What do I/ does my child need?

Equipment for everyone

All swimmers need:

• A swimming costume
• Googles (ideally two pairs)
• A drinks bottle, containing water
• A towel

Unless they have short hair, they also need a swimming hat. Most members like to wear club hats.  These cost £6 and can be bought from Gareth, Caroline or Claire. Versions designed especially for long-hair are available at the same price.

Personalised hats: there is an opportunity to order these every year or so, when the club is restoring its supply of ordinary ones (the minimum hat order is 50, which can be made up of personalised and non-personalised).

Swimmers competing in galas should ideally have a club T-shirt (available through the kit supplier). But it isn’t essential.

That is all you need to start with.  We have kickboards, pull buoys and fins for swimmers to borrow, so you do not need to spend money on equipment for a good while.
 

Equipment as swimmers progress

As swimmers move up through the club, we recommend they get their own equipment, as follows.

• Kickboard
• Pull buoy
• Mesh bag for equipment
• Snorkel (optional)

We have left fins off that list because children’s feet grow so fast.  It is fine to keep borrowing club fins. 
 

Equipment for performance squad

Performance squad:

• Kickboard
• Pull buoy
• Mesh bag for equipment
• Snorkel
• Hand paddles
• Fins
• Foam roller
• Resistance band
• Skipping rope
   

Information about hand paddles and fins

Hand paddles

General Paddles

Paddles increase a swimmer’s feel for the water and stroke awareness as they train.  This helps them work on their stroke by improving their catch position and arm pull.  Ideally, you want paddles which are comfortable and easy to use.  Go for a general paddle such as the FINIS Strapless paddle or the Speedo Tech paddle.

Specific paddles

There are also specific paddles which help swimmers work on the finer details of their stroke.  Examples of these are finger paddles, Vortex Evolution paddles, Finis Freestyler hand paddles and Isolation (“ISO”) paddles.  You should not get these without first discussing it with the head coach.  He will be able to tell you what type (if any) would be appropriate.

Fins

Fins encourage shorter, faster kicks while giving more propulsion through the water.  This helps increase leg strength and foot flexibility.  You want ones which are comfortable to wear and flexible.  That can be difficult to judge online, but we recommend Maru Training fins and Finis Z2 fins.  Avoid long floating fins and any style which describes itself as being especially stiff or rigid.

Questions

If you have any questions about kit, please do feel free to ask one of the coaches.  They will be very happy to help.