Across the weekend, Ely’s swimming team brought home more than 120 medals across all the different events and age groups, the grand totals achieved being 43 Gold, 41 Silver and 40 Bronze. There were several young swimmers setting times in their first competitive swimming event, including some just 10 years old. Across the club, an amazing 165 new Personal Best times were recorded, in an outstanding collective effort recognising the hard work which all the swimmers and the club’s coaching team put into weekly training sessions at The Hive in Ely.

Some of the squad stood out for their exceptionally high achievements during the Newmarket gala:

Florence Law with a superb 5 golds (+3 silver & 1 bronze) at just 10 years old; 13 year old Alex Pashley with an outstanding 7 gold medals (& a silver) including golds across all 4 swimming strokes; Cillian O’Brien bringing home 5 golds in the 50/100/200m breaststroke events, 200m individual medley and the gruelling 200m Butterfly (also 2 silvers & 2 bronze) in the 16 & over entry; Jake Dunham with an impressive 4 gold medals in all 3 Butterfly distances and the 200m individual medley; Gabriel Kim standing out in the particularly competitive 12 year old boys age group with 2 golds, 4 silvers & a bronze; Lauren Turnock with a hard fought 7 silver medals (and 3 bronze too) in the 15 year old girls; and 14 year old Olivia Dsouza achieving 5 silvers and 4 bronze.

Particular congratulations to Top Boy James Clarke for his haul of 5 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals and to Top Girl Zoe Thompson with a quite exceptional set of results which earned her 7 gold medals, 4 silver medals and a bronze.

The full list of Ely’s medal-winning swimmers was as follows: Alex Pashley (7 gold, 1 silver), Alice Robinson (2 bronze), Cillian O’Brien (5 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze), Edward Gates (2 silver, 1 bronze), Emily Daybell (1 bronze), Emily Dsouza (1 gold, 2 bronze), Erin Latimer (1 bronze), Erin-Mae Carey (1 silver), Eryn Pashley (1 bronze), Felicity Gates (1 bronze), Florence Law (5 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze), Gabriel Kim (2 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze), Immy Ryan (1 gold, 1 bronze), Isabella Beardmore (1 silver, 1 bronze), Issy Stevens (1 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze), Jacob Hipkin (1 gold, 2 bronze), Jake Dunham (4 gold), James Clarke (5 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze), Kai Dhamari (2 bronze), Lauren Turnock (7 silver, 3 bronze), Lola Carey (1 gold, 1 bronze), Mark Hipkin (1 gold, 1 bronze), Maddie Pillow (1 gold), Norah Daniels (1 silver, 1 bronze), Olivia Dsouza (5 silver, 4 bronze), Rosa Hague (1 silver), Steph Birkwood (1 gold), Stephanie Lakinger (1 silver), Wilf Sole (1 bronze), Will Clarke (2 silver, 4 bronze), Zach Woods (1 bronze) and Zoe Thompson (7 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze).

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6 December 2024

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An open-air swimming pool was built on Angel Drove in 1934 and the club only trained through the summer months. 1977 saw the club take up winter training also in St. Ives which improved their standards immensely.

The Paradise Pool was then opened in Ely in 1981 by Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies and was home to the club until it closed its doors in 2018 and the club relocated to new facilities at The Hive where they remain today and thankful for their support in helping swimmers achieve their goals.

The team celebrated over the Summer with a big Centenary party at Witchford Village Hall, money raised through fundraising and donations helped to support the swimmers and families to enjoy this momentous occasion with outdoor inflatables and disco fun. Each swimmer was awarded a special centenary medal and swim cap for their efforts at the short distance Club Championships.

Highlights for the club in its 100th year have been 3 Top Club awards, 16 Top Boy and Girl awards, Team wins at Junior and Senior fenland leagues, 17 swimmers competing at County level, 8 swimmers competing at Regional level, 3 swimmers competing at National events, 2 swimmers selected for the East Region Development programme, 1 swimmer selected for the Swim England National Age Group Development programme and an amazing 154 Club records broken. The Masters team has also grown with our biggest squad to date of 15 swimmers with 3 of these also competing at national level.

