Poolside chat- continues here 😁

[Glittertwins]

Did I get this done right??

We went back to full hours last week. The gym killed him 😆
He had been swimming in public sessions as well as a little every day whilst on holiday so it could have been a lot worse.

back to swim for us properly now after summer break ended up being a month off because a family holiday followed by summer pool break. He said LC training was very hard. But he is v proud to be selected for inter counties so that's exciting. Lots going on, feel a bit like we're out growing out club. He is too fast for all the Meets the club is going to this side of xmas (level 3) so we've entered a couple as individuals at Level 2. But he's happy, and gets good results so we'll stick with it.

He’s 21!!! He actually didn’t start club swimming until he was 12 and only did 2 sessions a week then.
he’s currently in the national squad but there’s a youth squad and masters for over 18’s for swimmers who don’t want to train such a heavy programme but still want to compete at meets etc.

Well done for inter counties selection. We usually have a few swimmers selected and they have an amazing time.

You may need a bigger club? Ours have some squads doing level 3 meets but our national squad will be doing level 2, winter regionals and nationals as a club.

Theres an increase in dual clubbing with home club and performance/city clubs so you may find that’s available for you?

They tend to train at both clubs on an agreed programme and will travel with and compete under the bigger club as part of the team.

That’s great @itsgettingweirdI swim with masters when I can! @StrawberryThief1930how old is yours - how do you enter as an individual?

Just go the club web page for the meet entries. There is always a way for individual entries to be done although you may have to pay an extra admin fee.

13 years.

yes on the Meet pack there is info on individual entries.

check the conditions though as your swimmer might not be allowed if unaccompanied and if you have TM credentials, you will need to pay for a poolside pass. Parents are not allowed past the turnstiles at our meets if they do not have full accreditation.
A 9 yr old is too young to be swimming off club calendar meets in my opinion though. It’s doubtful that they’d be able to enter an L2 meet as they require minimum entry times.

I am finding an increase in clubs not accepting individual entries.

i have often wondered if it’s the same for over 18’s as they don’t need a coach/TM under wave power rules? Glitter you probably know the answer to this?

I’ve been okay with selected meets as an individual when the club hasn’t done them (but has in the past if you know what I mean). The number of adults now required on poolside for under 18s is now ridiculous and there simply isn’t space. I would not be at all surprised if individual entries were being reduced due to these ratios.

Yes it’s because if the ratios. We use to accept loads of individual entries to Easter meet but we can no longer support this.

Bit I’m wondering if individual entries for over 18’s would be different because they don’t need a coach/TM?

I know for para meets most are individual as many clubs (like us!) send one swimmer. And many para swimmers have chaperones anyway and/or the parents become TMs to be able to support poolside.

i do have full TM accreditation and he's 13, not 9. It's our first solo meet and my club suggested we enter. Hopefully we are accepted as im not sure what else we do (apart from swim with a second club and compete with them?). We'll have to wait and see how it goes.

Some meets still accept individual entries. If conditions allow it you should be ok aside from over subscribing requiring scratches.

Our difficulty is we are a big club and so can have 60/70 swimmers at some of our meets and cannot accommodate more because of meeting our own ratios. And we can’t often get more TMs because those parents are officials.

Somebody else asked how to do individual meets and their swimmer is 9, that’s who I was referring to

That sounds really positive.

It’s funny how change can have such a wide variety of effects on people. Sounds like it may be a good thing for your swimmer so exciting times ahead!

Thanks @Glittertwinsit was me. How do you get to be a team manager? Do you have to pay? How much?

Your club may send out comms from your Swim England region or you could look directly at their website. I think TM 1 is now online (mine was pre Covid so in person for an evening). I can’t remember how much it is, it’s not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things.
You will also need DBS via your swim club and a Swim England safeguarding certificate as it’s no longer enough to use any professional setting such as for teaching. Contact your club welfare officer as they will submit the application ready for you to fill out.
TM is indefinite but safeguarding and DBS have to be renewed in order to get poolside accreditation. It’s a right pain, my last DBS got massively held up at the police check stage and it only just got back in time for a meet I needed it for and I now need to renew it coming soon :(

Thanks @Glittertwinsthats useful - how often does it need to be renewed (sorry for all the questions)?

DBS is every 3 years. I think safeguarding is as well. Mine is out of step as the safeguarding was put on hold / extended in 2020-21.

Thanks @Glittertwinsthat's really helpful thank you

Mine was hit and miss for British summers.

I had to re do mine from poolside helper to get the chaperone pass.

Also got stuck at police check stage for ages. The last 3 of mine have - one took 10 months 🤦🏼‍♀️ 2 of them were going through at the same time for different places.

It’s such a nuisance because in my case I need it and how far in advance is realistic to do it?!

And the biggest bug bear of mine is having to re do SE safeguarding that’s in no way comparable to the safeguarding I do for my job! Plus I need the dbs to support my own adult swimmer!

Rules are rules and I’m glad SE are upping their safeguarding game - doesn’t make it less annoying though 🤷‍♀️😂

ah @Glittertwins thats makes more sense!

@rainycoldboo on the TM DBS thingy, you need an enhanced one for TM rather than standard for Poolside Helper. I didn't realise this when i first did it as i assumed the poolside DBS was enough.

Thanks @StrawberryThief1930- I don’t have either atm. And you have to be a TM to take a 9 year old to a gala as an individual swimmer?

A 9 yr old should not be unaccompanied on a poolside, away from their club coaches. I very much doubt a solo entry would be accepted if there was no adult poolside. 9 yrs old is too young to be swimming at meets without club support.