F.A.Q

Yes, our enrollment agreement mandates it. This confidential documentation is necessary for participation in parasports categories and competitions. Moreover, it helps us identify any required accommodations for your swimmer while they are part of our team.

Our team's training expenses are traditionally less than those of many other swim teams offering comparable programs for athletes with disabilities. Although there are numerous grants and scholarships available for swimmers with physical or cognitive disabilities, these are individual awards that the swimmer must apply for and secure to cover our training program costs. Regrettably, we do not have any team grants or scholarships available for new swimmers.

Our organization, Artistic Swim AWD, supports our team, (Bay Area Artistic Swimming), as part of the mission/goals to offer sports opportunities to swimmers with disabilities and to broaden the reach of artistic swimming to athletes with disabilities who aspire to compete at higher levels. While we do not turn away non-disabled swim applicants, our priority is to enroll swimmers with disabilities. If we have openings, we will consider non-disabled athletes who meet our assessment criteria and can commit to competing in mixed abilities duet/trio/team categories along with athletes with disabilities (AWD) on our team.
Given the small size of our swim team, non-disabled athletes—and even those with disabilities—might find more opportunities with other local teams with AWD training programs or mainstream artistic swim teams, especially if we have no openings.

Our team offers trained and seasoned coaches for every level. We boast a roster of dedicated coaches and coaching assistants experienced with a diverse range of swimmers. Given our team's intimate size, coaches occasionally rotate among the Tiers, allowing all team swimmers the opportunity to become acquainted with and learn from our entire coaching staff.

Our program provides recreational swimming for beginners (Tiers 1 and 2), with a primary focus on competitive swimming. We are dedicated to the long-term development of athletes in our sport and other aquatic disciplines, especially for swimmers with disabilities who are looking to engage in the sport or physical activities for life. For individuals seeking non-competitive training, many local artistic swim teams offer recreational, seasonal, and summer programs. For additional details, please visit www.californiaartisticswimming.com

We recognize that some of our swimmers may have commitments to other activities, such as band practice, sports, or community service. However, we expect full dedication to our part-time training program. The monthly fee is a flat rate covering pool usage and administrative expenses. All our coaches are volunteers; we do not have any paid staff. The flat rate for each program is designed to allow for maximum training time. Our training program includes the first 3 Saturdays (1pm-3:45pm) each month, October through May, Weds (up to) 1hr Facetime sessions, and once a month Sunday 1hr gym sessions. Monthly costs are not prorated for missed practices or late arrivals, except in cases of verified medical issues relating to an impairment, where we do provide credit for the days missed. Cost for each program varies and changes every season based on our pool rental/admin costs. Please email us for the program you are interested in. We are currently operating for the 2025 season, which ends on August 31st, 2025. Our 2026 season begins in October 2025. Open enrollment begins in late August and ends on Nov 1st. Swimmers transferring from other artistic swim teams accepted at any time during our season if we have ​an ​opening.

We hold our practices on SAT afternoons (1pm-3:45pm) at a local community center pool west of downtown San Jose. We have once a month local gym/pool training (2pm-4pm) in Santa Clara for advanced novice Tiers & up. We also include a twice a month evening weekly weds online facetime training with the entire team. We also offer private or semi-private sessions for athletes desiring more instruction during the athlete's and coaches availability. Athletes must provide their own local pool for private sessions. If you are an aspiring swimmer for our team, you must pass the free assessment which requires an rsvp once you complete and submit a team try it form.