Basingstoke Bluefins

From summer lie-ins to 5am alarms. ⏰

September brings a sudden return to school, full training and busy family routines. Our latest blog looks at how young swimmers can balance school, swimming and sleep as they settle back into the season.

Read more below 👇🔗

From Summer Break to 5am Alarms: Balancing School, Swimming and Sleep August often brings a welcome change of pace for young swimmers. Depending on the squad, there may be two or three weeks with almost no swimming followed by a reduced timetable of between two and four sessions a week. Later mornings, fewer commitments and more relaxed routines quickly become normal....

💙 Swim England National Summer Meet 2026 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
English Championships

Congratulations to our Bluefins swimmers competing at this year’s English Championships. Across the six days, the team has recorded six top-10 finishes, including a bronze medal for Daniel in the 800m Freestyle and several finals for Ethan, Piaras, Luke and Daniel.

Well done to Luke, Ethan, Oliver, Daniel, Rhys, Piaras, Bran and Lizzy. 💙

Day 1
⭐ Ethan A — 50m Backstroke, 7th (16yrs)
Luke W — 400m Freestyle, 21st (13/14yrs)
Luke W — 200m IM, 25th (13/14yrs)

Day 2
Oliver H — 200m Butterfly, 12th (15yrs)
Luke W — 100m Freestyle, 29th (13/14yrs)

Day 3
⭐ Daniel C — 1500m Freestyle, 5th (13/14yrs)
⭐ Piaras D — 200m Breaststroke, 7th (17yrs)
Rhys K — 1500m Freestyle, 11th (17yrs)
Bran A — 200m Breaststroke, 21st (13/14yrs)
Luke W — 200m Breaststroke, 24th (13/14yrs)

Day 4
⭐ Ethan A — 100m Backstroke, 7th (16yrs)
Daniel C — 100m Backstroke, 13th (13/14yrs)
Luke W — 200m Freestyle, 19th (13/14yrs)

Day 5
🥉 Daniel C — 800m Freestyle, 3rd (13/14yrs)
⭐ Ethan A — 200m Backstroke, 7th (16yrs)
Lizzy D — 200m Butterfly, 16th (18+yrs)
Bran A — 100m Breaststroke, 17th (13/14yrs)
Luke W — 100m Breaststroke, 36th (13/14yrs)

Day 6
⭐ Luke W — 400m IM, 6th (13/14yrs)
Daniel C — 400m IM, 14th (13/14yrs)

💙 Bluefins Takes to Open Water 🦆

Five Bluefins swimmers from Club 2, Youth Performance and Junior Masters swapped the pool for the lake this morning, joining coach Sarah for our first Open Water Experience Session at Quayswim.

With the sun shining and the lake sitting at a very comfortable 23.3°C, conditions could hardly have been better for their first taste of open water swimming.

The session focused on entering the water confidently, settling breathing, swimming beyond standing depth, basic sighting and becoming familiar with a lake environment.

Well done to Emily, Megan, Gabriel, Ashley and Oliver. All five were new to lake swimming and finished the session happy, smiling and keen to return. 💙

More sessions in the next few weeks, look out for new dates.

💙 Bluefins at the Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships, 2026 🇬🇧
Huge congratulations to Rebecca, Piaras, Daniel, Oli and Tom, who represented Bluefins across seven days of racing at the GB Next Gen Championships.
Racing at this level is a significant achievement in itself, with several excellent performances including four top-10 finishes.
Day 1
Rebecca J — 1500m Freestyle, 27th (17/18yrs)
Day 2
Piaras D — 100m Breaststroke, 33rd (17/18yrs)
Day 3
⭐ Daniel C — 100m Freestyle, 8th (14yrs)
Oli P — 100m Freestyle, 30th (17/18yrs)
Tom M — 200m Butterfly, 12th (14yrs)
Day 4
⭐ Daniel C — 400m Freestyle, 9th (14yrs)
⭐ Piaras D — 50m Breaststroke, 6th (17/18yrs)
Day 5
Tom M — 100m Butterfly, 16th (14yrs)
Day 6
Oli P — 50m Freestyle, 37th (17/18yrs)
Day 7
⭐ Daniel C — 200m Freestyle, 9th (14yrs)
Well done swimmers. We are incredibly proud of you all. 💙

Huge congratulations to our National Qualifiers for 2026!

Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships 🇬🇧 are well underway in Sheffield and already some excellent swims, including Daniel making the 100 free final last night and goes again tonight in the 400 Free final.

Next week it’s English Nationals 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and more swimmers in action!

We’re so proud of you! Let’s go fins 🏊‍♀️ 🏊 💨

💙 Bluefins Sharks Home Gala 🦈🏊‍♀️

Friday evening saw another fantastic Bluefins Sharks Home Gala, with plenty of smiles, encouragement, and some brilliant swimming from everyone involved. 👏

Swimmers took on a programme of 25m, 50m and 100m Freestyle, Backstroke and Breaststroke, creating another enjoyable evening of racing in a fun and supportive atmosphere.

A huge thank you to our Sharks coaches Tony, Juliet, and Oceiah, together with our Chair, Head of Swimming, our team of volunteers, qualified officials, and junior volunteer Manjari, who all gave up their Friday evening to make the gala possible. 💙

Well done to every swimmer who raced. Your enthusiasm, determination, and support for one another are what make Bluefins Sharks such a special part of our club. 🐬✨

Well done to our Masters team competing at Hampshire Counties yesterday

It wasn’t to be this year, we got beat by the awesome Trojans by 6.5 points.

Huge shout out to the whole team and especially those new to racing or don’t come out too often! You made a huge difference 🙏

Well done to Martin and. Lizzie for winning he inaugural skins competition and to Spencer and Fleur for winning Top Male and Top Female

Thanks also to Bluefins Margo, Ollie, Natt and Kate for officiating 🙏

We go again next year! 💙💪

🏅 South East Regional Championships 2026

A brilliant few weeks of racing from our Bluefins swimmers.

💙 34 swimmers qualified
🏆 4 Regional Champions
🥇 Medals, finals, PBs and Club Records throughout the Championships

The club finished 7th overall in the South East Region, with our Age Group swimmers placing 6th overall.

A special mention to Phoebe H, who became the first swimmer from the Bluefins Para-Swimming to compete at the South East Regional Championships.

Well done to everyone who represented Bluefins so proudly. 💙

Read more: https://www.bbfsc.org/post/south-east-regional-championships-2026

💙 Congratulations Tony! 💙

Everyone at Basingstoke Bluefins would like to congratulate Tony Bamberger on receiving a Mayor’s Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to disability swimming.

Tony was presented with the award during the Mayor Making ceremony at the Civic Offices, where outgoing Mayor Councillor Colin Phillimore recognised a small number of individuals for their exceptional service to the local community.

As a co-founder of our Sharks disability and inclusive swimming programme, Tony has devoted more than 20 years of voluntary service to helping swimmers of all abilities enjoy, develop and thrive within the sport.

His dedication, kindness and commitment have made a lasting difference to countless swimmers and families over the years, helping create opportunities that continue to change lives today.

This recognition is thoroughly deserved and everyone at Bluefins is incredibly proud to see Tony’s contribution celebrated in this way.

Congratulations Tony, and thank you for everything you continue to do for our club and community. 💙

Read more here

https://www.bbfsc.org/post/bluefins-volunteer-honoured-with-mayor-s-award
Destination Basingstoke
Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane