Swim Clubs in the USA
One of the main reasons why I chose our current swim club where both of my sons have been swimming for the past 6 years was for the simple reason that it was only 5 minutes away from our home 😄. At the time, I did not know that it was one of many swim clubs that belonged to USA Swimming.
You can find your local USA Swimming Clubs from here:
https://www.usaswimming.org/find-a-team
Each USA Swimming Club belongs to what is called a "LSC" (Local Swimming Committee) & each LSC has a 2-letter acronym. For example, my boys' swim club belongs to the LSC "Gulf Swimming" (GU). Within Gulf Swimming, there are approximately 60 swim clubs.
A group of "LSC"s in turn belongs to one of four "Zone"s (Western, Central, Eastern, Southern).
Each "Zone" covers multiple States within the vicinity.
So my local swim club that is part of the Gulf Swimming LSC is actually one of 15 LSCs that belongs to the "Southern Zone" that covers the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, North & South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
For more details about USA Swimming's Zones & LSCs, refer to:
https://www.usaswimming.org/about/lsc-websites
<USA Swimming's LSC & Zone Map>
When you are searching for a swim club, you may find some of the clubs are showing they have one (or both) of the following:
a) "Club Recognition" followed by a number ranging from 1-4 (4 is the highest level).
It is a voluntary program to recognize clubs that demonstrate a commitment of long-term club growth, development and stability.
b) "Club Excellence" ranging from Bronze to Gold (Gold is the highest level)
It is a voluntary program that identifies & recognizes clubs for their excellence in athlete performance.
Refer to this document for more details about the Club Recognition and Club Excellence programs: https://www.anscswim.org/Club_Docs/USA_Swimming-CRP_and_CEP.pdf
Personally, I think this is more of a marketing ploy for a swim club to promote themselves, as I don't believe that a Level 4 club is always necessarily better or superior than a Level 2 club. Similarly, you cannot always say that a Silver club is so much better than a Bronze club.
You can probably use them as a guide (e.g. one could deduce that it is likely that a Gold club may have more faster swimmers than a Bronze club) , but you should not use them as the only reason for deciding upon a swim club for your kids. You should pay a visit to the club, check out their facilities, speak &/or meet with the staff &/or coaches to make up your own mind, rather than solely making the decision based upon what Club Recognition & Club Excellence level that the club is in.
For my eldest son, he previously had swim lessons in Australia, so he already knew how to swim & he also knew the basics of the 4 strokes. So when he joined a swim club here in Texas, he was able to be assigned to a team. But if you need to start from having your kid(s) learn how to swim, you can look at other options: yes, you can find a local USA Swimming Club that teaches young kids how to swim, but you can also look at local YMCA or other private swim schools.
Another option to consider is "Summer League" swimming. At least in Houston, there are a number of Summer League teams that operate during the summer season for a fun yet competitive swim season within the neighbourhood. I have heard it's also a good opportunity to know your neighbours as well! I know of many families who started off from Summer League swimming and enjoyed swimming so much during the summer that they then joined a local USA Swimming club team to do year-round swimming 😄. So if you're after a fun introduction to competitive swimming, look for a neighbourhood Summer League team! But regardless of how you start the journey as a swim parent, remember to keep on cheering for your swimmer! 🏊🏊🏊
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