The region would like to announce the new East Region President, Mr David Metcalf. David is looking forward to the year ahead. The region would like to thank the outgoing President Mr Chris Vinter, for his time in post over the past year.
Jo Stalley
Regional Award Winners 2019
A huge congratulations to the winners of the Swim England East Region Awards 2019. Winners were announced at the Annual Council Meeting on 14th September. These awards are given in recognition of the outstanding work our members put into their sports. They highlight the dedication and enthusiasm of those that are making a difference. Thank you to everyone that took the time to nominate, without your help, we could not celebrate our role models in this way.
The winners for 2019 are:
Jeff Cook Salver– Derek Milton, Welwyn Garden Swimming Club
Long Service to Aquatics– John Bellis, South Beds Masters Swimming Club
Coach of the Year– Sue Purchase, St Felix Swimming Club
Club of the Year– Modernian Swimming Club
Technical Official of the Year– Ian Macleod, Southend Diving
Volunteer of the Year– Tom Baster, Basildon & Phoenix Swimming Club
Youth Volunteer of the Year– Canvey Island Swimming Club Youth Volunteering Team
Youth Achievement of the year– Zoe Parnham, Aqualina Synchro Club
Congratulations also goes to those awarded with a Silver Pin this year:
Liam Barnett- City of Cambridge Swimming Club
Lesley Cox- Smith, Leighton Buzzard Swimming Club
Sarah Elmer- Deben Swimming Club
Amanda Hackett- Dunstable Swimming Club
Liam Harvey- Diss Otters Swimming Club
Marion Henthorn- Beaumont Diving Club
Louise Lano- Southend Diving Club
Derek Milton- Welwyn Garden Swimming Club
John North- TeamIpswich Swimming Club
Sharon Perry- West Suffolk Swimming Club
Sally Russell- Mildenhall & District Swimming Club
Jo Young- Modernian Swimming Club
Reflecting on Summer Swimming Successes
As the majority of our swimmers, parents and coaches are enjoying a well-earned rest over the summer break, we just wanted to put a notice out to say a huge well done to everyone. The end of season summer meets, both British Summer Nationals and the home nation events in England, Scotland and Wales, were all well attended by East Region athletes and clubs. It’s by far been our most successful year in terms of both qualifiers and performances. The regional team are still analysing the large amount of data to come out of the summer events, but with a European Junior title, multiple international representations, a British record and a record number of clubs making the trip to British Summer Nationals, we are certainly very excited to see what this coming season has to offer. Our athletes, coaches and parents have all done an amazing job this year, and we hope everyone is well-rested, refreshed and ready for the excitement of Olympic season! Good luck everyone!
Medals for East Region Swimmers at World Masters Championships
Fifteen swimmers from East Region clubs competed at the FINA World Masters Championships in Gwangju, South Korea between 12th and 18th August. There were multiple medals for Hannah Ueckermann (Whitham Dolphins) who picked up two gold, one silver and one bronze, and Lucy Ryan (Team Anglia) who collected three bronze medals. Stuart McLellan (Sudbury) also came home with one gold and one silver medal, with Kitty Craig (Sudbury) winning a bronze medal.
Results for East Region swimmers are available and more information regarding the Championships can be found on the Masters Hub.
Hughes takes European Junior GOLD!
Nathan Hughes (Hatfield SC) returns to the United Kingdom as the International Junior Champion for the 10k Open Water. The 19 year old secured the European title at the LEN European Junior Open Water Swimming Championships 2019 on Saturday 3rd August in the Czech village of Racice, which is north of the country’s capital Prague.
Winning in a time of 1 hour 55 minutes and 49.9 seconds (1:55.49.9), British Swimming said of Hughes “he led the way producing a mature swim, featuring at the spearhead of the race throughout and breaking clear into clean water to claim the gold medal by over a one-second margin from his nearest rival David Huszti from Hungary.”
“The weekend’s championships provided an invaluable stepping stone for our young open water swimmers, who conducted themselves incredibly well throughout.”
The Championship schedule was rounded off on the Sunday with the GBR Mixed Relay Team finishing in 6th place. The GBR Team was mad up of: Emilia Sansome (Wycombe); Maisie Macartney (Thanet), Nathan Hughes (Hatfield) and Hector Pardoe (Ellesmere).
Success for East Region Swimmers at National Open Water Championships
The Swim England Open Water National Age Group Championships were held on 5th August at the new venue of Thrybergh Country Park, Rotherham. In total, there were 37 swimmers taking part from East Region clubs, with a gold medal for Ruby Wheeler (Basildon & Phoenix) in the girls 13 years, 2K event. There was also a silver medal for Lewis Binning (Basildon & Phoenix) in the boys 16 years 5K event and a bronze medal for William Fawcett (Watford) in the boys 12 years 2K event.
