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.  

2021-22 Winter Newsletter

We are so pleased to be sharing our latest Babble newsletter with you all. If you’d like to contribute to future editions please do contact our Comms Team. Happy reading!

DownloadNewsletter – 2021-22 Winter Edition (3.4 MB)

2022 County Championships Accepted Entries

Congratulations to our 49 swimmers who have been accepted to race at the Swim England Hertfordshire County Championships 2022 that kick off on the 8th January. We are keeping everything crossed that the event will go ahead and you get your chance to compete (and get the hoodie!).

Successful Return to National Level Competition

After a year away, the Swim England National Winter Championships returned to Sheffield’s Ponds Forge in December 2021.  The 2021 event was the largest Winter Championships in recent history, with more than 1,600 swimmers competing across the three days.  Six local BSSC members and two overseas BSSC members qualified for a total of 28 events.   

With just two age categories (Open and 16 Yrs/Under), competition was fierce but the whole squad had a successful return to National level competition with many personal best times and good progression.  William Godsell was 9th in the 16 Yrs/Under 50m Breaststroke final and our youngest two competitors, Kirsty Neill and Toby Godsell, racing in their first National competition achieved PBs and multiple top eight finishes for their age group. 

Callum, Niamh, Millie, Sami & Kirsty

BSSC members: Alex Catton, Callum Davis, Kirsty Neill, Millie Fields, Niamh James, Sami Zemzami

BSSC Overseas: Toby Godsell, William Godsell

Season Greetings

Wishing all our swimmers, families, volunteers, officials, coaches and supporters a happy and healthy Christmas & New Year! 2021 has been another tough year, but our swimmers have been amazingly resilient and successful. Well done everyone! We hope you enjoy your break.

Looking forward to seeing all our squads back at training from the morning of Monday 3rd Jan 2022.

Strong Future Performance at Winter Regionals

With the early November weather turning colder, nineteen BSSC swimmers headed to Luton for the 2021 Swim England East Region Short Course Championships.  This 3-day Winter competition gives the best in the six East Region Counties the opportunity to race in a 25m pool to find the fastest swimmers and maybe even qualify for the Winter National Championships.  There’s just one set of qualifying times for Men and Women and one open age group for each event, so super speedy 12 year old girls and 14 year old boys could end up competing against 20+ year olds! For many of the BSSC swimmers, it was their first time at Winter Regionals.

All BSSC swimmers performed superbly against stiff competition in the Open age group, with many achieving personal best times in the sixty-one swims for which they had qualified, but it was Niamh James (20 years) who was yet again on sizzling form.  She won the 200m backstroke 3 seconds ahead of second place and took silver in the 100m backstroke and bronze in the 200m IM.

Four other swimmers achieved top eight finishes in the East Region in the Open category:

  • Kirsty – 4th 200m breaststroke & 8th 100m breaststroke
  • Sami – 5th 200m butterfly & 400m IM
  • Millie – 5th 200m freestyle
  • Callum D – 7th 50m butterfly & 8th 100m butterfly

Given the single Open age category in this Championships, many of our younger swimmers found it tough to get into the finals, but they showed huge potential for the future being some of the fastest when results were split by age group.  Continuing on from her summer regional successes, our youngest qualifier Ella Greatbatch was the 2nd fastest 13 year old in the 100m Breaststroke, and 3rd 13 year old in 200m Breaststroke. 

Additional congratulations go to Kirsty, Sami, Millie, Alex, Niamh and Callum D who all achieved qualifying times for the Swim England National Winter Championships.  Whilst they head to Sheffield in December, the rest of the club will be busy chasing times to qualify for the Hertfordshire County Championships in Jan 2022.

BSSC East Region Qualifiers: Ella Greatbatch (13yrs); Alice Longman, Kirsty Neill (14yrs); Callum Cox, David Badcock, Emma Fields, Grace Mason, Jago Derrington, Jessica Fields, Lauren Gore, Lilian Opiyo, Miriam Moukdad (15 yrs); Freya Reilly, Sami Zemzami (16yrs); Millie Fields (17yrs); Alexander Catton, Eleanor Mason (18yrs); Niamh James (20yrs); Callum Davis (21yrs).

BSSC Brief Guide to Counties

Exciting news … Swim England Hertfordshire have just released details of the 2022 County Championships! Their website contains the schedule of events, qualifying & consideration times and details of how the events will run (the Conditions), but we thought we’d offer our own brief summary of what’s going on. It’s aimed at parents and swimmers who have never been to Counties before, but given the changes in 2022, some of our seasoned County swimmers might want a quick glance through! We’re looking forward to seeing lots of you compete and be successful.

DownloadBSSC Brief Guide to 2022 Counties (183.8 KB)

Swimming competitions – Swim England Hertfordshire (swimherts.org)

Medals Galore as BSSC Masters Storm the Nationals

29th – 31st October saw the return of the Swim England National Masters Swimming Championships, held in Sheffield. Bishop’s Stortford Swimming Club (BSSC) trio, Sally Winter, Lizzie Bellinger, and Callum Davis excelled at the competition, coming away with some fantastic results!