The Club has just finished the year with its Christmas celebrations and awards for the long distance Club Championships with special recognition and trophies awarded for the year in the following: 

Junior Swimmers of the Year – Gabriel Kim and Peony Jackson

Intermediate Swimmers of the Year – Alex Pashley & Jacob Schultz and Lauren Turnock & Felicity Gates

Senior Swimmers of the Year – Cillian O’Brien and Keira Mavin

Most Improved Swimmer – Jake Dunham

Coaches Award – Lyra Schultz

City of Ely Swimming Club is excited for the next 100 years of swimming, could we see an Olympic swimmer one day!

Press release from City of Ely Amateur Swimming Club

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There were personal best times all round for the team plus medals for Derrell Jackson, swimming in his first long course meet, who won Silver medals in 50m Backstroke, 100m Freestyle and 200m Individual Medley and Bronze in 200m Freestyle. 

Georgia Holgate won Gold in 100m Butterfly, Lexi Harrison gained Bronze in 50m Backstroke, George Sporle Bronze in 50m Breaststroke and Sarah Hardiment won Gold in 100m Butterfly, Silver in 50m Butterfly and Bronze in 200m Freestyle, 50m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke, 100m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke. 

Other team members gaining early Christmas present long course PBs were Daniel Kendall, Kaci Gibson, Amelie Hawksley, Amber Lloyd, Oliver Davey, Isabella Pillow, Tia Hill and Orla Harrison.  

Huge thanks for the coaches and volunteer helpers and officials who made this possible.

Press release from Ely Swimming Club

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There was a fantastic weekend of success at Newmarket Open Meet over 13^th and 14th April with 134 personal best times, 13 Eastern Regional times and 70 Medals won over some very difficult races showing lots of determination and goals achieved.  

Medal winners were Daniel Kendall (4 Gold, 4 Silver and 3 Bronze), Tia Hill (4 Gold and 5 Silver), Lexi Harrison (6 Gold and 1 Silver), Amelie Hawksley (2 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze), Thomas Alderton (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Derrell Jackson (4 Gold and 1 Silver), Maximilian Veiga (6 Gold), Oliver Davey (1 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze), Georgia Holgate (1 Gold and 2 Silver), Robert Banwell (1 Silver), Hannah Turner (1 Silver and 2 Bronze), Kendle Putter (2 Silver), Emil Kwiecien (1 Silver), Sarah Hardiment (1 Silver and 3 Bronze), Finley Jones (1 Bronze), Jake Challenger (2 Bronze), Amber Lloyd (1 Bronze) and George Sporle (1Bronze).

At the end of March, a team of Ely’s swimmers performed strongly at the very competitive Luton Level 1 Long Course event gaining 15 personal bests and medals for Georgia Holgate (1 Silver and 1 Bronze), Maximilian Veiga 1 Silver and 1 Bronze), Iona Trainer (1 Bronze), Tia Hill (1 Bronze), Amelie Hawksley (1 Bronze) and Inez Trainer (1 Bronze).  

Meanwhile, at the Cambridge Spring Open, pictured, held at Parkside Pools there were competitive performances from a further Ely team with a medal haul for Daniel Kendall (5 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze), Tia Hill (1 Bronze), Bryony-Rose Brodie (3 Gold and 1 Silver), Oliver Davey (2 Silvers), Robert Banwell (1 Silver) and Hannah Turner (1 Bronze).  There were also 64 personal bests from Amber Lloyd, Breanna Kehren, Kaci Gibson, Olivia Brodie, Adrian Kwiecien, Daniel Milliard, Cade Kirkpatrick, Jake Challenger, Mark Banwell, Erin-Mae Carey, Grace Stevenson, Isabella Pillow, Phoebe Bishop, Emil Kwiecien, Alexander New, Connie Stevenson and Eryk Szymanski.

Over the next few weeks City of Ely Swimming now looks ahead to the second Luton Long Course Level 1 meet over the Easter weekend, the Junior Fenland League Round 2, the 6^th Newmarket Masters and Swim England’s East Region 2019 Long Course Championships for age groups 15 and over.  

Press release from City of Ely Swimming Club

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The Olympic pool inspired success for the Ely Swimmers who brought home 38 medals and 109 personal best times. There were also impressive overall performances over the day from Georgia Holgate winning Top Girl 11yrs, Maximillian Veiga winning Top Boy 11yrs and Daniel Kendall winning both Top Boy 12yrs and Best Overall Boy of the Open Meet.  

