Lost Property - 20 May 2012
Left at Loughton by the never open coffee shop was a yellow mesh bag with float, pullbuoy, short blue/grey fins, three pairs of goggles, two grey one pink inside. Please contact Suzanne Peddle - 01992 815103 if it is yours.

Bracknell & Wokingham Level 1 Open Gala
Congratulations to the small team that swam at Aldershot this weekend, they managed to get two golds, Marissa Posnett and Amelia Peddle 50 fc and Marissa also took silver in the 100 fc. Lots of long course pb's and some fantastic swims, well done to Lee Baker, Fraser Barclay, Marissa Posnett, Amelia Peddle and Charlie Tompkins swimming in her first long course gala with some fantastic times.

Thurrock Gala - 15 May 2012

Thurrock gala held on 13th May 2012 was well run and enjoyed by all who swum on the day. All swimmers achieved p.b’s so well done everyone –

Madison Smith Imogen Jones Elena Davidson Amy Woolski Connie Knights Mia Jones Vathana Gopinath Caitlin Clifford Fraser Barclay George Pigram

George started the 1st session with a good 400 fs in a time of 7.00.38 which earned him a 2nd place medal. He followed this with a 3rd place in his 200IM 3.52.99. Unfortunately due to a football commitment he missed his favourite race a 200 br but did return later to swim a 200 bk and 200 fs. What energy! He must have been exhausted by the end of his busy day! All the girls who swum a 400 fs made good times. Amy 6.39.81 Madison 6.11.65 – 26sec pb, Elena 6.01.72 -20sec pb and Imogen 5.55.28 -25 sec pb.

The 2nd session saw Fraser win a 1st pl in his 200 IM – another pb for Fraser with a time of 2.38.45. More pb’s followed with Vathana knocking 18 secs of her 200 back. Imogen took 3rd place in her 200 bk with a massive pb and time 2.59.95.. Elena also- big pb and time of 3.12.11. Caitlin swum hard in her 200 fs race and was rewarded a time of 3.09.34 and a big pb for her. All other 200fs swims Amy Elena Mia Vathana and Connie – excellent all with pb’s

3rd and last session 200 IM and 200 br for girls and even though the events had been swum recently at Redbridge a few weeks before both Mia and Connie swum extremely well knocking more seconds off their times. Madison knocked 9 secs off her 200 br and nearly 13 secs off her 200 IM. Connie and Imogen also had brilliant IM swims.

So well done everyone who swum. Keep working hard and those secs will hopefully keep coming off.

East Region Youth Championships at Basildon - 5th/6th May

Well done to all the swimmers who took part in the East Region Youth Championships at Basildon last weekend. It was a busy two days with Epping Forest gaining 3 medals and some very good times.

Congratulations must go to Hayden Thomas and Marissa Posnett for achieving the 3 medals - Hayden got silver in 50m Breaststroke with a time of 32.31 and the bronze in 100m Breaststroke with a time of 1.11.11, whilst Marrissa gained the silver in 50m Freestyle with a time of 27.78 - also a National time long course. Other finalist were James Hollis in 200m Butterfly, Freddy Cassford in 50m Butterfly, 100m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle. A great PB came from Chloe Ward in the 100m Freestyle with 1.03.90 and a well done to Katie Whiffin for braving the 400m IM - the last race on Saturday evening. Other competitors who swam well were Jenna Van Bergen, Lee Baker and Henry Maher.

Forthcoming Gala's.
Please note the club will be entering the following galas -
Sunday 13th May - Level 3 Thurrock 'one-day' Regional Qualifier - full details at www.thurrockswimmingclub.uk.com
Entries to Hilary Thomas no later than Tuesday 10th April.

Sat 30th June - Level 3 Harlow Penguins. Full details at www.harlowpenguins.com.
Entries to Hilary Thomas no later than Tuesday 22nd May 2012

There are upper time limits for each gala.
Any queries please talk with your coach in the first instance.

East Region Champs

Full details of the East Region Youth and Bagcat Champs are now available on the East Region Website and can be accessed by clicking on the link to the right of this page.

BAGCAT Champs (10-14 years) June 2nd/3rd and 9th and 10th 2012 - UEA Norwich

Remember: Age means age on June 10th 2012. All times to be achieved between October 1st 2011 and closing date. Details will also be posted on the notice board at Loughton.

Entries should be made on EFDSC form and handed to Hilary no later than: 3rd April 2012 for Youth and 8th May for Bagcats

Any queries please speak with your coach in the first instance.

Bracknell and Wokingham Level1 LC meet 19/20th May 2012
We will be entering the above long course meet which is to be held at Aldershot Garrison Sports Centre - a superb venue which has seen many successes by EFDSC swimmers in the past! Although a Level 1 the entry times will allow both our older swimmers a further opportunity to chase national times and for our younger swimmers to gain experince in a long course competition. Entry times are short course- ie 25m times and therefore do not have to be converted. Full details and QT's can be found on their website @ www.bwsc.org.uk or the notice board at Loughton. Please discuss your entry with your coach in the first instance. Entries should be made on club entry form and should be handed to Hilary Thomas no later than weds 25th April

IPC Championships Sheffield - 09 April 2012
James Hollis returned to Sheffield this weekend to compete at the IPC International long course Champs. This event was also being used as the final trial event for many international swimmers who bid to secure their place on their respective team for the 2012 paralympics. James was chasing the QT of 59.49 in the 100m butterfly.....

...'James Hollis became the first British S10 swimmer to break the minute barrier in the 100m Butterfly final.

The 17-year old bettered Jody Cundy's 10-year old British record with his 60.04 heat swim, but he tore past the minute mark in the final, touching in 59.53....'

