Competitions

HHSC is a competitive swimming club.  Members are encouraged to take part in a number of competitive swimming events both as individuals and as part of Club teams at local, county, regional and national level.

The Club’s extensive competition schedule is designed to give all members of whatever age and experience an opportunity to maximise their capabilities.

HHSC supports a range of competitions hosted by other Clubs throughout the year, often providing poolside coaching support.  Full details of the event schedule are available on the Club Calendar. Entry information and deadlines will be emailed to the relevant squads, HHSC will collate all entries and liaise directly with the host club.  Should you have any queries, please contact the Entries team on external.comps@hhsc.org.uk.

A key part of the calendar is the annual Hertfordshire County Championships, where we have an increasing number of swimmers meeting the consideration & qualifying times, and in 2020 saw good success in achieving finals, with a number of swimmers taking home medals.  We also have a number of swimmers achieving Regional and, in a few cases National entry times.

HHSC has a very active Masters section.  Members compete in some of the League competitions alongside their junior counterparts as well as entering Masters competitions at County, Regional, National and International events.

The club runs a number of open meets, which are well supported by other clubs, some travelling a considerable distance to be with us!  These events are held at Hemel Hempstead Leisure Centre, using the 6-lane 25m pool, featuring our Olympic style OSB 11 starting blocks with backstroke ledges, anti-turbulence lane ropes, full AOE with a Colorado starter and remote strobe. Details of these events are below.

We enter teams for Peanuts, Herts Major League and the National Arena League.

Finally, we run a number of internal competitions all under the umbrella of ‘Club Champs’.  This covers most of the usual events, and gives your swimmers the opportunity to walk away with trophies in their age group.  The Middle and Long distance events are currently run jointly with Watford SC, allowing more competitions for the swimmers, and also helping us to supply enough officials to run them as level 3.

Team Galas

Selection for team galas is made by the Head Coach or Head Teacher.  Your attendance at these galas is expected if selected.  Selection for one round does not ensure selection in future rounds;  current training attitude and behaviour, competitive performance and illness/injuries can affect selection criteria.

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PEANUTS

HERTS MAJOR LEAGUE

NATIONAL ARENA LEAGUE

Peanuts is part of the Herts Swimming League along with Herts Major.  It is an inter club competition for Hertfordshire clubs, for swimmers aged 9 to 12.  It is run over three galas in May, June and July, each having the same mix of individual and relay events.

Herts Major League is part of the Herts Swimming League along with Peanuts.  It is an inter club competition for Hertfordshire clubs, for swimmers aged 9 up in four age bands;  11 and under, 12-13, 14-15, Open.  It is run over three galas in January, February and March, each having the same mix of individual and relay events.

The Arena League is the national inter-club competition, currently split into 6 area Leagues.  Hemel currently compete in the London League in division 2.  Swimmers compete in four age groups from age 9 upwards; 9-11, 12-13, 14-15, Open.  The winning teams from each League are go on to compete in the National final.

While Hemel were relegated after the 2018 season, they had their 6th best cumulative time ever, with the open age group having their best cumulative time ever.

HHSC Hosted Meets

This is a level 3 licensed open meet which is normally held around the 3rd weekend in October.  No faster Than times apply.  It comprises 50m, 100m, and 200m events in all strokes plus a 100m and 200m IM.  There is also a Skins competition with cash prizes and a trophy for the best visiting club.

This is a level 3 licensed open meet which iis normally held on the 2nd weekend in May. It is an “entry level” competition aimed at swimmers with little or no experience of open meets.  Entries are restricted to swimmers with times approximately slower than the qualifying times for the Herts County Championships; entries with no times will be accepted.  Swimmers who swim faster than the entry time will be awarded a speeding ticket.  The meet comprises 50m, 100m and 200m events in all strokes plus a 100m and 200m IM.

This is a level 3 licensed open meet comprising a single event – the 200 fly!  When it was first held in 2016 we attracted 135 swimmers, and in 2017 we almost broke the 200 barrier with 193 entries. This is normally held in September.

The meet is organised jointly with Berkhamsted SC, City of St Albans SC, Harpenden SC, Hemel Hempstead SC, Hoddesdon SC, Royston SC, Stevenage SC, Tring SC and Watford SC. Priority is given to entries from those nine clubs, but thereafter entries are invited from other clubs on a first come, first served basis.  The event is intended to form part of each club’s club championships and so although entries will be seeded by time, results will be published by club and each club is responsible for its own reward structure.

This meet is being held in memory of Hemel’s former Head Coach, Alan Doyle, who died unexpectedly in late 2017.  Alan was a bedrock of our club and played an active role in the wider swimming community including running the website and social media for the Arena League along with many other local swimming clubs.

It is intended to run this event in February each year straight after Counties.  The event comprises of 50s in all strokes with finals plus the 100IM.

Club Championships

Club Championships are the opportunity for the entire club to compete against each other.  The shorter distance (50m, 100m and 200m) events are HHSC internal club events, with the meets taking place during normal training times.  These meets are licensed at Level 4 (which we can reasonably manage as a single club based on the number of available officials in the club), and are usually held in June.

The mid (400m) and long (800m/1500m) events are held jointly with Watford SC later in the year.  This allows for a much better level of competition between the swimmers, and by combining resources also allows the meets to be licensed at Level 3 allowing results to be used for Regional qualification.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN OUR SWIMMING CLUB?

We are a competitive sport club - with our swimmers competing at all levels from local team galas to National and European events.