About the C-Dragons

The C-Dragons (C-D for Cool Dell) are the most successful swim and dive programs for any club of our size in St. Louis. The team is made up entirely of Cool Dell members, including the coaching staff. It is open to kids up to 18 years old and they compete in age groups (6 and under, 7-8 years old, 9-10 years old, 11-12 years old, 13-14 years old, and 15-18 years old). Swimmers compete in all 4 competative strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle) as well as the IM (individual medley), freestlye and medley relays. Divers compete in 5-dive competitions and will learn all the dive types (front, back, inward, and reverse) with all the twists. This year Coleen Sumner and Ted Faulhaber are returning as co-head coaches. Brian Faddis is returning as our head dive coach. Several of our older swimmers and Cool Dell alumni assist the coaches during practices.

Cool Dell will be competing in the Manuel Division of the Gateway Swimming & Diving Conference. The swim team will compete against Missouri Athletic Club, Castle Pines, Washington, Lake Chesterfield and Cedarmill. The dive team will compete against Lindgate, Missouri Athletic Club and Pacific.

Things to know:

  • Swim practices are M-F from early June through mid-July
  • Swim meets are Monday afternoons (unless 4th of July falls on a Monday or Tuesday)
  • Dive meets are usually Saturday mornings, but day and times can vary
  • For the safety of the children, all swimmers must be able to swim the length of the pool, without stopping, on the first day of practice
  • Athletes are separated into one of four (4) groups, by age and ability
  • Each group practices at a different time ranging from 7:30AM to 11AM. Swimmers must swim with their groups. We cannot accommodate changing groups for convenience. Car pools are available.
  • 8 & under swimmers can expect to swim 10 – 25 lengths of the pool (250-700 meters) daily during practice
  • 9 & over swimmers can expect to swim 40+ lengths of the pool (~1000-2000 meters) during practice
  • New swimmers, ages 7+ must be able to swim freestyle with their face in the water, as well as some basic backstroke. Technique does not need to be perfect, but they do need to have a general idea of how to swim these two strokes
  • New swimmers, age 11+ must be proficient in all four strokes (freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke)
  • If your child cannot meet these expectations, the pool offers group swim lessons

Want more information?

Visit the C-Dragon TeamUnify site