FAQs

Swim season begins in September and runs until the last Swim MB sanctioned meet of the year – usually at the beginning of June.  Those Skimmers with Provincial qualifying times continue practicing until Jr. Provincials in June.  Those Skimmers with AA ManSask qualifying times continue practicing until the ManSask Championships in July.

The Steinbach Aquatic Centre has regulations for adult supervision of children in their facility.  Children 11 and under require an adult in the facility during practice.  Skimmers asks that all parents take responsibility for their swimmer.  Swimmers 11 and under should have a “designated” adult who is responsible for them at the pool.  While we encourage all parents to watch practice and build community with the other Skimmers families, we understand if scheduling prevents this.  We simply ask that you find another adult to “be responsible” for your younger Skimmers.

At minimum, Swimmers should have comfortable and appropriate swimsuits (no bikini’s), goggles, towels & water bottles.  New Skimmers are provided a swim cap with their registration fee and additional caps are available for purchase through our club.  Coaches may recommend additional practice equipment based on level and performance.

Because not all swimmers compete in all swim meets, we don’t include these costs as part of the registration fees.  Meet registration fees are set by the host club and outlined in the meet package.  Our club also charges a $10/swimmer meet fee to cover coaching.  Once the meet registration is submitted to the host club, a swimmer can cancel their participation, but no refunds are available.

DQs in swimming are the same as penalties in hockey – part of the game. There are many technical nuances of starts, turns and strokes that if not done right can result in a DQ.  Even the most experienced swimmers get DQ’d from time to time.  The important thing is that our coaching staff will review and explain the DQ with swimmers so they can learn from it.

The decision to move your child to the next level is based on several criteria including:

The Skimmers practice schedule has “base practice” nights of Mondays and Wednesdays.  As swimmers progress in their abilities, additional practice time may be required to build on their skills.

Competitive swimming consists of two seasons – short course and long course.  During the “short course” season, all competitions are held in pools at a length of 25m; “long course” meets are 50m.

Skimmers is a competitive swim club and the coaching and practicing is to prepare swimmers for competition.  We understand that not all swimmers will be able to attend all meets throughout the season but we strongly encourage families to add the schedule of meets to their calendars so they are prepared.

Skimmers is a competitive swim club.  New members need to complete an assessment with our coaching team to determine their readiness. New club members should be very comfortable with deep water and have a solid foundation of swimming skills.  More details can be found on our website under Swim Tiers & Programs.