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.  

BSSC Youngsters Shine at Peanuts

Twenty one of Bishop’s Stortford Swimming Club 9-12 year olds were in action recently against the best that Hertfordshire could offer.  Pre-covid, BSSC competed annually in the Hertfordshire Swimming Peanuts League against other Hertfordshire swimming clubs, but this was the first full league running since 2019. 

The top division of the league consists of twelve teams competing in three separate galas.  Each gala has 39 events that are a mix of individual age group races (9yr, U11yr, U12yr, U13yr) and relays, and each gala ends with a squadron freestyle relay consisting of eight swimmers (a boy and girl from each age group).  It’s usually a raucous, loud, fun night and a great opportunity for swimmers to experience being part of a team in a sport that is primarily individual.

BSSC was drawn to swim at Potters Bar for all three rounds and came 4th in round one, 3rd in round two and 6th in round three, which secured them an overall 6th out of twelve teams in the first division and keeps them in that top division for another year.  It was a great achievement as they were up against many other larger clubs and were a very inexperienced team!

This was the first time at Peanuts for the majority of the swimmers and they all put in an amazing performance, working together as a team and giving loads of support for each other.  Special mention must go to Molly, Samuel, Noah and Elliot who all swam not only in their own age group but also the age group above and were never far from the starting blocks.  Thanks also to the organising team of Team Manager Danielle and Coach Joe, and our older swimmers (Callum, Millie and Niamh) who came along to support the younger members of the club.

Full Peanuts squad: Noah Conroy, Alex Eustace, George Hall, Haydn Bird, Guy Spearman-Baines, Eddy Cheng, Zachary Haslett-Fossey, Ben Palmer, Elliot Hall, Robert Filionescu, Yana Patel, Ellyse Harvey, Millie Cass, Lois Fields, Molly Greatbatch, Elsie Lowe, Adeline Chen, Isabelle Earley, Zoe Opiyo, Meha Patel, Bobbie MacDonald-Williams

National Records Tumble in Aberdeen

Having smashed multiple short course (25m pool) British and European records in March 2022, BSSC Masters swimmer Alyson Fordham took on a long course (50m pool) record breaking challenge with gusto at the recent British Masters Championships 2022.  The event held in Aberdeen brought together the best Masters swimmers across the three Home Nations along with International visitors, for the first time in three years.

Freestyle specialist Alyson dominated the 65-69 year old category, taking Gold in the 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m events.  Her gold medal winning 50m freestyle time of 31.13 seconds was a British and European record, the 100m (1:10.53) and 200m (2:43.59) results were both British records and the 400m (5:47.04) time was an East Region record. 

Alyson now has her sights set on the Swim England Masters National Championships in October, which are the highlight of the national Masters short course calendar. 

Swim England East Region LC Championships 2022

After a gap of two years, the Swim England East Region Long Course Championships returned in 2022, with two full weekends of exhilarating competition!  Twenty nine BSSC swimmers qualified to compete against the top swimmers from the six eastern Counties of England – Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk.

For many of these swimmers, it was their first opportunity to compete at this Regional level and they all dug deep and stepped up to the occasion, ensuring BSSC finished 15th out of more than 40 clubs and the 2nd ranked Hertfordshire club.  Individually the swimmers secured many personal bests, had 32 top eight finishes and also brought home eight medals:

  • Kirsty Neill (15 Yrs): Gold 50m/100m/200m Breaststroke
  • Niamh James (17 Yrs/Over): Gold 200m Backstroke
  • Ella Greatbatch (14 Yrs): Silver 50m/100m Breaststroke
  • Jago Derrington (16 Yrs): Silver 200m Backstroke
  • Lauren Gore (16 Yrs): Bronze 50m Breaststroke
  • Top eight finishes: Callum Cox, Callum Davis, Dylan Davenport, Emma Fields, Hollie Heighes, Meisha Trend-Evans, Millie Fields, Sami Zemzami

Congratulations to all our swimmers who took part in these Championships. We look forward to celebrating many more successes resulting from all the hard work you put into training.

