The Age Group Program encourages beginning through advanced swimmers, ages 12 and under, to experience the fun and excitement of the sport. In this group swimmers begin to build a competitive mindset, learn goal setting and good practice habits, and grow to compete at the highest levels of Illinois YMCA and Illinois Swimming. Practice groups range from learning the basic swimming fundamentals, as well as instilling focus and pride for both individual and team accomplishments, to advanced training concepts and elite competition. Both groups will be arranged into two subgroups based on ability.

AGE GROUP 1 (AG1)
Age Group 1 is a developmental training group for swimmers ages 6-11. The group focus is on basic skill development and light aerobic training. The primary focus of the group is teaching in order to build a solid foundation in basic stroke mechanics in a fun and challenging atmosphere.

AGE GROUP 2 (AG2)
Age Group 2 is an intermediate to advanced level training group for swimmers ages 9-12. The group focus is on continued skill development, expanded aerobic training, race strategy and goal setting with a competition focus aimed at participation at the YMCA State and Illinois Age Group Champs levels. Swimmers under the age of 11 must have achieved YMCA State Championship time standards or be deemed to have the necessary level of mechanical proficiency, physical and emotional maturity and understanding of practice procedures to successfully train with AG2. The final decisions on group placement of swimmers under 11 years of age will be made by the Head Coach and Head Age Group Coach.

The Senior Program is intended to guide the development of intermediate to national level swimmers. At this stage in their swimming career, the focus is to become tough, determined and committed athletes, as well as students of the sport. They continue to learn and understand goal setting and the competitive process— helping them advance to the next level or swimming with the competitive focus on state and national championship events.

SENIOR 1 GROUP (SR1)
Senior 1 is an intermediate to advanced level training group for swimmers age 12 and older. This group is focused on advanced skill refinement, some early specialization as it pertains to stroke and distance (sprint, middle distance or distance), with a continued focus on developing swimmers who are well rounded, technically proficient and have a strong aerobic foundation. The competition focus of Senior 1 will be YMCA State Championships, Illinois Swimming Age Group and Senior State Championships. Swimmers who achieve YMCA National Championship time standards or above will be invited to participate in these meets provided they have maintained 85 percent attendance or better. This group will often splint into separate subgroups based on ability and training plan.

SENIOR 2 GROUP (SR2)
This group is an invitation only, national and national preparatory training group for swimmers ages 12-18. Swimmers invited to train in Senior 2 must have shown a high degree of technical proficiency and understanding of stroke mechanics. They must also have been deemed to have the physical and emotional maturity necessary to train safely in a highly demanding and competitive environment. Senior 2 is focused on stroke and event specialization, while continuing to train and develop in all disciplines. Race strategy, training diet, understanding of training plan and philosophy, personal ownership, college recruitment and goal setting are some of the many concepts introduced and built upon. Swimmers must be committed to achieving and competing at the YMCA National level and above. Group members who choose to participate in more than one season of high school sports per calendar year (spring, winter or fall sports) may be removed from the group and placed in Senior 1.