....Unfortunately this was 4/100ths outside the required qualifying time and he will have to wait until Tuesday morning to see if he makes the team alongside his sister Emma who has already achieved the QT in 400m freestyle.
Congratulations to Emma and James - both have been selected as part of the GB Team to compete at the 2012 Paralympic Games!

Hats

I have now placed order - 9/4/12

After discussions with some of our more experienced swimmers it has been requested we have a 'racing' hat available, this will be a 'deluxe moulded silicone' similar material to the ones British Swimming use for their GB hats. I do have a sample available (which has been tried out by our swimmers), but i have to return the sample within the week.

It will still be black with a yellow E printed on both sides, but will come with the option of having your name printed on both sides of it as well.

Prices for the deluxe moulded silicone will be approx £7, with your name printed approx £9.

Prices for the original flat silicone will still be £5, and with your name printed approx £7.

Hats will take approximately 5-6 weeks to print.

If you would like to either of these hats please email peddle.family@ntlworld.com with your exact requirements, e.g. flat or moulded, full name or part name and how many required.

Essex Counties Block C - busy weekend.....
Last weekend saw the final Block of the Essex Champs at the new Basildon Pool. Starting the Block in a healthy 11th position out of the 27 clubs entered all swimmers were fired up and ready for the challenge....and they did not disappoint acheiving a total of 5 gold, 1 silver and 8 bronze medals and 18 top 8 places and if that wasnt enough we also acheived two event best times, one national qualifying time and a British Record! Lee Baker started the medal haul on Sat taking an easy gold in the 100m back. This was followed by Amelia Peddle acheiving gold and an event best time in her 50m back. Henry Maher a gold in the 50m fly and another event best time and Fred Cassford a bronze also in the 50m fly. Marrisa Posnett swimming an excellent pb in her 50m free came in silver postion easily achieving her National QT and Lisa Waite another excellent pb and bronze medal in the same event! James Hollis swimming in the 200m fly broke another S10 SC British Record - thats 3 in three weeks!.Sunday was a busier and much longer day but again saw much excitment and another 2 gold and 6 bronze medals. Haydon Thomas took a comfortable gold in 200m breastroke and a bronze in 50m breast whilst Lee won another gold this time in 100m free and a bronze in 200m backstroke. Marissa took a further bronze in 200IM, and 100IM and Amelia a further bronze in 100IM and Henry a bronze in 100m free. Well done to all other swimmers who competed over the weekend most of whom acheived good pb's and top 8 places. We managed to retain our 11th position overall with 618 points.

Congratulations to....................
.....James Hollis who travelled to Ponds Forge, Sheffield this weekend to take part in his 5th and final DSE Youth and Junior National Championships. James, who has been captain of the highly successful 'Team East' disability swim team for the past two years bowed out in style taking gold in each of the four events entered. He equalled his 100m fly time swam at counties last weekend which ratified his British Record in the event but the big surprise came when he also smashed the 100m backstroke sc record in a time of 1.05.05! Well done to James who returns to training for the final 12 days before he competes at the IPC International meet in Sheffield over the Easter weekend where he will attempt to secure a place on the GB team to compete at the Paralympic games later this year!

How do I check my pb's on the British Swimming website

A number of swimmers/parents have asked how to check personal best times that are registered on the British Swimming website so we have produced the following guide -

Click on ASA swimmer times link in right hand box on this page (opens new window)

Click 'current rankings'

Click '12month rankings'

scroll to bottom - 'where are you' - enter ASA number and select long or short course and press submit.

This will provide you with a list of all times achieved at licensed meets. It is updated regularly. When entering a gala that states that times must have been acheived at a licensed meet and appear on the British Swimming database this is where you go to confirm.

Any queries please ask Alison Hollis or your own coach.

Essex League Round 3 - 17/3/12

We all headed to Harlow Pool for the third round of the Essex Swimming League. We started well with the team being in 3^rd position after the first set of events, behind Barking & Dagenham and Harlow Penguins. After the second set we were still in 3^rd place. The third set of events saw us perform to our best and we finished that set in 2^nd place behind Barking & Dagenham and 5 points clear of Harlow Penguins. As we entered the final set of events we were pushing Barking & Dagenham but unfortunately couldn’t catch them and they won by 5 points. We finished second, 12 points in front of Harlow Penguins in third place.

A fantastic overall performance from every swimmer, they should all be proud of themselves. Keep up the training for the final round on May 26^th at the Walthamstow Pool & Track.

Special mention should go to Connor Raven who was asked to swim up in an Open event against swimmers from other clubs some of which were in the twenties and the U11 boys who swam in the U13 category.

Essex League - 17/3/12

For the record : 1^st Placed swims were : U11 f/c girls relay (Dora, Vathana, Imogen and Amelia), U11 f/c boys relay (Michael, Samuel, Zac and Joe), 50m Fly (Lisa), 50m f/c (Dora), U13 girls f/c relay (Connie, Charlie, Hannah and Sasha), 100 f/c (Lisa), 25m fly (Dora), 25m Fly (George), U15 girls Medley relay (Katie, Alice, Deana and Lisa), U11 girls Medley relay (Dora, Amelia, Imogen and Vathana), 100 Br (Marissa), 100 Br (Lee), 50 fly (Katie), 50 Bk (Amelia), U15 girls f/c relay (Katie, Alice, Deana and Lisa), 100 f/c (Marissa), 50 Br (Amelia), 50 Fly (Alice), 100 Bk (Katie), Open girls f/c relay (Marissa, Amy, Emma P and Emma W), Squadron relay (Amelia, Zac, Alice, Michael, Lisa, Bentley, Marissa and Lee)

The Team : Dora, Vathana, Imogen, Amelia, Michael, Samuel, Zac, Joe, Connie, Charlie, Hannah, Sasha, Billy, James, George, Deana, Alice, Lisa, Katie, Bentley, Ryan, Connor, Fraser, Danny, Lee, Adam, Oliver, Marissa, Amy, Emma W, Emma P,

Special thanks to Greg (Coach) Dave (Team Manager), Liza & Suzanne (Helpers) , Debra and Alan who were our officials.

