Calella, Spain
Calella Long Course Outdoor Swim Camp
3rd August -10th August 2025
John Kirby, our head coach, extended the hand of friendship to Trojan, DASC and InCAS to join his swimmers in this year’s camp.
The Croll Centre 50m outdoor pool was a fantastic training facility for both water based and landside training. Lots of swim clubs have used this facility from all over Europe, Scandinavia and further afield. Alongside training, swimmers visited the beach numerous times. They participated in an Aquadash session, headed to Lloret de Mar Water Parc for their day off, and hung around in the local town for shopping and hair braiding. They had plenty of fun in their downtime!
The clubs trained alongside the Danish Parasport team, who were preparing to compete in the World Paraspt Swim Championships in Singapore (September 2025) they invited our swimmers to compete in a 4 x 50m Medley relay and 4 x 50m Freestyle relay. Dunedin also did competitive relays with Norwegian Team Byrne SK. All of the swimmers had a great time racing in the 50m sunny pool.
Here is a quote from our head coach, John Kirby:
“Team building has been exceptional – 4 East District Clubs coming together for the benefit of all swimmers, to provide an opportunity that the other 3 clubs have not really had in previous years. The kids socialising and mixing together has been great to see. There were younger swimmers from Trojan stepping up to the intensive training and I have seen much improvement from numerous swimmers. I have been coaching with DASC and InCAS during this years collaboration which has provided a competitive pathway for swimmers and this opportunity of a warm weather camp has allowed them to develop further. This has been the best camp yet!”
Colin Matthews, Senior Team Manager from Trojan ASC
“This has been an absolutely fantastic opportunity for our swimmers and coaches and we are thankful to Dunedin ST for inviting us to join them on this camp. It has been great to see the 4 East District clubs coming together to provide an experience we hope all swimmers will benefit from. We know that the swimmers are all leaving the camp with good friends and some great memories!”
Gillian Wilson, President of DASC and TM of both DASC and InCAS on the camp
“What an experience the swimmers have had, a big thank you to John Kirby for inviting us along! The swimmers have enjoyed great training facilities and met new swimming friends. Swimming is such an individual sport and can sometimes be very insular, to see swimmers from 4 East District Clubs collaborate and create healthy competition and good training regimes has been great to witness. Where new friendships have been forged during the training, hotel stay and social outings to the beach and water park as well as and entertainment at night. It will be great at galas and District events to have a friendly smile and a great competitor alongside them to push them to reach their PB’s!”
Rachel Knox, Trojan ASC Team Manager/Coach
“Wow. What a great week! The camp has been an excellent development opportunity for swimmers and coaches alike. Thank you to John Kirby for inviting us along and helping to create memories that will last a lifetime.”
Viktoriia Telfer, TM from Dunedin
“It’s been a fantastic week in Spain with 4 East District clubs who so warmly welcomed both me and my brother two years ago after his move from Ukraine. It was wonderful to see the swimmers mingle and support each other during a challenging week of training, but they pushed through together and had plenty of fun in between sessions, at the water park and on the beach. It’s been a joy to work with and look after such a hardworking group!”
Cameron Walkinshaw, swimmer and coach for Trojan ASC and TM on the camp
“This week away has been enjoyable fun, organised chaos! This has given our swimmers an opportunity to experience other coaches training methods and a higher intensity of training allowing them to grow and develop. Having been a Club Captain like Lily-Rose the transition to Team Manager has been enjoyable and I also would encourage older swimmers to give it a go.”
