Open water summer activities for juniors
Information for open water events for juniors over the summer months including: an introduction to open water swimming; stand up paddle boarding; Camlough Lake Water Festival; and organized club swims.
This summer we’re offering a range of activities based around the open water. They are aimed at our junior members from ages 11/12 up to 18.
Our goal is to build confidence in the open water and develop it as an offering within our club over the summer months.
You can sign up for one of the activities or all of them, although we recommend that everyone attends the opening two sessions - an introduction to open water swimming.
Planned activities
An introduction to open water swimming at Crawfordsburn (late June / early July)
Standup paddleboarding - 19 July
Club swims (throughout August)
Camlough Lake Water Festival (13 to 15 August)
A visit to the Let’s Go Hydro Waterpark (late August)
Introduction to open water swimming
We start off with two one hour sessions in late June / early July. These will be delivered by the team from wildswim.ie . They’ll provide relevant info prior to sessions including their leaflet for participants: “what to expect & what to bring”. The sessions will include briefing, mixed swim/ games session, exit and debrief delivered by the two coaches.
12 to 18 years old
2 x 1 hour sessions
Crawfordsburn Country Park Beach
Tuesday evening, first session late June and second session early July
£5 per person for both sessions
The details above are provisional and subject to change depending on weather, temperature and tides.
Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP)
Our SUP activity will take place on Monday 19 July at 6.30pm. It’s being delivered by SUP Hub NI who are based in Bangor. It will be a structured lesson with a bit it team building and completion thrown in. All equipment is provided, all you need is your togs, a towel and some sunscreen!
Interested?
If you’re interested in taking part we need to know by Tuesday 1 June.
If you have any questions then please give us a shout. You can contact us, email cuchulainn.waterpolo@gmail.com or drop Rónán or Joe a message.
When we have confirmed numbers we will be in touch with firm dates / times and ask people to commit to attending at that point.
What about the other activities?
We’re working to finalize details for the other activities. Some of this depends on government relaxing restrictions and some is dependent on events being organized (like the water festival at Camlough Lake).
If you want to stay informed, get in touch and we’ll make sure that the information gets to you when we have it!
Update to members - May 2020
Cú Chulainn AGM; Return to Water Roadmap; National Water Polo Conference; 2019/20 season
Cú Chulainn Annual General Meeting
The 2020 Cú Chulainn Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 9 June at 7.00pm.
The AGM will be conducted via zoom. All members will receive an invite via email with the relevant documentation attached on Tuesday 19 May.
If you do not receive an email invite, please contact a club officer or contact the secretary directly.
Return to Water Roadmap
Swim Ireland have published a ‘Return to Water Roadmap’. This document takes account of the ‘roadmaps’ published by the governments in Ireland.
The Swim Ireland Roadmap aims to support clubs and members to return to the water in a safe and timely manner and includes details of what may happen for each aquatic discipline at each phase. It will be supported by framework documents, which will provide greater detail and clarity, when possible.
The club will use the Swim Ireland Roadmap and any relevant framework documents as planning tools, but we are mindful that Swim Ireland describe the document as a “first draft” and draw attention to the “fluid and continuously evolving situation”. Significantly, while the Swim Ireland Roadmap provides dates, no dates have been provided in the roadmap published by the NI Executive.
We will update members with any changes to the Swim Ireland Roadmap when they occur.
National Water Polo Conference
The National Water Polo Conference took place on Saturday 16 May via webinar. The National Water Polo Committee proposed a range of motions relating to league structure, tournament rules, player eligibility, discipline, and complaints. 2 delegates participated on behalf of Cú Chulainn and voted on each of motions.
All the motions secured the required number of votes and were passed. A summary of the motions relating to leagues and cup competitions is below. We will share a link to the updated rulebook when it is published.
League Competitions
A new League structure is proposed for all levels which restructures the men’s leagues as two Divisions with 8 teams/clubs in Division 1, with each team naming 11 players. The named 11 players can only play in Division 1.
The remaining entries will form Division 2 in two groups. There will be 2 rounds with the top 3 in each group plus the u17 national squad playing off round 2 Tier 1 and the remainder play off Tier 2. National squad players will play for their respective clubs in matches against the national squad team.
Division 2 players may play Division 1 games but if they play 5 or more games in one season then they are classed as Division 1 players and can no longer compete in Division 2.
There will be NO under 19 leagues.
There will be an underage league 16/17, year of birth in line with international commitments.
Under 17 players who play Division 1 in men or women cannot play in the underage leagues but can play in underage cups.
The NWPC may establish an U14 league in line with international age group YOB.
Cup Competitions
The draw for the Irish Senior Cup Competitions is addressed to eliminate seeding of previous year league top four teams into designated groups but retains seeding in two draw pots with pot 1 being the pre-qualified top 4 league teams and pot 2 the qualifier teams.
New under 13 single gender cups are introduced in June, using a size 4 ball. The mixed under 13 cup remains and will be a Development Cup using a size 3 ball.
Completion of the 2019/20 National Leagues and Irish Cups
At the end of March, Swim Ireland and the National Water Polo Committee announced the closure of the 2019/2020 season until September 2020. The announcement was part of a broader statement that sees all aquatic activities suspended until the end of August 2020.
