
Swimming
Welcome! Willkommen! Bienvenue ! Benvenuti ! Bainvegni! Isten hozott! ¡Bienvenido! Witam! いらっしゃいませ ! Ласкаво просимо! !ברוך הבא Tervetuloa !
Thank you for your interest in our LGBTIQA+ swimming club - the Zürich Sea Lions. I am Bastien (pronoun: he) and I have been running the club since March 2016. Originally I am from France, but I have been living in Zurich since 2001. Together with my deputy Nerico, we look after approximately 80 Sea Lions. We are happy about every new member in our Sea Lions family!
You want to swim with us ? Dive in ! I always recommend newcomers to come to practice on a Friday for the first time. The reasons for this are that we only have two lanes available on Mondays, which unfortunately doesn't always allow for an optimal training, while on Wednesdays we swim in an Olympic 50 meter pool, which can be a challenging distance for a swimmer. We will always try as much as possible to arrange for someone to assist you during the training.
About the Sea Lions :
We belong to the LGBTIQA+ sports club *Rainbow Sport Zurich*. People of all different genders and sexual orientations, ages, origins, swimming levels etc. join us. We welcome EVERYONE.
The official language of the club is German. However, we also have swimmers who hardly speak German - then we help each other in English or other languages like Italian, French, Polish, Spanish, Hungarian, Portuguese, etc.
We are an active club that participates in various international LGBTIQA+ swimming competitions throughout the year. Simply because it is fun. So you do not have to be a top swimmer to be part of it.
The Zürich Sea Lions Club is the only LGBTIQA+ swimming club that is a member of the Swiss Swimming Federation. This entitles us to participate in the Masters Swiss Championships in November.
Our training
Admission criteria: Newcomers must be able to swim at least (!) 100m crawl in one go as well as 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke.
Newcomers can benefit from a 3-week free trial training without any obligation.
NEXT DATES FOR A TRIAL TRAINING
- Friday, the 01.09.2023
- Friday, the 06.10.2023
- Friday, the 03.11.2023
- Friday, the 01.12.2023
We have 3 swimming sessions per week (Monday, Wednesday & Friday) where we practice all 4 swimming styles (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke & crawl) and swim varied series. You decide which training you participate in, once, twice or thrice a week.
As mentioned before, for your first training I recommend coming on a Friday if possible.
Our swimmers have different levels from slow to fast. Therefore, our coaches Senata and Maya prepare two or three different programs (short = ~ 2 km, medium = ~ 2.5 km, long = ~ 3 km).
Note, however, that we do not offer training for complete beginners (!). The welcoming process of new potential members is now only held on the 1st Friday of the month.
More about our 3 weekly training sessions :
MONDAY (Currently not available for newcomers due to lack of space)
WHERE – Indoor swimming pool Bläsi (25 meters)
WHEN – 19 :30 to 20 :30
TRAINER – No trainer – we swim according to a program prepared by our trainer Senata.
LEVEL – Short and long
GOOD TO KNOW
– We only have 2 lanes because there is another training going on in the other half of the pool at the same time (during the school vacations we have the whole pool for ourselves which allows us to exceptionally accommodate all swimmers).
– No swimming equipment is required (except swimwear and goggles, of course).
– Free entrance
– We have two dressing rooms and showers (one for “women” and one for “men”), which we sometimes share with athletes from another club. In the (large) dressing rooms there are a few single cabins with curtains. The showers are large-area showers, although in the “women’s” shower individual showers can be separated with a curtain. In addition, there is a shower in the swimming hall at the edge of the pool.
– A coin of CHF 2.00 is required for the locker room.
Please note that it can get a bit crowded in the lanes during this training if many swimmers show up.
WEDNESDAY
WHERE – Indoor pool Oerlikon (50 meters)
WHEN – 20 :00 till 21 :00
TRAINER – Rahel (Sometimes: Sergio)
LEVEL – Short, medium and long
GOOD TO KNOW
– We have up to 3 lanes, depending on how many swimmers show up for this training.
– Swim gear is required (fins, optional paddles, pullbuoy, snorkel).
– Regular admission fee, because the training takes place during regular opening hours (single admission : CHF 8.-, annual pass: CHF 240.-, valid in all indoor and outdoor pools of the city of Zurich. Your health insurance may reimburse you a part of the annual pass).
– We swim during the public swimming hours. This means that we have no locker room or showers for us. There are locker rooms for “women”, for “men” and for families, each with a few individual lockers. Showers are for “women” and for “men”, each with a couple of single showers with curtains.
– A coin of CHF 5.- is required for the checkroom locker.
FRIDAY
WHERE – Indoor swimming pool Bläsi (25 meters)
WHEN – 20 :00 till 21 :15
TRAINER – Senata
LEVEL – Short, medium, long
GOOD TO KNOW
– We have the whole pool (5 lanes) to ourselves.
– Free entrance.
– Swim gear is required (fins)
– We have two dressing rooms and showers (one for “women” and one for “men”), which we sometimes share with athletes from another club. In the (large) dressing rooms there are single cabins with curtains. The showers are large-area showers, although in the “women’s” shower individual showers can be separated with a curtain. In addition, there is a shower in the swimming hall at the edge of the pool.
– A coin of CHF 2.00 is required for the changing room.
Do you have any further questions ?
You can always contact me on my cell phone at 079 786 03 05 (e.g. WhatsApp) or by email at bastien@rainbowsport.ch if you need more information.
Are you trans/non-binary or intergender and have specific questions ? If so, Alecs (alecs@rainbowsport.ch, no pronoun preference) will be happy to help you feel as comfortable as possible and have fun swimming along with us.
Would you like to take a moment to introduce yourself to the Sea Lions? We would appreciate it if you could tell us who you are in a nutshell, what pronoun you would like to be addressed by, tell us about your swimming experience, what languages you speak/understand, and finally include a clear and recent face pic (without sunglasses or cap) so everyone can easily spot you on your first day.
We are very much looking forward to swimming with you soon, and hope you will enjoy being a part of our Sea Lions family.
Bastien & The Sea Lions’ family
01.01.2023 - 31.12.2023
Swimmingpool Bläsi without trainer
Swimmingpool Örlikon with Rahel (Sergio)
Swimmingpool Bläsi with Senata
Rainbow Sport Zürich Schwimmen
Hallenbad Bläsi, Limmattalstrasse, Zürich, Schweiz
Rainbow Sport Zürich Schwimmen
Hallenbad Oerlikon, Zürich, Schweiz

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