Five Tips to Get the Most out of Summer Swimming

By Hannah Gould / Contributor

Summer swimming is always a time for fun, no matter what age or skill level you are. Those 8 weeks can go by quickly, so getting the most out of the season is crucial. Here are a few tips:

1. Get to know your teammates
If you are new to a team or don’t know your teammates, the beginning of the season is a great time to meet some new friends. Swimming is always more fun when you know who’s on your team. Nothing compares to cheering for your friends during their races or them cheering for you during your races. The friends you make while you’re young will most likely stay with you until you graduate the team, so get to know them well. Many of the people you meet at a young age will be your friends for the rest of your life due to the strong bonds you share while summer swimming.

2. Use it as a time to work on your technique
Summer swimming is a great time to work on your technique whether you are only a summer swimmer or a club swimmer. For those club swimmers: even though practices with your summer team are not as challenging as club swimming, they are almost as important. Most coaches are former swimmers and will give you stroke corrections when you go to practice. Do your best to take advantage of fresh eyes on your stroke.

3. Go to events (lunch, pep rallies, and even meets you aren’t swimming)
Going to your team’s social events will make the season way more fun. Whether it’s a pep rally or a lunch after a meet, doing things as a team will create a greater sense of community and will promote team bonding. The more people that show up, the more fun you will have as a whole. These kinds of events will help you learn more about both old and new friends.

4. Always do the spirit
Going crazy and dressing up as a team will create more exciting meets. There is nothing more fun than going to another pool, fully decked out in your spirit and surprising the opposing team, and cheering at the top of your lungs. Together, all dressed up, you look more like a team instead of just a group of people that happen to live near each other. No one wants to be the one person that doesn’t dress up. Afterall, what could be more fun than Halloween during the summer?

5. Enjoy it while you can
Summer swimming doesn’t last forever. Every year, the season is only eight weeks long, and even then, you only have so many years before you graduate. Enjoy every day until it’s too late and the season is over. One day, you will graduate from the team and leave the friends you spend every summer with. Of course, you can come back to visit, but nothing compares to competing for the team you love.

* Hannah Gould is a rising Junior at The Potomac School, a long-time Dolphin at MCSL’s Tilden Woods swim team, and a club swimmer at RMSC.