Adult Swim Team at the Garden Hills Pool

The Garden Hills Adult Swim Team – Atlanta Adult Swim League Champions in 2018, 2019, and 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, will make another run for those prestigious championship towels in 2026! The adult league, now known as “Grownup Swimming”, is planning 4 summer “regular meets” and, of course, the all-important Championship Meet to be held in August.

The team will be embarking on our 19th season this summer. And thanks to our teammate, Corinne Nabors, we now have a digital clock so we can easily see our times as we train! Below are our 2026 plans, and answers to a few frequently asked questions:

Practices start in mid-May and we plan to continue through August, and weekends through much of September. Weekday practices start at 6:20AM and end at 7:10AM. Saturday practices will vary — early (7:00AM) in much of May and June, but 8:00 or 8:30AM after the kid’s team championship meet in late June. Our hour-long Sunday morning practices will start at 8:00AM– got to get some sleep on the weekends!

This team is open to both members and non-members of the pool. The vast majority of the team consists of swimmers that are not super-star AAU swimmers! In fact, we are moms, dads, college students, singles, new residents in the area, and some “over 60’s and 70’s” that actually score a load of points by just completing events!

Age groups are 18-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79 and up. So, you are racing only swimmers your age! If you haven’t swam on a team in many years, decades, — or ever — you are in good company. Most of us enjoy the good workouts, swimming 2 to 6 meets, and the optional social dinners after meets. And we were all excited to win the Championship last season! (We ALL prioritize swimming at the Championship Meet!)

Team fees for the season are $20 in May, $35 each in June, July and August. These fees pay our wonderful, experienced coaches for their time at practices. The separate league (GrownUp Swimming) fee is about $50 for the season. This covers the cost of managing meets, equipment, insurance, etc.

If you are unsure if this is for you– most swimmers on our 19-year-old team at one time started with the same question! A trial practice or two is available free of charge!

To compete in meets for our team, you will need to register for the Garden Hills Adult Team at www.grownupswimming.com. Make sure you look for the Atlanta League on their website, and navigate to the Garden Hills ADULT team.

Our practices are typically “comfortably full”, so we only have actual registered team members practicing- not folks just wanting to swim laps or exercise. Most team members practice about 3-4 days a week. Some even less. No one is taking roll! We have lanes for faster swimmers, and other lanes for those who are just beginning, or swim at a more relaxed pace.

Now, regarding WEATHER: We do not practice in thunderstorms, moderate or heavy rain, or very windy conditions (like a tropical storm). If you are unsure about the weather, our coaches and I look at the radar around 6 AM. If there’s lots of “yellow/ orange/ red” rain & storm systems in the area, or moving our way, there will be no practice. No one wants to wake up at 5-something to stand outside of the pool fence watching bad storms approaching!

Our Coaches

Our Championship-winning Associate Head Coach, Ginny Palmich, will be returning for her 4th year and will be our Head Coach this season. She coaches the Midtown High School swim team which is the top-ranked Atlanta Public Schools team! She is also our “lead-strategizer”, as her acumen with creating the best scoring meet lineups has contributed to our championship wins. And she swims with our team, too, scoring major points for us!

Our new Associate Head Coach is former 10-year Woodward Academy Head Swim Coach, Danielle Lefevers. She swam for club teams at Furman and the University of Michigan, and is currently coaching age group swimmers at Dynamo. She coached at Woodward with our former Head Coach, Genevieve Jarun, who is moving to Austin, TX this winter to join her husband who is a MLS coach there.

We are looking forward to another fun and successful season of adult swimming!

If you have any additional questions, please email me at rjacka3@hotmail.com

Jack Alexander
Adult Team Coordinator