Discipline specific Maximising Club Pool Time toolkits are released

Discipline specific versions of the ‘Maximising Club Pool Time’ tools have been released by Swim England.

The tools will help determine an appropriate amount of pool time based on the number and training requirements of a club’s members.

Following the success of the swimming guidance launched last year, versions for water polo, diving and artistic swimming clubs have now been published.

They were developed in conjunction with coaches from each discipline who advised on appropriate training programmes for each level of athlete.

Andy Jack, Swim England club and operator relationship manager, said: “These tools will provide an excellent reference point when clubs and operators are discussing pool time requirements.

“The original swimming focused tool proved to be such a successful piece of work, we were keen to push out a similar resource to all disciplines.

“I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to the project and hope that water polo, diving and artistic swimming clubs find the new tools extremely useful.”

Developing the guidance

Andy, alongside Swim England engagement manager Stuart Radford, worked with the following focus groups to help develop the guidance:

Water polo: Alastair Roberts (Worthing), Nick Hume (Bristol), John Spicer (Cheltenham), Nick Buller, Terri Halstead (Birmingham), John Halstead (Birmingham), Ben McDonald (Water Polo Leadership Group) and Norman Leighton (Swim England).

Diving: Stephen Hewat (Luton), Shân Veasey (Southend), Nikki Smith (City of Sheffield), Adele Graham-King (Sunderland) and Sarah Barrow (Swim England).

Artistic swimming: Jess Fletcher (Salford), Emma Adams (Rushmoor), Ali Pratt (Birmingham), Hannah Secher (Rugby and Artistic Swimming Leadership Group) and Karen Thorpe (Swim England).

The ‘Maximising Club Pool Time’ tools help make up the wider Working Together Toolkit, a resource aimed at supporting partnership working between clubs and operators.

To download the Working Together Toolkit, please click here.

To request any support in this area, please contact Andy via [email protected].