Dear Members,

The Sundays Well Swimming Club Committee is working proactively to re-establish all club activities as quickly as possible in compliance with Government regulations and with the support and guidance of Swim Ireland.

I’m pleased to let you know that we have taken the first steps towards getting back in the water. Our senior competitive squad will start sessions in a specially constructed open water pool at Cork Powerboat and Waterski Club on Inniscarra Lake on 11 June, we expect to resume limited pool sessions on 29 June and this will continue over the summer. We expect to be able to offer pool access to our Masters swimmers from 6 July. We will continue the zoom based fitness and fun sessions with the intermediate and junior squads until late June and will then break for the summer returning to the pool in late August. And we are working towards resuming our learn to swim sessions in September. 

All sessions will run in strict compliance with Government and Swim Ireland guidelines on social distancing and this will affect pool capacity, training routines, use of changing and shower facilities, entry to and exit from the pool and travel to and from the pool. And we will require extra support from parents to ensure the health and safety of swimmers and their families.

Further details will be communicated through coaches as they become available.

As you know the situation is evolving. The Club Committee is reviewing the situation daily and will make further decisions as necessary and communicate updates regularly on our Club Website and WhatsApp channels.

Swim Ireland have introduced a number of initiatives to support Clubs including a range of online courses and forums for committee members, coaches, volunteers, parents and swimmers. We’d encourage you to take advantage as relevant https://www.swimireland.ie/news/launch-online-training-schedule 

And Swim Ireland publish regular updates on the Return to Water programme at https://www.swimireland.ie/ that are also very valuable.

Thanks to coaches for adapting so positively to the situation in recent months, to swimmers for engaging with such enthusiasm and fun and to parents for your support and patience. 

We will no doubt face further challenges in the months ahead as we strive to support as many swimmers as possible with the constraints we face.

If you have any questions or can help in any way, feel free to contact your Coach, the Children’s Club Officer or Secretary as appropriate.

Stay safe and well.

Yours Sincerely,

Dear Members,

It goes without saying that we are living in challenging times due to the COVID-19 virus and associated Government restrictions.

The Sundays Well Swimming Club Committee is actively working on the Club’s response with the support and guidance of Swim Ireland.

Sundays Well Swimming Club has a strong family and community ethos. First and foremost, it is our priority that all our members: swimmers, coaches, volunteers and parents, continue to stay connected to, to engage with and to be supported by the Club.

We are introducing online sessions to connect and engage our swimmers and coaches, we continue to monitor Government, HSE and Swim Ireland announcements and to adapt our activities as appropriate and we communicate updates regularly on our Club Website and WhatsApp channels.

Swim Ireland have introduced a number of initiatives to support Clubs including a range of online courses and forums for committee members, coaches, volunteers, parents and swimmers. We’d encourage you take advantage as relevant. (You can do so by clicking here)

And Swim Ireland publish regular news updates at swimireland.ie that are also very valuable.

The Club Committee will review the situation as it evolves, make decisions as necessary and communicate updates regularly.

And we look forward to quickly returning to full activity as restrictions are lifted.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact your Coach, the Children’s Club Officer or Club Secretary as appropriate.

Stay safe and well.

Yours Sincerely,

Eamon Curtin

Chair

SWSC Committee

Plan your time

These are strange times. Everything including swimming has stopped to protect the more vulnerable people in the community. Normally your time is very organised with school or college, and for most older swimmers in SWSC, at least one two-hour session each day. Your schools or colleges are doing a lot of online teaching and assessment, but what about the missing swimming? I would urge that you plan your days and weeks. You must take over the organisation of your time. With a plan in place you’ll find you feel a lot better! The first thing to list is when you’ll get up, your mealtimes and when you’ll go to bed. Try to keep these constant from day to day. Next-how many hours each weekday you are going to devote to academic activities. Read the stuff you were going to get in lessons or lectures. Paradoxically, you may make better progress than when you are actually in school or college.

In terms of swimming- what can you do? Here I’m going to talk in general. Richard and his coaching team, with help from some of the senior swimmers, will be sending you the details of exercise regimes. While obviously you will be missing out on developing specific pool fitness, you can keep up general aerobic fitness by running or cycling for about 30minutes a day. Cycling is particularly good for breast strokers. The Russians insist that their top breast strokers cycle everywhere. You may have access to exercise bikes or threadmills, and these can also be built into fitness training and substitute for outside activities when it’s pouring with rain.

Also don’t forget to walk in the open air. You’ll sleep much better. While you not in the pool you will also need less food, probably about 30% less (and resist the urge to snack!). In this way you will have retained some basic aerobic fitness during this layoff and be quickly able to regain water fitness when you are able to get back to training. So far we have been talking about minimising losses but there are certain things that you can improve on compared with normal times. These relate to power (fast strength or explosiveness) and flexibility, and these can be improved with good land programmes. You never have enough time for these you’re in the water, so now is your chance.

Increased power means better starts and turns! Assess the equipment available to you-barbels, dumbells, weight machines, rubber pulleys, Mini Gyms, even swim benches. Most modern S & C coaches feel that pulleys and swim benches are redundant if you’re doing enough water work (not sure I agree) but they are ideal in the present circumstances because you can accurately mimic swimming actions. If none of these aids are available to you, you can use body weight as Richard and his team will demonstrate, and as you will see from Paul Talty of Swim Ireland and many other web sources. There are also many effective flexibility exercises that you can do. Your aim should be to finish this lockdown period more powerful and flexible than ever. Do a series of exercises every day and be patient. You will see the results in a few weeks. And remember, if you go too hard you will end up sore and disillusioned, so build up gradually.

So much for your swimming body. You can also work on your swimming mind! Watch the daily GoSwim videos (you also have free access to all the previous videos at present). Don’t necessarily accept all you see. Be analytical. Ask-“would that work for me”? Also have a think about the various aspects of your technique on all strokes-starts, turns, finishes, UW and surface swimming. Do you know exactly what you are trying to do? How might you improve? This is called mind modelling. Finally, did you know that you are probably addicted to swimming because of all the training, and feel less good when you are out of the water. I know I still love swimming a few times each week and miss it. Just be aware of this and try to counter it by organising to fill your days!

Tom Cross, SWSC President