Getting Started as a Swimmer
You joined a team on Beyond the Blocks. Here's how to get the most out of it — from your first workout to seeing your progress over the whole season.
Beyond the Blocks is where your coach gives you workouts, where your meet times live, and where you can track how you're getting faster.
Your first 15 minutes
Follow these steps in order. You can pause and come back anytime.
- 1
Open the invite email from your coach
Your coach added you to the team and sent you an email. Look for a message from team@beyondtheblocks.io with the subject line that starts with your coach's name. If you can't find it, check your spam folder.
You'll know it worked when
You have the email open and you can see a blue button that says something like 'Join the team'.
- 2
Click the blue button in the email
This opens Beyond the Blocks in your web browser. You don't have to download anything — it works on your phone, tablet, or computer.
- 3
Create your password
Pick a password you can remember. Write it down somewhere safe if that helps. Your email is already filled in — you just need the password.
You'll know it worked when
You see your team's name at the top of the screen and a welcome message.
- 4
Fill in your birthday and primary events
Your birthday helps us show the right qualifying times and age-group standards for you. For events, pick the 2–4 races you swim the most. You can change these later from your profile.
- 5
(Optional) Enter your USA Swimming member ID
If you swim in USA Swimming meets, you have a member ID — usually a 14-character code from your registration. Adding it means your official meet times will pull in automatically starting June 2026, when SWIMS (USA Swimming's official database) goes live. If you don't have one or aren't sure, skip this step — you can add it any time.
- 6
Invite your parent or guardian
Go to Settings, then Family, then add your parent's email. They'll get their own free account that connects to yours. Parents see your meet results, attendance, and schedule — they don't see your chats with your coach.
You'll know it worked when
Your parent's email shows up in the Family list with a 'pending' tag until they accept.
- 7
Explore your home screen
On your home screen you'll see: today's workout from your coach (if there is one), upcoming meets, your most recent meet results, and your goals. Tap around — nothing you do here will break anything.
Key features, explained
Reading today's workout
When your coach pushes a workout to the team, it shows up on your home screen. Tap it to see every set, interval, stroke, and the intensity zone (easy, moderate, hard). During practice you can mark sets complete as you finish them.
Logging your practice times
When you hit a fast time in practice — like a 100 free on short rest — log it. Open the practice, tap the set, and enter the time. Your coach sees it instantly and it counts toward your prediction model.
Seeing your progress
Tap Progress in the bottom nav. You'll see every personal best, a line chart of how your times in each event have improved, and which qualifying standards you've hit (like BB, A, AA, AAA, AAAA).
Sharing your profile
You have a public profile link you can text to grandparents, friends, or college recruiters. They see your meet results and bests without needing an account. Go to Settings → Profile → Share to copy the link.
See how public profiles work