The Southern Marlins Racing Team offers training and practice groups for swimmers of all ages and ability levels. It is the goal of the Southern Marlins Racing Team to offer age specific training for all of our athletes geared towards challenging each individual and developing each individual to the best of THEIR abilities. For those interested in a Masters Program, please click here.
Please call us to schedule a tryout by clicking here to send us an email request for more information.
This is the introductory group for beginners wishing to try year round swimming. Swimmers must be able to complete one length (25yards) of both freestyle and backstroke. The goal of this group is to teach all 4 strokes in a progression type manner. Technique and drills are taught daily in this group. Emphasis is on body position, breathing, stroke mechanics, and streamlining. Swimmers also work on starts and finishes at the wall. Mini – Marlins only compete in intrasquad meets (Saturday Night Specials); otherwise, competition begins at the Bronze Level.
Bronze Group: Ages 6 and older
This is the introductory group of the SMRT competitive swim team. The main emphasis of this group is establishing proper swimming habits through stroke progression drills, basic swim sets, and games. Swimmers must be able to demonstrate all 4 strokes with reasonable proficiency in all of them. The goal of this group is to become more proficient in all 4 strokes. The Bronze group has practice 3 times per week. Swimmers will swim 1 hour per practice. Swimmers also work on stretching exercises. Swimmers must be able to complete the following practice set (4 x 50 of all 4 STROKES and swim a 200 IM) to be considered for the next level of the program. At this level swimmers learn to accurately count and compute distances. Swimmers will also learn to use the pace clock at this level. 4 practices/week are offered during the short course season; 6 practices/week are offered during the long course season. Swimmers in this group are encouraged to attend 3 out of the 4 practices offered during the short course season and 4 out of the 6 practices offered during the long course season.
Silver Group: Ages 8 and older
This is the next level of the SMRT program. The main emphasis of this group is to build off of the Stroke work done in the Bronze Group while adding slightly more focus on aerobic swimming and performing basic training sets while also learning about basic goal-setting and race strategies. Training equipment is also used in this group to strengthen and improve endurance. Swimmers also work on flexibility exercises. Prerequisites for the Silver Group require all swimmers to be able to complete the following practice sets. (4 x 50 yards of all 4 competitive strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle) and 200 IM). In addition, swimmers must achieve at least 2 (10 & under) “B” times (regardless of the swimmer’s age) to be in the Silver group. The Silver group has practice 4 times per week. Swimmers will swim for 1.5 hours per practice. Swimmers in the Silver group must be able to complete the following practice sets (4 x 100 of each stroke / 3 x 200 IM / 12 x 100 FR), to be considered for the next level of the program. 4 practices/week are offered during the short course season; 7 practices/week are offered during the long course season. Swimmers in this group are encouraged to attend 3 out of the 4 practices offered during the short course season and 4 out of the 7 practices offered during the long course season.
Gold Group: Ages 9 and older
This is the mid level of the SMRT age group program and is a step up from the Silver group. This group is designed for those swimmers who are ready for a longer training session, aerobic conditioning, and more challenging training sets, but are not quite ready for the next level of training of the pre-senior group. The main emphasis of this group is to continue working on and refining technique and demonstrating progressive stroke drills and increasing aerobic conditioning to prepare swimmers to be able to move on to the next level. Prerequisites for the Gold group require that all swimmers be able to swim 100’s legally for each stroke and a 200 IM. In addition they must have at least (2) 11 – 12 “BB” times (regardless of the swimmer’s age), one of which must be a 100 IM or 200 IM. The Gold group practices 5-6 times per week. Swimmers will swim from 1.5-2.0 hours per practice and will be introduced to dryland. Swimmers must be able to complete the following practice set (200 of each stroke / 6 x 200 IM / 16 x 100 FR) to be considered for the next level of the program. The Gold group is appropriate for high school swimmers and summer league swimmers wishing to stay in shape, so long as the swimmer meets the time standard requirements. 6 practices/week are offered for the short course season; 9 practices/week are offered during the long course season. Swimmers in this group are encouraged to attend 4 out of the 6 practices offered during the short course season and 5 out of the 9 practices offered during the long course season.
