Events

We are pleased to share some of our favourite moments from the 2023 Swim England Hertfordshire County Championships. Our swimmers stepped up and performed superbly, provided bundles of support for each other and had lots of fun on the way! Special mention must go to Coach Joe for the amazing team talks, support and advice he shared over all three weekends. Big thanks also should go to all our parents who helped out at Counties either through donning their whites and officiating, or volunteering to help make the event run smoothly for all involved.

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BSSC swimmers rounded off the 2023 Hertfordshire County Championships in style on the third and final weekend, securing fourteen more age group medals (1 Gold, 8 Silver, 5 Bronze), 34 more top 8 event finishes in the County, two Championship relay Golds and a Bronze 15/under relay medal.

Ella Greatbatch continued her complete domination of the 15 year old Breaststroke events taking the age group Gold, the Junior Championship Gold and the County best time in the 50m Breaststroke.  Her outstanding performances across the first two weekends and the addition of Silver in the 200m IM and 4^th in the 400m Freestyle helped secure her the title of Top 15 year old Girl in Hertfordshire, an award that recognises excellence across multiple strokes and distances.  Four other BSSC swimmers also had the privilege of being recognised as being in the top eight in their age groups: 3^rd Kirsty Neill (16+ years), 4^th Brandon Macdonald-Williams (15 years), 4^th Callum Cox (16+ years), 5^th Dylan Davenport (14 years).

There were more swimmers with success in the Hertfordshire Junior (15yr and under) and Open Championship (10yr and over) awards.  Lucy Wheeler took Gold in the 200m Freestyle Championship final and Jago Derrington Bronze in the 400m Freestyle Championship.  Brandon Macdonald-Williams had an outstanding 400m IM swim dropping a whopping 29 seconds off his previous personal best time to secure him the Junior Championship Silver, whilst Ella Greatbatch achieved Bronze in the 200m IM.

One of BSSC’s youngest competitors, Guy Spearman-Baines, was in superb action in the 50m Breaststroke, achieving a two second personal best time of 48.23 seconds to qualify 7^th for the 10/11 years final where he valiantly battled to take Bronze in a new PB of 47.17.  Both 12 year old swimmers in action also achieved PBs to reach the finals of their events, with Eddy Cheng finishing 5^th in the 50m Breaststroke (46.25) and Lois Fields 6^th in the 50m Backstroke (39.05).

Yet again the relays were some of the most exciting moments of the weekend and BSSC had six teams with top eight finishes rounding off Counties 2023.  The Mixed Championship 200m Medley team of Niamh James, Callum Davis, Callum Cox and Laura Burgess were chased down by Hatfield in the final leg but held them off to take Gold by less than one second.  The Women Championship 200m Freestyle team of Lucy Wheeler, Imogen Tang, Emma Fields and Laura Burgess were so perfectly matched with the Hatfield team that each swimmer had an individual race and it came down to the final anchor leg.  Laura Burgess, having just caught her breath from the medley relay, fought with every stroke to bring BSSC home for Gold with just 0.05 seconds between the teams.  Laura deserves special mention as the BSSC anchor leg supremo, as she brought three Championship relay teams home to secure Gold medals.

Amalgamating the results from all three weekends, BSSC finished a superb fourth out of the nineteen Hertfordshire clubs, behind the large club trio of Hatfield, Watford and CoStA (City of St Albans).  Congratulations to all swimmers who contributed to that success and special thanks to Coach Joe Collins who was there at every session, giving out great pep talks, celebrating successes, talking swimmers through the highs and lows of their performances and encouraging those hadn’t performed as they’d hoped.  Thanks also to our Team Managers Claire Fields, Danielle Reilly, Kat Gore, our officials who took part over all three weekends and the parents who volunteered to help so they didn’t have to sit outside in the car park! 

Weekend Three Age Group Medals:

• Gold: Ella Greatbatch (50m Breaststroke 15 years)
• Silver: Dylan Davenport (200m Freestyle 14 years), Brandon Macdonald-Williams (400m IM 15 years), Ella Greatbatch (200m IM 15 years), Callum Cox (200m Freestyle 16+ years), Jago Derrington (200m IM & 400m Freestyle 16+ years), Kirsty Neill (200m IM 16+ years), Lucy Wheeler (200m Freestyle 16+ years)
• Bronze: Guy Spearman-Baines (50m Breaststroke 10/11 years), Elliot Hall (200m & 400m Freestyle 13 years), Dylan Davenport (400m Freestyle 14 years), Meisha Trend-Evans (400m Freestyle 16+ years)
• Top 8 finishes: Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Callum Cox, Dylan Davenport, Eddy Cheng, Ella Greatbatch, Elliot Hall, Emma Fields, Kirsty Neill, Lauren Gore, Lois Fields, Meisha Trend-Evans, Molly Greatbatch, Robert Gor, Zoe Opiyo

