The Poulsbo Piranhas swim team has expanded its competitive swim program to the Olympic Aquatic Center in Bremerton.

The Piranhas is a USA Swimming year-round competitive swim team for swimmers who want to keep progressing their skills after completion of a swim lesson program. The Piranhas swim team offers training and practice for swimmers ages 6-18 and offers skill-specific training for all athletes of all ability levels at two locations in Kitsap County.

The Piranhas offer three training levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Swimmers are evaluated by certified coaches and placed into the appropriate training groups. All of the coaches are members of the American Swim Coaches Association (ASCA) and are USA Swimming certified.

The team hosts three meets each year and travels throughout the Pacific Northwest to compete in USA-Swimming-sanctioned meets.

The Piranha Swim Team is a nonprofit club that is run by a volunteer board of directors.

Piranha’s swimmers have gone on to swim at the collegiate level, with one former Piranha swimmer qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials. Piranhas have paved the way for local high school swim teams to achieve success at the state competitions.

The Piranhas welcomed a new head coach, Mark McBride, to the team earlier this fall. McBride has been involved with youth swimming for over 30 years and has worked with all levels of swimmers, including nationally ranked and state and sectional champion swimmers.

During his previous career as a high school head coach, he was awarded Coach of the Year 10 times and his swimmers have also been awarded Swimmer of the Year nine times and have earned many student-athlete All-League awards.

The Piranhas hold open tryouts every Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the North Kitsap Community Pool. To qualify for the team, swimmers, at a minimum, must be able to swim 25 yards (one length) of front crawl stroke and 25 yards of backstroke. Swimmers will be evaluated on skills, comfort level in the water, willingness to learn, and desire to swim.