STROUD Seals Swim Club held their first Swim Club Meet after a break of nearly four years of inactivity.

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A group of enthusiastic swimmers, assisted by past committee members Ian and Davina Lathwell have managed to reactivate the club which is now once again registered with Swimming NSW.

The Club is committed to providing a Swim Club meet each month at Stroud Community Swimming Pool.

The Stroud Seals also have a number of competitive swimmers who train at Lakeside Leisure Centre all year round.

These swimmers regularly compete at local, regional and State carnivals.

The next carnival for the Seals is the North Coast Regional Swimming Championships at Coffs Harbour.

A number of swimmers are competing to achieve times at various levels from Country to National qualifying times.

The Club held its first Meet on Sunday 28 Oct 18 on a rather grim spring day.

However, the meteorological conditions could not dampen the enthusiasm of a group of about 40 swimmers, parents and officials.

The Club Coach and President, Michael Abel, organised and ran an hour long coaching session with the assistance of junior coach Tim Tatchell (19).

The coaching was well attended and is provided free to all Swimming Club members before each meet.

The Swim Club Meet was conducted after the coaching session, and contained a mixture of fun events as well as more serious events.

The focus is on encouraging participation and learning the rules of competitive swimming in a supportive and enjoyable environment.

Many of the older competitive swimmers were present to provide examples and assist with the running of the event.

The swimmers ranged in age from some of the parents, just a bit over 30 years in age down to smaller swimmers known as Junior Dolphins, which mean they are under seven years of age and also swim for free as there is no cost for a Junior Dolphin Swimmer.

President Michael Abel has a focus on encouraging senior swimmers to ‘give back’ to the club and provide mentoring and example to younger swimmers on how to behave and have fun in a competitive environment.

Belonging to the Club means swimmers are part of a team and the monthly Swim Club Meet allows swimmers to meet and interact socially and learn new skills all at the same time.

James Newall, assistant coach and a State Open swimmer, also attended the Club Meet to assist with the organisation.

James is a Physiotherapy student at Newcastle University, and is running swimming coaching lessons every Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning until the end of January to teach children through the Junior Dophins program.

James can be contacted on james@awstructures.com.au.

The next Swim Club meet is scheduled for 18 November, 2018 and all interested are most welcome to attend.