Poolside Report

I would like to express my appreciation to our team of teachers and coaches, past and present, who have worked hard and given their time freely to continue with the progress BASC has made throughout the year. Our swimmers continue to improve due to their involvement, with many PBs being obtained and 13 club records being broken in this year’s Club Championships

I would especially like to thank Barry Long and Phill Holpin for their many years of involvement in  our club. We wish them well in their new challenges but hope that they will continue to be involved through officiating at our events in the future. We would also like to thank David Selwood for all his efforts over the past few years having decided that it is now time to cease teaching due to work and family commitments.

I would like to welcome Jamie O’Malley, Lisa Taverner and Darren Watts to our teaching team. Lisa and Darren are teaching at Watford Leisure Centre on Sundays and Jamie teaches at Bushey on a Sunday and Habs on Tuesdays and Thursdays.   We have also had existing teachers completing new qualifications and attending other workshops and conferences, which all benefit the children. Thank to them all for giving up their time for these added commitments.

It is essential that we recruit new teachers in order for us to continue with the weekly sessions. We are now operating at the minimum level of teachers and would like to increase this by at least a further two people to return us to the teaching levels of two years ago. As a club we are able to support volunteers through the teaching qualifications. As our teachers/coaches are unpaid, it is the club’s policy to pay for all training courses in return for a commitment to the club. If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a coach/teacher, please speak to any of the team or myself to find out more information.    

I would like to especially thank Robin Willis, our senior teacher, Richard Henson, our senior squad manager and Neil Fraser, our Peanuts squad manager, for their input into the introduction of the club wide scheme of work. You may have noticed a slight change to the way classes are delivered. Further work will be done on this over the coming months to aid the teachers to plan and deliver a fully rounded programme to your children.

Due to a lack of teachers and teaching space, the badge secretary has been unable to complete many badges over 2010 and it has been delegated to the teachers to complete these within the class programmes.  Your child should be receiving slips as and when the badges have been completed. This will enable you to buy the certificates for your children. It is an optional scheme and there is no obligation for you to buy the certificates if you do not want to.

We still operate the Speed Awards and these have been achieved by a large number of swimmers. These are delivered half termly and my thanks goes to Howard and Jane Willis for organising this. This is a great way of checking your child’s progress in their swimming. The speed awards are automatically awarded from all results throughout the year, including internal competitions and external open meets and galas.

We held two diving courses this year, which enabled us to ensure that a further 40 children were taught to dive safely and consistently from the side of Bushey Grove Pool. We will continue to run these courses throughout 2011 and we will be selecting the children who will gain the most from these courses as we go.

As a club we are committed to teaching the children guiding them towards competitive swimming. We expect the children to become involved in all of the club activities, including Club Championships, Time Trials and Galas when they are picked. We continue to be involved in the Herts Major League (two teams), the National Swimming League, the Peanuts League (for swimmers 9-13 years of age)  and the Chiltern League. We also compete in many other invitation galas throughout the year. Within these competitions we produce some very strong swims both as teams and individually. Thank you to all of the children who have been involved in these teams throughout 2010. We have had a very successful year, winning the Chiltern League in style on my birthday!

We have also had a number of swimmers competing in and earning awards in local Open Meets. If you want to find out how your child can get involved in these, contact our Open Meets Co-ordinator Kevin Binns.

As always, the team would like to congratulate all of the swimmers for their successes and achievements this year. The number of awards being given tonight at the AGM is testament to their hard work and commitment to the club. We wish them all the best for this year and hope that they will all progress further and achieve more in 2011.

I would like to thank, on behalf of the teaching team, the army of officials and committee members for their efforts throughout the year. Knowing that we have their support and commitment allows us to concentrate on the “wet side” of the club.

On a final note, I would like to add that we notice that the progression of the swimmers does also depend on their regular attendance. We would ask for your support in this and would remind you all that the children should be on time to their classes, wearing the correct kit and supplying fins where needed. Regular attendance derives the greatest benefit from the club and children who attend regularly progress more quickly through the classes.

Janet Wood

Poolside Manager, Bushey Amateur Swimming Club