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The latest news from Halstead Swimming Club Latest News 22 May 2024 Halstead Swimmers Tackle the English Channel Read More 4 Jan 2024 Diving into the New Year Training Restarts on 5th January 2024 Read More 8 Oct 2023 2023 Club Champs Results Club Champs Formal Results are in! Read More 21 Sept 2023 Halstead Club Champs 2023 Programme is out Programme for Session 6 (400m free) has now been added Read More 2 Sept 2023 HSC Gordon Finch 50th Anniversary Sprint Meet Congratulations to all the swimmers who took part in the HSC Sprint Meet on the 2nd Sept Read More 2 Jul 2023 HSC Success at the Born2Tri Gosfield Lake Triathlon & Multisports Event Report from the Triathlon and Multisports Event 2023 Read More 25 Jun 2023 Junior League Success! Best ever Junior League position for Halstead Read More 25 Jun 2023 Junior League 'A' Final Team Sheet Team sheet ahead of today's exciting Final at Enfield Read More 14 May 2023 East Region Long Course Championship Success Halstead Swimming Club are celebrating the achievements of Amelia, Charlie, Daniel, Danielle, Emilia, Imogen, Jasper, Joseph, Kai, Layla, Maisy and Samuel in the Swim England East Region Long Course Championships. Read More 25 Mar 2023 Essex Masters 2023 Halstead Masters Swimmers have a Blast Read More 4 Feb 2023 Halstead Success at Essex Age Group Championships Halstead Starts the 2023 Season off with a Bang! Read More 17 Jul 2022 Gosfield Lake Multisports - Born2Tri Event HSC takes to the open water. Read More 10 Jul 2022 East Region Open Water Championships 2022 Lewis, Charlie and Ben take on the Regional Open Water Champs and National Qualifier Meet Read More 1 Jun 2022 Two HSC Swimmers Earn Invitations to the 2022 Swim England National Summer Meet! Congratulations to Katherine and Chloe! Read More 16 May 2022 Swim England East Regional Champs Congratulations and well done to all 12 HSC Regional Swimmers Read More

