Essential : Goggles, Hat (silicone), Fins, Pull Buoy, Snorkel Desirable : Hand Paddles,
Performance, Competition & Talent Dev Squad Kit List Essential : Goggles, Hat (silicone), Fins, Pull Buoy, Hand Paddles, Snorkel, Desirable : Hat (bullet),
Masters Kit List
Essential : Goggles, Hat (silicone), Pull Buoy, Hand Paddles. Desirable : Snorkel, Hat (silicone), Fins
Equipment specifics
Whilst we want swimmers to have the appropriate kit, these are only examples and we are in no way promoting one specific brand. Parents may of course source equipment to suit their own budget. All equipment is available in different designs and colours, which will come down to individual choice. The equipment detailed below will be beneficial to all levels of swimmer and will be used in most, if not all, training sessions.
Hats
Yellow Club Hat
Blue Club Hat
The Club operate a two tier hat system.
Academy swimmers wear a yellow club hat with logo. When a swimmer progresses to Development and/or the Competition squad they will qualify for a blue club hat with logo.
The club have a stock of both and will be available for purchase. There is an option to include a swimmers name on these hats at an additional cost, detailed below.
Prices will be confirmed upon ordering but are approximately
Standard silicone club hat £6.00
Standard silicone club hat + name £9.00
Bullet cap £15.00
To purchase these hats, please contact: Chris Aust - [email protected]
N.B. Named hats will only be ordered periodically throughout the year. In order to standardise the club hats, if a swimmer would like to add their name to the hat, then in future this will be formatted as initial followed by surname e .g. J. Bloggs.
Goggles There is a wide range of goggles available. They can be found online, at swim shops and galas. From experience we have found that the speedo ‘Speedsocket’ goggles are the most comfortable and we would recommend these as a first goggle for a swimmer for training use.
There are race goggles on the market that tend to be a little less comfortable but offer less resistance for racing fast. The Speedo Fastskin range appears to be popular at the moment – but quite pricey.
Pull Buoys Again there a few options out there to choose from. They come in two sizes, junior and senior. We would suggest under 10's use junior size and over 10’s use senior size.
Fins The club recommends all swimmers use the smaller model of fin as opposed to the long models. This means that the range of movement, whilst training in the fin is comparable to normal swimming. The swimmer should use their shoe size as a guide. It’s probably a good idea so go a size up a size or two to prevent cramp and allow for growth spurts.
Snorkel The freestyle snorkel is a great piece of equipment and has quickly become the most used piece of kit in our sessions (along with hand paddles) It enables the swimmer the ability to swim without head movement for breathing, which provides significant improvements in technique. We would advise that you purchase a snorkel with a purge valve at the bottom of the tube to allow water to escape after tumble turning.
Hand Paddles We are using hand paddles more and more now. They assist in technique regarding hand entry position and provide resistance to improve strength and power. We recommend all swimmers start with ‘finger paddles’ and the Speedo set have been identified as our preferred model.