From January 2023, Sunday swimming starts at hour earlier at 5pm.
The Welwyn Garden Swimming Club has been working with children and young
people to improve their swimming stroke for over 80 years. The club
participates in many swimming galas and championships each year, these
include the Peanuts League and the Major League. Our main swimming
session takes place on Sunday evenings at the Hatfield Swim Centre. We also
have life saving sessions at the Monks Walk School pool where children can
gain recognised life saving qualifications. All of the club teachers have
had many years of experience and teach on a voluntary basis. We organise
social events for swimmers and their families, including a fun gala and
an inflatable party.
If you are interested in joining our swimming club and would like some
more information please go to our contact page.
Affiliated to Swim England East Region, Swim England Hertfordshire and
RLSS
Club History
Welwyn Garden Swimming Club was formed in 1933 by Dr Miall-Smith and his
wife, both local General Practitioners, using a pool created at
Stanborough by diverting the River Lea and some freshwater springs through
gravel filters into a large hole lined with railway sleepers. The 2 GPs
made daily inspections of the pool during the short season, testing the
water for impurities and checking the temperature. They taught swimming and
introduced mile trophy swims thus starting the competitive side of the
Club.
The Club was affiliated to the Amateur Swimming Association in the 1930s
and regular galas were held. Before the war the club was well known for its
water polo team, which continued after the war under the manager, Reg
Potter, who was the first British post-war captain of the Olympic water polo
team. The Club’s primary aims have always been the teaching of swimming,
improvement of stroke work and personal survival.
A full list of events can be found on our Events section.
SwimMark
The club is SwimMark accredited for "Swimming at Teaching Level". SwimMark
accreditation is Swim England's 'quality mark'. It recognizes, nationally
and regionally, the clubs that are committed to providing safe, effective
and quality services for the benefit of their members and means that the
club also qualifies for the Sport England Clubmark.
VOLUNTEERS
The club is in need of pool side helpers and teachers. We also need non
technical help when we are hosting galas. If you would like some more
information, please contact a committee member on a Sunday evening session
or one of the teachers.
SWIM SHOP
The club shop is open between 6-7pm most Sunday swim sessions at the
Hatfield Swim Centre. We have club branded costumes, trunks, bags and hats
plus goggles and goggle straps.
For a full list of the all the products please contact
shop.
Any purchases can be picked up at next Sunday's training session.
Swimming Sessions
We run swimming sessions at Hatfield Swim Centre, Monk's Walk School in
Welwyn Garden City and Hertingfordbury Cowper School near
Hertford (aka Birch Green). The table below shows the location and times of the sessions.
SWIM SESSIONS
Day
Location
Time
Squad(s)
Tuesday
Birch Green
6.30pm - 7.00pm
Honey Bees (Non-swimmers and beginners)
Monks Walk School
7.00pm - 7.45pm
Squads 1 - 3
7.45pm - 8.45pm
Squads 4 - 6
Wednesday
Monks Walk School
7.00pm - 7.45pm
Squads 1 - 3
7.45pm - 8.45pm
Squads 4 - 6
Thursday
Monks Walk School
7.00pm - 7.30pm
Rookie Lifesaving
7.40pm-8.30pm
Lifesaving - Survive & Save program
Sunday
Hatfield
5.00pm - 6.15pm
All swimmers
BIRCH GREEN
Hertingfordbury Cowper
Birch Green Nr. Hertford
Herts
SG14 2LR
MONKS WALK SCHOOL
Knightsfield
Welwyn Garden City
Herts
AL8 7NL
HATFIELD SWIM CENTRE
Lemsford Lane
Hatfield
Herts
AL10 0EB
Lifesaving
The club offers lifesaving sessions to all members and also as a
standalone activity (at a reduced annual fee) to those not wanting
join the other swimming activities provided by the club.
The purpose of lifesaving at our club is to learn how to keep safe in
and around water and how to save safely.
Sessions are run by Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) instructors
John London and Stuart Clewlow, using materials and training courses
available to them through the society, to deliver:
Life Support:
including First Aid, CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and use of
AED (Automated External Defibrillator)
RLSS UK is a National Operating Authority with the
Duke of Edinburgh scheme,
which means that participants can achieve their Physical, Skills,
Volunteering and Residential section of their Duke of Edinburgh award
directly with the RLSS UK
Events Calendar
Click on the link below to look at 2023's events calendar, which may
be updated from time to time. It includes swimming dates, galas we are
involved in and social events.
The club currently has membership openings, particularly for swimmers aged 5 - 10. If you are interested in
joining the club please email
membership@welwyngardenswimmingclub.org.
Membership is by annual subscription. We do not offer swimming
lessons on a term by term basis.
We continually monitoring our swimming lanes and when space in the
water becomes available we invite children to come along to one of our
Tuesday or Wednesday night sessions for a try out. Our Head Coach will take a look at
the swimmer’s ability and if there is a suitable lane for the swimmer
they can join the club. If not, the swimmer would go on the waiting
list.
Swimming Fees
The current fees (as at April 2023) are £330 per annum, pro-rata, 1 April to 31 March. We offer
payment by BACS or direct debit for all of our members. There are also discounts
for families with two or more swimmers.
Pool Time
Our learners will start swimming at Birch Green (Hertingfordbury Cowper
Primary School pool) doing a 30 minute session. When they build their
confidence they will also be able to do a session at Monk’s Walk School.
Competent swimmers will be able to swim two sessions per week: Sunday
evening (Hatfield Swim Centre) and either Tuesday or Wednesday evening
(Monk’s Walk School pool).
No Swimming
We give our hard-working volunteer swimming teachers the month of
August off, and we don't swim on Easter Sunday, during the Christmas
break, or at the school pools when the schools are closed.
Volunteering for the Club
Our club is run by a committee of volunteers, mainly parents of
swimmers. All our teachers are volunteers, with the exception of the
Head Coach. The club relies on parents and carers to help on poolside,
at galas and with social events, and in many behind-the-scenes
administrative roles. We also encourage parents and carers to train to
be swimming teachers or become qualified as swimming officials
(timekeepers, judges, referees) to enable the club to run galas.
On joining the club, please consider how you could contribute - no
experience is necessary. It’s a great way to get involved with the
club, for the benefit of all our swimmers.
Anyone involved in our sports can contact the Swim England Safeguarding and Welfare Team,
or their County or Regional Welfare Officer for advice or guidance on Safeguarding concerns.
If these teams or contacts are unavailable for any reason, or failure to act immediately may
place a child or adults at risk of harm, then immediate contact should be made with Police,
Children's Social Care, Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), NSPCC Child Protection
Helpline, Adult Social Care, or other agencies as appropriate.
NSPCC Child Protection Helpline
See NSPCC Helpline webpage.
You can contact the NSPCC Helpline by calling 0808 800 5000 (available 10am - 8pm Monday to Friday) or
emailing help@NSPCC.org.uk.
The committee meets every 5 to 6 weeks to aid the smooth running of the
club, preparing for swimming galas, social events, club administration
and other matters that may arise. All committee members are volunteers.
They can be seen regularly at the Sunday swim session at Hatfield, so if
you have any questions please don't be afraid to ask.
