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AGM 2009 ASA mailing consent for adult members Competitions e-mail update service - keep up to date Fees Galas - help required Items for publication Parents' responsibilities Policies and Codes of Conduct .pdf files Qualifying times East Region qualifying times are gained at Essex Championships and Licensed Open Meets only. Represent your club at the Regional Championship held at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. East Region Youth & BAGCAT qualifying times 2010 National qualifying times are gained at Essex Championships, Regional Championships and Licensed Open Meets only. Represent your club at the National Championships held in Sheffield. National qualifying times 2010 These events are spread across the year, please pay attention to closing dates for events relevant to your swimmer/child. If
you have any questions please feel free to ask. Swimmers' Handbook
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Home galas - help required Many of you may not be aware of the total number of qualified personnel officially required for the correct running of a gala. These are as follows - As older swimmers leave, not all parents continue to help and we always need extra volunteers. Within the above list there should be something to suit everyone and needless to say training will be provided. We are extremely grateful to all our voluntary officials and the level of commitment is entirely up to you. Timekeeping & Judging Courses The Club can organize a short familiarisation course for timekeepers, run at our convenience in Colchester, and the county ASA will arrange for the supply of test papers (all multiple choice format) at the end of the course. These courses are usually run in the autumn. Once qualified the new Timekeepers can do as much or as little on the poolside as they wish. Some may only want to officiate at home for the Club or perhaps at the Club Championships for one or two sessions each year. Others will be keen to travel with the team to away fixtures while some will officiate at the County Championships. Electronics, Announcer or Recorder Training Anyone wishing to become involved with these jobs can make arrangements by speaking to anyone at the Club to arrange gaining the necessary experience at any time, by shadowing these jobs at home galas.
TREASURER'S REPORT The accounts for the financial year ended 30th September 2009 indicate that we have a surplus and therefore an increased accumulated fund compared to the end of the previous financial year. The open meet resulted in a profit of £5991 compared to £5213 the previous year. In the current financial economic climate that was upon us on the run up to the Open meet an increase in swim shop sales and entry fees really did help the club achieve a healthy profit. Sponsorship for the open meet was lower this year but many of the committee feel that this was down to companies cutting back financially where they could. A big thank you to everyone who helped with the organisation and collection of money for the Open Meet. A big thank you goes to all collectors of membership fees and to Alan H the Accounts Examiner. This is my last year as Treasurer and I thank all the committee for their continued support throughout this year and as I will be staying on the committee will be giving my full support to Andrew D as he takes on the role of Treasurer. Lisa B
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY'S REPORT The membership figures taken October 2009 are as follows:
Despite all the disruption caused by the unavailability of our normal training facilities at Leisure World I am pleased to report that during the year the club has only lost two or three members and this is as a result of swimmers/parents having to juggle other commitments and not for any other reasons. As we approach 2010, with new committee members joining I would also like to welcome Jackie M into my Position as Membership Secretary, and wish her success in her new role. Unfortunately you have not seen the last of me, as I will continue to collect subscriptions for the ASA fee. In closing, I would like to thank everyone on the committee, club and swimmers for their patience and support during my time as Membership Secretary and wish Colchester Swimming Club all success and the best for the coming year. Bridget H
JOINT CHIEF COACHES' REPORT The pace of time marches on relentlessly, which brings us to that time to reflect on the activities and progress of our Club over the past twelve months. The whole scenario of British Swimming continues to change and influence the way in which we direct our organisation and activities. While we still remain a relatively small Club we have a very creditable impact on the competitive scene. We are supported heavily by the input of parents and voluntary helpers and with the turmoil and uncertainties we have experienced in the latter part of this year we would not be in the position we are now without their continued display of confidence and commitment to the furtherance of the Club. Pool closures always produce horrendous logistical problems in trying to maintain some measure of cohesion and continuity in a club's training regime together with considerable inconvenience to swimmers and parents with the constantly changing training schedules. Everybody has lost out in some way but our thanks must go out to the splendid work of our Chairman and Club Secretary who have given an enormous amount of time in