Swimming at Tanglin Trust School
Contents 3
About Tanglin Swimming
4
Values, Mission and Culture
5
Selection Policy
6
Coaching Team
7
Team Captains and Legacy
8
Development Pathways
12
Squad Outline
14
Competitions (Including Residential Trips)
15
Communication, CHQ and the Portal
Merlions Swimming Dear Merlion Swimmers and Parents, Welcome to the Tanglin Merlion swimming community. The Merlions have been the competitive swimming team for Tanglin Trust School for more than a decade and grew out of the swimming programme already conducted at the school. The Merlions strives to develop each swimmer to fulfil their full potential; this means guiding swimmers to be the best they can be and to extend their learning through swimming. We believe full potential goes beyond performance to embody student athlete behaviour, attitude, commitment and respect. The Merlions are a community and the development of this community will ultimately result in a successful culture around swimming. Our coaching and support staff are all experienced and knowledgeable professionals who invest a lot of passion and drive into the programme to ensure student athlete progression. We aim to offer a fun and enjoyable environment to help promote success. This handbook provides important information to support that already found on our MSP (My School Portal). We also have Facebook and Instagram accounts – Tanglin Merlions Swim Team and @Merlionswim respectively. Once again, a warm welcome to the Merlions. Yours sincerely, Andy Hailey Aquatics Director
Values, Mission and Vision The Merlions team is driven to extend student learning within school and through student participation in the sport of swimming. A key aim is to help students learn traits that can extend into other areas of their lives and we believe swimming is a perfect sport for this. Our VMV: 1. Develop a safe, fun and creative learning environment. We take a holistic view of each swimmer as we endeavour to offer opportunities for them to participate, increase their interest, strive for success and look beyond their own potential, not only as swimmers but as young people. 2. We believe a holistic view of each swimmer is built through an athlete-centred coaching style that develops our swimmers to be passionate, committed and hard-working members of our community. Good people make good athletes. 3. Swimming is a tool that can teach students important life lessons. Improving self-awareness, responsibility, adaptability and self-organisation leads to the creation of good decision makers. 4. Swimming is a sport that requires commitment and hard work, and can also present many challenges and frustrations. By fostering an environment that safely teaches students to overcome problems, the Merlions helps student athletes mature, and learn how to evaluate and improve - this in turn builds independence and resilience. We describe this as a period of learning to adapt. 5. Each performer has a different level of potential that cannot be directly compared to another’s, either by a fellow swimmer, peer or parent. An individual’s full potential may look very different to someone else’s, but that doesn’t make it worth any more or any less.
Our Selection Policy for Team Events Our selection process is supported by three values: attitude, attendance and performance. The values are listed in that order for a reason - without a positive attitude and regular attendance, you will not demonstrate the commitment needed for a good performance. 1. Attitude - we believe that to be a good athlete you must have respect for both everyone around you and the sport itself. Demonstrate positive behaviour and be humble: we believe that charisma is a balance of confidence and humility, which ultimately gains you respect from your peers, coaches and opponents. Good people make good athletes. 2. Attendance - be on time and commit fully to training. You will not progress long term if you don’t show up to training. That said, physically turning up doesn’t necessarily mean you are attending. During each session, strive to be mentally present and motivated to give your best. Through good attendance, you also set an example to others around you – this in turn will make you feel more connected to, and a part of, the team as a whole. 3. Performance - this means reaping the rewards of your hard work - or sometimes maybe not. Performance is a process of plan. Do; review; and learn from your mistakes as well as your successes. As coaches we strive to differentiate our approach to meet the needs of our student athletes.
The Coaches Andy Hailey - Aquatics Director Alexander Mordvincev - Head Coach Au Yeong Ki Moon - Senior Coach Coach Koh - Assistant Coach Coach Jimmy - Assistant Coach Kat Choulo - Team Physiotherapist
Team Captains
Legacy
In the Merlions, leadership qualities are very important.
We have now started to build our team beyond the time students spend at Tanglin. Keeping a good Alumni network helps us track progression after students leave the school.
We choose suitable, responsible and committed Senior School students to lead the team. However, we try not to limit all the responsibilities to only our most senior swimmers. Leadership opportunities are offered to our swimmers regularly in order to assist their holistic development. The role of our captains is to inspire, encourage and lead by example - not only at training but at competitive events, and on trips and tours. They are integral in promoting team cohesion and achieve this through organising social events.
As a culture and team, we care about members past and present, and wish to celebrate all of our successes together. We also welcome Alumni students to continue their training with us if they choose to remain in Singapore. We feel this demonstrates that the sport extends beyond their years at school and is, in fact, a sport for life.
Development Pathway (Fully implemented from 2021) Participation Senior Recreational
Learn to Adapt
Senior Recreational Swimming (age 11-18) Life Long Participation
AGE
Junior Development Junior Development 2 (Ages 10-11) Junior Development 1 (Ages 9-10)
Learn to Learn
FUNdamentals 2 (Ages 8-9)
Bronze (ages 8-1
FUNdamentals 1 (Ages 7-8) Mercubs 1 (ages 5-6)
Infant PE Lessons Ages 3-7
Mercubs 2 (ages 6-7)
Mercubs 3 (ages 7-8)
1 10)
Development Senor Competitive Development
Senior Performance
Senior Ceompetitive Developent (ages 11-18
Platinum Performance
SCD 1 ages 11-14
Platinum Senior age group ages 14+
SCD 2 ages 14-18
Adapt to Win
Performance
Junior Competitive
Junior Competitive Development
Silver 1 (ages 9-12)
Gold 1 Junior Age group Ages 10-14
Silver 2 (ages 9-12)
Bronze 1 (ages 10-11)
Development, Learning & Performance
Gold 2 Junior performance Ages 12-14
Project 2021 Over the course of the next 12-18 months, the programme is restructuring to expand into three key pathways that are all interlinked. This allows each swimmer to develop at an appropriate rate and gives continual opportunities for students to move into competitive swimming when they are ready, rather than them choosing to leave the sport altogether.
