Coaches Ileidy Oliveira, Griffith Kennedy and Michele Picksley
PARENTS and coaches have warned that plans to relocate a swimming club will force it to close.
Under the Greenwich Council proposals, Eltham Stingrays club will move to Thamesmere Leisure Centre, Thamesmere Drive, Thamesmead, in September.
It is currently based at the new Eltham Centre, Archery Road, but has had the number of sessions it can run reduced from 11 to two.
The move is part of proposals in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympics, which would see a new Greenwich borough club set up.
Responsibility for learn to swim classes would be taken away from Greenwich's four competitive clubs and given to Greenwich Leisure Ltd, a not-for-profit trust which manages leisure centres.
Each club would have it's own 'home' pool and would take on pupils who have learned to swim.
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Higher level swimmers would be passed on to the borough club.
Stingrays coach Griffith Kennedy, who works as a volunteer, says he is starting a petition against the proposals after consultation meetings with councillors last week.
He said: "They're taking away the chance of swimming for kids who'll never go to the Olympics."
Mr Kennedy says members like his 13-year-old son Ciaran will not be able to travel to Thamesmead and this would force it to close.
Stingrays head coach Eddy Beager said: "The problem is the amount of time it would take for most of my swimmers and parents to get to Thamesmere.
"We have 130 members and I would expect to lose at least half of them."
Paul Bovey, 49, of Dominic Drive, New Eltham, has two daughters, aged 18 and 15, who both started at the club when they were nine.
He said: "They've enjoyed being members but if the plans go ahead they'll have to change clubs, maybe to one outside the borough, or they might decide to just pack it in."
The council says the shake-up is aimed at strengthening support for top-level competitive swimmers, providing better use of pool time for competitive swimmers to train more frequently, greater opportunities for learners and pooling of coaches across the borough.
Its plans have been drawn-up with London Swimming, a region of the Amateur Swimming Association, the national governing body for swimming in England and Wales.
Sharks of Mottingham Swimming Club will move to Waterfront Leisure Centre, Woolwich High Road, and Greenwich Borough Mariners will stay at the Eltham Centre and .
Greenwich Swimming Club will stay at Arches Leisure Centre, Trafalgar Road, Greenwich.
But chairman of Greenwich Swimming Club Jonathan Carter said he was worried the club would lose its independence and fees would increase.
He said: "I don't think any of the clubs have a problem with improving swimming in the borough, but the problem is the way in which the proposals have been put forward.
"At the moment we've got no confidence that what is being provided will be better for our swimmers."
Greenwich Council Conservative leader Councillor Spencer Drury said: "The whole thing is ridiculous.
"They're taking control of something run by volunteers and have reduced the time that people can use Eltham swimming baths so they have to go somewhere else."
A spokesman for Greenwich Council said: "The council is currently carrying out a thorough review of the support offered to swimming across the borough.
"The council also wants to address the existing imbalance in competitive swimming opportunities between different parts of the borough, and to ensure that young people in the north and east of the borough have local access to competitive swimming and coaching.
"We greatly value and appreciate the feedback we have had so far, and are currently looking at a number of options for achieving the aims set out in our strategy."
I sympathise. It's the same in Dartford where the council has poured £5 million into one judo centre in the hope of attracting international athletes and a few weeks publicity, while cutting funding for many clubs and activities enjoyed by local children and adults. So much for the Olympics being good for local people!
I sympathise. It's the same in Dartford where the council has poured £5 million into one judo centre in the hope of attracting international athletes and a few weeks publicity, while cutting funding for many clubs and activities enjoyed by local children and adults. So much for the Olympics being good for local people!
Posted by: robert stephens, woolwich on 7:34pm Sat 5 Apr 08
typical council i assume consultation took place...............
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....................
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.............seems not if it did where were the reps of the swimming club.
typical council i assume consultation took place...............
....................
....................
....................
.............seems not if it did where were the reps of the swimming club.
Posted by: theword, here and there on 9:56am Sun 6 Apr 08
The Olympics are good for no one!they have become too political.After 2012 we will have mega sports arenas that few can aford to use and all the little centres and clubs will be lost to pay for the upkeep,sad
The Olympics are good for no one!they have become too political.After 2012 we will have mega sports arenas that few can aford to use and all the little centres and clubs will be lost to pay for the upkeep,sad
I can understand why this has happen, i like to go for a swim myself after work an most evenings is such a pain as where these swimming clubs take up so much of the pool there is hardly any space for people who have also come along to swim, especially as its shared with people who are just mucking around. It's a bit of a pain considering you pay all this money for a membership!!
