Swimmers in the Hamden North Haven YMCA Gold Typhoon group generally have some competitive experience, have participated in the pre-team clinics or YMCA of the USA swim lessons (equivalent to a Fish level or higher).
Goals: The primary goals of the Gold Typhoon group is to have fun and really dive into the world of competitive swimming while demonstrating the values of the YMCA of the USA and the Hamden North Haven YMCA Typhoons.
Ability Criteria: A gold swimmer must be able to complete a legal 100 yard/meter Individual Medley (Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Freestyle), swim a 50 yard freestyle in under 52.00, and complete a legel head first entry from the starting block.
Practices Available: There are three practices each week with two dry-land workouts available as well. We recommend/require at least 2 practices attended with at least a half hour of dry-land practices per week.
*Practice Schedule Released Week of 7/26/2010*
| Day | In | Out | In-Water | Dry-Land |
| Monday | 6:00 | 7:30 | 6:00 – 7:30 | - |
| Tuesday | 5:45 | 7:15 | 6:15 – 7:15 | 5:45 – 6:15 |
| Friday | 4:30 | 6:30 | 5:00 – 6:30 | 4:30 – 5:00 |
Training Focus: We will focus on the improvement of gross and fine motor skills with regard to proper technique of the four competitive strokes (butterfly, breaststroke, backstroke, and freestyle). We will also focus on improving our racing starts, turns, breakout strokes, and finishes. Along with the emphasis on technique, we will work on increasing the swimmers’ endurance, and implement a comparable dry-land program to help with efficiently building muscle memory and reduce the possibility of injury.
Competition Focus: The Gold Typhoons will partcipate in YMCA dual and tri-meets as well as the Yankee Cluster Championshing (splash fee required). Pending qualification times, they will also have the opportunity to participate in the New England Regional YMCA Championship and/or YMCA Nationals (splash fee required)
Equipment Requirements: Swim caps are required for hair longer than shoulder length during practice and are required for everyone during swim meets (one team cap will be provided at registration for those meets). A competition suit is also required and can be ordered upon request. With regard to practice equipment, kickboards, pull buoys, and fins can be ordered through our Equipment Manager. The only other requirement for our swimmers is to have a smile and a great attitude!