Frequently Asked Questions

Warrender Baths Club was formed in 1888 and has been at the forefront of the sports of swimming and water polo ever since.  The club is long established as the leading swimming club in Scotland, one of the top swimming clubs in Britain, and one of the most famous sports clubs in Edinburgh.  Throughout the years, literally 100s of swimmers have become Scottish and British international representatives through the training and coaching they have received at Warrender.  From Olympic Games to Commonwealth Games, and World Championships to European Championships, Warrender has regularly been associated with success.  Perhaps the best evidence of that was in 1976 when club member David Wilkie won the 200m breaststroke Olympic gold medal in Montreal, Canada.  For further details on the Club's history, check out our history page on this site.

As a large club it is necessary for us to use a range of pools throughout the city in order to offer the necessary pool time that swimmers need to develop effectively.  Which pool a swimmer uses will depend on which training squad they are in and vary according to the day and time of the week.  We recognise that good swimmers need good quality pool time and we try to ensure this is the case wherever possible.  As swimmers progress up the competitive ranks the use of a long course pool becomes more important and thus our top two groups both have regular access to the Royal Commonwealth Pool for some of their training.  Sunday night is our normal 'Club Night' where most squads use the same venue in one evening and this takes place at Ainslie Park Leisure Centre.  Please check our Venues and Facilities pages for more details on this topic.

We do not have an age policy for joining the club, instead swimming ability is the key.  However, we tend to find that most swimmers reach the end of their swimming lessons programme and become ready for club training around the ages of 8 or 9 and so many Warrender swimmers first join at about that age.  On some occasions though we have brought swimmers who were good enough into the club at 6 years old, although these tend to be few in number.

This depends on which squad a swimmer is in.  At the lower end of the club, our entry squad trains three days a week, Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, while at the upper end of the club training for our National Squad takes place every day apart from Saturday, including some days where sessions are on both in the morning and evening.

A training squad's total number of swimmers will continuously vary as new swimmers join, some leave, and group moves are made.  In general though, we aim to have approximately 20-25 swimmers in most groups.  Sometimes it is necessary to have slightly more than this, and on other occasions there may be less than this.

Yes, all of our lead coaches are highly qualified and experienced in what they do.  All coaches have recognised governing body swimming coaching and teaching qualifications.  On occasion, when we bring a new coach into the club it is necessary to give them on the job training as well as ensuring they take the next required course on the coach education ladder.  Our Head Coach Ian Wright and Director of Development Hamilton Smith act as mentors to new or upcoming coaches in this way.

All members must pay an annual joining fee at the start of each calendar year.  This is normally done by cheque.  In addition, all members of training squads then pay a monthly standing order through their bank account for training fees.  It is important to understand that training fees are calculated on the basis of a yearly total, divided into 12 equal payments, and not according to how many sessions are available in any particular month.

We usually allow prospective new swimmers to come along for a free trial session before making a formal commitment to join.  This allows the swimmer to determine whether they like the programme, and our coaching staff to make a judgement on the swimmer's suitability for club training.

How long is a piece of string!?  Being classed as a good swimmer is a very relative term and unique to each individual.  However, it is critical for parents and swimmers alike to understand that success in swimming takes numerous years of consistent, regular and hard training.  Some experts have argued that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become good at anything.  At Warrender we take the long term view to swimming.  Our aim is not to produce short term success or young children who win medals at every competition they go to.  Our focus is much more geared to giving swimmers the right skills and training that will allow them to succeed and realise their full potential when they reach the senior ranks of the sport.  We want our members to explore how far they can go in swimming and in the large majority of cases this will not happen until an athlete is well into their 20's.  Full physical maturation is not achieved until the mid-20's and it is not unusual these days to see swimmers achieving their best results at or beyond this age.  Patience and dedication are the key.

Quite simply, Warrender is the best swimming club in Scotland!  Warrender is one of only a very small band of clubs who employ a full-time professional coach (in fact Warrender was the first ever club in Scotland to do this), as well as several other part-time paid coaches.  All of our coaches are highly experienced in the sport and have been coaching at the top level for many years.  Warrender also provides all the training time its swimmers need to reach their full potential in the sport.