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.
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.
