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With the entire staff returning to school our pool hours shift:
August 28 – 11 – 8
August 29 – September 1 – 4 – 8 PM
September 2 – 4 – 9 PM
September 3 -4 – 11 – 9
September 5 – 11 – 8
September 6 – 8 Closed
September 9 – 4 – 9 PM
September 10 – 11 – 9 PM
September 11 – 11 – 5 PM – FINAL DAY
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Group Lessons
Group Lessons will be available on a regular basis from PW Coaching staff members. Group Lessons will be for those swimmers that are learning how to swim or continuing to develop being water safe. The objective is to make the children more water safe and be able to begin to have some resemblance of stroke technique.
The Group Lesson program will be run by Swim Team staff members and other experienced swim team members. This year we will be attempting to structure the program with more flexibility for times and instructors. There will be a morning and an evening session for lessons. Unfortunately we cannot offer an afternoon as most of the staff are occupied with swim team practice.
Who should do Group Lessons?
Anyone not ready for Pre-Team would be an excellent candidate for group lessons. The ideal candidate is someone who is comfortable in water but has not yet grasped the concept of keeping their head in the water, or someone who is confident enough to try to swim but likes to grab the wall for safety or put their feet down in shallow water right away.
What is the difference between Group Lessons and Private Lessons?
Exactly what it sounds like, group has multiple children, private is just your child and an instructor. If your child is uncomfortable in the water by themselves (as in has ultra strong mega death grip whenever in water over their head), private lessons would be a better option than group lessons. This is mainly because if they need so much attention to make them comfortable in the water, it would be very difficult to get them comfortable AND teach them the proper mechanics of swimming. Again, either a private lesson, or a simply playing with the children in the water making them more comfortable would be a better solution (and save you a few $$)
What age qualifies?
Great question. Every child is different, every child learns differently, and every child is going to have different levels of water comfortability. First, let’s not force it… we all want the children to be water safe, but it’s not going to be a positive experience if they don’t want to do it. Second, the children need to be able to have the ability to listen and understand the instruction, it’s not necessarily playtime. Third, they need to be able to do all of this removed from the parents. Hovering parents taking pictures and cheering them on is great, but unfortunately too distracting for kids that are already going to face too many distractions during the lesson time.
So to answer briefly, no I can’t give you a straight answer 😉 but please consider these ideas before signing up your child if you want them to be able to get something out of lessons.
Will my child be ready for Pre-Team after lessons?
I’d like to say yes, but it does not always work like that. As stated above, each child is different and they all learn at different paces. When your child has mastered the correct level of development, we will make sure they get to the appropriate level of instruction. Just going through lessons once does not qualify for or means that they should be on pre-team or swim team. We do not want to thrust them into something they are not ready and comfortable with. If you think that your child is not getting enough from group lessons, I suggest private lessons.
So how is this program going to work?
We will offer morning lessons and evening lessons at a dedicated time. It will also be a “pay-as-you-go” (and before the lesson starts) so there is no need to worry about missing a lesson here or there. Lessons will be 30 minutes long and our focus will be learning how to kick, use arms, and keep the head comfortably in water.
What happens if there is inclement weather – if there is no sign up I can’t get email!
In the event of inclement weather the lesson instructors will notify the pool and all you need to do is call the pool (301.762.7068) and they will let you know if lessons are still on or cancelled.
Group Lessons will begin the week of June 20th. The specific days and times will be listed in our next email. Remember there will be a morning option most likely around 11:00ish when the pool opens and evening lessons will most likely be around 6:45/7:00ish after swim team. There will be a later email that will specify the exact schedule of times and instructors.
The cost will be $15 a lesson paid at the beginning of each lesson.
If you would like to schedule private lessons in the mean time, please contact any of the swim coaches via email, but please note that private lessons are negotiated individually and different coaches charge different rates.
Jon Leong: headcoach@potomacwoodsswimteam.org
Stephen Sakaris: Sakaris0101@gmail.com
Kaitlin Mills: Kmmills3@ncsu.edu
Mara Kaplan: Mara.Kaplan07@gmail.comIf you have any questions, please feel free to contact Jon Leong at headcoach@potomacwoodsswimteam.org