Academy Swim Team

Club updates

Catch up on club news, fundraising, competition highlights, training opportunities and the people who make AST special.

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💙💚 WHAT A FANTASTIC DAY IN BRIDPORT! 💚💙

💙💚 WHAT A FANTASTIC DAY IN BRIDPORT! 💚💙 What an incredible afternoon of racing at the Challenge Cup Gala! 🏊‍♂️🏆 Academy Swim Team and Burnham-on-Sea Swimming Club joined forces today, and what a team they made! 💙💚 The competition was incredibly close between all the teams, with some fantastic races, exciting finishes and brilliant performances throughout the afternoon! A huge well done to every single swimmer who took part. 👏 Some of our swimmers were racing up multiple age groups, competing against swimmers two or even three years older than themselves, and they certainly didn't let that stop them! 💪 But one of the best parts of today wasn't just the racing. It was seeing how brilliantly the two clubs came together. From the moment we got on the coach, there was laughter, encouragement and plenty of cheering. Two clubs, one team, and a fantastic atmosphere throughout! 💙💚 After some incredibly close racing, we finished in 3rd place! 🥉 A brilliant achievement and something every swimmer should be proud of. There are certainly going to be some tired swimmers on the coach home tonight! 🚌😴 A massive thank you to all our coaches, team managers and volunteers who gave up their Saturday to make today possible. Days like this simply wouldn't happen without you. 💙💚 Thank you also to all the parents and supporters who made the journey and cheered the team on. Your support really does make a difference! 👏 And finally, a huge thank you to Bridport Barracudas for hosting such a fantastic, friendly and well-organised gala. We thoroughly enjoyed it! Two clubs, one team, lots of smiles and some brilliant memories made! 💙💚 #AcademySwimTeam #BurnhamOnSeaSwimmingClub #ChallengeCup #TeamBurnham #SwimmingFamily

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🚌🏊‍♂️ BRIDPORT, HERE WE COME! 🏊‍♀️🚌

🚌🏊‍♂️ BRIDPORT, HERE WE COME! 🏊‍♀️🚌 We're on the coach and officially on our way to Bridport for today's Challenge Cup Gala! 🏆 Today, Academy Swim Team is joining forces with Burnham-On-Sea Swimming Club as our swimmers team up for an exciting afternoon of racing! It's fantastic to see our two local clubs coming together, supporting each other and enjoying some friendly competition. Good luck to every swimmer competing today! Give it your all, cheer each other on and, most importantly, have fun! 💪💙 A big thank you to all the coaches, team managers and volunteers making today possible. Let's go, Team Burnham! 🔥🏊‍♂️ #AcademySwimTeam #BurnhamOnSeaSwimmingClub #ChallengeCup #TeamBurnham #SwimmingFamily

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🙌 Welcome to the team, Hazel & Robyn! 💙💛

🙌 Welcome to the team, Hazel & Robyn! 💙💛 We’re really pleased to welcome Hazel and Robyn to the AST volunteer team, both joining us as qualified Team Managers! 🏊‍♀️🏊‍♂️ Our club simply couldn’t run without volunteers giving up their time to support our swimmers, coaches and events. Every extra person who comes forward makes a genuine difference — it helps spread the workload, takes some of the pressure off those already helping and gives us an even stronger team behind the scenes. A huge thank you as well to everyone who has contacted us or offered to help since our volunteer post last week. It’s been fantastic to see people stepping forward, and we really appreciate every offer of support. 💙 And there is always room for more! You don’t need years of swimming experience or existing qualifications to get involved. Whether you’d like to help poolside, become a Team Manager, train as a coach or official, support events, join the committee or simply lend a hand when you can, there are plenty of ways to be part of the team — and we can help you develop into a role. The more people we have involved, the more we can do for our swimmers and the stronger AST becomes. 👏 A massive welcome and thank you to Hazel and Robyn — and to every single person who gives their time to keep Academy Swim Team moving forward. Interested in joining them? Get in touch with us and have a chat. Even a small amount of your time can make a big difference. 💙💛

