Welcome to Minnetonka Swim Club
Welcome families! Thank you for your interest in the Minnetonka Swim Club. Part of Minnetonka Aquatics, a program of Minnetonka Schools, the Minnetonka Swim Club is a United States Swimming (USS), coach-directed competitive swim team offering high-quality, professional coaching and technique instruction for all ages and abilities. The goals of our team are to provide every member an opportunity to improve swimming skills and achieve success at his or her level of ability, from novice to international competitor.
All new athletes or currently inactive athletes are required to tryout. Please Click to Sign Up for Tryouts!
Long Term Athlete Development
In working with our swimmers, Minnetonka Swim Club coaches use Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD), a scientifically-based approach created by Dr. Istvan Balyi. This framework aligns training, competition, and recovery with natural growth and development stages.
Research shows there are critical periods when training effects can be maximized. This has led to the understanding that young people should receive specific types of training during periods of rapid growth, with training methods evolving alongside their development patterns.
Unfortunately, many young swimmers undertake adult-oriented training too early, becoming "age group stars" who disappear from the sport later. Elite potential is difficult to assess before adolescence, with most elite swimmers reaching peak performance in their 20s. Before this stage, the focus should be on developing skills and fostering love for the sport.
In response to common issues in youth sports development, Minnetonka Swim Club has adopted the LTAD framework:
- FUNdamental — basic movement literacy
- Swim Skills — building technique
- Training to TRAIN — building the engine
- Training to COMPETE — optimizing the engine
- Training to WIN — maximizing the engine
Taking a long-term approach to athlete development allows Minnetonka Swim Club to establish clear swimmer pathways across physical, technical, tactical, mental, and lifestyle categories. It provides coaches with research-based planning tools to appropriately schedule competition and progressive challenges throughout an athlete's career.
This methodology helps us guide planning for optimal performance and produce more athletic, skilled swimmers who continue in the sport long enough to reach their maximum potential. It creates a sport experience that provides each participant the opportunity to achieve success at their highest capabilities while promoting lifelong active living.
Ultimately, our LTAD approach establishes a culture where swimmers of all ages and abilities conduct themselves respectfully, dedicated to the difficult but rewarding path that requires perseverance and daily determination to push limits, both in swimming and in life.
