Central Arkansas Swim League
The
Central Arkansas Swim League
is a recreational swimming league with seven teams in Central Arkansas that compete in a summer season.
The CASL consists of seven teams: Bryant Barracudas, Cabot Piranhas, Lakewood Waves, Lonoke Sharkrockets, Maumelle Marlins, Otter Creek Otters, and Sherwood Sharks. These seven teams compete in a roughly six week summer season that runs from just after Memorial Day until late July. The teams compete two at a time every weekend until the Meet of Champs, where the top swimmers from each event, age, and skill division from every team face off.
Children of all ages (6 & under through 18) may compete in the Central Arkansas Swim League. The children compete in two year age groups divided by gender: 6 & under, 7&8, 9&10, 11&12, 13&14, 15&16, and 17&18. These age groups are further subdivided into skill levels: bronze, silver, and gold divisions. Every swimmer begins with a bronze classification, and as certain standardized times are met at meets, they move up to silver, and then gold.
Meets are held every Saturday morning during the season (barring the occasional meet that gets scheduled on a weekday evening). They run typically from 7:00am until about noon. The children compete in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, the individual medley (IM), the freestyle relay, and, in the 6& under division, in a kickboard race. Ages 8 & under swim 25yd (one pool length) races and 50yd IMs. Ages 8 & over swim 50yd races and 100yd IMs.
Ribbons are awarded to each child for each event they compete in regardless of the place they score in the race. Place ribbons are awarded through 8th place, and every place after 8th gets a participant ribbon. Medals are awarded at the Meet of Champs for swimmers in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each event. Most teams award trophies to their swimmers at the end of the season.
The CASL is designed as a beginner league to teach children the four basic strokes and competition swimming rules. Many high school and college swimming careers have begun in this league, as the children often move on to high school, college, or USS teams. The CASL is designed to be fun and educational. The teams are non profit, and rely on registration fees to pay coaches, pool dues, and other expenses, and on parent volunteerism to run the teams and meets.
The CASL website is located here: [1]
Each team's website is linked to the CASL website under the "Teams & Links" tab. Contact information for the teams, summer meet schedules, meet results, and photographs can be found on the CASL website.
