Otters ASC have had their swimming school for the past 25 years offering swimming and water polo lessons for children. This school was founded by Mr Alfred Cachia, a name renowned in the local scene of both swimming and water polo. We strive to give our students a happy and fun learning experience and we hold lessons at our pitch in Marsalforn. We only operate 8 weeks of summer however with the opening of the public swimming school in Gozo we intend to operate all year round over 4 semesters.
We have a group of qualified coaches led by John Borg and Maria Buttigieg who in turn are assisted by coaching assistants roped in from our under 17 water polo team. All swimming teachers are qualified teachers of PE or graduates in the field of Sport science. We also have planned staff development courses which include qualifications in swimming teaching and coaching as well as coaching of water polo.
We strive to provide a safe and homely environment for your children for these to become confident in the water and learn to enjoy swimming. Our courses are designed for children and young adults to learn all the skills required including basic water lifesaving skills. Children are divided in groups according to their ability and each group has a set of skills which must be learnt in order to progress further. These skills are based on the Maltese swimming awards as follows: Seahorse award, Frog award, Duck award, Turtle award and dolphin award. We teach children from 5 yrs and will take all abilities from non-swimmers through to intermediate and advanced. Each child will have the appropriate time spent on them so that every child improves to the best of their ability giving special emphasis to correct breathing techniques and basic stroke techniques whilst keeping the lessons fun. Children are moved up through the different levels when we feel they are ready and once a term a skills test is done so the children can achieve a certificate. These techniques are essential for all young athletes aspiring to further their skills in any water-sport like swimming, water-polo, synchronised swimming or triathlon.
Members of ASA – As members of this organisation we focus to adhere to the nationally recognised standards ensuring the safety of all those involved at Otters Swim School and, of course, the competence of those involved with teaching your children
Our family approach allows parents to watch and encourage their children every step of the way; and we also organise various social events throughout the year to raise funds and also foster this culture between our club members.