Those bringing home medals to Ely were Georgia Holgate 4 gold and 1 silver, Daniel Kendall 1 gold, 2 silver and 6 bronze, Robert Banwell 1 gold and 1 silver, Maximillian Veiga 3 gold and 2 bronze, Oliver Davey 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze, Lexi Harrison 1 gold and 1 bronze, Amelie Hawksley 1 silver and 1 bronze, George Sporle 1 silver, Bryony-Rose Brodie 2 bronze, Tia Hill 3 bronze, Jake Challenger 2 bronze and Olivia Brodie 1 bronze.  

Mark Banwell, Amber Lloyd, Orla Harrison, Cade Kirkpatrick, Nathan Okoro, Isabella Pillow, Callum Bridges, Erin-Mae Carey, Dominic Jones and Hannah Turner gained personal best times.

The success sets the club up well for the Cambridgeshire County Championships starting on 19th January.

Press release from Ely Swimming Club

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Hayley’s excited about the opening of The Hive – but the Paradise Pools hold special memories for the Little Downham record-breaker.

Nicknamed “Turbo Turner” for her super speeds, at the tender age of nine, Hayley helped open the Paradise Pools, together with Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies, in April 1981.

The cabinets inside the building host trophies record-breaking Hayley’s won – including one for being the first female in the county to swim 100m freestyle in under a minute.
The Paradise Pool’s last day of opening will be this Monday, with plans by the council to demolish the building shortly after. The Paradise Centre will remain.
Hayley told Spotted in Ely: “The pool closure this week had brought back a flood of happy memories as we say goodbye to our Paradise Swimming Pool.
“For me it was my early start in my successful swimming career and it is with a heavy heart I write this and snap photos of my children and I outside in its final days.”

Then named Hayley Tooke and living in Wentworth, Hayley started swimming in local private pools at the age of six before joining the Ely Swimming Club at the old open air pool – now the cement works – where she met fellow swimmers and lifelong friends, Cheryl Letts, Tracy Nicholas and Kelly Newark.
“We then moved to the Paradise Pool. By this time I was nine years old and already had a band of wins to my name. I was selected to present Sharron Davies with a commemorative plaque when she came to open the pool. Ironically some years later I raced against her on her comeback to swimming in the Commonwealth Trials consolation final.”
The Paradise Pools served as the perfect springboard for Hayley’s athletic career – as a teenager, she was headhunted by the England swimming coach, who secured a spot for her at Kelly College in Devon, which boasts some of the best swimming facilities in the country.
“I am still winning medals at the National Masters each year and last year helped our team finish in gold position for the 4x50m freestyle relay, swimming my leg in close to 28 seconds…not dissimilar to the times I did back in my teenage years.
“The imminent pool closure has meant I have dug out the scrapbooks of photos of my team mates and I winning trophies and club gains up and down the country. I’ve shared these with my children, now six and seven years old, who have loved reading all about my swimming career. 
“And it’s a particularly pertinent time for us as they have literally recently started swimming club and are about to do their second session just before the pool closes, coached by one of my very oldest swimming buddies, Tracy Nicholas.”
At the age of seven, Hayley’s daughter, Faith, is already in Stage 8, while son Toby, six, has almost completed Stage 6. Husband Mark Turner is an Ultra Marathon and extreme triathlon competitor, while Hayley is gearing up for her third and fourth Ironman events this year. 
Hayley recently completed her Level 1 swim teacher training at the Paradise Pools and is planning to go into swim coaching.
Despite being a super sporty family, the Turners don’t plan to push their kids, who both attend Downham Feoffees Primary Academy, into the same lifestyle – unless they want to do it.
Hayley said: “Should they wish to continue their love for swimming there is no doubt in our minds that we shall do as our parents did… dedicating themselves to our competitive edges, driving us everywhere, ensuring we made morning and evening training, juggling homework.”
The former Fenland Flyer star swimmer is excited about the opening of The Hive, Ely’s new leisure centre, but the Paradise Pools will always hold a special place in her heart.

On Wednesday, Hayley went for her last swim at the Paradise with the kids.
“Faith pushed me in as a surprise and that’s a true swimmers celebratory way of doing things!”
Hayley said: “Farewell Paradise Pool…you held a lot of fond memories for me in my youth and now for my children as they start out on their swimming journey.”

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