The British Para-Swimming Performance Centre at the MAC in Manchester has been operating as a successful, world-class training base for the British team since the beginning of the Rio Paralympic cycle. The MAC has since been a home to a whole host of Paralympians and Paralympic Champions.
As part of the world-class training environment, athletes have access to a range of Sports Science and Sports Medicine services, delivered by our highly experienced British Swimming Sports Science and Medicine team.
Key features of the performance centre include:
- 50m pool.
- Dedicated performance gym.
- Physiotherapy room.
- Provision of fully integrated daily training environment, including 20 hours of dedicated pool training per week.
- Aim to give support to athletes to ensure they achieve an ideal lifestyle/performance balance.
- Typical services include: strength and conditioning, athlete health and physiotherapy, physiology, nutrition, biomechanics and performance lifestyle support, as directed by the Performance Centre Coach and the Associate Director of Sports Science and Sports Medicine.
The Manchester Performance Centre also acts as a hub for World Class Programme activity. World Class Programme athletes have access to Sports Science and Sports Medicine services that can be agreed and arranged with the athlete's Home Programme Coach, Home Programme Liaison, and Programme Lead.
Other hub-based activity includes:
- Athlete health screening.
- Training camps.
- Coach education and development.
If you would like to visit the Manchester Performance Centre please contact Jamie Dimery at jamie.dimery@swimming.org
Performance Centre Athlete Membership
Application is via completion of an online application form which can be accessed here.
The application form asks for a range of personal information, as well as a number of questions about your swimming career to date, current training volume and the facilities and services you have access to in your current training environment. In line with our Right Athlete Right Environment policy, you are obliged to inform your home coach of your application at the time of submission. All subsequent correspondence will include your coach, and your parent(s) if you are under 18 years of age.
Applicants are asked to note the following:
- Athletes must be eligible to compete for Great Britain. If athletes are not eligible to compete for Great Britain their application will not be considered.
- The normal minimum Performance Centre (PC) entry age for an athlete is 18. Applications from those under 18 will only be considered and accepted subject to their intended start date, and further discussion around duty of care and education plans.
- Athletes who have the greatest potential for podium success at the Paris 2024 and the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games are priorities for places at the Performance Centre, and in particular athletes with a performance profile that shows genuine medal potential, and a capability of bridging the gap from their current performance status to World and/or Paralympic podium success. Places may, on occasion also be awarded to athletes who perform a specific role for the training group to add value to the overall training environment.
- On receipt, your enquiry will be considered by the British Swimming Performance Centre selection panel. They will look at the responses to the questions asked, and your overall performance history.
- Successful applicants will ordinarily be invited for a formal trial at the Performance Centre as the next stage of the process. This normally lasts for up to 1 week and is an opportunity for the centre staff to assess an applicant’s fit within the centre, and for the applicant to experience life as a Performance Centre athlete. Following a review of the trial a decision will be made on whether to offer a place.
- In exceptional cases athletes will not be required to attend a trial and may be offered a place with immediate effect.
CENTRE APPLICATION OFFERS
Athletes who are offered a place at the Performance Centre will be required to sign a Performance Centre Agreement. The agreements sets out some key responsibilities around conduct and behaviour, as well as guidance on support available. As part of the agreement you will be asked to review, accept and abide by the British Swimming Athlete Code of Conduct, all National Programme protocols (e.g. daily wellness monitoring) and any specific expectations established by the Performance Centre Lead Coach. Athletes at the PC will work closely with the coaching and support staff to identify and agree annual performance goals (process and outcome) which will be reviewed periodically. The Performance Centre Agreement is ordinarily reviewed at the conclusion of the season.
For any clarifications or further information, please contact Jamie Dimery here.