Lost Property - Harlow 17/3/12
Left poolside tonight at the Essex League at Harlow - E hat, black tyr goggles and clear/black speedo non-drip bottle. If they are yours please speak to Greg or Suzanne.

Jack Petchey - April - May 2012

Its that time again to get your thinking caps on and place your nominations for the next round of voting for the Jack Petchey Achievement Awards Sceheme. The Achievement Awards Scheme enables the Club to recognise, reward and celebrate the achievements of our young members. It is not about being the fastest or the more gifted but about recognising efforts and contributions of members. It works well because the swimmers themselves are involved in the nominating individuals and selecting the winners. The winner will be given the opportunity to make a financial contribution to the Club they are involved in.

Each winner receives:

- A framed certificate

- A Jack Petchey young achievers badge

- £200 to be spent on a club project nominated by the young person ( a wish list will be provided)

Nominees must be between 11 and 25yrs and the voting for the first period of 2012 is now open.

Anyone from the Club can nominate so let’s get thinking and get the nominations in. Forms will be passed to all 4 top squads and are available on the JP download bar above. Please pass nomination your coach or Alison Hollis no later than 31st May 2012

Essex Age Group Champs - block b. - 11 March 2012
And so another Essex Block comes to an end! This weekend Block B took place at Braintree and seemed to be a much quieter, quicker affair with fewer events, fewer swimmers and empty seats - but it was no less exciting! On Saturday Amelia Peddle acheived some excellant pb's making the final in the 100m breast securing 5th place and an excellant 7th in the gruelling 400IM. Alice Wang also swam the 400IM and Chloe Ward the 400m free coming in 7th position. Lee Baker acheived a 3 sec pb in his 400m free securing 3rd place in his age group and a further pb in the 100m breast securing 4th in the final. Hayden Thomas our breaststroke specialist took a magnificent silver in the final in what was an extremely exciting final draw. Jenna Vb acheived a reserve finalist spot in the 100m fly. Sunday started with Amelia back in action swimming an excellant pb to take her into the final of the 100m back where she swum even faster and was rewarded with a bronze medal for her efforts. Lee Bakers impressive swim in the 100m fly secured him a place in the final as did James Hollis. Lee managed a further pb in the final just being pipped into 4th place. James not to be outdone also swam an excellant final securing a further personal best time and breaking the current S10 British Record by half a second. Katy Whiffin swimming in the 100m breast made the final where she matched her heat time and a well deserved 4th place. Marissa Posnett competed in the 400m free and took an excellant 3rd place but it was the 100m breast that made the afternoon where she swam a 3 second pb and took the silver medal - much to her own surprise! Congrats to all who competed and we look forward to the final Block to be held back at Basildon at the end of the month.

British Champs .............. -

We do hope that all who were able to attend the British champs last week enjoyed themselves? Its was a great opportunity to see the Nations top swimmers compete in the Olympic pool and secure their places on the GB team. What a fantastic venure and thanks to Debra who was able to sucure the tickets on behalf of the Club. Also swimming were our potential paralympians including James and Emma Hollis who were also bidding for a place on the paralympic team. Emma managed to swim 6 secs inside the QT for the 400m freestyle getting the hard work out of the way on day 1. James although achieving a pb and winning the 100m fly (3rd on MC points) remains 8 tenths outside of the QT although he will get another chance to qualify at Trials 2 in Sheffield over the Easter break.

James and Emma would like to thank all who sent messages of support and congratulations - having so much home support at the pool during their races was a real boost!

SAINSBURYS VOUCHERS - 11 March 2012
The club is again collecting Sainsburys vouchers this year so please give all your vouchers to any committee member or the Secretary. In past years we have bought equipment for the club as well as some new cups so your support for this is very much needed.

East London Mini League - 3/3/12
Saturday saw the latest round of East London Mini League at Walthamstow. We had Greg as coach, Wendy, Sue and Suzanne as poolside helpers and a hastily recruited Bridget as timekeeper.

We had lots of fast swims (not always a good thing for Mini League) which unfortunately resulted in 7 time faults. However, Joseph Ahern, Amy Woloski, Vathana Gopinath, Michael Sharp, Caitlin Clifford, George Pigram and the boys 10 and under relay team (James Grant, Ellis Van Eck, Kieran Wakefield and Jamie Levy) did win their races and scored maximum points. This along with many 2nd and 3rd finishes meant we ended the night in second place overall.

Greg would like to thank all the swimmers for their impeccable behaviour, you were a credit to your club. Well done.

Essex Counties - Block A - EFDSc off to a flying start.......
The weekend saw an exciting and successful weekend for EFDSC swimmers at Block A of the County Championships held at the new Basildon Pool. Entries were down on 2011 due to injury and holiday but from the 40 swims we achieved 45 personal best times (including finals), 20 finals, 8 in top 8 in heat declared events, 11 medals including 3 gold 2 silver and 6 bronze. Medal winners included Amelia Peddle silver 50m breast, Henry Maher gold and event best time in 50m free, silver 200IM, bronze in 50m back, Lisa Waite bronze 50m fly and 100m free, Lee Baker gold 50m back and 100m IM, Katie Whiffin bronze 200m breast and 50m breast. Other top 8 placings included Jenna VB, Alice Wang, Amelia Peddle, Katie Whiffin, Chloe Ward, Hayden Thomas, Lisa Waite, Emma Waite, Ellen Gilespie, and George Whalley. Other swimmers although not acheiving top 8 positions clocked up some excellant personal best times. At the end of the first Block we believe EFDSC to be sitting in 10th place. Individual places not available at the time of writing. Well done to all who competed and we look forward to the next Block in March. (A summary of results can be found on the notice board at Loughton.)