Pre-Senior Group: Ages 10 and older This is the highest level of the SMRT age group program. The main emphasis of this group is to maintain work on stroke drills while adding more pool time and aerobic swimming. More advanced goal-setting will also be a part of the Pre-Senior group. Prerequisites for the Pre-Senior group require all swimmers to be able to swim legal 100’s for each stroke and a 200 IM. In addition, 10 year olds must have at least (2) age group sectional times, one of which must be the 200 IM; swimmers aged 11 – 12 must have at least (2) 11-12 state times, one of which must be the 200 IM; and swimmers aged 13 and over must have at least (2) 13 – 14 “ BB “ times (regardless of the swimmers age), one of which must be the 200 IM or 400 IM. The Pre-Senior group practices 6 - 7 times per week. Swimmers will swim for 2 - 2.5 hours per practice and will also have a total of 1.75 hours per week of dryland workouts. Swimmers must be able to complete the following practice sets (4 x 200 of each stroke / 4 x 400 IM / 20 x 100 FR ) to be considered for the next level of the program. The Pre-Senior group is appropriate for high school swimmers and summer league swimmers wishing to stay in shape, so long as the swimmer meets the time standard requirements.7 practices/week are offered for the short course season; 9 practices/week are offered during the long course season. Swimmers in this group are encouraged to attend 5 out of the 7 practices offered during the short course season and 6 out of the 9 practices offered during the long course season.
Senior Group: Ages 13 and older
The first senior group level in the SMRT program. This group is designed for SMRT’s athletes who have the goal to compete at the senior sectional level. There is a stronger emphasis on attendance and training in this group. Swimmers will focus on daily, short-term, and long-term goal setting, nutrition, etc. Prerequisites for the Senior Group require all swimmers to be able to swim 200’s of each stroke, a 400 IM, and a 1000 free. In addition they must have at least (2) 13-14 age group sectional times, one of which must be the 200 IM, 400 IM, 800 FR / 1000 FR, or 1650 / 1500 FR. The Senior group practices 9 times per week. The Senior Group swims between 1.5 - 3 hours per practice and also has 3.0 hours of dryland training per week.9 practices/week are offered for both the short course and long course seasons. Swimmers in this group are encouraged to attend 7 practices/week.
National Group: Ages 14 and older
The National group is the highest level in the SMRT program. This group is designed for SMRT’s athletes who have the goal to compete at the collegiate/national sectional level. There is a stronger emphasis on attendance and training in this group. Swimmers will focus on daily, short-term, and long-term goal setting, nutrition, etc. Prerequisites for the National Group require all swimmers to be able to swim 200’s of each stroke, a 400 IM, and a 1000 free. In addition, they must have at least (1) senior sectional time standard. Any swimmer moving from the Senior group must also maintain a 90% weekly practice average. The National group practices 9 times per week. The National Group swims between 1.5 - 3 hours per practice and also has 3.0 hours of dryland training per week.9 practices/week are offered for both the short course and long course seasons. Swimmers in this group are required to attend 8 practices/week.
Note on Attendance:
Each group is encouraged to attend practice a certain amount of sessions per week in order to progress in technique and aerobic ability. Should a swimmer consistently miss practice, it is the coaches' discretion (under the direction of the head coach) if a swimmer shall move down a group for a period of time to protect the safety of the swimmer and the physical pace of the training group.
Note on Group Promotions: When deciding to promote a swimmer up a training group, coaches look at 3 things:
A swimmers' times vs. the criteria defined in each group above (Does the swimmer have the times?).
Maturity - emotional, social, physical, and mental.
Work habits/attendance.
** It is at the coaches' discretion as to whether a swimmer is physically and emotionally prepared to move to the next group.