Lizzie Bellinger, Callum Davis & Sally Winter

The evergreen Sally Winter won a hat trick of titles in the freestyle events, coming away with golds in the 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle events.  Her 400m freestyle time of 5:19.37 was also an East Region record by 30 seconds! 

Lizzie Bellinger continued her dominance in the butterfly events, adding two more golds in the 50m and 100m butterfly. She added further success in the 100m backstroke, setting a new East Region record with a brilliant time of 1:13.70!  She added a fourth gold medal in the 200m IM, as well as snatching a silver in the 100m IM, ending the Championships with five medals from five events!

Callum Davis showed massive promise in the butterfly and freestyle events, coming away with several top 10 finishes. In a field consisting of several top British National open swimmers (many of whom were from the Loughborough National Performance Centre), Callum came away with a brilliant PB of 24.8s in the 50m freestyle, as well as finishing 7th in the 100m fly (58.66s) and 7th in the 50m fly (25.83s).

Golden Time for BSSC Masters

Sunday 10th October 2021 saw four BSSC Masters head to Newmarket Leisure Centre for the first Swim England East Region Masters Championships since 2019.  Two of them had featured on the FINA World Masters Top 10 Rankings for 2020, even with limited swimming opportunities, so our expectations were high and they certainly delivered! 

Eight swims resulted in an amazing eight gold medals!  Eleanor Mason (18/24 Yrs) kicked off proceedings with gold in 400m Freestyle; Lizzie Bellinger (40/44 Yrs) won the 100m Butterfly & 100m IM; Pete Kelleway (60/64 Yrs) won the 50m Backstroke, 50m Freestyle & 100m IM; and Alyson Fordham (65/69 Yrs) won the 50m & 100m Freestyle.  Alyson’s 50m freestyle time of 32.82 smashed the East Region record by 5 seconds and was just 0.4 seconds short of the British record.  It’s great to see them in action again and we look forward to their next performances.

Alyson Fordham, Lizzie Bellinger & Pete Kelleway

Welcome Return to Competitive Swimming

Finally, competitive swimming is back!  After the struggles of the past 18 months, it was wonderful to see Bishop’s Stortford Swimming Club members travelling to another pool to compete against other swimming clubs.  Forty-three swimmers aged 9 to 17 attended the Harpenden FINIS Legacy Open meet in St Albans on the first weekend of October, their first meet since March 2020. 

Over the two days, the 43 swimmers took part in 242 swims, obtained a whopping 162 personal best times, and 24 of them brought home 65 medals between them (14 Gold, 30 Silver and 21 Bronze).  All our swimmers have shown such dedication to their swimming, even though their schedules have been immensely interrupted through the lockdowns and being back at a competition was a great celebration of their commitment and perseverance.  Special mention must go to the four members of our youngest Poussins squad who gained their first medals (Guy, Haydn, Lois & Zackary), and to Molly Greatbatch who jingled home with seven medals.    

Molly Greatbatch
Lois Fields

Full medal results by age group are given below.

9 year olds:

  • Guy Spearman-Baines (Gold 100m Freestyle; Silver 50m Butterfly)
  • Haydn Bird (Gold 100m Backstroke, 50m Breaststroke; Silver 100m Freestyle, 100m IM, 50m Backstroke; Bronze 50m Freestyle)

10 year olds:

  • Arthur Longman (Silver 100m/200m Breaststroke)
  • Caleb Roberts (Bronze 100m IM)
  • Lois Fields (Bronze 100m Backstroke, 100m Freestyle)
  • Zackary Haslett Fossey (Silver 50m Backstroke, Bronze 50m Freestyle)

11 year olds:

  • Elliot Hall (Gold 200m IM, 400m Freestyle; Silver 50m/100m/200m Freestyle)
  • Maisy Martindale (Gold 50m Freestyle; Silver 100m Freestyle)
  • Molly Greatbatch (Gold 200m Breaststroke, 200m IM, 400m Freestyle; Silver 200m Freestyle; Bronze 50m/100m Breaststroke, 100m IM)
  • Samuel Bird (Silver 100m Backstroke)

12 year olds:

  • Charles German (Bronze 400m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly)
  • Dylan Davenport (Silver 50m/100m/400m Freestyle; Bronze 200m Freestyle)
  • Ethan David-Tostevin (Bronze 50m/100m Backstroke, 50m Freestyle)
  • Felice Chan (Gold 50m/100m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke; Silver 100m IM)
  • Imogen Bell (Bronze 200m/400m Freestyle)

13 year olds:

  • Beau Reilly (Silver 50m Backstroke; Bronze 200m Backstroke)
  • Brandon MacDonald-Williams (Bronze 50m Backstroke)
  • Imogen Tang (Gold 50m Freestyle; Silver 100m Freestyle)
  • Leo Suo-Saunders (Bronze 50m Breaststroke)

14 year olds:

  • Jacob Hayes (Silver 50m/100m Backstroke, 100m Freestyle; Bronze 200m Backstroke)
  • Miriam Moukdad (Silver 50m/100m/200m Breaststroke)

15 year olds:

  • Grace Mason (Gold 200m Butterfly; Silver 400m Freestyle, 400m IM)
  • Samuel Carter (Silver 100m Butterfly, 200m Freestyle)

16 year olds:

  • Bella Parkus (Silver 400m IM; Bronze 200m IM)

LTS Stage 1 & 2 Wait Lists Closed

Due to overwhelming demand, our Learn to Swim Stage 1 and 2 classes are full and we are having to close our waiting lists. Please do not email our administrators asking about Stages 1 & 2. When the situation changes, we will post an update on our main website and our Learn to Swim page. Thank you.