Find out the Halstead Open Meets and what leagues and events that will be supported by Halstead Swimming Club. HSC Open Meets Enter and Save the Date! Halstead Swimming Club are delighted to announce that we will be holding our Annual Open Meet on Sunday 17th May 2026, 8:15-17:45 at Braintree swimming pool. This is a full day meet, with 50M & 100M events for all strokes together with 200M freestyle. We will be using Gala Organiser for this event, which can be found here: http://www.galaorganiser.co.uk/entry/meetentry.php?Meet=HASTHO26 Entries are open until 21st April or until such time as the meet is filled. HSC Events Calendar The Essex Swimming League Sat 06 Jun Location is TBD RSVP The National Arena Swimming League Sat 10 Oct Location is TBD Details The National Arena Swimming League Sat 14 Nov Location is TBD Details The National Arena Swimming League Sat 12 Dec Location is TBD Details Results Halstead Annual Open Meet 2026 https://hsclive.co.uk/May26Gala/ Opportunities to Compete When you join Halstead Swimming Club you will be introduced to the complexity of the sport SLOWLY, there is A LOT to learn To be fair, you will probably learn most of it from the coaches, parents and other swimmers around as you develop, but here's a short guide: Halstead Swimming Club members will be offered the opportunity to compete in a both licensed and unlicensed events . Licensed Events When you join any competitive swimming club you are allocated a Swim England membership number, this will enable you to join the centralised database where all your licensed events will be recorded: What you swam, where you swam, the time, etc... There are even graphs of your progress! Link: Swimming Results Website Swim England ensures that the standards of the sport are upheld; a ny organisation wishing to offer a licensed event must provide Swim England with the details of each programme and they must meet the criteria for whichever license they are applying for - All stipulated in the terms and conditions of each event. License Levels (simplified.........kind of) Level 4 Licensed Meets - These are considered entry level meets, perfect for inexperienced swimmers to gain experience, before progressing to Level 3 meets. It is usually the license that our Club Champs is held under. While they are held within the club, they still require officials who have met the required standards. It is rare, but sometimes clubs might host a development meet, where 8 year olds can compete under license, these are invitational only meets (where the host invites a limited number of other clubs to attend) Level 3 Licensed Meets - These are the most common meet license that the majority of swimmers attend. Once a swimmer has achieved their Competitive Start certificate (Coach confirms that they can safely dive from the blocks) AND the swimmer is 9 years old or over, they can enter any open meets the swimming club has stated that they will support. There is a publicly available Meet Calendar on the Swimmingresults.org website, which amalgamates British Swimming, Swim England, Swim Wales and Scottish Swimming. Link: Meet Calendar The Coaches and Halstead Committee pulls together a selection of meets that our club are able to support (Coaches/Team Leaders available on the day, for safeguarding, guidance and support, plus we have to offer host clubs Officials to help run the event) Members can choose when and how often they would like to attend Open Meets. It is a personal choice. Level 3 meets are used to qualify for County and Regional championships. There is one League that Halstead takes part, whose events are Licenced - The National Arena League. This is a Halstead Swimming Club Team event. The coaches will make a team selection based on swimmers performances at Open Meets, Club Champs and Training commitment. Link: National Arena League Level 2 (Short course/25m pool) and Level 1 (Long Course/50m pool) Licensed Meets - These are the Championships and Open Meets where swimmers have to have reached minimum times. The standards of entry vary depending on the level of the Championship, either being entered, or the qualification being attempted: Essex County Championships - Essex holds 2 championships a year; usually held between the London Aquatics Centre and Basildon venues. Winter Championships (Level 2, short course) in October. Qualifying times for the female and Open categories are released in June (one time per event, competing age is not separated out). Qualification is from Level 3, 2 & 1 licenses. The Age Group Championships (should be Level 1, long course, but in recent years has been reduced to Level 2 short course, due to problems with the Basildon venue) held in Jan/Feb. Qualifying times are released in September. Qualification for this event is accepted from Level 4 licensed events and higher. The QTs are broken down by age and classification Female/Open East Region Championships - 2 Championships a year. Usually Held across EAU Norwich and Inspire Luton venues. Qualification for these events is accepted from Level 3, 2 & 1 licensed swims. Winter Championships (Level 2, short course) in November. Qualifying times for the female and Open categories are released in August (one time per event, competing age is not separated out). Long Course Championships (Level 1, long course), held in May. Qualifying times are released in January. The QTs are broken down by age and classification Female/Open British and National Championships - Swim against Britain and your Nations best, there are 2 championships a year. Summer Championships (Level 1 Long Course). Summer Championships, both British and National (England, Welsh, Scottish) have a strict qualifying season. The qualifying open meets are held between March and May. These are invitation only, age group events and the qualification window is very small. When the season opens, there will be a number of Level 1 open meets on offer for swimmers striving for times. A spreadsheet of shortlisted swimmers is launched on swimmingresults.org's home page , it is updated twice a week until the closing date in May (usually after all the Regions have completed their Long Course Champs). British Summer Championships is held in July and Nationals is at the beginning of August. Winter British and National Short Course Championships - Qualification times are issued in the Autumn. The event is held mid December. Unlicensed Events Some events are unlicensed, which allows for voluntary run opportunities to compete. The fundamental rules of competing are maintained, but there is a flexibility in the levels of qualification that the officials need to have in terms of referee, time keeping, judging etc.. Halstead swimmers routinely take part in two unlicensed team events: The M11 Junior league and the Essex Mini League The coaches select swimmers to represent Halstead and send out invitations. The Essex Masters event is one of the most enjoyable events to take part in for the +18 years swimmers, but it is unlicensed.

