THE last weekend of August saw the top swimmers of Okehampton Otters Swimming and Life Saving Club on an intensive training camp at Millfield School, Somerset.
Financed by the National Lottery?s ?Awards for All? programme and Okehampton Rotary Club, this was an opportunity for some of the swimmers to train in a 50 metre pool for the very first time.
Led by new club coach Rob Aubry, 28 swimmers belonging to the top 2 Club took part in the three-day camp.
As well as four two-hour training sessions in the pool, where the swimmers were divided into three groups according to their ability, the swimmers were able to use some of the other extensive facilities on offer at one of the top sports? schools in the country.
Accompanying Rob Aubry were three other swimming teachers ? Nick Bowles, Kevin Jones (also club chairman) and Jane Jachnik. Chaperones and persons acting in loco parentis were club secretary Debbie Webber, club equipment officer Paula Allen and committee members Karen Best and Sue Wonnacott.
The days were organised to provide not just pool-based swimming training, but also running, other team sports - such as rounders, basketball, water polo ? as well as stroke, starts and turns analysis. Video footage of all the swimmers was analysed and discussed.
At the end of the weekend, it was voted an unqualified success - not one swimmer expressed any doubts - and hoped to be repeated again in the not-too-distant future. Coach Rob Aubrey was delighted at the outcome.
?The idea was not just to work hard and take the opportunities on offer, but also to have fun. We have achieved that. The swimmers were just fantastic. On behalf of all the swimmers involved, I would like to thank the team involved, especially our Secretary Debbie Webber, who all helped to make this event such a success.?
The camp comes at the end of a summer which saw many of the Otters top squad swimmers continuing their training throughout the holidays.
The new swimming season has just begun and has brought in some changes. During the summer, four assistant teachers ? Alison Kimber, Keith Webber, Nick Bowles and Kevin Jones ? took time out of their own holidays to qualify as full teachers. This takes the tally of teachers at the Club to six. Chairman Kevin Jones said : ?Considering the size of the club, to have six fully qualified teachers is impressive indeed. There has never been this level of teaching available at this club. This can only be good news for anyone in Okehampton interested in swimming.?
New sessions have been introduced to help cope with the waiting list which had continued to grow over the past year. Membership Secretary Annette Medlyn has managed to ensure that all those on the waiting list have been offered sessions. The Club now meets four times per week ? Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Swimming at Otters is not just for the young. The Club has a large Masters membership which meets every Friday at 8pm. Masters swimming is for all those between the age of 19 and 100 and is becoming more and more popular as a method of keeping fit. Swimming is considered to be one of the most complete sports in as much as it offers the best opportunity to maintain strength, stamina, and suppleness in a safe non-impact environment.
On the Life-saving side of the Club, before leaving for pastures new, ex-Coach Nigel West ensured that Otters? swimmers Tony Clark, Janek Jachnik, Jenny Rice and Nikki Pedrick passed their Life-Saving Bronze Medallion awards. Jenny and Nikki were doing a refresher course, while Janek was taking the award for the first time as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. The Life Saving Club meets on a Friday and is aimed at young lifesavers. The ?Rookie? scheme, introducing and developing the principals of life saving to young people, is run by Tony Clark with the assistance of Jenny Rice and Gemma Jachnik.
If anyone is interested in joining Okehampton Otters, please contact membership secretary Annette Medlyn on 01837 840362.
l Pictured above: The Otters outside Millfield School swimming pool.