Team Sponsors

Group Progressions

Progressions for Team Advancement

The Greater Philadelphia Aquatic Club uses a progressive age group program in which the swimmer will be instructed and developed on physical, mental and emotional levels in a systematic fashion. A gradual increase in commitment over a period of years is essential to reaching peak performance levels during the swimmer’s physiological prime. The emphasis for beginning swimmers in the early stages of our program is the development of the technical aspects and skills necessary in the sport of swimming. The coaching staff at this level will also try to emphasize the fun aspect of the sport in order to help the swimmers understand why they participate in swimming as members of the GPAC team. As the swimmers progress through the program more requirements will be made in terms of attendance, as well as physical and mental training.

The emphasis of the program is on both short-term and, more importantly, long-term results. We would like to see swimmers begin on this team at the lowest level and progress gradually through the program, as they progress through adolescence toward young-adulthood, and be recognized as graduating seniors in their final year with the program. Because long-term goals and a steady but gradual progression through the program is necessary, training groups are comprised of swimmers with similar swimming ability, commitment levels and overall goals. This is the most productive manner to group the swimmers if the swimmers are to advance through the program in the proper way. The best interest of the team will always come first when determining the placement of each individual swimmer.

The following group guidelines will serve as the outline for what skills are necessary for placement in each practice group as well as what is expected of each swimmer in order to reach the next level. The coaching staff will continually evaluate the swimmers based on these group guidelines and make recommendations at the end of the season as to which swimmers need to be moved to the next level. Swimmers placed in a certain group are expected to maintain the level specified in these guidelines. If a swimmer is struggling to maintain these guidelines the coaching staff may elect to place the swimmer in the next level down. Again, this is done to be sure that the swimmer is able to progress through the program at the right rate as well as ensure that the entire team’s best interest is kept in focus.

The needs of each swimmer and the team as a whole are at the forefront of the specifications and direction of these goals and objectives. Short-term, or yearly, goals will be emphasized within each practice season within each group. A long-term goal of overall achievement of excellence is always going to be emphasized. As everyone on this planet is different, each child will progress through the program at a different rate. The coaching staff will do its best to be sure that each swimmer is in the best group for them and that each practice group is comprised of swimmers of like abilities and goals. While it would be ideal for swimmers of the same age to be in each group the reality is that ability is how the groups need to be assembled.

Categories	Mini	Bronze	Silver	Gold	Senior 1	Senior 2	National
*Ages*	8 and under	6-10	9-13	11-14	13 and up	13 and up	High School and above
*Attendance*	1-2 x week suggested	2-3 x week suggested	3-5 x week suggested	4-6 x week suggested	4-6 x week suggested	80% overall attendance mandatory	80% overall attendance mandatory
*Practice Length*	60 min	1 – 1.25 hours	1-1.5 hours	1.5 -2 hours	2-3 hours	2-4 hours	2-4 hours
*Season Length*	9 months	9 months	9-11 months	9-11 months	9-11 months	9-11 months	11 months
*Daily Yardage*	up to 1,000	1,000 – 2,000	2,000-4,000	3,500-5,500	4,500-8,000	6,000-11,000	6,000-11,000
*Double Practices*	No	No	No	No	No	Some	Required
*Weekend Practices*	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
*Basic Goals*	Learn Fundamentals of Swimming 100% Technique	Increase knowledge of swimming and training concepts, intro to competition 75% technique, 25% training	Increased personal responsibility necessities of training and commitment 50% technique, 50% training	Refinement of skills and goals introduction of training levels 25% technique, 75% training	Increased focus on swimming over other activities, balance of swimming, social, school and family 10-20% technique, 80-90% training	Focused on moving from competing on the local level (JOs) to the regional level (Sectionals). Swimming is the primary sport. 10-20% technique 80-90% training	Focused on the highest levels of swimming at the regional and national level, exploring for college swimming options 10-20% technique 80-90% training
*Areas of Development*	Proper technique of all 4 strokes	Starts, turns, kick, 4 legal strokes, using the pace clock	Legal IM swim and kick, 200s of freestyle, 100s of stroke, refine all skills	Goal setting, race strategy, focused on 200s of stroke and 400 IM	Improving beyond what is done with summer league and high school teams.	Develop mental, physical and emotional aspects to highest level	Becoming the best swimmers in the South Jersey area and focused on National recognition in the sport.
*Competitive Performance*	Introduction to Competition – TARGET Jan. mini meet	Mini, dual meets, A/BB/C or BB/C level meets, local championships	10 and under BB times in 50 strokes and 100 IM	10 and under AA times in strokes and 200 IM	11-12 AA times in the 100s strokes and 200 IM	Dedicated to attendance requirement and reaching the Sectional level	Requires meting with Head Coach. Must have Sectional cut times.

