Castle Rock Swim Team (ROCK) is a year-round competitive USA Swimming Club.  We are an athlete inspired, coach led and parent supported swim team whose goal is to achieve excellence in the sport of swimming.

Our mission is to provide a fun, safe and positive environment for swimmers of all ages to achieve their goals while fostering a strong sense of community and team.

Our values are:

  • Commitment and Responsibility
  • Honesty and Respect
  • Friendship and Fun
  • Teamwork and Sportsmanship

Our vision is to be recognized as a strong competitive swim team while building leaders in our community who represent the characteristics we value.

Training Groups

Castle ROCK swim team consists of four different training groups: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. 

Bronze Group consists of beginner swimmers ages 7-11.  Unfortunately, we do not take swimmers younger than 7 years old; however, we reserve the right to make exceptions based on the level of interest in our Bronze Group or a swimmer’s skills and sometimes extend invitations to younger swimmers.  Bronze Group emphasizes building a strong development in all four competitive strokes – butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle – along with starts, turns, and the basics of training and being part of a swim team.  Bronze swimmers will learn the importance of correct body position and strong kicks while gaining an introduction of the sport of swimming and competition.  This group will develop strategic skills through goal setting and learning to use the clock to support swim development and building endurance.

Bronze has practices 3-4 times a week in 45 minutes to 1 hour & 15-minute sessions, with additional dryland training twice a week.  For swimmers to succeed in this group, they need to attend a minimum of 3 practices each week; the goal is to maintain 70% overall attendance. 

Silver Group consists of our more advanced swimmers ages 11-13 who are ready for a higher level of conditioning while still maintaining quality stroke technique and skill instruction.  The direction of practices, structure and difficulty is specifically designed for long-term development of all strokes and events.  Silver swimmers will learn to increase self-awareness, mental toughness and self-discipline while focusing on personal goals.  Dryland training in the Silver group assists in the overall training and development plan of the swimmers.   

Silver practices 5 times per week in 1.5-2-hour sessions with additional dryland training 2 times per week.  For swimmers to succeed in the Silver group, they need to attend a minimum of 4 practices each week and at least one dryland practice; the goal is to maintain 70% overall attendance.

Gold Group consists of swimmers ages 13 and up of varying stroke and speed abilities.  Athletes in the Gold group range from swimmers trying to make their high school team to swimmers looking to compete at the state, zone and national level.  This group works to perfect their stroke technique, build on their fundamentals of high-level swimming while also increasing their knowledge of technique and strategy to swim fast.  Dryland is also incorporated into the overall training and development plan of the Gold group.  Gold group is a positive, hard-working environment where athletes set goals and work together to achieve greatness.

Practices for the Gold group consist of 2-hour practices up to 8 times per week with additional dryland training 2 times per week.  For swimmers to succeed in the Gold group, they need to attend a minimum of 4-5 practices each week in addition to both dryland workouts; the goal is to maintain 70% overall attendance.

Coaching Staff

ROCK is coached by a professional and fully USA Swimming Certified coaching staff.

Head Coach Jenny Wait joined ROCK as our Head Coach in August 2021.  She was a life-long swimmer from an early age and has been coaching swimming for over 20 years.  She has been a swim instructor, pool manager and has coached all levels of swimmers on a variety of teams from summer league, high school and year-round USA Swimming teams.  Jenny was also the Age Group Chair for Colorado Swimming, serving on the CSI board for 5 years and as the Head Coach for Colorado’s All Star and Zone Championship Teams.   Jenny is also was the Head Coach for the County Girls HS Team; a co-op team of girls from Douglas County HS and Castle View HS.  Coach Jenny has a passion for swimming and strives to create a fun and positive environment that her athletes enjoy being a part of emphasizing the importance of proper stroke technique, while using positive feedback to help swimmers achieve their goals.  Jenny believes strongly in team spirit, good sportsmanship and healthy competition.  She views her role as a coach to assist in the physical, psychological and social development of each athlete; pushing them to their full potential, creating mental toughness and building self-confidence that will positively affect the rest of their lives.

Jenny is married to Raphael Wait (aka Mr. Coach Jenny), a former swimmer and cyclist.  They love to beach camp, travel, spend time with family & friends and laugh a lot.  Together with their two kitties, Maximus & Gracie, and their dog Samson, Team Wait loves living in Castle Rock and being part of this great community!

