Bradford Aquatics Competition Development programme

Welcome to Bradford Aquatics Competition Development programme for the aquatic disciplines of swimming and diving. The swimming and diving programmes are managed by Bradford Aquatics department of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. The aims of the competition programmes are Athlete Development from the ages of 8 in swimming and 6 in diving. Both programmes run in accordance with the Amateur Swimming Association's ‘Long Term Athlete Development Plan’ which encourages its participants to success from fundamentals right the way through to training to win.

Participation in the program is by invitation following talent identification (TID) through school swimming, school PE lessons, local clubs and swimming and diving lessons.

The Competition programmes are run in conjunction with the City of Bradford Swimming Club and City of Bradford Esprit Diving Club, each club coordinates the competitive element that compliments the athletes training.

It is important to remember that the coaches are employed by Bradford Aquatics and not by the club.

The scheme is focussed on competitive development and the training.  For the competitive side the participants are required to be members of the appropriate discipline’s club (City of Bradford SC and the Bradford Esprit Diving club). These are separate entities to the scheme and must be joined individually. The swimmers and divers are expected to compete and train as each squad criteria states.

Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) is a sports development framework that is based on human growth and development. LTAD it is about adopting an athlete centred approach to development. All young people follow the same pattern of growth from infancy through adolescence, but there are significant individual differences in both the timing and magnitude of the changes that take place. It is however important to stress that human growth and development happens without training, however training can enhance all of the changes that take place.