The Decatur County Sharks offers training and practice groups for swimmers of all ages and ability levels. It is the goal of the Sharks to offer age specific training for all of our athletes that is geared towards challenging each individual and developing each individual to the best of THEIR abilities. To be a member of our team, you must register as a USA swim member each year. There are a variety a memberships, so be sure to look for what best suites your family/swimmer and feel free to ask us questions or for recommendations.
Gold Group (Pre-Senior/Senior) -- This is our elite level training group for Jr. High age and up that are capable of completing High School level workouts. Examples would be as follows: 10 x 100 Freestyle Swim on 1:40 interval; 10 x 50 Kick on :60 interval. Gold group swimmers must also be proficient in swimming all 4 strokes. The Gold group will train 5-9 sessions per week depending on what time of the year it is.
Silver Group -- Our silver level is for swimmers not yet ready for the Gold swim group. These swimmers can be any age but must be capable of completing moderate training sets. Examples of training sets are as follows: 8 x 50 Freestyle swim on 1:20 interval; 4 x 50 kick on 1:30 interval. Silver group swimmers must be proficient at freestyle and backstroke as well as have a good grasp of butterfly and breaststroke. They must be proficient at flipturns and forward starts off the starting blocks. The silver group will typically practice/train 3-4 sesssions per week depending on the season.
Bronze Group -- This group is for entry level swimmers (preferably ages 7 and up who are not yet ready for the higher level swim groups). However, these swimmers must be competent in the water, capable of swimming 25 yards unassisted, and capable of being focused/paying attention to instruction for 45 minutes. Please note...this is NOT swim lessons. The bronze group will usually swim 2-3 times per week depending on the season.
SWIM SEASONS
We seperate the year into 3 seasons and each season will have its own/different practice schedule. Please take note of when/where your swimmer will practice depending on the season.
Season 1: Fall/winter season--from August/Septemeber through March
Season 2: Summer Rec league -- We are a part of SEISA (South East Indiana Swim Association), a competitive recreational swim league that focuses on introducing and developing the great sport of swimming to ages 5-18. This season spans May-June.
Season 3: Summer USA - this season coincides with our Rec season (May & June) but includes USA competitions and extends into July with training and competitions.
- Each of the seasons has competition periods and while we encourage our swimmers to participate in competitions, we DO NOT require swim meet participation.
- We also understand that swimming can be an expensive activity to participate in and we never want a kid in our community to not get the opportunity to experience our great sport due to financial restrictions. We have scholarship opportunities availble upon request. Please do not hesitate to inquire into our scholarship program!
