Avalon

Meet Avalon! This is the student swimming and water polo association of Tilburg. We spoke with Nathan and Marijn. After the corona crisis, they, as the board of the association, have good spirits. You can feel it in everything. And, things are going well with the association. Several new events have been organized! They are proud of their sport, and that is not without reason. Are you curious if Avalon is something for you? Read on!

Who are you, and what do you do at Avalon?

"I am Marijn, and I am the president at Avalon. That means I try to keep things running smoothly. This year, we want to grow and become more professional. We are in Brabant, so we also have to keep it enjoyable. That's my responsibility."

"I am Nathan, and I am the swimming commissioner. I take on a role as the technical coordinator in terms of swimming. I am mainly responsible for training and also organize the larger events."

What is Avalon at its core?

"Originally, we were founded in 2011 as a water polo association. Swimming was added about 5 years ago. We currently have around 85 members. We aim to grow."

"The most important thing for Avalon is that it should be enjoyable. Because we are younger and smaller, everyone knows each other. This makes it very pleasant at activities and training. Additionally, we are a sports association, and we try to approach it quite professionally. There is always a trainer present, and, for example, we have just arranged new equipment. We are taking small steps to make the association more professional."

"It is also crucial to say that every level can participate. For both water polo and swimming, it doesn't matter if you are a beginner or a pro. You can join us. This also applies to competitions."

Nathan gives an example: "In the last competition, there was a guy from another association who had to swim 400 meters for the first time. He was really struggling but trying his best. At some point, everyone was cheering for him. Us too! It's not about being the best but pushing yourself and improving. It's a competition against yourself."

What are the club championships?

"The club championships we have twice a year. A big part of that is 'most improved'. We then look at how many seconds you have improved yourself. That also really typifies the culture within Avalon. Maintaining your level is good, but it is also important to work on yourself. That way you can also create a bit of competition between good and lesser swimmers."

What does an average month look like?

"Depending on whether you swim or do water polo, you train three or two times a week. On Thursdays, we have a regular activity twice a month. One activity is baking pancakes and then going out for a good time. The other activity takes place in our regular pub: De Prins! We also try to organise additional activities like a beer bike or a Christmas dinner."

"A lot of our members also have groups of friends within Avalon. They also undertake several things and do fun things together. Often they also go on holidays together."

What are the highlights of the year?

"The highlights are really the games though! There are always at least four of them. The matches are together with the sister associations. Those are really the matches you work towards with training. You then go to another city, where there is a big party and where you stay overnight. So that's really a weekend away."

"It's club-based, so you swim for your club. The times are then combined in a certain way so you have a score. We haven't been around super long and so we don't have that many swimmers yet. So our goal at the moment is to finish second to last. That would already be cool for us! We have to get going in Tilburg. It is typical of Avalon that we are serious about it. We are proud if we finish second to last. So again, it's mainly improving yourself. You have to have a goal in mind."

And on an informal level?

"So many activities come back monthly. Besides, we also have our anniversary this year. With that comes lustrum activities. We have five events: a pre-party, a brackish lunch at the Pancake Bakery, a competition, a gala and an after-party."

What are the plans for the future? And what if you had unlimited resources?

The men laugh and give us their wish with unlimited resources: "If we had unlimited resources, I want a swimming pool at the highest point at the university. A 50-metre pool! On top of building K, I want a funnel pool where you have fantastic views of the Warande. We just don't know if that's feasible."

"No, but all kidding aside. The university is looking at the possibilities for a pool at the new Sports Centre. That would be very cool, because then we will be closer to the other sports clubs. Then we can also have a beer at the bar there afterwards. We also want to organise more training sessions, but our current swimming pool (Drieburcht) is also used by many others."

"Of course, eventually we want to compete with the top. Step by step, of course, but the goal is to become number one!"

"We want to come out of the corona crisis better. That includes new events and we are working hard on that this year. For example, we have set up 'Swimming For Charity' and we are in the process of organising a swimming competition with all our sister associations."