Back HSC Gordon Finch 50th Anniversary Sprint Meet 2 Sept 2023 Thank you to everyone who supported the Halstead SC Sprint Meet on the 2nd Sept. The incredible turnout ensured that our Coaches and TMs had their hands full trying to keep up with everyone's swims! Behaviour and rousing squad support was wonderful.........and that's just the parents ;D So, thanks you to all the Coaches, Officials (thanks Natalie for getting all the 'gang' together), Team Managers and Volunteers who gave up their time to help make this event so successful.............with special mention to the team in the glass box - The IT Crowd, on who's shoulders so much pressure rested - You're all legends! To Helen, who is our chief 'plate spinner', ensuring all zones are covered and is the host with the most! Thank you to all those who bellowed from the stands; Halstead you are all brilliant!!! GOooooooooooooooHalstead!! Previous Next

Back HSC Success at the Born2Tri Gosfield Lake Triathlon & Multisports Event 2 Jul 2023 Not a HSC event, but a ‘HSC family’ gathering of athleticism, friendships and camaraderie; the Born2Tri Gosfield Lake Triathlon and Multisports Event 2023. Genuinely one of the best, and brightest events: the weather was perfect, the venue was spectacular and the people cheerful, inspiring and supportive. An 18+ years event that saw: Charlie (with a spectacular transition!), Marcel and Kai take 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Sprint Triathlon (750m swim, 20km bike ride, 5km run) an incredible feat!! Reaffirmed by seasoned tri spectator, Shaun Boldock’s sheer excitement and pride in them all and their achievements! Thomas came in a brilliant 18th overall and 8th in the Open category on his first triathlon, followed closely by Lewis in 14th and Sam in 16th. HSC alumni Becki came in at 9th in the Open female cat (1st most cheerful, according to the photos!), closely followed by Robyn in 10th - with a triumphant 4 minute PB and ‘less of the old HSC’ timer mum Katie came in 20th as a veteran cat on her first triathlon, go Katie! . Holly Freegard came in a MAGNIFICENT 1st in the Aquathlon (1500m swim, 10km run) Neil came in 16th on his first ever tri, as a veteran, in the Standard Tri (1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run). I think that there were other HSC alumni and family there, but I don’t know everyone’s names, if someone points me in their direction I’ll add them to the report with glee and pride It was just the loveliest of events to watch, the HSC members past, present and parental were just wonderful! An amazing number of the HSC community turned out to support them all; Special mention to Dave, who might be an amazing competitive swimming coach, but is also experienced at officiating these events, and was just as emotional watching our gang come through the final stages. Thanks for being just as excited with the whole thing! I personally had Linneys #1 & #2 wanting to have a go, with #3 thinking maybe……when I’m older…..but I’ll watch with a bacon sandwich in the meantime . Bale #2 was overheard saying that she would overcome her fear of open water swimming to give it a go in the future…..if the others join her . Meanwhile, Daisy looked on glad she ‘only’ has to worry about the swimming part in this weekend’s Regional Open Water Champs in Norwich, with Lewis. Shout out to the incredible job done by the Born2Tri organisers and to Gosfield Lake (one of HSC's very own). Spectacular job!! Thank you!! Well done everyone. Truly, truly fabulous! For details of open water swimming at Gosfield Lake - https://www.facebook.com/Gosfieldlakeopenswimming/ clubs.britishtriathlon.org Born2Tri Born2Tri Braintree Previous Next

Back Swim England East Regional Champs 16 May 2022 Congratulations to Kai, Lewis, Sam, Danni, Eloise, Thomas, Jasmine, Joseph, Daniel, Imogen, Emi, Chloe, and Layla on qualifying for the Swim England East Region LC Championships where they competed in Norwich on 30th April - 2nd May and in Luton on 6th, 7th & 8th May. Such fantastic performances, with pbs, a couple of finals and max effort (as Paddy says) thrown in. For those wanting to catch up or relive the Halstead glories, please check out the East Region YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/c/SwimEnglandEastRegion Previous Next

