Thank you for your interest in the COHO Swim Club!

COHO was founded in 1971 as part of the Deerfield Park District.

COHO is run by full-time coaches who are employees of the park district and supported by a volunteer elected Parent Board.

COHO offers opportunities beyond swimming to integrate the team into the community.

 

If your swimmer is not old enough or not quite ready for COHO:

Information on swim lessons through the Deerfield Park District can be found here:

https://www.deerfieldparks.org/programs/aquatics/swim-lessons/

Aquatics Manager Jeff Napolski is in charge of the swim lesson program (This is different than COHO), and he can be reached at: [email protected]

 

NEW SWIMMER TRYOUTS:

To tryout for COHO, swimmers must be at least 6 years old by:

  • October 1st for the fall season
  • January 1st for the winter season
  • May 1st for the spring season
  • July 1st for the summer season

We are currently planning to hold tryout Late March/Early April for our Spring/Summer 2025 Sessions. We may add further opportunities on a case by case basis. 

Tryout Google Form:

 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeTWlxgk1NsyeuII096GbU97nEiwdTISINHzu8VuVjGAhp5Tw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Please reach out to us at [email protected] with any questions about joining our team. 

For the Spring 2025 season:

  • We will start offering tryouts Late August/Early September for Swimmers interstered in trying out for the Fall or Winter 2025 Training Sessions.Tryout Google Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeTWlxgk1NsyeuII096GbU97nEiwdTISINHzu8VuVjGAhp5Tw/viewform?usp=sf_link 
  • Swimmers must be at least 6 years old by May 1, 2025 for spring/summer or have a recommendation from a swim lessons program. 
  • Tryouts will take place by apointment only and we will accept as many swimmers who qualify as possible
    •  Note: Deerfield Residents will have priority
  • Swimmers will have their own lane to tryout, but please note that there are multiple swimmers in each lane during practice
  • The fall session will begin September 9th.

 

If your swimmer joins COHO after tryouts:

  • In addition to the DFPD program fee listed in the brochure, new swimmers are also required to pay the annual USA Swimming registration fee of $87.00 for the 2024-2025 swim season. The fee is the same regardless of when they start
  • COHO Club Fees (meet fees, team events, fundraiser events) will be billed through your COHO account each month, and only on events they participate in or items they purchase.

 

General Tryout Information:

If you are not a resident of Deerfield, or you have not set up a Deerfield Park District online registration account follow the directions here to set up an account prior to trying out: https://www.deerfieldparks.org/programs/registration-info/

 

In order to tryout individuals must:

  • be at least 6 years old by October 1st (fall); Janaury 1st (winter); May 1st (spring); July 1st (summer)
  • be able to swim with their face completely in the water and side breathing (see video example below)

During the tryout a coach will assess the following minimum requirements:

  • If they can perform at least 1 full length of freestyle (front crawl) with face in the water and side breathing
  • If they can perform at least 1 full length of backstroke with body at surface the entire time
  • If they look relaxed in the water and are not showing signs of "survival" or panicked swimming
  • If they are comfortable in the deep end (5 feet) and can go under & touch the bottom with their hands in the shallow end (3 ½ feet)
  • If they are coachable (i.e. can change something with their stroke if a coach asks them to)
  • If they seem mature enough for a larger group practice setting with coaches on the pool deck vs. the smaller group swim lesson setting with instructors in the water

Please note, swimmers may be asked to demonstrate some or all of the following advanced skills to determine specific group placement, or if we have to limit the number of new swimmers we can accept:

  • Bilateral breathing (breathing to both sides, left & right)
  • Legal breaststroke kick (flexed feet-no pointed toes, no scissors kick)
  • Full breaststroke (kick & pull)
  • Legal butterfly kick (feet together-no flutter kick)
  • Full butterfly stroke (kick & pull)
  • Flip turn (freestyle)

 

Minimum Requirement Examples:

Freestyle breathing example:

 

Freestyle swimming example:

 

Backstroke swimming example:

