Ed Issakson/ Alpharetta Family YMCA

Hello STING Family,

We are excited to begin preparing for our upcoming 2026/2027 STING Swim Team season!

This season, we are making a few updates to help streamline communication, registration, swimmer placement, and practice groups.

Tryouts for Swim Team :_August 7th 5:00pm-6:00pm_

( ^^for new members only or for swimmers wanting to move up in practice groups^^)

Parent Information Night: ___August 7th 6:30pm-7:30pm___

(^^for all members, new and returning^^)

We strongly encourage families to attend our Parent Information Night, where we will review the upcoming season, expectations, practice groups, meets, communication, and answer questions.

SwimTopia Registration

This year, all swim team registration will be completed through SwimTopia. Our goal is to keep registration, team communication, meet information, swimmer availability, and other important updates together in one convenient location for families. We (the YMCA, will bill you through our processing system)

We will send families the SwimTopia registration link to parents who were members last year and recent summer leauge.

More information regarding registration dates, fees, evaluations, and the upcoming season will be included with that communication.

Swim Team Placement

Swimmers are placed primarily by ability rather than age. Age ranges listed for each group are guidelines only. Coaches may adjust placement based on a swimmer’s demonstrated ability, technique, endurance, and potential.

Final group placement will be determined by the coaching staff to ensure each swimmer is practicing in the environment that best supports their development, safety, and continued success.

We are also excited to introduce a new Beginner practice group this season! This group is designed to help swimmers transition into competitive swimming while continuing to develop strong freestyle and backstroke fundamentals.

Beginner- ($504 $72.00/per month 7months)

Recommended Ages: 6–12
Practice: Monday/Wednesday | 5:45–6:30 p.m.

Requirements

Swimmers should be able to:

• Swim 25 yards freestyle while demonstrating side breathing and good body position.
• Swim 25 yards backstroke while demonstrating good body position.

Mastery of either stroke is not required to join this group.

This new group is designed for swimmers who are ready to begin developing competitive swimming skills while building endurance, technique, and confidence.

Advanced Beginner – Age Group 1 ($750 $107.00/per month 7months)

Recommended Ages: 6–18
Practice: Tuesday/Thursday/Friday | 5:00–5:45 p.m.

Requirements

Swimmers should be able to:

• Swim 50 yards freestyle while demonstrating legal technique, side breathing, and good body position.
• Swim 50 yards backstroke while demonstrating legal technique and good body position.
• Swim 50 yards freestyle in 55.00 seconds or faster.
• Demonstrate basic legal breaststroke and butterfly technique.
• Demonstrate the fundamentals of a forward dive from the pool edge or be ready to learn during the first few weeks of practice.

Pre-Intermediate – Age Group 2 ($862 $123.00/per month 7months)

Recommended Ages: 8–18
Practice: Tuesday/Thursday/Friday | 5:45–6:30 p.m.

Requirements

Swimmers should be able to:

• Demonstrate legal technique and maintain good body position in all four competitive strokes:
  • Freestyle
  • Backstroke
  • Breaststroke
  • Butterfly
• Swim 50 yards freestyle in 45.00 seconds or faster.
• Demonstrate the fundamentals of freestyle and backstroke flip turns.

Intermediate ($862 $123.00/per month 7months)

Recommended Ages: 10–18
Practice: Tuesday/Thursday/Friday | 6:30–7:30 p.m.

Requirements

Swimmers should be able to:

• Demonstrate consistent legal technique in all four competitive strokes.
• Swim 100 yards freestyle in 1:25.00 or faster.
• Demonstrate legal turns and finishes for all four strokes, including freestyle and backstroke flip turns.
• Demonstrate legal and consistent competitive starts from the starting block.

Advanced ($985 $140.00/per month 7months)

Recommended Ages: 12–18

Practice Schedule:
Monday–Thursday | 6:30–8:00 p.m.
Friday | 6:30–7:30 p.m.

Requirements

Swimmers should be able to:

• Demonstrate proficiency in all four competitive strokes, competitive starts, turns, and finishes.
• Swim 100 yards freestyle in 1:15.00 or faster.
• Complete assigned practice intervals while maintaining proper technique.

Swimmers must also meet at least one of the following qualifying times:

• 100 IM: 1:25.00 or faster
• 100 Butterfly: 1:35.00 or faster
• 100 Backstroke: 1:35.00 or faster
• 100 Breaststroke: 1:40.00 or faster
• 200 IM: 3:10.00 or faster