'Interactive and engaging' DiSE workshops deemed a 'great success'

An ‘interactive and engaging’ DiSE workshop has been deemed a ‘great success’ after athletes from all aquatic disciplines came together for a number of educational sessions.

Two workshops took place in Bath and Manchester in late November and were centred around injury prevention, physical recovery and doping control.

The athletes, who are from years one and two of the DiSE programme, enjoyed an educational session that featured elements delivered by physio Gill Edmondson and Swim England’s sports science and medicine manager, Diane Elliott.

Mick Edmond, Swim England DiSE Assessor, said the workshops provided a great ‘learning opportunity’ for the athletes.

“This workshop was a great success and provided athletes with an opportunity to learn from and share with other aquatic disciplines to help improve their knowledge and understanding”, he said.

“Athletes were able to work collectively to discuss the impact injuries play and shared their views on both the physical and psychological impact of these injuries.

“They shared their views on both the physical and psychological impact of injuries and how they react over the short, medium and long term phases of recovery, with a real emphasis being placed on the individual and how each person is different.”

‘Valuable insight’

Paula West, Swim England DiSE assessor manager, added: “It was great to see the athletes face-to-face and interacting in a variety of activities.

“The workshops gave athletes access to sports science and medicine practitioners which gave them valuable insight and knowledge into a variety of topics which they can now apply to their disciplines.”

The athletes received a ‘100% me’ talk which is a UK Anti-Doping programme explaining the values of clean sport.

They also experience a mock testing procedure to introduce them to what a realistic doping test would be like.

Edmondson contributed to the workshops and said: “It was really fantastic to lead a session on injury prevention and recovery strategies as part of the DiSE programme.

“Educating them on how to be aware of what they can do to minimise the risk of injury, prepare their bodies for their training sessions and how to recover to be in the best condition for the next session gives them valuable tools to maximise their potential and develop as athletes.

“The athletes were very engaged in the session and hopefully, all took something away.”

About DiSE

The Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) is an industry-leading, two-year programme that aims to harmoniously combine the studies and high-performance training of athletes across each aquatic sport.

The programmes’ extensive alumni include many inspirational athletes such as Adam Peaty, Rebecca Adlington, Alice Dearing and Jessica-Jane Applegate.

You can find out more about this unique course by visiting the following links for swimming, diving,artistic swimming, and water polo.