About

Champaign County HEAT is a year-round competitive swim team based out of the Stephens Family YMCA.

Under the guidance of Head Coach Will Barker, HEAT offers high quality, professional coaching and technique instruction for all ages and abilities. At HEAT, we provide every athlete an opportunity to improve swimming skills and achieve success at his or her level of ability, from novice to international competitor.

Whether your child is just getting their feet wet with the basics of sport swimming, or you’re an adult swimmer looking for expert instruction and conditioning opportunities–dip into the resources offered at the Stephens Family YMCA, and leave the competition in your wake.

The focus of Heat Swim Team is placed on stroke technique, endurance, strength, streamline starts, flip turns, relay starts and exchanges and racing strategies. The Heat offers five training groups that are broken up by age and/or ability. To increase each swimmer’s ability, coaching staff recommends attending at least two practices a week with increasing attendance as each swimmer progresses through the groups.

Swim team participation requires a Booster Club fee and parental volunteerism to support competitive events. Other fees for training and meets apply and are the responsibility of the swim team participant. Each swimmer may elect to compete in any number of meets they desire offered both by USA Swimming and YMCA. 

*Participants on swim team must be a member of the YMCA

HEAT Swim Team Program Objectives
To provide a competitive swim team where participants can select from several levels of competitive intensity. This program shall be safe, educational, and enjoyable while providing for the participant's personal improvement. The team will also develop within its swimmers high levels of self-discipline and fitness, and foster the character development values of honesty, caring, respect, and responsibility for the program, coaches, parents, other teams, and each other. 

We want to do this by challenging each athlete to improve him or herself each day while learning the values of good sportsmanship, teamwork, time management, goal setting, and the power of positive thinking.

Affiliations:
The Heat is a member club of USA Swimming/Illinois Swimming and a YMCA affiliated team. Swimmers attend USA Swimming and YMCA meets. Locally, the team is a program of the Stephens Family County YMCA. We are known nationally as Champaign County YMCA HEAT.

As a USA Swimming team, all athletes are required to hold current memberships.

As a YMCA team, athletes that hold a membership to Stephens Family YMCA, are eligible to attend YMCA local, district, and national meets. 

Joining the HEAT

The HEAT offers 5 training groups that are broken up by age and/or ability. In order to place a swimmer in an appropriate group, all new swimmers to the HEAT Swim Team must participate in an evaluation prior to registering. If you are interested in having an evaluation done, you can come on deck at the Stephens Family YMCA during any of our open evaluation times. 

Questions about competitive swimming?
Contact Will Barker, Competitive Aquatics Director.
217.239.2806
will@ccymca.net