Swim Faster Now Youth Clinics

Swim Faster Now Youth Clinics focuses on teaching swimmers how to swim all the strokes faster with less energy. Participants work on quicker turns with rocket-fast streamlines, diving like a dolphin when blocks are available, wiggling less to swim straighter, and learning the “secret” to improving their times year after year. The program also includes a Faster Freestyle mini-clinic, effective open-water strategies such as tactics, sighting and drafting, breathing techniques for different conditions, and how to relax, float, and swim straighter.

• Ages: 6–18 years old
• Schedule: The workshop is three hours long and includes one hour of dry discussion on swimming topics and stroke technique, followed by about two hours of pool time.
• Price: Cost is $125 and includes a custom silicone swim cap, supporting material and snacks.

The Swim Faster Now Youth Clinics are led by Hall of Fame swimmer and swim technique coach Karlyn Pipes, along with assistants who hold current certifications in Lifeguard, CPR and First Aid. The clinic includes motivational components for both parents and kids, such as lifeskills learned at the pool, appreciating parents, coaches and teammates with an attitude of gratitude, and viewing swimming as a lifetime sport. The workshop is not three hours of swimming and is not a strenuous training session, and the Faster Freestyle clinic is described as a teaching session rather than a training session. Space is limited, and cost includes a custom silicone swim cap, supporting material and snacks.

The program notes that YMCA’s Learn-to-Swim program is part of Karlyn’s background. Local USA, US Masters Swimming, YMCA and high school coaches are invited to audit the clinic on deck for free as a continuing education opportunity, and hosts may invite one swimmer or coach to attend the clinic in the water for free. The program can name a pool or facility as additional insured on the Aquatic Edge 1/3 million liability insurance policy, and Karlyn prefers to stay with a host family instead of a hotel to keep costs down.

One swimmer, Tere O’rourke, shared that after taking the Faster Freestyle Swim Clinic, their times continued to drop, swimming became more fun, and they dropped almost 15 seconds in the 200-free within a month in 2024.

Last updated February 12, 2026.