The Coaching Team

Graeme Thomas, Chief Coach leads the coaching team.

Aims

The main aims of the structure are:

• To improve the coaching performance of the club by having dedicated coaches for each squad who will be responsible for providing training programme, swimmer assessments and communications with parents.
• To build a structure that is resilient to personnel changes and can act as a base for membership expansion.
• To provide greater quality assurance by ensuring that a professional coach is present at every pool training session run by Bluefins, wherever it is held.

Chief Coach

Graeme Thomas is Chief Coach and he leads the coaching team having overall responsibility for ensuring that the coaching staff meets the objectives set by the club committee and communicated by the management committee. This includes:

• Developing club training schedules that meet the objectives in terms of swimming development and success in competitions
• Overall gala coordination, determining which competitions club members should enter, ensuring team selection processes are in place and that there is suitable coaching and chaperone coverage.
• Increasing club membership numbers
• Meeting club budgets in terms of both squad income and training costs
• Continued professional development of herself and other coaching staff within the club
• Communication to members & the general public on club coaching & competition matters

Volunteer Coaches

The professional team is supported by a squad of volunteer coaches without whom the club would not able to function.

Lead Teacher

As we all know a successful teaching programme is critical to the club’s future as it provides future members and funding for the squad training activities. As Lead Teacher, Sue Lambert has overall responsibility for ensuring that the teaching programme meets the objectives set by the committee. Reporting into the management committee, Sue leads the teaching team.

The Lead Teacher is responsible for

• Developing a teaching program that meets its objectives in terms of number of children learning to swim and number of children progressing to competitive swimming within the club, liaising with the coaching staff to ensure a smooth transition
• Meeting club budgets in terms of income from lessons and associated costs, including pool hire and payments to teachers
• Continued professional development of herself and other teaching staff within the club
• Communication to members, their parents and the general public on teaching matters
• Liaison with schools
• Liaison with local authorities and the ASA

Administrator

Alison Smith provides administrative support to the club and reports to the chief coach.