Tri-Hampton is Lower Bucks County's first year-round competitive swim program which offers the benefits of both YMCA National Swimming and USS Swimming. The program totals over 75 Years of outstanding swim coaching experience!

The Philosophy and Objectives of the YMCA Swim Team are:

• • To provide a quality competitive swim program for senior (13 & older) level swimmers. THY is a year round competitive program.
  
• To provide an opportunity for the personal growth of the swimmer as an individual and as a member of the team.
  
• To help all members of YMCA Swim Team families reach their God given potential in spirit, mind and body.
  
• To embrace the YMCA vision of building strong kids, strong families and strong communities, and reinforce the YMCA core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility.
  
• The early season focus will be to peak for a REQUIRED holiday shave and taper team meet in Pittsburgh in December. We will then shift our focus to the individual needs of each swimmer. This could mean HS swimming peaking towards Conference, District, or State championships; or USS swimming peaking towards J.O’s, or Regionals. At the conclusion of the HS/USS season, our focus will shift towards YMCA Districts and YMCA States. The ultimate goal is qualifying and peaking for YMCA Nationals in Ft. Lauderdale. Team members are expected to attend all required team meets and all YMCA District, State, and Nationals meets for which they qualify.
  
• To seek team members who work hard, are dedicated and who want to do what it takes to reach their potential without the need for coach mandated practice requirements.
  

Practice Philosophy:   (Back to Top)

Practice Assignments are made by the coaches. Practice assignments are based on the age and capacity of each child to handle a given amount of work. Confer with the coach for any question, variation or exception regarding your swimmer’s practice routine.

With the coach's approval, a swimmer recovering from an injury or illness may return to a less demanding and shorter practice and remain there until ready to go back to the more demanding session.

Getting Out Early: If there is a valid reason a swimmer needs to leave practice early, (dentist, doctor, etc.) the coaches request that a note be sent with the swimmer. The coaches are responsible for your child at the assigned practice time and want to make sure he/she will be released with your knowledge and into your care.

Every effort must be made to have the swimmer arrive for practice on time. The swimmers need to be ready to dive in the water at the scheduled time. This is very important to the continuity of practice. Coaches must be notified if there is some reason the swimmer will be late.

The practice schedule is determined by BCCC pool availability and is subject to infrequent minor changes.

Practice Groups:   (Back to Top)

SILVER GROUP (Will be 13 prior to winter J.O.’s-17 yrs)
The "SILVER" group is the first of three senior practice levels. Beginning at this level, a swimmer should be making more of a commitment to swimming or accept that the improvements may/will be compromised. Swimmers in this group practice six times/week for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours. A daily dryland program will be part of the routine. The older more advanced high school swimmer may have the option of two practices/day twice weekly. Intensive water training centered around distance freestyle and IM with some specialty is practiced. A practice attendance of 70% or higher is expected. Advanced stroke technique, specialty training and race strategy become very important for continued improvement. A commitment to train is necessary to advance into one of the next two higher groups (Gold or National).

GOLD GROUP (13-17 yrs)
The "GOLD" group is for the mid to upper level high school swimmer or the very advanced 13 -14 year old who has shown the ability and desire to train in this group. The goals for this group are to achieve a Y National cut off or to qualify to the high school district and state meet. Practices are 6 times/week with doubles and weight room work a requirement for those who are in grade 10 or above in high school. Practices in the water are 2 hours plus dryland. This group is reserved only for those who have made a year-round commitment to swimming and training for the next level. This may include summer long course training and attending meets beyond the high school season. A practice attendance of at least 80% is expected. Those who are chosen to be in the Gold group must be able to train at a high level on a daily basis.

NATIONAL GROUP (13-18 yrs)
The "NATIONAL" group is the top group of the YMCA Swim Team and is reflected by the requirements. This group will be limited to the swimmers who best meet the requirements. Doubles and weights are a requirement for this group. Practices last for 2 hours plus dryland. Morning workouts are 1 hour and 30 minutes two or three days/week. Each swimmer is expected to start at the beginning of the season and finish with the last possible qualified meet. Those who are interested in participating in a fall or spring sport, other than swimming, should see the head coach prior to group selection. All swimmers in this group must have routinely shown a commitment to attend a National level meet - YMCA Nationals, Jr. Nationals/Sectionals and/or Sr. Nationals.

