Medswim Birmingham is an ASA West Midlands and University of Birmingham Medical School (UBMS) Medsoc affiliated swimming club. We welcome all levels of ability from those wanting to learn to swim or swim socially all the way upto a "squad" style training for those athletes wishing to stay at the top of their game. Due to our funding arrangements, a person may join Medswim Birmingham if they are not Medsoc registered, but will be required to pay more than a Medsoc member.

We are a purely voluntary organisation that runs on the good will and generosity of its volunteers - all of whom are also full time Medical Students. We charge minimal sub's to cover pool and insurance costs, as our main aim is to provide a cheap and fun environment in which to participate in a well loved sport.

When registering with the ASA the following was stated as a major reason for developing the club, and this still stands true today :

"I feel it would be appropriate to address why we believe there is a need to set up this swimming club given that a University of Birmingham SC (“Brumswim”) already exists. Unfortunately for Medical and other Healthcare Professional students, our timetables are considerably different to other students especially once we enter clinical years, having placements all over Birmingham and the Black Country. Because of this, the University of Birmingham Swimming Club’s training sessions often fall at the wrong times and many Medical Students find they are unable to continue with their training once they come to University. The idea of starting a “Medic’s” swimming club is not a new one, the idea has been in the pipeline at Birmingham for numerous years and I am aware that many other medical schools already have their own. Also, virtually every other major sport has a separate “Medic’s” team at Birmingham University that all do extremely well in their leagues, but swimming is currently not represented in this way. Although there has been many students wanting to join a Medic’s Swimming Club, monetary issues have until recently stopped any progress being made in setting one up. We have hopefully now resolved this issue and so are hoping to press on with getting this long overdue club up and running."

For the future we plan for the swimming club to grow both in terms of numbers and sessions / services we have avaliable. We are also hoping to start competing in some local friendly gala's and join in with the pre-existing gala's between other Medical School's. Both of these aims require a team that can represent what we do at Medswim - and the guys and girls that are training with us at the moment would perform the task awesomely. In the distant future we may also host our own friendly gala's.

Currently our Welfare Officer is the Head Coach (Matt Govier) although we would strongly suggest that all welfare issues should be taken to Dr Kate Thomas at the Medical School. For those who are unaware who Dr Thomas is the following is a brief description of her:

"Dr Thomas is responsible for the personal tutoring system and for MB ChB students' welfare in general. She is a GP and works in the Department of Primary Care and General Practice where she is responsible for overseeing the teaching the department organises and delivers in all 5 years of the MB ChB course”

We hope that all members are satisfied with the service we offer and welcome constructive criticism. If you have any idea's on how we could improve the service we offer please e-mail Matt at MRG476@bham.ac.uk

Medswim Birmingham......because everythings better, when its wetter!