Pre-Team

Children who are at least 5 years old, and who have received previous swimming instruction, but cannot yet swim the 25 meter length of the pool independently and consistently, are eligible to be on the Pre-Team. The Pre-Team is not designed to replace swimming lessons. Rather, it is a stepping stone between swimming lessons and Swim Team. Pre-Team coaches are Swim Team members, ages 12-16, who work with the children in small groups in the shallow end of the pool. For those children who are not quite ready to join the Pre-Team, lessons will be available through Tanterra lifeguards.

Pre-Team Parents

If you are not sure if your child should be on pre-team or the regular team, please bring them to be evaluated the first few days of practice (May 27 - 30) at 4:00pm.

Our coaches break down the groups at practice to work at several different levels so it’s best to have them evaluated.   The coaches continue to evaluate the children during the season and many move up to the regular team.

The goal of this program is to engender a love of swimming and to prepare swimmers for participation in the regular team once they have acquired the necessary skills. Pre-Team practices begin after the school year ends from 10:15-11:00 a.m. Once a pre-teamer successfully swims a lap, they may be invited to participate in a B-meet and/or practice with the appropriate age group on the Regular Team.

The pre-team season ends with a mini-meet at our pool on July 13th.  This is just for Tanterra and is set up exactly like an actual meet so they see what it is like to swim in a meet. Paper Plate awards are given out after the meet.

All Pre-Team swimmers and their families are invited to attend the weekly Pep Rally on Thursday after practice and all the social events including the banquet. We want our Pre-Team swimmers to feel that they are part of the team and want them to graduate to the Swim Team when they are ready.