Runnymede Swimming Club is delighted to report that they have recently secured some excellent sponsorship from two local businesses that have generously supported the Club’s swimmers. Stephen Bosaglia of Crockett’s Jewellers who owns shops in Benfleet High Road and in Hadleigh has generously sponsored the Club by supplying new Hoodies for 22 of their top swimmers and 8 helpers who are attending the Club’s first ever overseas training camp in Calella Spain during the October half term. The squad were delighted with the new addition to their Club kit and will be wearing them with pride throughout the trip and whilst attending various events in the future. The Club has been discussing developing their relationship with Mr. Bosaglia in the future with the supply and engraving of various trophies for the swimmers and galas that are hosted by the club.

The Club have also received a second generous sponsorship from local Electrician Gary Martin of G.P.M. Electrics based in Benfleet who has provided the club with new drinks bottles in Club colours to give to the swimmers attending the overseas camp.

This is a very exciting time for the Club who have had some great successes recently; 2 of the swimmers qualified to compete at this year’s ASA National Championships swimming with the best swimmers in the country; this is the second year running that the club have produced swimmers of this calibre. Both 12 year Ellie Pirrie and 15 year Chloe Davis have been training with the club from a very early age and have worked their way up  the ranks from swim school to national standard. Ellie qualified to swim in 3 events at the National Championships this year and reached the finals in 2 of them for the second year running; with some outstanding performances Ellie finished in 7th place in both the 100m and 200m Butterfly finals, an outstanding achievement. Ellie has now been selected for the England Level 1 Talent Programme and will be attending various training camps over the forthcoming months for swimmers aged 12/13 years identified by the England Talent Team.

15 yare old Chloe Davis qualified for the Youth National Championships this year for the first time in her swimming career in the 100m and 200m Backstroke events. Swimming against and with the countries best swimmers she had some great swims finishing 24th fastest 15 year old in the 200m event and 26th fastest in the 100m. Back into full training preparing for the new seasons competitions Chloe’s first gala of the year will be in Overpelt, Belgium next week when 50 members of the Club attend the annual swimming tournament there.

Chloe and teammate James Winnell have also been selected to represent Essex in next month’s National Intercounties Gala which is being held at Ponds Forge, Sheffield on the 18th October. This is the first time the Club has had swimmers selected for this prestigious event for some time and is the first time that 2 swimmers from the club have been selected for the County Team. It is a clear indication of how far the Club has progressed in recent years.

Club Secretary, Heather Davis would like to thank the clubs valuable sponsors and said “support from local businesses is a tremendous bonus for the Club and its swimmers, it gives the children great motivation when people from outside recognize their talent, dedication and hard work and reward them by backing various projects organised by the club for them. It is not easy getting up at 5am every morning training for an hour and half, then head for a day at school before returning to the pool some evenings for a second training session. Our children are very dedicated and it is great to see this being recognized; developing partnerships in the wider community is a great benefit to the Club”.

Another of the Clubs sponsorship Scheme is the Jack Petchey Foundation Award Scheme where one swimmer a month is selected to receive a monetary award for the club along with a medal and certificate for themselves for a variety of reasons. The Clubs winner of this award for July was 12 year old Sian Elmy who received her prize from Mr. Bosaglia