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🌟 A VERY PROUD AST MOMENT 🌟

🌟 A VERY PROUD AST MOMENT 🌟 We have some brilliant news to share… Tom has been nominated for the Swim England South West Young Coach of the Year Award! 🏆 Being recognised at regional level is a huge achievement and a fantastic reflection of the work Tom puts into coaching and supporting our swimmers. Since joining our coaching team, Tom has continued to grow and develop as a coach, while giving an enormous amount back to the club. Whether it is helping a swimmer master something new, encouraging them before a race, supporting them after a difficult session or simply helping make swimming somewhere they look forward to being, his impact reaches far beyond the training set on the board. Our club relies on people who are prepared to give their time, share their knowledge and invest in the next generation of swimmers — and we are extremely fortunate to have Tom as part of our team. We know how much our swimmers value him, and it is wonderful to see his hard work recognised beyond AST as well. From everyone at Academy Swim Team: congratulations, Tom! 👏💙 Thank you for everything you do, keep doing what you’re doing, and enjoy every moment of this very well-deserved recognition. We are incredibly proud of you! 🏊‍♂️🌟🏆

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🏆 ANOTHER BRILLIANT AST NOMINATION! 🏆

🏆 ANOTHER BRILLIANT AST NOMINATION! 🏆 We are incredibly proud to share that Lewis Duggan has been nominated for the Swim England South West Young Volunteer of the Year Award! 🌟 At just 20 years old, Lewis is already making a fantastic contribution to swimming and to Academy Swim Team. As a qualified Level 2 Swimming Teacher and Level 1 Swimming Coach, Lewis brings real knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment to the club, supporting our swimmers and helping create the positive environment we want at AST. What makes this nomination especially pleasing is that it recognises far more than simply holding qualifications. It is about giving your time, getting involved, supporting others and choosing to contribute to the development of swimmers and the wider club. Lewis has already achieved a huge amount for someone still at the beginning of his journey in the sport, and we are delighted to see that contribution recognised at South West level. Swimming clubs depend on people who are willing to step forward and play their part, and having young people like Lewis choosing to invest their time and energy into the sport is incredibly valuable. A massive congratulations, Lewis, from everyone at Academy Swim Team! 💙👏 Thank you for everything you do for AST, for our swimmers and for the sport. A fantastic achievement and a very well-deserved nomination! 🏊‍♂️🌟🏆

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🏊 Another new addition for AST members!

🏊 Another new addition for AST members! We’ve just launched our new Self-Led Land Training programme — developed in-house to give AST swimmers access to swimming-specific training from home at no additional cost. Rather than simply giving swimmers a sheet of exercises, we wanted to build something that could actually guide them through the process. Members can now sign into their portal and access pathway-based sessions based on Swim England Land Training guidelines with individual exercise prescriptions, teaching guidance, demonstration videos, progression options and safety advice. And because training should be enjoyable too, swimmers can follow weekly goals, collect Training Stars, unlock achievements, build consistency streaks and track their journey as they progress. ⭐🏆🔥 It’s completely optional and designed to complement coached pool sessions, helping swimmers develop things such as bodyline, trunk control, strength, balance and the movement qualities that transfer into starts, turns and technique in the water. This is another example of why we’ve been developing SwimClubOS around the needs of our club. Instead of adapting the club around generic software, we can increasingly build the tools our swimmers, parents, coaches and volunteers actually need — all within the same Members Portal they already use for their club activities. Access through your Members Portal under Training. Full details are on Spond now. A little more technology behind the scenes, hopefully making life a little easier for our members. 💙

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Could you help us take the next step? 💙🏊

Could you help us take the next step? 💙🏊 Academy Swim Team is growing, and one of our biggest priorities is continuing to develop and expand our younger swimmer groups. To do that well, we’d love to strengthen the coaching team around them. We’re particularly keen to hear from qualified coaches who might be interested in getting involved with AST and helping us continue improving the programme we offer our swimmers. Whether you could support regularly or simply have some time you’d like to give back to the sport, we’d love to have a conversation. As we grow our younger age groups, we’d also really like to broaden the mix of people on poolside and would especially welcome more women coming forward to join and strengthen our coaching and volunteer team. But you absolutely do not need to already be a coach. If coaching is something you’ve thought about before, or you’d like to learn more, we’d be just as pleased to hear from you. We can support people starting out, help you gain experience alongside our existing coaches and, where appropriate, help you progress towards coaching qualifications. There are also plenty of other ways to get involved. Poolside helpers, Team Managers, officials, timekeepers, committee and trustee roles, welfare support and help at meets and events all play a huge part in keeping AST running. You don’t need years of swimming experience to make a difference. Sometimes it simply starts with being willing to help, learn and support the swimmers around you. If you’d like to support the next generation of AST swimmers, develop your own skills or simply find out what role might suit you, speak to one of our coaches or get in touch. #AcademySwimTeam #AST #SwimmingCoaches #SwimmingVolunteers #VolunteerWithUs #BurnhamOnSea #SwimmingCommunity

