NYC O.R.C.A Swim Team

Ages 7 - 16

The NYC ORCAS Swim Team is in its inaugural year as a competitive age group swim team and is affiliated with USA swimming, the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. Its focus is on developing goal oriented, motivated individuals who wish to achieve success in swimming through a combination of instruction, training and competition. Transient ORCAS must be competent in the four competitive strokes, Resident ORCAS must be able to make the length of the pool and Offshore ORCAS must fulfill weekly swims and upload to website. Children from age 7 to 12 are eligible for to become an ORCA, nevertheless, active members who wish to continue past the age of twelve may do so through high school (16 years old). Attendance and meet participation are factors in determining whether swimmers, especially those in High School, are allowed to renew their NYC ORCAS memberships in the next season.

The NYC ORCAS will be a competitive CYO and USA Swimming member team and as such requires participation at Mandatory classes, practices and meets. Requirements will be broken down by team level.

There are 3 competitive levels. Resident, Transient and Offshore.

Resident ORCAS:

Home Team - Only swim locally and may be invited to away meets at coaches discretion. %40 - %70 percent practice attendance required

This swimmer is required to be able to swim 25 yards/ meters freestyle with face in the water (breathing style and technique optional). Must be enrolled in Learn to Swim program (Swim-With-Chris) and have confidence. Competitions are a large and loud place and can seem intimidating. This swimmer may also be on another team but cannot attend regularly scheduled practices but has proven ability through classes.

Transient ORCAS:

Travel Team - USA Swimming Members and are required to attend all meets and practices.

This swimmer is a committed member of the ORCAS Swim Team, attends classes according to coaches specifications, mandatory practices and mandatory meets.

Offshore ORCAS:

POD Swimmers - Are 1)above the age of 14 2)May also swim on HighSchool Swim team 3)May not have access to home team pool but completes workouts at a 25 yard pool and uploads workouts and times to team website to remain eligible to represent ORCA Swimming and maintain benefits and perks associated with team 4)Will likely swim alone while representing the organization.

Opportunities to enter Optional meets are available throughout the year to those members of the O.R.C.A.S who want greater access to high level competitive swimming whenever a coach commits to being responsible for the ORCAS entries. These Optional meets are not included in the ORCAS tuition and entries must be paid in full by the posted signup deadlines before entries will be submitted to the host team. Optional meets provide additional opportunities to qualify for the Championship meets and for improved seeding at the championships, and allow for swimmers to choose their own events. Attendance at Optional meets is strongly encouraged as it provides experience, builds confidence and allows swimmers to challenge themselves in new events.

The ORCAS teams are called "Pods". ORCAS will represent their Pods and the Organization with ferocity. When and if multiple Pods are at the same meet we will join and swim as a FAMILY.