We typicall have the following:
Yes, many local triathletes have tried to do things on-line so save a few dollars but by integrating yourself into a club that has more knowledge combined than any online blog you will save time, money and potentially injury.
Some pay for the cost of a yearly membership fee taking advantage of just a couple discounts we dig up for our members: Local race discount codes, running shoe discounts tied to mail delivery, major partner discounts.
You also get the benefit of more than one opinion with the ability to interact with those that provide insights/recommendations.
Yes, FAST welcomes non-members to their workouts to try one of them as our insurance policy does protect our members and officers for this trial. However, our insurance policy is structured that if after you try the workout we request you to join the club to protect you and our members.
Note that some workouts such as structured swims at Schoolcraft or if held within a workout facility prior clearance is required with the leader of that workout. (At this time Schoolcraft swims do not allow this)
During the fall and winter FAST typically posts a suggested swim workout or two per week. These are structured so most skills can find a workout for them and which can be done in a hour of pool time. We also suggest those USMS members to go to the national site for additional workouts.
Unfortunately to keep the membership costs low we cannot offer free membership to all of the pools in the SE Michigan area where we train. Each member is responsible to pick up the cost of the membership for any facility they are a member of. We do have exceptions to this rule: 1) Schoolcraft Saturday swims during the fall and winter offer a nominal drop in fee (on hold due to covid but replaced with a one fee class with limited slots) USMS membership card for insurance may be required, 2) Sometimes FAST rents pool time out at a few local pools for members and then offers either a nominal drop in fee or free swim clinics at them.
We coach people that have the basic skills to swim two lenghts of the pool. If you are not comfortable with a 50 yard swim it is suggested to take a public adult swim class at the local YMCA, or local recreational facility. We do help people with one of our 7 certified USMS coaches at a practice here or there, as well as, free swim clinics but it is best to start with an adult swim class. Note that some of those coaches do offer 1 on 1 coaching sessions for about $100 per hour.
The home page has a "where we train" button. Click that to open an interactive map of the SE section of michigan to see where we train. Note: that one can get more detail about each location by clicking the small icon.