Hi all and welcome to Okehampton Otters Swimming Club

We require swimmers to bring their own kit to sessions in order to carry out many different activities. Please see the list below and don’t hesitate to ask questions if you have any.

You can source these bits of kit from multiple different outlets.

1.            KICKBOARD – make sure it is a big kickboard and not a small one like you have used in learn to swim. 

2.            PULL BUOY – pretty standard piece of kit, choose any. 

3.            SNORKEL – very important kit item. I seriously recommend not buying a cheap snorkel. Spending more than £20 is essential to make sure you get a good quality snorkel.

4.            FINS – due to swimmer’s feet growing I would recommend buying a cheaper pair of fins when young, however they must be short fins and not long fins. You will see all the swimmers in the performance squad using the arena powerfin or something similar. If you wanted the best fin for swimming training this is the one. However, the cost is quite a bit more, but worth it.

5.            DRINKS BOTTLE – Swimmers need to drink constantly whilst swimming. Loss of fluids through exercise and sweating needs to be replaced during each session. I’m sure everyone has bottles at home, so please bring one to each session. Please don’t bring any glass bottles onto poolside.

6.            KIT BAG – in order to carry all kit around, you’ll need a mesh bag. It’s important to make sure the kit can breathe, otherwise it’ll rot. Here is an example for you.

7. HAND PADDLES – Only swimmers aged 14 and up will use paddles at our club.

8. FINIS TEMPO TRAINER PRO

Finis Tempo Trainer Pro is a waterproof device that you can hide easily under a swim cap which sends a beep sound. An athlete uses the device's sound signal to maintain their optimal or racing tempo thus increasing their performance. The Tempo Trainer Pro includes a clip which can be attached to a pair of glasses and also used during other sport activities.

This smart aid from Finis will be a good help for everyone during swimming training, let it be an amateur or a professional swimmer. It has three different modes, so you can choose the way you would like to use Tempo Trainer Pro device. Thanks to this small miracle from Finis you can improve your pace, swim at a certain interval and enhance your performance.

Once again, please don’t hesitate to ask any questions if you have any. 

Many thanks,

Matthew Henry

Head Coach Okehampton Otters Swimming Club -