Friends Health & Fitness

By Leah McCrae, Member Services Officer, Friends Health & Fitness

Friends Swimming

Since commencing in July, Friends Swimming has become a sought-after program for aspiring and competitive swimmers. Total squad member numbers have grown over the past few months, with several swimmers moving to our Friends Swimming Performance Squad coming over from other swim clubs.

We have two new Junior Squads commencing in January to bring in swimmers from our waitlist, and to create a more precise pathway that supports our swimmers’ development.

Our squads are currently in preparation for Sprint Championships in February 2023 and State Championships in March 2023.

We wish our Performance Squad swimmer, James Clues good luck while he represents Friends Swimming at the Queensland State Championships this week. Go James!

We are looking forward to an exciting 2023 for all our swimmers.

Learn to Swim

Our Learn to Swim program has continued to thrive and see incredible success with record breaking enrolments. It has been so positive to witness our students continuing to grow their confidence in the water, understanding water safety importance, and improved swimming technique with survival being the basis of our program.

We welcomed our new very talented Learn to Swim Team Leader, Brett, who has brought a burst of energy and enthusiasm along with his experience and passion for our program and students, to the program and our swim team.

Our “parent portal” continues to provide our swim families with an improved Learn to Swim program and transparent communication medium where parents and guardians can log in and see the progress of their swimmers. Teachers assess each week and students can move to the next level as soon as a space is available to continue to support the growth and development of our students.

We are proud to be part of Royal Life Savings “Swim and Survive” newly released program rolled out this year; a broad and balanced program teaching swimming and water safety across all levels and age groups.

It's never too late to learn! Our small group Adult learn to swim program helps adults achieve their personal swimming goals in a supportive environment. We want everyone to be safe in and around water; that includes Mum and Dad.

Gym and Group Fitness

It has been great to see our Friends Health & Fitness community be able to utilise the wide variety of new equipment we have received and installed in both the gym and group fitness studios for our community to improve their health and fitness journey, as well as adding value to our member’s memberships. 

Our signature group fitness class, FRIENDS 45, has been very popular among our community and has quickly become a class favourite! With a mixture of cardio and weighted exercises, in a short circuit-class format, it has been widely popular for a broad range of members of all ages!

Our gym and group fitness team continues to grow and strengthen to support the growing needs of our members and offerings with lots of planning going on behind the scenes to introduce new and exciting offerings in 2023!

We welcome enquiries about our exclusive Friends Community membership options and encourage our wider Friends’ community to email our friendly team at fhf@friends.tas.edu.au.  

New Changerooms

Our new Learn to Swim child-only changeroom facilities are now open for use, and have been very well received by schools, children and parents. The area consists of two large changerooms (male and female), as well as four private change rooms (all gender, all abilities, family-friendly) for changing and showering of children before, and after their swimming lessons. 

Providing these separate changerooms for children has allowed the Centre to build on its ongoing commitment to child safeguarding and the customer experience.

Coffee

The introduction of a beautiful new commercial coffee machine to the Centre has lifted the spirits (and the energy levels) of members, visitors and staff.

Our reputation for making excellent coffee is growing, and keeping the coffee makers busy.

With a number of trained barista staff available to make a range of delicious coffees, why not give us a try? You won’t be disappointed. Our coffee makers love their coffee, and so will you!