Well done to all swimmers who were able to take part in the last session of the Level X series. Some great swimming!
Well done to all swimmers who were able to take part in the last session of the Level X series. Some great swimming!
Another great night of racing well done to all swimmers who took part.
Well done to all swimmers who took part in the first Level X time trial session. Click here for full results.
Harriet Rogers competed for Darlington ASC in the British Swimming Selection Trials at the London Aquatic Centre. The five days of competition saw some tremendous performances from leading British swimmers with 28 of them achieving consideration times for selection for the GB Olympic team for Tokyo and several new British records being set.
In the heats of 100m Freestyle Harriet finished 10th in 57.17 seconds, recording the third fastest time at the meet by a swimmer born in 2004. On the following day she competed in her favourite 50m Freestyle event, recording 25.93 in the heats, qualifying 7th for the final. She then went faster in the evening final to finish 7th in 25.77 to be the second fastest swimmer of her age on the day. In the three long course high level meets that Harriet has competed in since February, she has produced a remarkably consistent set of excellent swims, and her performances at age 16 have been noticed by many coaches and other swimmers.
It was fitting that Glen Fenby was able to be at the meet with Harriet to take enormous pride in her achievements, at the end of more than 5 years as Harriet’s coach. This was Glen’s final gala as DASC Head Coach and also Harriet’s last gala representing the club.
Harriet joined DASC in December 2011 at the age of 7. It has been a great privilege to watch her progress through the squads, develop her great natural talent through huge amounts of hard work and commitment in the pool and the gym, rewrite the club gala record book, win medals at National level, be selected for the Swim England National Performance Squad, and compete at Selection Trials alongside current and future Olympians.
She has been a role model and inspiration to many youngsters at DASC, both as a swimmer and a person. We wish her every success as she follows her dream, and will watch her progress with continuing interest and support.
Report compiled by Jane Teague
Glen joined DASC as an Assistant Coach in summer 2007 when the club was in a difficult position, with membership, performances, and morale at a low level. In late 2009 he became DASC Head Coach, gaining his Level 3 Senior Coach qualification in 2013.He continued as Head Coach and Top Squad Coach from that time, until his recent resignation. In that period, he has worked with four club Chairmen, and perhaps 20 coaches, and has been a big part of the lives of many young people who have passed through DASC.
If you have seen Glen in action on poolside at training or at galas, you will have witnessed his passion for swimming and for swimming coaching, and the satisfaction he gained from inspiring young people of all ages and abilities to develop their competitive swimming potential. He has also encouraged coaches to share his enthusiasm and develop their skills and effectiveness.
When Glen was on poolside, you could not fail to notice him; he was loud of voice, cajoling, encouraging, demanding, as well as being loud in his choice of clothing. He believed strongly in the need for there to be an element of fun as well as hard work in training, looking to put smiles on swimmers’ faces as a means of helping to get the best out of them. Out of the pool he enjoyed club social events, often in fancy dress – Lightwater Valley outings, ROF59 Presentation Nights, the annual North Sea Dips at Scarborough, and Ellerton Lake open water swims spring to mind.
Turning around a declining club is neither quick nor easy, and there have been plenty of difficulties and frustrations along the way. Thanks to a measure of stability and leadership that Glen brought the club through over a decade of coaching, and the support of other coaches, volunteers and committee members, DASC has steadily improved.The N&D Championships in February 2020 and the N&D Team Championships in March 2020 just before the pandemic started were the best club performances of his time with us. He has coached 7 (I think) DASC swimmers to qualify for the National Championships, including one current swimmer who has won medals at the National Agegroups and at the Scottish Nationals, and is the only swimmer based in the N&D area currently on the Swim England National Performance Squad.
Lucy Proctor joined DASC in 2004 and was one of Glen’s Top Squad swimmers for several years, before she turned her hand to coaching at Glen’s suggestion, and now succeeds him as DASC Head Coach. Lucy says, ‘As soon as Glen joined DASC, he made a huge impact. We had an absolute blast and made memories that will last a lifetime. He taught us all a new way of training, working hard whilst having fun. He always managed to get the best out of us and in more recent years, he’s progressed swimmers to a much higher level.
He passed on his enthusiasm for the sport and helped me to become the coach I am today. He will be missed at DASC and I will try to up my sock game!”
No one should come into DASC as a coach unless they are committed to young people, the club and the sport. The long and anti-social hours both on poolside and behind-the-scenes, while sustaining a day job, require dedication and a willingness to sacrifice sleep, leisure time and family time.
As Glen leaves DASC, we thank him for all that he has given to DASC, we congratulate him on his successes at DASC, and we wish him well in the future.
Jane Teague and Lucy Proctor
24 March 2021
This time last year the British Swimming Championships were due to take place in the Olympic Pool in London with selection for places in the GB team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and other international events at stake. Fast forward through a year of pandemic, and in the same pool, but with a different format, British Swimming is holding the Selection Trials on 14-18 April 2021 under ongoing COVID restrictions with the focus being on senior selections for international competition later in 2021.
Harriet Rogers of DASC has qualified to compete in 100m Freestyle and 50m Freestyle on 17 and 18 April. Glen Fenby will be attending the Trials with Harriet, in his final gala as DASC Head Coach
Glen said, ‘This is Harriet’s opportunity to continue to show British Swimming that she has made the big leap to Elite Swimming. This is her first step in a busy and important swimming year, ensuring she stays in the Commonwealth Squad. I totally believe in Harriet and I know on the day she will produce her absolute best and we all wish her well in this task.
