Georgia Swimming

2025 Tiger Sharks Summer Team

REGISTRATION OPENS APRIL 15, 2025

This is a four-week introductory swim team experience for children ages 4 and up. No prior swim team experience is required!  All levels are welcome, even those that are still working on developing swimming skills. Certified instructors work with swimmers both in and out of the water developing the fundamental skills needed for participation in a competitive program, beginning with freestyle, backstroke and introductory racing starts. Advanced Tiger Sharks will move on to butterfly, backstrokes, and racing starts off the blocks. Coaches will conduct skills assessments during the first week of practice and assign swimmers into Tiger Shark practice groups. This program is led by our professional USA Swimming Coaches, with additional volunteer support from our experienced Hurricane Swimmers.

Our goal is to teach your child to be safe in the water, build confidence, as well as give them the necessary fundamental skills required to enter into a competitive swimming program. Swimming instruction tends to be rather boring, tedious and repetitive for the kids, so we include swimming games at the end of each session, along with mini meets and ribbons to keep things fun and reward their efforts!

Tiger Shark swimmers practice three to four days a week (Monday-Thursday). Each session includes three "mini-meets" during our practice time where all swimmers get to show off their new skills in an easy and fun introductory race format that includes cheering parent fans, ribbons for each race, and a celebratory treat afterwards! Tiger Shark swimmers will recieve a Tiger Shark swim cap and Tiger Shark t-shirt with their registration.  (Register by May 15 to guarantee your swimmer's shirt/cap. We will do our best but cannot guarantee availability for late registrations.)

Two sessions of Tiger Sharks are offered each summer, swimmers are welcome to register for either session or both sessions for maximum swimming experience! Many swimmers end up matriculating and continuing to be a part of our greater Columbus Aquatic Club Hurricanes year-round swimming program after the completion of Tiger sharks. Many of the best age group and senior swimmers in the greater Columbus area started with our Tiger Sharks program.

Dates:

  • Session 1 - 5/27/2025 – 6/19/2025 (No Practice on Memorial Day 5/26/2024. Meet Dates are June 5, 12, 19)
  • Session 2 - 6/23/2025 - 7/16/2025 (No Practice on Independence Day 7/4/2025. Meet Dates are July 3, 10, 16)

Information:

  • 9:30AM – 10:30AM on Mon, Tues, Wed, and Thurs (Note: Mini meets can last until 11:00am. Please see session schedule for practice/mini-meet dates.)
  • Double Churches Pool, 2300 Double Churches Rd, Columbus, GA 31909
  • MAX 60 swimmers per session
  • Age 4 and up
  • Tuition: $260.00. Early Bird Rate of $240 is avialable April 15-30th.
  • $20.00 Sibling or Multi-Child Discount ($20 off each additional swimmer after the first)

Includes:

  • Professional USA Swimming Coach Instruction 
  • T-shirt (Register by May 15 to guarantee shirt)
  • Swim Cap
  • 3 swim meets (See schedule for mini-meet dates)

 

Frequently Asked Questions:

  1. How much swim experience does my swimmer need?  No experience is necessary! Children should be enthusastic about water experience, and able to jump from the side of the pool, kick to the surface and swim to the wall.  Swimmers that aren't ready for this are encouarged to consider our new Hurricane learn to swim program.
  2. What if we can’t make all the sessions?  That is fine! We understand that life is busy. We recommend you come as often as possible to get the full benefit of the practices. We do not offer makeup sessions for missed sessions.
  3. Last year my swimmers needed a USA Swimming membership, do I need to do that this year? Thankfully, no! The process changed and we are now able to manage all of this for our swimmers.
  4. What does my swimmer need to bring with them for Tigersharks?  Swimmers will need a suit, a towel and goggles for Tigersharks. Swimmers can wear any style of swimming suit, though we do recommend making sure it's secure enough to stay in place during the swimming, splashing, jumping, and diving! We recommend basic swimming goggles, though some of our younger swimmers may not wish to use them.  (We do not recommend the full face scuba-style goggles as they are bulky and cover their nose!)  Since we are outdoors, we also recommend applying sunscreen at home so that it is dry before your swimmer hits the pool. Sunshirts are also acceptable, though some swimmers find the sleeves limit their range of motion.  There is a water fountain at the facility, but water bottles are helpful, too.  Noseplugs aren't used by most competitive swimmers, so we recommend trying to do without them during this summer session. (We're pretty good at teaching and helping your swimmer through that!) Most swimmers don't use ear plugs, but we leave that to you based on doctor's recommendation.
  5. What happens if the weather is bad or the pool has maintenance issues?  We will do all we can to proceed with practice as planned, even if it's a little drizzly! However sometimes the weather will not cooperate and we must cancel. We will send out notices as quickly as possible via our team email alerts. We typically are not able to schedule make up sessions due to facility availability, but will handle this on a case-by-case basis. The same applies to small routine maintenance issues. The City works very hard to keep the pools in great shape, but occassional issues are unavoidable. We will handle this on a case-by-case basis.  If the facility is unavailble for an extended period, we will work with the City to make alternate arrangements.
  6. Do I need to stay on site during practice?  Parents are always welcome to observe practices and are encouraged to stay to cheer on their swimmers during the meets, but are not required to stay on-site. We will have a parent meeting the first day of practice that we ask a parent or guardian to attend.  Deck seating is available for parents that wish to watch practice, but there is limited shade on deck!
  7. What should we expect on meet days?   Meet days may run a bit longer than a normal practice, so we ask your patience as we make sure all swimmers get a chance to learn the ropes of meet participation. Coaches will place swimmers in 1-4 events, depending on their skills and what the coaches worked on that week.  Your swimmer will need their usual practice items but will need extra water since the deck can be quite sunny as they wait for their events. Spectators will also apprecaite a chair, sunblock and water! Coaches will have heat sheets available at the beginning of the mini-meet for parents to see what events their swimmers are participating in. We will also announce names over a speaker.  Swimmers will recieve a ribbon for each heat and we celebrate with popsicles at the end!  We will also ask for parent helpers to serve as timers for each lane - this helps the swimmers see their progress over the session. 
  8. Can my swimmer join the Hurricanes afterwards? We sure hope so! Coaches will provide feedback and recommendations for your swimmer at the end of each session, so that you know whether they are ready for the Hurricane's year-round program and what practice group they would recommend.