Club Overview
Our Aim
Our aim is to provide individuals of all ages living in West Oxfordshire an opportunity to experience swimming within a local competitive swimming club. Swimmers can enjoy the fun of swimming at all levels from training for fitness to a competitive level competing against clubs in the West Midlands.
Training Philosophy
We are a competitive swimming club and aim to provide swimmers of all ages and abilities with the opportunity to compete in events from local to national level. Although a relatively small club, we pride ourselves on competing successfully at all levels, from local friendly galas to National Championships. Competitive swimming demands much from swimmers and their parents, but the rewards for hard work, dedication and commitment are high too. And not just in individual success, but also in fostering team spirit, gaining self-discipline and confidence, improving fitness and making friends that last a lifetime.
Club Overview
The Witney & District Swimming Club is affiliated to the Amateur Swimming Association South East District. Membership comes from Witney, Carterton, Burford, North Leigh, Eynsham and other nearby villages. We train most mornings and evenings at the Windrush Leisure Centre in Witney.
We currently have a membership of 120 swimmers, and within the squads they swim for fitness, enjoyment or at a competitive level.
The Witney & District Swimming Club was formed in 1975 just after the Windrush Leisure Centre in Witney was opened. In October 2005 the Club celebrated its’ 30th birthday with a fantastic party held in September 2005 at Wood Green School, Witney. The emphasis is on competitive swimming with most of our swimmers being of school age.
The purpose of the Club is to encourage competitive swimming and for the improvement of swimming standards. The Club uses the ASA competitive levels as a basis of teaching to the younger swimmers.
The Club has a full calendar of galas except for August which is a rest period for the sport as a whole. There is a club activity on nearly every Saturday to ensure that swimmers of all ages and abilities can experience competitive swimming.
Training generally takes place at the Windrush Leisure Centre, Witney. The Club welcomes swimmers once they have had their sixth birthday to our Water Babies squad. After an initial assessment, a swimmer will be placed in one of the following squads:
Novice Squad
Swimmers aged 7 years plus. Swimmers are initially taken on for a sixth month trial before progression to the Junior Squad.
Junior Squad
The swimmers are split into three squads:
- Adelie (9 years)
- Kings (10 years)
- Emperor (11 years)
Senior Squad
The swimmers aged 11 years upwards are split into four squads:
Masters
The masters section of Witney and District Swimming Club train on Monday and Friday mornings from 6.15am to 7.15am. at the Windrush Leisure Centre. We do not have a coach but training schedules are set and groups are arranged by ability. We swim all the stokes and the training would suit previous swimming club swimmers. The age group for masters is 25 plus but we do sometimes have 19 year plus. There are various masters open swim meets held all over the country if you wish to take part in competitions but just swimming for fitness is the aim of some of our members.
Water Polo
If you would like to know more about Water Polo or join the team, they train on Sunday nights at the Windrush Leisure Centre in Witney between 7.30pm and 8.30pm. Contact Bob Whiteley for more information.
Swim21Club Accreditation 2011-12
Swim21 Club Accreditation is the ASA’s ‘quality mark’. It recognises nationally and regionally the clubs that are committed to providing safe, effective and quality services for the benefit of their members.
But Swim21 is not a badge of honour, it is the ASA’s Club Development Model – a planning tool, based on the principles of Long term Athlete Development, enabling Clubs to help athletes, teachers, coaches and administrators to achieve their full potential. It focuses particularly on the needs of athletes – striving to provide them with the best possible support and environment in which to reach their own potential and goals.
Clubs who want to secure swim21 Accreditation work steadily towards gaining a series of outcomes, all of which are seen as essential if the right level of support is to be provided at each stage of an athlete’s development.
Swim21 Club Accreditation is available to ASA Clubs of all aquatic disciplines that are positioned at one or more of five levels:
· Foundation
· Teaching
· Skill Development
· Competitive Development
· Performance
The ASA has a commitment to achieving its equity targets throughout the sport. Swim21 is no different and the ASA is keen to support Clubs in the shared objective of widening the participation base and hence the performance of the sport as a whole.
Witney and District Swimming Club was one of the first clubs in Oxfordshire to gain Swim21 Accreditation and has been re-accredited for the 2011-12 season in both
· Teaching
· Skill Development
More information can be found about Swim21 at http://www.swimming.org/asa/clubs-and-members/swim21-accreditation/
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