Assistant Coach Luke Murray began swimming at an early age and went on to become the top swimmer in his province in Canada for two years before moving to Wyoming. He continued to swim through high school, earning the Wyoming Sportsman of the Year Award his junior year.  After high school, he became a lifeguard and swim instructor to help pay his bills while in college, and that led to his coaching career while living in New York City. He fell in love with coaching and has never looked back. After starting with the 92Y Flying Dolphins, he moved back to Wyoming to coach the Cody CKATs, bringing them their first two Divisional State Championships.  Coach Luke obsesses over proper technique, hard work, and fun. He believes in building a strong foundation with healthy habits to set young swimmers up for success in their swimming career. He loves all aspects of the sport of swimming and can't wait for practice!  A few fun facts about Luke: He is a twin, he has two hole-in-one's in golf, and he's an opera singer!

Assistant Coach Caleigh McPherson joined ROCK as our Bronze Coach this year!  Caleigh is originally from North Carolina and moved to the Castle Rock area in middle school.  She started swimming when she was 3 yrs old and quickly began swimming competitively on a team.  Once in Colorado, she swam on a couple year-round USA Swimming teams and was a 4-year varsity swimmer with Rock Canyon High School.  She was even a former swimmer of Coach Jenny!  Caleigh’s passion and love for working with kids began by teaching swimming lessons and progressed into coaching a summer league team for the past 3 years.  She has enjoyed it so much; she recently changed her career path to ensure a future working with kids and being part of their journey of reaching their goals.  Caleigh graduated from Colorado State University last spring with a bachelors in Criminology.  Her passion has now directed her to actively pursue her teaching license as she is currently a teacher’s assistant.  Caleigh enjoys working out at F45 as well as spending time with family, friends and her two dogs Cash & Bailey.

Dryland Coach & Assistant Coach Elizabeth Wompey is a Colorado native who has been a part of the swimming world since she was 8 years old. Her love for swimming started when she began competing for the Applewood Knolls summer club team. She refined her skill and grew her love for the sport as she transitioned to club swimming at age 13 where she competed in the senior group of the North Jeffco swim team for 5 years. She loves all distance freestyle events and the 200 backstroke! Coach Elizabeth continued swimming in college where she swam Division 1 at Youngstown State University. Her swimming career came to an early end due to injury but her love and passion for the sport still remains. As a coach at ROCK, Elizabeth strives to help swimmers improve their technique, grow a love for swimming, and excel as individuals both in and out of the pool. 

Coach Elizabeth holds a bachelor’s degree in human development spends her days working in healthcare management. When Elizabeth is not at the pool, she enjoys going to spin classes and spending time with her cat Lucy.

Meets

ROCK participates in an average of two meets per month or more.  Attendance at meets is encouraged as a means of evaluating a swimmers’ progress in addition to those additional skills needing focus.  USA Swimming meets come in a variety of types from short dual meets to three-day long invitationals.  If your swimmer plans on attending a meet, it’s recommended that they participate in the maximum allowed events for the meet to maximize their meet experience.  Swimmers are allowed to choose their events, however, should you sign-up your swimmer and NOT choose events, the Coach will choose their events for them.  Feel free to reach out to your group coach for guidance on choosing events.

State Championship meets are held typically at the end of February into early March for Short Course season, end of July into early August for Long Course season.  Athletes that qualify for those meets are expected to attend their highest level of competition attained.  As our coaches plan our season carefully around these meets, please plan family vacation time accordingly to allow your swimmer participation in their season-ending championship meet.

Fees, Monthly Dues, Financial  & Volunteer Requirements

For the 2025-2026 season, the fees and dues were as follows:

  • Annual Registration fee –
    • $400 per NEW family
    • $300 per RETURNING family
  • Monthly Pool rental fee – included in monthly training dues this year.
  • Monthly Training Group dues (Sept through July):
    • Bronze Group – $141/month
    • Silver Group – $177/month
    • Gold Group – $195/month
  • New Family-final payment deposit - $150 per family
    • Fully refundable when family leaves team, pending a zero-balance account.
  • USA Swimming Registration: Premium Athlete – $85 for 2024-2025 seasons

Monthly fees and dues are collected automatically on the 1st of each month, September through July; fees are not charged in August.  Meet fees vary by meet and include a surcharge per athlete in addition to a small fee per event.  With your initial registration, a one-time $150 Final Payment Deposit will be charged.  This is used to offset any fees you may have outstanding if/when you leave the team.  Any amount remaining after any potential charges is refunded back to your payment method.

