Derby Excel Summer Sizzler Meet - report
We hosted our last meet of the season last weekend at Moorways, a 50m level 3 meet which attracted entries from as far afield as Birmingham, Billingham (near Middlesborough), Liverpool, Rotherham and Warrington as well as swimmers from within the county such as Belper, Swadlincote and Chesterfield. The meet was full, which is testament to our reputation for delivering excellent meets which are very popular with visiting clubs and coaches. The queue of spectators stretched from the admissions desk outside the balcony right the way out to the revolving doors and beyond, as family and friends came in numbers to support their swimmers.
It was a great opportunity for swimmers to compete at a long course event, and there were finals in the 50m and 100m events.
Although the sessions were lengthy, especially on the Saturday, it meant that many swimmers had the chance to be part of this event, putting their skills from the season's training into practice.
Our swimmers did themselves proud once again, and many medalled over the weekend, despite stiff competition from the visiting clubs' competitors.
These meets are very important to us - not only do they give our swimmers a chance to compete, and showcase Derby Excel, but also they bring in revenue to us to help keep our club financially viable. Unlike most comparable programmes around the country, we do not receive any financial support from our county association (Derbyshire ASA) nor from the city council (Derby City Council), and are entirely self-funding.
It takes a small army of volunteers, officials and helpers to deliver these meets. So many things have to be organised - right from when we decide on the meet date/format and venue, submit for licencing, advertise/promote them on social media/website/by email, process all the entries, find enough officials to meet the licence meet requirements, arrange medals and plaques for winning swimmers and teams, liaise with Moorways re staging the event, and the Scouts to cover the car parking, arrange catering for coaches and helpers, find helpers for the admissions desk, competitive stewards, and H&S helpers and many more jobs besides! Thank you to every single one of you for helping deliver this meet especially:
Entry Manager: Kirsty Billinge
Promoter: Rachel Male
Secretary/Financials: Pippa Hibbs
Officials Organiser: Babs Ingram
The top visiting club was City of Birmingham, 2nd was Bassetlaw, 3rd - Redditch, 4th Louth - well done to you all.
Our next meet is already open for entries - a one day season opener sprint meet on Sunday 15th September. We look forward to seeing you again then!
