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Emma Winter

2026 Open Water Championships

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Only 5 days left to enter the East Region Open Water Championships! Entries close on Monday 15th June.

Entries have opened for the 2026 Regional Open Water Championships taking place on 12th July at Whitlingham Lakes. Please make sure you have read the 2026 SE ER Open Water Conditions document prior to entering.

This year there are events for Para and SOGB athletes through a dedicated entry system,

All details can be found on the Open Water Competitions webpage.

Entries close on 15th June 2026.

The Region is also looking for volunteers and Technical Officials to help the event run smoothly. If you can assist on the day, we would appreciate you sign up using the forms on the Open Water Competitions webpage.

East Region Success at the Artistic Swimming Regional Games in Bristol

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Friday 29th of May saw the region take a squad of 20 Swimmers to the Artistic Swimming Regional Games, an annual event where all regions field their best 20 Athletes. We have been running development sessions throughout the year, which along with NAG’s and Regional competitions placings have been used to select our squad.

The event is made up of 3 sections, these being Artistic swimming figures, a freestyle relay and a land-based routine. Out of the seven Regions we came 5th in the relay, 4th in the Figures and 1st in the Land-based event. This placed the team 3rd overall. Having come last and 6th in the previous 2 years we are extremely pleased with the improvement this shows year on year, a massive thanks goes to our two Regional Coaches leading the development sessions, Kerri Clewlow and Jayne Jarvis. We would also like to thank all of the assistant coaches, team managers and officials who attended on behalf of the region, we could not have done it without you. Also it was great to have our very own President Max Paines and his wife Pauline with us at the event.

Finally a massive thank you to all of the swimmers and their parents for the commitment and performance they have given to the squad and the region. They will be taking a rest for now but please keep an eye out as we will publish details regarding next year’s development squad sessions  very soon.

Picture below of the four girls who won the land-base event,

Dominika Janikova,  Emma Gerber, Elija Baibokaite and Violet Offredi

East Region Para-Swimming Meet 2026

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Entries are open for the SEER Para-Swimming Meet being held on Sunday 27th September 2026 at Newmarket Leisure Centre.

The closing date for entries is 19th August 2026.

Athletes who have been invited to attend classification will receive the classification entry form along with their invite.

The Classification form has been designed to ensure those being classified enter the required events.

If anyone has any enquires regarding entries for the Para-Swimming Meet please email [email protected]

The forms and full Meet details can be found here.

Masters Open Water Development Day 2026

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Spaces still available for this great opportunity!

The East Region Masters Leadership Group is holding an Open Water Development Day on Saturday 6th June 2026 at Stanborough Park Water Sports Centre, Stanborough Road, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, AL8 6DF.

The day will consist of a classroom presentation, lake session and a race simulation.

The estimated duration of the day would be a start time of 10.15am and finishing at 16.45pm

We are opening up the development day to Swimmers 18 and over, and swimmers from other Regions.

If you would like to attend the Masters Open Water Development day please complete form on the Master Development webpage.

SEER Open Water Development Day

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Spaces still available for this great opportunity!

The East Region hosts an annual Open Water Development Day for swimmers aged 12 – 14 years.

We now have spaces available for athletes to attend the East Region Open Water Development Day on Saturday 6th June 2026 at Stanborough Park Water Sports Centre, Stanborough Road, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, AL8 6DF. The athlete does not need to have experience of Open Water swimming for them to attend but the swimming should have experience of swimming long distance (800m or 1500m) events.

On the day the athletes will be swimming a minimum distance of 2km.

To register to visit the Open Water Development page.

Open Water Technical Officials Theory Training Sessions

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Swim England Open Water Technical Officials Course. These will be delivered as interactive video presentations via Zoom.

We are pleased to announce the next series of theory training sessions for Open Water Technical Officials. These will be delivered as interactive video presentations via Zoom.

You only need to attend one session to complete this stage of your training. Please let Paul Kendall know your preferred date and time from the list below, and he will send over the invitation and log-in details:

  • Thursday 14 May 2026: 09:00 – 12:00
  • Thursday 14 May 2026: 18:00 – 21:00
  • Saturday 30 May 2026: 09:00 – 12:00

Requirements:

  • Membership: You must be a current member of Swim England, Swim Wales, or Swim Scotland.
  • Practical Training: To become fully qualified, you will also need to complete practical training at suitable Open Water events (typically regional championships). 
  • Fees: There is a fee for the license, which mirrors the costs for other discipline licenses, and is currently set at £20 for the initial license.

There is plenty of capacity on these training sessions, so please feel free to share this information with anyone else who might be interested. Prospective trainees can contact Paul Kendall directly to register at  [email protected]. Minimum age for participants is recommended to be 16.

Welcome to our new East Region President Max Paines

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Max has been involved in swimming since 1999, when his children joined City of Ely Swimming Club. Like many parents, he began by volunteering poolside during training sessions, before becoming more involved behind the scenes as a committee member. Over the years, Max has taken on a range of roles, including membership, awards, vice chair, and leading the introduction of officials’ training within the club.

Max began his technical official training in 2005 and is now qualified as a starter. Although Max once expected his involvement to reduce as his children’s swimming commitments declined, this changed when his daughter Sarah went on to complete her referee training. Since then, Max has remained actively involved, and it continues to be a privilege to support swimmers and watch their development.

Max has had the great honour to serve as President of Cambridgeshire and still be City of Ely’s President. He now looks forward to his role as East Region President, where he is excited to be supporting and promoting all aquatic disciplines.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Ann Byrne for her time as Regional President, and for all her support enthusiasm she has provided our athletes and volunteers at the many events she has attended during her time in post.

Artistic Swimming NAG’s Event Gloucester 7th & 8th March 2026

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This year saw 5 clubs represented from our Region, that is the most we have had in attendance since before covid. That included swimmers from Aqualina, Hatfield, Potters Bar, Chelmsford & Norwich. It was a very well attended event from across the country, with 163 swimmers  competing in the Youth section, with our highest placed swimmer being Dominika Janikova from Aqualina in 26th position. In the 12 and under section there were 114 swimmers and our highest placed swimmers were Elja Babikiene in 5th position and Carmen Harrison in 7th position, both from Aqualina. Several Solo’s, Duets and Teams were also competing from Aqualina and Potters Bar, with the most notable achievement being a Silver medal for the Aqualina 12 and Under free team event, swimmers were Elja Babikiene, Carmen Harrison, Evie Harding & Katie Nemec. It was also great to have the East Region President Ann Byrne there cheering us on. All in all a very respectable performance from the Region.

SEER Water Polo Regional Training Session – Saturday 21st February 2026

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SEER Water Polo Regional Training Session is being held on Saturday 21st February 2026 at Inspire, Luton Sports Village from 3pm – 5pm.

This session is open to Female players and Male players born 2009-2011.

To register for this session please go to the Water Polo development page and register via the form.

We are always looking for Coaches and Team Managers to help run the sessions, if you are a Coach or Team Manager and are available to help please register via the Coach/Team Manager form on the Water Polo development page.

Masters Open Water Development Day 2026

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The East Region Masters Leadership Group is looking into holding an Open Water Development Day on Saturday 6th June 2026 depending on the expression of interest that is received.

The day will consist of a classroom presentation, lake session and a race simulation.

The estimated duration of the day would be a start time of 10.15am and finishing at 16.45pm

The predicted cost of the day would be £40 per Athlete.

If you would be interest in an Open Water Development day please complete the Expression of Interest form which can be found on the Masters Development webpage and we will be in contact regarding the Development Day.