Derby Excel swimmers have just been competing at the most prestigious domestic meet of the year, the British Championships, which were extra special this year as they were doubling as Olympic Trials. The best swimmers in the country, ie some of the world’s best, all competed to try to book their place in Paris in August. Competitors included Adam Peaty, Matt Richards, James Guy, Tom Dean, Duncan Scott, Jacob Whittle, Abbie Wood, Freya Colbert, Anna Hopkin and James Wilby. The event took place at the Olympic park pool in Stratford,...

Derbyshire Masters Long Course Championships were held at Moorways last Sunday, and 13 of our Masters competed with great success! Between them, they won 44 medals including 33 golds - amazing! Special mention to Clive who was making his competitive debut, winning gold in the 1500m freestyle. Well done to our relay teams who won 3 golds and a bronze in the 4 relay events. Congratulations to everyone taking part, and thanks to all the officials and helpers for helping to deliver this event. Many thanks to coach Jamie Brown...

Derby Excel delivered a superb level 1 meet once again at Ponds Forge last weekend, giving competing swimmers a chance to post times for the British and English National events at the end of the season. The meet took place in Sheffield at the same time as the British Championships/Olympic Trials event was held in London, enabling clubs to prepare their swimmers for racing this weekend at both venues. Our meet did not disappoint, with some outstanding performances across both days of competition. Congratulations to all the swimmers taking part....

Good luck to our 14 qualifiers who will be competing at the British Swimming Championships at Olympic Park in London this week. We can't wait to see you race.

Huge congratulations to Derby Excel's Simon Atkin who is now a qualified referee, having passed his practical assessment at the Repton meet yesterday. This is a huge achievement, as it takes a lot of work, commitment and experience to pass. Simon sat a written exam in November, then was assessed poolside yesterday. We are fortunate to now have 6 qualified referees at Derby Excel - Chair Babs Ingram, Secretary Pippa Hibbs, Claire Spink, Paul Hopkinson, Ann Basford (who has joint membership of Derby Excel and Dronfield) and now Simon Atkin...

At the same weekend that Derby Excel was hosting a Level 1 meet at Ponds Forge, our younger squads also had the opportunity to race, and headed off to Coventry for a level 3 meet, under the expert support and guidance of coach David Pratt. It was a really good meet to allow our young swimmers to put the skills they've learnt over the course of the season into practice, and there were some impressive performances. Our swimmers held their own against swimmers from many other clubs from around the...

Derby Excel delivered an excellent Level 1 meet at Ponds Forge in Sheffield last weekend, which confirmed our reputation as one of the best clubs to host meets in the UK. Swimmers attended from all over the country, competing to post times in the qualifying window which will give them a chance to qualify for the British or Home Nations Summer Championships at the end of the season, again at Ponds Forge. The meet started on Friday evening, with 400m freestyle and 200m butterfly, then 2 full days of swimming...

Volunteering at Derby Excel Did you know that Derby Excel is run by a team of volunteers? We've put together a guide to the various roles involved in the club, and hope it'll provide our members/parents/carers with some information about us. https://uk.gomotionapp.com/team/derbyexcel/page/about/volunteer-roles-in-derby-excel As you can see, it takes a small army of helpers to keep the club going. Would you like to be involved? Some of the roles are not too time consuming, and you'd be joining a friendly team, and would 'give back' to this wonderful sport. We have...

We have taken delivery of some amazing backstroke flags which will be used at our Open meets, and some of our training sessions at Moorways. Thank you to Gaynor Willis and her team at SwimPrint who supplied them.

Several swimmers who came through the programme with either Derventio Excel or City of Derby (who merged to form Derby Excel) have been competing at the World Swimming Championships in Doha. Adam Peaty had a successful return to racing, winning a bronze medal in 100m breaststroke and a bronze in the mixed 100m medley relay. He was 4th in 50m breaststroke. Adam is coached by former CoD Head Coach Mel Marshall. Abbie Wood also medalled, winning a silver medal in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay. Abbie was 6th in...