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MISSION STATEMENT
A club member of USA
Swimming (USA-S), the Mississippi Makos Swim Team seeks to provide
instruction, exercise, motivation, and opportunities for
competition to individuals of all ages interested in the sport
of swimming.
TEAM
PHILOSOPHY
The team is
structured to realize the maximum potential of each
individual. The short-term desired outcome - that of
fundamental improvement in technique - is accomplished by means of
innovative teaching techniques, game and "fun" workouts, coupled
with a sportsmanship emphasis. The long-range goal is for
optimum fitness without burnout for swimmers of all ability
levels. Swimmers learn important lessons that prepare them
for life as well as swimming:
Self-discipline
Time management
Sportsmanship
Goal setting
HISTORY
The Mississippi Makos Swim Team (MMST) was founded in 1991
with only four swimmers and has grown to become a
proud state champion with over 150 swimmers on
average competiting year-round. The team
utilizes four practice facilities run by assistant
coaches under the direction of the team’s head coach and
parent board. This unique team opportunity enables swimmers
of all ages to interact and form friendships with teammates from
all over the Central Mississippi area. Parents from Hinds,
Madison, Rankin and Simpson counties work together to support the
team as volunteers with area businesses providing
support as corporate sponsors.
TRAINING SESSIONS
Training sessions are the most important aspect of
competitive swimming. Consistent training is needed to
progress and improve through the classes of swimmers.
Training schedules are designed to provide only slightly more time
than is required for a swimmer to accomplish this. It is
important that each swimmer attends as many practices as possible
in order to derive the full benefits of the program.
The USA
Swimming age-group swimming program is America’s largest
program of guided fitness activity for children. Age-group swimming
builds a strong foundation for a lifetime of good health by
teaching healthy fitness habits.
Physical
Development
- Swimming is
considered the ideal activity for developing muscular and skeletal
growth by many physicians and pediatricians. Why do doctors like it
so much?
- Swimming
develops high quality aerobic endurance, the most important key to
physical fitness. In other sports, an hour of practice may yield as
little as 10 minutes of meaningful exercise. Age-group swimming
teams use every precious minute of practice time developing fitness
and teaching skills.
- Swimming
does a better job in proportional muscular development by using all
the body’s major muscle groups. No other sport does this as
well.
- Swimming
enhances children’s natural flexibility (at a time when they
ordinarily begin to lose it) by exercising all of their major
joints through a full range of motion.
- Swimming
helps develop superior coordinatin because it requires combinations
of complex movements of all parts of the body, enhancing harmonious
muscle function, grace, and fluidity of movement.
- Swimming is
the most injury-free of all children’s sports.
- Swimming is
a sport that will bring kids fitness and enjoyment for life.
Participants in Master’s Swimming programs are still training
and racing well into their 80’s.
Intellectual
Competence
In addition to
physical development, children can develop greater intellectual
competence by participating in a guided program of physical
activity. Learning and using swimming skills engages the thinking
processes. As they learn new techniques, children must develop and
plan movement sequences. They improve by exploring new ideas. They
learn that greater progress results from using their creative
talents. Self-expression can be just as much physical as
intellectual. Finally, their accomplishments in learning and using
new skills contribute to a stronger self-image.
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