The West Sacramento Swim Team (WSST) is the proud home of the West Sacramento Dolphins. Since 1991 we have promoted the sport of competitive swimming within West Sacramento, and have provided the youth of our community with an award winning USA Swim Club where every swimmer has the opportunity to achieve their potential and compete at the highest level.

Part of the Northern California Swim League (NCSL), WSST is a not-for-profit swim club. We are governed by the WSST By-Laws and run an elected Board of Directors which meets each month. All members are welcome at each meeting and encouraged to be involved in team activities and fundraisers.

Q: How do I sign up?

A: All families must register during the Registration period that will be posted on the website (January for returning swimmers and February for new swimmers). Online Registration will be available as well as open registration sites dates and times will be posted on home page of website.

Q: How do I know if there will be spaces available for my child?

A: The team limits the number of swimmers for the team. If there are more requests than spaces available, a waiting list will be started.  After swim evaluations and practices starting there tends to be some drop outs, in which we will work from the waiting list.  The head coach will determine final team acceptance with the Board's approval. 

Q: What age group will my swimmer participate with?

A: The “age up” date is June 15th. Your swimmer will participate with the practice group that is appropriate for his/her age and ability.

Q: What is the required swim ability of my child?

A:  Every swimmer should be able to swim the length of the pool without assistance.  For 6 and unders, they may use the assistance of the pool side or a lane line if absolutely needed. All other age groups must know or be able to learn the appropriate swim strokes required for the meet (Back, Breast, Free, Fly).

Q: When are practices?

A: Practices typically begin in April. The home page will give updated information. April to mid May practices are generally held in the evening between 6pm to 9pm. May 1 through July, practices are generally 4pm to 7pm. 6&U swimmers generally practice for 30-60 minutes. Older swimmers will work out for an hour or longer. The actual practice schedule is determined by the coaching staff and will be published on the web site. New families should anticipate that their siblings may have different practice times. Though the coaching staff tries to keep the younger age groups together, this cannot always be accommodated. All practices will be at the West Sacramento Rec Center Pool.

Q: How many practices do swimmers need to attend?

A: The League and team expect swimmers to practice a minimum three days a week in order to compete in meets. If you have a conflict during a given week, please discuss the situation with the coaching staff.

Q: When are the swim meets?

A: The meet schedule begins mid May with Time Trials. Time Trials is a practice meet where we swim only against our own swimmers and serves several purposes. 1) It allows coaches to evaluate swimmers in race conditions. 2) It provides swimmers an opportunity to get comfortable with racing. 3) It gives new parents an opportunity to get comfortable with the system. 

Our first meet is generally the last Sat. in May. We swim 5-6 dual meets between the end of May and Mid-July follow up by championships towards the end of July. During the season, we’ll have at least one bye weekend, and all clubs are off for the July 4th holiday.  All home meets will be at the West Sacramento Rec Center Pool.  Away meets are typically in or near the Sacramento area region.

 Q: How do we manage summer vacations around the meet schedule?

A: The league requires that swimmers participates in at least two individual events in at least two League dual meets during the regular season to qualify for participating in League Championships, which is the culminating event of the season.

Q: What is Champs?

A: Champs is the Nor Cal League Championship Meet. Champs is the culminating event of the season. It runs from Saturday morning through Sunday evening on “Champs Weekend”. At this meet, all teams in the NCL compete for the League Championship.

Q. I’ve been hearing a lot about “pop-ups” for swim meet Saturdays. Where do we purchase these? Where do we set up?
A. There will be many families from both teams setting up their “camps” for dual swim meets. Because space is limited, we encourage families to share their space. We’d like to encourage seasoned swim families to reach out to some of the newer families and invite them to hang out with your crew. It saves space, provides a good opportunity to get to know each other better, and makes it a bit more fun while we hang out for a few hours in the sun on Saturdays. 

Q. How do I get my parent hour refund back at the end of the swim year?
A. If you have completed your hours and our Parent Rep has signed off, you can submit the Refund form found under documents by July 31st.

Q: What if I have more questions?

A: Feel free to contact any of the Board Members listed under the Board of Directors Tab.