Arrangements are being put in place to complete the outstanding matches and tournaments at the beginning of the 2020/2021 season. These plans remain in place at present but are subject to the restrictions that inform the Swim Ireland Roadmap document.
Open Water 2019
Information for members about the open water season including weekly swims around Belfast and events aroudn Ulster.
Weekly swims
Monday night – Ballyholme Yacht Club.
These swim takes place every Monday night in Bangor from 6 May to 2 September (subject to conditions). Cost is £5 per night or there are season passes available. You must be aged 16+ or have written permission from your parents. You can swim in wetsuit or skins. Safety support is present at all swims. Online registration is encouraged but paper entries can be taken on the night. Safety briefing at 6.45 and swim at 7. For more information visit the Ballyholme.com. For more information, visit the Ballyholme Yacht Club website.
Monday, Thursday and Saturday – Let’s Go Hydro
These swims take place every Monday and Thursday evening and Saturday morning at Knockbracken Reservoir, Saintfield Road from Saturday 4 May until 9 September. Swimming time is from 7.00 to 8.00 on Monday and Thursday evenings and 10.00 to 11.00 on Saturday mornings. Cost is £ 6 per swim or season passes are available. Safety support is available. A tow kit is required for a session (available onsite for £18 or cheaper online). For more information, visit the Let’s Go Hydro website.
Open water swimming events
Below is a list of swims that we know about (based on a search through Facebook). Links are provided for each event or for the organisers. Follow these to get information on cost, registration and any age restrictions. Note that it is usually necessary to register in advance.
If you know of any others or have any questions, give us a shout. If you’re thinking of doing a swim or your son or daughter is, let us know and hopefully we’ll get a few more people interested. As a club, we’ll be hoping to attend as many events at the Camlough Lake Open Water Festival as possible, so mark those dates!
26 May – West Bay Swim – Portrush – 1k (Skerries Swimmers)
9 June – Rock Around the Point – Warrenpoint – 1.5k (CLWF)
15 June – Aura Boyne Swim – 2.7k (Drogheda Triathlon Club)
23 June – Swim Ulster Open Water Championships – Let’s Go Hyrdo – 750m, 1.5k, 3k (Swim Ulster)
6 July – Sheephaven Bay – Portnablagh, Co. Donegal – 1k or 3.5k (Gartan Open Water Swimmers)
21 July – Rostrevor to Warrenpoint – Rostrevor – 3.7k (CLWF)
16 August to 18 August - Camlough Lake Open Water Festival (CLWF)
16 August – GIANT of a Swim – Camlough Lake – 1.6k (CLWF)
16 August – Open Water Water Polo Championship – Camlough Lake (CLWF)
16 August – GLOW Night Swim – Camlough Lake – 750m (CLWF)
17 August -weeGIANT of a Swim (U16) – Camlough Lake - 750m, 500m, 250m (CLWF)
17 August – Lord and Lady of the Lake Swim – Camlough Lake – 2.7k (CLWF)
17 August - Open Water Water Polo Championship – Camlough Lake (CLWF)
18 August – Try-a-Tri (U16) – Swim 250m, Bike 3k, Rub 1.5k – Camlough Lake (CLWF)
24 August – East the Beast Swim – Portrush (Skerries Swimmers)
24 August – The Inch Mile – Rathmullan Co. Donegal – 1 mile - Gartan Open Water Swimmers
14 September – Elephant Rock – Portrush (Skerries Swimmers)
Camlough Lake Water Festival
Camlough Lake Water Festival 2018
Open Water Polo Championships, senior swims, U16 swims and camping. Find out all there is to know!
CLWF 2018
This year's Camlough Lake Water Festival takes place at Camlough Lake on 10, 11 and 12 August.
The senior men are entering a team to the All Ireland Open Water Water Polo Championships and will camp at the lake from Friday 11 to Sunday 12.
A number of open water swims for U16s and seniors are taking place across the three days of the festival, as well as triathlons and the U16 Try-a-Tri. Details of the events taking place across the weekend can be found below.
If any players are interested in taking part in either the water polo competition of any of the other events taking place across the weekend, please get in touch.
Details of summer break
Details of when traning finishes for the summer and restarts for the 2017/2018 season.
Senior
Senior sessions for the 2016/2017 season have finished.
Pre-season for the 2017/18 season begins on the following dates:
- Tuesday night sessions, Falls Lesiure Centre, 9.00 to 10.00, Tuesday 15 August
- Thursday night sessions, Falls Leisure Centre, 8.30 to 10.00, Thursday 24 August
Junior
Junior sessions are still running but the last session for U-9s, U-11s and U-13s will take place on Thursday 22 June in the Falls Leisure centre.
Training for the 2017/2018 season will resume at the end of August / beginning of September, with further sessions being introduced for U-15 to U-19s. More detials will follow when pool bookings have been confirmed.
Open water swimming
The seniors are continuing to train and compete in open water swims across Ulster. If any seniors or capable juniors are interested in training or competing in the open water, get in touch.
More information
The fixtures page of the site is regularly updated with information relating to training. If you have any specific queries, you can contact us at any time.