Swim Camp

Choosing a Swim Camp

So, you're entertaining the idea of sending your child to swim camp. It can be an incredibly beneficial experience, but where do you begin your search for just the right camp?

Ask Your Coach

If your child already belongs to a swim club, his or her coach can be a great source for recommendations. He or she is likely familiar with several swim camps that other club members have attended, and probably has some educated opinions as to how effective each camp has been.

Your coach will also be able to recommend a camp that best compliments the club's own program. This provides overall continuity for your child, and lessens the chance of receiving conflicting advice that can lead to unnecessary confusion.

Choose Your Focus

Is your child interested in basic swimming, racing, diving, or perhaps a water sport such as polo? There are swim camps designed to help your child excel in each of these events and more, so knowing what you want to focus on pares down the field rather quickly.

• Beginner's swimming camps help your child learn basic swimming skills, and water safety.
• Swim camps that focus on racing work on improving a swimmer's stroke, flexibility, strength, and form in order to drastically improve speed through more efficient movements.
• Diving camps teach swimmers the fundamental springboard, and platform diving skills necessary for achieving those splash-free entries.
• Water polo camps teach your child the rules of the sport, and how to play to win.

Consider Your Child's Skill Level

Swim camps are offered for a wide range of skill levels, so it's important that your child attends a camp that will consider his/her current skills and work toward elevating them to the next level.

To this end, some advanced swim camps actually hold try-outs to determine which swimmers are ready for the course, and which swimmers might benefit more from a basic or intermediate swim camp.

Once you understand your child's skill levels, you may also choose whether it would be best to enroll in one-on-one sessions, or group sessions. Group sessions are typically limited to five to ten students.

Camp Costs

Depending on the type of swim camp you ultimately choose, you can expect to pay as little as a few hundred dollars, or as much as several thousand dollars for the entire week.

The fee may cover such services as:

• Lodging
• Food
• Pool sessions/professional instructions
• Video taped evaluations
• Classroom instruction
• Flexibility exercise/therapy sessions
• Any other equipment the camp may supply

Ask in advance if you will be issued a refund, or credit toward a different swim camp should your child be unable to attend as planned.

Equipment for Camp

You'll surely need to bring basic items like:

• An appropriate swimsuit
• A beach towel
• Flip flops

Additionally, you may need to bring:

• A swim cap
• Swim fins
• Goggles
• A nose plug

Don't forget to mark all of your belongings so they don't get lost in the locker room!

Safety

There are certainly a lot of elements to consider when choosing the right swim camp for your child, but one thing you should never compromise on is safety.

The American Camp Association provides accreditation to camps that meet their standards and guidelines for health and safety. The association also carries out follow up inspections to make sure those standards are still being maintained. Visit their website for a list of approved swim camps.

You may also ask for references from the swim camp director, but understand that those references are most likely to be biased in the camp's favor. Try asking if anyone else from your child's swim club has had any experience with a particular camp that they'd be willing to share.

External Links

• Clubswim.com, a national directory of swim camps.
• Mark Ruiz Diving, LLC., a diving camp coached by former Olympians.
• Water Polo's Camp of Champions, Olympic-class coaching for high school and college students.