Poolside chat- continues here 😁

[Glittertwins]

Did I get this done right??

Campervans are far more expensive overall. Much more expensive to buy and insure, plus the additional costs of servicing, MOT etc. Then there is the added cost/PITA that your living quarters need packing down every day to drive anywhere or you bring another vehicle with all the associated costs of that. IMO you need to be using it most weekends to make it a cost-effective option. DH is obsessed with the idea of owning one, so we ran the figures on it and it just wasn't worth it, even as regular campers.

Yes weird , that's understandable (and frustrating!) that your options are really limited. It's a disability tax. I wonder if SE would be able to negotiate a discount for suitable rooms at nearby hotels for their paraswimmers in exchange for a bit of publicity - it would comfortably feed into SE policy to drive greater inclusivity in the sport, and be good for the hotel's brand image.

Oh and DD got invited on the overseas training camp for the first time this year as she's now old enough. It's cripplingly expensive although probably reasonable value for what it is. All her friends are going so we've agreed to it, although grandparents are helping out. I will also need to take DS away for a couple of days to be fair. And the county hoodie, and the regional hoodie and new snorkels for both of them. Never ending!

Oooh, where is she going?
Mine balances out with the other one’s overseas school trips. Still not cheap

Thank goodness any camps DS has been on overseas and in the UK actually have been with SE or AGB so a few hundred max cost.

She's going to Crete. Looks really great but we've had to dig deep for it.

The initial cost never seems too bad, then there are the flights to pay for

Just wait until they start Uni swimming. Then you have the cost of the Uni kit, club fees, plus the likes BUCs entries (if they're not a scholar), plus the hotel and transport costs. Oh and they still want to enter things like Counties, Regionals and Open Meets!!! DS is a a member of the Uni squad, the City Squad and his home squad, so that's 3 lots of fees and club kit! the City squad try to insist on all Arena kit for meets including his bag, but so far he's got away with that one!

away students at our club pay a nominal tiny amount and the preferred university’s fees are cheaper than current club fees so far. Still got to get there and as the username suggests, we’ve got 2 at the same time to pay for!

Yes we charge a nominal fee for uni swimmers for whom we were the home club and they swim with us during holidays. We do the same for those who board away during term time at senior school.

We then have uni students at city uni who join our squads and swim with us during uni time and afaik we charge them full fees. I assume they retain their home club too except the few we have who are international students and tend to remain with us all year on the whole.

Yes, no discounts now for uni swimmers who train with us full time either.

British champ programme is now out and we are in! @itsgettingweird- we shall see you in the same event!!

Yay for being in.

they’ve accepted all entries and I had an email to say session times have changed due to more swimmers - which made me giggle - like I had any memory of what they were advertised as when I booked!

yours is a little bit further up the list than mine is 😂😂😂

On the subject of club fees. I pay £59 a month for 5 hours a week. But he is getting to the stage where i don't think it is enough training (there is no land training). He has regionals coming up.

I am creeping into spending lots on hotels too. luckily i'm TM so avoid spectator fees. We're not at National level so haven't encountered all that yet.

i love reading this thread and seeing what everyone is up to/qualifying for. We don't have this level of swimming in our club so it's interesting to read. I think we will be targeting National level next year, assuming he keeps climbing ranks - its the 200m events he needs to swim. I'm learning more every day!

If he’s at the young end of the age groups where nationals qualifying is currently via 200s, he’s wouldn’t be doing gym work at our club. How is his flexibility? He could work on that safely at home.

Ours start land training from 9/10 in younger squads but it’s very much aerobic work rather than any weight training or gym exercises.

and that is for the reason of you are targeting nationals and having to swim 200+ m you need aerobic work and good technique!

out older swimmers aren’t even allowed to race 50’s unless that national age until regionals

I meant they get told not to race them in meets earlier on in the season iyswim?

Yes, our coach discourages specialising (ie “I’m a sprinter”) until late teens too.

I believe that’s the rationale for SE and AGB changing the nationals criteria?

my DS still swims 50/100/400 free.

He is a much better sprinter than mid distance because of how the disability being in his legs affects him over a longer distance. But he’s never stopped swimming it and continues to race 100m fly and back throughout it the season too despite not being competitive on them at all!!!!

(although I admit despite not being the strongest at 400m free he’s still achieved well in it!)

Yes, I think I read that as the case. But I do think 200s is going a bit far!

Thank god 200m isn’t a distance for S9’s.

Ive over known ds be able to “sprint” a 200m free quicker than the 200m split in his 400 free 🤦🏼‍♀️🤷‍♀️😂 (even in the same weekend at the same meet 🙄)

It’s a constant source of amusement 😆

NEVER known that should say!

We pay £82 a month for up to 8sc sessions and 1lc plus 1 land training. Dd does 6-7 sessions a week.
meet fees are about 30-35 a month (during race season).
it’s not a cheap sport but it’s good value for money.

That’s excellent value for 9 sessions.

ds has 9 sessions (all 2 hrs) and 3 S and C for £150.

We don’t race every month but it’s a lot more than £30 when we do 🙄🫣

£85 a month for 7 hours a week (across 4 sessions), and 1 hour land training. It is good value for money per hour.

We’re a bit more money than itsgettingweird, our pool hire is exorbitant. I spent more than £30 on just 2 races at one meet which we’re now pulling out of.