London swimming builds master class programme
The look on the faces of the 10 master class pupils says it all. Pure awe, as Sascha Kindred tells them how he won Paralympic gold in Beijing. “As we waited for the race I locked eyes with the Australian swimmer and we just stared at each other for 20 minutes, trying to psyche each other out,” Kindred says of the 100 metres SB7 final where he won gold and set a new world record.
The pep talk works and for the next hour and a half the group strives to replicate everything Kindred and Dervis Konuralp tell them about starts and turns. “You can take up to a second off your 100 metre time if you can apply what you are going to learn today,” Konuralp tells the captivated group.
London Swimming launched its programme of master classes in November with an aim to make top level coaching more accessible. The frequency of the classes has increased to three or four a month and the programme was extended to disability swimming for the first time in March.
“The idea behind them was to give club swimmers the opportunity to train with Olympians and work with top level coaches,” says Jo Calvino, co-ordinator of Aquatics Development Programme at London Swimming, who as Britain’s leading female weightlifter, knows something about the value of quality coaching.
The programme is open to competitive club swimmers and anyone who wants to improve their technique. Competitive swimmers account for 85-90% of attendees. Numbers are limited to around eight participants to make sure everyone gets individual attention from the international swimmer giving the class. The cost ranges from £30-40 which enables London Swimming to turn a small profit which it invests in its education and coaching programmes.
“We want to develop a separate stream of classes with Paralympic athletes because they can be more specific to the needs of disabled swimmers,” says Nick Ibrahim, team manager of the London Disability Swimming squad. “If you put the swimmers in mainstream master classes some of what they’ll learn just may not apply to them.”
For swimmers like Kindred and Konuralp the master classes present an opportunity to put something back into the sport. “There was nothing like this when I started swimming. I joined an able-bodied swimming club and the coaches put me in a lane all by myself and told me to get on with it,” Kindred says.
“If we can encourage the youngsters it will help improve profile of disability swimming and show able-bodies coaches what we are doing and what we are capable of.”
“It’s simple, I want to give something back and inspire the next generation of Paralympians,” says Konuralp.
After over an hour in the pool the young swimmers are given a chance to quiz their idols although they all seem a little star struck, and the first questions about nutrition, tapering off training and gym sessions come from their parents. But the swimmers don’t hesitate when asked if they enjoyed the class.
“It was great to be shown how to do the starts and turns by Sascha and Dervis. I have been swimming competitively for a year but I still haven’t learnt how to do the breast stroke/butterfly turn properly,” said Thomas Urry of Cheam Maracuda swimming club. “Their stories about the Olympics and World Championships were really inspiring.”
During March Calvino organised master classes in butterfly (given by Jo Jackson) freestyle (Jane Asher) and backstroke (Melanie Marshall). There was also a CPD master class for coaches. In the coming months there will be separate multi stroke camera camps for both able-bodied and disabled swimmers during which swimmers’ techniques will be filmed.
