Swimsound Celebrates 5 years.

On November 5th, Swimsound celebrated its 5th year of operation. The very fact that after 5 years the swim-school is still thriving with a large client base and an array of pupils pays testament to the quality of the lessons and the fantastic teachers we have in our team. It started on a cold Friday evening in Gateacre Comp after weeks of distributing fliers the prospect of beginning my own lessons in Gateacre Comp was nerve-racking .That evening 5 pupils turned up and the lessons I felt went really well. After a few short weeks of operation it became apparent that the Gateacre facility was beginning to enter a stage of disrepair and it was decided we would move to Calderstones High. Within months we were operating out of Broadgreen International as numbers grew as did our teaching staff, with just a lifeguard and an assistant to begin with Swimsound began to increase in size and as our popularity grew as did our team. Helen joined in 2011 and was great support during her time at University. We introduced our termly galas, water-polo sessions and even introduced rookie lifeguarding sessions in the Summer. After Helen left Katie and Charlotte continued to offer support, constantly talking of how we could further enhance the lessons. This year we have had giant inflatables brought into use in our Summer sessions in Broadgreen, we have introduced a further advanced session on a Thursday evening and our termly galas have been incredibly successful. Rebecca Adlington said recently “swimming is not just a sport – you are cutting something that could save somebodys life. An ASA report found that almost half of all Primary School children left school without being able to swim a length of a swimming pool. At Swimsound 100% of pupils leaving primary school are able to swim a length using all four recognised strokes. The pupuls are able to use a wealth of water safety skills including sculling and treading water. We put on rookie lifeguard lessons to develop pupils water safety knowledge and how to stay safe and act in an emergency. Our adults programme has grown in strength. This year alone we have taught hundreds of adults to swim, this fills us with a great sense of achievement.There have been some adults who have gone on to compete in triathlons and open water swimming events with some grateful they can now go on holiday and enjoy this exercise with their family. This is an area we really want to continue to push and we really would encourage anybody who is lacking confidence to come down and have a session with us. The future is bright for Swimsound we will continue to attract the best quality teachers, we will continue to drive our lessons forward by investing in training, purchasing the best equipment and continuing to listen to feedback. “Swimming needs to be fun, not feeling like a chore or something someone is making you do.”Sophie Allen a current European swimmer highlighted this recently and reflects an ethos we will continue to maintain.