Hemel Hempstead Swimming Club holds annual elections for the positions of boy and girl Club Captains. The election for 2012/2013 saw a unique event take place: in a re-run of the Labour Leadership Election, where the Miliband brothers went head to head, the club saw not one set of sibling rivalry but two.
Tom and Matthew Sherriff both stood for Boy Club Captain whilst Kira and Kelsey Doyle stood for Girl Club Captain. The election was run by the club secretary over two weeks with the 250 club members each having a vote for the boy and girl captain. The club feels it is important that the captains are selected by the swimmers and it gives youngsters an early chance to experience the importance of casting their vote.
Tom and Kira were victorious so are the Club Captains, with Matt and Kelsey as Vice-Captains. All four of the swimmers concerned are already very active within the club, giving up their time to coach the younger swimmers several times a week. Tom and Kira have both achieved their ASA Level 1 Teachers certificate and work part time for SportSpace, helping to fund them through their A-Level and College studies.
Joan Keevill, the Club Chair, ensured the votes were independently counted and verified. She commented: ‘We were very intrigued when we heard that two sets of siblings were standing for election. We have never had this in our history. All four of the swimmers are a credit to the club, giving up their time to help develop our younger swimmers and being a role model. Whilst they were rivals, the election was held in good spirits and it’s a great way for us to start our celebrations for our 100-year anniversary next year.’
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