Beverley welcomes Swimming WA's biggest regional clinic

Swimming WA travelled to Beverley as part of our Regional Swim Clinic series over the weekend and wow what a turn out!  This was our biggest clinic so far this season! These clinics were led by the incredible Fiona Njirich (Newman Churchlands) and Jo Stephen (Northam) who did an amazing job with the fifty-five participants on the day. Ages ranged from 7 to 15 years old and stretched across seven of Swimming WA’s affiliated clubs.

The first of the clinics was for participants aged 11 & older; after a quick coaches’ introduction, and a rousing rendition of ‘happy birthday’ sung to one of the participants who chose to come join us for her birthday, it was time to get in the water for a warmup. From there the focus was on skill development which included body position, core strength, press and pulls, timing and an introduction to split strokes. The main set was working through butterfly and breaststroke drills before finishing with some work on turns and dives and how to generate more power through the lower body.

The second clinic was for the younger ages 10 & under and started with an introduction before jumping in the water for a warmup of a simple freestyle working on breathing and kicking.  From there the group focused on breaststroke and butterfly and how best to find your rhythm in the strokes. There were drills for speed, drills for working on streamline and drills working on kicks, all of which were made fun and engaging by Njirich and Stephen. The main set was similar to the older group; however the utilisation of equipment allowed the younger group to regress if they needed some assistance. The group finished with some diving practice, the importance of hips up and weight forward instilled to the younger athletes saw a huge improvement in their technique even within a short timeframe.

These clinics also gave an opportunity to seven local teachers/coaches to be on pool deck working alongside Njirich and Stephen during these clinics. The importance of networking and sharing knowledge between metro and regional clubs is invaluable, and the way Njirich and Stephen involved the coaches by explaining their choices and how to tackle issues with stroke that came up on the day was brilliant to watch and provided notes for them to take back to their own clubs. 

A huge thank you again to the Shire of Beverley and the Beverley Amateur Swimming Club for their hospitality and use of their fantastic facilities, to Njirich and Stephen for their dedication and time planning the session and to the Department of Local Government Sport & Cultural Industries for your continued support in allowing Swimming WA to visit our regions.

23/24 Regional Clinic Calendar: