Spotlighting Good Practice, Embedding Skills
Sports science and youth psychology has proven that by focusing on positive reinforcement, we can embed great motor skills and long-term habits. That is exactly why Squad 3 spent Sunday’s session “catching swimmers being good” to lock in their technical progress.
Squad 3 ran through the session written for the National Youth Development Programme, which Coach Rachel delivered on Saturday in Loughborough, reflecting the additional opportunity offered by the CDP in supporting local athletes who are keen to continue to improve. The skill expectations were equally high, with attention directed to stroke counts, consistent underwater (UW) phases, breakouts across all four strokes, and medley turns. Coaches were encouraged to “catch ’em being good”, giving plenty of positives to affirm the athletes’ progress.
Squad 2 worked hard on two distinct test sets focused on underwater efficiency and dive-and-glide drills, which were filmed from both above and below the water. However, the main session targeted butterfly technique, specifically improving undulations and underwater pull patterns. It was wonderful to see the swimmers taking ownership of their learning, implementing technique tweaks, and demonstrating real progress in their form.
Squad 1 had a fantastic second session exploring streamline challenges on both our fronts and backs, reinforcing the key message that a straight line is a fast line. We focused on stroke technique using BLABT (Body, Legs, Arms, Breathing and timing), always starting with body position. Ducks found new homes with swimmers who demonstrated an open mindset, embraced feedback and showed a real willingness to learn and improve.
Our Young Coaches continued to impress, sharing their passion for swimming and motivating swimmers through positive feedback and encouragement to develop their skills and improve.
Squad 1 hosted a special guest on Sunday, Ian Angell, Head Coach at Yeovil and IOS tutor who conducted the first of two practical assessments for our young volunteer Assistant Coach trainees. Ian reported that each of the trainees did ‘really well!” with great interactions with the swimmers – well done everyone!
One of the most rewarding parts of the CDP is seeing a group of strangers gel into a cohesive team, learning from each other and building strong connections right across the county. As Deputy Head Coach Ivor put it:
“I’ve really enjoyed my first two sessions with the CDP and managed to get completely soaked during session 2 while dive filming – such fun.
The enthusiasm and willingness of the swimmers to learn is infectious! One of the most rewarding parts of coaching is seeing swimmers take feedback on board, put it into practice in the pool and start to see the improvements for themselves – almost like a lightbulb moment. Seeing all those lights shine, you can imagine how bright it is! It’s great to see them having fun, enjoying their swimming and building confidence.
Working alongside Maria and the other coaches has been a fantastic opportunity to share ideas and learn from each other.
For me, that’s what makes the CDP so special: we’re all learning and developing together.”
Stand by for news of an additional ‘Added Value’ session for swimmers, inspired by feedback from one of our returning swimmers and an Assistant Coach course graduate…
Thanks go to this lovely lot: Charlene A (Keynsham), David C (Wells), Clare C (Clevedon), Paul C (Frome), Jenny E (ANT), Lee H (Clevedon), Nic Hathaway (Keynsham), Sean O (Bridgwater), and of course a HUGE thank you to Kelly P who ran the session in my absence – a Somerset Legend!
13th October 2026
Developing Swimmers, Developing Coaches: CDP 2026/27 is underway!
The 2026/27 County Development Programme got off to a fantastic start on Sunday, with swimmers from across the county coming together for the programme’s first successful session. The session provided an exciting opportunity for swimmers to train together, practise skills and experience a new level of county-wide provision.
Alongside the launch of the CDP, eight young people aged 16–18 from six different county clubs began their Level 1 Assistant Coach qualification. This unique and SASA subsidised programme gives trainees the opportunity to develop their coaching skills supported by experienced coaches throughout their journey. Bringing together young people from across the county, the programme is an exciting investment in the next generation of swimming coaches and aims to help them build confidence, knowledge and practical coaching experience.
Ahead of the swimmers’ arrival, coaches took part in a dedicated training session focused on effective pre-pool preparation with Millfield’s Coach Development Lead, Alice Gouldby, assisted by Millfield alumna Tilly Collymore, who has represented Grenada at the Olympics and most recently at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Coaches explored how purposeful pre-pool can help swimmers prepare their bodies and minds for training, while developing their understanding of how to deliver engaging, effective activities. The coaches then took these ideas straight onto poolside, putting their learning into practice, with Alice and Tilly offering further pointers and support.
SQUAD 1 “It was a joy to see the confidence, enthusiasm and passion of our young coaches as they shared their love of swimming with our new squad. Their encouragement and energy created a really positive environment for everyone. We also had 8 ducks find new homes! 🦆 These were awarded to swimmers who demonstrated a positive mindset, perseverance and a willingness to keep working on their skills—even when they found them challenging. It was brilliant to see swimmers embracing the idea that progress comes from having a go and not giving up. Our test set focused on the underwater phase and feet passing the flags. The results were mixed, highlighting some great results as well as areas for our swimmers to continue practising and developing. A fantastic start to the pathway, with plenty of enthusiasm, positive attitudes and opportunities to keep improving! The swimmers’ process goals highlighted the importance of turns and underwater work. Remember a straight line is a fast line! 🌟” Head Coach Pat
SQUAD 2: “It was lovely to welcome Squad 2 to poolside on Sunday for our first session together. We began with a warm-up focusing on freestyle stroke length before moving into our test sets, which looked at underwater discipline and a dive-and-glide to 10m. These provided a useful benchmark as we start the season and highlighted areas for future development. The session concluded with front crawl technical work, with a particular focus on head and body position in the water, as well as effective pull patterns. To finish, we challenged each swimmer to identify one skill or technical point that they are committed to continuing to work on within their home programmes. Developing this awareness and ownership of their swimming is an important part of long-term progress, and we look forward to hearing how they get on over the next few weeks.” Head Coach Maria
SQUAD 3: “We welcomed Squad 3 to the 2026-27 season with a range of information gathering sets: We started with a skilful warm up, recording stroke counts and UW kick discipline. We recorded dive & glides to 10m, looking both at speed (times) and technique (UW camera). We moved on to pure speed development, with some timed 25s and finished with some fun / interesting / different drills across all 4 strokes.” Head Coach Rachel
Thanks to everyone who worked so hard over the summer to get this programme off the ground and to our Team Manager team: Charlene A (Keynsham), Natalie A (Clevedon), Amy B (Taunton Deane), David C (Wells), Clare C (Clevedon), Paul C (Frome), Jo D (Team Bath), Lee H (Clevedon), Richard H (Keynsham), Claire J (Backwell), Richard M (Yeovil), Andy M (WSC) and Alan O (Clevedon) – we (literally) cannot do it without you!
29th September 2026