Practices:
Practice is important and our practices focus on introducing and developing the 4 main competitive strokes for speed swimming.
Freestyle – Backstroke – Breaststroke – Butterfly.
Starts and turns are also an important component of a swim competition and our coaches work to improve these skills.
Our practices typically combine dry land training and practice and training in the pool.
Skimmers practice on Mondays and Wednesdays between September and June.
Equipment:
Below is a list of equipment used by our competitive swimmers. Each swimmer is required to have their own equipment.
- Goggles: Protect swimmers eyes from chlorine and provide a clear view of of surroundings in the pool. Variety of styles and colours available depending on the preference of the swimmer.
- Caps: Caps are designed to keep hair out of a swimmer’s face and goggles. Available from the club.
- Practice/Competition Suit: There are variety of suits available for both practice and competitions in a variety of brands and styles. Suits can make a significant difference in a swimmer’s performance.
- Swim Bag: A large “water-friendly” bag is often used by swimmers to hold their equipment. A good swim bag allows swimmers to carry everything they need for a practice or competition while separating dry and wet items.
- Flutter board, pull buoy, front speed swimming snorkel, flippers and mesh bag will also be required this year.
If you are looking to buy swimming gear and equipment, you can check out:
The Four Strokes:
The four competitive swimming strokes are freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. The combination of all four strokes is called individual medley.
In freestyle events, the competitor may swim any stroke. The stroke most commonly used is the front crawl.
The individual medley, commonly referred to as the I.M., features all four strokes. In the IM, the swimmer begins with the butterfly, then changes after one-fourth of the race to backstroke, then breaststroke and finally freestyle.