Call us and let us know you are interested. We can be reached at 502-451-4333 or paulson@lakesideseahawks.org. Once we know more about the swimmer, we can guide your next steps. The swimmer will either need an individual assessment or level assignment from a coach. If your child is new to competitive swimming we will ask if he/she knows all four strokes, flip turns and can dive off the side or starting blocks. If your swimmer has swum competitively before, we will ask for his/her best times. To fill out an evaluation request, click here.
Lakeside offers online registration. Joining the team is easy and should take about 15 minutes to complete the process. It will help to have your medical insurance card and credit cards handy. The Lakeside Swim Team policies are outlined in detail during the registration process so please read carefully. Start the process here.
Step one, register with the team with Team Unify
Step two, register with USA Swimming
Each fall every swimmer across the country must register with USA Swimming for the up-coming year. This membership to USA Swimming is good til the end of the calendar year and is transferable to other teams.
There are a number of items that we bill. The most common will be your swimmers monthly training fee and meet entry fees for any meet your swimmer competes in. Other items that may appear on your bill;
No. We used to have a number of fund-raising activities; however, years ago we eliminated the smaller, time consuming activities and opted to work towards more corporate fund-raising. We create training fees and host swim meets that eliminate the requirement on each family and it has proven to be the best option versus competing for your time and money with schools, bands, other teams and activities that need or require fund-raising projects.
All new swimmers are evaluated on an individual basis. A Lakeside coach assigns the team level. Younger and newer swimmers are provided a one-on-one assessment with a Lakeside coach. Middle school and high school swimmers are evaluated on a case by case basis depending on experience. Contact us at 502-451-4333 or click here to request an evaluation.
1. A 15 day notice is required for all cancelations. Send an email to paulson@lakesideseahawks.org with the following information:
2. Once an account has been canceled, Lakeside cannot guarantee that a roster spot will be available if/when the swimmer wishes to return.
3. The account owner remains responsible for any fees incurred by the swimmer prior to their last practice date (i.e. meet fees, swim cap, purchases, USA Swimming registration fees)
Lakeside Swim Team has five full time coaches that work out of the team office, and a number of other part time coaches that assist on the pool deck. All Lakeside staff members are certified by USA Swimming and must keep their CPR, Safety Training, and background checks up to date, along with other continuing education every year. To learn more about our coaches, click here.
No, Lakeside Swim Team does not currently offer any scholarships.
Swimmers may wear any training suit they wish during practice. If they wear a cap we encourage wearing a Lakeside Swim Team Cap, but understand they may have training caps as well. They will also need goggles, and probably need a back-up pair of goggles in their bag in case they break. Each training group has different equipment assigned to them and you or your child will be notified of what is needed in a specific group. We do try to add equipment to their training as they get older; this provides the swimmer with something new and different at each group and gives them something to look forward too.
Our Team suit is a solid navy blue Speedo with the logo on it, which can be purchased at SwimVille USA. At meets we ask that swimmers wear a solid navy blue or black Speedo suit, due to the number of different styles available we are comfortable with this. We always require a Lakeside Swim Team Cap if you wear a cap. We DO NOT encourage or promote any 12-under swimmer wearing or purchasing a technical racing suit! They are expensive, need to be worn much smaller than 12 and under swimmers like and are designed with the senior swimmer in mind. As a staff we feel it is a waste of your money and another thing to look forward to as your swimmer progresses. Yes, you will see them and current members have them, we are only providing advice. We are a SPEEDO sponsored team and any meet suit is expected to be Speedo!
Lakeside operates in two seasons (which makes us a year round team) in accordance with USA Swimming. Short course vs long course refers to the length of the pool, not the length of the season.
Each age group has time standards for every race that appropriately group swimmers at different meets through the year and provide achievement milestones for the swimmers as they progress. There are time standards to attend the Kentucky State Championships as well as regional and national meets throughout the country.
Kentucky Swimming Time Standards
Team Unify (TU) is the name of our website/team management/billing software. If you ever hear, “it is listed in Team Unify” or “check Team Unify” it is synonymous with that website. https://www.teamunify.com/team/kslst/page/home
NOTE: We do not prorate monthly fees, due to the fact that there are too many individual issues or schedules for our staff to decide or determine what each swimmer would be billed. We will work with a family on unique circumstances.