Back Two HSC Swimmers Earn Invitations to the 2022 Swim England National Summer Meet! 1 Jun 2022 Congratulations to Katherine (20) and Chloe (14) on receiving your invitations to compete at the 2022 Swim England National Summer Meet. This is the 3rd national event that Katherine will have earned her place in during the last 12 months; swimming the 50m breaststroke in her first Swim England National Winter Meet in December 2021, qualifying for the British Championships in March and now Ponds Forge awaits our ex-Senior Captain again in August! Ex-Junior Captain Chloe has also had an incredible year; qualifying for her first regional development race in Aug 2021 to becoming a finalist in the May East Region Champs event and earning her first national event invitation. There appears to be no stopping her. Halstead Swimming Club are very proud of these young women and hope that they have the BEST time! Previous Next

Back Junior League Success! 25 Jun 2023 2023-06-25 National Junior League - Div1 - Rnd3- Gala2 - Southbury LC host Chelsea - Prov .pdf Download PDF • 218KB Report by John Lowe Apologies for the lateness in writing this report but i have to admit to having a little private celebration first. To say I am overwhelmed by the team's efforts today is an understatement. Halstead were already on to a winner simply because wherever we finished it would have been our greatest achievement in the Junior League by some margin. To finish 3rd overall is an incredible result. I will go over individual efforts another time but tonight belongs to the team. As a team we were fabulous whether we won an event or came last; each swim gave us valuable points; and when you consider how close the placings were from 3rd to 5th our achievement was immense. I, along with all of the other Coaches, have a sense of pride regarding the swimming tonight. Although Paddy and Gary and all of the helpers were not there today they have more than helped make this Halstead team something to be reckoned with. I don't know if you can get more pleasure than watching your siblings perform to their utmost and produce a result such as this. We have never been in an "A" final before and yes some teams have dropped out because of covid; but we didn't. Lets put things into perspective - we sometimes (me included) take performances for granted because that's what we expect. Look at the teams we were up against. Winners Chelsea and Westminster - not only London's finest team but a top 10 in the country, Royal Tunbridge Wells - the outstanding team in Kent. You then have Enfield Swim Squad made up from 7 teams that existed in the borough of Enfield. Greenwich Royals another massive club, then "Little ol Alstead". I am not belittling Halstead but it is funny when you hear opposing teams ask where Halstead is. It is also nice to hear the referee Jonathon from Harlow say thet since taking the League Organiser role he has followed our progress for the last 5 years and mightily impressed he is. So should all of the parents be. Whether you competed in 1, 2 or 3 rounds you have all helped with this result. Whether you came first or last they have all been points toward our success. As a small club we obviously rely on your committment and by and large we have had that. Many thanks and very well done to each and every swimmer. Previous Next

Back East Region Open Water Championships 2022 10 Jul 2022 Well done Lewis, Charlie and Ben on your incredible efforts at the East Region Open event in Norwich. Our Senior Vice Captain and new addition to our coaching team, Lewis placed 3rd in the 19+ category, with a 1:09.23 5km swim and qualified for Nationals, Chlarie placed 3rd in the 18yrs category, with a 1:14.59 5km swim and Ben, with a stunning display of resilience managed to complete his 2km in 10th place at 39.11 mins, despite developing a migraine half way around the course! Well done! We love seeing you strive outside the pool. We look forward to seeing Lewis compete on 10th August at Thrybergh Country Park in Doncaster. Previous Next

Back Halstead Club Champs 2023 Programme is out 21 Sept 2023 The much anticipated programmes for the 2023 Club Champs are here! Club Champs 400m Free Heat Sheets .pdf Download PDF • 93KB Club Champs Programme - Sessions 1 to 5 .pdf Download PDF • 728KB Previous Next

Back 2023 Club Champs Results 8 Oct 2023 The formal results are in! FORMAL RESULTS FOR SESSIONS 1 to 5 Results - Sessions 1 to 5 .pdf Download PDF • 485KB FORMAL RESULTS FOR SESSION 6 (400m FREE) Results - Session 6 (400m Free) .pdf Download PDF • 246KB Previous Next

