Derby Phoenix Swimming Club is a competitive organisation which aims at training young swimmers, of all abilities, to attain a high standard of competitive achievement and at the same time enjoy themselves. Throughout the year the club competes in a regular programme of team gala’s both locally and across the Midlands region. The club also competes each year in the Derbyshire County Championships. Derby Phoenix encourages any swimmer who meets the required standard to take up the opportunity to train with and swim for Derventio Excel the elite squad for Derbyshire.

The club is welcoming and friendly and has been in existence for many years. Originating in around 1959 as the swimming section of the Derby Baths Life-Saving and Swimming Club, the club later changed its name to the Derby Baths Swimming Club. The current name PHOENIX was adopted in 1974 and has been in use since. Derby Phoenix Swimming club is run by an elected committee are responsible for the day to day running of the club, making sure the club operates within ASA rules, securing water time for training sessions, liaising with other clubs to organise or attend Galas, promoting the sale of club equipment and swimming gear, and of course ensuring that the club operates in a financially responsible manner.  All training sessions, timetables, training schedules, team selection and Swimming Gala Organisation are the responsibility of the Chief Coach, supported by the coaching team. However, the coaching team rely very much on the support parents give to ensure that training sessions and time trials run effectively. The club encourages any parent, who is willing to assist the club, to obtain minor swimming coaching and teaching qualifications, by providing financial assistance.

IS IT ALL SWIMMING?

In the main yes! - The core function of the club is to provide a wide range of swimming activities and facilities to develop all our young swimmers from “Tidlers” to “Teens”, and more recently even “Masters”. However, we do believe in developing fully all leisure aspects of club life and therefore have a very active and healthy social side to the club. Some are swim orientated like the House Gala and club Championships. Other Activities have included family discos, presentation evenings, festive functions, camping and rambling weekends and family trips to name just a few of our social activities. Fresh ideas are always welcomed.

WHAT DO I NEED TO JOIN?

How old are you? How good are you? Do you want to achieve a reasonable standard? These are some of the questions we ask of potential new members. Ability, in general, however does not matter because the club has such a wide range of facilities. In most instances we will have a training facility that will match your need, be it teaching a youngster to learn to swim for the first time, right through to providing expert coaching to fully fledged swimmers of all abilities. In all instances, new members are accepted on a trial basis. Once the trial period has been completed the new member has the opportunity to become a full Club member.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

The annual membership fee for a competing, or non competing member is fixed by the Club Committee and is renewable on the 1st October each year. The monthly fees, for the various squads, are fixed by the Club Committee, and reviewed annually, or as necessary. Information on current fees and charges can be found here.

All swimmers must also pay an annual registration fee to the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) to enable swimming in league gala’s, open meets etc. This fee also covers the costs of Insurance Premiums payable. Information on current ASA and charges can be found here.

TRAINING AND TEACHING SQUADS

The Club utilises three purpose built teaching pools to provide effective teaching sessions for non-swimmers. The teaching sessions are structured to build confidence in the water, and to enable swimmers to obtain nationally recognised swim certificates, which recognises their swimming achievement, and provides an attractive competence badge for the swimmer to wear proudly.

“Improvers” have the opportunity to be promoted from the Teaching Squads to the mainstream Training Squads, when they have demonstrated that they are fully confident in the water, and have a proper appreciation of the four swimming strokes.

Movement through the Training Squads is dependent on ability, which is monitored by regular time trials. Regular attendance and a purposeful approach to training are essential to ensure steady progress up through the Training Squads.

HOUSE COLOURS

Derby Phoenix Swimming Club has adopted green and yellow as their house colours. Swim costumes, trunks, swim caps, sports bags, and tee shirts are all available in the house colours. These and other swim gear such as goggles, kick boards, flippers, pull buoys, and hand paddles are all available from the club’s swim shop. You can view the latest items in our swimshop here.

By adopting House Colours the club presents a corporate image when competing in swimming galas. It gives all our young swimmers a sense of identity and a feeling of pride when collecting their winner medals. For this reason all swimmers are encouraged to wear house colours when competing in swimming league competitions or inter – club swimming galas.

WHEN & WHERE TO SWIM

The teaching section of the Club currently utilises swimming pools at Woodlands Community School Allestree, and University of Derby, Lonsdale Pool, Mickleover. 

Teaching sessions are normally held every Saturday but specific details can be found here.

The various training squads utilise a variety of pools and sports facilities for their sessions. Pools at Moorways Leisure Centre, Queens Leisure Centre, Repton School Sports Complex, Woodlands Community School, and the University of Derby Lonsdale are used by training squads for either swim based training or in the case of the senior squads, gymnasium based training.

Squad training sessions are run seven days a week at one or more of the above locations. Squad sessions are continuously monitored and reviewed and are dependant on the age and ability of the swimmer. Typically squad sessions vary from between two and eight hours per week.

ANNUAL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

Probably the highlight of the club year is the annual club championship, usually held each November. It is the time when friendly rivalry turns to fierce competition as club swimmers have the opportunity to compete against each other. Events are broken down into swim disciplines and age groups. Trophies and medals are awarded to individual winners. Awards are also made to the best swimmer of each age group. All the trophies and medals are presented to swimmers at a special Presentation Evening. Click here to view some photo's from our last Club Championships.

SWIMMING GALA’S & TEAM SELECTION

The Club participates in numerous inter – club gala’s throughout the year, and takes special care to ensure that all abilities and age levels are covered when selecting the type of gala to enter. It is the responsibility of the Club’s Fixtures Secretary to ensure that a wide spectrum of galas are covered, when drawing up the Club’s calendar of events, to enable all swimmers the opportunity to compete at an appropriate level to show their skills and level of competence.

The Club has competed for many years in the Speedo sponsored West Midlands League. For the juniors, aged nine to twelve, the Club has competed in the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Junior League. The Club has enjoyed a good level of success throughout the years it has competed in these competitions.

Team selection is done under the guidance of the Chief Coach, with the assistance of the coaching team. The prime indicators for selection are the times achieved by swimmers at the monthly time trials, together with the times recorded at previous galas. It is important that swimmers attend as many time trials as possible to ensure their times are recorded. All time trial times, and gala times, are recorded and updated on the Club’s computer database for reference. 

PARENTS

When a swimmer has been accepted as a member of the Club the parents or guardians have the opportunity to become non-competing members with full voting rights at the Annual General Meeting. Swimmers aged 14 years and over also have voting rights at the Annual General Meeting.

The club always needs parents to assist at the poolside when gala events are held. Parents do not need to be experienced to help – willingness is the greatest asset.