Refreshments at Short Course Championships for coaches and team managers

We are pleased to confirm that all poolside passes for coaches, team managers and chaperones will remain free of charge for the 2024 short course championships.

In recent years, we have not offered food and tea/coffee refreshments to coaches and team personnel. This is largely because coaches have preferred to make their own arrangements. We have received a limited number of requests to offer refreshments to these colleagues. Unfortunately we cannot do this free of charge, as the cost is relatively high and the championships now run on a break-even basis. We will, however, offer it at cost price. Payment will be via invoice to the club.

A tea/coffee pass will cost £10 per person for the weekend.

A food pass will cost £25 per person for the weekend (and will include tea/coffee – there is no need to purchase both passes). Food will comprise sandwiches, cake, crisps – there is no hot option.

Passes are transferrable – i.e if two coaches do a day each, they can transfer their pass.

If your club would like to purchase one of these options, please complete the form by Monday 28th October. We will collate the requests and then invoice the club in the week leading up to the championships.

All poolside passes must still be obtained via the online system, queries about poolside passes should be directed to [email protected]

Winner of the Jeff Cook Salver 2024

Awarded to the individual, team or club who has made a significant contribution to the sport within Swim England East Region, we are delighted to announce that  Ian Rollinson is the 2024 winner of the Jeff Cook Salver.

DBS Launches Supporting Safer Sports Campaign – free workshops

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) has launched a new Supporting Safer Sports campaign, providing resources to those working and volunteering in sports. They are running a series of free workshops on different aspects of DBS which may be of interest and of use to club welfare officers or other club officers who have responsibility for DBS checks. To book please click the link for the workshop you would like to attend.

Please note these workshops are not run by Swim England and are not mandatory to attend, your attendance will not be noted on your SE membership.

Please find below training schedule from the Disclosure and Barring Service about their upcoming training programme for the East of England (September – December 2024)

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) offers a variety of training to support safeguarding and HR professionals across different sectors – and this is their training programme for those that work for in sport organisations in the East of England! They have sessions around DBS checks (Disclosure), Barring, information gathering, the DBS Update Service and others. These training sessions will provide knowledge, skills, and confidence to aid and support those working within safer recruitment and safeguarding.

 

Date?24 September 2024
Time?10:00am to 11:30pm
Cost?Free
Where?Online via MS Teams

This workshop will focus on the disclosure elements of DBS, namely DBS checks, with a particular focus on understanding eligibility for Enhanced, and Enhanced with Barred List(s) DBS checks. The session will last around 90 minutes with time for questions at the end. This session is aimed at individuals who are involved in the recruitment of staff or volunteers and would like to learn more about the different types of DBS check and when a role is eligibility for a particular type of check.

For more information and to book on, access this link: Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

 

Date?22 October 2024
Time?1:00pm – 3:00pm
Cost?Free
Where?Online via MS Teams

This workshop will focus on the Barring aspects of DBS, with a particular focus on understanding the legal duty to refer. This session will last around 2 hours, with time for questions and answers. This session is aimed at individuals who are involved in HR, management of those in regulated activity, those who have safeguarding responsibilities and those who would be involved in making referrals to the DBS.

For more information and to book on, access this link: Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

 

Harmful Behaviors outside the Workplace
Date?28 November 2024
Time?1:00pm – 2:30pm
Cost?Free
Where?Online via MS Teams

This webinar will consider what we mean by harmful behaviours and how different types of harmful behaviours may transfer into the workplace. This session is suitable for those working in HR or Safeguarding roles who are involved in the barring referral process.

For more information and to book on, access this link: Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

 

Update Service Masterclass
Date?23 October 2024
Time?1:00pm – 2:30pm
Cost?Free
Where?Online via MS Teams

This webinar will explore the DBS Update Service for and the benefits to organisations. This session will be of value to recruiters and employers who are interested in learning more about the Update Service.

For more information and to book on, access this link: Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

 

Enhanced DBS Check Process
Date?05 November 2024
Time?10:00am – 11:30am
Cost?Free
Where?Online via MS Teams

This webinar will look at the what happens when an Enhanced check is received by DBS. The session will be of interest to those that process applications for DBS checks, particularly those working in recruitment or volunteer manager roles.

For more information and to book on, access this link: Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

 

Barring Referral Service
Date?26 November 2024
Time?1:30pm – 2:30pm
Cost?Free
Where?Online via MS Teams

Organisations who employ individuals or have volunteers who carry out regulated activity with children or adults have a legal duty to refer to DBS if certain conditions are met. This webinar is designed to guide you through each section of the online barring referral service, what documents to include and will include the opportunity to ask questions.