Oh to share the limelight.......

Adlington and Hollis light up BUCS Swimming Championships

10/02/2012

The first session of the BUCS Long Course Swimming Championships came to life with world class swims from student Emma Hollis and guest athlete, double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington, both in the 800m freestyle.

Emma Hollis from Loughborough University (and EFDSC), who broke two world records in the S8 category at the BUCS Short Course Championships in November 2011, broke the European record over 800m in a time of 11.22.80, smashing the previous mark by over 5 seconds.

Well done to Emma.............

Essex league round 2 report (21st Jan)

We fielded a full team for the coach journey to Eltham to compete in round 2 of the Essex Swimming League. We started well with the team being in 3^rd position early on. After another ten events we had moved into 2^nd place, and had the leaders in our sights. The competitive spirit was visible in all the swimmers efforts as they fought for every point available. As we entered the home straight we were 2 points behind the leaders. Due to an even greater overall team effort in the last set of events, we pulled away to earn a commanding win by 17 points.

Congratulations to all the team as every member contributed to a successful and enjoyable competition. Keep the training up so that you are ready for round 3 on March 17^th (Harlow) and round 4 on May 26^th (Walthamstow Pool & Track)

For the record, 1^st placed swims were : 11 and under girls free relay, Lisa (50 fly), Hannah (50 back), girls open medley relay, girls and boys 13 and under free relays, Lisa (100 free), Amelia (25 fly), George (25 fly), Emma Powell (100 back), girls 15 and under medley relay, girls and boys 11 and under medley relays, Hayden (100 breast), Katie (50 fly), Amelia (50 back), girls 15 and under free relay, Lee (100 free), Alice (50 fly), Katie (100 back), girls open free relay and the final squadron relay.

The team: Mia, Imogen, Olivia, Amelia, Michael Sharp, Sam, Zac, George, Connie, Charlie, Hannah, Sasha, Max, Joe, Finlay, Katie, Alice, Deana, Lisa, Fraser, Tom, Payaam, Bentley, Emma Powell, Ellen, Emma Waite, Amy, Lee, Hayden, Oliver and Harry. Special thanks to Dave, Ella, Suzanne, Debra and Alan for their poolside help.

Club swimmers selected to represent Redbridge at the London Mini Games - 04 February 2012
A big well done to Dora Zhou, Zac Martin, Zac Foster and George Whalley in being selected to represent Redbridge in the London Mini Games.

Report on first Barking & Dagenham Aquatics Trophy Gala - 04 February 2012
A busy last weekend of January 2012 saw Gary Couch take a team to the new ten lane pool in Dagenham. The format was challenging with relays, 200s, 100s and 50s. Fielding swimmers from the club in two lanes in each event stretched all the swimmers. Temperatures were raised (mainly in the Gallery -it was hot!). It was the first gala to be held in the new pool testing the electronics and the Officials! Well done to all.

Zonal Champs - Corby
A number of our performance squad swimmers travelled to Corby over the weekend to take part in the 2nd Midland Zonal Champs. This Champs is one step up from Regions and one down from Nationals so all 7 swimmers have done really well to qualify for this high level meet and all swimmers put in high level performances to match. Lee Baker had an excellant first day chalking up LC personal best times in the 100freestyle and 100m backstroke. Henry Maher made the final of the 50m free with ease as did Haydon Thomas who also put in an excellent LC time in the 100m breast. Amelia Peddle who at just 11 yrs did so well just to qualify for this meet, put in a strong swim in the 100backstroke. At the end of a very long weekend we were then treated to two further exciting races when Henry Maher swum a lc pb in the 200m freestyle as did Marissa Posnett in the 100freestyle winning her heat easily and narrowly missing out on a place in the final by the tiniest margin! Our disability swimmers Emma and James were also in action ahead of the Trials and bought home a collection of Gold and Silver medals between them. Thanks to all swimmers for making it such an enjoyable if not tiring weekend.

Bishops Stortford Gala - Braintree
A big well done to all of the 13 swimmers who competed at the Bishops Stortford Gala over the weekend. From 38 swims we won an amazing 30 medals and acheived 24 pb's!
Big Congratualtions to Amy (smiley) Woloski who took gold in two events - 100IM and 50m free and a further 2nd and two 3rd places in other events. Joesph Aggarwal also took gold in his 50m free plus a further 2nd and 3rd position. Wojceich Serwacki acheived his first Essex time in the 50m free swimming a 29.56 - a pb of 4 secs. Well done to Wojceich and watch out performance squad boys - he is on your tail!!!! Well done to all others who swam and also to Amy Stock- one of our older swimmers who is trying so hard to get back to competitive swimming and had an excellant 200IM even though she was carrying an injury in her knee from the previous race! keep up the Good Work!

Your Club Needs You

Your Committee Needs You
We are now reaching the end of an eventful and jam packed year at an exciting point in the Club’s history. Our two paralympic hopefuls are already warming up for the British Gas Trials in March which will hopefully see them secure their place in the British Team whilst our national and regional swimmers are in action this weekend.

