Training Groups
Swimmers are encouraged to join the Club between 7 and 12 years old and will usually start off in one of our Pre Squad groups. From there they progress through the levels, developing new skills whilst being introduced to new experiences as they go. Our group structure is designed around the stages of the Athlete Development Support Pathway. It is important to make clear that, as we do not offer a learn to swim program, we only take swimmers who can swim 25m of Freestyle (Front Crawl), Backstroke, Breaststroke and basic Butterfly. Our focus is on building on skills learnt in learn to swim programs, so technique, stamina and speed in readiness for joining our Squads and the thrill of competitive swimming
Squad training is aimed at developing the skills and stamina needed to compete regularly, encouraging swimmers to take ownership of their training and competition goals.
How do we determine a swimmers training group?
Each training group has a different type, level and pace of training, as well as differing commitment levels. Our aim is to ensure we place swimmers in the group they are most suited to, both physically and mentally. These qualities are developmentally determined and differ from swimmer to swimmer. The intention is for
swimmers to always be in the right group at the right time for their long term development.
Swimmers will move through the club’s training programme as they age and develop. When deciding when to move swimmers we take a flexible, long term approach. We look at the whole swimmer, understanding that priorities and abilities may differ and change over time.
Coaches use several different criteria to judge when a child is ready to move up. Although technical ability and speed do play a part, other considerations such as dedication, ability to listen, response to instruction / feedback and attitude are equally important.
Transitioning Process
Before a swimmer is moved up to the next group they may be invited to train once a week with the higher group, as part of a transitioning process. A transitioning process can last anything from
3
weeks to 3 months and is designed to allow swimmers to gradually get used to the higher intensity of training required in the higher group.
