Bishop's Stortford Swimming Club

Affiliated to Swim England East Region

Events

Harlow & Bishops Stortford 2024 Regional Qualifier (3ER240144)

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Entries are now closed for the inaugural Harlow Penguins and Bishop’s Stortford Swimming Club 2024 Regional Qualifier Open Meet, taking place on Saturday 23rd March 2024 at Harlow Leisurezone Swimming Pool, CM20 3DT.

The following events are available for ages 9 and above:

  • 400m Freestyle
  • 200m all events
  • 100m all strokes
  • 50m all strokes

Planned timings are:

  • Session 1: Warm up 12:30 for a 13:30 start
  • Session 2: Warm up (provisionally) 17:30 for a 18:30 start

The following files are available for download:

Download2024 Regional Qualifier 3ER240144 Programme (524.4 KB)

Download2024 Regional Qualifier 3ER240144 Accepted Entries (115.7 KB)

Download2024 Regional Qualifier 3ER240144 Promoters Conditions (185.9 KB)

Download2024 Regional Qualifier 3ER240144 Schedule (181.4 KB)

Download2024 Regional Qualifier 3ER240144 QTs (144.5 KB)

Please contact openmeet@harlowpenguins.com for entry details.

2024 Counties kicks off in style

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Although January & February are long cold boring months for most people, they are exciting ones for many BSSC swimmers as the Swim England Hertfordshire County Championships take place.  This year, forty-three BSSC swimmers aged 11-29 qualified for 207 individual events and multiple relays. 

The first weekend of the Championships kicked off in style with the 800m Freestyle.  BSSC had four competitors up for the challenge of racing 32 lengths of a 25m swimming pool and they all performed superbly.  Brandon Macdonald-Williams snagged Silver in the Male/Open 16 year age group, whilst Miriam Moukdad took Bronze in the Female 17/Over age group with a 9 second improvement on her entry time.  Bobbie Macdonald-Williams was 6th in the Female 15 year age group and Jake Lloyd was 9th in the Male/Open 17/Over group.

Congratulations to them all and we look forward to reporting on lots more successes over the next three weekends.

Full list of 2024 individual qualifiers by age group:

  • 10/11 years: Ellyse Harvey, Harrison Dodwell, Kenny Millsom, Olivia Hawker, Yana Patel
  • 12 years: Adeline (Yin Hei) Chan, Elspeth Lowe, Guy Spearman-Baines, Jenson Richards, Noah Conroy
  • 13 years: Benjamin Palmer, Eddy (Ting Hei) Cheng, Emilia Cass, Isabelle Earley, Lois Fields, Zackary Haslett Fossey
  • 14 years: Elliot Hall, Molly Greatbatch, Samuel Bird
  • 15 years: Bobbie Macdonald-Williams, Dylan Davenport, Erin Matthews, Felice (Kwan Yi) Chan, John Deeks, Zoe Opiyo
  • 16 years: Beau Reilly, Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Ella Greatbatch, Freya Hadnutt, Kiera Shaw, Robert Gor
  • 17/Over: Alice Longman, David Badcock, Emma Fields, George Grimwood, Grace Mason, Jake Lloyd, Jakey Hayes, Laura Burgess, Lauren Gore, Lucy Wheeler, Miriam Moukdad, Niamh James

Celebrating 2023 Club Championships

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It was lovely to see so many swimmers at our Club Championship Awards Night on Saturday 2nd December. Thank you for making the time to join us. 

We were taken through the successes of the year by our BSSC President Sally Winter. It was wonderful to hear a summary of the 2022/2023 season and how well many of our swimmers have done.  Sally also presented Head Coach Benoit with his leaving present and gave a summary of his time with the club – we thank him for all he has done during his time with us and wish him best wishes for all the future holds. Paul Palmer, a BSSC Master, as well as a former international freestyle swimmer for England and Great Britain then spoke to the swimmers about overcoming the nerves, giving 100% and the passion to win. Fantastic to hear from a swimmer who has experienced it all, including winning Olympic medals.

Paul Palmer
Sally Winter & Head Coach Benoit

Coach Joe Collins, supported by our new Club Captains Jakey Hayes and Freya Hadnutt, then awarded close to 300 medals to the swimmers.  A huge congratulations to everyone for their successes. 