repeatedly negotiating contingency plans to see us through this period in an effort to minimise the disruption and cost to all - the last few months have seen them burdened with a thankless task with the tremendous amount of work that has gone on behind the scenes. Their efforts have been paramount in maintaining the smooth running, stability and unity within the Club. The last year has seen the development and progress of a very good base of young swimmers coming through that have left their mark on the competitive scene. The presence of an excellent number of poolside helpers at these sessions has enabled a more structured and effective programme to be established. Their input is much appreciated and long may it continue. But although the numbers and strength at this level is a very positive factor and indicator of healthy development, it has led to some congestion and constraint in progression to new squads as a result of the limited availability of resources. We have managed to maintain in a broad spectrum of competition fixtures from open meet to league galas, in which the Club has produced some very creditable results. This involvement has extended into County and District events with record numbers competing successfully. We operate in a very dynamic environment and swimmers develop and move on to pastures new as they finish school or college and set their sights on further education or maybe the commercial world. Sargon Yousseffi is one such person having successfully gained a place at Loughborough University. Prior to his departure he represented the Club at the National Youth Long Course Championships at Sheffield having qualified in the 100m Butterfly, Freestyle and 50m Freestyle. He produced three excellent results surpassing his previous best times in all three events. We wish him well and success in his future endeavours. Thomas Rootsey, now at Cambridge University, continues to represent the Club and display his prowess in the open water winning the Great East Swim at Alton Water and earlier the Great North Swim and Sonny Trigg took the top podium place at the Big South Swim. The success of our swimmers in competition is as a result of their hard work and commitment in training, which has reflected, in some excellent results throughout the year both in team events and individual competition. Well done to you all, you have been a pleasure to work with. Other performances worthy of note include Cameron Simpson who took third overall place in the Regional Bagcats, won the 400IM and medals in numerous other events. Philipppa Davenall was second overall in the Bagcats and won both the 100 and 200m breaststroke including numerous other medals while Spencer Prior was awarded top boy at the Essex Championships in the 9 year age group, winning all his events with the exception of the 50m breaststroke and further set event best times for 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle. It is good on occasions to see some of our more senior members return to train or assist with the activities of the Club. We would like also to thank our Club Captains, Bronwyn Carter and Oliver Crosby for their hard work and support throughout the year. We wish Oliver well for the future as he leaves us to take up a place at the London School of Economics. The Masters section continues to remain an important part of the Club and maintains a stable base with some members enjoying competing successfully in County, District, Open Water and Triathlon events. Our thanks go to both our Competition Secretary Amanda W for her work in co-ordinating the entries for Region, County and Open meets and to Jane L for maintaining a data bank of swimmers current personal bests. Everybody's time is at a premium these days and so our thanks must go to all parents, poolside helpers, team managers and coaches for their help and support throughout the year, in however small a way that may have been. This has been particularly appreciated over the last few months throughout the period of uncertainty and disruption with the Leisure World pool closure. The success of the Club relies heavily on the voluntary contribution of many, many people and assurance that we all pull in the same direction in an effort to provide an environment for our swimmers to succeed at their desired level and maximise their full potential. We look forward to a more stable year ahead and the further progress and development of our swimmers in maintaining the profile of a Club of which it is pleasure to be a member. Michelle Y & Ian J
WELFARE OFFICER'S REPORT I have enjoyed assisting the Club during the year and meeting a wide range of children and adults and I thank many of the Committee members for their support and advice during the year. It is very appealing to see our swimmers develop both physically and emotionally in the safe environment of the club. We now have a number of adults who have been through a child protection training course and the Club can now feel confident that we have met the ASA guidelines for all our activities. I am pleased to report that there have been no substantial welfare issues which have arisen during the year and the workload has only been one of providing advice and ensuring that all adults requiring CRB clearance to work with our children have been cleared or are in the process of being cleared. The Government's new Vetting and Barring scheme has been delayed and now comes into operation in the autumn of 2010 but the CRB process remains to be run in parallel. I have nearly completed a review of a large range of club policies in the light of the latest ASA recommendations and these will be available for next year's committee to consider. I have offered my services as the Club Treasurer for next year and I will be very happy to provide any advice or training for my successor. Andrew D
