The Wilton Y Wahoo coaches invite everyone to watch—and help—put the bubble up on the outdoor pool and then stay for a meet-and-greet BBQ to say “hello” to new head age coach, Alex Baxter.

You may not be able to be in the water of the 50 meter pool at the Wilton Family Y this weekend, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be entertained watching what happens at the pool this weekend.

On Friday the outside pool closes in preparation for Saturday’s herculean effort to raise the bubble over the pool. After that’s completed, the Wilton Y Wahoos Swim Team coaches will hold a meet-and-greet BBQ on the pavillion. They’re inviting people to come down, find out about the Wahoo program and get introduced to the coaches.

“It’s for current members, past members and anyone who’s interested in finding out more about getting involved with the Wahoos, and to say, ‘Welcome back.’ We try to make it a fun day for everyone, just to put a friendly face on the program,” said head coach Randy Erlenbach, who just happens to also be the 2013 CT Senior Coach of the Year.

He’ll be joined this year by a new head age group coach Alex Baxter, who has already jumped into the swim of things (pardon the pun).

“I was the head coach at a smaller Y outside of Philadelphia, but I wanted to be a head age group coach in a larger program where I’d have the chance to learn under a coach like Randy who races national junior team members. I also wanted to stay in a YMCA–when you coach in a Y program, you have a duty to teach beyond just what they’re doing in the water. Swimming is a sport that requires a lot of discipline, a lot of time management, so we try to teach those skills to the kids that they’ll be able to use outside the pool as well,” Alex said.

Overall, the Wahoos have five full-time coaches and five to six part-time coaches. That’s to coach the more than 400 kids who take part in the program. Of those there are about 200 who are 12-and-under.

“Swimmers who are 13-14 years old are ‘juniors’ and above that are seniors. Anyone younger than that are ‘age group’ swimmers. I’m the head coach for every kid on the team that’s 12-and-under. I spend most of my time with the 11-12’s and the 9-10’s who are a little more accomplished and a little more ready to do the training. Below that is the developmental level, they’re still learning the skills of how to swim a stroke rather than how to race the stroke. I also oversee that development,” Baxter explained.

The Wahoo program is a very strong one, and it’s recognized nationally.  

“We try to be an elite program. We’re a Y championship team, we’re currently ranked 31st in the country. We’re very good regionally and statewide—we’re state champs, age group champs, senior group champs, Y National champions, we put people on the National Junior team. Our program is a nationally recognized program,” Erlenbach said.

To put that in perspective, out of all of the swim club programs in the nation, and there are thousands, USA Swimming–the same people who run the Olympic trials–ranks the Wahoos 31st in the nation, based on structure, performance and time results. That’s pretty impressive.

But if you’re the parent of younger children, how do you know if your child is ready to start taking part in a program like the Wahoos?

“At age 6 or 7, I want to see them have some enjoyment around the water. As long as they have the basic minimums of knowing how to swim some freestyle and how to swim some backstroke they’re ready for our pre-competitive program. If they’ve had some instruction on how to do the other strokes and they like being around the water, and want to be around the water a little more, that’s the kind of kid we’d like to find. Pre-competitive means we put them in a developmental program to really teach them the skills that they need to know in order to eventually do a race. That’s part of the lessons and the Wahoo Swim Academy,”  Baxter said

Being part of a team is a big part of why people come to the Wahoos.

When you’re training, that’s the team thing. When you’re in the water, yes it’s an individual thing, but you and your teammates are pushing each other to work and improve. Particularly with youngsters, they’re naturally competitive and will try to improve themselves to be up with everyone else. We take a lot of pride in championships and our “Y core values” of excellence resonate in this community,” Erlenbach said.

Baxter is excited to meet people this weekend from that community. He’s eager to welcome people at Saturday’s bar-be-que. “If you have a swimmer in the program feel free to come see me. For those who aren’t and you’re curious about the swim team, to see what it’s like, come meet us.”

For more information on Wilton Y Wahoo Swim Team programs, contact the coaches’ office at 762-8384 x 287.