Squad Newsletter

Last modified: 25-06-05

Some items of news and some reminders as we haven’t sent out a squad Newsletter since before Christmas.

Winter League 2004/2005 We had a brilliant Winter League season this year finishing in 14^th place which is not only the highest that any of the current coaching staff can remember us being, it is also just two places away from being in Division One. In 2002 we finished in 21^st place and in 2003 & 2004 in 18th place so this result is really brilliant, thank you and well done to all of the squad that swam so well. To do well in the Winter League is especially gratifying to the coaches as we use it as a ‘training ground’ for all of our new swimmers. We try to ensure we give every squad member the chance to swim in at least 2 galas and therefore, whilst it is nice to do well, it is not our ultimate aim which is to give new swimmers the experience of swimming in a gala without the pressure of swimming a race on their own. To celebrate a brilliant season we will be organising a skittles evening for swimmers and parents in the near future, details will follow soon.

Summer League 2005 Summer League this year starts on April 16^th in Marlborough with subsequent rounds on 18^th June in Wroughton, 9^th July at the Lime Kiln Centre in Wootton Bassett and, finally 10^th September in Trowbridge. Unlike the Winter League, we only take the minimum number of our strongest swimmers in each age group to all rounds so this will mean that not all squad swimmers will be selected. This strategy has paid off as we got promoted to Division 3 in 2003 and last year we managed to hold onto our place. We hope to consolidate that position again this year and remain in Division 3. Unlike last year, we won’t be asking for everyone’s availability for all of the rounds, swimmers will be contacted prior to each round to ask if they are available to swim. Having said that, now that you have the dates, if you can keep them free we would be very grateful.

The Wiltshires 2005 The following swimmers qualified for the Wiltshires this year; Katie Cook; Erin & Cara Vickers; Dean Ben-Aribia; Dan Ponting; Katy Hall; Cameron Smith; Oliver hall; Amelia Cotes; Emma & Andy Rolfe; Victoria Duhig; Francis Lloyd; Matthew Magness; Tom Ince; Tom Bloxham; Greg Ward; Ali Sammon & Luke De Sciscio. Not everyone can win but just to qualify has to be seen as a real success in itself so well done to everyone that qualified and competed. Special congratulations also go to Dean Ben-Aribia, Katy Hall and Dan Ponting who all won medals. Dan came 4^th in the BAGCATs for his age group and Katy came 7^th.

Open Meets We are looking for a variety of open meets for this year so that we give everyone a chance to enter in events that they qualify for. We are taking 15 swimmers to Millfield at the end of April to swim in the 50 metre pool, we had some success there last year so we hope to do the same again this year. We are also hopefully going to put a team together for a friendly ‘Diddy’ gala at Milton Road which is being hosted by Swindon Amateurs and, in June, we hope to be hosting our own friendly gala at the Lime Kiln Centre – more news of that to follow.

Postal Swim Most members of the squad took part in the one hour Postal Swim but not many paid their fees to have their distances entered into this National event. The results have been posted on the Noticeboard for anyone who participated to see where they came. So far we have collected just over £170.00 in sponsor money so if anyone has any more for us, please can you pass it to one of the Coaches. Thanks to everyone that has collected sponsorship.

Housekeeping Now for the boring bit! The Coaches give up a lot of their time to train all of you, they do it because they enjoy it but sometimes it can get a little frustrating. We would like all swimmers to remember the following:

·         Always turn up to your training sessions on time and be ready to get into the water at the start of the session – if anyone misses warm up the Coaches may refuse to let them join the session as not only does it disrupt the session but training without warming up properly can cause injury.

·         Loosen up on poolside before getting into the water (not just your mouths please!)

·         Make sure you have two pairs of goggles with you at every session

·         Make sure you have your swimming costume &/or trunks with you!

·         Girls, please make sure you have a hat, plus a spare and can all boys obtain hats to wear in competitions, if not during training.

·         Please bring a drink on poolside for every training session.

·         If you need an inhaler, please bring it on poolside so it is available when/if needed.

·         Please bring your floats/pull bouys/fins to every training session. If you don’t yet have fins, please see Iain Dixon or Tina De Sciscio, fins are available to hire for £5.00.

·         If you have any injuries, please let your coach know and please ensure your parents are happy for you to continue to train whilst injured.

·         We expect everyone to attend all of their training sessions, all though we do appreciate that everyone has other commitments and some missed sessions may be unavoidable. Our lanes are very full now and regular ‘non-attendees’ are taking up a space that somebody else could use, we are getting a lot of enquiries from prospective new members but we have to turn the majority away because we don’t have the space.

 Help Needed We desperately need help from parents who are willing to train to become officials. As a club we have to supply a certain number of officials at all of the galas we attend (not to mention having timekeepers to record our own times). Training to become a timekeeper is not onerous or difficult and, from there you can move on to become a judge (although this is easier if you have already qualified as a teacher). Without more people coming forward who are willing to become officials we may have to stop attending galas which is not only a waste of the Coaches time, it is also a shame for the swimmers. Those of you that are qualifed to Teacher or Assistant Teacher level who do not wish to get involved in regular Coaching could consider helping the Club out by taking the ‘official’ route. Those of you not qualified in teaching would also be a great help to the Club by at least gaining a timekeeping qualification. Please give this serious consideration; these jobs are not as time consuming as Coaching/Teaching as you would not be needed on a regular weekly basis. 

Thank you,

Coaching Committee

W.B.A.S.C. 

 Previous Newsletters:

Squad Newsletter 4 2004

Squad Newsletter  2004

Squad Newsletter  2003