Poolside chat- continues here 😁

[Glittertwins]

Did I get this done right??

I never bothered with prescription goggles. They all fog up so no better than I was before!

Earproblems the OCDF sets out that coaches should make adjustments in our presentation style where necessary to ensure all swimmers can access their session. Any good coach should be willing to find solutions to reduced hearing and poor eyesight, so I'm sure it won't be an issue.
FWIW, I swim with our Masters squad and we are full of eyesight issues, random aches and cramps, old injuries, health issues, poor hearing etc. Our sets require a lot of modifications between swimmers! The eyesight/hearing issue is one of the most easily got around by having a printed set in a plastic wallet on the side of the pool.

Interesting views on prescription goggles which does seem to mirror what I've heard before - you either love them or hate them! It's definitely something I need to revisit - (£25 is tempting - great compared to what you can pay) - but he is really quite short sighted so I wonder if an off the shelf pair might be too weak? Worth a trip to Specsavers though!

@SkankingWombat that is good to know about making adjustments and I do like the idea of a printed set in a plastic wallet by the lane. It was suggested he writes down the set in a notebook to have by his lane if he couldn't see the board (as others do in the squad (!)). I said I wasn't too comfortable about glasses coming on/off to read/write/swim - (no spare pair if they get lost/broken) - so I think they use an additional board and put it nearer to his lane. It's not perfect and he does sometimes rely on others reading it when it's too far away/too small/can't squint enough, so if he can't hear as well due to earplugs, there may have to be some further adjustments.

Having said that, there's no reason to doubt they won't - they've always been accommodating to date. It's just a case of speaking up and saying 'Hey it's not working doing x, can we try this?'. However - if I've understood it correctly - the adjustment needs to be on the club/coach to make and not the swimmer if the suggested adjustment makes the swimmer feel uncomfortable or puts them at a disadvantage. If so, that's good to know!

Going to have a read of the OCDF - thank you!

We always had to get out of pool at the end of every 50/100/200 etc so it was never a big deal for me to be able to see the session plan which was inside a plastic wallet.
It's harder now as they're all in the pool all the time, unless focussing on starts. I used to memorise the set before getting in as do most of the older ones now. We also go through each section bit by bit, lane by lane so that everyone is happy with what they are doing.

He says he tries to memorise it too as he knows he can't glance up to refresh his memory. There's too much to remember at one time though and he always forgets it. As long as he's not leading the lane, he says he muddles through most of the time. He can't see the timing board at the end of races either!

I can't see much without my glasses and it really does put you at a disadvantage if you have to do something without them.

My prescription Google's aren't perfect.

Mainly because I didn't want to pay ££££s for them.

I wear them when I take my kids at school swimming.

So I have -3.5s off the shelf.

My actual prescription is

+1.25 - 2.75 -1.50

That's best fit where I can at least tell who's face I'm looking at 😂👀

Ear problems** something to consider - and I've been assured I'm not making this up! But when I have no glasses on and can see fuck all it actually affects my hearing!

So add ear plugs ....... 🧐

Funny story about not seeing the board.

Last year at LAC for British champs ds finally went just under 27 secs for his 50 free.

The board isn't great even for me with my glasses on!

He then did it again in the final.

However .. they get straight out and because he won bronze went straight to interview and medal presentation (which was presented by mark foster so that was a nice surprise!)

Anyway gets it his bit and he says he's pleased he's on the podium with the ilk of swimmers he is and glad he finally went under 27 which he's been working on for ages.

As he walks away with the other swimmers they all are laughing their head off.

Turns out ds said he hoped he did it again in the final or that interview will look weird.

The other 2 swimmers laughed and said said they didn't have a clue either.

Yes the other 2 swimmers were Matt Redfern and Stephen Clegg - VI swimmers 🫣😂😂

We find if we move our board too close so we can all read it with ease it always becomes unreadable with ink runs before we've even finished the warm-up thanks to the splashier swimmers' turns 😏 (sometimes this is a good thing "8 reps of 50 fly FPP? Sorry, I thought it said 6... Oops..." 😂)
Before we started putting the set in a wallet, I just had an old pair of glasses sat on the deck to pop on and read the next bit. I'm in awe that some of you/your DCs just memorise the set before getting in! My short-term memory is terrible these days and even keeping a count of my laps when I'm swimming is a huge undertaking. I'm currently leading my training lane and am hoping I'll get to move up at some point soon, primarily so I'll be at the back and don't have the pressure of counting (and clock watching) any more! For coaching I use pen and paper to tally reps.

Yes, the general rule is if your swimmers are doing the wrong thing or don't understand, that is your failure as a coach/teacher not to adapt to their needs or learning style (or for not putting a rocket up their bum for having their head under the water and missing the instructions in the case of some of our younger swimmers!). That might mean using different phrasing or finding a different way to demonstrate the movement, but also covers if (and how) the set is written down, spoken or even presented in picture form at the earlier Active Start and FUNdamentals end of their journey.

Skanking my ds has a photographic memory. He's probably the exception rather then the norm.

I get that totally! It's like I can't see that someone is talking to turn to the direction the sound is coming from.

This is possibly down to the same phenomenon that means when the coach is talking, you have to take off your goggles to hear them properly? 😂 (And then delay setting off whilst you reposition them...)

Christ - adding earplugs and hormone induced selective hearing into the mix, he might well be doomed...

Not sure what his prescription is - (will need to search in the depths of my bag which everything enters but never leaves) - to see quite how bad it is, but yes, facial recognition is probably the first goal...

Good point!

Good luck to all those at winter nationals this week 🏊‍♂️🏊🏻‍♀️

We’re not that fast. Dd2 is a having a go at the breastroke county times at a level 3 at the weekend. Dd1 is at 2 different birthday parties on Friday and Saturday. She then has arena league next weekend (birthday girl 2 has arranged her party round it as she’s in it too 😂).

Hope everyone’s good and good luck from me too for nationals

I swear I'm a jinx in Sheffield, I'm sick of it always raining here!!!!
Wasn't a great start in today's event, just looked worse because everyone else did massive PBs and he didn't. Oh well, on to tomorrow!

Yeah that was a mad event time wise! Our 14yo made the b final

We aren't there as we did the para one 2 weekends ago.

L3 meet for us too tea. Just LC practice for ds as he's already entered counties. Good luck to DD and I hope she gets her time. And I hope your other DD has a great time at her parties - it's so important they get to do teen stuff at times and just chill!

It's pissing it down here too if it helps?

We are at a level 3 at the weekend. Chasing Regionals times as has all the County times. A lot of his squad are at Scottish Nationals or English Nationals so hopefully his time to shine a little bit.

Oh and it's pissing it down as well.

L3 for us too this weekend. DS not v well so not expecting great things (only a mild cold & he's keen to swim). Looking for more regional times i think.

good luck at Nationals!

I'm enjoying seeing the winter nats updates. Good luck to those with swimmers there!

DD1 also has a L3 this weekend. 2 county times left to collect, improve a few others that are a bit old, and hopefully a medal or 2 with a bit of luck. Our last meet of the year 🥳
Checking the weather forecast for the next few days, I'm not complaining it's a meet weekend!

Checking the weather forecast for the next few days, I'm not complaining it's a meet weekend!

I went to car during training last to get a bottle of water - came back and said "it's days like this I'm glad da chose swimming" 😂

I had masses of empathy for those athletes on the track and their parents!

Swimming pools might get a bit warm, certainly was yesterday, but I prefer that to slinging rain and howling winds by a track or football/rugby pitch!