Back East Region Long Course Championship Success 14 May 2023 Halstead Swimming Club are celebrating the achievements of Amelia, Charlie, Daniel, Danielle, Emilia, Imogen, Jasper, Joseph, Kai, Layla, Maisy and Samuel in the Swim England East Region Long Course Championships. They qualified for 53 events, which were held over several weekends in May, in Norwich and Luton. The SE East Region has 6 counties and over 130 clubs affiliated to it; on announcing that Halstead had placed 11th in the championship, Head Coach John Lowe called it, "An incredible achievement!", while also admitting to some of the magnificent swims making the distinguished coach a little 'misty eyed'. The swimmers were cheered on from home, as the event was streamed on YouTube and we witnessed some extraordinary talent, determination and resilience from all our local athletes. Halstead is a relatively small club, but the commitment of these swimmers to keep improving, keep challenging themselves, has placed them amongst the best in the East of England and made them role models to friends and family – young and old, swimmer and non-swimmer alike! A special mention goes out to two swimmers: Joseph Bale is a swimmer whose talent is truly exciting to watch evolve. Joseph competed in 7 events. He made the final for all 7, and won Regional Golds in 6: 200m IM, 50m 100m & 200m Breaststroke and the 100m & 200m Backstroke. His 200m IM had everyone on the edge of their seats and his lead in the 200m breaststroke was astounding. Joseph was awarded the Top Boy trophy for 11/12 yrs category. Not content with dominating the East Region, Joseph is currently – for ‘Long Course’ (50m competition pools) events – ranked the 2nd fastest 12 year old in Britain for all 3 Breaststroke distances and 7th in the 100m & 200m Backstroke; for ‘Short Course’ (25m pools) he is ranked 1st in Britain for the 100m & 200m Breaststroke and top 10 for a further 3 events. Truly an incredible young man! The boundless energy of 12 year old Layla Jennings took our breath away during this competition; she qualified for an extraordinary 14 events and had a competition that was not for the faint of heart. Layla achieved 10 top 8 places in the heats of her events, which included the brutal 400m IM, 400m Freestyle and 200m Butterfly. All but the 400m swims she had to redouble her efforts and do it all again in the finals, earning herself Gold in the 200m Butterfly, Silver in the 200m IM & Bronze in the 200m Freestyle. The 200m Fly is a mental battle for the most seasoned of swimmers, Layla’s 200m butterfly was jaw dropping; she took it all in her stride, obliterating her entry time of 3:07.30 down to 2:55.28 in the heats, but had saved her best for the final where she reduced it further to win Gold with 2:50.33 – Both times leaving her competitors in her wake. By the close of the championships, Layla was ranked 5th in the Region for the 11/12 yrs category. Needless to say, the whole of Halstead Swimming Club are very proud of them all. Goooooooo Halstead!!! Previous Next

Back Halstead Success at Essex Age Group Championships 4 Feb 2023 Halstead Swimming Club has had a fantastic Championships and we are so proud of all our swimmers. We had over 50 swimmers qualify for this year's championships, with over 170 entries. Over 60 top 8/final places and 22 medals. Words from Head Coach, "What a team! You will have seen that we finished 8th overall from 30 plus clubs.....I will say that we as Coaches are very proud of your efforts. Our position in the league table came about due to 6 County championship wins, several 2nds and 3rds but also top 8 finishes adding to our points tally. On top of that congrats go to Kai Adams as = Top Swimmer in the open age group. Well deserved Kai! Apparently we had 13 new club records after the first weekend of champs and We're pretty certain we will have had a few more after the last one. The discipline required to stay on poolside for many hours, some a much as 12 hours each day is a great credit to all of you and the support you give to each other is simply amazing..... ......we have some brilliant young swimmers coming through and with their hard work Halstead can be assured of a bright future. Well done!" Previous Next