|   BOOKMARK US!  |     London Olympics :

JOINING THE WHITCHURCH WASPS

Subject to an individual meeting the minimum physical and mental requirements for lane swimming, the Club adopts an Open Membership policy with pool time and coaching facilities being available to anyone wishing to take advantage of them. We wish to change the culture and structure of swimming as a sport to ensure it becomes equally accessible to everybody.

We therefore welcome applications from new potential members aged 7 upwards able to swim 50 metres in at least 3 strokes and tread water for a minimum of 2 minutes.

If for any reason the Club is over- subscribed we make use of a waiting list with membership allocated on a first come first served basis.

Young swimmers normally start off in the stroke clinic with two to three hours of training per week.  Here they improve their strokes and build up their stamina.  At this stage within the Wasps we strongly advise that swimmers also continue with their usual swimming lessons.

The next step up from the stroke clinic is Lane 5. Promotion into lane 5 takes place on a purely judge by results, meritocratic basis.  Every 3 months the club organises time trials and swimmers who attain the appropriate time trial qualifications then move up a lane. Further pool and coaching time is then allocated.

The club runs an annual open swimming session – usually in October to which interested swimmers are invited to attend. This provides the opportunity for potential new members and their parents to meet all those involved in running the club and get an insight into a typical training session. They also ensure that new members start at the same time as a number of other swimmers within their age bracket.  In this way they build up friendships that last throughout their time at the Wasps.

If all goes well at this open session, new members then come along for a six week trial, for one hour a week. During the trial, they follow a program to improve their technique and start to build up their stamina. The trial is a two way process; for the club to see if the child will benefit from what it has to offer and for the child to see if they enjoy it.

Club swimmers are required to have access to their own goggles, drinks bottle, front snorkels, flippers/fins, hand paddles, kick-boards, and pull buoys – all of which can be purchased at the club shop which appears poolside once a month or can be pre-ordered on the website – at very competitive prices.

Interested new members should contact Lesley Reid  via our contact form.

MEMBERSHIP

Currently, during the trial, swimmers make a donation to the charity (suggested minimum of £30) to cover the 6 session period. Recommended membership donations following this trial period then depend upon lane allocation.

These monthly donations secure membership of the charity – and are then used to meet our charitable objectives:

  1. The promotion of community participation in healthy recreation for the benefit of the inhabitants of North Shropshire and its surrounds in particular by the provision of facilities for swimming.
  2. The preservation of human life by teaching and practice of swimming, water safety, life saving, resuscitation or survival in the water.

The payment of such donations does not secure a right to personal use of any facilities or services provided by the charity. Monthly donations are collected in advance by standing order or annually in advance by cheque. 

Suggested Minimum Donations

Stroke Clinic £24 per month
Lane 6      £28.50 per month
Lane 4 – 5   £28.50 per month
Lane 3 – 1    £33.00 per month

DOCUMENTS / INFORMATION

Some of these files require a PDF reader such as Adobe Reader.