We were then fortunate to award 15 brand new trophies to swimmers who have done exceptionally well this year.  In a revamped system, trophies were awarded to one person, per age group, based on the number of points achieved from their races at the Club Championships in October.  The Coaches Awards were based on attendance, dedication, effort, mental strength and sportsperson ship.  A big shout out to our Sponsors to enable us to award these lovely new Cups to BSSC Stars.

Our Mens Club Captain, Jakey Hayes then took to the floor to thank the swimmers for their support over the last year, especially in his fundraiser where over £2000 was raised for the club to purchase new back boards. But also to break the news that they have him again for another year.  He gave a very inspiring speech encouraging swimmers to give it your all when you turn up to training. 

It was a fun evening, coming together to celebrate with some food and drinks. 

We do still have some old trophies if you want to purchase them.  You can see which ones are still available on our Trophy Record Book on the website.

Winners of new Trophies.  Remember to look after your Cups and to keep them clean and shiny.  We will ask for the back next October to get them ready and engraved for the next winners. 

NASL London Premier League Here We Come

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The third and final round of the 2023 National Arena Swimming League saw the BSSC team having to dig deep and fight hard on every race, but a strong second place finish on the night resulted in them coming second overall in the league and gaining promotion to the Premier Division! 

Round 3 was contested at the home of league leaders Enfield Swim Squad, and the BSSC team (aged 10-28) were racing against clubs from the top half of the league (Enfield, Leander, Saxon Crown, Lindslade, Team Luton and Potters Bar swimming clubs) across multiple individual events and relays.  Many teams were still mathematically in the running for promotion, so every event was a battle between the swimmers to gain vital points for their club and out touching a rival club could make all the difference.  The BSSC team put on a great performance on the night, securing top 3 finishes in an outstanding 19 of the 34 individual events and 10 of the 17 relays resulting in a superb second place with 228 gala points, 35 points behind winners Enfield, 11 points ahead of third place Saxon Crown and 21 points ahead of fourth place Leander.   

There were fewer podium topping moments, but so many outstanding swims from the team and by the end of the night the team were hoarse from cheering so loudly, though they still managed to find enough voice to sing in the coach all the way home!  Thanks to all who supported the team on the night, in particular Coach Joe Collins, Team Managers Danielle Reilly, Kat Gore & Sarah Cass and officials Claire Fields & Paul Davenport. 

The swimmers getting to the top of the podium were:

  • 13/Under: Molly Greatbatch 100m Breaststroke & 100m Backstroke
  • 15/Under: Ella Greatbatch 100m Breaststroke
  • 16/Over: Lucy Wheeler 100m Freestyle, Niamh James 100m Backstroke

The swimmers who gave their all and achieved personal best times in their races were:

  • 9-11 Yrs: Adeline Chan 50m Freestyle (33.57) and 50m Breaststroke (47.95)
  • 13/Under: Eddy Cheng 100m Breaststroke (1:34.12), Lois Fields 100m Butterfly (1:21.04), Molly Greatbatch 100m Breaststroke (1:19.42), Samuel Bird 100m Backstroke (1:20.42)

The three victorious relay teams were:

  • Open/Male 15/u Yrs 4x50m Freestyle: Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Beau Reilly, Robert Gor, Dylan Davenport
  • Female Open 4x50m Freestyle: Felice Chan, Niamh James, Lucy Wheeler, Laura Burgess
  • Female Open 4x50m Medley: Niamh James, Lauren Gore, Lucy Wheeler, Laura Burgess

Full Round 3 Squad:

9-11 Yrs: Guy Spearman-Baines, Harrison Dodwell, Kenny Millsom, Noah Conroy, Adeline Chan, Elspeth Lowe, Isabella Crotty, Olivia Hawker, Yana Patel

13/Under: Eddy Cheng, Elliot Hall, Samuel Bird, Zackary Haslett Fossey, Millie Cass, Lois Fields, Meha Patel, Molly Greatbatch

15/Under: Beau Reilly, Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Dylan Davenport, Robert Gor, Bobbie Macdonald-Williams, Ella Greatbatch, Erin Matthews, Felice Chan, Freya Hadnutt

16/Over: Callum Davis, Daniel Chada, Jacob Hayes, Jake Lloyd, Laura Burgess, Lauren Gore, Lucy Wheeler, Niamh James