Swim Team

Holmes Run Acres Hurricanes

Holmes Run Acres Recreation Association is proud to sponsor the Holmes Run Acres Swim Team—where community, sportsmanship, and fun come together at the pool! Our team offers a positive and supportive environment for swimmers of all skill levels.

The HRA Hurricanes are a proud part of the local community and compete in the Northern Virginia Swimming League (NVSL). We strongly emphasize personal growth, teamwork, and good sportsmanship—fostering a love for swimming.

Our team is open to all swimmers aged 4-18, regardless of their experience level. We have two groups: the Hurricanes and the Tropical Storms. The Tropical Storms are designed for beginners not yet ready for swim meets, where they can concentrate on mastering swimming fundamentals. Once they can proficiently swim the pool, they ‘graduate’ to become Hurricanes, marking their progress within the team.

Whether your child is aiming to swim in their first race or striving to beat their personal best, we provide the coaching, support, and encouragement to help them succeed.

Benefits of swimming on the Hurricanes team:

We believe swimming transcends competition—building confidence, developing lifelong skills, and forming lasting friendships. We aim to create an inclusive environment where swimmers can:

Improve Technique: Our coaches focus on refining swimming techniques while helping each swimmer build strength, speed, and endurance.

Compete with Confidence: Our swimmers take pride in representing the HRA Hurricanes with respect and enthusiasm, whether at our home meets or on the road. Develop

Lifelong Skills: We emphasize values like discipline, perseverance, teamwork, and respect for others—traits that extend far beyond the pool.

Leadership Opportunities

Assistant Coach APPLY NOW

The HRA Hurricanes are an enthusiastic and tight-knit community that values teamwork, personal achievement, and good sportsmanship. We believe swimming transcends competition—building confidence, developing lifelong skills, and forming lasting friendships, and we are looking for an Assistant Coach who shares these values.

Lane Leader APPLY NOW

Volunteer Lane Leaders (Age 13+) are enthusiastic swimmers who help make practices fun, focused, and positive for our younger Hurricanes and Tropical Storms! Lane Leaders assist coaches during practice by encouraging swimmers, demonstrating drills, and modeling great effort and sportsmanship both in and out of the water. If you enjoy helping others and want to build leadership experience while supporting the team, we’d love to have you as a Lane Leader!

Hurricanes Website

Upcoming Events

    Welcome to 2025 Swim Team Registration

    We’re so happy you’re here!

    We are thrilled to kick off the 2025 summer swim season with a brand-new website packed with exciting features that we’re sure you’ll love! Our transition to the SwimTopia platform means that everyone, both returning and new families, will have the opportunity to create a new account during this year’s registration.

    Visit our new website and look for the red “Register Now” button.

    If you’ve read and followed the instructions but are still encountering issues with registration, don’t hesitate to contact us.

    Each registered swimmer will receive:

    • Daily coached swim practices, grouped by skill level and age, with an emphasis on technique, endurance, and individual progress
    • Access to twice-weekly evening practice for swimmers unable to attend morning practice times
    • A team t-shirt
    • A silicone HRA swim cap for new swimmers (extra caps can be purchased for $10)

    Division

    The HRA Hurricanes will compete in NVSL Division 13 this summer with Riverside Gardens, Brookfield, Fox Mill Woods, Burke Station, and Rolling Forest.

    Coaches

    We are excited to welcome back Abraham Zimmerman as our Head Coach and look forward to announcing a new Assistant Coach very soon.

    Registration Fees

    The 2025 Swim Team Registration Fee is $225/swimmer with a multi-swimmer discount of $20/swimmer for each additional swimmer from the same family registered concurrently. There is a surcharge for paying online with a credit card.

    The deadline to register and receive a team T-shirt is Monday, May 12. You can still register for the swim team after this date, but it will not include a team T-shirt.

