Last weekend Joe Reynolds competed at the SE East Region Age Group Championships at Luton in the 13 year old age group.  This was Joe’s first experience of competing at a Regional event and also of racing in a Long Course pool.  He has progressed through our squad system and now trains with the Age Group squad and this is a major step-up for this young swimmer after making finals at this year’s County Championships.  Joe recorded an impressive 37.02 for the 50 Breaststroke which is much quicker than his previous Short Course time and this placed him in 10th place in the Region and second reserve for the final............an impressive debut.

Thanks to Lee for being with Joe poolside.

Below is a write-up by Joe of his experience at this event

 "A few months ago I took part in an open meet in Potters Bar to try to get a qualifying regional time which I managed to successfully achieve with a time of 38.l5.  Leading up to the event I trained at the Luton pool which is a 50m pool just to feel what the pool was like, it felt weird at first but then it was ok. 

I felt a bit nervous the night before but I slept fine and tried not to think about it. I made sure I had plenty of porridge for breakfast to give me lots of energy. 

When I arrived at the pool there were lots of people from different clubs like 'Great Yarmouth' which is quite far away from Luton. Lee was there to support me which really helped my nerves as this was the first time I had taken part of the East Regional Championship. 

When I got called up for my race I was still a bit nervous. The race went by really quickly and I finished 2nd in my heat and 10th overall in the region. I was really pleased as I had been ranked 25th leading up to the event. My expected time for long course was about 39 seconds but I managed to achieve a 37.02 which I couldn't believe, I was really happy. 

It was a great experience and I will continue to work hard to achieve a county and regional qualifying time for next year. My goal is to make the final at both events. 

As a treat my mum bought me a regional hoodie and racing shorts followed by a visit to Burger King!"

Joshua Holland and Neo Metz competed at Norwich over the Bank Holiday weekend in the Swim England East Region 2018 Long Course Championships.

Saturday

Josh recorded a PB of 1.02.46 in the morning heats of the 15 Year Old 100 Butterfly which placed him 6th and into the final that evening.  In the final Josh lowered his heat time to record another PB of 1.01 85 and finished in 5th place.  At present this is fast enough for a place in the English Summer Nationals in Sheffield.

Sunday

Josh was again in action in the morning heats in the 50 Freestyle and recorded a time of 26.61, another PB and placed him first reserve for the final.  Neo Metz competed in the afternoon in the 17 and over 50 Breaststroke.  This was Neo’s first experience of competing at a Regional Championships and recorded an excellent swim, winning his heat in a time of 33.04, just 0.04 slower than his best Short Course time and finished in 29th position, 27 places above his ranking.

Monday

Josh was back in the pool in the morning competing in has favoured event, the 50 Butterfly.  He was seeded second fastest and in his heat posted a time of 27.66 and safely through to the final as second fasted qualifier later in the afternoon.  In the final Josh improved upon his heat time and finished in 2nd place with at time of 27.20, just outside his PB.  Josh now has a full set of gold, silver and bronze medals in this event.  This time currently places Josh in the top 24 in his age group and a place at the British Summer Nationals.

Well done to all our swimmers who took part in the School District Gala. They all achieved some good swims and all of the individual races swam by Hertford swimmers got PB's.

Olivia Whyley was also there who had been called up as a reserve.

Katie - 50 back - 36.72

Zoe - 50 breast - 56.93

Nate - 50 fly - 45.95

Isla - 50 fly - 42.90

Olivia - 50 fly - 44.00

Katie - 50 free - 32.05.

Im afraid I didn't get the relay splits. Katie got gold for both of her races and Olivia and Zoe got bronze in the Medley relay. 

Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its community funding scheme, which sees grants of up to £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000 – all raised from carrier bag sales in Tesco stores – being awarded to local community projects. 

The public will now vote in store during March and April 2018 on who should receive the awards. 

Find out more about Bags of Help here

The committee are pleased to inform all members that we have been fortunate enough to receive monetary awards of £500 each from Councillors Bob Deering and Andrew Stevenson. The awards have been given via the Councillors Locality Budget. Their generosity will support the training provision we have in place for our coaches and teachers and we hope in turn benefit existing  and new members.

