The Special Olympics Bahrain’s Regional Swimming Champions Training Course took place in Manama last week with the support of the Michael Phelps Foundation. The week-long course brought coaches from all over the Middle East and North Africa to Bahrain for a combination of theoretical (classroom) education and practical (poolside) training.
While the curriculum was comprehensive, the organizers focused specifically on the basic principles of Special Olympics and the official World Aquatics Rulebook to provide coaches with a solid foundation. Additionally, the curriculum contained numerous practical exercises which focused specifically on buoyancy, stroke mechanics, and pool safety.
Furthermore, all of the Bahraini athletes involved in the course participated in many of the practical demonstrations, and as a result, were able to be involved immediately in the testing of new drills and methods for better communication by their respective coaches. The goal of this hands-on approach is to convert all coaches’ training and skill sets into improved performance and increased safety for their athletes.
The Michael Phelps Foundation partnership offers support and additional resources in addition to the recognition associated with its name. The Foundation’s Instructional Method (IM) Program is the global Swimming Curriculum approved by Special Olympics: it supports athletes through water safety, the development of lifelong fitness, and confidence building. As such, the partnership provides opportunities for National Programmes to improve their technical standards while continuing to prioritize the overall well-being of their athletes.
What is the purpose of swimming? Both Research and Practitioners have identified that Aquatic Training provides the best opportunity for training athletes with Intellectual Disabilities. Aquatic Training offers support to their bodies during exercise and decreases joint stress, while also enhancing their Cardio-Respiratory Fitness, Balance and Muscle Tone. As a result, Aquatic Training programmes can serve as dual-purpose preparation for athletes to compete, while providing therapeutic and social benefits that extend far beyond the finish line.
The Bahrain Course is just one of the ways for Special Olympics to form a network that spans across the world, catering to millions of athletes and providing year-round training and competition in a variety of sports. Regional Coach Education programs are how Local Organizers take Special Olympics’ standards and turn them into a better experience for athletes locally. As such, by raising the level of coaching throughout the MENA region, Local Organizers hope that this will result in more athletes being technically prepared and mentally ready to participate in international competitions.
Hosting this course in Bahrain reaffirms Bahrain’s emerging status as a Regional Centre for Sport and Inclusion. For Coaches returning from this course with new drills, safety checklists and a new set of Communication Tools, the true measure of the success of this Course will be reflected in the specificity of the swimmers’ strokes, the decrease in swimming pool-related accidents, and above all; In the smiles on the faces of Athletes who have experienced firsthand what consistent, well-informed coaching enables a swimmer to achieve.
