It’s Membership Renewal Time!

Yes, it’s that time of year already. Though I suspect many of you will be glad to see the back of 2020 and, like me, are hoping 2021 will eventually bring with it a return to more normal life – and some swimming galas!

Reduced Fees for 2021

On behalf of the committee, we would like to thank everyone for their continued support during 2020. As a result of money saved during pool closures and to those who continued to pay and donated their monthly membership, we have decided to waive the £35 club membership fee for all renewing members in 2021. There is still a small fee payable to Swim England to cover insurance etc, but we hope that this will encourage as many of you to renew next year as possible as we try to get back to some sense of normality in the pool.

To summarise, the 2021 fees versus 2020 are as follows:

Category	2020 (Old) Fees	2021 Renewal Fees (save £35)
1 (Non Competitive)	£50.50	£15.50
2 (Competitive)	£70.05	£35.05
3 (Other Main Club)	£35	£0

Category 1 vs Category 2

Under normal circumstances, you would have a choice between renewing as a competitive (cat 2) or non-competitive (cat 1) member. Given that there is still uncertainty around when competitions are likely to start, I suggest that renewing as a category 1 member is the sensible option. There is no penalty to upgrade to category 2 later in the year, as and when competitions might be announced, you simply pay the additional amount and we can upgrade your membership level.

Deadline for Renewal

As always, the deadline for renewals is early February 2021. However, the sooner I receive your renewal confirmation, the less I will have to chase you for it!

If your details are unchanged from 2020 (same address, email, phone etc.) then instead of completing the form you can just reply to me (membership@swallowtails.co.uk) and state that you wish to continue your membership. I will assume you choose category 1 unless, for some reason, you want to pay for category 2 immediately. Payments should be made online where possible (bank details are on the attached form). If you need to pay by cheque, preferably hand it directly to Phill Moulson (our treasurer) at a club session, but you can also give them to any coach or myself and we will pass them on.

Non-Renewals

If you decide, for whatever reason, not to continue with us in 2021 then please let me know so I don’t keep hassling you for a renewal form. If you have any feedback on the club or reasons for leaving then please do let us know. Feedback is important to help the club grow and improve so we can better serve you, our members.

Once again, I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas (under the circumstances) and look forward to seeing you back in the pool in 2021.

Kind Regards,

Will Appleby

EAST Membership Secretary

As of 05/01/21 the country is in Tier 5 Covid-19 restrictions (National Lockdown) and therefore all training sessions have been cancelled until further notice.

Please also see ‘Pool Rules Covid-19‘ page for specific details of training at the swimming pools we are currently using

The ‘New Normal’

It should come as no surprise that returning to training is going to be a new experience for all of us. While some of the procedures may sound onerous, our hope is that in reality they will be fairly straightforward to follow and if we all do our bit, swimming should still be the same sport we all know and enjoy.

Attached to this email you will see several documents. The most important is the Swim England Return to Training Declaration (se-return-to-training.docx) which all members must complete and email back to me before attending any EAST sessions. Two of the other documents are from Swim England and you may have already seen them, containing general information on swimming pool and club procedures. To highlight a few of the new rules that will be in place at all venues:

• Swimmers will need to arrive with their swimwear on, “beach style”, and leave the same way (or remove swimwear on poolside under clothing).
• Members should shower at home before and after sessions.
• Where permitted by the venue, members must bring and use their own accessories (kick boards, pull buoys etc.). Equipment may not be shared with other swimmers.
• No changing lanes once in the pool.
• Maintain distance from other swimmers while on poolside and within the pool when not actively swimming.

The remaining three attachments are specifically for the Hewett Academy sessions, so if you never attend this location you may skip over them, but if not they contain essential information on the procedures that will be in place for all future sessions (until further notice anyway).

In following these guidelines, please be mindful that some members are more vulnerable than others and therefore even if you have a fairly relaxed attitude towards catching Covid-19, we need all members to adhere to the rules so that everyone feels comfortable attending our sessions. At all sessions, the coaches will be aware of the guidelines and will be enforcing them to keep everyone safe.

Online Booking

Part of the ‘new normal’ is the requirement for all members to sign up for sessions in advance using our new online booking facility. Due to limitations on lane capacity, it is not practical to allow swimmers to just turn up to sessions as we would have to turn away anyone who we could not accommodate. You can register and access the booking system here: https://book.swallowtails.co.uk/

A few members have trialled it already and reported that it is fairly straightforward to use, but here are some basic instructions you can follow:

1. Visit https://book.swallowtails.co.uk/ and click the Register link at the top of the screen.
2. Enter your email address, full name and a password into the boxes, and check the box to indicate you have read and understood all the information in the attached documents.
3. You should receive a confirmation email within a few minutes, click the link in the email to activate your account.
4. If you don’t receive an email (remember to check your Junk Email folder), you can bypass this step by going to https://book.swallowtails.co.uk/Identity/Account/ResendEmailConfirmation, entering your email address and checking the ‘Skip email confirmation’ box. This may mean you do not receive any automated emails (booking confirmation and cancellations), but it will allow you to get on and use the system.
5. After activating your account, click the ‘Login’ link and enter your email address and password.

To make a booking:

1. From the home screen, click the large blue “View / Book Sessions” button.
2. A list of upcoming sessions for the next fortnight will be shown, along with how many spaces are still available. To book a session, click the green “View/Book” button.
3. You will be presented with a list of lane options. Choose the most appropriate lane for your ability level and click the green “Book Now” button.
4. After checking the information is correct, click “Confirm Booking” to make the reservation.
5. You should receive an email confirmation of the booking.

To view/cancel existing bookings:

1. From any screen, click the “Your Bookings” link at the top of the page.
2. A list of your upcoming bookings will be shown (if any).
3. To cancel a booking, click the red “Cancel Booking” button
4. You will see a confirmation page. If you still want to cancel, click the red “Confirm Cancellation” button.
5. You should receive an email confirmation of the cancellation.

Kind regards,

Will Appleby

EAST Membership Secretary

We now have a dedicated page on the website for land training resources to help keep you active during the lockdown. See the tab on the home page or use the link below:

http://www.swallowtails.co.uk/land-training-resources/

For updated information on club sessions see here

Updated 21/03/2020

Following government advice on 20/03/2020 all leisure centres are now closed to the public. There are therefore no EAST training sessions taking place until further notice. Further updated information on Covid-19 and swimming can be found in the Swim England link below:

Swim England/Institute of Swimming Coronavirus (Covid-19) FAQs