About the Swim Team

Welcome Message | General Information | Parent Guidelines

Greetings from the Whitman Square Sea Lyons

If you are looking for an organized sport that is healthy, competitive, and fun ~ then the Sea Lyons Swim Team is for you!

The Whitman Square Sea Lyons Swim Team is one of the 36 teams of the South Jersey Tri-County Swimming Pool Association. We have an experienced staff that works on a daily basis to make our swim team one of the best! The family atmosphere as well as team spirit makes this swim team stand proud!

We have two weekly swim meets which gives swimmers of all ability levels a chance to shine. We are also pleased to announce we have Sea Pups for 4 year old and 5 year old children who will aspire to be a Sea Lyon Swimmer.
The swim team season begins in May and runs through the first week in August. We would love to have you be a part of this awesome team. Register your swimmers today!

We are looking forward to another fantastic Swim Season!

General Information

We are part of the Tri-County League (Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties). The League consists of 36 teams consisting of 6 divisions with 6 teams each. The divisions are labeled A through F. At the end of the season the team with the best record moves up a division, and the team with the worst moves down a division. We compete against other teams in the same division each season.

The swimmers goal throughout the season is to achieve qualifying times for the Tri-County championship meet. The meet is a two-day affair with qualifiers swimming on Saturday; the top eight swimmers in each event competing in the championship heat and the next eight swimmers competing in the consolation heat on Sunday. The overall league champion is decided at the meet.

The Sea Pups Pre-Team is for children from the ages of 4 - 7 whose skills have not developed enough to compete in Saturday "A-meets". The program is designed to teach proper swim techniques to prepare future Sea Lyon Swimmers. Sea Pups enjoy all the fun of being on the swim team, including Friday Fun activities and swimming kickboard races in all "B-Meets". Children participating in the Sea Pups not only learn how to swim correctly and confidently but also experience the fun and excitement of being part of the Whitman Square Swim Team!

Meet Information
Download the Meet Information Document (PDF) by clicking here.

• The season consists of 5 "A" meets on Saturday mornings. Warm-ups begin at 8:30 am at away meets. Home meet warm-ups begin at 8 am. The meets begin at 9:00 am.
• We also have 3 or 4 "B" meets held on Wednesday evenings. These are less competitive and give the less experienced swimmers an opportunity to gain race experience.
• A swimmers age cutoff is June 15 for the entire season.
• There are 5 age groups for both girls and boys: 8 and unders, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18. The team also has a SeaPups group for 4 and 5 year olds.
• Order of Events in the back of the book.
• An individual swimmer may not compete officially in more than two individual events, one medley relay and one freestyle relay.
• Ribbons are awarded for first place relays at both "A" and "B" meets. For individual events, ribbons are awarded for first through third place in "A" meets and first through sixth place in "B" meets.

Scoring and Event description

• 25 meters or yards is equal to 1 lap, 50 = 2 laps etc.
• 100 IM is 1 lap of each stroke.
• 200 IM is 2 laps of each stroke.
• Medley Relay= backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.
• Scoring (individual events) 1st place = 5 pts. 2nd place = 3 pts, 3rd place = 1 pt.
• Score for the 1st place relay is 7 pts.

Time trials

We hold time trails before the meets begin and run them exactly like a real meet. Each child will be timed in each stroke. This will serve as a basis for which the swimmer can see his or her progress throughout the season.

Gloucester County Championships

At the end of the regular season we go to the Gloucester County Championships, also known as the Peach Bowl. The coaches of the eight teams in the county will submit one swimmer with the best times for each event. Scoring is not the same as a regular meet. The team with the highest score is the Gloucester County Champion for that year.

Tri County Championships

These are held after the county championships and are usually the first week of August. Each year the Tri-County League publishes a list of qualifying times for each event. In order to swim in the Tri-County meet, a swimmer must achieve the qualifying time in a regulation "A" meet during the season. Each team may also enter one boy and one girl relay from each age level (if they qualify). Qualifying relays include all 8 & under legal relays, the top 32 relays for 9/10 and 11/12, and the top 24 relay teams of 13/14 and 15/18. All the swimmers from every Tri-County team who have qualified are "seeded", or placed in order of their time, into a number of heats for each event.

Special Events

The team will have several special events that will include bowling, roller-skating, ice-skating and more. On the afternoon of our last home meet we will have our annual "Senior Picnic". The morning of the Gloucester County Championships we hold a "Pancake Breakfast. Please feel free to offer other suggestions we would love to hear from you!

Banquet

Our banquet is held at the end of every season. It is a wonderful event where we recognize the team for their efforts. Through our fund raising activities we will have some type of gift to give each and every swimmer.

Parent Guidelines

Welcome to the Whitman Square Swim Team. We try very hard to emulate our mascot the Sea Lion - a fun loving mammal who enjoys the water and a little friendly competition. Your role as a parent is very important to the success of our swim team and so we would like to offer a few guidelines and suggestions. The most important thing you can do as a parent is to be supportive of your child, the coaches and the team.

While we do engage in competition it is imperative to remember that this is a summer program and our primary goal is to have fun. In team sports our children sometimes have difficulty trying to find the balance between wanting to win and the joy of playing the game. While we want to strive for excellence in swimming, we don't want it to become so stressful that it is only about winning or losing. The beauty of swimming is you can help your child to set personal goals in regards to time. Let them know that by trying to improve their time in a stroke they benefit not only themselves but the team. Encourage them to improve by being on time for practice. Emphasize the importance of team spirit by cheering for teammates at the meets and participating in team events.

Our coaches are experienced individuals who work hard to create a balance between fun and competition. Even though you may be quite knowledgeable about swimming, please try to refrain from sideline coaching especially during a meet. This can send mixed signals and cause confusion for the swimmers. If you have a question, comment or suggestions feel free to discuss this with the coaches before or after practice. We ask that you not discuss these concerns during practice as the coaches are responsible for many swimmers during this time and for safety reasons it is best to keep distractions to a minimum. As a team we also try to emphasize mutual respect for one another. It is important to avoid negative comments in front of swimmers as this encourages disrespect.

Our other primary goal is team spirit. We all contribute to the team whether we have more advanced swimmers participating in the A meets or swimmers who are still honing their skills at the B meets. The emphasis is always the team and doing our best to be a part of it. Just like life, the biggest part of swim team is showing up so be on time for practices and meets. If you will not be able to attend a meet please inform the coaches via email by Monday evening. At all meets please be mindful of cleaning up the facilities when we depart. This is very important when we are visiting another team's swim club. And of course appropriate swimmer and parent conduct is essential at all meets. The parents help create team spirit through their involvement. This may be helping out with a specific job at a meet, a team activity or just cheering on our team from the sidelines. Always feel free to offer any ideas on ways we can create a more spirited atmosphere.

We want the swim season to be a relaxing and pleasant one for all of our parents and swimmers. So enjoy, be safe and keep barking!!