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🏊‍♂️🏆 A fantastic afternoon of school swimming! 🏆🏊‍♀️

🏊‍♂️🏆 A fantastic afternoon of school swimming! 🏆🏊‍♀️ Today wasn’t an AST event, but it was brilliant to see so many familiar faces from our club representing their schools at the inter-school swimming gala! A huge well done to every child who took part, from all the different schools and swimming clubs. Events like this are a great opportunity for swimmers to represent their school, race alongside friends and enjoy some fantastic competition. 👏 And a massive congratulations to the winning school! 🏆 We were especially proud to see that 5 of the 6 swimmers in the winning team are AST swimmers — a lovely achievement for them and their school! Whatever club, school or team you represented today, you should all be incredibly proud of yourselves. Well done everyone! ❤️🏊 #AcademySwimTeam #AST #SchoolSwimming #Teamwork #Swimming #ProudClub

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🏊 Looking for the next step in your child’s swimming journey?

🏊 Looking for the next step in your child’s swimming journey? Junior Squad at Academy Swim Team is about much more than swimming lengths. It’s a place to build skills, gain confidence, make friends and experience the excitement of being part of a team. 💙💛 From training and improving technique to galas, medals and plenty of fun along the way, there are lots of opportunities for our younger swimmers to grow with AST. ⭐ 3 free trials before joining 🏊 Two hours of swimming each week 📅 Choose from Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday sessions 💷 £35 per month 🎁 Free AST hat for new members Interested? Come and give us a try — there’s no commitment during your three free sessions. 👉 astbos.co.uk/contact-us Or scan the QR code on the poster to get in touch. 💙 Learn. Improve. Compete. Belong.

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🏊 Somerset ASA County Qualifying Times are here!

🏊 Somerset ASA County Qualifying Times are here! With the Somerset ASA County Championship qualifying times now released, we’ve updated the AST Members Portal ready for the new season. Our swimmers and parents can now log in and use our Qualify Checker to see exactly where they currently stand against the 2027 County qualifying standards. For every event, the portal automatically checks the swimmer’s licensed results and shows: 🟢 Qualified – when they’ve achieved the standard ⏱️ To go – exactly how much time they need to find 🔄 SCM & LCM results – with long-course times automatically converted for comparison 📅 Qualifying window – only eligible licensed results are considered It also automatically uses each swimmer’s correct age for the Championships, so families don’t need to work through qualifying tables, conversions and results themselves. Just log in → Activities → Qualify Checker and select your swimmer. 📱 It’s another little addition to our Members Portal that we hope makes life easier for our swimmers and parents – and gives everyone some new targets to chase over the coming months! 💪🏊 Good luck to everyone chasing those County times! 💙

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🏊‍♀️🏊‍♂️ What an afternoon at the County Relays! 💙💛

🏊‍♀️🏊‍♂️ What an afternoon at the County Relays! 💙💛 A great afternoon had by all, with some fantastic racing, medals coming home with AST, brilliant teamwork and plenty of support for each other throughout! 🏅👏 And apparently swimming wasn’t enough… we even managed to fit in a bit of gymnastics during the break! 😂🤸 A huge thank you to Tom and Ollie for coaching throughout the day, Verity & Nicola for team managing and keeping everything running smoothly, and Stevie for all the work she put in behind the scenes to help get everyone there and organised. 💙 And a massive shout out to Somerset ASA for putting on another fantastic event. 👏 Most importantly, well done to all of our swimmers. You raced hard, supported your teammates and represented AST brilliantly. We hope you all had as much fun as we did! What a team! 💙💛🏊‍♂️🏊‍♀️

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🏊‍♂️ County I.M. Meet! 🏊‍♀️

🏊‍♂️ County I.M. Meet! 🏊‍♀️ We’ve got 5 AST swimmers competing at the County I.M. Meet this morning! 💙💛 We’re so proud of every one of you and everything you’ve achieved to get here. Enjoy your races, give it everything and, most importantly, have fun! 🙌 And we’re only just getting started… Later today, 20 more AST swimmers will be joining us for the relays, which means we’re in for a fun, exciting and probably VERY loud afternoon of racing! 😂📣 Good luck to everyone racing today — enjoy every moment and GO AST! 🏊‍♀️🏊‍♂️💙💛

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