For more information and to book on, access this link: Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

 

Legal Duty to Refer Refresher
Date?03 December 2024
Time?1:00pm – 1:45pm
Cost?Free
Where?Online via MS Teams

Organisations who employ individuals or have volunteers who carry out regulated activity with children or adults have a legal duty to refer to DBS if certain conditions are met. This webinar is designed to support organisations to understand their legal duty to refer. This session is suitable for those who already have an understanding of Barring referrals and would like a refresher.

For more information and to book on, access this link: Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

Making a Quality Referral
Date?20 November 2024
Time?1:30pm – 2:30pm
Cost?Free
Where?Online via MS Teams

Organisations who employ individuals or have volunteers who carry out regulated activity with children or adults have a legal duty to refer to DBS if certain conditions are met. This webinar will look at how to make a Barring referral and which pieces of information and documentation organisations should be submitting to DBS. This session is suitable for those that already have an understanding of the Barring referral process and would like a refresher.

For more information and to book on, access this link: Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

 

These training sessions cannot be recorded or transcribed without prior consent of the DBS Partnerships team.

The DBS partnerships team reserves the right to amend or cancel should it, for whatever reason, be unable to deliver an advertised training session. In these circumstances, the partnerships team will endeavour to provide adequate notice but will also ensure that a substitute date is made available. The DBS Partnerships team reserves the right to cancel a course when it is not viable due to low numbers. An alternative date will always be provided.

If you require any reasonable adjustments please email [email protected] at least 2 weeks prior to the training session. If you are unable to attend a course, please cancel your booking via your MS Teams Webinar link. If you are having trouble cancelling your session, please email [email protected].

Olympic success for swimmers who started their careers in the East Region

Angharad Evans rubber stamped her ticket for an Olympic Games debut in Paris after a brilliant season of preparation in 2024 that included her breaking the Women’s 100m Breaststroke British record.

Based at the University of Stirling but having started her swimming career at West Suffolk SC, Angharad had threatened the best-ever British mark over 100m in the lead-up to April’s Aquatics GB Swimming Championships – and while she narrowly missed out on it at that meet, she duly reset that record a month later, clocking a 1:05.54 in the same London Aquatics Centre pool at the AP Race International.

At the Olympics in Paris she progressed easily through to the final and finished a creditable 6th against some of the biggest names in women’s breaststroke swimming, just a couple of 100’s off her British Record. Angharad was also a member of the 4x100m Medley Relay team who finished 5th in the final!

Laura Stephens has become an established butterfly specialist on Aquatics GB teams over the past half decade, claiming World Championship gold in 2024 for 200m Fly ahead of her second Olympic Games appearance.

The Loughborough Performance Centre athlete who started her swimming career at Harwich, Dovercourt & Parkstone SC and then moved to Colchester SC showed good control as the leading pack in her semi-final went clear, holding her race pace well to sit fifth for the majority of the race and clock a time that put her in contention ahead of the second semi-final – dropping three seconds from her morning heat and qualifying her for the final where she finished 8th.

East Region divers shine at the National Skills Finals

18 different clubs from across the UK took to the podium in an exciting weekend at the Swim England Diving National Skills Finals 2024. This year’s event was hosted by the Swim England East Region with the Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre the home of this year’s competition. A number of divers and clubs shone throughout the weekend, including the home club Southend – who won their joint highest ever medal count at the competition with six. That saw them tie with their total from last year which began with the club’s double podium in the Group E Female competition.

Southend were also on the podium in the Group E Open competition with Parker Halsey earning them silver. He scored 291.45 points to finish narrowly behind Corby Steel Diving Club’s Leonard Soltoianu more...

Open Water Coaching Certificate

This certificate develops the specialist skills needed to work as an open water coach and effectively and independently plan, prepare, deliver, monitor and evaluate a series of open water training sessions. Blended learning is a more flexible approach where you complete the theory elements of the course online through eLearning and webinar sessions, this will also include the theoretical assessment. You will then attend the practical session at a lake.

8th and 29th August 6-9pm Zoom

7th and 8th September 9-5pm Stanborough Park, AL8 6DF

Book here

If you are a Swim England member, a discount maybe be available as a Member Offer – please contact your club.

Rollinson wins Gold at the European Aquatics Championships

Congratulations to Amy Rollinson  with her partner Desharne Bent-Ashmeil on winning gold in the Women’s 3m Synchro to land another diving title for Great Britain. Consistency was the key in the women’s 3m synchro event. Bent-Ashmeil and Rollinson not only put together a solid programme with three 3.0DD dives but they also performed them without bigger mistakes. Great Britain took the title with 269.10pts ahead of Sweden who earned 258.75.

