Worthing SC’s head water polo coach has been named as British Swimming’s Water Polo Coach of the Year 2023.
The award recognises Alastair’s work with the boys team and recent National Age Group titles.
Brian DeVal
Sussex members win South East Region Awards
Technical Official of the Year
Chris Hobbs – Eastbourne Swimming Club
What people said about Chris: Chris has gently encouraged many to become involved within the swimming officialdom and provided unbounded support to swimmers.
Chris has a talent for gently encouraging individuals to volunteer. Her un-pushy but quiet persuasive approach providing un-rushed guidance to many. Chris has taken many from observers to senior officials. She is completely dedicated to the sport and those within.”
Water Polo Coach of the Year
Lauren Hand – Mid Sussex Marlins
What people said about Lauren: Lauren started her coaching career at Mid Sussex Marlins where she still works with the junior program helping young players who are starting on the water polo pathway. She is still an important member of the Marlins ladies team that plays in division 2 of the British Water Polo League and she is also one of the coaches that works with the squad in preparation for all of the matches.
See the full list of the 2023 South East Region Awards Programme winners.
Sussex Volunteering and Achievement Awards 2023
With more than 25 nominations received from club members we announced the winners of our 2023 Sussex Volunteering and Achievement Awards 2023.
See who picked up the awards
Alfie Penfold breaks British 800m record
Alfie Penfold (Crawley SC) set a new English and British record for S13 swimmers in the 800m freestyle with a time of 10:58.45.
The record was set on the first weekend of the County Championships at K2.
Qualification window for 2023 British and National Summer Meets revealed
The 2023 British Summer Championships will take place at Ponds Forge International Pool in Sheffield from 22–28 July, ending just five days before the start of the National Summer Meet inside the same venue.
Following the successful return of the summer championships and summer meets in 2022, the competitions will provide a valuable opportunity for thousands of swimmers across the country to take part in the end of season events.
The qualification window for the Championships and the respective home nation meets will be open from Friday 10 March to Sunday 21 May.
Selection for the competitions are by invitation only with the top 24 top-ranked swimmers in each event in each age category invited to attend the British Summer Championships, except for the 800m and 1500m Freestyle contests, where the top 18 athletes will be invited.
How you can help support Swim England’s #SaveOurPools campaign
Swim England is encouraging its members, clubs, swim schools – and everyone who uses a pool, to get behind our campaign and support our efforts to ensure the Government provides additional support for swimming pools and leisure centres.
These facilities are crucial parts of local communities.
Not only are they the homes of our swimming, para-swimming, diving, water polo and artistic swimming clubs, they help support the health and happiness of the country, saving the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds and they are where millions of people learn how to swim and be safe in the water.
But they are under threat as a result of soaring energy prices.
We are already seeing reduced opening hours and pools closing across the country and without additional support from the government the situation will only get worse.
There are a number of ways you can help us fight for our pools.
National Winter Championships 2022 qualification period extended
Following a review, Swim England’s Swimming Leadership Group have voted to change the qualification period for the 2022 Swim England National Winter Championships.
The decision has been taken after feedback from coaches and swimmers noted that the opportunities to reach the qualification times have been severely restricted by the Covid-19 lockdown period.
There was little swimming in England between March 2020 until the start of the following season in September 2021 meaning there have been a limited number of meets for competitors to set a representative time in.
Having considered the situation, the decision has been made to change the initial qualifying date to 1 November 2019.
The times to enter will still have to be achieved at a Level 2 meet between this date and the closing date of 22 November 2022.
Applications open for Swim England Senior Swimming Coach programme
Applications are now open for the 2022 Swim England Senior Swimming Coach programme.
The year-long course will enable Swim England Level 2 swimming coaches to apply the most current and innovative techniques to ‘create an environment in which athletes can thrive’.
Up to 30 spaces are available on the programme, which is aimed at coaches working with those competing at regional level or above.
Applications need to be submitted by midnight on Sunday 3 July with those successfully shortlisted being informed on or after Monday 11 July.
The course induction will then take place the following week with a mixture of four face-to-face workshops and online learning throughout the year.
Crawley win overall points and relay trophy at Sussex Masters
Congratulations to Crawley SC on winning both the Club Points and Relay Trophies at the Sussex Senior Age Group and Masters Championships in Horsham on Sunday 23 May.
Swim England creating resource for coaches to support athletes with eating disorders
A new educational resource to help club-level aquatics coaches support athletes who may be struggling with eating disorders is being created by Swim England.
The creation of the resource aligns with National Eating Disorder Awareness Week which takes place from 28 February – 6 March and aims to fight the misunderstandings that surround eating disorders.
The resource will consist of a referral pathway and is being produced by Swim England’s sports science and medicine manager Diane Elliot and performance nutritionist Laura Salmon.
The new pathway will include information on where athletes can get support in their local areas and examples of screening questionnaires for coaches and sports science staff to use to help identify those who need further support.
It will also contain GP referral letter templates to allow athletes to get appropriate support from their GP and gives athletes guidance on how to discuss the matter with medical professionals.