There is a still lots of work to be done to ensure we continue to produce fantastic swimmers, with a Club which supports them, providing the infrastructure they need to succeed. The Clubs’ AGM is fast approaching and the Committee needs new volunteers and helpers to make 2012 an incredible year for all our swimmers. There are lots of jobs that need to be done, big and small ranging from Treasurer, Membership Secretary, Swim21 Coordinator, and Gala Promoter to media manager and trophy organiser, there is something to suit everyone.

If you feel you have time each month to attend a Committee meeting and help shape the future please consider putting your name forward. If, however, you don’t feel able to make a regular commitment but would be able to take on a specific role for the club or would just like to be more involved please come and have a chat. I will be at Loughton Pool on Sunday 29th January from 5-6pm to answer any questions you may have.

The Committee would especially like parents from the LTS, J, Development and Advanced Development squads to feel they have a voice in how the Committee is run. If your child is in one of these squads please think about coming to join us as your views and opinions will help to determine the future for our young swimmers.
I look forward to meeting with you all.
Kind regards

Jacque Beer
EFDSC Chairperson

British Gas Zonal Champs - Corby 28th/29th Jan 2012

Full details of the above meet are now available on the ASA East Region site at eastswimming.org.uk. including lists of accepted swimmers and competitor numbers. The sessions start at 9.00am amd 2.30pm and I am assuming that the warm-up is one hour before but cannot find confirmation at the mo! Good luck to all who are competing -see you there!

EFDSC Presentation Evening 14th January 2012
It was great to see so many swimmers and their families at the Annual Presentation Evening last night. A special thank you to Alison Hollis and her team of cooks and helpers for making it a great evening for all to celebrate all the swimming achievements in 2011.

Change top Essex Champs dates 2012

ESSEX AGE GROUP COMPETITION 2012 DATES
BLOCK A Basildon
17th Feb
(evening1500 only)
18th Feb& 19th Feb
Block B Braintree
10th March & 11th March
Block C Basildon
30th March
(evening 800 only)
31st March 1st April

Entries must reach Hiliary Thomas no later than 7th January 2011. Please read the entry information carefully before submitting your entry and discuss any queries with your own coach in the first instance.

Christmas Fun Gala 22nd Dec 2011

Well done to all swimmers who competed at last nights Christmas fun gala. An especially big well done to our Junior swimmers who turned out in force, some swimming thier first races in this big pool! Congrats to 'James's Jellyfish' who won on the night, but only just, beating the Masters by 3 points! Big thanks to all who helped out, our loyal team of timekeepers and members of the committee who had lovely warm mince pies ready and waiting for us! Also big thanks to Greg who single-handedly ran the event, started, judged, refereed, briefed the captains and wore a silly hat throughout! But the biggest thanks of the night must go to Father Christmas who found time in his busy schedule to visit our ducklings!

Just leaves one final thing to say and that is to wish all swimmers and their families a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year!

Arena League 10th Dec 2011

Saturday saw the concluding Arena League competition held at the Hatfield Uni pool. Despite a late arrival (the coach taking a detour via Forest Edge!!) the team were quickly into first gear and both senior swimmers set excellant times in the opening 200IM events. Competing against the top teams in Division 2 it was never going to be an easy win and with a couple of swimmers down we were unable to field the two junior relay teams thus losing valuable points. However never a team to accept defeat our swimmers fought hard in each and very race with some excellant times being achieved, particularly by our middle age group swimmers! As always the climax of the evening were the final two 6 x 2 relays which were exciting and noisy affairs! We managed 6th on the evening which I believe gave us an overall 5th place at the end of the competition. Well done to all who competed over the 3 evenings, those who coached and 'officialed' and of course the parents of our official supporters club!!!!

CLUB CHAMPS UPDATE - 18 November 2011
Sunday 20th November 2011 Club Champs will be the boys 200 free, girls 400 free, boys 50/100 breast. Warm up 5pm

The last Club Champs scheduled for Sunday 11th December will be on thursday 15th December 2011 and will be the boys/girls 400 IM. Warm up sharp 7pm

The changes are due to lack of officials being available on certain dates and the events have been switched as the Sunday session is longer and can accommodate more events. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

East Region Winter Meet Sat 4th and Sun 5th December 2011
Full details of confirmed entries, draft programme and schedule times are now available to view on the ASA East Region website at www.eastswimming.org.

Club Gala Runs Like Clockwork - 13 November 2011
Great to see EFDSC swimmers return from the second round of the Arena League Gala with an impressive third place on Saturday night to follow it with a plethora of PBS at our home gala with many of our younger swimmers competing for the first time. Many thanks to all volunteers and officials who made the gala run smoothly and raise valuable funds for the Club

Killerwhales Winter Open Level 1 - 17th/18th Dec
The club will be entering the above long course meet at Basildon Sporting Village. With many top competitions now moving to long course this is an excellant opportunity to compete in a long course pool and chase County, Regional, Zonal and even National times. Please visit their website for full details at www.killerwhales.co.uk including events and qualifying times. This meet is open to all swimmers 9+ yrs and who are reg Cat 2 members. Any queries please speak with your coach in the first instance. Entries must be submitted on the club form and handed to Hiliary Thomas nolater 6th November. For those of you who have yet to swim at the new Basildon Pool, its a wonderful facility, easily accessible, plenty of free parking and a good cafe.

Exciting Essex League Round 1 - Sat 22 Oct

A lot of fantastic swims at Pool+Track where Epping secured a fantastic 2nd place in this first round event. All the team swam well, but special mention to Ellen Gillespie who carried on swimming despite being bloodied and bruised from the warm-up. Well done to all. Bring on round 2 (Jan 21) !!

