Compare and Contrast: Stoney Point vs. Kennedy Swim Teams

Over the past three years I have had the opportunity to compete on two different swim teams. (Well, technically 3 but I will leave the "summer league" out of the equation). From August to November, I am a member of the varsity swim team at Kennedy High School. Right when that ends I participate at the Stoney Point Y and swim for the Stingrays until the beginning of April. These two teams are very different (as they probably should be) but also have many similarities.

Coaches-

• Stoney Point: The coaching staff at Stoney Point is pretty good. (Read my previous post "An A+ Coach"). They push us to work hard and give us feedback when asked. There are so many little kids on this swim team, so it's hard for them to give us a lot of attention. They care about us and want to see us get better.
• Kennedy: Kennedy's coaching staff is fantastic. Basically everything I mention in "An A+ Coach," Kennedy is fortunate enough to have. They work us extremely hard but they believe in each and every swimmer which is so important. The coaches are always willing to help in any way that they can.

Objective-

• Stoney Point: For most of the high school girls on this team the point in swimming during the offseason is to try and keep in shape and get a little bit of competing in. There is much less pressure and you can focus on "off" events. Most meets aren't scored and don't have much meaning. Nothing really relies on your swims and you can just have fun while gaining more experience racing.
• Kennedy: Being a competitive high school sport the main goal is to win meets, score points and compete the best you can at the state level. There is pressure to swim fast and to get certain times but at the same time team bonding and having fun is still a primary goal.

Workouts-

• Stoney Point: On average, during the Stoney Point season we get about 6 hours of pool time a week. The practices vary from pretty low key to fairly difficult. (I hope I don't jinx myself!) It can be frustrating because your trying to stay in shape with so little swimming but most of the time it works out. We do the same sort of drills, kick sets, pull sets and so on as any other team.
• Kennedy: Much different than my "off season" I probably workout 20 hours a week during the Kennedy season. This includes swimming and lifting along with other dryland training. Even though we work on the same types of things that we do at Stoney Point, the workouts are intense and you don't get much break. The end result is exhaustion so when its time to taper you have lots of energy.

In the end, the two swim teams have many similarities and many differences. It works out really well because then over the course of the year I get a variety and don't get exposed to too much of the same thing!