Annual Gala
Sat 15th November – 5.00pm (warm up)
Sat 22nd November – 5.00pm (warm up)
Sun 23rd November – 6.00pm (warm up)

This is an extremely important meet for those of you wishing to gain qualifying times for the Devon Championships early next year. When choosing your events please remember that Girls 10/U and Boys 11/U are not eligible to swim 100m races at the Devon Championships and it may be wise to concentrate on those 200m events you wish to qualify for
All events are of course open to all ages, so come along and have some fun!

The long distance swims (400m & 800m events) will take the place of the usual training sessions on Monday 17th and 24th November from 7.30 – 9.30pm. Entry forms, which have been emailed to all NASC members, must be returned to Sue Jordan or Liz Mann by 7th November. If for any reason you haven’t received one

please contact Sue on s.jordan4@sky.comPlease note that on Sunday 23rd
Learn to Swim classes will run from 5-5.30pm only.

Sat/Sun/Mon training sessions

Due to the volume of swimmers coming through the ranks, the two hour session on Monday evening will no longer be available. Swimmers who were allocated a space for 2 hours must attend the 8.30 – 9.30pm slot.
 We planned to run the senior’s Sunday session for two hours from 7.30pm but unfortunately the extra half-hour was not entered into the Leisure Centre booking system and they are unable to staff the last half hour. At present it will stay at 1½ hours finishing at 9pmuntil further notice. Staffing problems also apply to Saturday morning so the session will run from 6.30–8.15am. Early morning training is an ideal opportunity to increase your training schedule especially at this very important time with the Devon Championships just round the corner. We would encourage all our swimmers to attend as many early morning sessions as possible if they seriously intend to achieve those all important Devon times and move on from there to the South West Region competitions.   

Learn to Swim
 
Whilst we always attempt to keep a certain level of continuity which we recognise as essential for the progression of our children, the Learn to Swim program must also be subject to revision and improvement. We would ask parents therefore to be patient whilst we implement some changes which are part of the Amateur Swimming Association’s new National Teaching Plan.
We have recently implemented the new FUNdamentals approach to teaching which has been set as a national standard by the ASA. There will now be a more formalised approach to recording progress with badges and certificates available as each child achieves the required standard before moving on to the next level. For this to happen there will be occasions when your child needs to be out of the water for a period of time during assessment sessions.
          As part of the program children will also be introduced to water polo, life saving and synchronised swimming!
          Finally we would remind parents that all our teachers are volunteers who give up their time freely for the good of the children. Becoming a qualified swimming teacher involves a huge learning commitment over a number of weeks. Some of their training must of course take place in a practical arena on poolside. NALC is currently running a Level 1 Teacher training course and a Level 2 Coaching course starts next week. For this reason you may see some unfamiliar faces on poolside. We would ask parents to bear with us whilst this process takes place over the next few weeks. All the trainees are CRB checked and under the supervision of an ASA tutor.

Water Polo

County Honours go to:
U13 – Paris James, Laura-Beth Morrison and Tommy Whiting

U15 – Laura Shears and Tommy Whiting

U17 – Jack Beer, Ed Glanville, Tom McLeman and Alex Morrison

U19 – Richard Glanville and Jon Trist

Jess Shears has recently passed National Trials and is now in the final 36 from which a junior international team will be chosen. Well done Jess and Good Luck. Keep up the good work; we’ve spotted you training on a Thursday morning!!