The Penticton Pikes Aquatic Club is a "Summer Swim Club" of approximately 100 swimmers who compete within the British Columbia Summer Swimming Association (BCSSA). There are about 70 Summer Swim Clubs in British Columbia with a total of about 6,500 swimmers. The swimming season begins in May and finishes two weeks before school resumes each year. Swimmers of almost all ages and a diverse range of abilities participate in Competitive Swimming. There is a Development program for those just learning to swim.
PHILOSOPHY
The Penticton Pikes Aquatic Club believes strongly in providing its members with a fun, supportive and nurturing environment in which to develop their swimming abilities. Each swimmer is taught and coached at a level and in a manner commensurate with his or her age, ability and personal goals. Novice swimmers are taught the basics of swim strokes and competitive technique, while more experienced swimmers focus on speed, endurance and performance.
MISSION STATEMENT
CLUB STRUCTURE
The Pikes Swim Club divides its swimmers into four groups based on age and ability:
Development, Junior, Intermediate and Senior
DEVELOPMENT (A, B & Transition)
Development Pikes swim in one of three development groups. These Pikes range between 4 and 12 years of age and swim 2 to 3 hours per week. Swimmers entering the Development A should be able to comfortably be in the water and just able to swim the width of the pool with any form of stroke. They are taught strong front and back swims.
Development B is for those swimmers who can already swim a length of the pool. They are taught competitive front crawl (free style), back crawl, breaststroke and butterfly, as well as, racing starts and turns.
Transition swimmers can already swim a few lengths of the pool. They have the ability to perform the four competitive strokes. They will improve all strokes and swim between 500 and 800 metres each practice. They complete simple training sets, which will form the backbone of their Junior experience. Many of these swimmers enjoy competition in the regional meets on weekends, while others are quite happy to stick to practices. A progress card is given at the end of each month. There will be continuous verbal feedback throughout the summer sessions.
JUNIOR
These swimmers have progressed from Transition and usually, but not always, have some competitive swimming experience. Age varies between 6 and 10 (divisions 1 - 2). They possess sufficient maturity and ability to be coached in a larger group, but are well supervised during their 4 to 5 hours per week in the pool. They work on all four competitive strokes: Front crawl (freestyle), back crawl, breaststroke and butterfly and begin to learn the competition rules for these strokes. They become more proficient with starts, turns and finishes. These swimmers usually compete in weekend swim meets throughout the season and advance to the Intermediate group once they develop sufficient ability and motivation.
INTERMEDIATE
These swimmers are usually aged between 8 and 12 (divisions 2 - 4) and enjoy competitive swimming throughout the summer. They are comfortable practicing in a large group and are beginning to mature in their competitive and training sessions. They spend 6 to 8 hours in the pool each week. Intermediate swimmers are proficient in all competitive strokes and understand racing rules and procedures. These swimmers compete throughout the summer season including Regional Championships in early August and often Provincial Championships in mid August.
SENIOR
The Senior program offers the most advanced training within the club. Its swimmers are older (12 and up, division 4 and up) and mature in their competitive and training attitudes. They have the ability to complete challenging workouts totaling 8 -10 hours (15,000 - 20,000m) per week in the pool plus dry land and weight training. Seniors are often called upon to assist in teaching younger swimmers. They compete throughout the season and usually focus on Regional and Provincial Championships.
ALUMNA
This is for returning swimmers who are unable to commit to the full training program as they either have work commitments, are finishing High School or are attending a Post-Secondary institution, but would like to swim up to 3 times per week. They are also eligible to compete at swim meets.
WATERPOLO
Allows the swimmer to train with the waterpolo team and swim up to 1 time per week. They are eligible for swim meets. There will be some arranged games throughout the season.