2021 Autumn Newsletter

Although this latest edition of our Babble newsletter is a little lighter than usual, it feels so good to be sharing an edition with you that looks forward to the new season. If you’d like to contribute to future editions please do contact our Comms Team. Happy reading!

DownloadNewsletter – 2021 Autumn Edition (2.6 MB)

2021 Return to Training – Covid Procedures

Welcome back to all our squad members! There are a few reminders and changes to how things are working in terms of aiming to keep us safe from Covid. Please carefully read the information that has been shared individually via email. A few of the key points are also summarised below.

No one should be coming to training if they have any Covid symptoms. Please err on the side of caution.

Details on what to do if you have symptoms or are found to be a close contact are in the email – in all cases, please email our Covid Officer.

Swimmers should still arrive swim ready and bring bags poolside, but they can briefly use the changing rooms at the end of their session.

Parents, you are welcome back in the gallery! Please be respectful of people who still want to socially distance. Please do not gather in numbers in the foyer whilst waiting for your swimmer at the end of the session.

2021 Return to Training – Schedules

We are looking forward to welcoming all our squad members back to training from Wednesday 1st September. Masters we will see you bright and early at 6am, whilst all other squads return in the evening. Please note the College Gym is out of action until Sunday 12th Sept. Benoit will email squads with updates.

2021 British Festival of Swimming

Inspired by Team GB Olympic swimming successes in Tokyo, thirty-one members of Bishop’s Stortford Swimming Club recently competed in the British Festival of Swimming.  This Nationwide competition was held from mid-July through August as a network of regional events, and results from all home nations were amalgamated into a British leader board. 

This was the first time BSSC swimmers had ventured from their own pool since March 2020 and the 50m pools at the University of East Anglia in Norwich and the London Aquatic Centre were welcome sights.  For many of the swimmers it was also the first time they had qualified for a Regional or National level event so nerves were high, but all stepped up and performed fantastically.  Eighty-eight swims resulted in multiple personal bests, forty-two top ten finishes and eleven medals.

The East Region medallists were: Ella Greatbatch (Silver 100m Breaststroke, Bronze 50m/200m Breaststroke), Kirsty Neill (Gold 200m Breaststroke, Silver 100m Breaststroke), Jago Derrington (Silver 50m Backstroke, Bronze 100m/200m Backstroke), Niamh James (Gold 200m Backstroke, Silver 100m Backstroke, Bronze 50m Backstroke).

Extra congratulations must also go to Ella Greatbatch and Kirsty Neill for also securing top ten finishes in the British Festival leader board, where Ella’s 100m Breaststroke time of 1:20.69 made her the 8th fastest 13 year old in Britain and Kirsty was the 5th fastest 14 year old in the same event with 1:16.25 and the 9th fastest in the 200m Breaststroke (2:46.49).  

Ella Greatbatch
Kirsty Neill

Full list of swimmers: Ethan David-Tostevin, Zoe Opiyo (12 Yrs); Catherine Clune, Robert Gor, Ella Greatbatch, Hollie Heighes, Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Tain Phillips, Beau Reilly, Leo Suo-Saunders (13 Yrs); George Grimwood, Jacob Hayes, Alice Longman, Kirsty Neill, George Taylor (14 Yrs); David Badcock, Callum Cox, Jago Derrington, Emma Fields, Jessica Fields, Lauren Gore, Grace Mason, Lilian Opiyo, Kaia Phillips, Meisha Trend-Evans (15 Yrs); Issy Good (16 Yrs); Millie Fields (17 Yrs); Bryn Couser, Callum Davis, Niamh James, Eleanor Mason (18 Yrs/Over)

2021 Future Champions Meet

Whilst the Team GB Olympic swimming successes were happening in Tokyo, five qualifying 10 & 11 year olds from Bishop’s Stortford Swimming Club competed in their first ever Regional level competition and the first event held outside their own pool since March 2020.  The Future Champions meet was organised by the Swim England East Region as a fun and COVID-safe opportunity for the stars of tomorrow to come together and race -perhaps for the first time- after a significant period of disruption.

All five Stortford swimmers tackled their nerves and performed brilliantly, achieving 17 personal best times across 19 events.  Molly Greatbatch secured two 6th places in the 50m & 100m Breaststroke and Maisy Martindale came 4th in the 50m Freestyle and 8th in the 50m Breaststroke.

  • Lois Fields
  • Molly Greatbatch
  • Maisy Martindale
  • Elliot Hall
  • Arthur Longman

Full list of swimmers: Lois Fields (10 Yrs); Molly Greatbatch, Elliot Hall, Arthur Longman, Maisy Martindale (11 Yrs)

#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.