A little under one year ago, I sat in a meeting where Barking & Dagenham Aquatics Club stakeholders were told that our club was losing backing and being left to stand on its own for the first time in 8 years. Things looked bleak. The atmosphere of the club as a whole was wholly negative, many coaches and swimmers had left and long turned their back as things regressed since the pandemic. Suddenly myself and my coaches had a real possibility of losing our jobs, and our swimmers may not have had a club to be a part of for not much longer.
What happened since then has been nothing short of transformational.
Stepping into the position of Head Coach while our club was at its lowest was a risk and a challenge but having grown up in the local area, I want nothing more than for this club to succeed, for both Barking & Dagenham and its surrounding areas, and for its athletes who better themselves with us.
Across the first half of this season, I’ve watched my coaching staff alongside myself reset the culture of this club and set out on building something special. Hosting our first competitions since 2021, narrowly missing out on promotion to the Premier Division of the National Arena Swimming League, led into this year’s Essex County Championships.
Despite everything we’ve been through, we had an increase of the number competitors by 40% on 2025, with 62 Athletes spread across our qualifiers and relay teams – the highest numbers by B+D since pre-pandemic – and finishing as a team on a total of 616.5pts, coming 10th in the overall standings.
That marks an improvement of 86.5pts over 2025, an enormous 250.5pts over 2024, and an even larger 369.5pts over 2023. Though the club had been trending upwards, this was largely carried by a select number of elite swimmers who have since moved on. For 2026, we were broad, with members of every eligible squad representing the team, and the points spread across many, many more athletes.
For me personally, the biggest culture shift was hearing such a roar whenever one of our team competed in a final. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard us so loud, and it meant a great deal to us all to have so many parents supporting us over three weekends across February and March. Thank you for all your support, it really did push everyone on.
I’d now like to give special mention to our County Medallists, of which many had never reached the podium before. To have got here despite the challenges of the past half year is testament to the work you have all put in, and I couldn’t be prouder of these exceptional performances.
| Tonis Klova | Open/Male 13 Years | 8x Medallist |
| 200m Backstroke | 1st Place – County Champion | Essex Record |
| 200m IM | 1st Place – County Champion | |
| 200m Freestyle | 2nd Place | |
| 400m Freestyle | 2nd Place | |
| 100m Backstroke | 2nd Place | |
| 100m Freestyle | 3rd Place | |
| 50m Backstroke | 3rd Place | |
| 100m Butterfly | 3rd Place | |
| Mia Newman | Female 13 Years | 6x Medallist |
| 200m IM | 1st Place – County Champion | |
| 50m Butterfly | 2nd Place | |
| 100m Butterfly | 2nd Place | |
| 100m Freestyle | 3rd Place | |
| 200m Butterfly | 3rd Place | |
| 200m Breaststroke | 3rd Place | |
| Aiden Doorbeejan | Open/Male 13 Years | 4x Medallist |
| 200m Breaststroke | 1st Place – County Champion | |
| 50m Breaststroke | 2nd Place | |
| 100m Breaststroke | 2nd Place | |
| 50m Freestyle | 3rd Place | |
| Phillip Stanescu | Open/Male 10/11 Years | 4x Medallist |
| 50m Freestyle | 1st Place – County Champion | |
| 50m Butterfly | 1st Place – County Champion | |
| 50m Breaststroke | 2nd Place | |
| 100m Breaststroke | 2nd Place | |
| Brock Whiston | Female 18+ Years – Para | 3x Medallist |
| 400m Freestyle | 1st Place – County Champion | |
| 50m Breaststroke | 1st Place – County Champion | |
| 100m Breaststroke | 1st Place – County Champion | |
| Aida Morter | Female 18+ Years | 1x Medallist |
| 50m Butterfly | 3rd Place | |
| Domantas Auryla | Open/Male 16 Years | 1x Medallist |
| 200m Breaststroke | 3rd Place | |
| Klement Peciorin | Open/Male 16 Years | 1x Medallist |
| 200m Butterfly | 3rd Place | |
| Rares Bodnariuc | Open/Male 13 Years | 1x Medallist |
| 50m Breaststroke | 3rd Place | |
| David Tarlev | Open/Male 10/11 Years | 1x Medallist |
| 50m Butterfly | 3rd Place | |
But our points were from so many more athletes, so now I’d like to also give mention to all our other Finalists and Point Scorers who got us to that impressive haul this year.
| Amaya Ahmed | Michaiah Antonio | Amelia Jn Baptiste |
| David Cebotari | Ion Ciubotaru | Dillan Cronin |
| Artemijs Grodzis | Daniele Ivaskaite | Meda Kaliatkovaite |
| Nojus Kazlauskas | Jessica O’Brien | Vladislavs Paulins |
| Alex Simeonov | Elizabeth Stanescu | Mia Tananeeva |
| Miriam Valaine |
And for the first time in many years, following our successes in the National Swimming League and Essex Mini League, we sent a full programme of Relay Teams represented by the following swimmers.
| Open/Male 9/10 Years | 7th – IM | 10th – Freestyle |
| Harley Adams, Junayad Ahmed, Mason Belskas, Mason Plummer | ||
| Female 9/10 Years | 5th – IM | 2nd – Freestyle |
| Amelia Jn Baptiste, Sitara Dasgupta, Sienna Gardner-Charles, Alice Kastrati | ||
| Open/Male 11/12 Years | 5th – IM | 3rd – Freestyle |
| David Cebotari, Ion Ciubotaru, Liam Ngjeci, Phillip Stanescu, Beqa Zaalishvili | ||
| Female 11/12 Years | 3rd – IM | 4th – Freestyle |
| Michaiah Antonio, Daniele Ivaskaite, Meda Kaliatkovaite, Jessica O’Brien | ||
| Open/Male 13/14 Years | 2nd – IM | 2nd – Freestyle |
| Aiden Doorbeejan, Artemijs Grodzis, Tonis Klova, Alex Simeonov | ||
| Female 13/14 Years | 12th – IM | 10th – Freestyle |
| Katie Chapman, Daisy Hamersley, Inayah Khan, Mia Newman | ||
| Open/Male 15+ Years | 11th – IM | 13th – Freestyle |
| Domantas Auryla, Nojus Labinas, Vladislavs Paulins, Daniel Tonu | ||
| Female 15+ Years | 15th – IM | 14th – Freestyle |
| Amaya Ahmed, Tiffany Azumah, Aida Morter, Elizabeth Stanescu | ||
And finally, a massive congratulations to every single athlete who qualified for County Championships this year. It was the best atmosphere I’ve experienced as a Coach at a Championships in many years (almost stretching back to my own swimming career!)
We can only go upwards from here, but to have achieved so much in so little time, is a massive, massive credit to you all.
Daniel McEwan
Head Coach
Brock Whiston being presented with the award for Best Performance at International Level for 2025👏
9/10 Years Relay Teams
11/12 Years Relay Teams
And a few more captured over the three weekends and back at training!