WELCOME TO Heatwaves!

WELCOME to our swim family!

Our Philosophy

Building on 35 years of coaching, Coach Galen founded Heatwaves in 2015 to create a high-performance environment while dedicated to building a strong swim community. Heatwaves methods and philosophy in swimming empower every swimmer to reach their full potential, creating an atmosphere where athletes will grow, develop friendships and hold all the tools necessary to thrive.

Our team is led by a multi-generational coaching staff of former swim athletes with extensive experience and deep roots in swimming. Our backgrounds in swimming include age group competitive swimming, high school, Division 1 college swimming, and elite Masters competitions.

Within 10 short years, Heatwaves has qualified several athletes for Metro Championships ages 9 to 16 years. It has also is the program behind Poughkeepsie Varsity Girls winning High School Conference Championships in 2023.

Every coach at Heatwaves is dedicated to swimming, our program and our mission to shape lives. It takes a team to build an athlete; it take a community to stand behind the sport. UNITE TO SWIM TO UNITE

Spring To Summer 2026 Training Season

Our Spring – Summer Swim Team Season will run: April 20 to August 16 – 2026. We look forward to see you at the pool!

Registrations will be open on Wednesday April 15. Please note the official training session will start on Monday April 20th, and the monthly billing cycle will start on Friday May 1st. Details on ages, levels (training groups) and fees are below.

Season Updates

• We are discontinuing Waves One training group to enhance our overall swim team experience.
• All practices for the Spring to Summer are at Vassar College pool.
• Streamline and Breakout training groups are merged into 1 training group.
• Children ages 5 and older are invited to join Heatwaves Swim Team.
• Levels are based on age and ability.
• All training levels are required to participate in a minimum of 3 swim meets (at least one day of the meet). Children 9 & under must attend a minimum of one meet.
• PACE training group is offered for ages 9 years – 15 years with 3 practice days a week. This level is for swimmers that have 2 seasons experience on a swim team. This group offers a pathway into becoming goal orientated and competitive, strengthening skills and endurance and requires swim meet participation.
• RACE level is offered for ages 9 years- 18 years for competitive swimmers that are seeking to qualify for Silvers, Jr and Sr Mets with a high commitment to the entire season. Weekly commitment and training and attendance at meets is required.

STREAMLINE-BREAKOUT

This training group is for swimmers 5 to 11 years old. Graduates from swim lessons that are comfortable swimming a length of front crawl and backstroke and swimmers with a strong base of all four strokes and endurance but need to refine technique. Children with stronger skills must move one level up to PACE for practices that will match their endurance, swim goals. – Swimmers attend 2 to 3 practices per week.

PACE

Pace training group is for swimmers 9 to 15 years old that have endurance and are able to swim 8 laps of front crawl and swim all 4 competitive strokes proficiently. Interval training is introduced with swimmers meet goals in mind. This is a great level for the intermediate competitive swimmer. Commitment is 3 practices per week.

JUNIOR RACE

Junior Race training group is for swimmers 9 to 14 years. Junior Race is for swimmers with 3 years competitive swimming experience or swimmers that have previously made Silvers cuts. Junior Race swimmers are able to swim 16 laps of front crawl and swim all 4 competitive strokes proficiently. Commitment is 4 practices per week.

SENIOR RACE

Senior Race is the most competitive and elite Heatwaves training group. Swimmers are proficient in all 4 competitive strokes and have the endurance for interval training and intense workouts. Training is 5-6 days a week. Senior Race swimmers train and compete at the highest level of championship meets from Silvers to Jr Met Champs. This training level must attend the majority of scheduled meets including championships in which they qualify. Seniors Racers will practice 5 to 6 days per week.

Registering for MHHW

To register for any of the training groups, we will send you a registration link to the email we have on file. The registration information and payments will be processed through the Commit Swimming platform.