Harriet will however continue to improve over the next year and will look back on all her recent swims at Manchester and especially attending the Olympic trials in London with fond memories. Competing in the Trials is an important step to keep her on track for her dream of selection for the Commonwealth Games in 2022. To have a DASC swimmer qualify for the British Swimming Trials makes me extremely pleased and to have a swimmer with so much potential for the future makes me so proud. “Go Harriet” 😊’
Harriet is looking forward to the competition and to be swimming at the London Aquatics Centre for the first time. To be racing the top swimmers in the country is another massive challenge and experience for Harriet. With this being Glen’s last gala as Head Coach, Harriet is hoping to do really well for both Glen and the Club.
There will be a third DASC member at the event. Lesley Butler, mother of Max in Top Squad, is a licensed gala official, and will be officiating each day at the Selection Trials. She was due to do so at the 2020 event and has been invited to attend this year instead. She is proud to be representing DASC and looking forward to the experience.
The heats start at 10am each day with finals in the evening at 7pm. The Entry List can be found at FINAL_Brit_Selection_Trials_2021_Programme.pdf . The event will be livestreamed on the British Swimming YouTube channel.
All at DASC wish Harriet every success at the Selection Trials.
The Manchester International Swim Meet did go ahead, albeit under a heavily revised format compared with usual, and limited to elite athletes as defined by the government’s COVID-19 protocols.
It provided a key competition opportunity for British swimmers especially those targeting the Olympic and Paralympic Games and was attended by the likes of Adam Peaty, James Wilby, Luke Greenbank, Freya Anderson and Ellie Simmonds.
Following her selection in December to the Swim England Performance Squad, DASC swimmer, Harriet Rogers, was invited to attend and compete in four events over the 3-day meet. There were heats in the morning session and finals in the evening session each day. Here is a summary of her performances.
| Day | Event | Heat/ Final | Previous PB | Time | Position | |
| Fri 12 Feb | 50m Back | H | 30.36 | 30.33 | 7th (Opted not to compete in final) | PB |
| 50m Free | H | 25.60 | 25.89 | 4th. 3rd fastest GB swimmer in the heats. Fastest under-20 swimmer at meet. | ||
| 50m Free | F | 25.60 | 25.92 | 5th. 3rd GB swimmer in final | ||
| Sat 13 Feb | 50m Fly | H | 27.80 | 27.87 | 9th. 7th fastest GB swimmer in the heats (Place became vacant for the final.) | PB |
| 50m Fly | F | 27.80 | 27.73 | 8th. 6th GB swimmer in final. Fastest under-20 swimmer at the meet. | PB | |
| Sun 14 Feb | 100m Free | H | 57.76 | 57.53 | 6th. 4th fastest GB swimmer in the heats. | PB |
| 100m Free | F | 57.53 | 56.72 | 4th. 2nd GB swimmer in final. Fastest under-20 swimmer at the meet. | PB |
During Lockdown 3 Harriet has been undertaking intensive elite swimming training run by Swim England near Northampton, involving 2.5-4.5 hours per day for up to 6 days per week. The Manchester Meet provided her with an opportunity to see what she could do in a competitive environment, as well as gaining invaluable experience racing against top-class swimmers from GB and other European countries.Harriet made the most of her chances, producing excellent performances with 4 PB times and the remainder of her swims being close to her PBs. She saved the best swim until the final final, when she swam over a second faster than her PB going into the event in the morning. Her time of 56.72 is a new NER record beating the time set by Emily Large (Newcastle Swim Team) in 2016. This is a huge stride forward at this high level and she finished as the 2nd GB swimmer in the event. Given the interruptions to training, the lack of competitive opportunities of the last 11 months, and the very strange conditions of the whole meet both in the pool, on poolside and outside the centre, Harriet’s achievements at the meet were tremendous.
The transition from Junior to Senior competition is indeed a big step and the first couple of races at the weekend were notably a big adjustment for Harriet. However, as the weekend went on, she gained in confidence and produced some incredible times considering the training issues. I am extremely proud in watching a Darlington Swimmer compete at this highest of levels and she did the Club proud but, more importantly she started putting foundations down in staying in the Senior Performance Squad and in particular for Commonwealth Games selection. Well done Harriet.
Comments from Head Coach Glen Fenby
A collaborative working group including British Swimming, Manchester City Council, GLL and The City of Manchester Swim Team (COMAST) worked extremely hard on developing the most rigorous COVID protocols possible with a competition bubble, similar to the one used for the ISL in Budapest last year, implemented for four days.Everyone involved in the meet – swimmers, coaches, officials and volunteers – were required to be part of a robust testing process upon arriving at the meet hotel. They then had to confine themselves to the meet hotel, the Manchester Aquatics Centre and private transport for the duration. Face coverings and social distancing were mandatory at all times, other than when swimmers are in the water, with robust cleaning processes in place between all races. The event was held safely behind closed doors without spectators, and with only a few coaches allowed in attendance, but the meet was livestreamed.
It was unlike any other gala I have been to. There were more officials than swimmers and I was there on my own with no coach. Everyone had to sit 2m apart and masks had to be worn at all times, other than when you were swimming. It was quite a weird experience. Warm up was also very different, with staggered timings and allocated specific time slots. We were not allowed to warm up in the competition pool, instead it was a 25m pool with no access to blocks for dive practice. Due to these restrictions, I warmed up 2 hours before all of my swims which wasn’t ideal. All of that aside it was so good to get the chance to race again and I know how lucky I was to be there.Overall I was pleased with how the weekend went. I was hoping to go faster in the 50 free, so I was disappointed with my time, but I was really pleased with my 100 free finishing 4th with another pb.
Comments from Harriet Rogers
Report compiled by J Teague
