Joyce Mellor has made the difficult decision to step down as Derby Excel President. Joyce has been associated with the club since 1969, when her children began swimming with City of Derby and has been involved ever since! She's done a variety of roles and also served on Derbyshire ASA. Now in her 90s, Joyce feels the time has come to step away, as she is finding it more difficult to come to the pool and attend meets and other DX events. Thank you very much Joyce for all your...

Just a reminder that our AGM is tonight at 6pm at Moorways, in the meeting room at the end of the corridor opposite the balcony entrance. The agenda is here All members welcome.

Our first talk of the season will take place on Tuesday 30th September at 7.30pm, and will be about sleep! It'll be held virtually via Microsoft Teams, and will last for one hour. The Meeting link will be communicated nearer the time to Derby Excel members. The talk will be delivered by Gavin Rackard, MSc, SENR, ISESA Gavin will cover the following topics: 1. What is sleep and what are sleep cycles? 2. The sleep characteristics of athletes. 3. To nap or not to nap? 4. How can sleep be...

Huge congratulations to our coach David Pratt, who was shortlisted for the East Midlands Regional Age Group Coach of the Year Award. Although he didn't win, he received Highly Commended recognition and an award. Well done David, we are all very proud of you!

Well done to everyone who competed at the Derbyshire Junior Grand Prix on Saturday. This was held at The Arc Leisure Centre in Matlock, and is a series of three galas held at monthly intervals in the Autumn. The aim is to give novice swimmers an opportunity to race against their peers from all over Derbyshire, and get experience in the wonderful world of competitive swimming! The results can be found here: https://results.derbyshireswimming.org.uk/2025/2025%20-%20Junior%20Grand%20Prix/JGP2025-1/

Congratulations to all our winners from Presentation Night. All swimmers who competed at the Club Championships will receive an award - either for a Top 6 finish overall in their age category, or a participation medal. Anyone who wasn't there, please go to the Timing Suite on poolside (under the balcony by the window end at Moorways) to collect your award. And make sure you come to Presentation Night next year! :) Here is a list of the winners announced on the night. Club Champs Overall Winner per Age Group...

Derby Excel's annual Presentation Night took place at Rolls Royce Pavillion last night, and was a fantastic event celebrating the achievements of our swimmers last season. Over 300 people attended, and there was a brilliant atmosphere and the venue looked great, decorated with Derby Excel flags. Congratulations to all the swimmers who won trophies, plaques and medals. We hope this inspires you for the new season ahead. Well done to Green team coached by Ed Spink, who won the team event from the Club Championships, scoring 678 points. Second were...

The Swim England National Summer Meet took place from 29th July until 3rd August. Swimmers qualified for this meet based on their ranking from times achieved in a 50m pool during the qualifying window which ran from mid March to mid May. For most events, the top 24 swimmers were invited to the Aquatics GB Next Gen meet, then the next 24 to the Swim England meet but this varied. For example only 10 swimmers were invited to the 18 years 50m freestyle, but 24 were invited in the 15-17...

The end of season highlight for many of our Derby Excel swimmers was the Aquatics GB Next Gen Swimming Championships, held at Ponds Forge from 19th to 25th July 2025. To qualify for the Next Gen Championships, swimmers had to swim a time that ranked them in the top 24 in the event for the following age groups: 13/14 years, 15 years, 16 years, 17/18 years and 19/over. The time had to be set during the qualifying window which ran from early March until mid-May. This is a really challenging...

She's done it again! Our breaststroke Queen Imogen Clark has won the 50 breaststroke for the third year in a row at the Aquatics GB Next Generation Championships (previously known as British Nationals). Imogen dominated the race, leading throughout after a trademark superb start. She touched the wall first in 31.20 seconds. Well done Imogen and coach John Adye, job done!