Para-swimmers invited to join 'exciting' National Engagement Day

Club para-swimmers are being invited to enjoy an ‘exciting’ day of free activities and workshops hosted virtually by the Swim England Para-swimming Talent Team.

The National Para-Swimming Engagement Day, which will be delivered on Sunday February 7 via Zoom, is designed for athletes, coaches and parents and will provide invaluable information, with a focus on the technical pillar of athlete development.

The day will be split into three parts, starting with the athlete portion in the morning – which coaches are welcome to observe – and move into the club administrator and coach sections in the afternoon.

Athletes will enjoy a 60-minute live workout led by ex-Paralympic GB swimmer David Hill.

This will be followed by two technical workshops on stroke development and the swimmer’s underwater phase, including starts and turns.

The afternoon sessions will feature a talk by Martin Lees, Swim England’s para-swimming development manager, on club opportunities, the wider development of para-swimming and how clubs can get involved.

Tom McManus, Swim England para-swimming talent coach, will be delivering a coaching workshop on how to develop physical literacy in para-swimmers.

‘Enjoyable and informative’

Martin said: “The Swim England Para-Swimming Talent team are really excited to be delivering another Engagement Day to the para-swimming community.

“The first of these events was held in mid-December last year and proved to be extremely successful among our members.

“Days like this ensure that we can not only keep athletes, parents and coaches engaged in their sport during lockdown but also equip them with the tools needed to further their development.”

Martin added that the day is designed to be ‘fun for all taking part’.

He said: “We want this to be an enjoyable yet informative day for everyone taking part.

“After our first Engagement Day, we received some fantastic feedback from attendees which shows just how beneficial an event like this can be.”

The day is for:

• Athletes who attend Regional Para-Swimming Training in their region
• All classified athletes and those on the classification waiting list who would like to develop their swimming further
• Category 2 members who have an eligible para-swimming impairment or hearing impairment and would like to learn more about para-swimming, or development /competitive opportunities
• Coaches who would like to gain a greater knowledge of para-swimming and the support available to them and to athletes
• Club administrators, exploring ways of developing para-swimming within their club environment.

This day is not open to athletes on the Swim England or British Para-Swimming Talent Programme and all athletes under the age of 16 should be accompanied by an adult throughout.

Upon completing the day, a digital certificate marking your attendance will be issued shortly afterwards.

To book a place click here or email paratalent@swimming.org.