Training Guidance for Dolphins Squad and above (excl Otters, Junior Club and Platinum which are non-competitive)

Dulwich Dolphins is a swimming club for children who want to take their swimming to the next level and work towards competing in local, regional and national competitions. At the more junior levels, your child will most likely only compete at internal club galas, but as they work their way up the squads, they will be asked to compete in external events. If they swim in a school squad, they will hopefully also see that the training they do with our club is reflected in their performance in those galas too. 

In order to get the most out of our club, you will need to commit a certain amount of time to attend sessions. We find that swimmers with the better attendance record tend to enjoy it more, because they see themselves progress quickly and can move with their squad-mates up through the levels. Poor attendance can have the reverse effect ? their friends move up without them, their progress stagnates and they stop enjoying it. We ask for a minimum attendance as per the table below. 

Minimum Recommended sessions/week:

  Minimum Recommended
Dolphins 2 3
Bronze 3 3
Silver/gold 3 4
Mercury 4 5
Sprint 4 5
Performance 4 6
     

As an approximate guide, we ask that your child tries to attend at least 75% of the minimum sessions/week on a regular basis. If your child swims with a school squad outside normal school hours (before or after), consider this to be one of your sessions, but swimming during normal school hours tends to be much lighter than a Dulwich Dolphins session so is unlikely to have the same value. Obviously, there will be allowance for holidays, but in general we are looking for the establishment of a regular routine right from the start in order to set your child on the right course. Most of all, we hope your child enjoys swimming with the club and fulfills his/her potential for the sport.

If you need more information about the length and timing of the schedules for each squad, please look at the weekly training schedule and calendar pages of the website www.dulwichdolphins.com