Swimming
This is a special edition swimming article as we have been lucky enough to chat to swimming superstar and four time Olympic medallist Rebecca Adlington. Rebecca has launched her own swim school for kids called SwimStars. Find out how these lessons can help your swimming improve and why not try this swim programme for FREE!!!!!!
Read on to see how she achieved such success in swimming and see her video on how SwimStars began.
With thanks to Rebecca Adlington for the use of this video.
Hi Rebecca, we have heard lots of amazing things about your SwimStars programme, why did you decide to set up a swim school?
“This was always something I wanted to do after I retired from competitive swimming back in 2013. The London Olympics’ legacy really inspired me and I loved the motto – inspire a generation. As well as being a really important life skill, swimming taught me so much growing up; discipline, commitment, even values such as respect and teamwork – so to now be able to give children the opportunity to learn how to swim, is an incredible feeling and something I’m so so proud of.”
How is SwimStars different to other swimming classes?
“I was lucky enough to work with some of the leading industry experts to write our programme, who totally understood what SwimStars was all about. We’re not here to create the next Olympian, we just want to make sure kids are safe and confident in water - and have fun whilst they learn! We also wanted to make this a quality programme, so our lessons are all led by fully qualified, experienced teachers and have a maximum of just 6 swimmers, which I think makes a huge difference.”
Where can kids join SwimStars?
“We deliver lessons in some fantastic venues across the UK, from up in Aberdeen to down in Reading. You can find your local classes on our website using the red ‘Find a Class’ button.”
You are an Olympic Gold medallist, was swimming always your favourite sport when you were growing up?
“Growing up, I enjoyed lots of different sports. I did ballet, cross country running and netball. I have two sisters so we were always out playing on our bikes and staying active. However, swimming was just always the one I enjoyed more and wanted to keep going back to. Even my birthday parties were at the local swimming baths!”
How old were you when you realised how good you were at the sport?
“My parents took me to my first swimming lesson aged 3 just to learn the basic skills, and I think I was about 11 when I first realised that this was something I wanted to continue and take more seriously.
“I was around 9 or 10 when I competed in my first local swimming gala and the rest is history really.”
Was it an easy decision to focus on swimming and try to become the best in the world?
“It was something that happened naturally, really. I loved it so much and the training just gradually increased. As I was part of a club, it was just the norm, so I didn’t know any differently.
“It definitely got harder as school got more intense around my GCSE years. I remember it being a struggle and I actually pushed myself so hard I ended up getting glandular fever and post viral fatigue.”
Which was your most memorable race?
“This is so difficult as each Olympics was special and meant something completely different to me. My most enjoyable race was the 800m freestyle at Beijing Olympics where I broke the world record. But a race that will always be special to me is the 800m freestyle in London as it was a home Olympics and my last ever race.”
Do you have much time to swim these days?
“I do still make time to go swimming at my local pool but now my favourite thing to do is watch my daughter in her swimming lessons. She’s 4 years old now and attends SwimStars once a week, and it’s just the best feeling seeing her have fun in the pool.
“I don’t think she’ll be following in my footsteps anytime soon but as long as she’s still enjoying her swimming and learning how to stay safe, that’s all I care about!”
What advice would you give children who currently can’t swim or are frightened of swimming?
“Learning something new can be scary, especially when it’s their first time in the water with the teacher and not mum or dad; we see it all the time at SwimStars. There’s no quick cure but all our teachers do is go at their pace. There really isn’t a ‘right way’ to learn and all kids are different, so my advice would be to not put pressure on themselves and to make sure the teacher knows how they’re feeling before the lesson so they can adapt to them.
“Our trick is to plan our lessons around games – that way the swimmers don’t even realise what core skills they’re learning when they swim through hoops or collect floats.”
How about children who are already fantastic swimmers but now need to commit to the extra training.
“If you’ve already learnt how to swim and now want to take it to the next level, I would suggest going to speak with your local swim club. Training is a lot of early mornings and long days, but I was really lucky to have such a great club and coach, as well as my network of family and friends supporting me as I transitioned into competitive swimming.”
We spoke to a junior swimmer who is rapidly making a name for himself in the swimming world. Hopefully we will all be watching him one day at the Olympics but remember you saw him here first!!
Name:
Joseph Lauda
Age:
10 years
Swimming Club:
City of Derby
School:
Fairfield Preparatory School
Current swimming level:
Club / County due to age limitations
Trains:
5 times a week.
Best competition result:
Ended 9yr old career ranked 2nd fastest in England for 200m Breaststroke
Fuel for training:
Pasta / rice and bananas!
Fuel post training:
Greek yoghurt by the bucket full!
Next big competition:
Chesterfield Winter Splash at Matlock on 7&8th Dec followed by DASA sprints at Ponds Forge on 15th Dec
Ambition:
To break a swimming world record and swim at the Olympics!
Other favourite sports:
Rugby, Football, Cycling, Kayaking, Hockey….. and so the list goes on!
Are you a top swimmer like Joe?
Have you heard of Incus Performance?
To quote their company ‘Incus Performance is a technology company that combines artificial intelligence, wearable technologies and data analytics to help swimmers and triathletes to train better.’
Have a look at their video to explain more.....
Have a look at www.incusperformance.com for all of their details and if you’re training to become a top triathlete you can buy their equipment from this site.
