Competitive Swimming

Minnetonka Swim Club is committed to introducing competitive swimming to children of all ages and adults in a positive and enthusiastic manner.

The Swimming Season Never really ends...
 

The swimming year is divided into two seasons: 

• The short course season (September-March), when swimmers generally train and race in a 25-yard pool;
• The long course season (April-August), when swimmers generally train and race in a 50-meter pool.  

Although most races are the same in each season (for example, there is a 50-yard freestyle during the short course season and a 50-meter freestyle during the long course season), there are slight variations.

Competitive Strokes

There are four competitive strokes in swimming:

• Freestyle (free)
• Backstroke (back)
• Breaststroke (breast)
• Butterfly (fly)

In addition, the individual medley consists of one swimmer swimming all four strokes.  The competitors swim one fourth of the race in each of the strokes and in the following order: fly, back, breast, and free.

Events are held in all of the competitive strokes at varying distances depending on the age group of the swimmer.  

Meets also offer relays.  Four swimmers in the same age group swim either all freestyle (free relay) or one stroke each (medley relay) in the order of back, breast, fly and free.  

levels of Competition

There are seven different age group classifications recognized by Minnesota Swimming, Inc.: 8-and-under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18, and Senior/Open.  The Senior/Open classification includes any registered swimmer who has achieved the qualifying time for the event.  

There are also different types of meets.  Please see Competitive Levels for more details about this.