Six of the relay teams were top 8 finishers:

• Gold Women Championship 200m Freestyle – Lucy Wheeler, Imogen Tang, Emma Fields, Laura Burgess
• Gold Mixed Championship 200m Medley – Niamh James, Callum Davis, Callum Cox, Laura Burgess
• Bronze Men Championship 200m Freestyle – Callum Cox, Jakey Hayes, George Grimwood, Callum Davis
• 5^th Women 15/Under 200m Freestyle – Freya Hadnutt, Felice Chan, Zoe Opiyo, Ella Greatbatch
• 5^th Men 15/Under 200m Medley – Ethan David-Tostevin, Robert Gor, Dylan Davenport, Beau Reilly
• 6^th Mixed 15/Under 200m Freestyle – Dylan Davenport, Zoe Opiyo, Felice Chan, Beau Reilly

BSSC swimmers had a great start to the second weekend of the Hertfordshire County Championships, with at least one swimmer qualifying in each of the six male 100m freestyle age group finals and final results for that event including one gold, one silver and one bronze.  There was plenty to cheer about over the whole weekend, with 4 Gold, 5 Silver and 7 Bronze age group medals and 38 top 8 finishes in the County and a championship relay Gold.

The most successful BSSC age group medallist this weekend was Dylan Davenport in the 14 years age group who secured two gold (50m & 100m Freestyle), one silver (50m Butterfly) and one 4^th place (100m IM), but special mention must go to Noah Conroy who swam in the youngest 10/11 years age group in his first County championships and won two Bronze medals (50m Butterfly & 100m Freestyle) and a 9^th place (50m Freestyle). 

The moment that had everyone at the pool screaming and parents watching via YouTube shouting at their screens, was the Female Championship 200m Medley relay.  The final ended up as a head to head battle between the teams from BSSC and Hatfield, with every pair of swimmers having their own individual nail biting races.  BSSC kicked off with Niamh James on backstroke, then Lauren Gore on breaststroke, Emma Fields on butterfly and Laura Burgess on freestyle.  The swimmers from the two clubs were so evenly matched that both freestylers left the blocks at the same time for the fourth and final leg of the relay and it came down to the touch at the end, with Burgess not breathing for the final part of the length and stretching to give Stortford the gold by 0.19 seconds in a time of 2:01.55!

Swimmers additionally competed to be crowned Hertfordshire Junior (15yr and under) and Open Champions (10yr and over) and five swimmers had great success on weekend two.  In the Junior Championships, Ella Greatbatch took Gold in the 100m Breaststroke and Robert Gor got Bronze in the 200m Breaststroke.  In the Open Championships, Callum Cox got the Gold award in 50m Butterfly, Silver in 100m Freestyle and Bronze in the 50m Freestyle; Emma Fields achieved Silver in the 50m Butterfly and Bronze in 50m Freestyle; whilst Lauren Gore took Bronze in the 100m Breaststroke.

Weekend Two Age Group Medals:

• Gold: Dylan Davenport (50m & 100m Freestyle 14 years), Ella Greatbatch (100m Breaststroke 15 years), Callum Cox (50m Butterfly 16+ years)
• Silver: Elliot Hall (50m Butterfly 13 years), Dylan Davenport (50m Butterfly 14 years), Callum Cox (100m Freestyle 16+ years), Emma Fields (50m Freestyle & 50m Butterfly 16+ years)
• Bronze: Noah Conroy (50m Butterfly & 100m Freestyle 10/11 years), Molly Greatbatch (100m Breaststroke 13 years), Robert Gor (200m Breaststroke 15 years), Callum Cox (50m Freestyle 16+ years), Laura Burgess (50m Freestyle 16+ years), Lauren Gore (100m Breaststroke 16+ years)
• Top 8 finishes: Benjamin Palmer, Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Dan Chada, Dylan Davenport, Ella Greatbatch, Elliot Hall, Felice Chan, George Taylor, Grace Mason, Imogen Tang, Jake Lloyd, Kirsty Neill, Lauren Gore, Molly Greatbatch, Niamh James

All relay teams were top 8 finishers:

• Gold Women Championship 200m Medley – Niamh James, Lauren Gore, Emma Fields, Laura Burgess
• 4^th Women 15/Under 200m Medley – Freya Hadnutt, Ella Greatbatch, Zoe Opiyo, Felice Chan
• 5^th Men 13/Under 200m Freestyle – Benjamin Palmer, Noah Conroy, Eddy Cheng, Elliot Hall
• 7^th Mixed 13/Under 200m Freestyle – Adeline Chan, Lois Fields, Benjamin Palmer, Elliot Hall

Although January & February are long cold months for most people, they are exciting ones for many BSSC swimmers as the Swim England Hertfordshire County Championships take place.  This year, thirty-nine swimmers aged 11-28 qualified for 179 individual events and 18 relays, which will be held in Borehamwood over three weekends. 

