Club International representation
Sophie Maguire – Swim Ireland National transition squad (senior) / Swim England Junior squad camp 2020 (Nice)
Charlotte Johnson – Swim England DISE camp (Dubai) 2022
Sophie Shaw – Swim England South East camp (Luxembourg) 2020
Calvin Fry (MSM student swimmer)- British swimming – European Junior squad 2022 (Bucharest)
Club Captains (Charlotte Johnsons) report from Dubai 2022:
Club Captain report on Dubai trip and representing England!
Senior club captain Charlotte Johnson who is currently completing her diploma in sporting excellence (DISE) as part of the England talent pathway recently took part in the training and competition camp which takes place in Dubai. Selection to the programme is based on results and placings at National championships and for those moving into college / A level years in education.
Charlotte reports:
“I was fortunate enough to be selected in 2020 onto the two year DISE progamme that is run by Swim England. The programme includes workshops, online learning, 1-1 reviews and an offshore training and racing camp.
At the Beginning of February I spent a week in Dubai to train and compete. This was a great learning experience as I had to adapt to different training, coaches, people, food, long travel and time zones which are all part of the challenge.
Being able to represent Swim England internationally was a fantastic experience which has helped me build my confidence and competition arena skills. My favourite part of the trip was being able to meet lots of like minded hard working athletes and form friendships with swimmers from across the country”
Coach Steve commented-
Charlotte has worked hard day in day out at the club for many years and has really earnt this experience. I think Charlotte is a great example to all our club swimmers who aspire to acheive great things in their swimming and she shows us that with dedication and hard work this type of selection and experience is acheivable. Charlotte trained hard on the camp but also qualified for a number of finals at the international meet and I have no doubt this experience will enhance her confidence and provide her with even more motivation for her swimming.
Well done from the whole club!
Preparation
All club swimmers should aim to arrive early to training sessions and competitions to perform a land / pre-pool warm up routine. Doing this prepares you physically and mentally for your session / races and assists in injury prevention. Performing these routines daily will assist with coordination, core strength and general stability. Consult your coach or our lead S and C coach for details and advice on performing your pre-pool routine.
Preparation and lifestyle are also key to improvement and success. Take a look at the info graphics and presentation of performance lifestyle for some sound advice to help you improve!
- Land warm up routine – training and competition: Pre pool workout of the week
- Foam rolling: Read the full article on swimswam.com
- Planning for the benchmark/end of season meets: Benchmark meet
Psychology
A series of presentations from Swim England dealing with the psychological aspects of competitive swimming.
Support 4 – Self Talk
Support 2 – Exploring process goals
Support 2 – Grounding and staying present
Support 1 – Processing the news
Nutrition
Nutrition and hydration are key to training and racing well day in / day out. If you fuel your body in the right way this will assist training performance and recovery as well as increase performance at competition.
Take a read through these documents to guide your nutritional intake:
- Eat well to train well: 2018 06 Eat well to train well
- Eating on a rest day: 2018 06 Eating on a rest day
- Performance nutrition presentation: 2018 06 Performance Nutrition
- Sleep recovery: 2018 10 Sleep Recovery and Illness prevention 2
Nutrition at home / Nutrition to maintain
The Swimming Parent – Advice and Tips
Swimming is a demanding sport and the further swimmers progress the more time you will invest in the sport. As a swim parent the best things you can do is support your child, show them unconditional love win or lose and leave the coaching to the coaches. Below are some links to some useful guides on how best to support your child and their swimming goals.
- The swimming parent lifestyle guide: 2018 06 Parent guidance-Lifestyle
- The swimming parent lifestyle 2: 2018 06 Parent guide 2-Lifestyle
- Our guide to competitive swimming: 2018 06 Guide to Competitive Swimming at Mid Sussex Marlins
Technique and Skills 
The number one avenue for improvement and, most importantly, long term improvement is to continually invest and focus on improving your technique and swim skills (starts, turns, underwater kicking, streamlining etc.).
Improving technique centres around improving streamlining (the reduction of drag / resistance) and improvement of power development and efficiency (stroke length). Below you will find some guidance and presentations on improving swim technique and skills as well as a check-list questionnaire to help you improve your training.
- Backstroke technique: 2018 06 MSM Presentation – Backstroke streamlining-techique
- Self-evaluation questionnaire: 2018 06 Competitive swimmer self evaluation questionnaire
Top tips (All strokes)
Coming soon
Looking to join? Click below…
NASL South Premier Division Club 5 years running
2017 – 2022 Sussex County Champions and Top Club
Sussex League Winners 2016, 2018, 2019 (2020 and 2021 not contested)
Sussex relay champions 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 (2021 not contested), 2022
Highest number of national qualifiers from Sussex County Five years running
130+ Sussex County records broken 2016-2020
Highest placing Sussex club in the South East region championships 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 (2020 not contested), 2022
Extensive training programme to suit all levels training out of 5 locations
Already swimming at Regional / National level? Contact our Head Coach Charlie Wood to discuss your options and our performance training programme here at Mid Sussex Marlins swimming club. MSM Charlie Wood <charlie.wood@midsussexmarlins.org>