Contact your lead coach for guidance on which meets are a good fit for your swimmer. Usually, each coach will provide a list of meets they suggest for swimmers in that specific training groups.
Once signed-up, your child’s coach will select the appropriate events for them to swim. At a younger age we try to enter them in as many events as we can and mix up what events they swim at each meet. Special requests can be made to your child’s coach either in the meet sign-up note box or by contacting the coach directly. As the swimmers get older, they normally work directly with their coach on their meet entries.
Relays will be determined at the meet and by the coaching staff. Everyone in the meet is eligible for a relay and 99% of the time we form the strongest team possible. There may be occasions where we try to divide up swimmers to make relays equal or allow new or different swimmers on relays, but this always depends on the meet. Relays are worth twice the points and are the only “team” effort swimming has, so they are very important. Coaches will use previous times, current meet performance and even a “gut” feeling at times to decide on the relay swimmers. Much like a basketball coach must decide who to play in different situations, swim coaches may decide who to swim in different situations, and that plan can always change. A few things to consider;
Once your child’s coach has entered them into a meet, you can access their events through Team Unify. You follow the same process as committing to a meet and your child’s events will be listed once the coaches have entered their events. We normally do this at least a week prior to mailing the entry so that you and your swimmer have a chance to double check and coaches can adjust the entry if needed.
Meet information is posted on the website as it becomes available. If it isn’t posted on our website, then we are still waiting on it and will post as soon as possible. The fees for each meet are listed in the meet document as well. The fees are charged to your account/credit card on file the week after the meet. Typically, there is a surcharge to enter the meet (typically $6-$25) along with a fee for each event (typically $4.50-$9.00 per event).
We realize other activities or things come up that prevent a swimmer from attending a meet, from a family obligation to the child being sick or injured. You can always un-commit your swimmer online prior to any events being assigned to them. If they have been assigned events, please contact their coach or the office and we can remove them from the meet.
Once we have sent the entry to the host team and have paid for those entries you will be billed for those events regardless of your participation in the meet. Basically if Lakeside pays another Team for an entry, you will be billed for that entry, if the host team doesn’t charge Lakeside for those events, then Lakeside will not charge you for those events.
If your child skips or misses an event at a swim meet, they still will be charged for that entry.
Lakeside Swim Team hosts a variety of different meets to serve the needs of our own swimmers and the local swimming community. This is an opportunity for the families to meet and work together to support the swimmers and the team. Each meet that Lakeside hosts provides a high quality competition experience for the swimmers. Lakeside also gains financially by hosting meets, through meet entry fees, concession sales, etc. the team uses this money to keep monthly fees affordable.
Lakeside will host a number of meets throughout the year, aside from training fees; this is our larger revenue generator and is crucial to the operation of the team while staying financially viable. If your swimmer participates in a Lakeside hosted meet, you as a parent will be required to work that meet. The number of volunteers needed is determined by the number of swimmers Lakeside has participating and our volunteer parent in charge of Meet Workers will post the number of sessions required per family.
NOTE: First year USA Swimming Families are excused from the meet workers requirement at the October Jack Thompson Meet ONLY. Your help is welcome, however, we allow this exception so that you may help your swimmer adjust and for families to have time to adjust to a new forum.
An e-mail will be sent out before each Lakeside hosted meet and will ask you to sign up for a certain number of sessions. As noted in the contract you must work to avoid being fined for not working the meet. All sign-ups for meets are done on the Lakeside website. Sign in, go to the Event List and on the right hand side next to the commitment box will be a “Job Signup” box, click this box and job openings and sessions will appear for you to sign up. Please sign-up early so that you can choose the times that fit your schedule best and the positions that you prefer. We do ask that any volunteer be at least 14 years of age.
Please contact the parent volunteer in charge of Meet Workers and they can work with you on an individual basis. Please do not just ignore or leave your swimmer out of the meet due to individual issues.
To maintain our base of Certified Officials, specific positions and our ability to host meets, we require that within two (2) years of joining the team at least one parent from each family becomes certified with USA Swimming and the Team. We will host a number of Clinics for training and also have developed other crucial positions that will satisfy this requirement.