National Inter-counties - Sheffield

Good luck to 3 of our performance squad swimmers Marissa Posnett, Haydon Thomas and Henry Maher who travel to Sheffield this weekend to represent Essex County at the National Inter-counties Competition. We wish the very best to all three, and also to Dave Baker who travels with them in the role of team manager. Best wishes and swim fast!

Stop press- All had excellent swims - Marissa 58.93 100m free, Haydon 1.09.57 100m breast and Henry 54.43 in 100m free. Well done to all!

TROPHY - 17 October 2011
Can you please return any club trophy you won last year to Jo Whiffin after half term so that they can be sent to the engravers for this years winners to be added. Thank you

National ArenaLeague 2011
National Arena League - First round to Epping!!!
Last night saw Round 1 of the Arena League fought out in style at the Eltham Centre. The atmosphere was electric from the outset and Epping Forest took the lead in the first event when Marissa cruised to an easy win in 200IM and acheived a pb in the process. The following relays bagged some mixed results with the 9 -11 yrs free relays acheiving top 4 places. Both of the older girls relays took easy wins as did the older boys medley team with a superb finish by Freddie. Amelia, swimming in numerous age groups picked up first place in each of her events.Lee took first place in the 100m back bagging a whopping 2 sec pb. Other wins included Lisa and Marissa in their 100m freestyle events and helped Epping to maintain their lead throughout the evening. As always the final relays were all to play for - the girls strolled to an easy victory to keep us in the running. So it was all down to the last event the open 6 x50m boys relay. Freddy opened and set Epping up with a good first leg - we knew we had to beat lane 2 to secure first place overall. Places changed with each leg swum and James taking the 5th leg managed to gain ground and move up overtaking lane 2 and hand over to Lee who swam an amazing final length. I actually dont remember where we came but Lane 2 were beaten and we had maintained our first position. Well done to all who competed especially our new younger swimmers who were competing for the first time Olivia, Tierney, Imogen, Finley, George, Samuel and Charlie who all contributed vital points to the overall win. A great team win for all concerned and thanks to Coach Lee, Officials Elsa and Greg and team manager Lisa and Big Dave! I will leave you with the final comment from our friendly bus driver - 'what a great bunch of kids, well mannered, well behaved - its has been a real pleasure

Junior Arena Team success - 29 June 2011
The Epping Forest team swam well at Waltham Forest pool and track, winning the 1st place trophy. Well done to all swimmers - and well done to the volunteers who ensured the event ran smoothly ! Team picture

Essex 2012 Qualifying times....
.... available on Swimmers Resources/County Qualifying times tab above

EFDSC - Summer gala - thanks! - 20 June 2011

Big congratulations and well done to all swimmers who competed at our own Summer gala yesterday. Thanks to all our officials, coaches and volunteers who worked hard to make it a very successful day. Well done to Redbridge for taking the 'top visiting club' trophy! But the biggest thanks must go to all the dads who turned up as officials, coaches, volunteers and specatators on fathers day - we hope you get your rest next weekend!

Results now available by clicking on swimmers resources, results and either individual or meeting.

Essex Champs and Essex Age group 2012
Entry details and qualifying times for the above Championships ahve now been released and will be available on the Essex ASA website and notice board in due course. Coaches have also been fowarded details.
Essex Champs 2011 26th/27th Nov - This will be a long course meet swum at Basildon. QT's are short course and must have been acheived since 1st Oct 2010.
ECASA Age Group champs 2012 - preliminary dates are 17/18th Feb, 3/4th March, 17/18th March 2012. QT's must have been acheived since 20th Jan 2011.
For further details please speak with your coach in the first instance.

Stop Press! National Qualifier! - 21 May 2011
Congratulations to Marissa Posnett, who, we have just heard, has this morning acheived her National qualifying time for 50m freestyle for the second year running. After making a late entry to the Long Course meet in Aldershot she had an amazing start which helped her on her way to swimming a personal best time and National QT. Marissa will now compete at the National Championships to be held in Sheffield late July. Congratulations Marissa we are all very proud of you.

Mini League 15th May 2011

Wow! What an evening! EFDSC hosted the East London Mini League at Loughton Leisure Centre last night. As always it promised to be a very noisy and exciting affair. Following warm-up and the lane draw Epping were placed in lane 1 - was this a sign of things to come? After the first 8 races Epping were in third place having acheived two firsts but unfortunately being timefaulted in the Under 10 relay!After 16 races and a couple of DQ's and another time fault we had to be content with sharing 3rd place with Clissold. Again we received several time faults in the third quarter of the competition but this was complimented with a number of high scoring events. At the end of 24 events we had squeezed into 2nd place with 79 points - 11 points behind Becontree who had lead from the start. The pressure was on! The next few races saw some excellent results for us and some time faults for our opponents - we were getting closer. Entering the last 3 races all was to play for with just 1 point in it - did we tell the swimmers - no time just go for it! The final event was the 8x1 length relay and we came third - but Becontree had taken 1st. Had we blown it? No - we had scored higher in the previous two events and the final result declared Epping Forest as the winners by just one point!

What excitment and what a result - very well deserved for this young team of swimmers. Well done to all swimmers you all played a part and without just one of you we would not have won! Swimmer of the evening goes to Michael Sharpe our young J3 swimmer recently moved from J2 who found himself covering for another swimmer and swam in extra events. Well done Michael.Thanks of course to all officials, coaches, parents and our 3 captains who were on duty timekeeping, motivating, counting etc it was good to see you all there

German Open - Berlin - 08 May 2011
James and Emma Hollis competed at the German Open held in Berlin last weekend! Although designated a training camp as part of their preparation ahead of the European Championships both swimmers acheived numerous personal best times, bought home a handful of medals and each broke a British Record, James in 200m butterfly and Emma in the 200m breast stroke. Well done to both and good luck for the European Champs in July!

