Special guest and Olympic coach Simon Watkins guided swimmers through three sessions which focussed on stretching and activation, freestyle, breaststroke, starts, turns and finishes. Six other coaches from the North Coast were also under Simon’s guidance throughout the day.

As a qualified Olympic coach, Simon has a vast experience of fostering talents from beginners through to podium success. He has coached Olympic, world championship and commonwealth medallists and finalists, along with countless national team members and national champions.

Swimmers were selected on the day in recognition of their achievements over the past 12 months. Laura Buls and Shae-ala Marchment of Crescent Head Pointers Swimming Club qualified to participate in the day and both really enjoyed the experience.

Both girls will participate in round two of the Development Squad meet on August 21 at the Grafton Indoor Pool and from there they will go onto the NSW Long Course Development Meet taking place at SOPAC in Sydney from October 6 to October 9 where they train and compete as a representative team of Swimming North Coast.

Mason and Renee Marchment, managers of Crescent Aquatic Centre, congratulated and thanked everyone who attended for their positivity and enthusiasm.

“It really is an honour and pleasure to host this day. This is our third year doing so and it’s a wonderful initiative of the SNC Development Committee,” Renee said.

“We have again received many positive comments about the beautiful facilities, water quality and water temperature of our facility.

“The time and effort from the committee and coaches is really greatly appreciated by all and makes the day really special.”