DiSE swimmers enjoying pre-summer nationals training camp in Tuscany

A group of 24 swimmers from Swim England’s Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) programme are in Tuscany to help them prepare for their end of season meets.

Amongst the 24 are 16 current DiSE athletes and eight DiSE alumni swimmers who were part of the 2019 programme.

They’ve been invited to return for the trip to give them experience of an overseas training camp after being the only group to miss out during their two-year course due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Piombino, Italy will host the athletes and 12 staff from Tuesday 2 to Saturday 6 July where they’ll be greeted with some excellent training facilities at the Poggio All’agnello Country & Beach Residential Resort.

The facility includes a heated six-lane 50m pool which the group will be able to use as part of their training twice a day throughout the week.

Amongst the staff on the trip are a number of the nations top coaches, headed up by Leatherhead Swimming Club’s Stuart McCrea, and includes a specialist strength and conditioning coach as well as a qualified physiotherapist.

The trip will make up the group’s final preparation for the Aquatics GB Summer Championships and the GoCardless Swim England National Summer Meet which get underway later this month.

‘Supporting both athletes past and present’

Speaking ahead of the trip, Swim England DiSE assessor manager and team leader for the trip, Darren Sims said: “We’re really looking forward to our latest overseas training camp in Tuscany.

“The five-day trip will give our athletes the opportunity to both train hard and learn a lot as they head into their end of season events.

“We’re also really excited to have some of our alumni athletes back joining us for this trip. The initiative to gives athletes who have remained at the top level of the sport a chance to experience an overseas camp was an initiative we launched this year which we believe will help support the transitions of athletes both past and present.

“Their experiences will be a big support to our current athletes whilst giving them the chance to come back and be a part of something they missed out on due to no fault of their own.”

If you want to be a part of the next group of DiSE athletes, applications are currently open for this year’s programme for athletes aged 16 to 18 (or aged 19 to 24 if they have an Education, Health, and Care plan).

You can find out more about DiSE and apply here.