Optimal Athlete Development at Bluefins

Jan 1

3 min read

Updated: Sep 30

Parent Guide Series - Updated September 2026

Swimming development is not about rushing results. It is about building the swimmer properly, at the right pace, for the long term.

At Basingstoke Bluefins, our pathways are informed by the Aquatics GB Optimal Athlete Development Framework (OADF). Developed with Swim England, Scottish Swimming and Swim Wales, the framework identifies the skills, attributes and behaviours that support swimmers through long-term development.

What is the OADF?

The OADF provides guidance for developing swimmers. It is not a rigid curriculum and it is not a tool for identifying or selecting talent.

For Bluefins, two principles are particularly important:

Strong foundations come before high performance.

Progress is guided not just by times but by readiness.

What the Framework Prioritises

Technical skill firstStroke efficiency, turns, streamlining and good habits come before increased intensity.

Gradual training progressionVolume and workload increase as the swimmer becomes physically, technically and developmentally ready.

Long-term developmentSwimmers grow and mature at different rates. Development needs to recognise the swimmer in front of us rather than simply their age or current times.

Learning to trainAs swimmers progress, they learn how to train consistently, respond to feedback and take increasing responsibility for their swimming.

What This Means at Bluefins

At Bluefins, swimmers develop through coaching environments appropriate to their age, current skills, maturity and experience.

Progression through the pathway considers:

Skill level and technical control
Training engagement and attitude
The ability to handle training demands independently
Physical maturity and readiness for the next stage

This means swimmers of a similar age may be in different squads and swimmers developing similar skills may be supported through different coaching environments.

OADF Through the Bluefins Development Pathway

Skills Academy — building the foundations

Skills Academy provides the bridge between swimming lessons and structured club training.

Swimmers develop all four strokes while learning streamlining, sculling, kicking, starts, turns, lane routines and how to respond to coaching.

This is also where swimmers are introduced to our Set, Drop, Lock, Push (SDLP) approach to starts and turns, giving them a consistent technical foundation that develops as they progress through the club.

The emphasis is on building the skills and habits that later training can build upon.

Ages 7–10
Up to 2 × 1-hour sessions per week
Typical volume: 800m–1200m per session

Competitive Development and Focused Development — developing skills

Competitive Development and Focused Development share the same technical and competitive foundations.

Swimmers continue developing all four strokes while learning to apply their skills through increasingly structured training and appropriate competition.

Competitive Development supports swimmers as they build technical skills, race understanding and competitive experience.

Focused Development provides a more focused coaching environment for younger swimmers who demonstrate stronger technical foundations alongside the maturity and readiness to benefit from it.

The two squads are not simply a ranking of ability. They provide different coaching environments based on the swimmer’s stage of development.

Ages 8–11
2 × 1-hour sessions and 1 × 1.25-hour session per week
Typical volume: 1200m–1800m per session

County Development — increasing the demands

County Development introduces a more performance-focused coaching environment.

Technical development continues while swimmers learn to maintain their skills as training volume, intensity and competition demands increase.

Movement into County Development is not based simply on achieving a particular time. Swimmers earn their place by demonstrating the skills, maturity, training habits and readiness needed for the squad.

Regular attendance is fundamental to success at this level. Reaching County Development is not the end goal. Swimmers need to attend consistently to fully benefit from the programme and give themselves the best opportunity to progress.

The qualities that earned a swimmer their place also need to continue. Commitment, attitude, training standards and attendance remain important once they are in the squad. Low attendance simply does not provide the consistency of training needed for County Development to work as intended.