Registration has begun for the Tyrone Area YMCA age group competitive swim team program, coached by Tyrone resident Tom Getz.
Getz has over 15 years of coaching experience for the YMCA, and in the past he was a member of the Penn State swim team and a swimming coach at Juniata College.
The age group competitive swim team program allows team members to compete in dual meets, league championships, and challenging district, state and national qualifying times.
Throughout the program, team members will enhance their competitive skills on each of the four strokes while building endurance.
Practice is scheduled to begin on October 20 and will be held at the Tyrone Area High School pool.
The full team, which consists of participants nine to 18 years of age is scheduled to practice Monday through Friday from 5-6:30 p.m. The eight and under team is scheduled to practice Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the same time.
All team members are expected to compete in both home and away meets. All competitions are age group specific, starting with the age level of eight and under, and moving to nine-10 years old, 11-12 years old, 13-14 years old, and 15-18 years old.
Also, in accordance with league, state and national rules, all members of the competitive swim team must be full members of the Tyrone Area YMCA to compete at league, state and national meets. One year full memberships are required for competition.
The Tyrone Area YMCA swim team competes with other area swim teams including State College, Hollidaysburg, Roaring Spring and Clearfield, among others.
Getz said the high school swim program does not start for kids until they are in ninth grade, so the YMCA swim program is a perfect opportunity to get them ready before hand.
He also said he has many goals for the swim team for this season. He wants to increase the team numbers, get back to winning a few dual meets, get the male roster back up, and have a large number of team members qualify for districts and states.
Also, the YMCA is currently searching for an assistant coach for the competitive swim team. If anyone is interested, contact the YMCA.
For more information about the competitive swim team or to register, call the YMCA at 684-2740.
