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The second of Swim England’s Financial Sustainability webinars takes place at 6pm on Monday 14 November.

Fundraising, Sponsorship and Grant Funding will be the focus of the webinar which looks to support clubs and provide guidance during these economically challenging times.

The sessions were set up following the launch of the Club Financial Toolkit back in July, aiming to support clubs to help them become strong and sustainable organisations.

The first webinar of the series took place on 24 October which focussed on how clubs pay tax and what types of tax are relevant to your club and why.

Swim England’s Independent Tax Advisor Richard Baldwin was the sessions keynote speaker and he spoke to Club Chairs and Treasurers about raising the awareness of tax within their club.

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Kent won their first National County Team Championships title after a nail-biting race for the top spot which went down to the wire.

Victory in the final event of the competition ensured they finished top of Division One by the narrow margin of four points from second-placed Yorkshire.

Kent had held a slender lead throughout the competition but were pegged back by Yorkshire and the two counties were locked on 442 points with only two events remaining.

However, Kent sealed victory in the Mixed Open 300m Freestyle Relay – their fourth win of the afternoon – to take the top spot and spark wild celebrations.

They also finished second four times and third once to significantly better their previous best finish at the National County Team Championships of third in 2016 and 2019.

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The annual British Masters Championships will return to Sheffield for the first time in seven years in 2023.

More than 800 masters swimmers from across the home nations are expected to compete at Ponds Forge International Pool from 2-4 June.

The event, which takes place in a long course 50m pool, rotates between the Home Nations, with Swim England hosting on a bi-annual basis.

Ponds Forge missed out on hosting the event in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Sheffield pool last hosted the competition in 2016, with Plymouth’s Life Centre taking centre stage for the last running of the event in England back in 2018.

The British Masters Championships also features the Cupar Trophy, awarded to the best-performing club at the competition.

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We are delighted to be once again planning a regional off shore camp for selected swimmers from our region. The team will travel to Luxembourg to compete in the Euro Meet from the 27th – 29th January 2023.

This exciting experience aims;

1. To provide exposure and experience of overseas competition
2. To provide a motivational opportunity for South East athletes

Due to the lack of opportunities over the last few years we will be taking a slightly larger team of athletes to be selected from the Regional Winter Short Course Championships. The full selection criteria can be found on the attachment Selection Criteria for the 2023 Swim England South East Region Off shore camp

To support this camp we are looking to recruit an experienced Assistant Team Manager. The successful applicant must hold a Swim England DBS, approved safeguarding training and Team Manager 1 and 2 modules. For further information please contact [email protected]  

The second National Arena Junior League Grand Final was won by Guildford City Swimming Club in an exciting Grand Final on Saturday.

The event at the Alan Higgs Centre, Coventry featured 33 events for swimmers between the ages of 9-12 years old.

Swimmers raced in both individual and relay events on short course with Guildford coming out on top with a total of 192 points across the competition.

In a close contest, the Surrey based club finished just ahead of Camden Swiss (179), who were only 13 points behind, with Chelsea & Westminster finishing third with a total score of 159 points.

Guildford City also took home three of the day’s top swimmers awards with Olivia Hagberg voted the best girls 9/10 Years swimmer and Joseph Schmitt the top boys 11 Years swimmer.

Guildford’s Ella Humphries and Scarlett Sheppard were both recognised for their performances with the award for the leading Girls 12 Years swimmers.

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Swim England is inviting suggestions for athletes, coaches and volunteers who could be inducted into its Hall of Fame.

Nominations are encouraged across all disciplines and can be submitted by individuals, clubs, counties, regions and wider organisations.

The Swim England Hall of Fame was set up as part of the national governing body’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2019.

A total of 26 people were named in the inaugural induction and this is the first time since then that a new cohort will be included.

Each nomination submitted will be thoroughly evaluated against the published criteria and decisions will be based on the information included in the submission – so as much fact-based evidence as possible should be added.

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For Licensing applications received on or after September 1st 2022:

• All meets licensed at Levels 1 or 2 MUST provide a secondary strobe where it is requested by an athlete at the time of entry unless a secondary strobe cannot be provided at the meet for technical reasons.

In the case that a secondary strobe cannot be provided at the venue a full explanation of the issues preventing the provision must be provided with the licensing application and forwarded to the National Licensing Officer for recording purposes and to allow Swim England to investigate fully.

• Meet conditions must advise athletes that “a secondary strobe will be provided where it is requested by the athlete at the time of entry”.

If this cannot be met, for technical reasons only, it should be stated in the Conditions and a full explanation be submitted with the licence application.

• For licensing applications received on or after September 1st 2022, all meets Licensed at Level 1 or 2 MUST have a minimum depth at the starting end of 1.35 metres.
• Applications for the subsequent calendar year would not be accepted until after September, with no more than 8 months in advance at other times.

Southampton Diving Academy and Star Diving Club Guildford were the big winners on the second and final day of the 2022 Diving National Skills Finals.

Both Southampton’s and Guildford’s divers won two golds each to claim four of the six titles on offer at the John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds.

It was Guildford who had the bigger haul of the two clubs however in thanks to the one-two finish in the Group B+ Girls category.

The duo of Eva O’Reilly and Tegan Fookes dominated the rest of the field as the pair stormed clear of the chasing pack, finishing almost 40 points clear by the end of the event.

It left the two Guildford divers to duel it out between themselves for the top prize with O’Reilly just pipping her teammate by just over four points.

O’Reilly finished with a total score of 360.85 with Fookes just behind on 356.80.

Dacorum Diving Club’s Scarlett Hallam was best of the rest to take bronze with a well-respected total score of 320.85.

It was in the opening contest of the afternoon session when Guildford picked up their first gold medal of the competition however with a win in the C1 Boys event.

Leo Robinett was the diver who took that gold for them with a total score of 322.00 points for his twelve dives.

It was a controlled display from Robinett, who got himself into an early lead after back to back dives in round three and four that scored over 30 points apiece.

From then on he managed his lead expertly, doing enough to keep a comfortable gap to the divers behind as he took gold by 8.20 points.

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Southampton Diving Academy were crowned the top club at the Swim England Diving National Age Group Championships.

They picked up 18 medals throughout the four-day competition – seven golds, three silver and eight bronze.

It ensured they beat Luton Diving Club to the Dawdon Shield Trophy, which is presented to the best performing club at the championships, by three points.

And it proved to be a late birthday present for Matthew Roberts, the diving development coach at Southampton Diving Academy, who turned 30 during the event.

He said: “It means a lot.

“We have not had a National Age Group Championships since before Covid so this is quite a new team.

“There are some experienced divers but also a lot of new ones coming through.

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A full report from the Regional Diving Group on the National Age Group Championships can be found here.

Applications are requested from coaches within the Region to join the swimming coaches forum. The forum has adopted standard terms of reference which provides for the recruitment of four further coaches to join the Forum and serve for an initial period of three years.

The forum meets six times a year on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during the day. The role, composition and appointment of coaches are contained in the TORs.  In particular there is a need for a spread of coaches from across the region and across the range of the development pathway. It is recognised that no one coach can fit all the criteria.

Applicants should complete the form below by Friday 22^nd July and send it to;

[email protected]

Coaches Forum Recruitment Form June 2022

Congratulations to the following swimmers on their selection to the 2022 regional pathway programme. Camps will take place on the 11th September and 29th October at the ACS International School, Cobham, Surrey. Alex Vine, Maidenhead Marlins will be Head Coach on the programme this year with Lead Team Manager, Lynne Harrison. A full list of selected skills coaches will be posted here shortly.