Participation Pathway The emphasis here is on “Learn to Swim�; this moves through to fitness swimming and other water sports, and helps to develop students’ interests in health and lifestyle. Development Pathway This is a blending of the Participation Pathway with competitive swimming. Some swimmers need more time to develop than others as they may be biologically behind their peers. This pathway allows those students the time
they need before moving into the Performance Pathway. This pathway is also there to support competitive swimmers who cannot commit to a rigorous training schedule but still wish to compete and keep fit. Performance Pathway This competitive pathway opens for students at the age of 10 and starts similarly to the Development Pathway. This pathway is designed to give students the support they need to perform at the best level they can. Within this pathway, students will have access
to physio screening, strength and conditioning sessions, and world-class coaching. As they move up in age, students aim to transfer from Learning to Learn, Learning to Adapt and Adapting to Win phases.
Squad Outline Our squads branch off from Infant Learn to Swim classes into two, and later three, pathways. Our aim is to promote student participation in the sport or to encourage them to keep active through other water-based sports, such as water polo.
Participation and Development Our Junior school ages, or the “Sampling� years (Years 3-6), will have two pathways that give students the ability to train and learn at their own level. Coaches will regularly review swimmers to make sure they are being cared for and adequately extended. Our FUNdamentals squads will be an extension from Learn to Swim, helping students develop their general understanding of the strokes and boost their water literacy. As swimmers get older, this will start to advance into basic enjoyable training (Junior Development). Number of sessions recommended: 1-2 per week. Once in the Senior School, students can make appropriate steps into competitive development swimming, however this is at a more basic level and is less intense than our Performance Pathway. Fun competitions will be available. Students can also take up recreational swimming as physical exercise to stay fit and healthy, staying within the Participation Pathway. This is a good opportunity for potential triathletes. Number of sessions recommended: 1-3 per week.
Competitive Swimming Squads (Development through to Performance) Mercubs offers a pathway for students to progress into our development pathway. Water literacy and stroke development are still vital; however, we add in more competitive swimming training. Number of sessions: 1 per week. Bronze and Silver squads offer a competitive pathway for students to progress. Water literacy and stroke development are still vital, however these groups also focus on the race skills needed to be a competitive swimmer. Number of sessions recommended: 1-3 per week.
Please note that students transitioning through the Performance Pathway are not restricted based on whether they attend the Junior or Senior schools. A Junior competitive swimmer can be aged up from 13-15 years old. This system is designed to stop what has been an industry mistake of coaching young-age-group swimmers like Olympic athletes.
Performance Gold and Platinum squads are our competitive and performance squads. These squads’ primary focus is on meets such as the Singapore National Age Groups, and overseas meets such as British or Australian Nationals. Our Performance squads are intended to be small so we can offer individually personalised support to the students. The Senior
Performance Squad benefits from eleven sessions available each week, which include two sessions in a 50m-long indoor course, two strength and conditioning sessions, and one land session led by our team physiotherapist. With world-class coaching and facilities, it is at this stage we aim to support students and extend their potential. Number of sessions recommended: 3-11 per week, depending on age. At any point, students can transition across to a less competitive pathway and will have the opportunity to change their minds should they wish to re-join later in their school life.
Performance Requirements Gold Squad - Lead Coach Alexander Mordvincev Singapore National age group: Qualifying time Gold Squad Junior Performance Singapore National age groups: Top-30 placing Singapore National age groups: Finalist Age 10-14 years old
Platinum Squad - Lead Coach Au Yeong Ki Moon Singapore National age group: Qualifying time Singapore National Open: Qualifying time Age 14 years and over
Platinum Snr Performance Squad - Lead Coach Andy Hailey Scored more than 480 Fina Points Age 14 and over
With all squads, the Lead Coach has the final decision on promotions.
Competitions (including Residential Trips)
At Tanglin, we offer a wide range of competitions that allow students to compete at a level that is correct and most appropriate to them. Competition is a tool to be used in the same way that training is. It provides students with an opportunity to test out and utilise the skills they have developed. Competition teaches us all so much that can aid development; we learn just as much from our mistakes as our successes. As coaches, we will always remind our swimmers of this – and the fact that every race teaches us something new. This is the most effective means to help our young swimmers reach their full potential. We place huge emphasis on team events such as ACSIS, SEASAC and the Invitational Sprint League. These meets cater for students across the age range and across all squads down to Mercubs. From the entry level of home time trials, there are over 20 open meets throughout the year, all varying in size and level. Coaches use internal time trials to educate students about the processes of swim meets and to track progression. Personal development is hugely important to the motivation of young people. Some of the competitions we participate in are overseas. Along with our annual training camp, these overseas competitions offer fun and exciting trips across South East Asia. These trips also offer great opportunities for students to socialise and enjoy time with their teammates.
Communication, CHQ and the Portal We operate an open-door policy; however, we do ask parents not to approach our coaches poolside. We are always more than willing to find time to meet and support parents. CHQ is our scheduling platform for parents and students and the parent portal is where our latest announcements and information can be found.
For general inquiries please email: merlions@tts.edu.sg For the Aquatics Director please email: andrew.hailey@tts.edu.sg For School Admissions please email: admissions@tts.edu.sg
95 Portsdown Road, Singapore 139299 www.tts.edu.sg Tel: 6778 0771 CPR Registration NO: 196100114C CPE Registration Period: 7 June 2017 to 6 June 2023
