Long term development

Awareness & First Involvement

To engage in sport and physical activity, students must be aware of what opportunities exist for them, and when they try an activity for the first time, it is critical that the experience is positive. For swimming, the 'first involvement' is usually at home or in a Learn-to-Swim environment, however every aquatics activity will involve a first time, whether as an after school activity, or within PE. Our aim is to make this a positive experience, to allow aquatics to become a Sport for Life.

Active Start

From 0-6 years, boys and girls need to be engaged in daily active play. Through play and movement, they develop the fundamental movement skills and learn how to link them together. Our entry level Swim School is one potential part of the bigger 'active start' stage. Students will learn water safety and swimming skills which they can use in other less structured aquatics environments, and which aims to develop a love for playing in the water.

FUNdamentals

In the FUNdamentals stage, participants develop fundamental movement skills in structured and unstructured environments for play.  The focus is on providing fun, inclusive, multi-sport, and developmentally appropriate sport and physical activity. The later stages of our Swim School programme aim to develop swimming skills which will contribute to overall movement literacy and increase confidence and safety when playing and exercising in water.

Learn to Train

Once a wide range of fundamental movement skills have been acquired, participants progress into the Learn to Train stage leading to understanding basic rules, tactics, and strategy in games and refinement of sport specific skills. This stage will generally commence in Junior School Aquatics, but may start much later for students who become involved in an activity later. At this stage, multi-sport activities are promoted to optimise movement skill development, and to increase the understanding of sport.

Train to Train

Athletes enter the Train to Train stage when they have developed proficiency in the athlete development components (physical, technical-tactical, mental, and emotional). For competitive aquatics squads, Middle School students are focused on developing and mastering sport specific skills. Training and competition volume and expectations increase, and students will generally specialise in one sport towards the end of the stage. 

Train to Compete

Athletes enter the Train to Compete stage when they are proficient in sport-specific Train to Train athlete development components (physical, technical-tactical, mental, and emotional). Athletes are training nearly full-time and competing at the national level while being introduced to international competition. Highly competitive students will generally reach this stage in High School. Training volume is high and is periodised to focus on performing well at competitions. 

Train to Win

Athletes in the Train to Win stage are world class competitors who are competing at the highest level of competition in the world (e.g. Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships). If this incredibly high stage is reached, it is very likely to be after graduation from UWCSEA. There are many club and university programmes around the world which allow high performing students the opportunity to pursue this level.

Active for Life

Individuals who have a desire to be physically active are in the Active for Life stage. A participant may choose to be Competitive for Life or Fit for Life and, if inclined, give back as a sport or physical activity leader. Competitive for Life includes those who compete in any organised sport recreation competitions. Fit for Life includes active people who participate in non-competitive physical activity. With a very limited number of students reaching the Train to Win stage above, we offer many aquatics activities for JS, MS and HS students which cater to the Competitive for Life and Fit for Life stages.