Hi all,
We are approaching the end of a highly successful season for Satellites Swimming Club which has seen many swimmers competing at County, Regional, National and International levels.
I am extremely pleased with how the Club has performed in the first year of my Head Coach role. From A squad all the way through to our Academy and Para Squads, we’ve had great engagement and participation at galas all over the country, from running our own Open Meets and Sputniks galas to competing frequently at Sheffield.
I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the committee members and volunteers who give up immeasurable amounts of their time and put in so much effort to help us do what we love to do… RACE!
We will be hosting a Tri – Club Champs between ourselves, Knutsford and Wilmslow which will be taking place on the 17th and 18th of September ‘22. https://swimming.events/meets/226
This is a fantastic opportunity for your swimmers to enter events that they wouldn’t usually swim or don’t have official times for. These times can then be used to enter upcoming galas. Please encourage your swimmers to participate in all the different events.
Although this has been a fantastic season of swimming for Satellites, I feel in order to keep progressing and have more swimmers competing at the highest levels of our sport in the coming seasons, there will be further training requirements and expectations that need to be fulfilled.
Currently A squad is expected to be training 6 times per week with some exceptions. However, from the start of September this will become an absolute minimum session requirement for this squad. For parents/swimmers worrying about how they might fit 6 sessions in this can be achieved by:
So there are many ways A Squad swimmers can attend a minimum of 6 out of 9 sessions per week and for the top squad of a competitive swimming club this is a very relaxed standard!
There will also be changes to the attendance criteria for Squads B – E. All squad criteria can be found on the website through this link, please ensure your swimmer reads this: https://swimsatellite.com/new-competitive/
I completely understand that illnesses, holidays, exams and everyday life problems or commitments may inhibit you from attending the required number of sessions. These of course will be taken into consideration and no action will be taken providing you meet the criteria on an otherwise regular basis.
Failure to meet any of the criteria for your squad such as attending the minimum number of sessions on a consistent basis will result in a squad move to a more appropriate training group. If there are no places available or you cannot make the times work for another group, then we would be happy to help you find another club that may be more suitable for your training needs.
If you are going to miss a session for any reason, please inform your coach so you are not marked down for an unexcused absence.
Squads D and E will have an upper age limit of 16 with squads B and C having an upper age limit of 18 years old/sixth form college leavers. If you fall into this category but cannot meet the requirements for A squad then you will be welcomed into our growing Masters Squad which offer 4 sessions per week currently and we are soon looking at introducing a 5th session in the week at £40 per month with a mixture of early morning and late evening sessions. This does not stop you from competing with the Club, it merely places you in a more appropriate training group.
Over the course of this last season, many bad training habits have been witnessed and these need to be eradicated.
One that is proving extremely challenging is to have swimmers start the training session on time. From September 1st onwards, swimmers who are not in the water on time and without reason will be refused entry to session. Being early/ on time is a brilliant trait to have and will serve you well not only in swimming but in all aspects of your life.
During each training session, swimmers are expected to give 100%; to complete the full set, giving each session the diligence and effort that is asked of them. If swimmers are spending too much time on the wall, stopping at the end of each length, disrupting other swimmers, or getting out to stretch – they will be asked to leave that session. If this continues, they will be required to move squads to one where they can maintain swimming for the full set. Not only is this lack of effort in training not going to benefit them as a competitive swimmer, but it also adversely affects the other swimmers in that lane and does not set a good standard across the board.
Swimmers are also required to bring all the necessary kit to every session; water bottle, kick board, pull buoy, fins, hand paddles, spare swim caps and for squads A, B, C – a snorkel. Please speak to the coaches for any advice on buying this equipment.
Swimmers who are doing more than the minimum number of sessions and competing on a more regular basis will be favoured over swimmers who are not achieving these elements when coaches are looking to promote swimmers up the squads. Other attributes that will play a factor in these decisions are: respect, attitude towards training, coachability, effort, punctuality, attention to detail and a willingness to learn and improve.
All swimmers who attend galas are expected to arrive a minimum of 15 minutes before the first session warm up. This is to ensure a pre-pool warm up is completed and enable swimmers to start the swimming warm up on time. They should not be joining in just for the last 5 minutes or completely missing the warmup all together.
Swimmers that are wishing to pull out of any sessions of the gala, with a valid reason, should inform the coaches the day before the meet or at the very latest- early morning on the day of the meet. This is for the coaches peace of mind as quite often, we are waiting for swimmers to turn up that aren’t coming. Also, on occasions, this allows the event organisers to take these swimmers off the program and allow other swimmers who are on the waiting list to compete.
Swimmers in squads A – E are expected to compete as often as possible in a wide range of events and galas (including 50 metre galas). This to develop racing skills, experience and strategies on all strokes.
Squads A, B and C that are under the age of 17 will have compulsory events that must be entered twice per season. These events are 200 IM, 400 FC or 400 IM, 800 or 1500 FC. Ideally these events will be swum near the start of the season and again towards the end and will help the coaches track aerobic and stroke development throughout the season. As a predominantly age group club, we encourage all swimmers to participate in all four strokes and distances so as not to “specialise” too early and get blinkered into only preferring one stroke. It is highly likely that a swimmer’s main stroke will change throughout their swimming career so it’s important to continuously compete in all 4 strokes.
Academy swimmers who meet the age criteria are required to take part in all the Sputniks galas which is a fantastic introduction to competing! Entries to any other level 3/4 galas is also encouraged – please speak to your coaches about events or any questions regarding competing.
Our Academy groups will have an upper age limit of 13 – this is to ensure swimmers are progressing through the stages of the club at the appropriate age. For example, if a swimmer leaves Gold Squad at the age of 14 with there being 4 more Squads before they reach A Squad, each taking on average 1 year to progress through, said swimmer would be 18/19 when reaching A squad – by that stage, this swimmer would most likely be going to university or starting work.
If your swimmer has turned 14 while in the Academy, this does not mean they can never swim with Satellites Club again, it might just be more appropriate for them to join another club which can be more accommodating with squad places (which we can help point you in the direction of) and trial again at Satellites at a later date for a different squad.
All these above changes are to get the absolute best out of our swimmers whilst also nurturing and promoting the right attitude towards training and competing that we should be striving for as a Competitive Club!
All your children have chosen a sport that requires many sacrifices, both from the parents and swimmers to achieve their full potential. The training and competition requirements that I have stipulated are to give your swimmers the best chances at reaching their full potential and to compete at the highest level possible, whilst being the best version of themselves. They are in turn helping me grow this club into what I believe it is capable of being, a dominant Cheshire and well renowned Regional and National swimming club.
This is very much a triangular effort between the coaching staff, swimmers and parents whom I hope I can count upon to promote and encourage these changes in order to help steer Satellites Swimming Club in the strong competitive direction that any club with our facilities and talent level should be aiming for. After all who doesn’t want to be a part of one of the best clubs in the country?
Please can all parents ensure that their swimmers have read this and understand what is expected of them.
Thank you all. I look forward to our continued progress during the next swimming season.
Ben Cleaveley,
Head Coach