Latest water polo players join Diploma in Sporting Excellence programme

The latest cohort of water polo players have joined the Swim England DiSE Programme for 2023-2025.

A group of 21 players have been selected for the programme, which is delivered in conjunction with Loughborough College.

This government-funded programme is fully integrated into all Swim England talent pathways and offers the perfect environment for athletes to harmoniously combine their sport and education.

For the first time the DiSE Inductions were incorporated into the Water Polo Pathway Induction which took place on back-to-back weekends at the end of October.

The female athletes attended a day of workshops in Coventry on 21 October with the open/male players heading for a day at Haberdashers a week later.

It provided the opportunity to provide all athletes across the pathway with the benefit of understanding Swim England’s Culture, Values and expected behaviours and a chance for younger athletes on the pathway to gain an early insight on the DiSE programme.

It included a specific strength and conditioning session from Swim England practitioner Lewis Fox that gave the athletes the knowledge and skills to apply a designated programme to take back to their home club environment.

DiSE athletes will be invited to a number of Swim England workshops, camps, club visits and online one-to-one progress reviews, supported by professional coaches, specialist practitioners, talent staff and DiSE assessors across the next two years.

From 2023, the workshops will be open to athletes across the Swim England Talent Pathway to help support their development.

The workshops will cover topics such as lifestyle, nutrition and psychology as the DiSE programme aims to provide resources to those who wouldn’t normally be able to access these sessions.

‘Supporting them every step of the way’

Speaking about the induction, Swim England DiSE Assessor Manager Paula West said: “We’re delighted to welcome the latest group of athletes on to the DiSE programme.

“It was great to bring so many water polo players together, allowing those from across the pathway the opportunity to experience elements of the programme which they can take away and use at their home training environment.

“It’s the first time we’ve opened up some of the DiSE expertise to those that aren’t on the programme so as much as we’re supporting the selected athletes we’re hoping to help develop athletes from across each of the national squads too.

“We have a number of exciting workshops planned and each of those selected have been allocated an experienced Swim England DiSE Assessor to support them every step of the way.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity and we can’t wait to watch them grow both as athletes and people throughout the next two years.”

You can find out more about the DiSE programme here and you can also check out the latest selections and more about the induction days for the artistic swimmers, swimmers  and divers that have joined the scheme.