Bishop's Stortford Swimming Club

Affiliated to Swim England East Region

Events

2023 Winter Regionals

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Kicking off the 2023/24 short course championship season is the Swim England East Region SC Championships, aka Winter Regionals.  Twenty-one BSSC swimmers headed to Luton to compete against the best swimmers that the six Eastern counties of England could offer.  A single set of qualifying times per gender category, meant only the super speedy youngsters like 14 year old Dylan Davenport feature on the start lists and they would be battling against experienced competitors in their twenties.  Reaching a final meant you were in the top eight swimmers in the East Region for that event, irrespective of age.

Up first were the distance specialists competing in the 800m and 1500m freestyle events and Brandon Macdonald-Williams kicked the competition for BSSC off in superb style, coming 10th in the 1500m and breaking a long standing 14-15 year old short course club record by 6 seconds (new time: 17:18.00).  The previous record of 17:24.22 had been set by Thomas Green in 2005. 

Six BSSC swimmers reached finals in their events and twelve swimmers finished in the top twenty in the East Region in their event, an outstanding achievement.  Although Dylan Davenport was 39th overall in the 50m Freestyle, he was the 2nd fastest 14 year old in the field, whilst Jakey Hayes was the 3rd 16 and under swimmer in both the 100m Backstroke (13th overall) and 200m Backstroke (9th overall).  Both Dylan and Jakey continued their recent great form by swimming personal best times and qualifying for the Swim England National Winter Championships for the first time.  Dylan will compete in the 50m Freestyle and Jakey in the 100m and 200m Backstroke and they are joining Ella Greatbatch (50m/100m/200m Breaststroke), Laura Burgess (50m Freestyle), Lauren Gore (50m Breaststroke) and Niamh James (50m Backstroke, 200m IM). 

Top 20 finishes (Individual and Relay):

  • Laura Burgess 4th 50m Freestyle (26.55 heat, 26.64 final), 4th 100m Freestyle (58.27 heat, 58.74 final)
  • Callum Davis 4th 100m Butterfly (57.68 heat, 57.27 final), 12th 50m Butterfly (26.23)
  • Emma Fields 6th 100m Butterfly (1:05.81 heat, 1:05.19 final), 13th 50m Butterfly (29.35)
  • Niamh James 7th 200m Backstroke (2:19.99 heat, 2:21.44 final), 8th 200m IM (2:24.52 heat, 2:25.15 final), 15th 50m Backstroke (30.59), 8th 100m Backstroke (1:05.16)
  • Ella Greatbatch 7th 100m Breaststroke (1:13.38 heat, 1:13.50 final), 8th 200m Breaststroke (2:40.09), 13th 50m Breaststroke (33.72)
  • Jake Lloyd 8th 100m Butterfly (58.78 heat, 59.78 final), 16th 100m Freestyle (53.77), 18th 200m Butterfly (2:19.09)
  • Jakey Hayes 9th 200m Backstroke (2:10.73),13th 100m Backstroke (1:00.53)
  • Dan Chada 11th 50m Freestyle (24.36)
  • Lauren Gore 16th 50m Breaststroke (33.96), 18th 200m Breaststroke (2:44.84)
  • Brandon Macdonald-Williams 19th 400m Freestyle (4:23.41)
  • Meisha Trend-Evans 20th 800m Freestyle (9:44.53)
  • Grace Mason 20th 200m Butterfly (2:40.90)
  • Female 200m Freestyle Relay: 5th BSSC
  • Female 200m Medley Relay: 6th BSSC
  • Mixed 200m Freestyle Relay: 6th BSSC A and 9th BSSC B
  • Mixed 200m Medley Relay: 6th BSSC A, 9th BSSC B
  • Open/Male 200m Medley Relay: 6th BSSC A, 14th BSSC B
  • Open/Male 20m Freestyle Relay: 7th BSSC

Full list of qualifiers: Dylan Davenport (14 years); Beau Reilly, Brandon Macdonald-Wiliams, Ella Greatbatch (15 years); Alice Longman, George Taylor, Imogen Tang, Jacob Hayes, Robert Gor (16 years); David Badcock, Emma Fields, Grace Mason, Laura Burgess, Lauren Gore, Meisha Trend-Evans, Miriam Moukdad (17 years); Callum Davis, Dan Chada, Jake Lloyd, Lucy Wheeler, Niamh James (18 over).

