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ASA FEES

These are now due, £17 payable

COUNTY FEES

Those swimmers who are eligible for the county events are reminded that the entry fee is £3.50 per entry and are now due for payment

Saturday Training

This commences on 4 March between 1 & 2pm for Club, Gold and Silver squads

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

19 February               County Long Distance - Hereford

25 February               County Long Distance - Hereford

4 March                      Starts and Turns Clinic

11 March                    County Gala – Wolverhampton

12 March                    County Gala – Wolverhampton

25 March                    County Gala – Worcester

26 March                    County Gala - Worcester

The main event of the year for the majority of the swimmers is fast approaching – Worcester County Championships. As these approach it is very important that every one who is entered attends every available training session including the Friday evening before the Saturdays. Missing the Friday training session before any competition only makes things worse as you have broken your routine, especially trying to get extra sleep. Your body becomes used to training at specific times of the day and on specific days, and going to sleep at specific times on these days, although it is possible to change it, it does take a few weeks for your body to get used to it. This is why the group and session changes that have taken place over the last few weeks have taken place now rather than later so that you get your body into a routine before the County’s.

Trying to get extra sleep in the last few days before a competition is actually the worst thing you can do to try and swim faster as your body will not be used to it. The training sessions on a Friday before a competition are designed to compliment the event the next day so please do not miss these sessions.

The club standard is rapidly improving and this has been very evident in the recent Junior galas and the 1^st round of the winter league. In order to maintain these improvements we have reviewed every swimmer to make sure they are training in the best group that is going to benefit them. This has meant that some swimmers have moved groups and even the nights they train. Unfortunately swimmers can not always stay in the same group as this will have a more detrimental effect upon there development than moving to a new group, especially as we are trying to bring down the average of the swimmers in the Sharks, Dolphins, Bronze and Silver groups.

Since Christmas the training sessions have been going very well with every one knuckling down and working hard and this has been evident in the superb competition performance. Every one must continue working hard in training if we are going to continue the competition performances especially in the next round of the Winter League and Worcester County Championships. On paper we could do well in the next Winter league, which would mean another top 6 finish and a place in the league final in April. Please remember that swimming is a team sport for individuals, even one swimmer missing from the original team can have a huge impact upon the result. Even if only swimming in one event, selected swimmers are expected to swim.

The Gold squad have moved to train at the Kings School in Worcester on a Wednesday night so that we can get more groups in at Droitwich. The pool at Kings, although being a 6 lane pool is a lot older than the one at Droitwich and not in as good condition, plus the chemical system at Kings is not as good as the one at Droitwich. In reality we are spoilt by being able to train, in a relatively new pool which is in very good condition, and is ideal for training and competitions. But this can easily be our downfall in competitions. Not all pools are as new or in as good condition, and this does affect us, as we are not used to older poor condition pools. If you can train in Kings you will be able to swim anywhere and swim well with out the conditions getting to you. This was especially evident during the 2^nd round of the Speedo league last November and the high number of moans after the warm up about the condition of the pool, we where just not used to it!

The Worcester Training Squad selections have finally been announced and we have four swimmers selected. Roxanne Sweeney, Josh Deacon, Robin Williams, and Lauren Hall-Annison. Congratulations to these on their selections.

All swimmers are going to get the opportunity to enter open meets during the year, these are similar to the County Championships but run by individual clubs. Please watch the notice board for more details and dates. Upon the notice board at the moment is the Nuneaton Open Meet on the 1^st & 2^nd April, please complete your entry form and pass to Angie Deacon who is co-ordinating our entry.