Latest News 2026

March 28th

Good afternoon, everyone!

Fantastic attendance at Life Saving last night - 29/35 swimmers! This includes 8 of our 10 "newbies" - who, it has to be said, were an absolute credit to themselves, their families and their Club, along with 21 "regulars", whose commitment never wavers! WELL DONE! And, again - a big thank you to all parents / carers who bring the swimmers!

And... on Volunteer Appreciation Day, a special shout out has to go, firstly, to our superb instructors - Thomas, Steve, Andrew, Ian, Sandra, Ella and Georgia - your contribution to our club NEVER fails to amaze me, and NEVER goes unnoticed. THANK YOU! And secondly, to our Young Volunteers - Lucy, Esme and Rodger, now well into your second year of committed volunteering - I know I keep saying this - but we could not manage without you! THANK YOU! Lucy - you disappeared without receiving your Thank You Egg - I will (try to) keep it safe for you!

It was lovely to see Dan, Emily and Liza - three of our new NLA Bronze Medallion Graduates beginning their Young Volunteer training last night. There is a six week probationary period, after which you will get your Young Volunteer Certificate - and a Club T Shirt if you don't already have one! Thank you for wanting to do this!

Apologies for the senior moment which led me to forget to do the Easter Lane Draw on poolside - but, we got there in the end, thanks to families in reception at the end of the session! 

The lucky winners were:

Lane 1: Amelia

Lane 2: Ruby (keeping this safe for you, Ruby!)

Lane 3 Rowan

Lane 4: Maddison

A Superstar certificate was presented to Miles (Lane 1) and another will be presented on 10/4/26 to Jakub Lane 3.

A final thank you to our Lifeguards and staff at Armthorpe Leisure Centre - we really appreciate you!

Wishing everyone the happiest of Easters - and we will look forward to seeing you all on Friday 10th April. Please remember that there is no session on Good Friday.

Mary

March 25th

Training cancelled Easter Weekend

There will be no training on Friday 3rd April (C squad and lifesaving) and Saturday 4th April 2026 (A and B squad), as it is Easter weekend, so we have limited coaches available.

Wishing @everyone a very Happy Easter 

Nicola

Hello everyone - please note that the message below from our Club Chair, also relates to our Life Saving session on Good Friday 3rd April. We will reinforce this message when we see our Life Savers at this Friday’s session 27/3/26 

Mary

March 20th

Good evening everyone!

Well... what a LOVELY session tonight with lots of work, lots of productive noise, lots of awards and 28 swimmers!

Congratulations to our fantastic Lane 4 swimmers who received their NLA Bronze Medallion Awards tonight, from Steve and Andrew! What a journey they have been on since starting as Rookies about three years ago! We are very sorry to see them go... but wish every one of them all the very best as they go onto their new adventures! 

Well done to:

Matthew W

James W

Daniel N

Kaitlyn R

Liza A

Laura G

Emily D

Please send us any photos of your children with their awards so that they can go on our Life Saving Wall of Fame on the website.

Well done, also to our Lane 1 swimmers! They have achieved their Rookie Silver 3 Awards tonight - having negotiated the tricky "initiative" scenarios. 

Well done to:

Alice B

Emily P

Molly B

Mollie CY

William D

Ruby P

Miles P

John P

Kaleb R

Next week we will complete the assessments for any swimmers absent tonight, and also begin our journey through Rookie Gold! Please remember to complete your Silver Worksheets, and bring them to the first session after Easter (Friday 10th April)

It has to be said that the volume generated by our Lanes 2 and 3 swimmers was amazing tonight - their level of communication is improving all the time - and their enthusiasm is endless! Well done!

Superstar Awards were presented to: Emily, Alice and Molly (Lane 1) and Maddison (Lane 2). Well done!

Next week, we will have a new group of Rookies starting with us on Rookie Bronze 1 in Lane 1 with Steve and Andrew. This means that all other groups will move on a lane as follows:

Mary's and Thomas's group - Lane 2: Rookie Gold 1

Sandra's and Ian's group - Lane 3 - NLA Bronze Star, along with three new members who will follow the NLA Bronze Certificate programme

Ella's and Georgia's group will move into Lane 4 - NLA Bronze Star.