At the at the English National Winter Swimming Championships in Sheffield Joshua was ceded in 12th place out of the 14 year olds going into the 50m Fly competition and 68th overall in the open age group. He produced a fantastic personal best time of 27.04 sec to came 2nd in his heat finishing 4th fastest 14 year old and 42nd overall in the open age group competition.

Joshua Trapp and Joshua Holland competed in their first East Region Winter Championships at UAE Sportspark, Norwich at the weekend. This competition is run as one open age group with a single qualifying time per event and this year was run long course. Both boys did exceptionally well to qualify.

Joshua Trapp posted 27.46 in the 50 Free and was place 90th  (the twentieth fastest 16 year old)  and Joshua Holland recorded 28.26 in the 50 Butterfly and was placed 48th ( the second fastest 14 year old).

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In May Joshua Holland aged 14 representing Hertford Swimming Club competed in the 50m Butterfly at the East Regional Long Course Championships held at the UEA Sportspark, Norwich.  Joshua finished in third place with a time that qualified him for the Swim England Summer National Championships held a Ponds Forge Pool, Sheffield early August. 

The top twenty four in the country in each age group are invited to swim in the British Championships and the next twenty are invited to the Swim England Championships.

Joshua competed in the heats in the morning session and finished in joint second  place with a time of 27.78, a massive personal best and  this qualified him for a place in the final that afternoon.  In the final Joshua again lowered his time to 27.59 and finished in fifth place.  

This is a fantastic achievement for Joshua who trains six times a week mainly at Hartham Pool.  He is now ranked the eleventh fastest 14 year old in the country in the 50m Butterfly.

My experience in Sheffield by Joshua Holland -

At the ASA East Region Championships in May I achieved a national ranking in the 50m Butterfly which led to an invitation to compete in the 13/14 year old combined age group of the Swim England Summer National Meet. The meet was held on Sunday the 6th of August in the Ponds Forge international sports centre in Sheffield.

I went into the competition seeded 8th with a time of 28.37sec. I was extremely nervous and I didn't want to disappoint everyone at the club and my family who had been wishing me well. After an early start and a long warm up I swam a personal best of 27.78sec in my heat which put me in joint 2nd going into the final.

In the final I swam another personal best time of 27.59sec a 0.78sec improvement of my time going into the competition, gaining a very respectable 5th place finish in an tightly contested and extremely close final. I am very proud that in addition to coming 5th in the championships, my time puts me 11th for my age group in Great Britain. 

I have to say an enormous thank you to Steve, as the head coach he gave me great support in training before the event and at poolside in Sheffield. Also a big thank you to the club for organising the extra early morning training sessions for me in the lead up to Sheffield.

Ashley Ransome also competed at the English Summer Nationals for the third year running in the women’s 17 and over 50m Breaststroke. In the heats, Ashley achieved the fastest heat swim of all competitors, swimming a 0.5 second personal best, which is no mean feat at the her age, qualifying her for the final the same evening. In the final, initially the scoreboard placed Ashley in 8th, but after an agonising wait, confirmation finally came to show that Ashley finished in the gold medal position and is the 2017 17+ 50m Breaststroke English National Champion.

Although Ashley was representing Staines SC where she trained whilst attending Royal Holloway University, she has been a member of Hertford SC since she was 7 which has helped her to achieve her long term goal in swimming. Ashley has commented that she would like to acknowledge the effort that Hertford SC has provided, especially head coach Steve Barber, has put into her swimming over the last 14 years and allowing her to train and compete for the club whilst at home. 

Ashley has now finished her degree and started work a couple of days after Nationals. She is still considering what to do next with her swimming.

After his successful Regional Championships at Norwich Joshua has been invited to compete in the Swim England National Championships at Sheffield in early August in the 13/14 year age group 50 Butterfly.

He is ranked 30 in the UK and the top 24 compete at the British Championships and the next 20 English swimmers in the English Championships.  This is a massive step up for Joshua and is a fantastic reward for both Joshua and Hertford for the hard work that he put in over the past year.

Many congratulations on this achievement.

Ashley Ransome has been invited to compete at the Swim England Summer Championships.  This is the third year running that Ashley has qualified for this competition and we wish her well in Sheffield.  Ashley spends a majority of her time training with Staines SC as she has away studying at Royal Holloway.