So it’s that time of year again when the triumphant Wigan BEST go on swim camp. This year they are Cyprus bound.
The morning started well for most with an early meeting time set by Les of 6am T1 Jet2 check-in area, I have been told to say a big “Well done” to all of the swimmers for making it on time.
A couple of our mischievous swimmers were sniffed out my boarder control, but a little persuasion from Pete seen them released without charge.
Thankfully Storm Dennis wasn’t too bad and the flight departed with just a minutes delay and only a tiny amount of turbulence on the way.
Landing in Cyprus was bumpy not we all survived.
The hotel is great with free upgrades to the rooms.
In the team meeting Girl & Boy captains were chosen Jodie and Matthew S were given the honours. Then the group were split into 4 smaller groups of 6, with 4 leaders chosen to take responsibility for their team mates, these were Ben, Rachael, Matthew S and Joe, these were chosen by the coaching staff on merit and leadership qualities ( well done). Next the teams went off and were given the first task of picking team names with bonus point for originality.
Matthews team = Sylvester’s Jesters
Bens team = Tinkle Sprinkle
Rachaels team = Little Dippers
Joes team = Joes small Bladders
I think you will agree every team got points.
Day 2
With a nice rest and only coming down for breakfast at 8:15 the day begun, after everyone having a good feed, time to enjoy some down time before the hard work starts. Swimmers chose to explore the beach and surroundings. With Girls option got a splash in the sea and photoshoot, while some boys decided to look for dead lizards and try some front flips off the jetti, fun times.
First look at the pool for the swimmers and they like it, well who wouldn’t.
Leila having a little 1-2-1 with Les
Wendy and Jen has to nip out to get some new goggles so Chloe could swim
Jodie thought she would give you all a wave
Day 3
Breakfast today was much anticipated with lots of very hungry swimmers after a long day travelling on Sunday and 2 x 2hr sessions on Monday including a max 200m timed kick.
Keeping up the Sheehan family tradition of having birthday on swim camp Olivia celebrated her 15th birthday with a couple of surprises.
after breakfast the swimmers had some down time, but still felt it was a bit too chilly to brave the pool, so some chose to work on the tasks Les and Chris had set them of finding out qualifying times for various event and records (head scratching time for some).
Back to the pool for the first of 2 two hour session with only a 2 hour break in between (this could get messy)
The swimmers really did excel, doing more than our coaches ever expected and pushing themselves hard.
But it is hungry work and some times looks like the Seal show at Blackpool Zoo
Day 4
With Les eagerly waiting in reception for all the swimmers to join him for lunch, today has started well.
Daniel H popes in for breakfast too, nice surprise
Chris will never learn not to leave his phone unsupervised:-
After breakfast the swimmers had some more free time so a trip to the supermarket to get more snacks and refreshments was in order
Now off to the pool for a nice easy 2 hours pool session the swimmers were hoping for.
Pre-Pool warm up and stretching (No Static stretching here)
in the pool the swimmers seemed to be loving the coaching
Jodie and Emma found Les, Pete, Chris and Craig some lovely headwear
With VAR in play there will be no cheating here
Video stroke analysis complete and back to the hotel for lunch then an intensive land training session planned and implemented by Drill Sargent Pete.
Daisy won extra points for her strong plank
After the team bonding land work During which we had a Dave & Goliath moment when Eve turned team captain and hurried her team mate Liam up. It was Jen’s turn to help everyone “Contract and Relax” after the first half of the week.
All that sitting on Daisy’s back proved too much for Chris
The group had some well deserved free time after the land training, so what did most of them do……. went to the indoor pool
Tea time then off to the meeting room for debrief and then a team quiz.
Leila decided that even though she was the youngest that would stop her shouting out all the answers (great confidence)
Question No 47:- where is the Taj Mahal
Nyah:- Bolton, they do a great take away”
Day 5
Happy birthday Charlie 14 today
Ice cold dip for Chris, Rachael, Emma, Olivia and Matt. Crazy peeps
Today was forecast rain, we did get about 15-16 drops and all the locals had yellow fishing cloths on but the English do it different (see above pic)
Matching swim suits for Charlie’s Birthday
After training and food it was time for the beach, some opted for the beach other to walk down to the harbour, omit was cold and 20374 steps And a bus ride later it was tea time.
Jenny’s “Contract and Relax” working a treat
Tic-Tok’s before Dinner
After Dinner it was back into the teams for a “What came first quiz” and ball games.
Day 6
Rain!!!!
Nothing puts these swimmers off
So the training session was wet but the walk back for lunch was even wetter
It was a quick turn around back to the pool, where the weather didn’t know what to do
Another awesome training session took place then back to the hotel for more of Wendy and Jenny’s fun.
With every team happy and exhausted, it was time for bed.
Day 7
Today started a lot brighter and no sign of rain. After breakfast and supermarket it was off to the pool for the first of our last double session.
This session saw a repeat of a previous session from Tuesday for our sprinters :- Swim-Weights-Swim. This had good results on Tuesday and better today.
after that it was off to the hotel for food and rest, before our last night swimming.
It was time for the awards night
Some of the awards were:-
Best Sunglasses, Worst Plank, Best Motivational speaker, Best Couple, Not moving while Chris sat on your back, to name a few.
After a very entertaining award ceremony it was off to bed to pack and get ready for the “early morning” swim and final session.
After an amazing times 200m Kick and timed 200m choice (for team points) it was time to get back for lunch and find out which team won.
It was close but a Little Dippers came out on top, well done.
Thank you to Les, Pete, Chris, Wendy, Jenny, the Committee, parents and not forgetting the swimmers for making this such an enjoyable and rewarding week.
I’ll leave you with this (sound up)
