Bishop's Stortford Swimming Club

Affiliated to Swim England East Region

Welcome

Bishop’s Stortford Swimming Club is one of the oldest competitive swimming clubs in Hertfordshire.  Whilst we strive to be competitive we realise our responsibilities to encourage sport for all and this is reflected in a club structure which ranges from our Learn to Swim School, through to our competitive squads and Masters (over 18s).

Bishop’s Stortford Swimming Club is a club that puts its swimmers first and with over 300 swimming learners and members, we aim to provide an inclusive experience catering for those learning to swim, those starting out on their competitive swimming careers and those striving to compete at Counties, Regionals and Nationals, or even Internationally.

So if you’re looking for swimming lessons or a new competitive club, take a moment to look through our site and see what we can offer you.  

Level X Live Stream – June 2021

Our next Level X race night is Tuesday 15th June 2021 and due to the success of our last live stream, we are planning to have another attempt! Each hour will be streamed via our Members Only Facebook page. We saw some great racing and lots of smiling faces last time around, so we have high expectations!!

Return to the Pool – Schedules

We are so pleased that nearly all of our competitive squads are back in the water – unfortunately our Masters have to wait until 17 May until they can train with us.

The training schedules for 12-18 April and 19 April to 16th May 2021 are below:

12-18 April 2021 – Return to the Pool Schedule
19 April – 16 May 2021 Schedule

World Beating Masters

Three BSSC Masters swimmers have been named in the 2020 FINA World Masters Top 10 Rankings.  Despite limited competition opportunities in the UK compared to many other Countries, Elizabeth Bellinger (40-44yrs), Alyson Fordham (60-64yrs) and Sally Winter (60-64yrs) secured multiple top 10 finishes in their age groups.

Lizzie was first in the world long course rankings for 50/100m butterfly, whilst Sally (BSSC Club President) was first in short and long course 200m freestyle.

#KeepStortfordSwimming

BSSC has been operating in Bishop’s Stortford since 1884, but the impact of Covid reduced training hours and pool hiring opportunities and the club had to go looking for additional funding to stay afloat.  

BSSC launched their #KeepStortfordSwimming crowdfunder appeal with much trepidation on Sunday 1st November with a target of £10,000 – £5000 to be raised by the club, and £5000 matched with Sport England’s Active Together funding.  Members got creative with incentives such as car washing, shirt ironing, cake making, dog walking and overnight stays (Doggy Ray Care), local vouchers and raffles to reward donators.

Through the generosity of members and supporters and a Corporate Sponsorship from two locally based companies, the club smashed through the £5000 requirement within three days, and with the Sport England funding the final total was an amazing £11,555!

Pre-Covid BSSC had plans for increasing support to their members and offering more events to younger swimmers in the local community.  Covid turned it into a fight for survival, but with support through the crowdfunder campaign and ongoing support through this latest lockdown, the club can start to dream big again.