Having consulted the ASA Awards book, we have collated the list of awards that can be made available to the members of the Thanet Swim Club Sunday Club. These range from Skills Challenges; which would incorporate the types of skills performed during assessments for Levels 1 – 12, to Competitive Starts awards which encourage progression in diving, to Lifesaving and survival awards which will give the swimmers a wider range of information, knowledge and skills within the water environment. There is also a possibility that we can offer the RLSS Rookie Lifeguard programme to older swimmers who have achieved the Water Rescue Award.

We hope that by starting with skills in water, working with drills to improve stroke technique and then offering Water Rescue and survival skills we are giving our swimmers the overall view of swimming, from which they can decide their path.

Below are the awards and some information about them:

Skills Challenge (Bronze, Silver, Gold and Honours)

These four innovative awards will offer a change from the routine stamina and stoke technique lessons. The main emphasis of this new range is on the development of a wide range of skills – presented through a series of interesting, fun challenges and requiring the swimmer to combine these skills to form sequences.

Skills such as surface dives, tubs, log roll, straddle jumps, mushroom floats, plunge dives, bomb entries and circuit swimming are just a few of the tasks that form these four exciting and challenging awards.

Pre – Competitive Development Award (Level One and Two)

Focusing initially on efficient performance of the four competitive strokes and the racing skills associated with them, prior to further developing these even more efficiently through the use of a wider range of suitable drills and practices. Once this essential standard of stroke and skill performance has been achieved, the final stages introduce more demanding aspects of training development that can be undertaken with the confidence that the swimmer is ready to benefit from them.

Competitive Starts Awards (Preliminary Competitive Start and Competitive Start)

The Competitive Start Award (CSA) was first introduced by the ASA in 1992. In 1997 the Preliminary Competitive Start Award was introduced. This award is to show mastery of a vital skill in swimming - diving.

Personal Survival Awards (Level One and Two)

The current criteria of this award has changed recently to take account of the latest research into immersion in cold water. These awards allow a further understanding of survival in cold water and continuation of the education regarding the dangers of water.

Water Rescue Award

The ASA Water Rescue Award follows the same syllabus as the first stage of the RLSS Rookie Lifeguard programme and introduces the swimmer to skills and actions involved in a variety of rescues. A natural progression from the Personal Survival awards, this award gives the swimmer a basic insight into lifesaving techniques.

RLSS Lifesaving Courses

Martin Fossey (NPLQ - National Pool Lifeguard Tutor) would like to work with the Sunday Club Swimmers who once achieving the Water Rescue Award could start on the RLSS Rookie Lifeguard programme.