The Barracudas Swim Team is an extension of British Swim School Milwaukee South and Western Suburbs’ Swim School that operates out of St. John’s Northwestern Academies. The team consists of both non–competitive Barracuda Jr swimmers and competitive Barracuda 1, 2, Prep, and Sr swimmers.
USA Swimming
Wisconsin Swimming
British Swim School
What is the Barracudas Jr Swimming Program?
The Barracudas Jr team will consist of swimmers that can do the below (Turtle 2 goals in Swim School) and can swim any one of the 4 strokes a distance of 25 yards with no difficulty.
The Barracuda Jr swimmer’s primary goals are to work towards refining their kicking/strokes, building endurance and increasing speed. They will participate in occasional internal swim meets with their teammates and learn swim meet fundamentals. Ultimately, the Barracuda Jr. Swimming program will produce experienced swimmers ready to compete in formal swim meets.
What is the Competitive Swimming Program?
The Competitive team practices to compete with other teams and individuals, with the intention of attending several swim meets per season. There are 4 levels to the Competitive team, Barracuda 1, Barracuda 2, Barracuda Prep, and Barracuda Sr. Each level progresses with increased practice time and subsequent costs. The placement in a level takes into consideration the swimmer’s age and commitment level.
Can I move between Barracudas Jr and Competitive Programs?
Yes, we want everyone to enjoy what we are doing and if you feel unsafe or not ready for competition, it is ok to move to Barracudas Jr until the swimmer is more confident in their abilities.
Does my child need to attend every practice?
No. Attend as many or as few practices per week that works for your family and align with the swimmer’s goals. Your swimmer will get in return what they put into their practices. Coaches do not need to be notified every time there is a missed practice.
Is there an attendance policy?
No. Attendance will be monitored to track training hours, which assists the coaching staff when it comes to individual athlete goals. If, for example, an athlete has a goal of winning a state championship or making nationals, but is only attending 1 practice a week, monitoring training hours is a good talking point between the athlete, parents and coaches.
Is there a chance of any form of financial aid for the team?
Yes, there will be financial aid for the team. The process to apply is under review and finalization (updated 9–5–2023). We are a new team and there are additional steps that need to be taken to establish the guidelines, application and qualification procedures. More information will become available as we have it. Typically swim team financial aid qualifiers are governmental assistance (badger care, SNAP, WIC etc) or free/reduced lunch.
If we sign up for the novice program, is there any way we could do both weekly practices at the SJ location? We need a location in closer proximity to home. We really don’t want to be traveling 30 minutes to/from on a school night if possible.
Good news for all Barracuda Junior families/swimmers. All practices for Juniors will be held at St. John’s Northwestern Academies, Tuesday and Thursday nights 6:45p to 7:30p.
When is the first day of tryouts/practice?
We offer a FREE 2 week tryout for anyone interested in joining the Barracudas Swim Team. Email MKECudas@BritishSwimSchool.com for more information.
Is there a parent or swimmer code of conduct?
Yes, there is both a swimmer and parent code of conduct. For swimmers, the main promise of the code of conduct is to honor your teammates with your effort, act with integrity and respect the facilities in which we practice and compete.
* Handbooks to be completed and passed out soon.
Can I pay monthly and take breaks during the season?
Absolutely! We highly encourage multi–sport (activity) participation. Sometimes swimmers need a little time off to recover and a short break could be the difference between staying with the sport and quitting.
Are team service hours required? Why?
Yes and no. Parents/guardians completing service hours is the only way youth sports teams are successful. Further, when we host home meets, there are many roles to fill, so service hours from parents are strongly encouraged to help support your children, the team, and the coaches. Families of swimmers NOT competing in an event are asked to please commit to service hours as well. At this time, we are not doing any penalties for families that do/don’t complete service hours. However, families that volunteer and help support the hosted swim meets will be fed and appreciated in other ways. If we find that we can’t get the needed service hours and support for all the roles required to host a meet, we will entertain a credit/debit type system.
*In order for us to host meets, we need volunteers. At a single–day meet, we need 30–50 jobs filled. At a two–day meet, there is a need for at least 80 jobs and the potential to be over 100, depending on the size of the meet.
Does my athlete have to register for USA swimming? Why?
Yes, if joining the competitive squad, the swimmer must register with USA Swimming to practice and compete, as USA Swimming provides insurance to the swimmers. Barracuda Jrs swimmers do not need to register unless they move to the competitive side of the team.
When and Where are the practices?
All Barracuda Competitive squads practices are held at Carroll University. All Barracuda Non-Competitive Junior squad practices are held at St. John’s Northwestern Academies.
When do we owe fees for enrolling with the swim team?
Fees can be paid in 4 ways.
