Manta Rays Swim Team

Font Size: + -

Feedback Print

The Manta Rays swim team is a competitive swimming program for age group and USA swimmers ages 6-18 and high school swimmers pre and post high school season. The USA and age group program is designed to help swimmers improve stroke technique, endurance, and speed, while the high school program primarily focuses on building endurance and speed. Age group swimmers compete in dual meets that typically occur on Saturday afternoons with a culminating Championship meet in March. USA swimmers also compete in USA sanctioned meets throughout the season from November -March.

Contact: Head Coach Lori May, mantarayswimming@yahoo.com

PREREQUISITE SKILLS

PREREQUISITE SKILLS

Swimmers 10 & Under Must:

Be able to swim 25 yards (1 length) of the pool freestyle without stopping while consistently demonstrating breathing to the side at the appropriate timing within the stroke.
Be able to swim 25 yards (1 length) backstroke without stopping while constantly kicking his/her legs and continuously maintaining a horizontal position in the water.

*10U swimmers are encouraged to have COMPLETED THROUGH American Red Cross level 5 of swimming lessons, although this is not required.

Swimmers 11 & Over Must:

Be able to swim 50 yards (2 lengths) of the pool freestyle without stopping and consistently demonstrating breathing to the side at the appropriate timing within the stroke.
Be able to swim 50 yards (2 lengths) backstroke without stopping while constantly kicking his/her legs and continuously maintaining a horizontal position in the water.
Have knowledge and skill in how to perform breaststroke and/or butterfly, however it does not have to be a legal stroke.

**11 & Over Swimmers are encouraged to have completed all levels of American Red Cross swimming lessons, although this is not required.

NEW SWIMMER TRYOUT

MANDATORY NEW SWIMMER TRYOUT

Any swimmer interested in joining our swim team must participate in the mandatory new swimmer tryout date before the start of the swim season. Swimmers will NOT be invited to the team without participating in the tryout process. The purpose of this tryout practice is to allow the coaches and new swimmers an opportunity to meet each other, give the new swimmer an opportunity to try swim team practice and make sure he/she enjoys the experience, and give the coaches an opportunity to assess the swimmers skills and determine if he/she is ready for our team. If your swimmer is invited to join our team, we use the data collected from this practice to determine his/her practice group and lane.

SUMMER TEAM TRYOUT is in the month of May.

WINTER TEAM TRYOUT is in the month of October.

The exact date of the tryout will be communicated by the coach and the rec center once it is determined. The tryout is free however swimmers must be signed up on the Macedonia Recreation Center website or through the front desk prior to this tryout.

The purpose of this tryout practice is to allow the coaches and new swimmers an opportunity to meet each other, give the new swimmer an opportunity to try swim team practice and make sure he/she enjoys the experience, and give the coaches an opportunity to assess the swimmers skills and determine if the swimmer is ready for our team. If your swimmer is invited to join our team, we use the data collected from this practice to determine his/her practice group and lane.

A few days after the tryout practice, all swimmers will be notified whether or not they are invited to the team. Swimmers who aren’t ready for the team will be given skills to improve on before returning to the next tryout practice.

PREPARING FOR SWIM TEAM CLINIC

PREPARING FOR SWIM TEAM CLINIC

The Preparing for Swim Team Clinic is designed for swimmers who have successfully completed the American Red Cross Level 4 or higher swim lessons. This clinic is 8 classes, 45 minutes each, and runs in April and September each year. The class is taught by Manta Ray Swim Team coaches and is a great introduction to competitive swimming by bridging the gap between swimming lessons and swim team.

In this clinic swimmers will work on improving stroke technique in all 4 competitive strokes through the use of team drills, work on competitive diving from a starting block, practice both freestyle and backstroke flip turns, and learn swim team push off’s with underwater dolphins and tight streamlines (the basic groundwork of all competitive swim teams).

This clinic has Prerequisite Skills that must be met in order to participate. All swimmers interested in participating in this clinic must:

Have passed level 4 or above of swimming lessons.

Be able to swim 25 yards (1 length) of the pool freestyle without stopping and consistently demonstrating breathing to the side at the appropriate timing within the stroke.

Be able to swim 25 yards (1 length) backstroke without stopping and continuously maintaining a horizontal backstroke position in the water.

Please Note: Participation in this class does not guarantee a spot on the Manta Ray Swim Team.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT MANTA RAY SWIM TEAM

TEAM POLICIES

TEAM POLICIES

TEAM ROSTER SPOT: Once a swimmer is invited to join our team, he or she is grandfathered onto the team as long as the swimmer remains active on the team. Swimmers can skip one season within a year (summer or winter) and still be an active member on our team. However, if a swimmer skips 2 or more consecutive seasons within a year (summer and winter), upon wanting to return to the team, he/she will have to re-try-out for the team. By re-trying out for the team, the swimmer IS NOT guaranteed an open roster spot on the team.

In other words, if your child decides to take this coming summer 2025 off of MR swim team, he/she can still register for our winter 2025-2026 team as a returning swimmer. However, if the swimmer takes this summer and the following winter season off, he/she is not guaranteed a spot on the team and will have to re-try out for one of the remaining open roster spots.

PRACTICE ATTENDANCE: We do not encourage swimmers to join our swim team if he/she can only practice once a week because this is not enough practice to show any type of improvement over the course of a season. Any swimmer who will be only practicing once a week needs to let Coach Lori know this plan prior to registering for the team. Your swimmer will still be allowed to register for the team, however we need to know this information prior to registration.

SEASON END CHAMPIONSHIP MEET: The season end championship meet is the finale of the season. This meet is the same as the season end tournament for baseball, football, volleyball, soccer, etc. This is the meet that we train for and focus on all season long. This is also the meet in which we experience the amazing results of all the hard work put forth during the season. Swimmers are expected to attend their season end championship. If there is a conflict with the championship meet date, the head coach needs to know within the first 4 weeks of the season or within 4 weeks after the date of the champ meet is published. Oftentimes swimmers will not want to compete in the meet simply because the name “championship” intimidates them or makes them nervous. This is a natural response in children and the coaching staff can help ease the swimmers anxiety if it is brought to our attention.

USA TEAM

MANTA RAY TEAM WEBSITE

CONTACT INFORMATION

Macedonia Parks & Recreation

ParksRec Search Box - Custom Content

SERVICE FINDER

How Do I...

Manta Rays Swim Team