Our brilliant Young Volunteers (Lucy, Esme and Rodger) will stay with their current groups.

Our weekly numbers will increase to 35 swimmers - so it is going to be busy! Thank you in advance to all parents and carers for bringing your children week after week - it is much appreciated.

I will update you on the arrangements for Good Friday as soon as they are confirmed.

See you next week!

Mary

March 19th

Good morning!

Just a reminder to our  current Lane 4 swimmers. Tomorrow is the final scheduled Bronze Medallion session, and awards will be presented at the close of that session. Parents are, of course, warmly invited to come into reception at around 8.50pm to see the swimmers receive their awards from Steve and Andrew.

If your child / children are unable to attend, do please let us know so that we can make arrangements for them to complete the award.

Thank you!

Mary

March 4th

Message for Lane 4 Life Savers:

You will be in the Studio from 7.45pm - 8.15pm this Friday 6th March - to do some First Aid and CPR - before going in the pool for the last half hou

Mary

March 13th

Hello everyone!

An amazing night at Life Saving! 22 swimmers who all worked really well. A special mention  to Lane 1 who were REALLY on it, tonight - with some excellent 200m swimming and Wading Rescues. Next week should see most of the swimmers achieve their Silver 3 Awards - and they will be well deserved! Just the important "Initiative" scenarios, and another wading rescue to navigate and then on 27th March it will be time to start the last series of Rookie awards - Rookie Gold Many thanks to Thomas and Lucy for everything you do to support our Lane 1 - I could not manage without you! A new set of newbies will start on 27th March, so ours won't be newbies any more!!

Lane 4 are very nearly there with their NLA Bronze Medallions - next week should enable us to see them achieve their awards. If any of these swimmers would like to train as Young Volunteers - like Lucy, Rodger and Esme - just speak to me at the end of next week, and we'll get you started. Thank you to Steve, Andrew and Ian for all your support with these swimmers - most of whom started out as Rookies! What a journey they have had!

Lanes 2 and 3 will become the senior groups after next week (moving into Lanes 3 and 4). They will continue working towards their NLA Bronze Star Awards, which we are hoping they will achieve by June/July this year. Well done to Maddison (Lane 2), who, despite an injured shoulder, still attended tonight and was able to support poolside with her Lane. Thank you to Sandra, Ella, Rodger and Esme for all the time, patience and effort you show, week after week!

Thank you to all our parents who bring our swimmers to the sessions - there would be no club without them, or you!

Finally, it would be lovely if all the parents/carers of Lanes 1 and 4, could come in to reception at the end of next week's session to see your swimmers receive their awards!

Have a good week! — feeling proud.

Mary

March 7th 

Hello everyone,

Well... another excellent night at Life Saving. A fantastic 26 swimmers in attendance, along with our three excellent Young Ambassadors, Lucy, Rodger and Esme. These young people are absolutely vital to the smooth running of our sessions and we are endlessly grateful to them. Well done to Esme and Maisy, who have now completed their Swim England Foundation Safeguarding Qualification. All our Young Volunteers now have this qualification.

100% attendance again from Lane 4 who, following a successful CPR / First Aid session in the Studio last night, have made really good progress with their preparation for the NLA Bronze Medallion Award. The final assessments for their award will be completed by the end of Friday 20th March. We hope, very much, that some of our Lane 4 swimmers will want to continue and train as Young Volunteers with us when they have achieved their NLA Bronze Medallions - they should let us know if this is something they would like to do.

Lanes 2/3 are settling into the NLA Bronze Star programme and are making sound progress with the development of water based and land based rescues, along with stamina and speed activities.

Lane 1 should complete their Rookie Silver 3 Awards by the end of Friday 20th March. Any swimmers who still need to complete catch up assessments because of absence, will be accommodated. The primary focus over the coming two weeks will be both of the wading rescues and Initiative Tests. Then... it's onto Rookie Gold!!