• Monthly
-No Prorate
-Billed on the 20th of each month for the next month’s practices
-10% Fee
• Quarterly
-No Prorate – defer to monthly
-Billed Jan 1, Apr 1, July 1, Oct 1
-7% Fee
•SCY or LCM Seasons –
-No Prorate – defer to monthly
-5% Fee if paying in 2 payments
-If 2 Payments –
• SCY Season – Billed Oct 1 and Jan 1
• LCM Season – Billed Apr 1 and June 15
•Annual – (Season is October through August, respectively)
-No Prorate – defer to monthly, quarterly, or bi annual
-Paid in full at beginning of season upon enrollment
-Billed using 11 months (September non–billable month regardless of
practices)
-No Fee
-Beginning Jan 1, there is no more Annual option for that season, only monthly, quarterly, or bi–annual available.
HS Swim Team Swimmers – Barracuda Sr Level
•SCY will be prorated to reflect the months swimming with the Barracudas
•Rule of thumb unless otherwise noted –
•HS Girls SCY will be billed for 4.5 of the SCY months
•HS Boys SCY will be billed for 4 of the SCY months
•Fee structure applies
There is a $25 Annual Membership Fee for being on the swim team, Novice or Competitive. This covers one swimmer. Additional swimmers are $10 each with a cap at $45 for family.
Are there multi swimmer discounts?
•Yes – Families with more than one swimmer on the Barracuda swim team (novice or competitive) will receive a 10% discount on the 2nd swimmer and a 20% discount on all additional swimmers.
• Because of the different billing methods and different business units between the two programs, i.e., swim school and swim team, we cannot give discounts crossing over the two programs.
Are swim meets required?
Swim meets are not required, but encouraged. We encourage anyone interested in competing to be available for the Wisconsin State Championship Meets.
Do you have to attend every swim meet?
No, you can attend as few or as many meets as desired. Attendance at home swim meets is highly recommended. It is also highly encouraged to be available for relay selection for the State Championship Meets.
What events can I swim at a swim meet?
Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, individual medley (IM) and relays (freestyle and medley). Coaches have final say on a swimmer’s event.
Race distance generally depends on age group, ability and coach assessment:
Short Course Yards:
8 and under: 25 and 50 yards (100 yard IM as capable).
9–10 year old: 50 and 100 yards (200 yards of any stroke, 500/1000 yard Freestyle as capable).
11–12 year old: 50, 100 and 200 yards (400 yard IM, 500/1000/1650 yard Freestyle as capable).
13 and older: all distances.
Long Course Meters:
8 and under: 50 meters (100 meters, 200 meter IM as capable).
9–10 year old: 50 and 100 meters (200 meters of any stroke, 400 meter Freestyle as capable).
11–12 year old: 50, 100 and 200 meters (400 meter IM, 400/800/1500 meter Freestyle as capable).
13 and older: all distances.
What is the difference between Short Course Yards and Long Course Meters seasons?
Short Course Yards (SCY) Season typically runs from September through March/April. Competitions are held in SCY pools, which are very common across the area (like at St. John’s and Carroll University). High school and College swim meets are usually held in SCY pools. The shorter pool length results in executing more turns. Wisconsin Swimming hosts age–group (10 &
Under, 11–14 and Senior) state championships in late February and early March. National–level meets are held in March/April.
Long Course Meters (LCM) Season typically runs from April through August. Competitions are held in Long Course Meter pools, which are much more scarce across the area (Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center and the Rec Plex in Pleasant Prairie are used most often). This results in fewer competitive meet offerings. The pool is longer, resulting in more reliance on swimming strokes with less turns. International competition, the Olympics and Olympic trials are held in LCM pools. The team will practice in our SCY pools, but compete in LCM pools. Wisconsin Swimming hosts age–group (12 & Under, 13 & Over) state championships in late July. National–level meets are held in July or August.
There are only a few short course meter (SCM) pools in the area (e.g. Waukesha North High School). High School and College swim meets are held in SCM pools. It is rare for club teams to attend swim meets at SCM pools.
What is the associated cost of competitive swim meets? And other potential costs?
Meet costs will be based on the meet location, host, and type of meet. For instance, Championship meets have a higher cost associated with them.
Meet fees examples (as of 8/25/2023)
• All meet fees are paid upfront and are not refundable even if the swimmer does
not attend.
• Splash Fee: $4.00 (per swimmer)
• Facility Fee: $8.00–$25.00 (per swimmer)
*Facilities charge a fee for teams to rent in order to aid in the upkeep of the facility. Fees are dependent on location and the number of days the meet runs.
• Admissions Fee $10.00–$30.00
Instead of collecting fees at the door for admissions some teams have gone to charging upfront for admissions.
Championship meets are usually 3–4 days so those admissions fees are higher.
• Individual event $4.00–12.00
*Charges are per event per swimmer.
• Relay event $8.00–$20.00 (divide total entry fee by 4 for the number of swimmers on the relay)
Menomonee Falls, WI