Kirsty Neill
Niamh James
Ella Greatbatch
Jago Derrington
Lauren Gore

Full list of swimmers:

  • 11/12 Yrs: Elliot Hall, Maisy Martindale, Molly Greatbatch
  • 13 Yrs: Dylan Davenport, Ethan David-Tostevin, Felice Chan, Zoe Opiyo
  • 14 Yrs: Brandon MacDonald-Williams, Ella Greatbatch, Hollie Heighes
  • 15 Yrs: Alice Longman, George Grimwood, George Taylor, Imogen Tang, Jacob Hayes, Kirsty Neill
  • 16 Yrs: Callum Cox, Emma Fields, Grace Mason, Jago Derrington, Jessica Fields, Lauren Gore, Lilian Opiyo, Meisha Trend-Evans, Miriam Moukdad
  • 17 Yrs/Over: Callum Davis, Millie Fields, Mohamed Sami Zemzami, Niamh James

Newsletter – 2022 Spring-Summer Edition

Not sure about you, but this season seems to be flashing by so quickly!! Last moment it was Christmas and suddenly Counties was months ago, we’re in the middle of Regionals, chasing Summer Championship times and about to compete in Peanuts for the first time since 2019!

This edition of Babble celebrates all the great achievements from 2022 so far (and there have been many!), sees a welcome return to swimmer profiles – including an interview with a Commonwealth Games Medalist – and takes a look forward to the rest of the season. Happy reading!

DownloadNewsletter – 2022 Spring-Summer Edition (2.2 MB)

Four BSSC Swimmers Join the Top in Britain

Congratulations to all our swimmers who competed at the British Swimming Championships in April. This annual event brings together the top swimmers in the country and with teams for many International events, including the upcoming Commonwealth games, being selected from the championship results the likes of Adam Peaty, Duncan Scott, Anna Hopkin and Abbie Wood were present and in great form!

Unfortunately, although they achieved the British Qualifying Time for the 50m Breaststroke, restrictions on numbers at the event meant Lauren Gore and our overseas member Holly Clifford did not get to compete, with Lauren missing out by just 0.06 seconds.  Niamh James also could not compete in the 50m Backstroke.  Well done to them all for achieving the times and we look forward to reporting on a future event where they have competed!

The remaining four BSSC swimmers swum superbly against the top swimmers in the Country, getting close to personal best times and beating them in the case of Callum (50m Butterfly) and Kirsty (50m Breaststroke).  In the 200m Breaststroke, Kirsty was the fastest swimmer in her 15 year old age group. 

It was also lovely to see an old club member, Cira Fletcher, still swimming and achieving so well.  Cira, swimming for Nova Centurion SC, came 6th in the open finals of the 50m and 200m breaststrokes with two PBs, and was 3rd in the B final on the 100m breaststroke with a time very close to her PB.

Focus now turns to Regionals and also qualifications for the British and English Summer Championships, where these swimmers will hopefully be joined by more club members.

  • Millie, Kirsty, Niamh, Coach Mat
  • Kirsty & Niamh with hoodies!!
  • Callum

Callum Davis (Open age group) – 50m Butterfly: 97th Open (26.29 PB)

Kirsty Neill (15 yr) – 50m Breaststroke: 7th fastest in age group (34.55 PB); 200m Breaststroke: 14/17yrs 20th overall, 1st in 2007 age group (2:40.85)

Millie Fields (Open age group) – 200m Freestyle: 107th Open (2:12.49)

Niamh James (Open age group) – 100m Backstroke: 71st Open (1:06.17); 200m Backstroke: 32nd Open (2:20.00)

Masterful Start to 2022 for a Trio of BSSC Masters

The 2022 season has kicked off in style for three of our Masters.  Having celebrated their 2021 successes with FINA World Top 10 Rankings, Elizabeth Bellinger and Alyson Fordham both recently competed at the Essex Masters Championships.  Lizzie, the current British and European record holder in the 40-44yr age group, demolished the field to take gold in the 100m butterfly (1:08.18).  Alyson was on sizzling form in her 65-69yr group, dominating the three events she had entered, taking gold in the 50m and 200m freestyle in new European record times (30.93 and 2:34.06), and gold in the 400m freestyle with a new British record (5:29.40). 

Lizzie also was in great form at the 2022 Swim Wales Masters Championships, taking gold in 50m butterfly, and silver in both the 100m freestyle and 200m IM.

Sally’s recent trip to the Calverton and Bingham Masters competition in Nottinghamshire resulted in two golds in the 50m and 200m freestyle and overall 3rd place female in the 60/64 age group from only two races!

