ONE TEAM  ONE VISION  ONE GOAL

 

LAC’S MISSION STATEMENT

To provide an excellence driven environment where athletes can grow from novice to Olympic level competition.

 
 

Welcome to LAC Stroke Team!

All swimmers wishing to join Stroke School must complete a tryout/placement evaluation. The LAC coaching staff will determine the appropriate training group based on the swimmer’s demonstrated skills during the tryout.

For tryout information, CLICK HERE.

About Stroke School

Stroke School is part of the Development segment within LAC’s three-tier swimming pathway:
Learn-To-Swim → Stroke School → Competitive Team

The purpose of Stroke School is to strengthen the fundamental techniques of all four competitive strokes and prepare swimmers for entry into LAC’s Competitive Team. Stroke School consists of two training groups:

  • Red Group (entry level)

  • Black Group (advanced pre-competitive)

Age ranges may vary by location or season based on available space.

RED GROUP

Red 1 — 8 & Under

Red 2 — Ages 9–11*

The Red Group is the first level of Stroke School. Many swimmers advancing to Red come from LAC’s Learn-To-Swim program, while others are placed here through tryouts.

Swimmers in this group should be able to:

  • Swim freestyle with proper side breathing

  • Swim backstroke with good body rotation

  • Demonstrate a basic understanding of breaststroke and butterfly

  • Begin learning block starts and proper freestyle flip turns

Progression Requirements: Red → Black

To move into the Black Group, swimmers must be able to:

  • Perform all freestyle and backstroke drills correctly

  • Complete a legal freestyle flip turn

  • Swim a legal 25 breaststroke or 25 butterfly

*Age limit may vary by location

BLACK GROUP

Black 1 — 9 & Under

Black 2 — Ages 10–12* 

Swimmers in the Black Group focus on:

  • Perfecting breaststroke and butterfly technique

  • Learning and performing a legal backstroke flip turn

  • Increasing endurance through longer freestyle and backstroke swims

  • Learning to read the pace clock

  • Fine-tuning stroke mechanics across all four competitive strokes

To be considered for placement into the Competitive Team (Bronze Group), swimmers must be able to:

  • Legally swim all four competitive strokes

  • Perform a legal backstroke flip turn

  • Complete the following test sets:

Black Group Test Sets

  • 6 × 50 freestyle on 1:30

  • 100 IM legally (all strokes, turns, and finishes must be legal)

*Age limit may vary by location

Stroke School Meets

Red and Black swimmers participate in fun speed & skill meets, typically held 5-6 times per season. These low-stress events help swimmers and parents learn the meet format while allowing swimmers to apply their technique in a positive, beginner-friendly environment.