If you are visiting from out of town and would like to swim with BAM, you are welcome to join us at any of our workouts for free, up to four workouts per year. You must pay the City of Boulder entrance fees and present your USMS card to the coach on deck. Since we are a non-profit organization, our coaches are happy to collect a donation for your workout.

That's okay. Masters swimming is open to anyone of any ability. Structured workouts are organized in such a way that different skill levels and speeds are separated into different lanes. There is a lane that will fit everyone.

What's better, BAM also offers special workouts called Stroke Development that are specifically designed for beginning masters swimmers. Stroke Development workouts are offered several times a week. The entire workout emphasizes learning all four competitive strokes and enhancing stroke technique you may have already learned. It also includes swimming workout technique and terminology.

Stroke Development workouts as well as lane designation by speed and skill gives everyone the right environment for technique improvement and fitness.

BAM is fortunate to have many options for structured workouts by professional coaches. Click here to view a full workout schedule.

As with most things, you will get out what you put in. BAM provides a supportive environment along with expert coaches who can assist you with any swimming goal you might have. Many members join BAM primarily to improve their fitness level after reaching a plateau from lap swimming, periods of inactivity, or recovering from an injury or medical problem. They find that the stroke development workouts as well as the many workout options each week provide a more structured way to focus on improving stroke technique and fitness. The structured workouts also allow newer swimmers to learn the state of the art in swimming training techniques as well as providing a peer group to motivate and support their efforts. We believe that joining BAM is one of the best ways for an adult swimmer, whether interested in fitness or competition, to improve their swimming.

You can become a masters swimmer if you are 18 years or older. Masters swimmers come from all walks of life. Locally you will find a perfect slice of Boulder when you come to a workout where you may be swimming with doctors, engineers, medical professionals, teachers, independent business owners, service providers, CEOs, consultants, students, entrepreneurs, amateur and professional triathletes, cyclists, rock climbers...you name it. In other words, BAM members are the Boulder community. You're joining a caring community of individuals looking for fitness and fun in a long term and supportive environment.

Masters swimmers come in all abilities. Some are accomplished collegiate athletes while others have never done anything more than float through the Red Cross exam in PE class at school. Anybody can be a masters swimmer. Our coaches are experienced with coaching young and old, competitor and non-competitor alike. You can get as much or as little stroke advice as you want. Many athletes from other disciplines join Masters Swimming to gain cross training advantages. Others join to get into a structured program to help recover from a health problem or to just stay fit. There are as many reasons to join as there are swimmers.

Boulder Aquatic Masters is organized as a non-profit and is a Colorado club that belongs to COMSA (Colorado Masters Swimming Association). COMSA in turn belongs to USMS (United States Masters Swimming). USMS is governed by FINA at the world level. FINA and USMS establish the rules under which competitions are governed. FINA is also the world governing body for all of United States Swimming. Benefits of these associations include the consistency with which competitions are run. Also, USMS provides group insurance coverage to protect masters swim clubs from liabilities due to unforseen accidents. ( http://www.usms.org/admin/lmschb/lmsc_hb_ins.pdf ) This allows clubs such as ours to form without undue personal or organizational liability being taken on and it literally allows us to exist. As such, they also provide standard safety guidelines (backstroke flags must be in place, entering the water feet first unless in competition, etc.) so you can be assured of a consistent and safe environment for working out as well as competing.

• Constant motivation in an environment where improvement is encouraged.
• Access to the wonderful professionals who are accomplished swimmers and coaches themselves.
• Structured workouts give purpose to your exercise rather than swimming endless laps.
• Masters can be more fun than swimming laps. The additional motivation and fun means you will swim more and be in better shape.
• Meet new people. Join a community with a purpose to be together. Meet a whole slice of the Boulder community.
• One of the safest forms of cardiovascular exercise. Low stress on joints while building strength and endurance. Masters swimming is a lifelong sport.

BAM in conjunction with the City of Boulder Parks and Recreation centers provides workouts and facilities for swimmers. BAM membership enables an individual to access a City recreational facility for swimming or swimming related purposes. BAM reimburses the City for our member's facility usage through annually negotiated rates. Click here for a complete list of BAM membership rates.

Click here to Join BAM today.

No. In fact, a significant number of BAM members never compete in or out of the water. Many join and stay just for the fitness aspects. Nationally, about 30% of masters swimmers compete in some type of event. That means that the majority of masters swimmers never compete at all. Most all masters swimmers have one thing in common and that is to stay fit.

BAM also has stroke development workouts. These are great for getting more experience with doing the four major strokes and to learn the lingo and etiquette of swimming a structured workout with others in your lane in a real learning environment. It's also a great place to get more individual attention from our expert coaches.

Many participants from our stroke development program have gone on to compete for the club while others move on to the choice of five or more workouts a day depending on the time of year.
Click on this link to see a quick description of the Stroke Development Program

Congratulations! Stepping into competition can add a significant motivator to your training program.

Masters swimming has several types of competitions typically broken into "seaons".

From roughly December to May is a "Short Course" season. You will typically find swim meets organized to swim in 25 yd pools. In Colorado the season begins to culminate in a state championship meet usually held in April sometime. Officially the short course seaons finishes for many with the completion of the USMS Nationals usually held in mid-May.

From May through August and sometimes September is the "Open Water" season. For obvious reasons in the northern hemisphere it's more compelling to swim in lakes, rivers, and oceans when it's warmer out. There are many events that range from individual to relay races. USMS usually designates one open water swim each year to be the national championship event. Popular relay races include the Trans-Tahoe which is a six person relay race across the northern end of Lake Tahoe. Another popular relay race is the Maui Channel Swim which is a six person relay swum between the islands of Lanai and Maui.

May through August also ushers in the "Long Course" season. Long Course is a designation given to a 50 meter pool. This is the type of pool you see at the Olympics and World Championships. The majority of long course pools are outdoors which is why this season is usually held over the late spring and summer months. Similar to Short Course season, Long Course season culminates in a national event held at a different venue each year sometime in mid-August.

In the fall timeframe Short Course Meters (25 meter pool) season is held. This is typically the season with the least participation, perhaps because short course meters pools are not very common across the US. It can be a great time to tune up your competitive skills prior to the short course season the following winter and spring.

In no case are you required to attend all the events. In fact you can never race and still participate at the national level. Most of the national meets will allow you to swim a number of events without meeting the qualifying time. It is advisable to compete prior to such a meet if for no other reason than to have a good idea of how a swim meet is run.

In most seasons and events, the competition is broken up into gender and age group divisions. Age groups start from 19 and go 19-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, and so on. If you ever want to be inspired, go to a state or national meet and watch the 70, 80, and sometimes even 90 year old swimmers still duking it out the 500 free. You will then be a believer that swimming can be a lifetime sport and these people will tell you that competition makes life spicier for them.