Swim Team Equipment

Kickboards—We use them primarily for kick sets, but they are also helpful for balance drills and sculling drills.  

Fins – we use the floating style of fins with a longer blade. Fins provide athletes with the extra boost needed to perform the correct technique, helping them get a feel for the stroke. They create speed to simulate what sprinting feels like and extend the ability to sustain an aerobic set.

Pull buoy: Most athletes can handle a regular-size buoy. Younger athletes should have a junior-size buoy. Buoys are used for pull-sets to keep the athletes from kicking while keeping their legs at the surface. Buoys are valuable tools for teaching breaststroke and butterfly, as they help maintain the appropriate distance between legs and facilitate hip movement. For freestyle and backstroke, they help to accentuate a long body line. 

Hand paddles – should only be slightly bigger than your athlete’s hand. Oversized paddles can contribute to shoulder injuries. Younger athletes should have finger paddles to develop proper hand entry and pull for each stroke. The middle finger strap is the only strap needed for your hand paddles. By using only the middle finger strap, the athlete will learn how to perform the stroke correctly without their hand paddle slipping during the pull phase of the stroke. Our goal is for the athlete to use the paddle with no straps. They can be that good!

Center mount snorkel – Snorkels are a fundamental tool for learning the proper head position and isolation of breathing issues in each stroke. The ability to perform a flip turn with the snorkel teaches athletes how to manage the air needed for flip turns and streamline past the flags underwater. The goal would be for athletes to complete a 500 free successfully, swimming with a snorkel.

Tennis ball—Swimmers often throw their heads during a turn or hold their heads too high during different phases of their swim. Using a tennis ball under their chin will show athletes when they are lifting their chin when it needs to be tucked.

Kitchen sponge – Backstroke needs to be swum with a still head. Placing a wet sponge on the forehead helps teach athletes to keep a still head. A kitchen sponge in fun colors works great.

A mesh bag or plastic container keeps all the equipment in.

Label all your equipment – Much of the equipment looks the same. It is easy to pick up another swimmer’s equipment by mistake. Foam equipment is best labeled with a Sharpie. Plastic equipment is best labeled with Duct tape. It comes in a variety of colors to personalize your equipment. Use a Sharpie to write on the Duct tape. Everything should be relabeled every 6 months.    

Everything except the tennis ball and sponge can be purchased at our team store.

Practice and Competitive Swim Suits

Arena Sponsor - BAAC is an Arena-sponsored team. We have agreed to purchase Arena apparel and gear whenever possible. In return, we receive discounts, and a portion of our purchases will be returned to the team. Every athlete is responsible for purchasing one Arena suit per year. Athletes attending Sectional and Regional competitions receive free gear depending on the level of competition.

Practice suits- Competitive cut suits are best: no board shorts, two-piece, or recreational suits. Suits can be any color or strap preference. Suits need to be tight-fitting without any wrinkles.

Competition suits- Competitive cut suits that are tighter fitting than your practice suit. Usually one size down from your practice suit. This suit is to be worn for regular-season meets. This suit should be our team colors of hot pink, silver, and black as our backdrop color.

Technical suits- Are worn at championship meets such as State Champs, Regional or Sectional, Zone, or National meets. These special suits should be so tight that they can take 20 minutes to put on. 12 & under athletes are not allowed to wear tech suits in competition. Tech suits have bonded seams vs sewn seams. These suits should have our team colors on them.

Fitting your suit- All suits worn at practice or competition need to be tight as if they were a second skin. Loose suits produce drag by holding water in the gaps between the water and your skin. Girls' suits are based on chest measurements. Boys on waist size, but this is just a starting point. All new suits seem extremely tight at first. They will loosen within the first three wearings. Your athlete will not outgrow the suit before it is worn out, so don't buy with room to grow. Boys' suits should not have any wrinkles. With girls' suits, you should not be able to pull up the shoulder straps past the bottom of their ear lobes, and there should be no wrinkles!  

Label your gear — labeling your gear is essential. Much of the equipment looks similar, and it's easier to return it to its owner if it is labeled. Oliver's labels link is on our team store tab.

Questions- Email Cyndy at cvonweller@baacswim.com