To our younger swimmers, 

Summer swim may be over, but water safety and skill retention don’t take a break. To all our amazing Kickboarders, Little Sharks and 8U swimmers and families: if you want to keep progressing and stay safe in the water, it’s essential to swim year-round.

Facilities like Propel and others that offer learn-to-swim programs are great options to continue building your skills. If you stop swimming for 9 months, you risk losing the progress you’ve made and that can mean starting back at square one next summer.

We’ve seen it happen: swimmers who’ve been with us for multiple seasons sometimes return unable to swim across the pool with a recognizable stroke or the endurance to complete practice. To be on the swim team, you must be able to:

• Swim across the pool with a recognizable stroke
• Have the endurance to swim multiple laps during practice
• Avoid stopping, hanging on the wall or lane lines, or touching the bottom

If a swimmer cannot meet these expectations at evaluations, they will not be able to join the team.

For our 8-year-old Kickboarders, this is especially critical. Next season, you’ll be 9—and that means the Kickboarder program is no longer available. To move up to the full team, you must be able to:

• Swim 50 meters without stopping
• Use a recognizable stroke
• Complete a full practice without assistance

If a swimmer cannot meet these expectations at evaluations, they will not be able to join the team.

That’s a big leap, and it requires consistent practice. What you do during the 9 months outside of summer swim makes all the difference. There is no Little Sharks or Kickboarders program after 8 years old, so swimmers would be in danger of not being able to be on the team if they do not conitue to pracitce.   

Safety is our top priority. We want every swimmer to be confident, capable, and safe in the water. Finding a year-round program like Propel is the best way to make sure your swimmer is ready—not just for the team, but for life.

Let’s keep those skills strong and make next summer your best one yet! 💪🌊

The Sharks Board