60th Annual General Meeting
Chairman’s Report
Firstly, the committee and members of the club owe a huge debt of gratitude to Nicola Long who has filled the key roles of treasurer and registrar for the past year.
Nicola took on a huge challenge when she stepped into the treasurers role, temporarily at first, as there were no up to date accounts and there was a large amount of subscription arrears. To put it bluntly, things were in a real mess.
Louise Wise also stood down as registrar at the last AGM and Nicola took on both roles on a permanent basis toensure that all aspects of membership and subscriptions were managed effectively.
Although it would be difficult to describe the finances of the club as ‘healthy’, through Nicola’s careful stewardshipwe have managed to complete the year almost breaking even and with no arrears.
Other new members of the committee include Jessica Brinsmead and Sallyanna Smith who shared the role of Secretary. They have been very proactive throughout the year ensuring that meetings and decisions of the committee are actioned in timely manner.
Katherine Rose has also stepped into the role of Gala Secretary during the year and despite being informed at the last minute that the ALC would not be available for the club championships, Katherine rose to the challenge and managed to find an alternative venue at Churchers School, Petersfield. A big vote of thanks to Katherine for an excellent job well done and a big thank you to Helen Bond for her work as the previous Gala Secretary.
Other thanks go Kerrie Potts who has provided great support to the committee and very generously hosted numerous meetings providing much appreciated refreshments. Also, a big thanks to Rebecca Hadnett for organising the new club kit. There have been problems but Rebecca has persevered and the new kit has certainly attracted positive comments from other clubs.
Final mention is for Dawn Warrington who has been the club’s safeguarding officer for the past couple of years. Dawn has always provided a balanced and professional approach to safeguarding and she is replaced by Monica Stevens.
We would like to thank all other committee members for their unstinting work throughout the year without which we wouldn’t have a swimming club.
2016 was the 60th anniversary of Chichester Cormorant Swimming Club (note singular cormorant). The club was formed by David Daughtry in 1956. A swimming and diving pool was built in New Park in the 1960s (now the New Park Cinema) where the club swam until 1987 when the Westgate Leisure Centre was opened. This has been the home of CCSC since.
The committee would like to thank the coaching team, poolside helpers and gala helpers for all their hard work a dedication throughout the year. It is very satisfying and a real privilege to be part of a great team that kicks into action when a gala is needed to be organised and managed. We received great plaudits for our efforts in organising the National Arena gala at Portsmouth in November.
On the coaching team thanks to Darren and Kerrin for their continued work. Congratulations to Darren who passed the ASA Level 3 Certificate in Coaching during the past year. Particular thanks go to Jane West for organising the development squads and ensuring that our younger swimmers get the best start possible to their swimming careers; to Lynne Cruttenden for her long standing commitment and dedication particularly on Sunday mornings (with the support John as her chauffeur); to Sue Goacher for ensuring that there is a steady flow of new swimmers joining the club; to Lisa Maynard for her continued commitment particularly for the Wednesday session; to Paul Mason for his commitment to the younger swimmers and for organising the team gala at Brighton Dolphins. Special mention and thanks go to David Rosen who continues to make the journey from Bognor every Friday to help out at training.
The club continues to grow stronger in the swimming pool with good performances in the Sussex, Rother and National Arena leagues. My highlight of the year was round 1 of the Sussex League when we had more than 60 swimmers representing the club and our B team squadron beat teams from Mid Sussex Marlins and Lewes. There is a real sense that CCSC is a good swimming team. Gone are the days when we finish last in a gala and our relays teams still have a swimmer on the starting block as the other teams are finishing. We have two age group county champions in Jessica Rayner (Girls 13 Years 50m Butterfly) and Sebastian Hadnett (Boys 13 Years 50m Backstroke and Freestyle). Sebastian was also top 13 year old boy at the county winter competition and was selected to represent Sussex in the National County Team Championships which were held in Sheffield in October. Both swimmers also qualified for the 2016 South East Regional Championships.
We have record number of 18 swimmers who have qualified for next month’s county championships. I don’t know the exact number of entries but it could be close my target of 100. The number of qualifiers for the counties could have been more if we had more time as there are a number of swimmers with unlicensed times which are quicker than the county qualifying time.
Finally, the club has managed to survive another year without a chairman. Although we continue to progress, we desperately need someone to take on the responsibility for the management and leadership of the club. We have a strong committee; membership numbers are the highest they have been for several years and training sessions are well attended. We continue to increase the number of swimmers qualifying for county competitions and our performances in swimming leagues is consistently good. Now is a good time for someone with the right skills and commitment to take the club forward and to next level.
Phil Rayner
On behalf of the CCSC Committee