Team Philosophy

The Potomac Raiders Swim Club offers year-round swim instruction, training and competition to young people ages 5 and older. The Raiders program is designed by our professional coaching staff, which is equally interested in developing successful people as well as successful swimmers. To accomplish this, the following team objectives form the basis of the program:

To motivate young people to achieve the most from themselves, to be “the best they can be”.
To instill an appreciation for the potential of high self-esteem, the value of hard work and the importance of good sportsmanship.
To provide the best possible instruction, training and competition for every Raiders swimmer, at all levels of ability. The long-term goal of most swimmers should be the successful participation at a national level competition.
To provide general fitness and develop world-class athletes.
To provide opportunities for social and emotional development as well as cultural and educational growth.

Our goal in Age Group swimming (children ages 12 and under) is to teach them as much as we can about technique, turns, starts and race strategies for all distances and strokes. The more we can teach our swimmers when they are young, the more successful they are going to be if they make the step into Senior Level swimming. We do not push our 12 and under swimmers hard, but we do demand their attention during workouts and improvement through practice and learning. The cycles of training go from meet to meet with the goal to improve some aspect of every event at every meet.

Senior Level swimming (ages 13 and over) is what we hope to have each swimmer strive for. Commitment and consistency in practice and attendance are the two main ingredients for success. The work at this level becomes progressively more difficult and it is here that we develop world-class athletes. There are two cycles of training. The first cycle is during the short course season, September - May, for competition in 25 yard pools. The second cycle is the long course season, May - August, for competition in 50 meter pools. Major performance time drops are concentrated towards the end of season championships, for which we shave and taper (“rested”). As a new Senior Level swimmer, best times should still be achieved regularly until the swimmer gets close to Sectional Meet time standards. At this point, the swimmer still swims for best times, but because of the stress of training and the tired feeling the swimmer has, we start looking for best time the swimmer has achieved while “unrested”. We work to get this time as close to the best, or actually do a best time before the taper period, which will ensure the biggest time drops possible. Taper time is when we want to shine. Your swimmer will have periods when he or she is really hot, and then periods when it will be a difficult struggle. The later is when positive and supportive family and coach are critical.

The Raiders, a competitive swim team, encourages all swimmers to compete at their appropriate skill level. However, competition is not an absolute requirement to participate. We offer less intense, non-competitive practice groups and clinics for maintenance and stroke refinement to bring the physical and emotional advantages of swimming to young people who may have not yet made a full commitment to this sport. Regular competition in USA Swimming sanctioned meets as directed by the Head Coach is required of all swimmers who participate in the Silver Group.