By Eleni Ioannou and Ethan Bird (Youth Squad)

The season was kickstarted for several of COSC’s performance youth swimmers with the South East Winter Regionals Meet which took place at the new pool in Winchester on 5^th and 6^th November. COSC swimmers had a total of 10 race entries each in separate events. 

In the first session Ethan Bird was first to race in the 100m Breaststroke; he swam brilliantly, ranking in the Top 10 Under 16 swimmers. Lachlan Middleton and Alfie Bone competed soon after in events 100m Butterfly and 400m IM respectively. Later on in session 2, Eleni Ioannou wrapped up the day in the 50m Butterfly event. 

Going into Day Two of the competition, rested and refreshed, Ethan Bird pulled off another Top 10 result in the 50m Breaststroke, setting the bar high. Lachlan Middleton - 200m Butterfly and Imogen Duffen - 50m Freestyle also raced the same morning both achieving personal bests. Session 3 ended with Ethan Bird’s 3rd event of the meet: the 200m IM. 

Finally, the last session featured another personal best from Lachlan Middleton in the 50m Butterfly; alongside Ethan Bird who swam a brilliant 200m Breaststroke achieving a Silver medal and a Winter National qualification time!

Overall a great competition and well done to all the swimmers who competed.

Then on the 20^th of November, four youth performance swimmers departed for Guilford to compete at their annual level 2 meet. 

Sunday started off early with Ethan in the 100m breaststroke heats. With a quick second 50, he finished just off his personal best to come away with a bronze medal in the 16 year olds category. COSC continued brightly with Leni and Imogen stepping up for the 50m freestyle. Fast and ferociously, the girls finished with power as they both came away with large PBs (27.8 and 29.0) and placed highly in their respective age groups. As the session came to a close, continuing the trend of fast swimming, Lachie exceled in the 50m fly, narrowly missing out on the podium. With a brilliant underwater off the turn, Lachie returned swiftly to ease into 1^st in his heat.

In the afternoon session, Lachie dominated the 100m fly heats and finished 1^st in his age group to bring home gold and secure a place in the open final (which he later did not swim); more importantly he swam a 59.03 (PB) to take him under the minute barrier! Ethan followed along in his 50m breaststroke to secure second place in his age with a 0.14 seconds personal best. As the gala came to a close, Leni swam another brilliant PB in the 50m backstroke (32.64) with amazing underwaters to round up a successful weekend for Oxford with lots of PBs and strong skills on display.

This was the last gala for the youth swimmers being led and coached by Craig Gibbons. From all of the youth squad and COSC, we would like to say thank you for your time on poolside at galas and hard work behind the scenes to help the swimmers; we wish you luck for the future. 

Are you a qualified swimming coach or teacher and looking for the opportunity to join a dynamic team? Our new Head Coach, Richard Beard, is taking up his role with the City of Oxford Swimming Club in early December and is looking to grow his team.

COSC is going from strength to strength, rapidly expanding at the youngest and oldest ends of the club, with plenty of scope for the growth and development of our competitive and fitness cohorts in between.

We’d love to hear from qualified candidates for the following roles:

Age Group Coach

We are recruiting a full-time qualified coach to help with our Age squads, working closely with our Head of Age, David Treadell. The job advert is live with a closing date of 17th December.

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Swim Teacher

Under the leadership of Helen Thornton and Caroline Gibbs, our Swim School is making great progress and we are currently seeking a qualified swim teacher

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We are also keen to bring in more trainee helpers so do get in touch if you are interested in starting or advancing your training as a swim teacher.

Rising Stars Coach

To help our young swimmers make the transition from swimming lessons to competitive swimmer, we are looking for a part-time assistant coach to work alongside our Head of Rising Stars, Kate le Fèvre.

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Rising Stars Gold Job Description

Finally, we’re always keen to hear from qualified or trainee coaches who want to work with us on a casual or voluntary basis. Get in touch and we can start a conversation about what you are looking for and what COSC can offer.

You’ll be working alongside our energetic existing team of permanent, casual and volunteer coaches, helping to take forward the club’s plans to build a supportive and inclusive environment, where swimmers of all ages can thrive.