachable, fundamentally-sound athletes with the potential for continued long-term growth.
 
We will not specialize in strokes or distances. All swimmers going through the program are swimmers – not backstrokers, butterflyers, or sprinters. We will train swimmers to be able to compete in the 400 IM, 200 of stroke and the distance freestyles. Once an athlete conquers those events – everything else is more easily conquered. We will also not wear technical racing suits until the coaching staff sees fit – which is usually at the USA Sectional level or 15 years old.