Head Coach : A look back on a fantastic 22/23 season....
A look back on a fantastic 22/23 season....:
What a season! But before I recap on the year, I firstly want to recognise the huge amount of hard work, the teamwork and leadership shown by our group of senior swimmers in the Performance and Competitive squads. Coming into this season they had been through such a tough 3 years - not just 2years of Covid lockdowns but also a 1year pool closure in 2019 during which they stuck together, focused on land training and persevered. Their hard work in training is impressive in itself, but when you add that every single one of them is either a coach, poolside assistant, lifeguard or Splash Night organiser - its that teamwork and support for our younger swimmers that has had the biggest single impact on our recent success.
A quick summary of the season...:
- Our first ever double promotion! 2nd in Peanuts following that fabulous win in Herts Major League sweeping every round, and a brilliant B team beating 3 A teams from other clubs
- A very strong Counties23 with a 50% jump in our entrants, and then a massive 124 PBs in 200 races, 41 finals/top8, and 12 medals - our relay teams then really stood out with 16 B teams and an unprecedented 7 relay club records
- 4 brilliant Regional qualifiers - massive well done to Evie, Miabelle, Evan and Bella!
....Coming Soon in 23/24 (Draft Competition Plan below)
Our challenges as a team will come thick and fast as soon as everyone goes back to school in September;
- Herts Aquatic meet on Sep 9th, a great chance to qualify early for Counties24
- Our first licensed Club Champs on Oct 1st in many years!
- National Arena League on Oct 14th - our fastest ~30 swimmers will be selected across 4 age groups, so train hard now to get on the team coach!!
- Counties24 - we are well on our way to achieving our biggest ever Counties entry, a huge achievement for every swimmer - lots of swimmers in Academy also have a chance to qualify by December so please look out for licensed meet invitations soon!
- Herts Major/Peanuts24 - double promotion gives us a double challenge to survive, and thrive in Division 1 - as a smaller club we need every single swimmer to be available and to push for selection and this year we are hugely optimistic as we build to the challenge....
....and in August:
After such a successful and hectic season its really important to have a break with family, to relax and forget swimming for a couple of weeks. But also important to keep active, keep fit, and then to train in the pool as normal for the rest of summer. Training will impact your racing in ~8-12 weeks time and so August is a key month to prepare for Club Champs, Arena League etc.
We also plan to announce a series of squad promotions by the end of August to set all squads up for the new school term - to that end we plan a mini "assessment" in August to review skills, stroke technique and to review goals for the new season. No actions needed - the coaching team will simply observe swimmers in training and assess to ensure everyone is in the appropriate squad
Well done again to everyone for such a wonderful season - as a club we are flying and have huge momentum, and we see no limits to what every single swimmer can achieve in the new season
Johnny
Teamwork, Skills, Compete
