News

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.    

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)

Level X Racing Series 2 swims took place from 12 April until 22 August 2021 and we are very pleased to share that Kirsty Neill’s 200m breaststroke time of 2:39.29 was the fastest in Britain in her age group!  Congratulations Kirsty.

Level X Racing was created during 2020 by Swim England, as a fun opportunity for swimmers to practice some racing skills within the comfort of their club environment, whilst they waited for Covid restrictions to pass and normal competitions to resume.  As indoor pools reopened in April 2021, Level X Series 2 kicked off across the country and BSSC held two Level X nights in May and June.  There were some brilliant swims at both events, but as parents and club officials, it was great to see our swimmers enjoying the fun of competing once more.

Kirsty’s swimming achievements, and that of three other 13/14 year old BSSC swimmers (Ella Greatbatch, George Grimwood & Alice Longman), have been noticed by Swim England and all four have been invited to participate in the Swim England National Development Programme. The National programme is designed to provide activities to help enhance the daily training environment, so swimmers that show future performance potential have continued support along their journey.