COMPETITION SECRETARY'S REPORT Taken from the ASA Mission Statement: To ensure everyone achieves their different personal goals throughout their lifetime. There are four tiers of structured competition. Open Meets are licensed according to the purpose of their competition as Level 1, 2, 3 or 4. Over the last year, the numbers of swimmers entering Open Meets and the number of Open Meets we take part in, have once again increased. This means a larger work load for me. I am very grateful to other parents coming forward and handling the entries for open meets. More and more events are becoming electronic, which in turn means swimmers must know their entry times, where they achieved the time and fill in their forms correctly. Computers will just reject the swimmer if the information is incorrect. I would like to thank everyone who has helped from collecting the forms, to inputting the information, to handing out the cards. There is always room for more people to help. COMPETITION FOR ALL Amanda W
FIXTURES SECRETARY'S REPORT Another exciting and successful year, in every area of competition in the three leagues that we compete. We continue in Division One of the National Speedo London League and compete against highly rated clubs such as Hatfield, Camden Swiss Cottage, Team Ipswich, Ealing, Wandsworth and many others. The League has twenty four clubs competing and Colchester finished 17th in the 2008 competition. At the time of writing this report we are about to swim in Round One of the 2009 competition and waiting for us are: Hatfield, Romford, UEA City of Norwich, Sutton and Cheam, Bishop Stortford, Hemel Hempstead and Anaconda. This League has now obtained a new sponsor and in future will be known as the National Arena London League. The Junior Swimming League (M11) is a competition for the younger swimmer. Again we compete in Division One and of the twelve clubs who competed Colchester finished third, Thurrock were first and Kingston Royals were runners up. This League gives the younger swimmer and those in their first Gala a feel for the atmosphere and excitement of competing at this level. The Essex Mini League has been running for many years and our Club has competed in this League since the start. Originally this League was aimed at swimmers who were just outside Essex times. Following the last Gala Colchester have ended top of the Mini-League with Rochford as runners-up. What a great result. During the last few years when dealing with all the administrators of these various Leagues, time and time again many compliments are made about how the officials and swimmers conduct themselves at Galas and the good image we have as a Club. A special thank you to Michelle and Ian and all their team of helpers who have through their hard work and dedication have enabled the Club to go from strength to strength. Norma C
LIFESAVING REPORT We meet each Tuesday during term time at Leisure World in the diving pit from 5-6.30. The first half of the time is spent on dry side activities, Life Support & water safety. Congratulations to Samantha, Stephanie & Christina for achieving the Bronze Medallion Life Saving Award in May. Due to pool closure we haven't met since July. There have been a few enquiries & hopefully we should start with renewed zeal in January. Diana H
WEDNESDAY IMPROVERS REPORT Classes run for 10 weeks each term from 6.00-6.30pm or 6.30-7.00pm at the Garrison. The new term has seen a drop in numbers with only 65 on the register. Although there are plenty of enquiries & a long waiting list for the beginners classes which are full. Over the past year 9 of our top classes have been selected for the Junior Squad. Congratulations to them and we wish them well in the future. I would like to thank all of the teachers & helpers who have given freely of their time over the past year:- Sarah B, Sarah R, Donna C, Joe & David G, Sheridan P, Brian K, David H, Daniel H, Stella H (admin.), & Samantha & Katherine H (helpers). Sarah B & Sarah R are now doing their graduate teacher training & we wish them well in the future. They have been teaching for the club between 5 & 7 years. Jo G is having a break while doing a course. So we are on the lookout for more teachers. Thanks also to the lifeguards for their assistance in preparing the pool. Diana H
FRIDAY IMPROVERS REPORT All of our swimmers continue to be motivated and show marked improvement in style, stamina and speed. We have a dedicated team of ten teachers who take a keen interest in the swimmers' progress and their individual requirements. The early improvers have grown in confidence and have worked hard to earn their Pool Frog badges and distance awards. The intermediate and advanced groups are now taking advantage of our length swims which is benefiting their lane discipline and stamina; we intend to develop this further over the coming year. Grateful thanks go to our hardworking team of volunteer teachers who strive to make the session fun whilst encouraging the best from the swimmers. Christine W
