March 2009 Karen's Top Tip: Understanding the Swim Team: From a Coach's Perspective
I'd like to think that I am approachable to everyone and will always take the time to answer any questions that anyone has. However very few people actually do approach me and recently I have heard questions 2nd or 3rd hand. So I have answered a few of these questions: Where do I belong in the club? I think that the feeling of not belonging comes from lessons learnt from other sports, such as football and hockey, as if you're not picked to be part of the team on competition day then you're not a key player in the squad. Might I take this opportunity to say that this really isn't the case for swimming. If you are training in the pool at any level you are a valued and welcome member of our club. What are my goals? If you are a member of a competitive swimming club your goals should be to enter as many competitions as are offered/available to you. This is how you post times, improve on your personal bests and how you succeed in your sport. We run our own open meets, 3 every year, and so opportunities have never been closer. For me, and all the coaches in the club, performance at these meets is how we measure and relish in your improvement. Its simple the more often you compete the more you can learn about competition and the better you get. 2. What about all swimmers who are not picked to swim in a team gala? A gala team consists of about 30 swimmers and we have 250+ swimmers in our club. Every single swimmer is important to me and I spend time coaching every squad. Everyone should have competition opportunities. If you are unsure about open meets then speak to your individual coach. Entry forms for the Taunton Deane Open Meet will be out shortly and we will be targeting all 3 different levels of open meet during 2009. The most upsetting thing that I've heard recently is that certain swimmers who haven't been selected for team swims then don't want to do other galas for whatever reason. This attitude won't help you in swimming or in life. It is a great honour to be picked to swim for your club at any gala. So Karen's top tip for the month is: If you have a question, ask it. If you want to race, make it known.
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