Full results are now available on the Swim England Open Water Hub.
Diving National Age Groups and National Skills Finals
Diving National Age Groups and National Skills
It’s been a busy few weeks for diving clubs from the East Region with the Diving National Age Groups (NAGs) being held in Sheffield from 27th – 30th June, followed by the National Skills Finals in Plymouth on 6th & 7th July.
A total of 38 divers representing Beaumont DC, Cambridge DC, Dacorum DC, Luton DC and Southend DC attending the Diving NAGs. Full results are available online, with particular success for divers from Dacorum and Luton who came away with individual medals. There were also multiple medals for East clubs in the synchro events.
Individual
| Name | Club | Age Group | Position(s) |
| Oscar Kane | Dacorum | Group D | Bronze – 1m Bronze – 3m |
| Jorden Fisher-Eames | Luton | Group D | Gold – Platform |
| Alfie Whytock | Luton | Group C | Gold – Platform Silver – 1m |
| Katie Townsend | Dacorum | Group B | Silver – 1m |
| Maisie Kivlochan | Dacorum | Group A | Gold – 1m Silver – 3m |
| Grace Connolly | Luton | Group A | Bronze – 1m Bronze – Platform |
Synchro
| Pair | Club(s) | Age Group | Position |
| Alfie Whytock & Jorden Fisher-Eames | Luton | Group C/D | Gold |
| Joshua Bush & Connor Lano | Luton & Southend | Group C/D | Silver |
| Baye Cook-Macdonald & Lyra Guise Tucker | Luton/Star | Group C/D | Bronze |
| Katie Townsend & Maisie Kivlochan | Dacroum | Group A/B | Gold |
| Olivia Wall & Chloe Hackett | Luton | Group A/B | Bronze |
While at the National Skills Finals, there were thirty four divers from East Region clubs. Full results are now available, with medals won by the following divers:
| Name | Club | Group | Position |
| Lucy Parker | Luton | C1 | Gold |
| Ludo Waterman | Luton | C2 | Gold |
| Alliyah Omar | Luton | B+ | Silver |
| Sadie Stratford | Southend | D1 | Bronze |
| Rufus Bord | Cambridge | D1 | Bronze |
| Hannah Cundell | Luton | C1 | Bronze |
| Matthew Lewis | Southend | C1 | Bronze |
| Olivia Capon | Southend | B+ | Bronze |
East Region Clubs at Swim England Synchro Combo Cup
Six of the region’s synchronised swimming clubs sent teams to the Swim England Synchro Combo Cup on 6th July at the London Aquatics Centre. There was medal success for the first time at the Combo Cup for Brentwood, and successive Combo Cup medals for Aqualina who came away with three medals this year . Full results and event reports can be found on the synchro hub.
Swimming Regional Championships 2020 Update
We are aware that coaches and clubs are in the midst of planning for the 2019-20 season. Whilst we are still waiting on information regarding final venues and scheduling of the programme, we can release the following information regarding the 2020 Regional Championships in order to best support coaches and clubs in their planning.
The dates are not necessarily as originally planned, but owing to the change in May Bank Holiday and the shortened qualifying window for nationals and Olympic Trials, we are making the best of the time we have available. More information will be released shortly, but for now we hope the information below is useful:
Saturday 28th March – Afternoon/evening – Distance events
Friday 24th April – Evening – Distance events
Saturday 25th April – All day – All remaining events (Schedule TBC)
Sunday 26th April – All day – All remaining events (Schedule TBC)
Saturday 2nd May – All day – All remaining events (Schedule TBC)
Sunday 3rd May – All day – All remaining events (Schedule TBC)
Friday 8th May – All day – All remaining events (Schedule TBC)
Masters Championships – Entries Open
Entries are now open for the East Region Masters Championships being held on 29th September at Newmarket Leisure Centre. All entries must be received by 16th September 2019. For more information, please visit our Masters Competitions page.
Regional Swimming Development Camps – Coach Applications Open
Applications are now open for skills coaches for our regional swimming development camps later this year. For more information about the camps and to apply, please visit our coach development page. Applications close on Sunday 7th July.
Coaches who don’t meet the criteria to apply for a skills coach position are welcome to shadow/observe at one or more camp. Please email our Swimming Talent Officer, Kevin Pickard, to register your interest in attending.
Bookings open for ‘Lessons from Champions’ event
We are please to announce bookings are now open for our innovative ‘Lessons from Champions’ event on the 22nd September 2019. Full details can be found here. Tickets are available on a first come first served basis and are open to everyone (athletes, parents, coaches and volunteer) from all disciplines. Bookings close on 11th September 2019.