I can understand why this has happen, i like to go for a swim myself after work an most evenings is such a pain as where these swimming clubs take up so much of the pool there is hardly any space for people who have also come along to swim, especially as its shared with people who are just mucking around. It's a bit of a pain considering you pay all this money for a membership!!
but all these swimming clubs are keepin the children off the streets and by moving and shutting all these club up are upsetting so many people there is alot of things going on behind closed doors what we don't know about. All these families who let there children swim for these club have as much right to swim in the pool than anyone else as they pay more than anyone in fees. So before you say you agree you need to see how many children are getting upset by this and how many of them have to give up there sport what isn't only a hobby its there life, where all there friends are. Would you like to be apart from your family because thats what there doing all these club are like big families and there spliting them up.
but all these swimming clubs are keepin the children off the streets and by moving and shutting all these club up are upsetting so many people there is alot of things going on behind closed doors what we don't know about. All these families who let there children swim for these club have as much right to swim in the pool than anyone else as they pay more than anyone in fees. So before you say you agree you need to see how many children are getting upset by this and how many of them have to give up there sport what isn't only a hobby its there life, where all there friends are. Would you like to be apart from your family because thats what there doing all these club are like big families and there spliting them up.
and there is going to be less pool time for public because they want there top swimmers to get aload of pool time so lucy if you want anything to hapeen you should ask for these clubs to stay together because that top swimming group will take so much pool time up.
and there is going to be less pool time for public because they want there top swimmers to get aload of pool time so lucy if you want anything to hapeen you should ask for these clubs to stay together because that top swimming group will take so much pool time up.
If you want more time to swim after work you need to be saying you want these clubs to stay together, because if they start this top swimming group then there going to be taken alot of the pool time.
If you want more time to swim after work you need to be saying you want these clubs to stay together, because if they start this top swimming group then there going to be taken alot of the pool time.
We need more and bigger pools to accomodate everybody's needs but because all of the money are going into the Olympics, grassroots sports is suffering.
Now the Olympics are coming and the big boys want some winners, so they came with this cunning plan, let's shove the clubs aside, we'll have swimming pool for training those high performers, all the others can just go and...
What use are regular swimmers to our masters when the Olympics come?
The prime minister can't take a picture with a loser! We need champions.
As long as there are a couple of kids that can perform well at the Olympics everything wil be ok.
It was good enough for the Chinese, the Russians, the Rumenians, the Koreans, it will have to be good enough for British swimmers.
We need more and bigger pools to accomodate everybody's needs but because all of the money are going into the Olympics, grassroots sports is suffering.
Now the Olympics are coming and the big boys want some winners, so they came with this cunning plan, let's shove the clubs aside, we'll have swimming pool for training those high performers, all the others can just go and...
What use are regular swimmers to our masters when the Olympics come?
The prime minister can't take a picture with a loser! We need champions.
As long as there are a couple of kids that can perform well at the Olympics everything wil be ok.
It was good enough for the Chinese, the Russians, the Rumenians, the Koreans, it will have to be good enough for British swimmers.
Posted by: tiredmum, greenwich on 9:36am Sun 20 Apr 08
As usual, Greenwich Council have poorly consulted, being present at one of these meetings it was clear they were only interested in moving forward with their agenda, they showed no interest and indeed failed to answer concerns by parents and swimmers from 4 out of the 5 clubs present, indeed their intention was to present not to consult. We all welcome at long last, some commitment from Greenwich Council to support and resource sport, as parents we all want our children to reach their potential, be it club, county national or Olympics, and yes there could be some improvements to swimming as in any sport, in the borough to aid this. One solution could be to select some swimmers of each club that are showing potential group them together twice a week to train with a specialised coach, lets say Cystal Palace 50m pool, this would give these swimmers long course experience and specialised coaching, but they would reamin with their club, each club retains its own identity thereby giving swimmers the choice of club they wish to join. As a parent of a child swimming with Eltham Stinrays, I will not br able to travel to Thamesmead for the new allocated sessions. My son joined Eltham as a local swimming club, he will no longer be able to take part in the sport he loves unless he moves to the club that has been allocated the pool time at Eltham. Is this democracy?
As usual, Greenwich Council have poorly consulted, being present at one of these meetings it was clear they were only interested in moving forward with their agenda, they showed no interest and indeed failed to answer concerns by parents and swimmers from 4 out of the 5 clubs present, indeed their intention was to present not to consult. We all welcome at long last, some commitment from Greenwich Council to support and resource sport, as parents we all want our children to reach their potential, be it club, county national or Olympics, and yes there could be some improvements to swimming as in any sport, in the borough to aid this. One solution could be to select some swimmers of each club that are showing potential group them together twice a week to train with a specialised coach, lets say Cystal Palace 50m pool, this would give these swimmers long course experience and specialised coaching, but they would reamin with their club, each club retains its own identity thereby giving swimmers the choice of club they wish to join. As a parent of a child swimming with Eltham Stinrays, I will not br able to travel to Thamesmead for the new allocated sessions. My son joined Eltham as a local swimming club, he will no longer be able to take part in the sport he loves unless he moves to the club that has been allocated the pool time at Eltham. Is this democracy?
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