Welcome to the Marlins
The Veterans Park Marlins look forward to welcoming back new and returning Marlins in 2025!
*** 2025 Summer Registration - NOW Open***
Our summer swim season runs from the Tuesday after Memorial Day through the end of July.
Practices are Monday - Thursday evenings at the pool at Veterans Park in Woodbridge, VA.
Instruction and competition offered for boys and girls age 4 to 18.
Program covers freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly.
Veterans Park Swim Team (VPST)
The Veterans Park Swim Team offers a fun, supportive atmosphere focused on personal achievement, athletic development, and team competition skills. We pride ourselves in offering an enriching swim experience to kids and families from diverse backgrounds with the shared commitment to contribute to a friendly, respectful, and competitive team environment.
COACHING
Our coaching staff provides instruction for all ages and abilities--from beginners just mastering basic stroke techniques (M.I.T.s starting at age 4) to experienced swimmers up to age 18. Several of our swimmers are year-round swimmers, and some of them are ranked in the top tier at the county and state level. VPST swimmers often go on to swim at the college level after they "age out," and many have come back as assistant coaches during their college years. Their focus is to ensure that the time our children spend swimming is quality time.
RANKING
As part of the Prince William Swim League (PWSL), we compete in the PWSL Divisional Championships each year. In 2025, we will be in the Purple Division.
GOALS
The goals of our team are to provide every swim team member with an opportunity to:
- IMPROVE his or her swimming technique
- DEVELOP mastery of all 4 strokes
- WORK toward specific goals and achieve personal bests
- LEARN how to compete and contribute to the success of the team
CULTURE
Our philosophy is one of inclusion: we want every swimmer to participate and know that they are a valued part of the team. In turn, we encourage every swimmer and family to positively contribute to the Veterans Park Swim Team "community." This includes supporting team members by ensuring they attend all practices and meets, as well as volunteering to fulfill the many important roles that are required to run each swim meet, such as Timers, Recorders, Stroke-and-Turn officials, etc. (see the Volunteering tab for more information).
WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE
Unlike many summer swim teams, we are an independent group and are not connected to a particular community or HOA; we are open to all Dale City/Woodbridge/Lake Ridge/Dumfries/Triangle and surrounding area residents who want a great swim experience. We swim at the Veterans Memorial Pool, a public facility in Woodbridge. As a nonprofit club, we are run by an all-volunteer Board of Directors that is elected by the team each year. Team parents and family members are encouraged to become involved with the Board and run for Board office. The Board meets regularly throughout the year to ensure that we can provide the community with an opportunity to be part of a swim team that is reflective of our values and goals.
For more info, please read our Parent Handbook.
If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected].
PWSL Time Standards
PWSL Time Standards (click to review)
Background. PWSL maintains time standards to act as an additional way to incentive competition in the League. Time standards apply only to individual events and will not apply to relay events. The PWSL Scoring Committee with a goal of achieving the following breakdown reviews A-B-C Time Standards annually:
A - time standard - Top 20% of swimmer times B - time standard - Next 40% of swimmer times C - time standard - Next 40% of swimmer times
Extreme variations in a few swimmer times may be discounted so as not to skew the standards. The Scoring Committee may, from time to time, recommend changes to the standards to help keep the above balance.
