Hello everyone,

For those of you interested in swimming during the Fall/Winter season, which is really the main competitive swim season, we are starting a new, year-round, USA Swimming club based out of the Phillipsburg Elementary School pool, STEP Aquatics, STEPAquatics.swimtopia.com. 

Actually, it's more like we are taking GPS year round. So, although STEP Aquatics is the new adminstrative name to manage the year-round aspects of the team, GPS will continue as the summer program of it. What does "year-round" mean though? It means swimmers may choose to participate during any quarter throughout the year or train year-round through multiple seasons. In other words, there are multiple options beyond the summer swim team.

If you are looking for coaching continuity, prefer the team atmosphere we always strive to engender, and want to be part of an exciting, new chapter for swimming in this region, please join us at STEP Aquatics. :)

Registration is OPEN for swimmers to join.

Team Vision & Philosophy

• We use a “Responsive Coaching” model that goes beyond just "follow the process".
• We use a rotational coaching model too, which ensures every coach gets to know every swimmer regardless of ability.
• We cultivate a spirited team culture in which swimming is viewed as a team sport.
• We develop the whole swimmer: Ensure athletes’ experiences lead to positive physical, intellectual, and emotional growth.
• We live by a “coach the swimmer, not the stroke” approach.

We will be a USA Swimming registered team. USA Swimming is the National Governing Body for amateur competitive swimming in the United States.

• Registration of existing USA Swimming athletes - Just put in your USA member athlete ID during registration if you know it. If you don’t, no worries, we’ll fill it in later.
• Registration of non USA swimming athletes or expiring memberships - No worries, we will take care of it for you. USA swimming registration is included in our team fees already.

Practice Schedule

• Similar to GPS, swimmers may attend any combination of days, Monday - Saturday. However, swimmers MUST attend their assigned group's time slot. Some may choose to attend 5-6 days per week, others only 2-3, most will likely mix it up. We understand each family has a different schedule that works best for them and we try to accommodate that. Of course, we recommend attending more often as that consistency will lead to greater improvement.
• Please refer to our practice page to view the group training chart: Training Group Schedule Chart

Cost Comparison: When viewing total yearly cost to be part of STEP Aquatics, we are less than other regional year-round swimming organizations (TRA, BLUE, HCY). We are even less than most of the travel sports teams (soccer, baseball etc.), and we offer more practice hours than they do. We are unique in that we inhabit the whole spectrum of abilities; we start teaching kids as early as 4-8 years old, they stay with us for years, and a healthy number go on to qualify for national level meets and compete in college. Even if they don't, that's totally fine, we are dedicated to each and every swimmer being the very best they can be. The point is, we are coaches who think about the well-being and development of kids for 10+ years of their lives, from the novice to the elite.

STEP Aquatics - Different Payment Options

1. One time annual payment - Includes all quarters (September 2026 - August 2027), summer programming, and USA Swimming registration.
2. Separate quarterly payments - The first full quarterly payment made will include USA Swimming registration.
3. What about summer only swimming? YES, that is offered & totally feasible.
4. What about high school swimmers' seasonal discount? YES, we offer that.
5. What about multi child discounts? YES, we offer that too.
6. "What about....", Wait, here's the link to our FAQs. :)

What is the relationship between STEP, GPS, and EAC? STEP is the year-round parent organization that runs two summer teams, May - July. Think about them as STEP-GPS & STEP-EAC. Summer teams are administratively run by STEP, but operate as separate teams in the PennJersey Swim League with separate websites. Each needs to provide their own volunteers/officials and a separate roster for PJSL summer swim meets. Therefore, GPS & EAC will still need volunteer parent boards on each to ensure they run efficiently. However, they will receive all the support they need to run as quality summer teams.

As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Plus, definitely feel free to pass along this email to anyone you think might be interested in joining. :)

See you on deck,

Coach Drake