YMCA Tyde and YWCA Sea Dragons Announce Partnership

There has been a continuously growing trend on the east coast of clubs merging together to compete as one team. These clubs have expanded into multiple sites, operating with the same core values and similar philosophies.

These partnerships allow teams to establish a larger presence against other teams in their states. It gives more opportunities to local swimmers in the area, and gives the clubs a chance to host more events with multiple venues.

In June, Poseidon Swimming and Burkwood Aquatic Club announced their plan to join forces with the Burkwood site in Mechanicsville, Virginia. The alliance will become “Poseidon Swimming – Hanover.”

In 2013, 2 Virginia powerhouse clubs joined to form an alliance. NOVA of Virginia (NOVA) and the Virginia Association for Competitive Swimming (VACS) joined under the NOVA name.

In that same year, Greenville Swim Club merged with the Carteret Currents to form East Carolina Aquatics. The club developed junior standout Lauren Perdue.

Today the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina and YWCA of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County have announced a partnership with the TYDE swim team. Multi-site clubs have become increasingly popular, as many teams in the North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland area have merged recently.

You can read the TYDE press release below:

YMCA TYDE AND YWCA SEA DRAGONS SWIM TEAMS ANNOUNCE NEW PARTNERSHIP

Merged team will provide more pool space, increased training options for local swimmers

The YWCA has spent several weeks meeting with parents and evaluating the future of the Sea Dragons team, with the end goal to continue to offer exceptional programming at the Gateway Aquatics Center. The new partnership with the YMCA’s TYDE Swim Team provides the facility with a well-established and professional team with considerable support and infrastructure.

“After evaluating a wide range of options, we determined that TYDE swim team was an excellent fit for our program because of its high standards and proven record,” said YWCA CEO Christy Respess. “We are enthusiastic about this partnership, because it offers young swimmers the opportunity to continue their development within a culture of strong values, as well as fast swimming. This change also meets the goals of the YWCA’s strategic plan to make the best use of our superb pool for all constituents.”

“This partnership was formed over many weeks of collaborative conversations. The team will become one of the largest and most competitive teams in the state, provide more opportunities for local swimmers in our area, and enables our community to host a wider range of swim events,” said Curt Hazelbaker, President and Chief Executive Officer of the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina.

The YMCA will lease space at the Gateway. TYDE will begin practicing and competing at the location in August at the start of the 2015-2016 season.

TYDE is a year-round USA & YMCA swim team offering a full range of programming for all ages, operating out of every pool in the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina association across seven counties. TYDE has a professionally trained and certified coaching staff who use the YMCA core values of honesty, caring, respect, responsibility and faith as the foundation for instruction. Practice groups are broken up based on age, ability, and commitment level to ensure that there is a path and a group for every swimmer. Swimmers range from beginner/non-competitive to national levels.

“The YWCA’s Sea Dragons team has a strong reputation in our community with talented swimmers and committed families. We are excited to welcome them to our TYDE swim team family,” said Nathan Durrell, Head Coach for the TYDE swim team. “We are a neighborhood swim team in YMCA pools from Wilkesboro to Kernersville. The Gateway location provides even more opportunities for our current swimmers, as well as the Sea Dragons team. Our goal is to develop swimmers who are better prepared for life by being better prepared in the water.”

Swimming news courtesy of YMCA TYDE.