After a close battle in the promotion play-off final round, we have finished in 8th place in London Division 1 of the 2018 National Arena Swim League, two places higher than in 2017.

With 186 points in the final gala round we finished 7th, just 9 points behind 6th placed Barking & Dagenham but 18 points ahead of Potters Bar. Reflecting the closely fought contest we ended the 2018 competition with the same number of league points, 32, as Potter Bar. However, over the three rounds they  scored 647 points, just 14 more points  than us, for them to finish 7th overall.

The NASL team competition provided the arena for Celyn Walmsley to claim her third Beds County Senior record of the year, following the Club’s appointment of Rikki Morris as our Head Coach. It was also an opportunity for our youngsters to experience the special excitement and adrenalin that comes with relay races. All good practice for the Beds County Championships that take place early in 2019.

With the latest record claims having been verified, a total of 63 new Club records have been established so far this calendar year. With 32 new records, the Girls are just one ahead of the Boys….

We have qualified for the London Division 1 play-off final round of the National Arena Swim League in December!

After finishing in 4th= spot with Greenwich Royals on 228 points in Round 1 we amassed enough points overall in the Round 2 gala, despite then only finishing 5th, to qualify. In their Round 2 Gala, Greenwich also finished 5th but they fell 4 points short of our cumulative  total of 447 points.

The team competition involves individual and relay races for 9-11 years, 13’s & under, 15’s & under and Open events. Points are awarded from 8 through to 1 depending on the placings in each race. The margin by which we qualified for the final play-offs underlined how every swim counts, even an 8th place finish. Congratulations therefore to every team member who took part over both rounds, including Head Coach Rikki Morris. He was called upon to swim the Men’s Open 100m Backstroke in Round 2 and managed 5th place with a creditable time of 1:01.97 .

We now go into the final against teams from Watford, Anaconda, Hackney Aquatics, Dunmow Atlantis, Barking & Dagenham, Aylesbury and Potters Bar.

The final round takes place on 8th December.

Wherever we finish in the final we are assured of once again finishing in the top half of Division 1. Well done all.