A swimmer in the National group must be able to handle the training and have (or be extremely close to) a spring or summer Y National cut off. Attaining a Y National cut off does not guarantee that swimmer of being assigned to the National group for that season. Intensive dryland and/or a weight room program are a major component of the training plan. A practice attendance of at least 90% is expected. All group placement decisions are made by the coaching staff and are in the best interests of the swimmer and his/her long-term development. Each athlete is different and has different physical needs. Please keep this in mind.

Code of Conduct:   (Back to Top)

• Offer congratulations to my opponents, win or lose, and cheer on my teammates.
• Act and conduct myself with dignity and with respect for others and the property of others.
• Dress in a manner suitable to my position as a representative of the YMCA.
• Be humble in victory and courageous in defeat.
• Always teach and practice good sportsmanship.
• Be a responsible goodwill ambassador between the sport of swimming, the YMCA and the public.
• Promote positive high team spirit and morale.
• Cultivate in myself and encourage in all team members the virtues of patience, courage, justice, and sincerity.
• Strive to do my best, and encourage all team members to do the same.
• Deal justly, kindly, impartially, and intelligently with all of my fellow team members.

• I will not cause physical harm or threaten physical harm to a fellow team member, coach, or parent.
• I will not possess, use or be under the influence of alcoholic beverages, chemicals, or illegal drugs.
• I will not behave in a manner that in the opinion of the coaches or team representative is contrary to normally accepted behavior.

Parents...Your Athlete Needs You:   (Back to Top)

You have done a great deal to raise your child. You create the environment in which they are growing up. Your child is a product of your values, the structure you have provided, and the model you have been. Human nature, however, is such that a parent loses some of his/her ability to remain detached and objective in matters concerning his/her child's athletics. The following guidelines will help you keep your child's development in the proper perspective and help your child reach his/her full potential as an athlete.

The Coach is the Coach!
We want your swimmer to relate to his or her coach as soon as possible concerning swimming matters. This relationship between coach and swimmer produces best results. When parents interfere with opinions as to how the swimmer should swim or train, it causes considerable, and often times insurmountable confusion as to whom the swimmer should listen. If you have a problem, concern, or complaint, please contact the coach.

Best Kind of Parent:
The coach's job is to motivate and constructively criticize the swimmer's performance. It is the parent's job to supply the love, recognition, and encouragement necessary to make the child work harder in practice, which in turn gives him/her the confidence to perform well in competition.

Not every time:
Even the very best swimmer will have meets where they do not do their best times. These "plateaus" are a normal part of swimming. Over the course of a season, times should improve. Please be supportive of these "poor" meets. The older swimmers may have only two or three meets a year for which they will be rested and tapered.

Coach’s Responsibilities   (Back to Top)

• The coaches are responsible for placing youngsters in practice groups. This is based on the age and ability of each individual. When it is in the best interest of a swimmer, he/she will be placed in a more challenging training group by the coach.
• Sole responsibility for stroke instruction and the training regimen rests with the YMCA coaching staff. Each group's practices are based on sound scientific principles and are geared to the specific goals of that group.
• The coaching staff will make the final decision concerning which meets YMCA swimmers may attend. The coaching staff also makes the final decision concerning into which events a swimmer is entered.
• At meets, the coaching staff will conduct and supervise warm up procedures for the team. After each race, the coaches will offer constructive criticism regarding the swimmer’s performance. (It is the parents' job to offer love and understanding regardless of their youngster's performance.)
• The building of a relay team is the sole responsibility of the coaching staff. It is the swimmer's responsibility to find out if he/she is in a relay. Relays are very important to YMCA and if a swimmer is chosen to swim on one he/she is expected to do so.

Academics and College Preparation   (Back to Top)

Perhaps your child thinks he/she could get into most colleges, except for Ivy League and highly selective schools, based on a high GPA and SAT scores. Maybe your child hasn't been a great student, but thinks his/her special athletic talent could get him/her admitted to a college. Perhaps your family is middle-class and you say your child will be able to go to college, but it will be tough making ends meet. You certainly could use an athletic scholarship. Maybe you don't need a scholarship and simply want your child’s athletic ability to help get him/her into a better school. Possibly your child isn't a great swimmer, but is confident that he/she can swim at some collegiate level. Can your child get into the college? At what level does the team compete? Who is the coach? Where, how and should you contact the coach? What are the NCAA and/or NAIA rules? The answers to these questions will be addressed by the YMCA coaching staff as you and your child enter the college admissions process. The coaching staff will work towards constantly updating and improving the YMCA swim team program. It is the swimmer’s and parents’ responsibility to make the most out of the excellent opportunity this program provides for success in swimming.