PUBLIC RELATIONS SECRETARY'S REPORT Time has come round again, all too quickly, to reflect on the past year in the life of Colchester Swimming Club and what a year it has been. Since I took the post of Public Relations Officer the club has gone from strength to strength, I feel privileged to write reports on all the events our members have competed in. It is not always possible to mention everyone individually but this does not deflect from the fact that every competitor works extremely hard and represents themselves and the club superbly when attending competitions. When receiving feedback from the coaches before a report is written the one phrase that crops up over and over again is "brilliant team spirit", this along with the words "excellent support for each other" is so heartening in times when young people are often criticised in our press and society. I have enjoyed reporting this year on our many successes both with individual and team events. Personal best times have been gradually improved or smashed and hoards of medals have been won at Open Meets. A huge number of swimmers across all age groups reached the Essex County Championships where many medals were won, many finals were reached finishing with placings in the top 6 and the club was extremely proud to have Essex County Champions at the event. Colchester finished a magnificent 5th overall out of 31 clubs; it certainly put us on the map. A good number of swimmers also worked hard to gain precious Eastern Region times, competing in the Bagcats and the Youth Championships, producing some superb swims in a long course pool and celebrating Regional Champions, a fantastic achievement by all. The club also celebrated the success of a national qualifying swimmer in Sargon Youssefi, a wonderful reward for his commitment and dedication to training. Teams of swimmers achieved great things in both the Junior Speedo and Mini Leagues reflecting the excellent team spirit spoken of earlier. I must not forget the Masters section of the club who compete to a very high level and the Water polo section that had a wonderful year with great wins in both their League and cup games. The club endeavours to build on it's relationship with the local press to help raise the profile of the club, the vast majority of reports sent in have been published, hopefully this will continue. Our relationship with our sponsors, Griffin Chapman, also strengthens and we thank them for their continued support. We also thank other local businesses for their support, particularly for our Open Meet back in May. The club has coped admirably recently during a very difficult time with pool closure and timetabling of training sessions and I realise the importance of our notice board at Leisure World for displaying our many achievements. Thank goodness the electronic age has enabled us to keep up-to-date via the website for all the recent news. Barbara S
SUPPORTERS' SECTION SECRETARY'S REPORT To borrow a phrase from another sport, "it has been a game (or rather a year), of two halves", for Supporters' Section. Supporters' Section contributes to the positive achievements of the Club such as Club Championships and our highly successful Open Meet through helping to organise these events as well as ongoing commitments such as running the Swimshop and various social events. The first half of the year included our Club Championships in the Autumn. These events were licensed with the ASA for the first time and our organisational committee, judges and parents rose to the challenge to ensure an efficient championship over the many evenings and weekends involved. Our events were followed by our Presentation Evening and it was pleasing to see so many attending to celebrate the achievements of all our swimmers at these Championships and during the year at County and National events. Our Open Meet in May was again a resounding success thanks to all involved with the extensive preparation before and on the day. It is a credit to our Club that we can consistently stage such an event with high levels of competition as well as being efficient and enjoyable for swimmers, supporters and visiting Clubs many of whom return annually and comment on our achievements in this direction. The second half of the year provided many challenges. The events surrounding the closure of Leisure World have certainly stretched our support network to the limit. We endeavoured to ensure all swimmers and parents were kept up to date by e mail and our website, and provided with as much water time as we could obtain served by our team of excellent coaches the majority of whom are voluntary. However we have I think managed to retain our "Club" identity and look forward to getting back to our "home" pool. The Swimshop was a casualty of the move to the Garrison pool and although I was initially operating a "mobile shop" the news that a partial collapse of the roof at Leisure World into the Swimshop cupboard was a cause of concern to say the least! The resultant stockchecking and salvage operation has meant that the Swimshop effectively lost half its stock and awaits an insurance claim payout. On the Club wear front, the Club hoodies have proved extremely popular and together with our poolside shirts have ensured that our teams look very professional wherever they compete, a fact commented on by other clubs. The evident enthusiasm and dedication of our swimmers is reflected in the support and encouragement they receive from parents and helpers. Thank you also to all who have helped throughout the year at galas and open meets. As we approach Club Championships again please come forward if you feel you can help to lighten the load as events such as these could not otherwise exist. Supporters' Section wishes continued success to all swimmers, members and parents. Pearl W
