HUGE congratulations to all our swimmers who have been invited to compete at the British Swimming Summer Championships in Sheffield at the end of July. The top 24 in Britain are invited for each event/age group, so this is an achievement to be celebrated!
Qualifiers
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
Super Six Qualify for British Championships
2022 County Championships Accepted Entries
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).
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)