May, 26 2009 Capital Members Update - March It has been a busy couple of months for the swim club and members both in and out of the pool. The coaches have been focused on getting everyone back into the routine of training and producing good results in the various meets different groups are focusing on. The clubs swimmers had excellent results at Age Groups, with the club coming third overall in the country. The committee on behalf of Jacqui Forsythe – officials coordinator, would like to thank all the Capital parents/caregivers etc that have helped as officials, team managers, marshalls, timekeepers and helped out with duties in the office, kitchen, door and medals at NZ Junior & NZ Age Group Championships. It was a fantastic effort from everyone. Behind the scenes there has also been a lot of activity. Perhaps the most obvious has been the recent set up of the High Performance Unit through the generous sponsorship of NZCT. The funding from NZCT is to assist primarily with lane hire and coaching costs. The immediate benefit for the swimmers involved in the HPU is the improved (lower) ratio of swimmers to lanes and the ability to bring in further coaching expertise. In the recent squad restructure we started to move towards the desired swimmer to lane ratio. This combined with some swimmers leaving the club late last year has meant we are now effectively at the desired swimmer to lane ratio (around 6 per lane) in the HPU. We have also contracted Danyon Loader to supplement our coaching regime under Gary Hurring. The NZCT funding has enabled us to put in place these two things that we believe will make the most difference for our high performing swimmers, while maintaining the current financial position at the Freyberg Pool. Some of the other areas we are working to enhance for our high performing swimmers are the dry land training and areas such as nutrition advice. We are also looking at where we can leverage these advantages for other Capital squads. Along with the coaches we are looking at whether dry land training could be offered to some of our Kilbirnie based swimmers. The club bases its budget on membership fees covering coaching, lane hire and administrative costs. The club is currently in a favourable financial position, primarily due to the success we have had in funding applications over the year. Capital Swim club is also very grateful to the Lion Foundation for contributions to lane hire costs at WRAC and the Pelorus Trust for contributions to accommodation costs for the NZ Opens. We are however keenly aware that the WRAC facility will be closed for up to four months this year, so need to maintain a contingency for costs that may arise in providing alternative training facilities for our members. We have negotiated with the council to have Thorndon Pool kept open over winter and are looking at what temporary roof options could be installed. Details are still being finalised, but after looking at many options, we believe this is the best interim alternative. We will keep members updated as more details on squad times and locations becomes available. The club is also pleased to announce that it has also contracted the services of Nick as an assistant coach at WRAC, as opposed to the current casual arrangement he has been working under. We are also pleased to note that Jan Cameron had recently commented on Capital being in the fortunate position of having one of the most effective and capable overall coaching structures in New Zealand. It has been agreed that we will be extending the current club office service at WRAC, as it was seen as an important service to members and extending it gave the opportunity of promoting the club to potential new members. Currently the club is in good financial health, and is in a very fortunate position in its coaching capability. The issues that the committee is currently focusing on are around the WRAC winter closure and in the longer term how to help facilitate a stronger learn-to-swim programme in the Wellington area. Additionally the club has received a grant from the Wellington City Council to assist in its business and strategic planning. The committee is using this grant primarily to have an external review carried out on the clubs management and governance. The club has grown immensely over recent years and the committee felt it was an appropriate time to review the governance and management structure with some external input into current models of best practise. Recommendations that may arise from this report will be available for members’ consideration at the next Annual General Meeting. Kelvin Moffatt Secretary - Capital Swim Club Transfer from Old News