Equipment

Academy & Development Essential Equipment:

• Drink bottle
• Training Fins
• Kick Board
• A net bag to store and transport your kit in

Junior Squad and above to ADD the following to the above kit:

• Pull Buoy
• Hand and/or Finger Paddles (do not get really big ones)

Optional kit for Junior+ swimmers:

• Snorkel
• Drag Shorts
• TheraBand for land training and pre-pool
• Skipping rope for land training and pre-pool
• Roller for land training and pre-pool (a tennis ball will also be as effective!)

Equipment Explained

It is expected that swimmers wear swimming hats and goggles. It is a good idea that swimmers get used to smaller racing style goggles. They should also have a spare hat and goggles at training and competitions as they do break.

1. Drinks Bottle
   Plastic 1 litre bottle. A swimmer will lose on average 1 litre of fluid every hour they train. Those squads training for more than 1 hour should bring 2 bottles. It is also important that swimmers should ensure they are fully hydrated prior to training sessions. Please name your bottles so we can return it if it is ever left poolside!
   
2. Training fins
   For juniors these are short fins (not flippers). Examples are Kiefer Rubber Short Training Fins, Slazenger Rubber Junior Short Fins. It is worth checking that these are comfortable before buying – talk to other swimmers.
   
3. Kick Boards
   The best all round boards are the smallish ones made by Pool. Don’t buy adult kick boards for children. As a rule they need to be able to have their hands at the far end of the float and still be able to put their face in the water behind it.
   
4. Pull buoy
   Please buy the junior Pull buoys for younger or smaller swimmers. If the pull buoy is too big then it will make their control in the water much harder when using them.
   
5. Finger paddles
   Its worth getting ones like Speedo Bio Finger Paddles as these don’t constantly need adjusting.
   
6. Hand paddles
   Some coaches recommend the ones with holes in as these maintain a feel for the water. I also like to use the Finis thumb paddles as it requires the correct hand positioning in the water to keep the paddles on your hand.
7. Freestyle Snorkel
   This is an optional piece of kit. It is really useful for focusing on technique without the need to breathe. There is unlikely to be sets where you must use a snorkel but there will be times when the use of a snorkel would help during a set (eg. a kick set and there is no need to take a breath regularly). It is important to make sure that this is washed out and thoroughly dried after every session they are used. They can get mouldy otherwise.
   
8. Drag shorts
   These are for resistance training. Don’t get ones that are too big for juniors (they won’t be able to move!).
   
9. TheraBand
   Dry land training and pre-pool work can be supported with the use of a TheraBand. They are graded so don’t get one that is too difficult.
   
10. Skipping Rope
    Again, this would help with dry land training and pre-pool work. They can come in different lengths so don’t buy one that is too long. It’s important that swimmers are considerate to their surroundings when using a skipping rope (including the condition of the floor surface, especially on poolsides).
    
11. Roller / Tennis Ball
    This is great for loosening muscles during pre-pool work. Rollers can be quite bulky to carry around so using a smaller version or a tennis ball can be just as effective.