The first session of weekend one was kicked off in style by sisters Lois & Emma Fields taking Silver in the 200m Backstroke (12 years) and Bronze in the 100m Butterfly (16+ years).  Other medals soon followed and over the weekend BSSC swimmers won 5 Gold, 4 Silver and 4 Bronze individual age group medals and 37 of the 54 swims resulted in top 8 finishes in the County:

• Gold: Callum Cox (100m Butterfly 16+ years), Ella Greatbatch (200m Breaststroke 15 years), Kirsty Neill (200m Breaststroke 16+ years), Lucy Wheeler (100m Freestyle 16+ years), Meisha Trend-Evans (800m Freestyle 16+ years)
• Silver: Dan Chada (50m Backstroke 16+ years), Dylan Davenport (50m Backstroke 14 years), Lois Fields (200m Backstroke 12 years), Molly Greatbatch (200m Breaststroke 13 years)
• Bronze: Brandon Macdonald-Williams (800m Freestyle 15 years), Callum Cox (50m Backstroke 16+ years), Emma Fields (100m Butterfly 16+ years), Laura Burgess (100m Freestyle 16+ years)
• Top 8 finishes: Beau Reilly, Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Dylan Davenport, Elliot Hall, Emma Fields, Ethan David-Tostevin, Guy Spearman-Baines, Felice Chan, Lauren Gore, Lois Fields, Jago Derrington, Jakey Hayes, Meisha Trend-Evans, Miriam Moukdad, Molly Greatbatch, Robert Gor

Another Bronze medal was secured by the Mens 15/Under 200m Freestyle relay team of Robert Gor, Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Beau Reilly and Dylan Davenport who out-touched City of St Albans Swimming Club by 0.76 seconds, whilst the Mixed Championship 200m Freestyle relay team of Callum Cox, Emma Fields, Laura Burgess and Callum Davis were fourth in their event.

Even though some of them may not have medalled this weekend, our younger swimmers stepped up superbly to this level of competition. Every swimmer in the 11-13 year age groups achieved a personal best time in every event they entered, and all of them got a PB to qualify for a final and then smashed out another one in the final. Congratulations to Guy Spearman-Baines (10/11 years), Lois Fields (12 years) and Elliot Hall & Molly Greatbatch (13 years).

Swimmers additionally competed to be crowned Hertfordshire Junior (15yr and under) and Open Champions (10yr and over) and eight swimmers had great success.  In the Junior Championships, Ella Greatbatch took Gold in the 200m Breaststroke and Brandon Macdonald-Williams got Bronze in the 800m Freestyle. 

In the Open Championships, Callum Cox got the Gold award in 100m Butterfly and Bronze in 50m Backstroke; Lucy Wheeler took Gold in 100m Freestyle; Meisha Trend-Evans Gold in the 800m Freestyle; Dan Chada secured Silver in the 50m Backstroke; and Emma Fields got Bronze in 100m Butterfly; whilst Kirsty Neill got Silver and 15 year old Ella Greatbatch the Bronze in the 200m Breaststroke.

Full list of individual qualifiers by age group:

10/11 years: Adeline (Yin Hei) Chan, Guy Spearman-Baines, Noah Conroy

12 years: Benjamin Palmer, Eddy (Ting Hei) Cheng, Lois Fields

13 years: Elliot Hall, Molly Greatbatch

14 years: Bobbie Macdonald-Williams, Dylan Davenport, Ethan David-Tostevin, Felice (Kwan Yi) Chan, Zoe Opiyo

15 years: Beau Reilly, Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Ella Greatbatch, Freya Hadnutt, Robert Gor

16+ years age group:

• 16 year olds: Alice Longman, George Grimwood, George Taylor, Imogen Tang, Jakey Hayes, Kirsty Neill
• 17 year olds: Callum Cox, Emma Fields, Grace Mason, Jago Derrington, Laura Burgess, Lauren Gore, Lilian Opiyo, Meisha Trend-Evans, Miriam Moukdad
• 18+ year olds: Bella Parkus, Freya Reilly, Daniel Chada, Niamh James, Lucy Wheeler, Jake Lloyd