Late April, Alyson and Lizzie headed to the Newmarket Masters Open Meet and again dominated every race they entered. Lizzie took gold in the 100m butterfly and 200m IM with the fastest times recorded in Britain in her age group in the past 12 months. Alyson also took three golds in the 200m freestyle, 100m IM and 100m freestyle, with the 100m IM and 100m freestyle times also being new British Records.

Focus for this fabulous trio now moves to the British Masters Championships in June and the European Masters Championships in August.

2021 FINA World Top 10 Masters

Despite 2021 being yet another year of extremely restricted training and limited competition opportunities, three BSSC Masters have been named in the recently released 2021 FINA World Masters Top 10 Short Course (25m) Rankings.  Elizabeth Bellinger (40-44yrs), Sally Winter (60-64yrs) and Alyson Fordham (65-69yrs) all secured multiple world top 10 finishes in their age groups.  Sally and Alyson also still feature on the FINA All Time top 10 rankings in their age groups, with Sally having the 9th and 10th fastest ever 200m freestyle swims (short course and long course respectively) and Alyson holding the 8th fastest short course 100m freestyle swim.

FINA World Masters Top Ten Rankings:

  • Elizabeth Bellinger: 4th 100m Butterfly, 6th 50m Butterfly, 10th 200m IM 
  • Sally Winter: 5th 100m Freestyle, 9th 200m Freestyle
  • Alyson Fordham: 5th 50m Freestyle

It’s a wrap for Counties 2022

Once all the racing finished, Swim England Hertfordshire crowned the best overall swimmers and three BSSC swimmers secured top spot in the County for their age group: Ella Greatbatch (14 yrs), Kirsty Neill (15 yrs) and Niamh James (18/Over yrs).  Elliot Hall (12 Yrs) was 2nd in his group, whilst five other swimmers were in the top eight: 4th Dylan Davenport (13 yrs); Bella Parkus (17 yrs); 5th Ethan David-Tostevin (13 yrs), Jacob Hayes (15 yrs); 6th Brandon Macdonald-Williams (14 yrs).

  • Kirsty Neill
  • Ella Greatbatch
  • Niamh James

The medals from the whole competition were tallied across the clubs, and BSSC came a superb 4th overall behind the large clubs of Hatfield, City of St Albans and Potters Bar.  In fact, BSSC women (all ages) were ranked second, the Junior Championship women came first and both sexes came second in the Championship rankings.  After the challenges faced by all the swimmers since the last Counties in 2020, it was fantastic to see such great performances.

Don’t forget to explore our other articles about 2022 Counties: Future Stars Make a Splash at Counties, BSSC Celebrates County Successes and BSSC Has “Relay” Great Team Success!

BSSC Has “Relay” Great Team Success

Weekend three at Hertfordshire County Championships was relay weekend.  Time for club rivals from previous weeks to come together as teams and represent BSSC against the best that Hertfordshire could offer.  The members of BSSC did not disappoint, with nail biting close finishes and great come backs that had spectators off their seats willing them on.  The freestyle and medley relays were split into three age categories (Age Group 13yrs and under, Junior Championship 15yrs and under, and Championship 10yrs and over) with male, female and mixed teams in each.  BSSC relay teams finished in the top 8 in all 18 events, and won an amazing nine medals (1 Gold, 5 Silver & 3 Bronze), seven more than in 2020. Full results are given below the fab photos taken by our Team Managers Claire and Sarah.

Don’t forget to explore our other articles about 2022 Counties: Future Stars Make a Splash at Counties, BSSC Celebrates County Successes and It’s a wrap for Counties 2022!

Full relay results for Age Group teams:

  • Silver Mixed 200m Freestyle Relay: Dylan Davenport, Ethan David-Tostevin, Zoe Opiyo, Felice Chan
  • Silver Women 200m Freestyle Relay: Felice Chan, Maisy Martindale, Imogen Bell, Zoe Opiyo
  • Bronze Mixed 200m Medley Relay: Ethan David-Tostevin, Molly Greatbatch, Felice Chan, Dylan Davenport
  • 4th Women 200m Medley Relay: Maisy Martindale, Molly Greatbatch, Felice Chan, Zoe Opiyo
  • 4th Men 200m Freestyle Relay: Dylan Davenport, Elliot Hall, Samuel Bird, Ethan David-Tostevin
  • 7th Men 200m Medley Relay: Samuel Bird, Ethan David-Tostevin, Dylan Davenport, Elliot Hall

