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Jo Stalley

Sharyn Bord is awarded a British Empire Medal

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Sharyn Bord has been awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2020.

The Cambridge Dive Team President and Swim England East Region Diving Committee member has been recognised for voluntary service to diving in Cambridgeshire. “I’m very proud,” said Sharyn. “I feel a bit embarrassed by it to be honest because there are so many people that do such a lot of hard work. “I know I’ve been around a long time, but on the way there have been lots and lots of people that have helped me immensely so in a way it’s not me, it’s a collection of people.

“But I am extremely proud and getting used to the feeling of it at the moment.”

Having initially been a swimmer, Sharyn switched to become a diver when the original Parkside Pool opened in Cambridge in 1963. She started coaching and in 1967 became volunteer head coach of the diving section of Granta Swimming Club, which amalgamated to become City of Cambridge Swimming Club in 1985. The new Parkside Pools opened in May 1999, and with 10 club divers the priority became to rebuild the diving section. Membership swelled, with record numbers competing in national championships. Sharyn founded the Cambridge Diving Development Centre in 2001, providing community Learn to Dive lessons, and in 2003, after a fundraising campaign, a professional diving programme was facilitated and the club’s first professional full-time coach appointed. In 2004, the Cambridge Dive Team was founded. The centre continued to grow with the appointment of more professional coaches plus a development programme for divers to become junior coaches.

Sharyn was administrator and treasurer for 10 years before becoming president, and is a judge, referee, county diving secretary. As club president she uses her experience to provide leadership and offer advice on club, county and regional issues, to represent the club and to provide support to coaches and other club officers.

Sharyn added: “Over the years I’ve had a few awards, long service in particular, but I hadn’t ever thought it would be a Queen’s Birthday Honours’ list, it had never crossed my mind.”

Stronger Affiliation – 2 months to go

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Over a third of the Swim England affiliated clubs that need to submit evidence to meet new Stronger Affiliation guidelines have either completed or begun the process.

Swim England has created Stronger Affiliation so its affiliated clubs which are not yet SwimMark accredited can prove they are well run and their personnel have the necessary safeguarding checks and qualifications in place to ensure members’ safety.

Evidence must be submitted and approved by 1 December 2020 or clubs face the risk of being suspended temporarily or permanently at the beginning of 2021.

There is a  Stronger Affiliation workshop  on  Wednesday 14th October at 7pm via zoom for any club who wishes to find out more and/or seek help with submitting their evidence.

Water Polo – Q&A sessions for Return to Team Sport Guidance

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Swim England had recently submitted the Water Polo Return to Team Sport Guidance, this was a key part of our support to ensure clubs could return to playing.  Subsequently, the Government has issued further instructions around the ‘Rule of 6’ and its application to sport.

In light of both developments the Water Polo Leadership Group will be hosting a Question & Answer session for club officers and coaches of water polo clubs to discuss the Return to Team Sport Guidance and the impact of the ‘Rule of 6’ on water polo.

Two sessions have been made available both starting at 6.30pm on Thursday 1st October and Tuesday 6th October, club officers and coaches will only need to attend one of these sessions.

The following link can be used to sign up:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WaterPoloReturntoCompetition

Zoom details for the meeting will follow after 12 midday on the day of the meeting.

Return to Pool Guidance updated

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The Swim England Return to Pool Guidance has been updated again particularly in response to the recent changes announce by the Government last week and in particular how this affects water polo’s return to team sport. Supporting documents and FAQ’s are constantly being updated.

 

Head coaches selected for first online National Development Programme

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Congratulations to Karen Pinniger for being selected for the Swim England National Development programme .

City of Norwich Swimming Club coach Karen said: “I’m over the moon to be a part of the National Development Programme again.

“It’s great that the Swim England Talent Team have been able to make this happen under the current circumstances. This programme is always a super opportunity for swimmers and coaches to learn from one other.

“The added dimension of being online is going to expand on the skills we’ve developed in lockdown. It will also support the athletes in their return to the pool, focusing and reframing high standards of performance in the post lockdown training and racing environment.”

Coaches ‘Introduction to’ Series Goes Live!

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As part of our move to create more digital resources, we have launched the first of our ‘Introduction to’ series for coaches. Our first resource is an interview with Ben Negus, recent recipient of a Regional Silver Pin Award for services to regional coaches. In this resource, Ben shares his thoughts on Butterfly and offers some useful tips for coaches working with entry level through to performance level swimmers.

There is a video, podcast and notes version of this resource, all of which are free to access. Thank you to Ben for sharing his time with us and make sure you subscribe to our various platforms as we have three more resources covering the remaining three strokes dropping in the coming weeks.

ACM September 2020

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Many thanks to everyone who attended our ACM on 12th September.  For those of you who were unable to join us here is a summary of what you missed:

 

The ACM approved the proposals for the region to become an incorporated association with charitable status from January 2021. Those of you who were at the ACM will know what this means, but if anyone would like to know more the full reports can be found on the ER website. These include a helpful one page summary which probably gives the information most members need. The four members of the Management Committee will initially become the company directors, with the current Board forming a Regional Operations Committee. In the longer term, all governance roles will be subject to open recruitment managed by a Nominations Committee.


The ACM also approved the proposals for the change of financial year and as a consequence, we will close this year’s accounts on 31st December, starting a new financial year on 1st January. In reality, the lack of current activity will make this a far more simple process than it otherwise would have been, and our Finance Manager has already done much of the preparation, but wherever possible we do need you to process any claims or invoices before the middle of December.

 

At the ACM Silver Pins were awarded to Amy Bryant Hatfield SC for services to Synchronised Swimming, to Simon Gee Team Luton SC for services to the region at the Regional Licensing Officer, and to Dave Champion Team Ipswich SC and Ben Negus City Of Peterborough SC for services to regional swimming coaches.  Joan Wheeler Modernian SC was awarded the Jeff Cook Salver for services to the region as Regional Chairman.  Copies of the citations for the award winners can be read here.

New Digital Parent Resource Released!

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As the digital age marches forwards, we are pleased to share a resource for our swimming parents. Behind every swimmer is a huge amount of commitment from parents and therefore we have produced a video to hopefully make the journey a bit easier. We have interviewed a parent of a rather well known swimmer. She shares some great insights from her journey in the local volunteer-run swimming club through to the top of the swimming equivalent to Mount Everest!  We hope you will find useful. Please share far and wide! You can find the video on our Youtube channel.

Stronger Affiliation – 3 months to go…

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Almost a quarter of the Swim England affiliated clubs that need to submit evidence to meet new Stronger Affiliation guidelines have either completed or begun the process.

Swim England has created Stronger Affiliation so its affiliated clubs which are not yet SwimMark accredited, of which there are around 450, can prove they are well run and their personnel have the necessary safeguarding checks and qualifications in place to ensure members’ safety.

Evidence must be submitted and approved by 1 December 2020 or clubs face the risk of being suspended temporarily or permanently at the beginning of 2021.