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Information for new Members

This information has been produced to try to clarify, for the benefit of new members, some of the matters regarding the Club.

The management committee of the club is made up entirely of volunteers who give their time freely. The coaching staff are all qualified teachers or coaches and are all paid by the club. The squads are structured to ensure that a swimmer trains with other swimmers of similar ability and provides a clearly defined pathway for all swimmers to achieve their full potential. Squad movement is at the discretion of the coaches.

The starting point for most swimmers is with a ‘D’ squad at either Wath, Maltby or Aston. Swimmers in ‘D’ squad train for between 3 and 4 hours spread across up to 4 sessions and progress to ‘C’ squad at the same pool. The ‘C’ squads train for similar hours to ‘D’ squads but the training is more about stamina rather than technique. Once a swimmer is ready to move to ‘B’ squad they will have mastered all four strokes and will have the commitment to train for around 7 hours per week. The final goal is ‘A’ squad where the swimmer will be expected to train for 5/6 sessions per week covering up to 40,000 metres per week.

We also offer a ‘Senior’ squad for ‘B’ and ‘C’ squad swimmers who do not want, or can’t cope with, the rigors of ‘A’ squad training. There is an opportunity for Senior squad swimmers to move into ‘A’ squad if they are late developers.

Swimmers are expected to enter galas and the training is structured towards this, we are a competitive swimming club. There are several levels of competition from local friendly galas right up to National level. Individual galas start with graded galas, these have ‘not faster than’ times and are normally aimed at swimmers below County level although some ‘B’ grade galas have cut off times which Yorkshire qualifiers can enter, these graded galas are sometimes referred to as Level 2 (times count for District and National qualifying times) or Level 3 (times count for County and District qualifying times) galas. Level 1 galas are for swimmers aiming to get National qualifying times and are the top level individual galas outside Championships.

For team galas, the club will select swimmers of the relevant level, it must be emphasised that the Club’s Committee does not have any direct responsibility for team selections and any queries on team selections should be discussed with the Head Coach. Championship galas start at County level (Yorkshires) then move on to District (North East Region) and finally Nationals. All these championships have qualifying times which must have been achieved at relevant individual galas. The function of the Committee is to provide the administration back-up to ensure that galas at various levels are organised to provide the necessary competitive swimming, to ensure that there are sufficient qualified officials and there is appropriate supervision for swimmers when they are taking part in various galas. The Committee is also responsible for providing transport to some away team galas if necessary, and to organise overseas visits to clubs on an exchange basis to give our swimmers the opportunity to compete against swimmers in other countries.

There is a Club Notice board at every pool which you should check regularly for gala details, team selections and other information. Maltby is the main notice board where all information is listed. Sunday morning training sessions are available for all swimmers at Maltby and usually there are Committee members available. At your own pool, there are liaison officers who can help.

Hopefully, this has made matters a little clearer to you with regard to the swimming set up in Rotherham. Elsewhere, some points of a more practical nature are mentioned, which we hope you will find helpful. Whilst we have tried to cover most of the things you will want to know, it is impossible to cover absolutely everything, so do not be afraid to ask.

Click on the following link for a copy of the club handbook in Adobe Acrobat format.