The philosophy of the Calgary Patriots Swim Club is one of fostering long term growth and development of the athlete as a person, not only as a swimmer.

To achieve this, we encourage the process of achieving excellence, not simply the attainment of the goal. We believe that through emphasizing the process, each individual will develop strong personal characteristics, such as an appreciation for the value of hard work, teamwork, self-discipline and strong self-esteem.

The Swim Club undertakes the responsibility to provide each individual with the support necessary in their pursuit of excellence. We provide a safe and positive environment to foster the development of the skills required for each individual to achieve their goals.

The program is designed for individual swimmers, keeping their age, ability and desires in mind. As these factors change, so does the program. A swimmer’s capacity for workout time and stress increase gradually as he/she grows. This capacity will vary widely in any group of youngsters, and it is not possible to accurately predict the full potential of any swimmer at a given stage of his/her career. It is very important not to limit a child’s development, but a gradual increase in work load and expectations, along with realistic goal setting, will allow for the smoothest progression toward a swimmer’s full potential.

The Club is seven competitive levels. This structure allows the development of athletes as they progress through the sport of competitive swimming. Each level requires an increase in commitment from both the swimmers and their parents.

The Patriots' general developmental philosophy is call 'Smart Swimming'. The first component of Smart Swimming is keeping swimmers healthy. Health is the number one concern because with a healthy individual almost anything is possible and with someone unhealthy almost nothing is possible. Numerous elements are encompassed under health and they may include proper nutrition, proper rest and a proper swim program. The general health of an individual requires that we examine all the physical, mental and social stress involved in a person’s life as a total. Not just look at the physical stress and ignore the rest. One of the major tasks of each athlete in maintaining a healthy lifestyle is keeping a good balance between all the activities in their lives (swimming, school, social).  

The second component of Smart Swimming is a focus on technique in practice. The Patriots believe this should be the major focus of all of our swim practices. Our swimmers are at the age that any training gains will only last a short time but technical improvements can stay with them the rest of their swimming careers. The message of technique is one for both coaches and swimmers. What must be understood is that the number one limiting factor to a swimmers ultimate performance is their technique. Swimmers have to understand that a focus on technique requires you to pay close attention to detail and not just swim back and forth with little thought. 

The third component of Smart Swimming is teaching the swimmers to be better athletes or total athletes. This can involve doing different sports (both the Patriot program and in other programs), mental preparation and good dryland work. This component will grow as swimmers progress through the Patriots program and have access to better dryland facilities.  The final component of Smart Swimming is Patience. The Patriots take a long-term view of all our athletes and do not try to maximize performance at an early age.  We look to give the swimmers all the skills necessary to have an enjoyable and productive swim career.