FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

 

Click on the categories above to skip down for more FAQ's about each item. 

 

 

 

 

What is the difference between year-round swimming and summer swimming?
Year-round swimming provides the opportunity for swimmers to practice and compete August-July each year, much longer than the June-July summer league season. Because it is longer, swimmers have more chances to set and achieve goals. Year-round swimmers develop a deeper and stronger knowledge of the sport that allows them to develop a long-term focus toward improvement. 

What are the benefits to year round swimming?
All our coaches are USA Swimming certified and the head coaches of McCallie/GPS Aquatics coach swimming as their profession. 

• Technique is our primary focus within our Age Group (ages 5-14) program. Having a professionally certified staff and smaller groups allows us to teach our swimmers effective technique.
• Conditioning is added as swimmers advance through our groups.  Having a staff that has coached Olympians, National and State Champions, and All-Americans swimmers gives swimmers on McCallie/GPS Aquatics the advantage of years of knowledge and experience.

 

How Does Billing Work?
We bill at the beginning of each month for the previous month. 

 

Example: June 1st statement reflects the May payment due.

 

Meet entry fees, apparel and other miscellaneous items are billed to your account, and will be reflected on the next bill you receive. 

 

Can We Take A Month Off During The Season?
We encourage our swimmers to swim throughout the entire season, but we are aware that it is impossible to do everything. As swimmers are involved in other activities/sports or the family has other obligations, sometimes taking a month off is just needed. And we understand! Invoices and bills will post to your account the first of each month for the previous month. So swimmers not attending practice for a month should not have an amount posted on the invoice.

 

Do I Get a Discount for Having More Than One Swimmer?
Yes. We give pricing breaks to families with three or more swimmers.  These pricing breaks work as followed:

 **The 1st swimmer will always be the most advanced swimmer in the family, so the 1/2 price would be for the lowest group swimmer. 

 

How Do I Register My Swimmer(s)?  
You can join McCallie/GPS Aquatics online! Click the "Join The Team!" tab on the homepage and follow the instructions.

 

Registration for the 2024-2025 season will be open in August 2024. 

 

Do I Have to Start in August or Can I Join Anytime?  
That's the great part about year-round swimming - you can join any time through the year! However, due to our billing, it works best if new swimmers join at the beginning of a given month.

 

Do I Need to Give Up Other Sports?
No!  It is a misconception that your must quit other sports if you join year-round swimming. Swimming enhances performance in just about every sport and cross training can often be beneficial to swimmers.

 

Do We Have to Join USA Swimming?
McCallie/GPS Aquatics is a member of USA Swimming and all of our swimmers must be registered with the governing body. USA Swimming provides our insurance coverage, as well as other services (website, rules, etc). When you register for our team, you will register for USA Swimming as well.

 

 

What Practice Group Will My Child Be In?  
The coaches will use the first days your swimmer comes to practice to evaluate him/her to be placed in to the correct group, based on abilities. We would rather your child start in a lower group and move up, rather than start in a group that is too hard and have to move down. 

 

What Are The Practice Times?

Practice times depend on which group your swimmer(s) is in. 

 

If My Swimmer Starts In One Group, When Can He Or She Move To The Next Level? 
Coaches will move swimmers up anytime through the year. For billing purposes, the coaches try to have swimmers move up at the beginning of a month.

How Many Practices A Week Are Required?
We do not require practice attendance for any group. However, to get the maximum out of the program, we encourage our swimmers to attend the practices that are offered.

 

 

Are Meets Required?
No, but many are expected depending on the practice groups. As a swimmer advances through our program, participation in out of town meets is encouraged. Competitions give the coaches a tangible way to measure improvement and help direct the focus of the group's practices. The younger age group swimmers typically compete in local and hosted meets, while the more advanced swimmers travel to various out of town competitions, as well as the local and hosted meets.  

 

We host two (2) meets during the year, one in October and the other in January. The coaching staff expects attendance at those. 

 

How Do I Sign-Up For A Meet?
You can "Commit to Attend" or "Decline" through our on-line meet registration, which can be found at the bottom of our homepage, under "Meet." Just click on the meet in question. Declare which days (or sessions) that your swimmer(s) will be at the meet. The coaching staff will then enter swimmers in appropriate events for the specific days or sessions.

 

Do We Really Need To Be At The Pool For Meet Warm-Up?  
Yes! Each swimmer should check with his/her group's coach to find out what time warm-ups will start.  The coaching staff designs warm-ups to help each swimmer swim to their potential at the meet.

 

What Equipment Does My Swimmer Need?
Each swimmer will need a suit, goggles, and a cap. Each group will use fins at least once a week, if not daily. Each pool has a limited supply of fins, kick boards, paddles and pull-buoys for the swimmers to borrow. However, with the limited amounts, we cannot guarantee the use for all swimmers. 

 

Items Needed:

• Kickboard
• Fins
• Pull Buoy

To purchase any equipment, we have a wide variety of products for sale on the McCallie/GPS team portal provided by our supplier Swim and Tri. Swimmers should have their needed equipment by the end of the first week of practice. 

Click here to view. 

 

What Kind Of Suit Does My Swimmer Need?
Girls need a one-piece competition style suit and boys will need either a competition jammer or a speedo.  McCallie/GPS Aquatics has team suits available through our team's Swim and Tri portal. 

Click here to view.

 

We also have a wide array of other team apparel for purchase, from parkas and sweatshirts to practice suits and shorts. All are available via our team portal. 

Click here to view.

 

What Do We Need To Wear At Swim Meets?
The only uniform required at swim meets is a team cap, which is provided when the swimmer registers for the team. We do not require a team suit, but have options available if a swimmer would like. 

Click here to view. 

 

 

Is There A Requirement For Volunteering?
No, but we do strongly encourage all our families to volunteer in some form. Meets we host are very important to our club, as the money generated from the meets goes towards helping the club keep our fees lower. Meets cannot be run without volunteers. And that's where you as parents come in! 

 

Online volunteer sign-ups are available a couple weeks prior to any hosted meet. Most volunteer jobs can be learned quickly, so no experience is needed, from hospitality and concessions to timing and clerk of course.

 

Also, each team is required to have officials. A team can never have too many certified officials. If you are interested in officiating, please get in touch with Coach Roger Dahlke. Training fees and materials are covered by McCallie/GPS, and each official receives an officials polo as well as reduced or free meet fees. 

 

 

What Can Parents Do To Help Your Kids Swim Faster?
Providing unconditional support for your swimmers will create an environment where your child is not afraid to fail or succeed. Support the coaches so your child knows who to listen to for swimming instruction. A long term view to swimming improvement will help both the swimmer and parent get through the tougher times in swimming.