WATER POLO REPORT Once again Colchester has had a successful year. Firstly in the winter league where we won both the Eastern winter league and Handicap cup double for the first time in recent years. It was a great performance for a team often relying on the same players to turn out week in and week out. Without the luxury of the pool time that our main competitors have to bring through youngsters, we have had to rely on the commitment of our regular senior players. The Summer leagues are a busy time as we enter both the Essex and Eastern leagues. Unfortunately with this increase in game time it means we have little time for training and to bring on young players as our allocated pool time is taken to the games we must play to remain in leagues. Although we have had various people turn up to try and join polo it is hard when we often have 3 consecutive home games leaving us with no training time. However we have continued to produce some quality polo in recent victories over Basildon and Hornchurch. Just as the rest of the club have struggled to cope with the temporary closure of the fitness pool we have had to adjust our games to play away games as our home games. Often meaning we have had to travel vast distances just to remain in the leagues. We have been lucky enough to have a few training sessions at the vastly superior polo pool at the Garrison. We have even picked up 2 players from the Army. Once again we have sent a team to the Borcolo tournament in Holland, one of the largest tournaments in Europe and also to the Bishops Stortford tournament which is due to take place this weekend (17th October). Several of our squad were also selected to play for Essex in the Southern counties tournament held in Watford in February. We really are desperate for some new blood in our squad, hopefully when the fitness pool is finally reopened we can start to run some junior sessions. There has been an increase of local junior teams in our area and it would be great to see a Colchester junior team so we can see a future to Colchester Water polo team. Martin V
LADIES CAPTAIN'S REPORT Elsewhere you will read all about the team's collective and individual successes and the challenge of the pool closure and how we as a club have overcome this. So I will not focus on these but rather write a little more specifically of the role of Ladies Captain. Through attending committee meetings and having the chance to work more closely with the coaches, parents and swimmers, I have learnt an enormous amount about how the club operates, trying to balance what's best for the team as a whole while meeting the needs of swimmers of different ages and abilities. There have been issues demanding confidentiality, sensitivity, practical action and planning. I have had opportunities to improve my listening, communication and organisational skills, and am grateful for all this involvement has taught me. Although I am currently Captain I am by no means the most able swimmer nor the most dedicated trainer, yet I bring to the role the maturity of an experienced senior swimmer, and am able to set aside my own needs and views to support and enable other swimmers, in training and at competition. I have also enjoyed enormously the social interaction with my peers, the coaches and younger swimmers, there's always someone to make you laugh or cheer you up after a bad race, with a fantastic team atmosphere and great support at galas and social events. I am pleased with the contribution I have been able to make to the club this year, while prioritising my studies in preparation for A levels and university, and hope to have the opportunity to continue in this role for another year. Bronwyn C
MEN'S CAPTAIN'S REPORT I am very thrilled to be writing this report having had the honour of being the Men's Captain for the club this year. I hope to match the extremely high standards of previous reports whilst keeping the word count down to three digits, as Churchill once said: "Please forgive this very long and drawn out letter, I did not have time to write you a short one." So far, it's going well. I will start off by saying that this has been an extremely exciting time to be a swimmer at the club and throughout the year there has been success in all areas. The atmosphere in the club has been immense and we have an ever increasing great 'pool' of swimmers, (sorry about the horrible pun). At the start of this year yet again we saw another successful club championship, which saw over twenty records 'tumble' across all age groups. Sadly, some could only last a few minutes, as one slightly older member of the club found out, but what a few minutes they were. On top of this we had what is arguably the most exciting event of the year for the swimmers, the Speedo League galas. After a tough winter training schedule and superb start to the season, the Christmas gala was the perfect way to top off the year and it was the perfect opportunity for some of the younger ones to get some racing under their belts. Of course, we cannot forget the epic Christmas Disco! Again this year an excellent event, although I fear Michelle's dancing may have deterred people from Discos to come. Both the Christmas Gala and Disco, (as well as many other events that were held throughout the year!), require a great amount of voluntary help from parents and senior swimmers alike and I would