Parents of new swimmers joining the team will need to create an online account. This account will be your parent portal account. Commit swimming is a web-based team management software where you will manage your account. Here you can see your child’s registration, manage your account, payment options, transactions history, view team calendar, register for swim meets, and check swimmers best times and swim meet results.

Important Registration Details

• A $40.00 registration fee will be added to new swimmer joining the team for Spring to Summer session. This fee is waived for all swimmers enrolled during Fall to Winter session. The registration for this season includes one t-shirt and one MHHW silicone swim cap for each swimmer. Please note that if swimmers need additional swim caps during the season, parents need to request the swim cap, and it will be charged automatically to your accounts. The fee for each additional swim cap is $10.00.
• If parents select to pay in installments, the first monthly payment will be withdrawn from bank account on Friday May 1st. Additional balance will be deducted in 2 monthly installments scheduled for June 1st and July 1st / 2026. Please make sure you have an updated payment card in your account. Accounts with pending balance from previous season can still submit a registration, but the account will be charged any unpaid balance during the new registration.
• There is a 10% discount for each additional sibling on Heatwaves. Parents registering siblings, please choose to pay in installments during the registration process, that way we can apply the corresponding discount on your parent portal account when we receive the registrations.
• Please note that the training group prices are already reflecting the swim practice cancellations on holidays and swim meet days. There will be no swim practices during some swim meet days- unless otherwise noted. There are no make-up practices for swim meet days.
• If possible, we will have swimming practice during swim meet days for Streamline-Breakout training group only. Those practices are TBA.
• Parents can schedule make-up practices for missing attendance; make-up practices need to be arranged by reaching out to Galen or John.

USA Swimming Registration

The USA swimming registration is the membership that allows swimmers to participate in the sport under USA swimming regulations and at the same time is the proof of insurance for the swim team and all athletes. Unregistered swimmers will not be allowed to swim with the program.

Swimmers that were currently registered with USA swimming for this past Fall-Winter season are not required to renew the registration until September 2026. All new swim team swimmers will need to pay a separate registration for the USA swimming membership. After we receive the team registration, we will submit and pay for the USA swimming registration on your behalf and then, we will invoice you the corresponding fee for that registration.

USA Swimming Registration Fees:

• Outreach: $5.00
• FULL MEMBERSHIP: $86.00
• FLEX: $32.00 (FLEX membership is available for swimmers 12 yrs & under only / it allows that swimmer to participate in 2 swim meets only from September 2025 to September 2026. Swimmers with FLEX membership, will need to upgrade to Full membership if they participated in more than 2 swim meets during the fall to winter session or if they qualify to 2026 Metropolitan Championships.

Swim Meets & Fees

Swim meet participation is offered on various weekends. PACE, JUNIOR and SENIOR training groups are required to attend at least 3 swim meets during the season. Our team typically attends 3 to 5 swim meets during the Spring to Summer swim season.

Please be aware that meet hosts levy fees to cover the operational costs. These fees generally range from $8.00 to $12.00 per individual race/event, and may also include a facility surcharge. Fees will be automatically processed and charged to the credit card on file the day following the completion of the swim meet.

Important: Once a swimmer is officially registered, the associated fees are locked in and are non-refundable, even if the swimmer needs to withdraw.

Team Policies – Swimmer 18 & up

Athlete Protection Training – MAAPP

The Athlete Protection Training is provided through the U.S. Center for SafeSport. The required course is found in your USA Swimming Account under the Education tab and must be renewed annually. All new and existing adult members of USA Swimming, including adult athletes, must satisfactorily complete Athlete Protection Training as required by the U.S. Center for SafeSport. .

As a membership requirement, adult athletes who are currently 18 and older must complete this training by June 23rd. Those who are 17, about to turn 18, must complete this training by their 18th birthday. Successful completion of the training, on an annual basis, is now a membership requirement of adult athletes, and failure to complete it will result in an athlete’s inability to swim in a meet or at practice.