Full relay results for Junior Championship teams:

  • Gold Women 200m Freestyle Relay: Alice Longman, Kirsty Neill, Ella Greatbatch, Imogen Tang
  • Bronze Mixed 200m Medley Relay: Jacob Hayes, Kirsty Neill, George Taylor, Ella Greatbatch
  • 4th Women 200m Medley Relay: Hollie Heighes, Ella Greatbatch, Kirsty Neill, Zoe Opiyo
  • 5th Mixed 200m Freestyle Relay: Jacob Hayes, George Taylor, Imogen Tang, Alice Longman
  • 7th Men 200m Medley Relay: Jacob Hayes, Leo Suo-Saunders, George Taylor, Brandon Macdonald-Williams
  • 8th Men 200m Freestyle Relay: Jacob Hayes, Beau Reilly, George Taylor, Dylan Davenport

Full relay results for Championship teams:

  • Silver Women 200m Medley Relay: Niamh James, Lauren Gore, Emma Fields, Millie Fields
  • Silver Men 200m Medley Relay: Jago Derrington, Callum Davis, Sami Zemzami, Callum Cox
  • Silver Women 200m Freestyle Relay: Millie Fields, Emma Fields, Meisha Trend-Evans, Niamh James
  • Bronze Men 200m Freestyle Relay: Callum Davis, Callum Cox, Jago Derrington, Sami Zemzami
  • 4th Mixed 200m Medley Relay: Jago Derrington, Kirsty Neill, Callum Davis, Millie Fields
  • 5th Mixed 200m Freestyle Relay: Callum Davis, Millie Fields, Meisha Trend-Evans, Sami Zemzami

BSSC Celebrates County Successes

As well as winning lots of 2022 Hertfordshire County individual age group medals (full list below photos), swimmers at Counties additionally competed to be crowned Junior (15yr and under) and Open Champions (10yr and over) and nine BSSC swimmers had great success!  In the Junior Championships, Kirsty Neill secured six Gold (100m/200m/400m IM, 50m/100m/200m Breaststroke), one Silver (400m Freestyle) and one Bronze (200m Freestyle); Alice Longman won one Silver (50m Freestyle) and two Bronze (100m Freestyle, 100m IM); and 14 year old Ella Greatbatch got two Bronze (100m/200m Breaststroke). 

In the Open Championships, Niamh James was dominant in backstroke taking four Gold (50m/100m/200m Backstroke, 400m IM) and one Silver (200m IM); Callum Davis took three Gold (100m IM, 50m/100m Butterfly), one Silver (200m IM), and two Bronze (50m Freestyle, 50m Breaststroke); Sami Zemzami got one Gold (200m Freestyle), one Silver (100m Butterfly) and one Bronze (100m Freestyle); Millie Fields secured one Silver (200m Freestyle) and younger sister Jessie one Bronze (100m Butterfly); 16 year old Jago Derrington stormed to two Gold (200m Backstroke, 400m Freestyle), two Silver (200m IM, 1500m Freestyle); whilst 15 year old Kirsty Neill beat off strong, and much older, competition to take Gold in 200m Breaststroke, and three Bronze (100m Breaststroke, 100m/400m IM).

Congratulations to everyone who competed! The Covid restrictions still in place meant age group medals were not handed out during Counties and the usual celebration evening was not held, so Headcoach Benoit was delighted to have the job handing out all the bling to his successful swimmers!

Don’t forget to explore our other articles about 2022 Counties: Future Stars Make a Splash at Counties, BSSC Has “Relay” Great Team Success and It’s a wrap for Counties 2022!

Full list of medalists by age group:

11 years:

  • Lois Fields – Bronze 50m Backstroke

12 years:

  • Elliot Hall – Silver 200m IM, 400m Freestyle; Bronze 200m Freestyle
  • Maisy Martindale – Bronze 50m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke
  • Molly Greatbatch – Gold 200m Backstroke;  Silver 200m IM

13 years:

  • Dylan Davenport – Silver 400m Freestyle; Bronze 200m Freestyle
  • Ethan David-Tostevin – Silver 200m Backstroke
  • Zoe Opiyo – Silver 50m Freestyle

14 years:

