Featured Swim Camp of the Week: Advanced Swim Camps

Twice a week over the next few months, Swimming World Magazine will feature a camp specializing in teaching swimmers how to improve their technique, swim faster and have fun with some of the biggest names in swimming. Motivation is the part of every package! Programs may include day and overnight camps as well as distance and stroke specialization. This week we are featuring Advanced Swim Camps.

Advanced Swim Camp graduates have won 43 gold medals and set 11 world records in international competition. Our age-group and senior swimmers have cut their stroke count 30-50 pervent, reduced their times 3-18 percent and have gone on to win state and national championships and post top-16 times.

The camps are five days, consisting of only 5-10 swimmers each, ages 5-19, from beginner to world-class. Our camps concentrate exclusively on improving technique, flexibility and coordination. We do not have any time requirements for our camps, but we do have flexibility requirements (see below).

While we can teach you how to swim like a world record holder in five days, it will take three to six months of practicing the Somax drills in order to be able to race with your new stroke. The only way to be sure that you are practicing your drills correctly is to see your underwater stroke on videotape each week. For this reason, at least one parent of swimmers under 18 is required to attend the camp to learn our system of instruction and underwater videotaping in order to follow up after camp is completed. We can recommend affordable, easy-to-use underwater housings or attachments for your family camcorder that allow you to sit or stand on the deck but tape the stroke underwater.

Advanced Swim Camps Focus Points

Reduce stroke count
You will improve your stroke efficiency so much that we guarantee that you will reduce your stroke count in freestyle or backstroke by at least 30%.

Increase Hand Force Output
We increase the amount of force you apply to the water with your hands, not by increasing the strength of your arms or endless yardage, but by teaching you how to increase the speed and advance the timing of your hip rotation. The graphs below show the results of two elite swimmers who completed one of our five- day camps at Colorado Springs. You will get the same instruction when you sign up for one of our camps.

Measure Stroke Characteristics
This is the only camp where you will have your stroke technique measured. We measure stroke mechanics every 1/30th of a second so that you will have more than a subjective opinion of your stroke. We also show you measurements of World Record holders so that you can see how your stroke differs from theirs. Once you see the measurable differences, you will immediately see what needs to be corrected.

Improve Flexibility
Each camper receives two sessions of Microfiber Reduction, our exclusive program of connective tissue massage. Microfiber Reduction can improve swimming flexibility 50-600% beyond what stretching alone can do. As we improve our swimmers’ flexibility with Microfiber Reduction, they are able to improve their mechanics and streamlining.

POWERBELT
Each camper receives a custom made POWERBELT, our exclusive swim training aid. A pair of fins that strap onto the hips, the POWERBELT is the only swim training aid that provides resistance to hip rotation and undulation, the real source of power in swimming. Because hip rotation is the only movement in swimming for which there is no natural resistance, most swimmers actually have very weak hips. The Somax POWERBELT is the only swim training aid that can correct this problem.

Exclusive Stretches
Most swim stretches have no relationship to the ranges swimmers’ joints go through underwater. Our researchers spent over 1500 hours measuring underwater joint ranges of World Record holders. They found that each stroke has 20 critical ranges. We teach you how to measure five of these ranges, as well as how to stretch them.

Strength Training
Most strength training exercises do not really train the strength characteristics of World Record holders. Since 1985 our researchers have measured the strength of the world’s best swimmers. At our camp, we will also measure your strength in specific ranges and teach you the safest ways to increase your strength.

Research Articles
At our camps you will receive the latest copies of our research articles to take home and read. We feel that the more you understand swimming, the better you will swim.

Advanced Swim Camp Fees

Fee for each camp is $3500 per swimmer, plus hotel, food and travel. Fee for second or third swimmer from the same family in the same camp is $2000. All camps are limited to just 5-10 swimmers in order to maximize individual attention. We reserve a block of reduced-rate rooms for our camps at a nearby hotel. The fee includes two two-hour pool drill sessions per day, stretches, exercises, the POWERBELT, 1.5 hours daily of underwater videotape analysis and dryland exercises, two sessions of Microfiber Reduction, and a laminated card with a 2500 yard drill set you should practice at least 3 times a week after camp to continue to refine your new stroke.

The camp fee is payable at the time of registration. There are no refunds, but camp fee is transferable to another camp if you are physically unable to attend.

We guarantee you will swim faster, or your swim camp fee will be refunded! To qualify for the guarantee, you must complete our 2500-yard drill set at least three times a week for a minimum of one year, send us each week underwater and above-water tapes of each drill set, and correct any mistakes we see. You also must not do any training regimen that we find reduces your flexibility, causes you to be over-trained, or degrades your stroke efficiency. If you do not improve any of your times in any stroke within one year of your camp, and you are still swimming competitively, you will get a complete refund of your camp fee. Injuries or illnesses that prevent or reduce training with our drills or ability in competition void the guarantee.

In order to register for our camps, you must order a Registration Package. The Registration Package consists of:

1. Directions for measuring ranges for each stroke.

2. Articles on swimming mechanics.

3. Summary of research on hip rotation in swimming.

4. Letters from parents and swimmers from past camps.

5. A DVD showing how quickly Microfiber Reduction improves flexibility.

You can order your package for $30 (refundable with any camp) by calling us at 1-800-227-6629 with a credit card (Visa, Amex, MC, Discover), paying through PayPal (our paypal address is bprichard@somaxsports.com) or by mailing a check made out to Somax Sports to 4 Tara Hill Road, Tiburon, CA, 94920. Please be sure to include your return address and phone number.

Advanced Private Swim Camps
We will be offering a limited number of private swim camps for 1-3 swimmers from the same family or team. These private five-day camps can be scheduled from April 15-October 15 at our outdoor pool facility near San Francisco. Each five-day camp will cover one stroke.

The advantage of a private camp is that there is more Microfiber Reduction available for a single swimmer. The schedule for each day is three hours of pool time (drills, underwater videotaping), 1.5 hours Microfiber Reduction, and 1.5 hours of Dryland (videotape analysis, strength and stretching exercises, and Stress Reduction). For more than one swimmer, the time for Microfiber Reduction will be divided among the swimmers according to need.

The fee for a private swim camp is $10,500. This fee includes all underwater taping, drills, stretches, exercises, Powerbelt(s), and laminated drill cards with a 2500 yard or meter workout to be completed after the camp. The camp fee is payable at time of registration.

As with our regular camps, a parent of swimmers under the age of 19 will be required to attend in order to learn how to do underwater videotaping and stroke analysis in order to follow up after the camp.

To determine eligibility for a private camp, call us at 415-435-9880 or email us at camps@somaxsports.com to order a registration package and demonstration DVD. We do have flexibility requirements for our camps. The registration package will include directions for measuring flexibility. Once we receive your measurements we can tell you if you qualify for our private camps. The fee for the registration package (including postage) is $30 in the US, and $50 outside of the US.

Preference for our private camps will be given to swimmers preparing for the 2016 Olympics.

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