I need a guideline !

Tobiasz

Hello to everyone I have decided to write on this forum, to describe my situation which I have experienced on Dublin’s swimming pools. At the beginning I would like to introduce myself.
My name is Tobiasz Sobinek and I come from Poland. I have finished Academy of Physical Education in Wroclaw with Master’s Degree and specialization swimming coach. My diploma thesis was “Manifestations of sexual dimorphism in body tissue composed of swimmers (male and female)”.
Recently I have managed to achieve IWS National Pool Lifeguard Award Level 2. I am entitled to teach swimming as well as run class in a sport club. Unfortunately I don’t have any experience working as a professional swimming teacher/coach, because I left my country right after I have graduated. Why I have decided to set up this topic? Well, for some time I have been trying to get an unpaid practise (not internship) in any swimming poll in Dublin’s area, fruitless.
Question is why this happens? Maybe I do something wrong, maybe someone will tell me what I have to do to change it. I wish with all my heart to work in my profession and keep developing myself in this field, because swimming is my passion.

AngryHippie

When you were completing your qualifications as a swimming instructor, were there no practical elements to the course ?
Did you not have to log some hours of prac-work along the way ?

Swimming is a fairly closed shop in Ireland, relatively speaking. It is tough to break into, as there are a fairly finite number of available venues and times. Working through the club system would probably serve you best as they are usually aligned with FINA and normally have a coaching structure and succession structure in place to develop. The swim-school system is normally more commercial in approach and doesn't cater for professional development as smoothly (it is all about the money)

Have a chat to a club coach or club president and see if you can make any progress with them. Don't expect much in terms of financial benefit in this field though, as many club coaches are on a semi-voluntary basis up until the head-coach position.

Keep in mind also that these club positions, and effective teaching and coaching are very heavily dependent on the experience based skills of their coaching staff. It's all well and good to do a masters degree in swimming, but much like any qualification it can leave a steep learning curve in the area of practical implementation of the knowledge you have gained.

Be patient, try approaching your local club, try contacting Swim Ireland, and remember that it is a very small pool of people at the top, so impressions count.

Best of luck with it.

Tobiasz

Hi at the beginning I would like to thank you for the effort you had to put to replay. Back to the question about my practice during course. I did one hundred hours as a part of my course, beside that I had to create a one year training plan for my group with all training elements and sport events.
I’m off tomorrow so I will visit my local swimming club if there is any in dublin 8. At this stage I am not interested in money, rather experience . Anyway thanks again for your help.

AngryHippie

Tobiasz,

100hrs and a season plan sounds about right.
As long as your communication skills are good, I think you should be able to get something sorted out. Masters coaching may be another opportunity, or the growing triathlon crowd, although some extra training on your part may be a worthwhile investment as I'm pretty sure that they have their own tiers of coaching quals.