SKILLS ACADEMY

Lead Coach:            Heather Booth

Support Coaches:   Michelle Pike, Paul Ritchie

Total hrs per week:  2

Target Age Range:   6 - 12 yrs

Entry Standard:       Able to swim 25m freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke, understanding of fly

Squad Capacity:      35 swimmers

Training Fees:          £60.50 per month

Information

Skills Academy provides our swimmers with the fundamental aquatic skills necessary to progress into the competitive pathway. We follow the Swim England Club Awards programme, coaching swimmers through six progressive awards to make the transition from learn to swim, to club level swimmers. By completing these awards, swimmers demonstrate their ability to be able to perform all of the fundamental strokes and skills required for their engagement in competitive swimming.

Swimmers can expect to develop pool based competencies, such as stroke technique, starts, turns (single stroke and individual medley transition turns), finishes and relay takeovers, use of the pace clock and training equipment. They will also develop non-pool based competencies including self – management, understanding the importance of process goals (as opposed to outcome goals), pre pool and post pool.

We also hold regular fun galas specifically geared towards swimmers who are new to the competitive environment.

Training Schedule

Regular Skills Academy sessions are held in the main pool at Strode and take place over six half term sessions in line with school term times. We aim to swim on Bank Holidays providing they are within the school term.

Additional competitive start sessions will take place at Millfield pool, typically once a month.

Targets

Develop skillset, stroke efficiency and introduce swimmers to the competitive pathway. Club Awards 1-6.