    Pool Membership

    Join or renew your Holmes Run Pool membership now! The Northern Virginia Swim League (NVSL) and HRARA require pool membership to be eligible to swim on the team. HRARA heavily subsidizes the Hurricanes swim team through access to pools, facilities, and other resources. Team membership is a benefit extended only to current pool members who hold a “family” or adult-child “2-person” pool membership.

    Volunteering

    It takes a village to run a swim meet, so we will need your help (not kidding; it takes over 50 volunteers to run a home meet and nearly 30 for away meets). If your child(ren) swims in a meet, you are expected to fill a meet-day volunteer position.

    • When you RSVP for each swim meet (on the team website), you must also select a volunteer position to fill. If your child(ren) is not selected for the “A” Meet, a replacement will be found for your volunteer sign-up.
    • If your child(ren) is swimming in a meet and you do not sign up to volunteer by the Thursday before an “A” Meet or by 3 pm on the Monday of the “B” Meet, you will be assigned to a vacant position.
    • When you register your swimmer/s, you will be prompted to choose a volunteer category. Please read the descriptions carefully (see below) and select the category that includes a job you anticipate filling or are comfortable being assigned. This choice will inform our Volunteer Coordinator if positions need to be filled.
    • We will do our best to accommodate your stated preference, but this may not always be possible because all volunteer positions must be filled before the start of each meet.

    We also understand that every family situation is unique. If you cannot provide meet-day help, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Linnea Kessler-Gowell, for assistance and accommodations.

    Volunteer opportunity categories:

    • Officials: These positions require NVSL certification, earning you an extra gold star. If you are not currently certified but would be interested, please contact us or the volunteer coordinator. These positions include: starter, referee, and stroke & turn judges
    • Deck Volunteers: These positions have a great view of all the action and include: timers, relay take-off judges, marshals, clerk of course, data, ribbons
    • Meet Day Support: These positions offer the opportunity to complete work before or after the meet or to step away to watch crucial races. They include: concessions sales and food preparation, meet set up, meet take down, parking coordinator
    • Banquet Coordinator: This role involves planning and coordinating the year-end banquet (ordering food, managing the event volunteers, etc.). It’s a heavy lift, but it exempts you from all other volunteer obligations for the swim season!

    8 and Under Swimmers

    Swimmers 8 years old and younger will participate in an Assessment Day on May 27 at 6:15 pm. Coaches will observe their skills and determine if they should practice with the Tropical Storms (our young group that teaches swimming fundamentals) or with the more advanced 8u swimmers (where the emphasis will be on endurance and learning the four strokes). All of our swimmers are Hurricanes! Our goal is to ensure swimmers practice in a group with similar abilities. Swim families will be contacted with more information about Assessment Day in mid-May.

    Big Fin/Little Fin

    Our Big Fin/Little Fin program is designed to build relationships, camaraderie, and team spirit between age groups. 13+ swimmers are paired with 8u swimmer(s) and encouraged to cheer them on at practices and meets.

    If you have a 13+ swimmer interested in being a Big Fin this summer, please let us know when you register. Being a Big Fin may require a few evenings of additional commitment from your teen(s).

    NVSL Rule Changes for 2025

    The Northern Virginia Swimming League (NVSL), which sets the rules used by the HRA Hurricanes in meets, made a few notable rule changes for the upcoming season:

    • Swimmers who false start before a race begins can now reset and swim in the event. This swimmer will still ultimately be disqualified, and the time result will be voided, but this will now happen after the race has concluded. This change eliminates the practice of sending away swimmers who dive into the pool before the start. The rule change does not apply to the Divisional Championship or Individual All-Star Meet.
    • Coaches now have expanded flexibility to amend substitution submissions before an event in a competitive NVSL meet.
    • The rules now clearly state that the logo of a club or high school team on a swimsuit does not disqualify a swimmer from NVSL meets. This rule change does not change the restrictions on swim cap logos.

    Details about the rule changes are available on the NVSL website.

    We look forward to an incredible 2025 season! To register, click the link below to visit our team’s website. We’re thrilled to have you on board!

    Register NOW