  • Ella Greatbatch – Gold 50m/100m/200m Breaststroke, 400m IM; Silver 100m/200m IM
  • Hollie Heighes – Silver 100m Breaststroke

15 years:

  • Alice Longman – Silver 50m Freestyle, 100m IM; Bronze 100m Freestyle
  • Jacob Hayes – Silver 100m Backstroke, Bronze 200m Backstroke
  • Kirsty Neill – Gold 50m/100m/200m Breaststroke, 100m/200m/400m IM; Silver 400m Freestyle; Bronze 200m Freestyle

16 years:

  • Emma Fields – Silver 50m/100m/200m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly; Bronze 50m Butterfly
  • Grace Mason – Silver 200m Butterfly
  • Jago Derrington – Gold 200m Backstroke, 400m Freestyle; Silver 100m Backstroke, 200m Breaststroke, 200m IM, 1500m Freestyle
  • Jessica Fields – Gold 100m Butterfly; Silver 100m IM
  • Lauren Gore – Silver 200m Breaststroke; Bronze 50m/100m Breaststroke, 100m IM
  • Meisha Trend-Evans – Bronze 800m Freestyle
  • Callum Cox – Bronze 50m Butterfly

17 years:

  • Bella Parkus – Gold 200m Butterfly; Silver 400m IM; Bronze 100m Butterfly, 200m IM, 100m/400m Freestyle
  • Freya Reilly – Gold 50m Backstroke
  • Sami Zemzami – Gold 50m/100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly; Silver 200m Freestyle

18Yrs/Over:

  • Callum Davis – Gold 50m/100m Butterfly; Silver 200m IM; Bronze 50m Freestyle, 100m IM
  • Eleanor Mason – Gold 800m Freestyle
  • Millie Fields – Silver 100m/200m Freestyle
  • Niamh James – Gold 50m/100m/200m Backstroke, 400m IM; Silver 200m IM

Future Stars Make a Splash at Counties

After a year’s gap, the Swim England Hertfordshire County Championships kicked off 2022 with a bang for Bishop’s Stortford Swimming Club.  BSSC had 47 swimmers qualify to compete and they headed to Borehamwood to take part in more than 200 individual swims over four weekends of exhilarating competition.  For 11 year olds Lois Fields and Eddy Cheng it was their first experience of competing at the County Championships, but they controlled their nerves and performed brilliantly with Lois taking Bronze in the 10/11 year old 50m Backstroke and 4th in the 100m Freestyle, whilst Eddy was 6th in the 50m Breaststroke.  The novice trio competing in the 12 year old age group also excelled with Molly Greatbatch taking Gold in 200m Backstroke and Silver in the 200m IM, Elliot Hall taking Silver in 200m IM & 400m Freestyle and Bronze in 200m Freestyle and Maisy Martindale Bronze in 50m Freestyle & Backstroke.  It was a really successful championships with twenty six of the BSSC squad bringing home age group medals (26 Gold, 30 Silver, 20 Bronze) and more than 75% of the swims being top eight finishes.

With many of the swimmers from previous Counties now away at University, these results reflect great progression for the club and promise an exciting future. Don’t forget to explore our other articles about 2022 Counties: BSSC Celebrates County Successes, BSSC Has “Relay” Great Team Success and It’s a wrap for Counties 2022!

Full list of swimmers by age group: 11 years: Lois Fields, Eddy Cheng 12 years: Elliot Hall, Maisy Martindale, Molly Greatbatch 13 years: Charles German, Dylan Davenport, Ethan David-Tostevin, Felice Chan, Zoe Opiyo 14 years: Beau Reilly, Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Catherine Clune, Eliza Andrews, Ella Greatbatch, Hollie Heighes, Leo Suo-Saunders, Robert Gor 15 years: Alice Longman, Ellen Millar-Bond, George Grimwood, George Taylor, Imogen Tang, Jacob Hayes, Kirsty Neill 16 years: David Badcock, Emma Fields, Grace Mason, Jago Derrington, Jessica Fields, Lauren Gore, Leanne Suo-Saunders, Lilian Opiyo, Meisha Trend-Evans, Miriam Moukdad, Samuel Carter, Callum Cox 17 years: Bella Parkus, Freya Reilly, Isabella Good, Sami Zemzami 18Yrs/Over: Aoife James, Callum Davis, Eleanor Mason, Joe Collins, Millie Fields, Niamh James  

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)

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.