Brian DeVal

Three swimming coaches have been hailed as ‘lockdown heroes’ for their innovative ideas and achievements to keep people active throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

They were among 25 coaches nationwide honoured at the UK Coaching Hero Awards Ceremony in Leeds.

Will Philpot, Crawley Swim Team, Richard Smith, Marlborough Penguins, and Craig Prime, Wrexham Swimming Club, all received a memento from HRH The Princess Royal to mark the accolade bestowed on them.

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Lisa Mickel (Crawley Swimming Club) has been heavily involved in aquatic sports since the age of 12 when she first joined Crawley SC.

She is a masters swimmer herself and now has two children in the club where she also coaches the post-graduate squad.

She encouraged communication during the pandemic by setting up a WhatsApp group and has worked extremely hard to ensure that members never lost motivation when they couldn’t be in the water.

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Since May 2020, Sport England have been running a successful crowdfunding initiative called Active Together, helping sports clubs and other organisations to set up and run their own crowdfunding campaigns to help sustain themselves through the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis.

Initially with a £1 million budget from the National Lottery, Active Together was designed to help with the immediate financial impact of coronavirus and in the longer-term, the return to play.

To date, the Sport England has supported campaigns with a financial pledge towards their target fundraising amount, but in addition to this, we’ve been providing:

• free 1-2-1 coaching by experts
• advice and guidance on campaign improvements
• access to free online courses
• free 30-minute webinars, monthly.

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Almost 2,000 swimming pools could be lost forever by the end of the decade unless the Government and local authorities ‘act now’ to replace or refurbish ageing facilities.

Swim England has warned in its new A Decade of Decline: The Future of Swimming Pools in England report that there will be a huge reduction in the amount of water space available by 2030, which could threaten the future of aquatic sports in some areas and leave millions shut out of the activities they love.

The looming shortage is based on pools which were constructed in the 1960s and 1970s and are coming to the end of their lifespan – while not enough new facilities are being built to replace them.

While the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the issue, it is not a direct cause for the dire prediction.

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Poolside practical sessions of the Swimming Officials Judge 1 training are being resumed after being put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The move has been described as an ‘important step forward’ for volunteers who are working towards the qualification.

Since the beginning of 2020, the training has included an online theory session followed by practical poolside elements – which trainees had 11 months to complete.

However, the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent pool closures due to the national lockdowns obviously prevented trainees from completing the poolside element.

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This competition will not be like previous competitions because this year has not been like previous years.

Swimmers have not been able to train normally or to compete as they normally would. Because of this we have really focussed on the needs of swimmers and provided the best possible racing environment so that our athletes can gain the times they need to qualify for higher competitions or for our County Championships in February.

We are aiming to license this gala at Level 2 because it will help swimmers. The programme has been streamlined by removing all the competitions that normally run alongside our galas, including club and age group points. This means that swimmers can focus on achieving the best times they can in the events they are most likely to need in the months ahead.

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Swim England has confirmed the dates when the national artistic swimming events which make up the Virtual Series will take place.

Four competitions will be held for all age groups throughout September, October, November and December.

However, instead of each event being held at one venue, clubs and individuals will perform routines in their own pools during a certain time period and submit video footage which will be scored by qualified judges.

The top routines will then be shown during a Facebook live stream and the winners announced. 

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The Swim England South East Region Swimming Group met on Thursday 15th July to finalise arrangements for the upcoming Festival of Swimming. Our primary objective is always to provide a quality competition that allows as many swimmers as possible to compete in the safest environment. Because of the measure we have set out below we have been able to accommodate around 30% more swimmers than we originally expected.

The spread of COVID is still causing concern in all parts of the country and the impact on those infected, and their contacts, is significant. Although the Government has lifted all legal restrictions associated with controlling the spread of COVID and leisure centre operators have decided to do the same, the Festival galas will continue to mandate strict social distancing and the wearing of face masks.

Why have we taken this decision?

Government rules still require, until August 16th, any contact of someone who tests positive to self-isolate for 10 days. That would have an immediate impact on people’s ability to work and to go on holiday. It would also place a significant risk on the Region’s ability to run the second weekend of competition and potentially deprive clubs of the staff needed to continue to operate.

As the promoter of the competition the Region has a duty of care towards swimmers, coaches, officials, and parents. After careful consideration, we have assessed that the risk associated with running the competition with no restrictions to be unacceptably high.

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The Swim England South East Region Awards return in 2021 with the winners being announced in October.

The Awards recognise and celebrate the incredible spirit of our aquatic community especially evident during these challenging times. They showcase individuals and groups across a number of categories based around two streams: Inspirational Awards and Innovation Awards reflecting our ability to adapt and meet the challenges our community has faced.

Nominations close on Sunday 15th August 2021.

To nominate someone special