Eight Masters Swim for Hertfordshire

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Eight BSSC Masters recently represented Hertfordshire in the Swim England National Masters Inter-County competition.  The usual youngsters of Callum Davis (18+), Lucy Wheeler (18+), Niamh James (18+) and Jake Lloyd (25+) and the experienced hands of Sally Winter (55+) and Alyson Fordham (65+) were pleased to be joined by two others who don’t often compete – Elanor Cadzow (25+) and Helen Shingler (45+).

Twenty-nine English Counties competed for the Inter-County title across seventy-two thrilling races, but the event was won by Hampshire, with Warwickshire second, and defending champions Devon third, whilst Hertfordshire were 24th.  There were notable performances from BSSC Masters, with Alyson Fordham (65+) continuing her recent great form, coming 1st in the 50m Freestyle & 50m Backstroke, 2nd in the 50m Butterfly and 3rd in the 50m Breaststroke.  Other top ten finishes came from Lucy Wheeler (9th 18+ 50m Freestyle) and Niamh James (10th 18+ 50m Backstroke).

Congratulations to all BSSC swimmers who represented their County.

Six Record Smashing Masters take on Sheffield

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Article by Jake Lloyd, BSSC Masters Swimmer & Rep, and BSSC Committee member

Six BSSC swimmers, across a variety of age groups, recently travelled to Sheffield for the Short Course Masters National Championships.  No one chose to swim the 1500m Free in session 1 so we start the Champs with session 2.  The long weekend kicked off with a short race in the 50m Fly, where Lizzie claimed a gold medal and East Region record (45/49 Yrs Age Group: 30.02), Callum won a silver (18/24 Yrs: 25.89) and Jake came 12th (25/29 Yrs: 27.27).

Niamh, Jake, Lucy, Alyson, Lizzie & Callum

Next, the ever-popular 50m Freestyle; Callum came 21st (24.95), Niamh came 4th narrowly missed out on bronze (18/24 Yrs: 27.29) and Alyson won gold whilst also claiming the title of the first 65-69 Yrs woman in Europe to ever swim under 30 seconds with a mind blowing 29.45.  A new East Region, British and European record.  Alyson’s swim puts her 15 milliseconds away from the World Record.

100m Backstroke came next with a very strong showing by BSSC.  Both Niamh and Lizzie won silvers (1:03.81 & 1:13.83) both breaking East Region records. Alyson also kept her record-breaking streak going with another gold (1:18.70) breaking the East Region, British and European records again.

Last event of Day 1 was the 200m Fly with just me deciding to put myself through the pain.  I won the gold medal (2:18.22) and earned the trip to the pizzeria that the “young” Masters visited that evening to replenish our energy.

Day 2. Lots to live up to with some amazing swims the first day, I was certainly feeling the pressure. The first event of the day is the Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay.  BSSC hasn’t entered a relay at Masters Nationals for a few years now and we entered the youngest age group of 72+ Yrs.  Myself, Callum, Lucy and Niamh swam as hard as we could and to all our surprises, we took home the gold (3:46.37) setting a new East Region record by 12 seconds.

Next up was the 50m Backstroke, with just Alyson racing.  She won another gold (37.61) and another East Region record.  Followed by the 200m IM and another 2 golds from Niamh (2:24.65) and Lizzie (2:38.88) which was also an East Region Record.

The start of the next session began with another relay, Mixed 4x50m Medley Relay.  With the same relay team entered into this race, we didn’t know what to expect after our surprise win at the beginning of the day. We just missed out on a medal, coming 4th by less than a second (1:55.27).

Following on from the relay was the 100m Freestyle with all but Lizzie entered.  Competition was fierce for the guys with Callum coming 23rd (56.14) and Jake coming 21st (55.84).  A much stronger showing for the ladies; Niamh finishing 8th (1:00.33), just missing the elusive sub-60, Lucy coming 4th (58.35) only 4 milliseconds away from the East Region record and Alyson showing everyone how easy it can be ticked one more gold medal off her list (1:07.07) with another round of East Region, British and European records.

Last session of day 2 was the 50m Breaststroke and the 800m Freestyle.  None of the BSSC swimmers had entered the 800, so Alyson was left to break one more East Region record and win silver in the breaststroke (41.08)

The last day of the weekend, we all feel a little beat up and want nothing more than a lie in before the return to work Monday morning. The last relay the young guns entered was first, Mixed 4×50 Free Relay.  With a majority of the team being middle distance swimmers and just missing the podium on the Medley relay we were determined to see what we could do to turn this into a Free relay double.  Flying through the water, we managed to finish with the bronze medal (1:44.53 East Region record) and turning the table on the team from Kidlington that beat us in the Medley relay.