Categories	Mini	Bronze	Silver	Gold	Senior 1	Senior 2	National
*Training Categories* *(achievement necessary to be and remain in the group)*	Able to swim lap of freestyle without stopping, can complete practice	2 x 50 of each stroke without stopping during the 50s, relatively legal	6 x 50 free on 1:00 3 x 100 IM on 2:20 can complete 5 x 100 freestyle	10 x 100 free on 1:30 5 x 200 IM on 3:40 10 x 100 kick w/o fins on 2:00 10 x 100 stroke on 1:50 (2:00 breast)	10 x 100 free on 1:25(30) 5 x 200 IM on 3:30 Complete Timed 3000 Proficient kick	Warm-up @ 1:25 freestyle base (1:15 by Jan.) Train @ 1:20 free base (1:15 by Jan.) 10 x 200 stroke on 3:10 10 x 200 IM on 315	Warm-up @ 1:15 freestyle base Train @ 1:10 free base 10 x 200 stroke on 2:40 10 x 200 IM on 2:50
*Biomechanical Progression* *(what you learn)*	Swim without stopping when asked to unless necessary, swim all four strokes legally	Using the pace clock, swimming sets of 50’s of each stroke, 100 IMs	Training for 200 free, 100s stroke, 200 IM, all times faster than Bronze group	Longer stroke cycles with faster times, race pacing, training for the 200s of each stroke and 400 IM	Race pacing and DPS, understands training levels	Understands pacing, stroke rate, legal 400 IM,	Further understanding of race strategy and biomechanics of each stroke.
*Physical*	Complete lap of freestyle without stopping, basic knowledge of other strokes	Can complete practice, swim continuous for 5 minutes. Can complete 50s of each stroke and 100 IM	Complete 10 min. straight swim, some basic body weight exercises. Can complete 100s of each stroke and 200 IM.	Complete 20 minute swim, more advanced body weight exercises. Can complete 200s of each stroke and the 400 IM.	Completes 3000 for time, 500 free under 8:00, longer dryland training	Completes 3000 for time ready for advanced dryland of med balls and light weights	Completes 3000 for time in under 37:30; ready for advanced dryland of med balls and light weights
*Cognitive and Emotional*	Practices without parents present on deck. Can finish 60 minute practice	Remains with the team at all times at meets, does not cry during practice, can make corrections suggested by the coach	Pays attention to coaches at all times, does not cry after a “bad swim” Understands that “bad swims” happen and can correct mistakes	Understands the difference between long-term and short term goals. Understands what is necessary to achieve their swimming goals.	Understands the racing season breakdown, can balance school, social life and swimming	Focused on swimming as their sport of choice. Understanding of what is necessary in and out of the pool to reach the next level in the sport.	Focused on Goals and their swimming future after high school

It is assumed that each group requirements/expectations include those of all of the groups below them.
High school swimmers automatically move into the Senior 1 group regardless of ability to reach the various standards.
In the younger groups practice attendance is less of a requirement as we understand that swimmers have other commitments. However the swimmers must maintain the competitive performance, training categories, biomechanical and physical requirements for a group to remain in it. Everyone must remember that, with most things in life, you get out of it what you put into it. You should not be afraid to make a commitment at any level. It is ideal for the commitment level to increase as the swimmer progresses through the program in a gradual manner. It would not be beneficial to go from swimming two days a week in the Silver or Gold groups immediately to a greater commitment of attendance, workout length and work output in the Gold or Senior 1 groups, respectively. Attendance most definitely needs to consistently increase before workout length and workout intensity increases.
Parent’s/guardians will be provided with swimmer progress reports three times during the short course season (September through May) to update them on their swimmer’s progress and other important issues relative to the athlete’s progression physically, cognitively and emotionally.

GPAC Team Placement Criteria and Considerations:

Level of commitment
Training ability
Practice attendance
Stroke and skill development
Level of maturity and personal responsibility
Age and previous experience
Meet performance and best times
Space availability
Satisfactory completion of placement test/tryout (if new to team)

Practice Group Promotions

The swimmer under consideration:

Consistently makes choices that demonstrate the willingness to make the commitment level expected of swimmers at the next level.
Meets attendance expectations for current group; demonstrates the ability to make attendance requirements for the next level.
Consistently trains above the level of current practice group.
Demonstrates ability to train successfully on base intervals at the next practice level.
Has mastered stroke and skill expectations of current group.
Exhibits level of maturity and responsibility typical of swimmers at the next level.
Fits age and experience parameters of the next training level.
Has demonstrated potential to compete successfully at general competition level of the next group.

Practice Group Demotions

The swimmer under consideration:

Has demonstrated that he/she cannot make the commitment level expected of the practice group.
Is not training successfully on base intervals for their current group.
Attends practice consistently less often than the group expectations and, as a result, can not keep up with the rest of the practice group.
Needs injury rehabilitation at a less strenuous level.

Process for implementing Group Changes (Person responsible is in parenthesis)

Discuss potential change(s) with coach at next level (current coach).
Discuss and receive approval for desired change(s) with Head Coach (current coach and next coach).
Contact swimmer’s parent(s) to discuss team change and expectations at the next level (Current coach).
Once parent has been notified, discuss change with swimmer and outline expectations for the next level (Current coach and next coach).
Process roster change form to notify appropriate staff of effective date of team change (Head Coach).

Parents are free to inquire about group changes. Changes will only be made after the March/April championship meets and before the season starts in September. The Head Coach has final say on all group changes.