East Region Youth Championships
Last weekend saw the East Region Champs held in Norwich. As always this competition proved to be an exceptionally gruelling meet with six sessions over the two days. Competition was strong with East Region having some of the toughest qualifying times in the country. EFDSC had 8 swimmers competing in 30 events plus 3 relays. Individually swimmers found the going tough but still managed to acheive 18 personal best times, break 10 club records, swim 7 finals and bring home one bronze medal. As always the relays were exciting and our very young teams did extremely well alongside their older fellow competitiors. As always a big well done to all!
Our younger swimmers will compete at the East Region Bagcats in June and we wish them all a successful Championship.

Redbridge Sprint Meet 23/24 April

Lots of medals were won this weekend at Redbridge, Alice Wang won 4 including 1 gold and 1 bronze, Chloe Ward won 7 including 2 silver and 2 bronze, Connor won 4 including 1 silver and 2 bronze, Bentley won 3 including 1 bronze, Amelia won 3 gold and 2 silver, Sasha won 3 including 1 silver. Emma Neil 1 medal, Joe Farley 1 medal, Evie Foster 2 medals and Danny Wilson-Kelsey 1 medal. The team including James Wakefield, Imogen Jones, Charlie Tompkins, Molly Watson, Deana Levy, Joe Aggarwal, Zac Foster, Fraser Barclay, Harry Barnett and Oliver Simmonds all swam well with lots of pb's achieved.

A busy weekend for EFDSC swimmers.....

EFDSC swimmers were in action across the country over the weekend.

Amelia Peddle competed at the UEA Norwich pre-Easter meet and picked up a large handful of medals including 4 gold 2 silver and a bronze. This medal tally and her outstanding performance also securred her the top girl award in the 9/10 year age group. Definately one to watch for the future!

A group of pre-perforamnce and performance swimmers took themselves off to the refurbished Crystal Palace to get in some Long Course experience ahead of the Regional Championships and still managed to come away with a number of excellant pb's and top 3 places for Marissa and Henry.

Emma and James Hollis travelled to Sheffield to take part in the IPC International Champs. Emma, still on the road to recovery following her broken ankle took 3 golds, 2 silvers and a bronze and smashed the European qualifying times in the 200IM and 400 free in the S8 catergory. James swimming in the S10 classification alongside the World and European record holders pulled off two bronze medals in the 100m back and 100m fly. Although swimming a 1.01.4 in the 100m fly this was not enough to secure an individual qualifying time, but did secure him a place on the senior relay team. The European Champs will be held in Berlin in July.

Well done to all!

Essex Counties - Final results! - 27 March 2011
Congratulations to all swimmers who were in action again over the weekend! Final results are now available on the ASA Essex website and club report is currently being prepared. Overall the club came in an excellant 9th place out of the 26 Essex clubs taking part. Perforamce squad swimmers acheived top six placings in their age groups - Henry Maher 3rd with 61 points, Lee Baker 4th with 60 points (oh so close), Hayden Thomas 5th with 28 points Marissa Posnett 3rd with 53 points, Andraea Posnett 6th with 20 points and Pre performance swimmer Amelia Peddle who was 3rd with 1671 Bagcat Points.

NO SWIMMING - 05 April 2011
Please note there will be no morning swimming on the two Monday bank holidays in May (25th and 30th).

German Open - Berlin - 04 April 2011
Congratulations to James and Emma Hollis who have been selected to represent Great Britain at the German Open in Berlin later this month. We wish you every success!

Junior Swimming League

Many thanks for the swimmers who turned up last night - we came 4th with many good swims. Well done to our younger swimmers, some of them participating in their first gala. Results will be on the database asap.

Left on poolside were a pair of clear lens, blue frame slazenger goggles, if these are your please let Suzanne Peddle 01992 815103 know.

ASA East Region Youth Champs -
Closing date now extended to Monday 11th April for those competing at Crystal Palace - please pass to Hilary Thomas. The East Region Champs will take place on Sat 30th April and Sun 1st May 2011. (Boys 15yrs plus and girls 14 yrs plus - age as at 12th June 2011) Full details can be found on ASA East Region website. Entries should be submitted on the club form and reach Alison Hollis no later than Sunday 3rd April 2011. No entries will be processed unless they are accompanied by the correct entry fee. Cheques should be made payable to EFDSC.

Apologies for no session
Sincere apologies to all swimmers who arrived at Bancrofts Friday 25th March to find that the session was cancelled. This was due to a school event taking place. Hope to see such a good turn out next Friday

Club towels now available.........

Selling fast - Towels will be available for collection from Loughton Pool this week between 6.45pm and 7.15pm

Following a request from swimmers and parents across all squads and LTS we have arranged for an EFDSC towel to be added to our club kit. The towels are made from 400gsm cotton terry and measure 67cm x 140cm. The towels retail at £12.00 each but we have subsdised the cost from the Jack Petchey award funds. We can therefore offer these towels to you at half price -just £6.00 each (or 2 for £10.00) The design is bold and striking - canary yellow EFDSC on a black background.They will really set us out from the crowd at Gala's and club events. The towels are being printed but can be pre-ordered. Coaches will be handing out order forms this week or you can place your order by e mailing alison hollis @ alisonjanehollisefdsc@hotmail.com

Order now to avoid disappointment.

Cheques should be made payable to EFDSC.

