River Bend Country Club

River Bend Golf and Country Club Summer 2026

Welcome to the 2026 Dominion Country Club League (DCCL) Summer Swim Season! We will be competing in the Blue Division of the DCCL League of Northern Virginia Country Clubs. The Blue Division consists of Trump National Club, International Country Club, Country Club of Fairfax, River Bend Golf and Country Club, and Westwood Country Club.

Join the Fun! The River Bend Stingrays “work hard and play hard.” Swimming embodies team spirit and still allows each swimmer to be recognized for their individual achievements. When our swimmers work hard they tone healthy bodies, prepare for swimming competition, and cross train for other sports. Unlike any other sport, our youngest swimmers compete alongside our veteran swimmers. River Bend Club is lucky enough to have many talented swimmers in all age groups. The skills of the swimmers will vary between new team members who will swim the length of the pool for the first time and some very talented kids who swim year ‘round. When they play, they enjoy goofing around with new and old friends, silly relays, and fun social events like our pep rallies, Donut Fridays, Game Days, Annual SPLASH Party and MUCH MORE!

Registration: Registration begins in March 1st, 2026.  Members will be able to register their child/children online via our Swimtopia Site (https://rbstingrays.swimtopia.com/) . Registration completion is strongly encouraged before Swim Team Merchandise Day (APRIL 29th CLUBHOUSE) from 4pm-7pm.

Coaching Staff. For those of you who are new to River Bend, our Head Coach is Mat Campet. He is a great, hard-working coach who is looking forward to another fantastic season! He is a technology specialist in Fairfax County Public Schools and has decades of experience coaching swim teams.  His energy and enthusiasm are what make the Stingrays the most fun in the DCCL!

Who is Eligible? All members’ children at least 5 years old and under the age of 19 on June 1, 2026 are eligible for participation on the River Bend swim team, provided the child can swim the length of the pool freestyle and backstroke without assistance from lane lines or pool walls or causing alarm to the swimmer or the coach.

More Important Info

• A swim team tryout will be held for new swimmers ages 7 and under to assess whether they are qualified for 1) the swim team, 2) Mini stinger program, or 3) referred to swimming lessons. The tryouts will take place at the first 8 & under practice – May TBD at 5:00 p.m.

• The official competition season consists of Time Trials, 5 dual meets (between 2 teams), an All Relay Carnival with all DCCL teams and an All-Star Meet. Time Trials are expected to be held Sunday, June 7th from 7a.m. – 11a.m. The meets are held on Saturdays and usually begin with warm-ups between 7:30 and 8:00am and finish a little after noon.

• Competition is by gender, age group, and stroke. The official age groups are 8 & Under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-18. The individual events are freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and individual medley (IM), which includes all 4 strokes. There are also both freestyle relays for the 8 and unders and medley relay teams for the other age groups.

• Each team may swim no more than 3 swimmers in each official heat at a meet. No swimmer may swim more than 4 events, either officially, or unofficially. If there is an abundance of swimmers in an age group, usually the swimmers with the fastest times for a particular stroke will swim the official events. Unofficial heats are run for the remaining swimmers in freestyle and backstroke. The coaches will determine for the benefit of the team which swimmer will swim each event based on their times throughout the current season. It is ESSENTIAL to notify the coaches if your child will not be present for any meets so the meet sheet can be created to maximize scoring for the team.

• In dual meets, scoring for individual events is based on 5 points for 1^st place, 3 for 2^nd, and 1 for 3^rd in the individual events. 7 points are awarded to each winning relay team. Ribbons are awarded to official swimmers in the top 6 places. Winners of unofficial heats are given heat-winner ribbons. At River Bend, we also give ‘Improvement’ ribbons for personal best times and ‘Participant’ ribbons to younger swimmers.

• Trophies are awarded at the end of year Swim Banquet to all swim team members. Additional awards like Coaches Awards, Most Valuable Swimmer, and the “Stingray Award” are given out as well. Mini Stingers will be awarded medals.

• During the summer there are many opportunities for swimmers and parents to socialize at pep rallies, splash parties, Game Days, Sr. Lock-in, Swim team banquet, etc. Notices of the socials are posted in Swimtopia calendar tab, at the pool, communicated to swimmers at the end of practice and sent to parents via email.

• Running a swim meet takes a large group of supportive parents. It takes a minimum of 40 parents from both teams to start a meet. The host team is responsible for providing approximately two-thirds of the volunteers. Helping during a meet helps the time pass more quickly, makes the meet more enjoyable and is a necessary requirement for each family.

We hope that everyone will participate in the swim program by encouraging your children, volunteering, and bringing any suggestions to us for enhancing the Stingrays team. We look forward to an exciting, fun-filled summer program.