T2/T3 groups. Six lanes. 25m

(all names have been changed for this June 2008 session)

LTAD based on ages 12-14/15. Swimmers not competitive, nor pressured with GSCEs.Interested in fitness and being with their friends. Most will work hard for a full hour if they are managed through the sets. NOT like a Masters Lane Session at all, or a squad session where swimmers know how to follow a programme closely.

Arrived in good time.

Feeling peckish I had a bowl of soup and bread. I arrived poolside with Nicholas & Daniella. Twinny must have been worried I wasn’t going.

Got ages. John who is eager to help with this session wasn’t present; he has to be next week as a qualified lifeguard to help supervise the session. Twinny texted him to ask where he was.

I told off those coming in 10 mins (Kate) & 15 mins (John & Johnny) late. I inform them that I expect them to be poolside at 6.10 ready to be in the water at 6.15 pm.

Could use water polo balls to go with Head Up FC. They want to have fun, but there need to be enough of them. Were we to play water polo I’d need the lane ropes out.

An odd turn out.

Several no shows and several swimmers I haven’t seen at all over the last 3 or 4 weeks. Twinny & I put it down to exams. I put it down to lack of motivation. These guys haven’t got galas to train for, whether internal or external.

FIVE of them missed last week’s time trials so I get these guys to do the 4x25m sprints.

Diving is/was a clear weakness with no one getting away from the side fast and few getting a good length glide through the transition – so we spend 15 minutes on dives at the end of the session.

T2 Technically proficient, fluid and reasonably fit

Age 12-14 so at the LEARN to Train LTAD stage. I.E. Still enjoy repetition of fun activities but we should be refining skills now.

Impressed by Cat (11). She’s up there with Elena & Cassie who I taught at SSC. Not yet Good Club Standard (which explains why she isn’t in the mini-squad), but I must remember she has this potential. Need 50m swims to be able to give a proper comparison across her age group at this level.

T3

Need to use PACE CLOCK. Got them into the idea of swimming the 50m sets on 1:30 starting and or setting off at Red Top or Blue Top.

Should take PULSE for HEART RATE but didn’t do this. Just getting them used to the pace clock for now.

Unlike IDBI who gives the swimmers the same 800m warm up every week, I am determined to keep up the variety in order to maintain their interest.

WARM UP

1 x100 FC

1×100 BC Kick

1 x 100 FC Catch Up

1 x 50m  BC SloMo

FC 2 BC 10m push & glide into stroke at each end then BS Arms with Fly kick.

They were supposed to do these on 2:00 or 2:30 but none were paying much attention.

Had to get times for FIVE of them. Did this while Twinny took the other four. Afterwards I made a determined effort that they would use the clock to turn themselves around. The girls did this, but the boys missed the send off, did different strokes & even missed sets out.

One claimed he’d been playing tennis for three hours. So why come swimming training? For a bath? I let him use the session to stretch.

4 x50 BC 2 BS @1:30

They got the hang of this as a Turn Around Time (TRT) coming in at around 0:50

8 x 50 BS 3 Kicks,

1 arm pull into FS @1:30

They got the hang of this as a Turn Around Time (TRT) coming in at around 0:55

Fifteen minutes was spent introducing ‘Plunging,’ an exercise I like to use to perfect their racing starts & transition.

Each did five or so dives and one or two got close to the halfway mark (12.5 m of a 25m pool).

At each step I impressed on them the need to be ultra streamlined with the hands locked and elbows crushing the head down, with the body spear-like and most importantly the toes pointed. Slowly they got it. Or most of them did. Ska kicked despite being told not to.

Nine swimmers in 2008, over 60 on the books for this session in 2010, coming from Mini Squad (24) and Training Groups (45). In total, including Mini, 42 is the max across the six lanes.

A session taken by one Level 2 teacher is currently run by a coach, two level 2 teachers and a level 1 teacher.