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Rebecca Hardy-Bishop from Crawley SC set a new S12 British Record of 20:55:93 for the 1500m during the Sussex Championships at K2 Sunday 16th February.

This weekend saw 24 regional swimmers compete in the Luxembourg international meet 2025. The objectives of this regionally supported programme are to provide international experience and a motivational opportunity for older athletes. In previous years we have had several swimmers then go on to participate in England teams, this camp provides that first step on the ladder. All of the results can be viewed here https://www.euromeet.lu/

We are very grateful to have a committed group of coaches sitting on our regional forum to help us plan this wonderful opportunity. We would like to say well done to all of the athletes and a big thank you to the support team and their clubs for releasing them.

Head Coach – Stuart McCrea (Leatherhead)

Assistant Head Coach – Jordan Honour (Thanet)

Development Coach – Joe Evans (Wycombe District)

Lead Team Manager – Lynne Harrison (Basingstoke)

Assistant Team Manager – Matt Swindells (Portsmouth Northsea)

Strength and Conditioning – Tom Company (Portsmouth Northsea)

We are very sad to report that Eileen Adams, a loyal supporter of swimming, her club and county (Amersham SC & Berkshire and South Bucks) and the region, passed away earlier today. She had been unwell for some time.

Eileen was known and loved by a multitude of people in the swimming world and was active right up to the end, organising the medals for the 2024 Short Course Championships just 2 months ago. She was our Regional President in 2017.

There will be a private family funeral, to be followed in due course by a celebration of her life. We will pass on arrangements when we have them.

Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband Ken and family at this time.

Following the regional short course championships we are delighted to announce the team heading to Luxembourg in January to represent the region at the Euro Meet 2025!

The team will be supported by;

Head Coach – Stuart McCrea

Assistant Head Coach – Jordan Honour

Coach – Joe Evans

Strength and conditioning – Tom Company

Team Managers – Lynne Harrison and Matt Swindells

Peter Roycroft like many people, started his involvement with swimming when his daughters joined their local swimming club in Amersham. From that time onward, he has been on an all-too-familiar journey, first being persuaded to pick up a stopwatch at club champs and then moving along the officials journey to eventually becoming a referee in 2020.

He became a member of the Amersham Swimming and Diving Club committee, serving in various capacities before becoming Vice Chair and, subsequently, Club Chairman for five years.

In 2023, he was elected as Berkshire and South Buckinghamshire County President, a role he enjoyed so much that he  agreed to become Vice President for the 2023/24 year.

As a referee, he has officiated at meets across the South East, and further afield, giving something back to a sport that has given hhim and his family so much.

Peter says that he is very much looking forward to joining and supporting the regional team and involving himself in the variety of activities that the region does. Peter will take over from Sara Todd next year.

A young team represented the South East at the Under 18 Inter-regional Tournament in Northampton on 12/13 October.

This was a very young squad with only two boys at the top of the age group and as a result 10 members of the team will be eligible to play again next year.

The competition was split into two groups of three with the South East scheduled to play the North East and the East with these results would decide who we would play in the place games on Sunday. The other group was made up of Scotland, Wales, and the West Midlands.

After 2 narrow defeats in the early rounds the team had an early startmagainst the West Midlands in the match that would decide 5^th & 6^th place.

After a strong start we were always in control of the match and our high pressure resulted in a regular turnover of possession which often led to goals on the counter attack. At half time we led 11-4 but a loss of concentration resulted in the West Midlands scoring a number of goals that should have been avoided. A dominant final quarter made the game safe and the final 18-10 score was a reasonable reflection of the difference between the two teams.

Read the full match report.

A South East ladies team went undefeated in Division Two to take home the crown U18 Girls’ Inter Regional Championships

They started out with victories against the North East Steelers (12-9), Scotland (14-6) and the East Midlands (15-3).

That left them in a final match shootout with the London Sharks for the title with both teams coming into the finale with a 100% record.

In a close contest, South East took control in the third quarter with three unanswered goals, including two from Lily Ross, gave them a well-earned 8-5 victory.

Speaking on their win, head coach Lauren Hand said: “We are thrilled that our u18 girls squad secured the division two win.

“The progress this team has made since they last competed two years ago has been outstanding and we’re so proud that our 2007 girls were able to finish with a win on their last outing representing the South East.”

Full report 

Masters swimming at the regional Short Course Championships on Saturday 28th September at K2 set new standards across the board.

Five British Records were set:

In addition 77 new individual Meet Best Times (MBPs) and 18 new team best times were set. Stand out performances were Martinus Marx (Crawley SC) and Viv Jones (Hastings Seagull SC) who both set 4 new times.

Dover Lifeguards SC led the team results with 7 new times – they also won the top team award.

Swim England are introducing some new opportunities to enable teachers and coaches who are also actively involved in Swim England affiliated clubs, to access the coach or senior coach certificate without having to complete the assistant coach or coach certificate first.

New opportunities:

The new opportunities being offered are:

• Teacher-to-coach recognition
• Overseas coach-to-coach recognition
• Overseas swimming coach to senior coach recognition

More information

Swim England South East Region (SER) girls U16 squad travelled to Liverpool in July for the annual Inter-Regional Championships hoping to repeat last year’s success.

This group of girls has largely been playing together since 2019 when they took on, and beat, London in an under-12s match at the K2 in Crawley during the Covid-hit British Championships. It is the first time that a South East region girls team has retained an inter-regional title.

Read the full report

Inspired to Try Club campaign toolkit 2024

If you are inspired by the upcoming Olympics and Paralympics and would like to try one of our aquatic sports, why not use the Swim England club search to find your nearest club:

Swim England Club Finder | Discover our Sports

Swim England have opened nominations for the Swim England National Awards 2024 are now open.

The awards recognise members and organisations from across the aquatics community who are rewarded for their commitment and passion to our sports.

Awards are available across a variety of categories ranging from clubs, coaches and volunteers all the way to teachers, educators and swim schools as the ceremony aims to bring the entire aquatics family together.

As in previous years, the national awards will also incorporate the regional awards, with each region selecting it’s winner from a number of categories who will go on to become national finalists.

The winners will then be revealed at a live ceremony inside the Great Hall at the University of Birmingham on Saturday 30 November.

To nominate someone special from your club or someone who has made a difference to our sport go to https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/national-awards-2024-nominations-open