My daughter is considering Durham. She is a competitive swimmer and water polo player so wants somewhere she can do both. Does anyone know what the swimming is like at Durham and how students can manage training and the logistics of choosing a college near a pool?
My daughter is considering Durham. She is a competitive swimmer and water polo player so wants somewhere she can do both. Does anyone know what the swimming is like at Durham and how students can manage training and the logistics of choosing a college near a pool?
Hiya
I don't do either of those sports but I do know that these are both up-and-coming sports clubs at Durham, especially water polo. The university even offers a scholarship for which water polo is one of the 13 target sports. Through this, you can get a one-off bursary of £2,000 and access to the university’s Elite Athlete Support Programme which is tailored to suit athlete's needs and includes coaching, video analysis, strength and conditioning (S&C), sport psychology, injury prevention, lifestyle and time management support and nutritional guidance.
You can find out more about how often the club trains on these pages: Water Polo and Swimming. On these pages are also links to their Facebook and Instagram channels on which you can send a DM asking any related questions.
The university has a sports centre at Maiden Castle where I believe athletes would do S&C training, but it doesn't have a swimming pool. Therefore, the university uses the pool at Freemans Quay which is closer to the bailey colleges than the hill ones. I also think some of these sessions are early in the morning so it might be worth ranking the bailey colleges higher in your preference form to keep the commute minimal. Your daughter will be able to fill this form if and when she receives an offer from Durham. It's worth knowing though that you might not always get a college higher up in your list due to oversubscription of some colleges. If she does get a hill college, there's no need to worry as buses run regularly between hill colleges and the town. It's also just about 30 mins walk away or a 10-12 minute bike ride away, so is still very much within reach.
Hiya I don't do either of those sports but I do know that these are both up-and-coming sports clubs at Durham, especially water polo. The university even offers a scholarship for which water polo is one of the 13 target sports. Through this, you can get a one-off bursary of £2,000 and access to the university’s Elite Athlete Support Programme which is tailored to suit athlete's needs and includes coaching, video analysis, strength and conditioning (S&C), sport psychology, injury prevention, lifestyle and time management support and nutritional guidance. You can find out more about how often the club trains on these pages: Water Polo and Swimming. On these pages are also links to their Facebook and Instagram channels on which you can send a DM asking any related questions. The university has a sports centre at Maiden Castle where I believe athletes would do S&C training, but it doesn't have a swimming pool. Therefore, the university uses the pool at Freemans Quay which is closer to the bailey colleges than the hill ones. I also think some of these sessions are early in the morning so it might be worth ranking the bailey colleges higher in your preference form to keep the commute minimal. Your daughter will be able to fill this form if and when she receives an offer from Durham. It's worth knowing though that you might not always get a college higher up in your list due to oversubscription of some colleges. If she does get a hill college, there's no need to worry as buses run regularly between hill colleges and the town. It's also just about 30 mins walk away or a 10-12 minute bike ride away, so is still very much within reach. Hope that helps -Himieka
That’s great ! Thank you! She knows someone who plays water polo there so that’s good. And she could make new friends by being involved Do you know if the swimmers get transport to the pools? I saw on the map that Freemans Quay is about 30 away. And the performance squad training times are evenings. Is there a college which has traditionally had the sporty students in? And the swimmers? Would make it easier to integrate if you are in a group doing the same things
That’s great ! Thank you! She knows someone who plays water polo there so that’s good. And she could make new friends by being involved Do you know if the swimmers get transport to the pools? I saw on the map that Freemans Quay is about 30 away. And the performance squad training times are evenings. Is there a college which has traditionally had the sporty students in? And the swimmers? Would make it easier to integrate if you are in a group doing the same things
I'm afraid I don't have the inside intel on these sports since neither I nor any of my friends play them, but I doubt they'd get university-arranged transport especially since everyone would be living in different colleges or even outside colleges. As I said before, bailey colleges aren't 30 minutes away from Freemans Quay so would be a better option if travel time is an issue for you. From the hill colleges, bus number 6 and X12 run to the city centre so that's another travel option. Many students tend to use bikes as well.
Collingwood is usually known as the college that has lots of sporty students but all colleges will always have students who are into sports. There would absolutely be no college where all the swimmers are from, neither would they all be living in college as most of them would probably be non-freshers. So I would say try not to focus on how 'sporty' a college is as all of them will have a good mix