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Meet WRAT
Under the direction of Head Coach Wagner da Silva and his coaching staff, the Waunakee Rural Aquatic Team (WRAT) is a community-based USA-Swimming club for swimmers of all ages. Serving Waunakee for more than 20 years, WRAT is Waunakee’s original and long-standing USS team.
Why WRAT, after all your son or daughter has many options in the Dane County area?
Our club is a United States Swimming (USS) year-round, competitive swim team offering high quality professional coaching and technique instruction for all ages and abilities. WRAT provides an opportunity for novice athletes to swim along side state and national qualifiers in a safe, healthy environment while pursuing the highest level of personal development both in and out of the pool. We emphasize competing with oneself, winning awards is not our main goal. Individual improvement, while having fun and promoting sportsmanship, is our main goal.
Swimmers are prepared to compete in all distances, events and strokes. This preparation promotes versatility and encourages swimmers to explore their potential in a wide variety of events. Additionally, training in all events has been proven as the single best way to increase the likely hood of success in swimming. When your swimmer gets to high school there will be a place on the high school team for them as they will be able to swim the more challenging strokes.
Beyond the physical benefits, swimming in both practice and meets contributes greatly to the psychological and emotional development of the young athlete. As an activity, swimming requires the development of specific and complex motor patterns. Swimming well not only requires hard, physical work, but also intelligent application of learned skills and the ability to think while performing. From concentration on performing stroke skills correctly, to executing race strategies, the athlete learns early to concentrate and perform under pressure. In addition, our team provides ongoing nutrition education as part of the athlete's overall development and success.
Our swimmers have the opportunity to pick the events they wish to compete in, our coaches do not select events for swimmers. They will encourage swimmers to sign up for events when they are ready to successfully compete in them. For most of our groups swimmers will set their own realistic, yet challenging, goals and objectives and learn to work towards those goals. A life long skill put into practice.
To be an athlete is a very special and wonderful thing. To be a competitive swimmer is special, wonderful and difficult; but the benefits of the persistent dedication and application of efforts, along with the benefits of facing and dealing with the emotional and psychological experiences associated with the demands of training and competing for success, are well worth whatever personal and/or financial investments are required. Age group swimming is so much more than it first appears.
WRAT is a non-profit organization run by its elected Board of Directors, which meets each month. All members are welcome at each meeting and are encouraged to be involved in team activities and the team group based fund raisers- no fruit, nuts or cookie sales here!
We are constantly growing and training young swimmers to maintain a well rounded swim team. Thank you for joining us. We are looking forward to meeting you!! Click HERE to ask us any question you may have!
Swimmers of all ages and abilities are welcomed and encouraged to join WRAT! We have swimmers on our team from the ages of 5 up to 35! WRAT offers 8 different swim groups to local area youth, in order to place swimmers of the similar ages and abilities in our program. We have a fun-filled swimming program, with groups that span from beginners to national qualifiers.
The groups are set up by age, ability, and swimmer motivation - our coaching staff places swimmers into groups based on their level. Non-swimmers are encouraged to continue with swimming lessons - then check back with us when you’re ready to join our team. Click HERE for information on swimming lessons offered by the Waunakee Community School District.
WRAT is a nonprofit, community recreational program run by a group of parent volunteers and a parent-based Board of Directors. As a service group, WRAT depends on the volunteer efforts of parents and swimmers to make it successful and to keep registration costs as low as possible. Team functions, swim meets and fundraisers link parents, swimmers and coaches in a spirit of collaboration and acceptance. Families contribute time and effort to support a team contributing to a positive and stimulating atmosphere for child growth.
Take a look around our website, and learn more about our team. We’d love to have you join! (note that our website is chock full of information, some open to the public and some available for "members only.")
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Looking for more information about our team? Click HERE to contact us!
Interested in joining? Visit our Membership Information page
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