ROCK’s Cancellation Policy: requires a 30-day written notice to the Head Coach and the Billing Coordinator and we do not have prorated billing.  We do not allow families to suspend their account; any leave of absence is billed at the normal monthly rate for fees and dues pertaining to your training group.  Should you choose to leave the team we cannot guarantee your space will be available as our team conducts tryouts.  Your swimmer is welcome to re-join the tryout process at the end of the summer.  At the beginning of each season, you are given a week of practices to determine if ROCK is a good fit for you and your swimmer, without obligation.

ROCK’s Volunteer Policy:  Swim teams take a village to create a fun, positive environment and experience for our swimmers and our team to be successful.  ROCK requires a volunteer hour commitment of 6 hours per year and at least 2 sessions of timing at a meet.  There are numerous opportunities to fulfill this requirement over the course of the season.  Unfulfilled volunteer hours will be billed to your account at the end of July at the rate of $25/hour and unfulfilled timing sessions will be billed at the rate of $100/hour.  Whether it’s assisting at a meet timing races, helping at our home meets to leading a training group with out-of-the-pool team bonding activities; we all do our part to make ROCK great!  Occasionally we conduct fundraising campaigns used towards team ‘extras’ such as periodic replacement or maintenance of equipment, coaches’ education, and other unanticipated expenses that may arise.  It is our mission that fund-raising will always be voluntary. 

Practice Schedule

Note: These are sample practice times and are subject to change.

In a ‘typical’ short course season (Sept-March), a sample practice schedule is as follow:

  • Bronze Group
    • Monday: 5:15-6:30 PM
    • Tuesday & Thursday: Dryland training 5-5:30 PM & Swim 5:30-6:30 PM
    • Saturday: 930-1030 AM
  • Silver Group
    • Monday - Thursday: 5-6:30 PM
    • Friday: 5-7 PM
    • Saturday: 7-8:30 AM
    • Dryland Training: Monday & Wednesday 7:10-7:40 PM
  • Gold Group
    • Monday & Wednesday: 5:30-6:45 AM
    • Monday - Thursday: 6:30-8:30 PM
    • Friday: 5-7 PM
    • Saturday: 8:30-10:30 AM
    • Dryland Training: Tuesday & Thursday 5:30-6:15 PM

In a ‘typical’ long course season (March-July), a sample practice schedule is as follow:

  • Bronze Group
    • Monday & Thursday: 5-6:30 PM
    • Tuesday: long course practice 10:30-12:30 PM
    • Wednesday: Dryland training 4:30-5 PM, Swim 5-6:15 PM
    • Friday: Dryland training 4-4:30 PM, Swim 4:30-5:45 PM
  • Silver Group
    • Monday: 6:30-8:30 PM
    • Tuesday & Thursday: long course practice 10:30-12:30 PM
    • Wednesday: 6:30-8:30 PM
    • Friday: 4:30-6:30 PM
    • Dryland Training: Monday & Wednesday 5:30-6:15 PM
  • Gold Group
    • Monday - Thursday: 6:30-8:30 PM
    • Tuesday & Thursday: long course practice 10:30-12:30 PM
    • Friday: 7-9 AM
    • Dryland Training: Monday & Wednesday 5:30-6:15 PM

Team Gear & Suit Policy

Each training group requires equipment specific to their needs.  Every athlete is expected to have the proper equipment for their particular training group.

Currently, the following equipment is required for ALL groups:

  • Mesh gear bag
  • Kickboard
  • Fins – training fins; NOT scuba fins
  • Paddles – refer to your coach for the proper fit on paddles
  • Training Snorkel – Speedo or equivalent is recommended; NOT a snorkel with a purge-valve
  • Pull Buoy

ROCK Suit Policy mandates that all swimmers wear the ROCK team suit for competition.

USA Swimming has parameters surrounding technical suits for swimmers; please consult your group coach for the applicable technical suit for your swimmer.

Team Tryouts

ROCK will conduct open tryouts for any swimmer interested in joining our team.

Tryouts are typically done on an annual basis in late July, however, we have had swimmers periodically tryout during the season.

For tryout info or any questions, please contact Head Coach Jenny Wait – [email protected]