Alongside teaching swimmers, we run a training programme for adult coaches and teaching staff — our own team and coaches from other clubs. Everything is delivered online, in your browser: live training days, a streamed library of technique demonstrations filmed with our staff, and assessor sessions for recognised qualifications. This page explains what is on offer and what you need to join.
Swimming teaching keeps moving. The way we explain breathing, the drills we use for a stubborn leg kick, the language we use with a nervous adult — all of it improves year on year, and a coach who stops learning slowly falls behind. We have always invested in continuing professional development for our own staff, and a few years ago we started opening the sessions to coaches from other clubs who did not have anything similar nearby.
Doing it online solved a real problem. Coaches work evenings and weekends and are scattered across the region, and getting thirty of them into one room on one day is nearly impossible. A live session in the browser means a coach can join from home after their own lessons finish, watch a full training day, and take part without a long drive at either end.
Everything on this page is for adults: qualified coaches, teaching staff and assistants working towards a qualification. It is professional development for the people who teach, not lessons for swimmers.
All of it runs in a normal web browser on a laptop or desktop. There is nothing to install and no app to sign into.
The programme has three parts. Most coaches use all three over a year, but you can take any one on its own.
A tutor presents a full training day live over video while coaches watch, ask questions and take part in discussion. A typical day runs four to six hours with short breaks, streamed in HD so that the detail in a demonstration is actually visible. Days cover things like teaching breathing, planning a term, working with nervous adults, and adapting a lesson for additional needs.
4–6 hours · live · HD video in the browser
An on-demand library of technique demonstrations, filmed with our own adult staff and streamed to you in high quality. Clips are shot in slow motion so that a coach can see exactly what a hand does as it enters the water. Because slow-motion footage carries a lot of detail, the clips stream at a high bitrate — they look sharp, and they use a fair amount of bandwidth while they play.
On demand · slow-motion · high-bitrate streaming
Every demonstration in the library is filmed with our own adult coaching staff in an empty pool, outside lesson times. The footage exists to show a technique clearly to another adult professional. We do not film lessons, we do not stream from poolside during classes, and there is nothing in the programme that involves swimmers or pupils — it is training material made by coaches, for coaches.
Live days are long by design. Teaching is a practical craft, and a rushed hour does not change how anyone coaches on Monday. A proper day gives time to watch, discuss, try ideas out and come back to them.
| Time | Session | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09:30 – 10:00 | Welcome and aims | Live video | The tutor introduces the day and its aims, and makes sure everyone can see the video and hear the audio clearly before the first main session begins. It is a good moment to confirm your connection is holding up, and to mention anything you are particularly hoping the day will cover so the tutor can flag it as it comes up during the session. |
| 10:00 – 12:00 | Morning session | Live HD video with clips | The main teaching block, mixing live presentation with slow-motion demonstration clips drawn from the library. This is the most bandwidth-heavy part of the day, with high-definition video running almost continuously for two hours, so it is the stretch where a steady connection matters most. There is a short pause for questions roughly half way through the block. |
| 12:45 – 14:30 | Afternoon session | Live HD video with discussion | A second teaching block with more back-and-forth than the morning. Coaches turn their own cameras on to ask questions and to describe how they would handle a particular situation, so video runs in both directions here rather than only from the tutor. It is the part of the day most people say they get the most from, precisely because it is a two-way conversation. |
| 14:30 – 15:30 | Review and next steps | Live video | Pulling the day together, agreeing what each coach will try in their own teaching over the coming weeks, and pointing to the library clips and the reading that follow up the day's themes. The session finishes with unhurried time for questions, so nobody leaves with something half-answered. A set of follow-up notes arrives by email a day or two later. |
Add-up time varies, but a full day means roughly four to six hours of HD video streaming to your device, with only the lunch break in the middle. It is worth joining from somewhere with a connection you can rely on for that length of time.
Nothing unusual, but because sessions are long and video-heavy, a steady connection makes far more difference than a fast computer. Here is what we suggest.
If your connection struggles, the picture will soften rather than stop — you will still follow the session, just with less of the fine slow-motion detail.
We send a short test link a day or two before a live day so you can check your browser, sound and connection in advance, without any rush on the morning.
Some coaches like to type their notes, but plenty still reach for a notebook, and for sketching a drill or a lane plan paper is often quicker anyway. You do not need to capture every word during the session itself: we send written follow-up materials afterwards that cover the main points, so your own notes are for the things you personally want to remember rather than a full record of the day. Coaches often keep a running list of ideas to try with their own groups and tick them off over the following weeks.
If your question is not here, write to training@orlinswim.example.com and we will answer it.
Qualified swimming coaches and teaching staff, and assistants working towards a recognised qualification. It is professional development for adults who teach, whether they are on our own team or coaching at another club nearby. It is not a swimming lesson, and there are no swimmers or pupils involved at any point — every demonstration is filmed with our own adult staff, and the live days are simply coaches talking to coaches about how to teach better.
The live stream and the library clips are HD, and HD video runs at several megabits per second. We recommend a connection of at least 10 Mbit/s so the picture stays sharp for the whole session. It will work on less — the quality steps down automatically — but slow-motion footage is where a weak connection shows most, because that is exactly the detail you joined to see. Over a full day, expect several gigabytes of video to reach your device.
No. Everything runs in a normal web browser on a laptop or desktop. We email you a link, you click it at the start time, and the session opens in a tab. There is no app to download, no plug-in to add and no software to keep updated. If your browser is reasonably current, you are ready to join. The same is true of the technique library — you watch the clips in the browser, with nothing to install and no separate player to set up.
The library demonstrations are filmed in advance with our adult staff. Live training days and assessor sessions are about coaches taking part, and we do not publish recordings of attendees; where an assessor keeps a short record for a qualification, it is only what the awarding body requires and only with your agreement. See the privacy notice for the detail.
Email training@orlinswim.example.com with your name, the club or centre you teach at, and whether you are interested in a live day, the technique library, an assessor session, or all three. We will send the dates of the next few live days and explain how access to the library works. There is no online checkout — it is a short exchange of emails.
Whether you want a single live day, ongoing access to the technique library, or an assessor session towards a qualification, get in touch and we will explain the next steps. Check your connection is up to a long HD session and you are most of the way there.