BSCTA Conference, Coventry

[mammamedley]

There must be loads of coaches out there will news of how the conference went and all exciting developments for British Swimming.
The web site hasn't been updated for months.
Tom Dolan's coach must have been interesting.
Come on - lets have some goss!!

[lane4]

There was lots of people there and lots of good information. I will try to write more about it later.
I believe the website will return to form soon.

[Deaks]

This was my first conference and wasn't sure what to expect. The itinery looked interesting and varied and I went with an open mind.

Although the main speakers were from the states I found the talks from the British coaches just as good if not better in terms of providing information for you to use as a coach yourself in your own programmes. Some points that I picked up on were:

* Tony Watson at Ferndown has a base on morning training, therefore you can only attend an evening if you have been to the morning session!

* Dave Champion highlighted that Karen Pickering swims almost everything negative in training. He stated that this is why he thinks she is so good in the final phases of her races.

* Pat Dunleavy ran a good practical session on medicine balls with Kathy Read doing the same on Swiss Balls - good to feel how the exercises feel!

* Sean Kelly gave a good talk about James Goddards preparations for the European Junior Champs and what their goals are for the future.

There were lots of other small points which all come together. I just felt that the atmosphere among the coaches was one of optimism and all working in the same direction, all willing to share any ideas they may have. Gone are the days when noone spoke to each other incase they gave their secrets away.

Thanks to all the coaches that gave their imput, it made it a well worth weekend.