Poolside report

2016 saw the club adopt a new squad structure where we created completely new groups - Development, Competitive, Performance & Swim4Fitness. The aim was to group people by ability rather than age and so far we have seen a massive increase in performance with more ASA speed awards being given out at internal galas, more swimmers competing in open meets as well as an increase in the amount of county and regional times gained.

In February we changed our standard 200m freestyle competition to incorporate the 400m freestyle for those 14 and over. This went down really well and has provided more opportunities for our swimmers to swim longer distances.

We have had the biggest increase in volunteer teachers in the four years that I’ve been teaching with an amazing 10 new teachers joining the team meaning we now have 19 teachers and coaches. Special congratulations to Harriet Stone, Attracta Leonard, Jenny Marett, Jenny Dokelman and Jane Preston who all passed their Level 1 teaching. We also had Sarah Hambury and Aisha Jones pass their Level 2 teaching. In addition, Lou Gooden passed her Level 2 coaching and Clare Marett passed her Level 2 teaching and Level 1 coaching. Our team is now extremely qualified which makes us in a great position. This along with our shadow teacher Sarah Strugnell we can continue to provide excellent coaching to all of our swimmers. I would like to thank Neil Fraser, Karen Jones, Richard Jones, Terry Davies, Colin Smyth, Jane Willis, Charlie Wray & Rafal Kasperski for their continued hard work. We are always looking for additional teachers so if you fancy teaching for us then please speak to one of our team – all courses will be fully funded and it really is a qualification for life.

On the 26th June we celebrated our 90th anniversary by organising a fun day consisting of a picnic which was followed by a pool team tournament. It ran brilliantly thanks to Caroline Presland as well as Karen Jones who picked excellent teams which led to an exciting squadron race at the end of the evening. We hope to do more events like this in 2017 due to how successful it was.

In July we had Susanne Sulaman hang up her coaching top who has been coaching for Bushey since 2013. We also had Tayla Gilbert leave us to start university. They were both extremely loved by swimmers and coaches and we wish them all the best in the future.

In September we added our eighth group named ‘Little Dolphins’ which is aimed at stage 4/5 of the ‘Learn to Swim Programme’. This group is very popular and it’s great to see more 6, 7, 8 and 9 year olds at Club Champs and Time Trials – they are very cute!

Our relationship with Bushey Grove has strengthened where we have managed to obtain a third lane on a Monday night as well as three lanes on a Thursday evening which will replace the Watford Girls venue. This I’m sure will improve the quality of training that we can provide due to the extra space.

Looking forward into 2017 we plan to put in place a squad exit standard document which the teachers and coaches will use when teaching each session and when considering squad moves. We will also be looking at introducing additional pool time for certain groups as well as looking at ways at utilising our pool space.

Jack Jackson on behalf of the Poolside team

2016 AGM Reports and Annual Achievement Awards

Poolside Report