We look forward to welcoming a new batch of "Newbies" mainly for our Rookie Life Guard Bronze programme, on March 27th. Steve and Andrew will be the instructors for this group, with the other instructors moving up a lane with their current groups.

Finally - a HUGE thank you to all our Instructors - without them, and their wonderful commitment, there would be no club!

Mary

March 7th 

There will be limited capacity, starting 27/3/26, for children aged 8-11 years, at our Life Saving Club. If you are interested - please send me a message. The club runs after C Squad from 7.45pm - 8.45pm every Friday and delivers Rookie Lifeguard and National Life Saving Academy awards. 

Mary

February 27th

Hello everyone!

Wow! 27 swimmers at tonight’s session - and a brilliant response from every single one!

Special mentions to:

Lane 4 with 100% attendance. They have worked really hard and with excellent focus towards their NLA Bronze Medallion assessments.

Lane 1 - with a real team effort towards catch up assessments - the way the swimmers support each other is so lovely to see. Well done John and Miles who earned their 200m badges. Two more weeks should see us in a position to be able to award all our swimmers their Rookie Silver 3 Certificates and badges.

The attendance of Lanes 2 and 3 was 12/14 - which is an excellent response - they are working towards their Bronze Star Award, and, considering that they are only 13/14 years old, this will be quite an achievement. Next Friday, these swimmers will be in the Studio from 7.45pm - 8.15pm, working on CPR and First Aid, and then in the pool for the rest of the session. I will send out a reminder next week.

Thank you, again, for all your support - children may forget to thank you for bringing them and making sure they are kitted out with everything they need, but we know and remember and are grateful!

Have a good weekend! See you next Friday!

Mary

February 20th

Good evening everyone!

I just wanted to send a BIG thank you out to all the 15 swimmers who attended tonight’s life saving session, and those who brought them. It is very much appreciated, especially on a cold and dark February night!

Another BIG thank you to the four instructors who were able to volunteer tonight, along with Rodger and Lucy, two of our Young Volunteers. Once again, your commitment is so impressive and appreciated!

We will be back at full strength next Friday and we will look forward to seeing you! Have a good weekend, and an even better week! 

Mary 

February 12th 

Message to Lanes 2 and 3

Please remember to bring a top and bottoms to wear over your swimwear on Friday! Thank you! 

Mary

13th January

Good morning, everyone

We had an excellent attendance of 26 swimmers on the first session of Life Saving on Friday. Well done to all the swimmers who attended and thank you to all families who brought them!

This term, we continue to work through the knowledge, techniques, rescue skills and first aid required by the Rookie and NLA Awards Schemes as follows:

Lane 1: Rookie Silver 3

Lanes 2 and 3: NLA Bronze Star

Lane 4: NLA Bronze Medallion

Six “Well Done” Awards for various “over and above” contributions, including top attendance, willingness to demonstrate and general all round sustained positivity, were presented last Friday and hopefully there will be more to come in the weeks ahead. Well done to Friday’s recipients

We have benefited from Armthorpe Ward Councillor funding which has enabled us to purchase a throw ring, two body boards, two float tubes and spare goggles. Photos were taken on Friday so that we could provide evidence of the resources in use, for the Ward Council. These resources will certainly enhance our delivery and we are grateful to the Ward Council for their generosity.

Could I ask that all swimmers remember to bring a drinks bottle (and use it) and clothing to wear over their swimwear, please? Swimmers need to complete various water-based tasks clothed, and also need to demonstrate that they can remove clothing in water. Swimming in clothing also aids the improvement of stamina and strength.

Finally, a reminder that our full Swimming Club Awards Presentation Evening is on Friday 23rd January, at 7.30pm at Armthorpe Community Centre - so there will be no Life Saving session that evening. Our Lane 2 and 3 swimmers with Bronze Certificate and Bronze Star Awards will be presented with them on that evening if they are able to attend - otherwise we will present them at the end of the Friday session either this week or on 30th January. Obviously, our Lane 1 swimmers are also invited to attend.

Thank you! See you on Friday

Mary