like to thank everyone who did help out this year for helping them to run so smoothly. As we moved into the New Year it was time for the Essex Championships and this year yet again we had more swimmers than ever competing. On top of this the club had tremendous success throughout all age groups finishing seventh in the overall club ranking, with several swimmers winning events and many more getting into finals. However, it is not just about medals and finals. What was more important was the level of personal success for all of the swimmers. Whether it was getting to the championships for the first time or swimming a PB or even both, it was great to see that all of the swimmers were progressing so much. The fact of the matter is, all you can hope for as a swimmer is that you better yourself and it was great to see every swimmer doing this throughout the club. However, to be able to perform well at any of these events lots and lots of hard training was needed. Michelle did not hesitate to provide this throughout the year and with land training already in full swing at this time, with Roy providing his usual hour of pain on a Sunday morning, the only thing that could top it off was a trip down to Norwich for a long course session. This was a personal highlight of my year, never before had I and many of the others actually cried with pain at the end of a session. Soon after Essex and several other open meets earlier in the year, East Region was upon us - both the Youth and BAGCAT championships. Both were well attended and our previous long course session paid off - all swimmers swam exceptionally well, with many finalists and other great swims. At this time of the year as well, the Essex Mini League and Junior Speedo League competitions for the younger swimmers were in full flow and not only was the team spirit excellent but the results were superb, showing the club really has a great range of swimmers. We should not forget the clubs very own open meet as well, this year a particularly successful event which saw more records go - it's just a shame the cake competition was rigged. Of course this year as well, the club were lucky enough to have one swimmer, Sargon, qualify through to the national championships for several events. I would just like to congratulate him on his achievements. I am sure the club will have more swimmers there very soon. At this stage, this being my last year as a full time swimmer at the club, I would just like to thank everyone involved in the club for all the hard work they have put in over the years. Being a swimmer at the club for the last ten years has been a great experience for me and the club has helped me in so many ways. In particular thank you to Ian and Michelle, who have always made it enjoyable and have shown tremendous commitment to improving all swimmers. Also I would like to thank Terry, who has guided the club through a very difficult period when the main pool has been closed. Sorry about the length of this report; as you can now see Churchill was absolutely right! Ollie C
HON SECRETARY'S REPORT Club Championships started our year and here we are back full circle. The intervening months have been packed full of amazing achievements and a great deal of work from many has culminated in excellent successes. Our swimmers have again done themselves and our Club proud at all levels. Others' reports highlight specific performances and I add my congratulations to theirs. The exceptional support for the Club, from all quarters has exceeded all expectations this year. Competitive swimmers learn to deal with disappointment and overcome challenges, hopefully growing stronger and enjoying their successes. As a Club we have been disappointed and challenged this year, but I believe this has served to highlight our strength as a club and remind us that all parts are vital for the whole to succeed. I think Colchester Swimming Club can move on with great confidence to enjoy further successes in that knowledge. Our volunteer force has been incredible, it would take pages to thank each person individually. Some in particular have undertaken huge amounts of work, you know who you special people are, many thanks to you. Terry has quite rightly offered thanks for the commitment and support shown. He has led by example, not just "talking the talk", but truly "walking the walk" and the committee and Coaches have pulled together with him and done a terrific job. Stepping down as Hon. Secretary has caused me to reflect on what I have gained from my experience at CSC. I've learnt new skills, I've enjoyed our meetings, smattered with much laughter, along with the serious stuff and one or two difficult and tense moments. It's been a largely positive, certainly fascinating experience, which has taught me much about myself as well as those around me. Whatever you give you receive back ten fold. Such a privilege too, seeing our youngsters growing into responsible and well-rounded young men and women. I sincerely hope they all gain as much as I have from being part of CSC. I thank Denise, for agreeing to deal with taking and reproducing the minutes, which has always been a challenge to me, and Tony B, my successor. I hope all swimmers; remember you are equally important to the Club. Take time to enjoy every single one of your individual and teams' achievements, I'm sure there will be many if you support one another and make the most of your time at a great swimming club. Chris R
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