Progression
The Development and Age Group squads are structured so that each develops better technique, greater fitness and higher competition skills than the squad before.
The five squads
- Development squad 1: New members, any age but usually 8–10, who need to develop basic technique and fitness.
- Development squad 2: Swimmers whose stamina, technique and speed have reached a point where they're ready to start competing.
- Age Group squad 1: Swimmers with greater competition experience, good technique, speed and stamina.
- Age Group squad 2: This is our top squad, for swimmers whose technique is very strong and who have good speed and fitness.
- Masters: For swimmers age 25+ (promotion to the Masters squad is the only promotion that's absolutely guaranteed...).
Squad sessions
| Squad | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dev1 | 18:00-19:00 | 19:00-19:45 | ||||
| Dev2 | 08:00-09:00 | 18:00-19:00 | 19:00-20:00 | |||
| AG1 | 08:00-09:00 | 19:00-20:00 or 21:00 | 18:00-19:00 | 19:45-21:00 | ||
| AG2 | 08:00-09:00 | 19:00-21:00 | 18:00-20:00 | 19:45-21:00 | ||
| Masters | 08:00-09:00 | 06:30-07:30 | 06:30-07:30 |
Moving from Development to Age Group squad
When deciding whether to offer a swimmer a place in the Age Group squad, the head coaches consider speed, technique, age, competitive experience and attitude in training.
At Age Group level, training distances and expected speeds increase, so before they can be considered for a place swimmers would normally need to be able to swim:
100 m front crawl in a time of 1:35.00 or faster and 66 m front crawl in 1:00.00 or faster.
And to meet at least two of the following three standards:
66 m backstroke: 1:10.00 or faster
66 m breaststroke: 1:15.00 or faster
33 m butterfly: 30 seconds or faster
Swimming these times does not guarantee a place in the Age Group squad, but is part of the minimum requirement for consideration.