Our practices are structured to provide improvements in strength, flexibility, endurance and knowledge throughout the year. Each practice is divided into four sections. The amount of time spent on each section varies with the time of the season. Practices always begin with 5-10 minutes of increasingly aerobic movement (sometimes on land, sometimes in the water). This is designed to warm up the large muscle groups to reduce the risk of injury during practice. Following the warm-up, the athletes are directed in a series of stretching and strengthening exercises with particular emphasis on increasing the freedom of movement of shoulders and hips (splits). Flexibility improves long-term growth and allows the swimmer to perform new and creative movements in the water. Athletes are encouraged to warm up and stretch at home every day.

After warm-up and stretching, swimmers build endurance through lap swimming. This includes the standard strokes, synchro strokes, and repetition of learned synchro skills. The swimmers are asked to increase the speed and number of laps performed to reach a peak in strength level in late October. We hold our annual swim-a-thon fund raising event at this point.

The final section of each practice is devoted to new skills. Early in the year, swimmers concentrate on figures (or pieces of figures) in preparation for the first figure meet of the season in mid-November. Each figure consists of positions (for example, back layout, tuck and splits) and transitions connecting the positions together. Stability is first developed in the positions alone, and then transitions are added to complete the figure. There are 22 basic positions and 223 figures that a synchronized swimmer may be asked to perform in their career! After the November figure meet, athletes will spend less time on laps and figures (a maintenance level) and devote more time to learning new routine skills and choreography with music. The majority of the choreography and emorization is completed bythe end of February. Attendance is most critical during this period when routines are taught. The first round of qualifying meets for Juniors and Seniors takes place in early March. Intermediate and Age Group swimmers need to be ready by the end of March. As the season continues, time is devoted to developing endurance in the routines and fine-tuning movements.

For practices, any old suit (or even two suits to hide bare spots) will do. Help us make routine suits last by only wearing them for competition and thoroughly rinsing them after each swim. Please do not dry them in a dryer, even on a gentle setting, as plastic sequins can flake, curl and snarl thread. Have at least 1 pair of good fitting anti-fog goggles, nose clips and cap on hand. Often swimmers will be tempted to choose a flashy pair of goggles but fit is the most important issue. The shape of the eye piece should match the bone structure around the eye (round or oval, large or small). Since the chlorine in the pool eventually degrades nylon and rubber, it is a good idea to carry spares as well. Eardrops (used before and after practice) go a long way toward reducing or eliminating a tendency for some swimmers to develop ear infections