Essex Counties - block B - 18 March 2011
EFDSC swimmers were in action again competing at Essex Block B over the weekend. Between them they acheived 22 top 6/finals positions with top 3 medals going to Lee Baker silver 50m back and 50m free bronze 200 free, Henry gold 50m free bronze 50m back, haydon gold 50 breast and silver 200m breast, and Marissa silver 50 breast. Other top 6 places were acheived by Jenna VB, Katie Whiffin, James Hollis, Freddy Cassford, Amelia Peddle, Alice Wang Lisa Waite and Chloe Annabelle Ward. This performance will undoubtably move the Club up the points board but this info is not available at the time of writing.Well done to all swimmers and coaches and of course the loud parents in the gallery!

DSE National Junior Championship - Sheffield - 28 February 2011
Congratulations to James Hollis who became the DSE National Junior Champion after competing in the short course competition in Sheffield over the weekend. James, competing as part of the East Region Junior Team under the East Region (and EFDSC) head coach Lee Richards won the title for the third year running and East Region Team also retained the overall title for the 3rd year.
Congratulations also to Emma Hollis (EFDSC and Loughborough) who has been selected to represent Great Britain at the Paralympic World Cup to be held in Manchester in May this year.

SAINSBURYS ACTIVE KIDS - 26 February 2011
The club is again collecting Sainsburys Active Kids vouchers to buy equipment for club use. Please send all vouchers to Sue Whitehead directly or through your coach.

Basildon Phoenix Open - 5/2/11
Well done to the small group of swimmers who attended this gala. Danny brought home 1 gold and 2 bronze medals, Oliver Simmonds got 4 silvers, Tom Tovey and Deana each won a silver and bronze, Fraser and Michelle got 3 bronze medals, and Imogen and Max Albert got speeding tickets. Along with lots of pb's this was a very successful meet. Greg would also like to praise the swimmers on their excellent behaviour on poolside. Congratulations all round.

Big Congratulations to ................
Henry Maher, Lee Baker, Freddy Cassford, Hayden Thomas, James and Emma Hollis, Marissa Posnett, Lisa Waite and Alice Wang who competed at the first ever Midland Region Zonal Long Course Meet held in Corby over the weekend. Swimmers acheived a wealth of personal best times but the highlight of the weekned came in the 50m freestyle where Henry Maher acheived a reserve place in the junior final. On the announcement of a withdrawal from the final Henry found himself in a swim off to secure the final place. Acheiving a further personal best time in this swim-off he once more matched his fellow competitor and a further swim off was required. This proved one 50m too much for our Henry who saw the final position go to the other swimmer . However following a further wihdrawal the 8th place was his! Although unable to improve on his 25.36 in the final Henry secured a qualifying time for the British Champs to be held in Manchester in March .This is the first time and Epping Swimmer has swam at this level of competition since .....well I just cant remember when! Hayden Thomas also made his mark when the starting equipment in his lane failed and he then swam the 100m breast stroke alone - still managing to achieve a personal best time. Lisa Waite and Alice Wang represented the younger end of the squad with Lisa acheiving excellant personal best times in the 50m and 100m free and Alice competing in her first LC competition set excellant times in the 200m fly and 400IM events. Our MD swimmers James and Emma Hollis acheived a range of personal best times and bought home a variety of medals from the multi-disability events. Well done to all who swam - our little club once more proving they deserve to be competing alongside the big boys!

Bishops Stortford 200m Meet - 23 January 2011
Well done to the small group of swimmers who swam at this meet. Between them they managed to notch up 3 gold, 2 silver, 6 bronze and another 6 trophies for placing 4-6. This along with 18 personal best times achieved meant it was a very successful meet.

Club Calender 2011
Please note that the 2011 calender of events is now avaialble by clicking on the toolbar above - events- calender- current year. Please be aware that from time to time we may need to change the dates of certain events due to outside circumstances. Any such changes will always be communicated through this front page of the website.

National Arena League (speedo)
Congratulations to all who took part in the final Arena Gala last night. What an exciting finale to the 2010 league. We secured a joint third place on the night - a result that whilst outstanding did not reflect the effort and acheivements of those swimmers competing. Many swimmers were competing up an age group with some excellant results but the relays were, as always, the highlight of the evening. The final open relays bought the supporters and teams to their feet but many were left disappointed as Epping Forest took first in both events Well done to all swimmers, thanks to parents and officials and look forward to seeing you all again next year!

Essex Winter Meet - Congratulations!
Big congratulations to all who swam at Essex over the weekend - we bought home an array of pennants, medals and cups and a superb 6th overall! Full round -up of who did what to follow.......
Anyone that swam here or at East Region champs to bring t shirts, medals cups etc to Loughton Pool on Tuesday at 6.45pm for team photos etc!

Please help us and support your children....
What a busy but exciting club champs we had last night! It was great to see so many compete and an extra special well done to all our young swimmers who attended for the first time! However those of you watching from the balcony cant have failed to notice how busy we were with a small number of volunteers taking on a variety, and in more than one case, several different roles during the evening. We are all volunteers, we all enjoy doing what we do to support your swimmers and the club, but there are simply not enough of us. We are therefore seeking volunteers to help out at future events. This maybe assisting the children to the starting blocks at the right time or we can offer the opportunity to qualify as timekeepers right through to judges, starters and referees. Courses are run locally and we can arrange these for you - you just need to bring the fetching white attire! If you think you can volunteer in any way please contact Susan Whitehead, Debra Waite or any member of the committee. Without your help we will have real difficulty in continuing to run future club events. Many thanks from the EFDSC Committee and Coaches.

Personal best tool available ...
... on downloads tab - save to your pc when prompted, then follow instructions. You will need password to use - you can get password from Greg