Child swim times!! Really angry

dalkener

Hi,

Just wondering if anybody knows of child friendly pools in the Clondalkin/Lucan area. My daughter is 9 at the moment and quite a proficiant swimmer. Unfortunately LIFFEY VALLEY fitness only allow children between 9am and 5pm... i.e. when everybody is at work.

Im doing triathlons at the moment and was hoping to get her down swimming in the morning before work/school. The staff in liffey valley were not helpful at all even when I was explaining she would be doing lane swimming and not coming in just to doss about, its really annoying and i've tried other gyms/pools in the area and all have the same policy. No wonder Ireland has feck all olympians to talk about when we won't even let kids into the facilities to train!!:mad::mad:

Any help appreciated,
Thanks

AngryHippie

Training outside of a structured session is of limited benefit tbh, You would be far better off getting the kid into a swimming club, where they will be on a structured training scheme, with coach oversight. There are many reasons for this, While the swimmer may be proficient, it is very difficult to stay focused enough to keep technique accurate in long sessions. It is more or less impossible to analyze your own stroke as you are swimming, small mistakes can go unnoticed and develop into bad habits which are much harder to correct. Most clubs in Ireland have got well trained coaches, who put a good deal of effort into making training schemes appropriate, and suiting the abilities of the swimmer, so even if you have some sort of prodigy, the training can be adapted to be of maximum benefit. As for a club in the Lucan/Clondalkin area, I'm pretty sure there is a club training in Templeogue, there are always options in Dublin with Cormorant and Glenalbyn, but I'm not sure when they take on new members or how much their fees are per season. That is the downside to the club structure, it is usually quite expensive, the training sessions can be early in the morning, and they often have waiting lists to join.
On the other hand, Clubs usually have a nice social atmosphere, all of the parents involved will have common interests, concerns, and experiences, which can save a lot of wasted time......Definitely price it and consider it as the first preference option to training individually in a lane session, Especially for a kid, whose interest may wane after a while training on their own without any peers to relate to.

DaDa

Is NAC (Blanchardstown) too far from Lucan area for you?

50m configuration from 6AM - 10AM daily + 6PM - 8PM on weekends. Otherwise there are always 25m lanes.

sock puppet

Yeah as AngryHippie said you should try and get her involved with a swimming club. It would help her much more than swimming on her own and although is an individual sport there's really a great team spirit in clubs. You never know she may be ireland's next olympian

http://www.teamtsc.net/

Theres a link to templeogue swimming club. Although be warned, if she sticks with it you'll be getting up at all sorts of ungodly hours to drop her to training.:)

secman

Viking swim club operate out of Stewarts Hosp pool, just behind Vincent Byrnes on Palmerstown Bypass.

Secman