02 Dec 2025

Eastleigh had another great month of competitions. First up was the Rushmore Royals Open Meet held over 22nd–23rd November. This was our first long-course (50m pool) meet of the season, and the swimmers once again gave 100% in every event, achieving more PBs as well as several Hampshire County qualification times.

Alongside an impressive haul of medals, the meet also included “hot heats”, resulting in a few tubs of sweets being won and shared among the swimmers. It was great to see athletes taking on each event with confidence and applying the feedback from the coaching team.

On Sunday 30th November we attended the Hart 1-Day Open Meet. Once again, we saw excellent swims from all those competing, and it was clear that technical points from the previous weekend had been practised in training. The improvements in both skills and race execution were obvious, with more PBs and medals achieved.

Everyone who represented the club across both weekends swam incredibly well and showed fantastic support for one another. It was great to see the team spirit on poolside.

A big thank you also goes to all our Team Managers and Club Officials who volunteered over both weekends — your support is invaluable.

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Other News

New Squad Structure Updates

Following a review of our senior pathway, the club is making two important updates:

• Masters Performance — New Squad (18+)
  A brand-new high-performance pathway for swimmers aged 18 and over. Entry to this squad is by Head Coach invitation only, and full criteria are listed on the squad page.
• Performance 1 — Age Extended to 25
  Performance 1, which previously capped at under-18, will now include swimmers up to age 25. This supports young adult athletes who are still progressing through higher-level training.

To support these changes, updated risk assessments have been completed for mixed-age lane sharing. All sessions involving both 18+ and under-18 swimmers remain fully compliant with Swim England guidance, and lane allocation will continue to be carefully managed by the coaching team.

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Hampshire Talent Camp

Sammy Scott completed his first weekend on the Hampshire Talent Camp — a fantastic development opportunity for swimmers in his age group. It was great to see him fully engaged with both the swimmers and the coaching team.

Our own coaching team — Darren Buchan (Head Coach), Matt Boyd-Wallis (Assistant Head Coach), and Oliver Rutherford (Skills Coach) — are also involved in delivering the Talent Camp programme for swimmers across the county. This reflects the depth of expertise within our club and strengthens the development pathway available to Eastleigh swimmers.

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Upcoming Competitions

• 5th & 8th December — Club Championships
• 13th–14th December — Southampton Open Meet

Kind regards,
Darren Buchan
Head Coach
Eastleigh Swim Club

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All news

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