Swim Squad 2023: Reflections on a Tremendous year!
We’ve done the Swim Squad Awards, we’ve celebrated the achievements, we’ve read the race reports …
2023 for the Swim Squad was a great year. A vintage, perhaps?
Here are some of my thoughts on what made it a year to remember.
Swim Squads
The fabric that binds the whole thing together. The Squads are busier than ever. Most sessions are at (or above) capacity. Five in a lane used to be considered a bit busy, now it’s a quiet night!
Consistency is incredible. Swimmers turn up week after week, month after month. My swim registers include most of the swimmers from this time last year. And probably the year before too. We’ve talked about swimmer progress before, but the improvements this year (because of this consistency) have been incredible.
Word has spread and the requests to join the Squad have increased massively. There is actually a waiting list to join the Squads. If I said in excess of 30 people are waiting for a place, would you be surprised? Saying “no, there is no space at the moment” goes against my nature and is hard to do – but a necessity at the moment.
A nice problem to have I suppose?
To cater for some of this demand, we did have some important Squad developments this year …
Technique Sessions
We introduced the Monday evening technique session in February – because I saw that the pool was empty between 7.30 – 8pm and thought we could put it to good use. An unbelievable success. So many swimmers have attended these sessions and progressed so much. We have welcomed a lot of new swimmers as a result of putting on these sessions. Nick has done a great job as Coach to many of these swimmers.
Sunday Sessions @ The Aquatics Centre
These sessions started way back in February, three or four lanes in the 50m pool. They started life as two one-hour sessions (9-10am & 10-11am), progressed to a mix of one and two hour sessions, and now are two hour sessions. As with the Technique sessions, these sessions introduced us to more new swimmers, many of whom then came to our open water swim sessions, accessed triathlon coaching support or now swim with our midweek Swim Squads. A nice addition to the swim coaching ‘portfolio’.
Additional Swim Squad Sessions
During the year, we’ve also tried to get some additional pool time for another Swim Squad session. We’ve tried mornings and evenings, at different pools, but so far, no joy. 2024 will see more of this persistence!
Open Water Swimming
Our open water swim sessions started at the Liverpool Watersports Centre back in April.
Mel, one of our newer swimmers, was the first in the water – with a fully-neoprened 1-1 in a cool 10 degrees!
Open Water Swim Groups
We started off running three groups – one on a Thursday evening (5-6pm) and another two on a Saturday morning (10-11am & 11-12pm). Midway through the season we dropped the 11-12pm session and integrated the swimmers into the 10-11am group.
Open Water Development Group
The 11-12pm session was a development group, for swimmers new to open water, for those wanting to develop a bit more confidence, for some specific swim technique or for those who wanted a little more attention than we could provide in the 10-11am ‘Swim Squad’ group. Although small in number, we had some good successes there – with swimmers going on to complete their first triathlons – including two swimmers completing their first Ironman.
Open Water ‘Swim Squads’
In the main, these were busy! We had a lot of swimmers in the early part of the season, preparing for the Southport Triathlon, The Outlaw Half, Ironman UK. Great camaraderie and support in these groups, as well as some racing and a little ‘competitiveness’ around the turn buoys!
Open Water 1-1 Sessions
I didn’t particularly push these sessions this year. That said, when I look back, we had a lot more swimmers coming for 1-1 sessions than I initially thought.
Improving confidence was a big reason for many 1-1s, with some swimmers going on to complete their first open water swims, their first triathlons and even their first Ironman, partly as a result of the confidence gained from the sessions.
Improving technique is the main reason for most of the 1-1s, and again, some great success with swimmers – ranging from learning to swim, to developing more pace in open water, to improving swim stroke efficiency in preparation for a Coniston 5.25 mile swim, to some last-minute fine tuning ahead of an English Channel relay swim.
We finished our five-month open water swim season at the end of August. Of course, many of our swimmers didn’t, arranging meet ups with each other and embracing the Autumn and Winter water temperatures.
1-1 Swimming
One to one swim sessions in the pool returned in September, the first pool-based 1-1 sessions since pre-COVID lockdowns! Just one session per week (at the moment), they are a chance for existing swimmers to come and fine-tune their technique, as well as meeting new swimmers to assess and improve their swim stroke.
They are proving very popular, so I’m hoping to increase the number of these in the new year. It’s all about pool availability.
Online Coaching – Triathlon, Swim & Run
The other side of the Swim Squad, the swim, bike and run coaching, helping athletes prepare for their wider sporting goals.
We had a real mix of athletes in 2023.
Most of the athletes that I worked with this year are athletes that I have worked with for multiple seasons, and we are constantly building on their year-on-year progress.
That said, new athletes have also come on board, attracted through the Swim Squad and through word of mouth / recommendations – which is always nice!
Online Coaching (1-1) is the most popular form of coaching support, building athlete relationships through the feedback and communication this support involves. I do have a few athletes who are following a Personalised Training Plan, less hands-on but no less personalised.
I’ve written before about the races and the successes – so I’m not going to go into any detail here – other than to say we had a fantastic year of athlete success! We can find many of the stories on our Swim Squad Blog.
Swim Squad Swim Caps Around The World
What started out as a bit of fun when a couple of athletes sent me their holiday pictures, wearing their Swim Squad caps whilst in the hotel pool, has turned into ‘a bit of a thing’.
And I love it.
Athletes traveling the world, taking their Swim Squad swim caps with them, and proudly wearing or displaying them, often with stunning backdrops.
They are amongst the most popular social media posts we do too!
“Where in the world have you and your Swim Squad swim cap been spotted?”
Merchandise & Kit
This time last year, we had our Swim Squad swim caps.
And that was it.
A request from a few swimmers – “can we have some merch?” – and here we are!
- Hoodies
- T-Shirts
- Towels
- Water Bottles
- Costumes
- Bobble Hats
- Race kit
- Triathlon training kit
- Bags
- Dry Robes
That escalated quickly!
I love wearing the kit and I love seeing athletes wearing the various bits and pieces. I love athletes sending me photos of them – with their Swim Squad mates – after a race, or during a training session. And I obviously love a social media post with athletes in some form of Swim Squad kit.
“Can we have some merch?”
Absolutely!
Swim Squad Website & Blog Posts
We have had the website and the blog posts for a while. However, in Spring 2023 the posts started in earnest! A way for me to explore my thoughts and share them with interested athletes. A few nice comments and a little feedback, writing these posts and sending them to email subscribers has now become a regular part of my “working week”.
I have to stay disciplined and schedule the posts way in advance now, otherwise I would send the posts out even more frequently than I already do!
What A Year!
Looking back, that’s quite a year!
I’m incredibly grateful for all of the support from swimmers and athletes. Swimmers turning up week after week, embracing (and enhancing) the culture of the Squad, making it what it is. Athletes trusting me with their athletic goals, asking me for coaching support and sticking with me season after season. Wearing the hats and the hoodies. Entering races with Triathlon Swim Squad as ‘their club’. Supporting sessions. It’s all amazing
It’s a full-time job. No, it’s way more than a full-time job. It’s seven days a week, with no 9am start or 5pm finish time. It involves long, often unsociable, hours. And often takes the place of my own training and sporting ambitions.
Who chooses to put on sessions up to 10pm on weekday nights? Who chooses to get up really early on Sunday mornings to watch others enjoy themselves swimming?? Who stands outside in the cold and wet – on a shaky, deteriorating wooden platform – whilst others have a great time in the open water?!
Somebody who loves what they do!
Swim Squad. It’s a passion. It’s a lifestyle. And for me, it’s the best job in the world!
Swim Squad 2023. You were tremendous!
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