Our Values

Skill Development. Self-Esteem. Teamwork. WOW!

• Skill Development 

  • Coach Warner's camp design is planned by working backward from his development of Olympic Champions. We know that your skills are your potential. By refining technique, a swimmer can unlock their potential that will move them down the road toward a fantastic experience in the sport of competitive swimming.

  • At the pool, our staff gives constant feedback to mold a series of movements and drills to develop each stroke from the 'inside out.' We begin with body position and add parts with constant attention to refining the motor neurons toward the most effective technique possible in the shortest period of time. Our approach to turns and starts is similar in that we begin with the most basic movement and progress step by step.

  • Every length of the pool is pre-set in steps in Coach Warner's design. A coach to swimmer ratio of 1:9 or better provides constant feedback to each and every swimmer. We generally spend a day emphasizing each of the four strokes and the corresponding starts and turns.

  • Video Analysis

    • Each camper receives on-line access to the video of their four strokes filmed underwater to take home at the end of the session.  

    • Each day, the coach and swimmer analyze the stroke in a one-on-one session.  The analysis takes place after the morning session and then more water work is performed for maximum learning and improvement.

• Self-Esteem

  • Inner Engineering
    People often say “sports are 90% mental and 10%”- physical and then spend little time on the 90%. At the Arete Swim Camp, we devote a portion of each day (Monday through Thursday to re-engineering the “mental side” of each camper.  One of those sessions is a presentation and discussion about good nutrition for athletes. The other three days are devoted to a variety of goal-oriented games and exercises that explore the mental side of swimming fast and succeeding in life.  Campers always enjoy this part of the day.

  • Alternative Learning Methods

    • At each session, campers have the unique opportunity of participating in a special activity that allows them to transfer guided experiences in teamwork Attention, Retention, Effort, Teamwork, and Enthusiasm from land to their competitive swimming experience.

  • We divide our group in two or three age-groups in order to have more age-appropriate learning

  •  Each year we bring to the ARETE SWIM CAMP a session of Spirit Games culminates our Inner Engineering. These are teams within the camp that compete in the areas of visualization, concentration, teamwork, and more.  

• Teamwork

  • Inner Engineering Games-  Four days per week we play goal-directed "games" as a part of our curriculum. They are focused on a variety of skills such as building one's self-image, relaxation, goal setting, visualization, and teamwork.  

  • Spirit Games- these are introduced the first day and grow in magnitude through the week, culminating with the final "Spirit Games Finale." Each camper is assigned a "Spirit Group" at check-in and works with the group as a team at times during the week.

  • Night Games- For our residents we spend each evening playing games, enjoying a talent show, enhancing our lessons in teamwork, and making new friends.

• Wow!!

  • What is a "wow experience?"

  • A moment of personal discovery that is so compelling that it motivates the swimmer to 'own' the new knowledge that comes with it. We find these moments happen regularly at the ARETE Swim Camp. Some of the most common igniters are:

  • Watching underwater video

  • Feeling a sense of going down a 'water slide' when a turn is coordinated correctly.

  • Many situations in Mental Training Games.

  • The ARETE t-shirt relay