NOTICE: All SSSC Activities have been moved to The Academy at Kiley (180 Cooley St, Springfield, MA 01128) for the remainder of our Summer 2024 Season.
Who Are the Springfield Sharks?
The Springfield Sharks Swim Club is a competitive swim team with the
mission to build the swimming skills and general life skills of our community’s youth.
Please visit our "registration" page to explore more Sharks activities
Registration for Sharks Spring/Summer 2024 Competitive Season is now Closed! Please check Back in August for Updated Info on Registering for our Fall/Winter 2024-2025 Season!
The Final Session of Sharks Learn-to-Swim is now full! Please stay tuned for news about our Fall Learn-to-Swim sessions starting in September 2024!
Sharks Practice Groups Requirements
Learn-to-Swim
The Springfield Sharks believe that learning how to swim is a basic life skill that everyone should know. As such, we run a learn-to-swim program where we:
- Floating, breathing (bubbles) and overall comfort with the water
- Basic swim techniques for rudimentary freestyle and backstroke
- Safe underwater swimming, submerging techniques, and jumping into the pool
Level 1
Level 1 is the Sharks entry-level practice group for competitive swimming. Swimmers who qualify for level 1 can:
- Swim at least 25 yards without stopping (any style of swimming is acceptable)
- Follow instruction from a coach without parental intervention or support
- Safely remain in the water and complete practice sets for at least one hour
Level 2
Level 2 Sharks have progressed beyond the basic qualifications for the team. Along with level 1 requirements, swimmers who qualify for level 2 can:
- Swim at least 50 yards of both race quality freestyle and backstroke without stopping
- Hold a consistent and appropriate breathing pattern when swimming any distance of freestyle
- Perform rudimentary breaststroke and butterfly
Level 3
Sharks in the Level 3 practice group are proficient competitive swimmers. Swimmers who qualify for level 3 can:
- Swim at least 100 yards of legal, race quality freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly without stopping and within a specified time limit
- Perform starts off the blocks
- Perform legal flipturns in freestyle and backstroke
- Complete practice sets as directed by coaches for at least 90 minutes
Level 4
Sharks in our Level 4 practice group are our expert competitive swimmers. As such, swimmers who qualify for level 4 are expected to, along with level 3 requirements:
- Swim at least 200 yards of legal, race quality freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly without stopping and within a specified time limit
- Know all basic drills instructed and performed consistently at Sharks
- Perform appropriate relay transfers
Sharks Plus
“Sharks Plus” is an idea to help swimmers who are ready to take competitive swimming to the next level and are SERIOUS about improving. It focuses on outside-of-the-pool work.
Requirements Include:
- Swimmer desire – this MUST be swimmer driven and is a method for building self-determination and personal agency
- Development of Mental Strength: Journaling, Goal Setting, discussion
- Dryland Strength Work OUTSIDE of practice time
- Attending extra invitational meets* (if feasible)