Domestic training opportunities, as well as an out of region, or international tour.
Tour dates and locations have been discussed, however we are awaiting SNZ’s Competition Review before announcing.

Squad Specific Educational Sessions:
Nutrition
Strength and Conditioning

Kit – to be issued to those swimmers who are touring with the squad. All swimmers will receive a Swimming Waikato training cap.

Domestic training opportunities, as well as an out of region tour.
Tour dates and locations have been discussed, however we are awaiting SNZ’s Competition Review before announcing.

Squad Specific Educational Sessions:
Nutrition
Strength and Conditioning
Flexibility

Kit – to be issued to those swimmers who are touring with the squad. All swimmers will receive a Swimming Waikato training cap.

Qualifying for this squad is based off all listed XLR8 achievers club swimmers who achieve more than 1500 xlr8 points within the qualifying period of July 1st through to April 30th. The squad is capped at the highest achieving 30 athletes and the cut off of selected points scores is at discretion of coaching group.

10, 11 & 12-year-old swimmers who are our highest pointed young athletes through our XLR8 achievers programme over the qualifying period will have the opportunity to attend four annual Swimming Waikato Stroke Clinics. Swimmers already on Pathway Squads will not qualify for these stroke clinics. The Chief Executive may at his discretion select Wild Card entries for this Squad. This squad will include up to 30 swimmers in each season.

Swimmers who qualify for the Stroke Clinics will be contacted by Swimming Waikato, therefore are not required to fill out an application form.

For more information on Swimming Waikato’s XLR8 Achievers Club please visit our website at: https://swimmingwaikato.co.nz/xlr8-achievers-club/ 

Swimmers will have between 1st December and 31st of May annually to qualify 

No. Swimmers cannot score points from the same event more than once within the qualification window.

Long Course times will be prioritised over Short Course times in all applications, however they can be used. Please ensure you clearly indicate if you are using Long Course (50m pool), or Short Course (25m pool) times.

Age as of 30th April to align with Swimming NZ Age at Date

We do this to ensure diversity of events are being targeted. At a young age, we like swimmers to give other events a go, offering them opportunities to see where their own skills may lie. If swimmers stick to the same, short events, they may never know if they can excel in other strokes and distances. Who knows, you might be a World Class 200 Butterfly swimmer???

We aim to announce those who have made Squads in June annually

Selection of all Squads is a multi-part process, involving the Operational Team at Swimming Waikato, as well as the Regional Squads ‘Coaching Leadership, all led by our Regional Squads Lead, Alison Fitch. All applications are carefully vetted to ensure the information provided is correct and that the appropriate squad is being selected. We do our utmost to ensure all ‘Home Coaches’ are involved int he process, however this requires significant buy-in from all parties.

Squad selection is always a lengthy process, as we strive to ensure we are offering the appropriate ‘age’ and ‘stage’ appropriate support for the individual swimmer.

It is more than likely that all Squads, barring the Junior XLR8 Squad, will travel out of region or country to compete. Touring with the Squads is a big part of swimmer development and therefore it will be expected that all swimmers who apply for ‘Regional Pathway Squad’ and above, are aiming to travel and compete.

The RPC has it’s on webpage, please follow the link (Click) 

Swimming Waikato will continue to support swimmers who qualify for, but that chose not join the RPC. This will be discussed on an individual athlete basis. Please note that all RPC swimmers will retain membership of their ‘Home Club’, so long as it belongs to the Swimming Waikato membership.

Our Regional Squads Program continues to evolve as it has done over the last decade. With the introduction of the Regional Performance Centre (RPC), some changes have been made to our Age Group program, with the merging of our previously known ‘Potential Squad’ and ‘Youth Performance Squad’, into the newly formed ‘Regional Age Squad. 

We will continue to ensure the Regional Squad Program remains fit for purpose and that it offers the ‘age’ and ‘stage’ appropriate support for swimmers in our region.

We work hard to ensure we keep all associated costs of our Squads as low as possible. Our sponsorship with Teamline focuses on kitting our swimmers out an no additional cost to families; in addition, we aim to attract sponsorship, where possible, to cover the increasing costs of operating such an initiative. 

Planning ahead, alongside our Coaches, allows us to ensure our travel and acom bookings are made well in advance, and coming in at a cheaper cost for our families. 

Regional Squad Lead, Alison Fitch [email protected]