Rollinson who started her diving career at Luton Diving Club explained the reason behind their success, saying: “We’ve kind of come together a couple of years ago and found out that our techniques matched well.

“Here there was the first time we had a proper practice together as we both were focusing on our individual events but we also found that if we do that we can do the synchro better.”

You can keep up to date with all the action here

 

Artistic Swimming Regional Games 2024

On 31st May 2024, Swim England East Region took its first ever Artistic Swimming Squad to the Artistic Swimming Regional Games (this was a first for the region too!). Seven of the eight Swim England regions were competing at Hengrove Leisure Centre, Hengrove Park, Bristol.

After holding three training sessions, a squad of 14 was selected to compete at the Games, formerly the Beacon Games. The event has three core components, that being Figures, a competitive relay and a land based video of four members. The event is held in Bristol which is the hub of Artistic Swimming in the UK. Team GB train here and the swimmers were able to see the GB squads, duets and soloists, and had a sneak peak of the routines heading to European Championships in Belgrade later this month.

The competition was extremely tough, which we expected, however everyone really enjoyed the experience, making new friends, and enjoying different styles of coaching. We had some very encouraging results, with one swimmer finishing in 3rd place for her age group. Swimmers came from Aqualina (Stevenage) Artistic Swimming Club, Chelmsford City Swimming Club, Norwich Synchronized Swimming Club and Potters Bar Artistic Swimming Club. Feedback from the squad and coaches, Kerri Clewlow, Jayne Jarvis and Emily Gower, is such that the region would hope that this becomes a regular feature on the Artistic Swimming calendar.

Swim England National Awards 2024

The Swim England National Awards will return to the Great Hall at the University of Birmingham on Saturday 30 November 2024. The awards will celebrate the incredible spirit of aquatics by showcasing individuals, groups and organisations for their passion, dedication and outstanding commitment over the past year.

In 2024 the awards will recognise the impact coaches have at both grassroots and at a performance level by introducing new Performance Pathway and Development Coach of the Year awards.The event will also include the Harold Fern and Alfred H Turner awards – recognising outstanding contribution to aquatics – and provide the opportunity to celebrate some of the nation’s top athletes in an Olympic year.

Nominations are open until Sunday 7 July and you can nominate someone today. The full criteria for each award can be viewed HERE.

Welcome to our new Regional Manager

The East Region would like to welcome James Salmon as our new Regional Manager.

James will be supporting the operation of the region by way of  leading and guiding the development and governance within the region and will be working closely with all aquatic disciplines and supporting our family of volunteers.

Having started his aquatics journey as a parent, James has recently qualified as a Referee and volunteers within his own club on a regular basis.

Paralympic Qualification Success

With 100 days to go until the Paralympic Games, ParalympicsGB has named a 26-strong para-swimming team that are heading to Paris this summer. 

The first sport to confirm names for Paris for ParalympicsGB features 15 Games debutants and 11 returning Paralympians – including two reigning champions in the pool from Tokyo 2020, Maisie Summers-Newton and Tully Kearney.

ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission Penny Briscoe added: “I’m delighted that today, with exactly 100 days to go to this summer’s Paralympic Games, we can celebrate the first athletes to join the ParalympicsGB team for Paris 2024 – our swimming squad.

“Our 26 swimmers represent an exciting mix of youth and experience, and there’s no doubt they all have fantastic potential to make Great Britain proud in Paris this summer. I’m really excited to see the ParalympicsGB team start to take shape and look forward to welcoming athletes from all corners of the UK, across 19 sports in total, in the coming weeks and months.”

Aquatics GB Associate Performance Director Tim Jones said: “I’m delighted that ParalympicsGB are now announcing these 26 swimmers to compete in the swimming events in Paris in 100 days’ time.

“Our athlete cohort has evolved significantly since the Tokyo Games, and with 15 first-time Paralympians on the team, we know we have great potential to be very successful in Paris.

The region is delighted that five athletes who either still swim in clubs in the East or started their swimming careers in the East have been selected:

Ellie Challis Clacton Swimming Club

Grace Harvey Hoddesdon Swimming Club

Olivia Newman-Baronius Maxwell Swimming Club

William Ellard Saint Felix School

Louise Fiddes Hatfield Swimming Club

Congratulations to everyone! and Good luck in Paris!