 

Advanced Skills Examples:

Breaststroke kick example: 

Breaststroke pull example: 

Breaststroke swim example: 

Butterfly kick example: 

Butterfly swim example: 

Freestyle flip turn example: 

 

For swimmers who successfully complete a tryout and are brand new to swimming, COHO's Developmental Program is awesome! We focus on instruction, learning, and fun coupled with deliberate practice. We want our swimmers to enjoy coming to practice and we approach skill aquisition through habit, routine, and dynamic structure. We focus on helping swimmers of all ages and abilities have fun, develop friendships, set goals, and experience success in the best possible team setting. We aim to instill a sense of Spirit, Character, and Pride in all participants, and we strive to assist our swimmers in becoming outstanding individuals in all aspects of life, even beyond their athletic achievements.

Minnows practices are offered for 45 minutes, 4 evenings per week, Mon-Thu at the Sachs Recreation Center. The times are 5:30-6:15pm and 6:15-7:00pm. Swimmers are not required to attend all 4 practices every week, but the more often they attend, the quicker they tend to learn and progress to the next level. Two to three practices per week is acceptable, but there is no set attendance policy and you do not need to notify the coach which days your swimmer will or will not attend.

If your swimmer is more advanced, he or she may be placed in Sharks or a group in our Age Group Program.

 

Registration Information:

Brochure Information: https://www.deerfieldparks.org/programguide/  Search for COHO Swim Club

When you've passed a tryout you can sign up here: https://register.deerfieldparks.org/wbwsc/webtrac.wsc/search.html?module=AR&TYPE=COHO

 

Residency: All-District 109, 112 & 113 residents are residents for the COHO program. This includes families living in Deerfield, Bannockburn, Riverwoods, Highland Park, Highwood, and Fort Sheridan.

 

 

Most swimmers begin in Minnows:

General Information - Minnows:

  • The fall 2024 practice schedule for Minnows is: Monday-Thursday at Sachs Recreation Center

  • Minnows: 5:30-6:30pm Monday through Thursday at Sachs Recreation Center

    • Please arrive 5-10 minutes before practice begins.

     

 

Typical Minnows practices look like this: 

Warm-up:

We normally start with a short swim and kick to get the swimmers moving.  

Immediately after we do short repeats of drills for review. We will add in some kicking and longer swim repeats to build endurance. 

 

Small groups: 

Typically we split up into small groups at either end of the pool and work on short distance swimming. This is where the high focus on learning, excellence, and deliberate practice is born and fostered. After the routine of warmup we have established that "play time," or "not swimming time" is over. Like an expectant song you play on repeat, we move into "high focus time." 

During the small groups we do lots of repetition where we are exacting in our feedback and expectations. We'll do things like, 3 times, streamline, plus three strokes of freestyle with a flip, no breathing. Our goal here is to have an excellent all three things streamline, three excellent strokes that do not wobble the body and move correctly, and a flip without breathing before it. 

Coaches attempt to give feedback on every attempt and push our swimmers to more and more complicated swim motions. 

More examples: 

- 5 x SL + 5 FR + 1 breath + flip

- 3 x SL + 2 BR K

- 3 x SL (to the flags) + 3 BK (after flags)

- 3 x SL + 1 fly stroke no kick

 

Endurance and Games: 

After doing a high focus activity heavy on the instruction and learning we do a breaking up the monotony game or longer distance swim to practice what we just learned. This is where we'll do our "lap swimming" with 25's ( 1 length swims) or 50's (down and back). Our goals here are to continue the high quality effort in the short distance groups and apply it to a longer swim. 

We also do challenges or games. These are designed to encourage thinking about swimming beyond being told what to do, foster interest in personal body control, and be difficult to accomplish quickly or well. These are not always easy and are intended to stimulate their brains as much as their physical motions. 

Sometimes we also do "read the board" activities where swimmers form groups in their lanes and follow a list of choices and activities. This is to start learn how to read the board and how to get familiar with the swimming language.