YMCA Swimming - Overview
 
The PAY Swim Team is a year-round competitive program. The year is divided into two seasons, the short course and long course season. The short course season runs from the beginning of September through the YMCA Short Course Nationals in April for those that qualify. During this time, competitions are held in short course pools, either 25 yards or meters. The short course season begins with practices in September concentrating on stroke technique, and progressing through various training phases as the season progresses. 
 

The long course season starts in April and runs through YMCA Long Course Nationals in August. The Long Course program is aimed at preparing swimmers to compete in a 50 meter pool (however, we practice in a 25 yard or 25 meter pool on site). The PAY Swim Team participates in YMCA and USA Swimming long course meets.  After YMCA Long Course Nationals, the program takes a break until the next winter season that begins in September.

 

Our team subscribes to the YMCA of the USA guidelines for competitive swimming and is also a registered member of USA Swimming. For more information on the USA Swimmng component of our team, please refer to this page on USA Swimming.

 

 

YMCA Meet Structure

 

  • Local YMCA Dual Meets - PennDel Swim League
    • The PAY Swim Team competes in the Penn Del swim league against other local YMCA teams.  The YMCA Dual Meet season begins in late October and continues through the beginning of January. A dual meet is usually held on a Saturday with home meets at the Phoenixville YMCA Myrin pool and away meets at the opponent’s pool.
    • A swimmer will swim against swimmers within his or her age group. The age group for the winter dual meet season is determined by the swimmer’s age on December 1.
    • PennDel Swim League's Website is linked HERE
  • Dual Meet Attendance
    • The PAY swim team swims its dual meets as a FULL girls team and FULL boys team, with all age groups togeter for each gender. 
    • Swimmers will be required to participate in TWO dual meets in order to be on the team.  
    • The team earns points for the top finishers in each event. All scores are added for each age group. The team that wins the most age groups wins the meet. One swimmer's attendance at a meet can make a difference!

 

 

  • Regional PA YMCA Invitational and Championship Meets
    • PAY also travels to a number of invitational meets, ranging in competitiveness from mini-meets to YMCA National Championships. Invitational meets sometimes require swimmers to either meet a qualifying time or be below a cut-off time. These meets vary in format, travel time, entry fees, and swimmer qualifications. 
    • Pennsylvania YMCA Swimming offers a Championship Meet Series that includes "Districts" and "States". These take place in the month of March for those swimmers who qualify.
    • PA YMCA Swimming's Website is linked HERE.
    • Almost all of PAY's YMCA Invitational meets, as well as will be "USA Approved", meaning that times achieved at these meets will go into the USA Swimming SWIMS Database. This is helpful for qualifying meets like Juniors Champs, as well as USA Swimming initiatives such as IMX/IMR and Virtual Club Championships.
    • The PAY Swim Team also offers the option of competing in USA meets.   USA meets typically follow a similar format to YMCA invitational meets; however, the field of competition is larger and membership in USA Swimming is required to compete in these meets.

 

  • YMCA National Championships 
    • ​A select set of swimmers qualify for the YMCA National Championship meet each year.
    • Short Course Nationals takes place in the end of March/beginning of April. 
    • Long Course Nationals takes place in the end of July/beginning of August.
    • National YMCA Swimming's website is linked HERE.