Islay Masters Swimming Club

Islay Masters Swimming Club meets on Tuesdays at 8.00pm and on Fridays at 7.30pm at the Mactaggart Leisure Centre in Bowmore.

Coaching is provided for all levels of ability and no-one has to swim further or faster that they feel comfortable with. Coaching sessions mainly concentrate on enhancing our fitness and our swimming skills (or so we have been told). Coaching includes a variety of themes including, style (which we have tons of), technique and the dreaded cardiovascular training. If the coach is in a particularly bad mood, our swim times are timed which give an unconvincing indication of our improved fitness and skill levels.

We are a pretty friendly bunch, but it is hard to carry on a conversation with your face in the water, so we usually go to the pub afterwards. Sometimes (often) we have parties!

Interested? Just turn up at any training session and introduce yourself to the coach. Don’t wait until you are fitter or thinner because none of us are particularly thin or fit (except possibly for Jack).

Our motto is fitness, fun and friendship! Our serious aims include promoting adult fitness through swimming and to advance master swimming. However, we are not a serious bunch and the clubs sees itself as a lot more than that, as it brings a range of people together with a common interest and encourages everyone to get involved at every level. As we live on a little island, sporting opportunities are rare and the club provides and outlet for the athletes amongst us as well as providing a venue for our more social members to catch up. For information on the club's formation, have a look at the constitution (PDF format).

The first two sessions are free! After that it’s a mere £15 a month (payable by standing order) to attend as often as you like. On top of this the annual membership fee of £25, which includes membership to the Scottish Amateur Swimming Association – sounds serious but it just means we have proper insurance cover.

If you want more information or would like to come along, please feel free to get in touch.