Dear Swimmers
Hope you have all enjoyed a great week - I've certainly loved being back on the pool deck and cracking the whip again! ;-) It's always so refreshing for me to go away and do some coaching at other venues around the world and then to come back in fresh with new ideas and prepped for the season ahead - I am very lucky to have your support and encouragement in these pursuits! Thank you.
1-2-1 Video Analysis & Stroke Correction Sessions:
I have had many enquiries this week about our very popular 1-2-1 Video Analysis and Stroke Correction sessions (see:
http://swimsmooth.com/perth_videoanalysis.html) for those contemplating a Rottnest Channel swim or for gift ideas for friends and family members this season. I just wanted to inform you that we currently have a
13 week waiting period before the next available session and
only nine remaining sessions before the Christmas break. This is an unprecedented level of interest which I have to admit I'm struggling to keep up with the demand for!
If you would like to reserve a place in one of the nine available December sessions (we have ~10-12 slots available per week typically for these sessions), please do so by completing the form at the link above.
Whilst we do occasionally get cancellations for these sessions, it is very unlikely that for those of you training for either the Anaconda or Busselton Ironman events that we'd be able to slot you in before these events - sorry! I just wish there were more hours in the day and space at the pool!
Squad enquiries:
Further to this, we have had an incredible 74 independent enquiries now for new swimmers and triathletes seeking to join one or more of the various 12 x weekly main squad sessions at Claremont Pool, which is enough interest to start two entirely new squads! What's more, this has all been within just the last month whilst I've been away in the UK - just incredible. Whilst this is obviously great to see the increasing level of interest within the squad and swimming as a whole, we are already pretty much at capacity with respect to what we can take onboard this season at Claremont Pool.
I'm a bit miffed as to where the sudden interest has built from, but I have to say my first guess is due to the recent marine life movements out there in the ocean and am a little concerned at this stage about how this will affect people's preparations for things like the Rottnest Channel Swim this year...I know personally I'm not keen at all in swimming in the ocean right now!
In the next fortnight I will be sending out an expression of interest form for which sessions you plan to attend over the summer period, with priority (as always) given to those members of the squad who have trained consistently and diligently with us year-round.
As I've mentioned previously, the PAYG card system works very well for you the swimmer as it gives you greater flexibility and that you're not paying for sessions that you don't attend...however, it is imperative (and somewhat tricky!) to ensure that we keep the squads running as smoothly as possible, and as such I'm always looking at better ways in which we can run things.
As it stands at this point in time, we cannot get anymore lane space at Claremont Pool, thus I am now looking at the feasibility of approaching other local (and not so local) pools to potentially establish "mirror" squads at alternative venues with the assistance of the fantastic coaches who looked after you all very well indeed in my absence last month. I'll keep you posted on this, but by all means if you have any ideas or suggestions, then please do let me know!
I'm very keen to not spread myself too thin (as personally I am very happy with my current workload) and will always seek to support the squad members (you!) who have supported me over the years with your attendance and have helped us grow to this level. What I see this seemingly sudden rise in interest as generating though are positions for other passionate coaches like myself to continue to grow the sport of adult swimming here in Western Australia, and that can only be a good thing! Through our work in the last 2 years with British Triathlon and re-writing their entire swim coaching curriculum for Levels 1, 2 and 3, I have a huge passion for Coach Education and nothing would make me happier than if we can bring a little slice of that over here to Perth where Swim Smooth all started.
Of course, my ultimate dream is to have my own 10 lane 50m pool right on Cottesloe Beach complete with palm trees and landscaped gardens, but I think I'm at least four lifetimes and probably about $10m (or one Powerball!) away from that one...alas, I can but dream! ;-)
Thanks for your attention, have a great weekend and hope to see some of you at the pool this afternoon for our super-fun 1pm Saturday session!
Cheers
Paul
