Cary Swim Club Imps

Swim Club members age 4-18 may join the swim team, part of the Triangle Swim Association. Cary Swim Club has fielded a swim team every summer since 1960. At that time, the Capital Area Swim Conference consisted of Cary and seven other teams. In 1973, those eight teams joined with many new swim clubs in Raleigh to form the Tarheel Swim Association. The TSA now boasts more than 60 teams with over 10,000 Triangle-area kids swimming in TSA-sanctioned meets during 2006. Cary Swim Club is proud of our 47 years of swim team tradition!

How it works

Every summer, trained coaches work with our swimmers to build their skills. Swimmers learn and refine four strokes: freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly. Meets are comprised of relays, multiple heats for each of the strokes, and meets close with a series of freestyle relays. Events during each meet proceed by age group, with the youngest swimmers covering about half the pool distance (15 yards), followed by older swimmers who swim one lap across the pool (25 yards), with the oldest swimmers swimming across the pool and back (50 yards). Swimmers six and under swim only freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke, and are free to leave the meet about half-way through, when the backstroke event is complete. Meets typically last around three hours.

Swimmers practice daily on weekday mornings or late afternoons. There are 6 meets on Tuesday evenings during June and July. On Wednesdays the morning practice is replaced with a social event such as bowling or miniature golf. Team spirit and good sportsmanship are two of the main goals for Cary Swim Club Swim Team. Parents of swimmers are essential components of the swim team, as they officiate, time, coordinate and organize the meets. Parent volunteers work half-meet shifts, with shift changes after backstroke. Every swim team family volunteers to work some aspect of the meet for at least five halves of meets.

Swimmers and coaches are honored at the end-of-season banquet, typically held a few days after the last swim meet. Trophies, prizes and memorabilia are awarded during the banquet, and attendees enjoy a slideshow of the season's highlights.