Register for the NEW Summer Sessions!

Dear Athletes,

Please take 5 minutes to complete the registration form to let us know which sessions you plan to attend over the summer period in order to best cater for your coaching needs. EVERYONE needs to do this please so that we can balance numbers effectively. Thanks for your assistance!

We will introduce these changes in 3 phases and offer 2 full squad programs over the summer - Rottnest Channel Swim & Busselton Half Ironman:

Phase 1 = introduction of a 4th lane in the Tuesday & Friday 6.30am sessions. Effective Tuesday 11th August onwards.

Phase 2 = introduction of the new weekly pool swim sessions which will help to cater and balance expected demand. Effective from Monday 7th September onwards (subject to demand - please specify your interest).

Phase 3 = introduction of the summer ocean swim sessions on a Thursday (6.30am) and Saturday (8.00am). Thursday will be suited to those doing triathlons over the summer. Saturday will be suited to those doing the Rottnest Solo or Duo swim. Effective from 1st and 3rd October respectively.

Rottnest Channel Swim Program = this will commence on Monday 7th September (24 weeks) for Solo swimmers, Monday 5th October for Duo Swimmers (20 weeks) and Monday 2nd November for Team swimmers (16 weeks). Please register your interest in the form below. Swimmers registering for these programs will be able to take advantage of our "multi-buy" session facility and pay upfront for the entire program saving you a substantial amount of money and allowing you unlimited access to what will be 15 squad swim sessions per week! No other swim program in WA offers you this much value, flexibility and above all, quality. We hope you will choose to sign up with us! Full details to follow soon!

Busselton Half Ironman Program = this will commence on Monday 15th January 2010 (15 weeks) and will feature 3 swims, 3 cycles, 3 runs and 1 brick session per week as part of the package. We have decided to extend the free period on our current squad cycle and run sessions, but will bring back a fee for these sessions as part of the package once full coaching resumes in mid-January. Watch this space for more details, but please register your details in the form below as space will be limited!

Here are some notes about the improvements / additions to the squad for the summer period:

NEW sessions will be run subject to demand, so if you are keen on attending these sessions please let us know in the form below. The new sessions are:

Monday 7am (commencing 7th September) = Swim: Kick-start your week with a great session split as 50% pure technique work and 50% pace awareness work. Our other squad sessions are typcially weighted to one over the other. This 50/50 split is the ideal way to start your week and break you out of the "Weekend Zombie" feeling. 7 out of 10 for effort.

Thursday 6.30am (commencing 1st October) = Swim: Wahey! No more Daylight Savings!!! Welcome back THE best session of the week - the Thursday morning open water skills and drills session at Cottesloe Beach followed by a muffin at Daisies. Why is this so good? Just simply an excellent chance to practice some well-needed open water specific skills such as sighting, drafting and swimming straight. Well worth getting out of bed for!

Thursday 3.30pm (commencing 10th September) = Swim: for Stockbrokers and those who get off work early! This is a new concept for those who operate on flexi-time and require a little more stroke technique TLC. The squad will be limited to 12 people max and given the greater 1-2-1 nature of this session will incur a $20 per session fee or 2 ticks on your PAYG card. Well worth it if you can make it. We'll have access to video analysis when needed and the session will be about refining your technique as opposed to knocking out the big K's, so actual distance covered will be relatively small.

Friday 4.30pm (commencing 11th September) = Swim: for all you Rottnest Solo and Duo swimmers out there, this is the session you've been waiting for! Part of mine and Ceinwen's success in the 2009 Rottnest Channel Swim was down to a once weekly distance session we did on a Wednesday lunchtime which built gradually from 4km up to 14km. Longer intervals all at pre-determined Rotto pace. Incredibly tediuous in the pool by yourself but with a small group is great and entirely essential to your success in the race. The advantage of this session in the pool is that we can really hone-in on our pace awareness skills and practice race nutrition, both essential ingredients! All finished off with a pizza and beer - you can't say fairer than that!

Saturday 8.00am (commencing 3rd October) = Swim: another one for those swimming to Rotto. Despite the long, tough session on the Friday evening, we'll back up with a steady swim in the ocean each Saturday morning which will be chance to get a long continuous swim in whilst a little fatigued. This will be a great way to prepare safely for the latter 30% of the channel swim when you start to get tired. We will build from 3 to 10km in this session.

4 LANES. We have managed to secure a 4th lane from 6.45am on a Tuesday and Friday morning. This is great news. Swimmers attending the 6.30am session will warm up in 3 lanes, but we now have the ability to use a 4th lane for the last 45 minutes in order to manage numbers over summer. Unfortunately we will not have this facility in the 5.30am, 7.30am or 9.30am sessions, so if you would like a little extra space, please nominate for the 6.30am sessions below. This will be especially beneficial for those of you who normally swim in lane 2 (i.e. middle lane).

SESSION SIZES. We will be aiming to restrict session sizes to 24 people (or ~ 8 per lane) with the exception of a Tuesday & Friday 6.30am session where we have the capacity now to have up to 32 swimmers. It is absolutely imperative that you register your interest in these sessions below ASAP to avoid missing out. Priority will be given to those who have consistently swum with us over the winter period in the event of over-subscription. Your help and support is much appreciated in this respect. We will operate with a "buffer" of 2 people per lane when collating numbers given the flexible nature of the card system. This has worked very well in the past - occassionally we will have up to 2 extra people per lane on peak mornings (i.e. good weather), but typically this tends to balance out with the quieter mornings (i.e. poor weather). TIP: get down when its raining! ;-)

ABILITY LEVELS. Essentially we now have 5 lanes of ability in the squad. In the Time:4:Me sessions at 9.30am on a Monday, Wednesday and a Friday, the three lanes equate to levels 1, 2 and 3. In the 5.30am, 7.30am and 6.15pm sessions the lanes equate to levels 2, 3 and 4. In the new 6.30am Tuesday and Friday sessions, the lanes equate to levels 2, 3, 4 & 5. To give you an idea of the pace that each level swims at to check the suitability for you, see below:

Level 1 = 2:04 to 2:30 per 100m

Level 2 = 1:48 to 2:00 per 100m

Level 3 = 1:32 to 1:46 per 100m

Level 4 = 1:20 to 1:30 per 100m

Level 5 = 1:12 to 1:20 per 100m

ADDITIONAL COACHING STAFF. It is my great pleasure to announce that owing to the substantial growth in the squad over the past 12 months (and even over winter!), we have decided to branch out and employ some additional coaching staff to help us with the smooth running of the program over the summer. Rather than just scramble to get anyone in though, we are enforcing a rigorous selection and coach mentoring criteria for all interested parties to ensure our high standard of coaching continues on into the new sessions and with the existing ones too. We will be running a 2-day Coaches Workshop in the next month for all interested parties which will ensure that everyone we take on is prepped in our philosophies and coahcing practices. Rather than "water-down" our coaching though, we envisage that this practice will add some new life and spark into the program. Anyone interested in being part of The TEAM CORE's Coaching Staff can apply using the Coaches Network Form here. Equally, if you know of anyne who would be keen to get involved, please forward them this page and ask them to get in touch with me.

FINALLY, REGISTER YOUR INTEREST.

Please note, when completing the online registration form, DO NOT USE your "ENTER" or "RETURN" keys to navigate down the form; instead use either your mouse cursor or the "TAB" key to move to each new field. Segments of the questionnaire will not be recorded if the ENTER key is hit within the form, so to avoid losing 'work', DON'T HIT ENTER. Thankyou!

Thanks for your time & support everyone!

Paul