SWIMMING TIERS 

Swimming tiers have been allocated based primarily on swimmers' freestyle times from our recent time trials, and where a Term 4 time was not recorded, their Term 1 times were used. In developing the tier times, we have also consulted with various swimming professionals to ensure that the benchmarks are appropriate and meaningful for our different age groups.

Please remember that our tier system is fluid. The current allocation reflects where each swimmer is at this point in their swimming journey, but it is not a permanent placement.

As swimmers develop their technique, fitness, speed, confidence and overall swimming ability, they may move between tiers. Our coaches will continue to assess swimmers during practices and time trials and will make adjustments where appropriate.

The purpose of the tier system is to ensure that swimmers are training at an appropriate level, are sufficiently challenged and have a clear pathway for progression.

If your child does not have a recorded time or tier allocation, please first send them to our Bronze/Blue sessions and they will be promoted if necessary.

SWIMMING GALA SELECTION

Gala selection times will be taken from official SVPS timing sources.

Timing will be conducted by our school swimming coaches during swimming practices and Physical Education swimming sessions. Official times recorded at school galas will also be used when available.

Please note that times recorded by outside swimming coaches will not be used for SVPS gala selection.

As a reminder, all swimmers are required to attend at least one SVPS swimming session to be eligible for gala selection. Attendance at these sessions will be recorded in the swimmers' swim log booklets and the coaches registers.

Gala selection will therefore be based on official times recorded through the SVPS swimming programme, together with the required participation in SVPS swimming sessions.

WATER POLO SWIMMING REQUIREMENT

Swimming fitness is a crucial part of water polo. To support the growth and performance of our water polo athletes, all U10–U13 players are required to complete two swim sessions per week.

These can be:

•⁠  ⁠2 x SVPS swimming sessions, or

•⁠  ⁠1 x SVPS swimming session + 1 x outside swimming session

Please note that 1 x SVPS swimming session per week is compulsory.

These sessions must be signed off by a swim coach in the logbooks that will be issued to each player. Water polo coaches will request to view these logs each week to ensure that players have been participating in their required swimming sessions.

Players who are not participating in the required swimming sessions may not be eligible for match selection.