Straight after the relay was the 200m Freestyle, which was going to be a tough race for Lucy, Niamh and myself after that relay. Niamh and I both finished 7th (2:12.84 & 2:02.52) and Lucy set a new East Region record and won bronze (2:06.06).  Alyson, who still needed more silverware to add to her collection won the gold (2:35.13).

By this point, we were all definitely feeling the effects of the hard swimming done over the weekend and showing signs of struggle as we swum.  I don’t just say that because I’ve gone from the relay, to the 200 free, to the next event; 100m Fly.  I swam a disappointing 1.02.19, finishing 14th while Callum wasn’t too happy with his 58.04, finishing 4th. Both of us felt like our legs were ready to drop off. Lizzie finished 1st (1:08.39) but the 100 fly at the end of the weekend is a killer.

One last session to go.  Callum and Alyson swam the 100m IM.  Callum finishing 15th (1:05.38) and Alyson stepping up for BSSC and finishing with a bang.  Winning her final gold (1:19.69) and one last East Region, British and European record.  Lucy, wanting to share the glory of the last moments with Alyson, swam the 400m Freestyle, winning the silver medal (4:32.68) only 2 seconds outside the East Region record.

And with that Masters Nationals was finished.  Out of the 286 clubs that were represented, BSSC finished 27th overall and 1st in Hertfordshire.  With only 6 swimmers up there this is a tremendous achievement and I would like to give a huge CONGRATULATIONS!!! to all the swimmers that performed some incredible swims.  It would be great to see a few more masters come up with us next year and help see how high up the “Best Club” table we can climb.

Alyson Fordham 65/69 Yrs7x Gold, 1x Silver Records: 7x ER, 4x BR, 4x EUR
Lizzie Bellinger 45/49 Yrs3x Gold, 1x Silver Records: 3x ER
Niamh James 18/24 Yrs1x Gold, 1x Silver 1x Relay Gold, 1x Relay Bronze Records: 1x ER, 1x Relay ER
Callum Davis 18/24 Yrs1x Silver 1x Relay Gold, 1x Relay Bronze Records: 1x Relay ER
Lucy Wheeler 18/24 Yrs1x Silver, 1x Bronze 1x Relay Gold, 1x Relay Bronze Records: 1x ER, 1x Relay ER
Jake Lloyd 25/29 Yrs1x Gold 1x Relay Gold, 1x Relay Bronze Records: 1x Relay ER

2023 Club Championships Results

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Congratulations to all our swimmers who took part in our 2023 Club Championships. We had three nights of superb racing and it was brilliant to see everyone enjoying themselves.

We’d like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who helped make the three nights a success. We can’t run these events without members stepping up to help as officials and volunteers and it was lovely to see new faces.

The results files are below, and we look forward to seeing you all on Saturday 2nd December for our awards nights (more details to be shared via email nearer the time).

Download2023 Club Champs Results S1 (237.6 KB)

Download2023 Club Champs Results S2 (237.6 KB)

Download2023 Club Champs Results S3 (229.7 KB)

Ending the Season in Style

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At the end of the 2022/23 swimming season, members of BSSC came together for a fundraising event that was the brainchild of club captain Jakey Hayes. It was a great night of socialising and swimming and certainly did the job in terms of raising funds. Here’s more about it in Jakey’s own words …

The Bishop’s Stortford Swimming Club required much needed funds to buy a few essentials for the club, such as a Back Stroke ledge so that swimmers can practice using them prior to competitions. I had the idea of holding a continuous Sponsored Relay.

So, I and my fellow Club Captain (Freya Reilly) organised a Sponsored Relay on the 12th July 2023. We had so many swimmers and their parents and grandparents keen to join in that we had to have two teams and so have two continuous relays of about 30 swimmers each.

It was a really fun night! We had lots of dancing, singing and raised an amazing £2184 thanks to our generous families.

We’d love to see more people joining our club to challenge themselves to improve in a sport that they enjoy and caters for all ages. If you’d like to join the club or support us in any way please get in touch.

Jakey Hayes (Club Captain)