Middle School Swimming Tryout Prep: The 4-Week Plan
Middle school swimming, where it exists, is usually the first time a kid swims for a team with a school name on the cap rather than a summer league or a lesson group. Tryouts at this level are rarely dramatic. Most programs run a few practices, time every swimmer in a short freestyle and one other stroke, and either keep everyone or split the group into a competition roster and a developmental roster. At bigger schools with small pools and limited lane time there can be a cut, and the coach will usually say so on the first day.
What the coach is actually deciding is whether your kid can safely swim a full practice in a lane with other swimmers, follow the set written on the board, and do a legal version of the four strokes. That is a lower bar than most parents picture and a higher one than most kids expect. A twelve year old who can swim 25 yards of each stroke without stopping, push off in a streamline, and keep track of where the wall is has covered most of it.
The plan below assumes a kid who can already swim freestyle and backstroke for laps, has access to a pool three or four days a week (a lap swim, a rec center, a family pool with an adult on deck), and has about four weeks. If they have less time, run weeks two and four. Every water session in this plan happens with a lifeguard or an adult watching from the deck, no exceptions.
What coaches are actually looking for
Ask a middle school swim coach what they want to see and the list is short: legal strokes in all four (which mostly means a two-hand touch on breaststroke and butterfly, staying on the back through the backstroke finish, and no flutter kick anywhere in breaststroke), a real streamline off every wall, and a kid who shows up on time with their gear. Nobody at this level is measured against a chart. They are watched.
The second thing is listening on the wall. A swim practice is run from the whiteboard and from the coach’s voice between sets, and the swimmer who is looking at the coach while the set is explained, and then does what was said, is a kid the coach can teach. The one who is dunking a lane mate and then asks what the set was is a kid the coach has to manage. In a group of forty kids and four lanes, that difference decides who gets attention.
The last thing is effort on the main set. Every practice has one block that is meant to be hard, and the coach watches who keeps going when it gets uncomfortable and who starts stopping at the wall to fix their goggles. Your kid does not need to win the lane. They need to leave on the interval and finish the set.
What the tryout practices actually look like
Day one is usually a warmup of a few hundred yards, a stroke check where the coach has each lane swim a length of each stroke while they watch from the side, and then a short set to see who can hold a pace. Some coaches will time a 50 free and a 50 of a second stroke at the end of the first or second day. That time is used to sort lanes and pick relay legs, not to grade kids against a standard, and the swimmer who does it legally and finishes at the wall has done what was asked.
If the program does have to cut or split, it happens after the last tryout practice, sometimes by a list on the door and sometimes by the coach talking to each kid. Ask on the first day how the decision will be communicated so nobody is guessing. Costs at this level are low: a school activity fee (often somewhere in the tens of dollars up to a couple hundred), a team suit and cap, and a second pair of goggles. Some schools charge nothing. A tech suit is a want and not a need at this age, and most middle school coaches would rather your kid not have one. Ask the coach or the athletic office for the all-in number before the season starts so it is not a surprise in October.
This was written for every middle school swimming player. ParentEdge writes one for yours.
Their position, their team, what they’re working on, and what the next few weeks actually look like. Two minutes, nothing to sign up for.
Tryout day checklist
- Physical form, school paperwork, and any registration turned in before day one. Coaches keep kids on the deck without it.
- Two suits (one on, one in the bag) and two pairs of goggles. A strap snaps at the worst moment every season.
- Cap, towel, and a second towel for the walk to the car.
- Water bottle and a small snack for after. Pool air is dry and kids do not notice they are thirsty in the water.
- Eat a real meal two to three hours before. Nothing new, nothing heavy.
- Arrive twenty minutes early, find the coach, and be on the wall ready when warmup starts.
- Know the order of the four strokes for the medley and be ready to swim any of them when asked.
- Eyes on the coach while the set is explained. Ask the question then, not after leaving the wall.
- Leave on the interval and finish every set, even the ones that get ugly.
- After each practice, write down one thing that went well and one thing to fix tomorrow. Then let it go.
Do middle schools have swim team tryouts?
Some do and some do not, and it depends on the pool more than the school. Programs with their own pool and a long lane schedule often keep everyone who can swim a legal length of each stroke. Programs renting an hour a day at a community pool may have to cut or split into competition and developmental groups. Ask the coach on day one how it works this year.
What if my kid can only swim freestyle well?
Freestyle and backstroke are enough to be safe in a lane, which is the first thing a coach checks. Breaststroke and butterfly can be built to legal in a few weeks of short, focused reps, and the plan above spends a full week on exactly that. A coach would much rather see a slow, legal breaststroke than a fast one with a flutter kick.
Does my kid need a tech suit for middle school tryouts?
No. A tech suit is the expensive compression racing suit older swimmers wear at championship meets, and it is a want, not a need, at this age. A regular training suit that fits and stays up is what the coach wants to see. Save the money for goggles that do not leak.
How far does a middle schooler need to swim to make the team?
For most programs, a continuous length or two of each stroke and the ability to finish a practice with rest at the wall is the honest bar. Coaches are watching whether the strokes are legal, whether the kid listens on the wall, and whether they keep going on the hard set. Distance grows fast once a kid is practicing with a team.