Swimming: Harlow Penguins set to have emergency meeting as they face uncertain future
News / Tue 16th Dec 2025 at 12:41pm
THE HARLOW Penguins Swimming Club are set to have an emergency meeting as, by all reports, they face an uncertain future.
YH understands that the meeting is set to be called in the New Year (January 4th) and may involve the club being “wound up”.
A swimming club in Harlow has been in existence for decades. The Penguins moved from the old swimming pool on First Avenue to their present home in the Harlow Leisurezone.
In a letter from the Harlow Penguins and seen by YH, members have been told that:
“The last few months have presented significant challenges for Harlow Penguins and we have now reached a watershed moment. For the club to continue there needs to be a renewed involvement from everyone involved to secure its future.
“For that we need to hold a Special General Meeting (SGM).
An SGM must be called for a single clear specific purpose and must state the resolution that members are being asked to vote on.
The resolution for our SGM is for the club to wind up.
However, the opportunity for Penguins to carry on remains, but we must ask you as members for your choice in this.
The resolution to wind up will only be passed if three quarters of the members present and eligible to vote at the SGM vote to wind up the club.
“The future of the club is in your hands, so please get involved and think hard about whether you want it to be here for your swimmers in 2026”.
====
Five years ago, YH attended an emergency meeting of the Harlow Swimming Club, which was marked by bitterness and rancour.
There appeared to be arguments on both sides then and there may well be now.
What we do know is that there appears to be young Harlow swimmers competing for clubs in Romford, Basildon, Bishops Stortford to name just a few.
Old Harlow resident and Olympic hopeful, Jasmine Hall, swims for Basildon.
That may not be anything to do with Harlow Penguins.
We asked one parent, whose child went to swim for a club some distance from Harlow, how they felt about the current situation?
They said: “I am sad to hear that Harlow Penguins’s may be coming to an end. I’m sorry for the swimmers that love swimming.
Penguins has never been the club it once was when Martin Stringer left. He knew how to bring the best out of the children. He was an absolute inspiration to my daughter and was upfront with the feedback and what she needed to do.
My daughter followed Martin to Romford with other swimmers where he continued to support her.
Before Martin passed away he called to give his blessing for her to go to a club of her choice. A few months later she quit swimming and said she’d only go back to Harlow.
“We approached Penguins but we were informed there were no spaces at the club for her, despite her being a top Essex swimmer.
“My daughter never returned to swim since. It’s incredibly sad children with such a talent may now also not swim due to the lack of a local club”.
Another person whose children have swum with the Penguins gave us their reflections.
They said:
“I can only express my outrage and deep disappointment at the way Harlow Penguins Swimming Club has been mismanaged in recent years.
“What was once a thriving, community focused club has been systematically dismantled through poor leadership, secrecy, and a shocking lack of accountability.
In my opinion, the club has lost its direction, with decisions made without proper consultation, experienced coaches leaving, and a growing disconnect between the committee and its members.
One of the most glaring examples of this mismanagement is the handling of coaching provision. Due to the head coach being off sick for several months, numerous swimming sessions have been cancelled, as no adequate cover was put in place. This has caused enormous disruption for swimmers and families alike, many of whom plan their weeks around training schedules and competitions. For a club of this size and history, such a failure of basic organisation is simply unacceptable.
For decades, Harlow Penguins Swimming Club gave local children opportunities to develop confidence, discipline, and ambition through sport. Families have invested countless hours fundraising, volunteering, and supporting the club. To see it reduced to this state through neglect and mismanagement is heartbreaking.
“It is time for Swim England, Active Harlow, and local councillors to urgently investigate the governance of Harlow Penguins Swimming Club and intervene before permanent damage is done. Harlow’s young swimmers deserve far better than this. A good start would be for Ms Broderick to step down and leave the running of this once great club to those that actually care about its future.”
Your Harlow contacted Harlow Penguins but we have not (to date) had any reply.
David Forman
2025-12-16 13:23:43
As I know from my various political and sporting experiences, governance is the one area that gets little attention. Attention to the constitution and rules is essential. Fortunately, the Chair of Harlow Council, councillor Andrew Johnson, understands this very well.
John not real name
2025-12-16 17:45:50
Harlow Penguins has been a club in a never ending cycle of those who seek to undermine instead of help and force their way onto the committee only to create chaos division and poor governance. The club voted to move on from Martin Stringer in his position as head coach because the club was in financial trouble and the role was not sustainable as the club is a not profit organisation where all committee members are and must be volunteers. Under Ms Broderick and Ms Hansen the Club was bought back from the brink establishing good governance and a healthy reserve budget and employing an international level head coach along with training a whole new coaching team. Penguins also took over the former stewards swim school as it was close to financial failing too. The committee changed again and the last 18months seen the finances dwindle and swim england called into audit the accounts. The previous healthy reserves have gone and the accounts could not be reconciled with thousands £ not accounted for. Following the last AGM where the then treasurer responsible was voted as chair most of the established committee members stepped down. This turned out to be a disaster with the majority of the new committee all resigning within weeks as they realised what a mess they had created. Ms Broderick and others have since stepped up to try to save the club but it has come to the point where the club can not pay its bills and will be forced to close. This situation of not of recent events it’s of a long period of those that seek to do their upmost to undermine the efforts of some that run club rather than actually help run it.
Ted
2025-12-16 18:52:57
They should start a go fund me page
Unknown
2025-12-16 22:05:42
After the decision to remove Martin which was made by a select few committee members, without consulting their members, swimmers, families and fellow coaches a vote of no confidence was made against said committee who despite the outcome then refused to step down, thus creating a bigger division in the club resulting in swimmers leaving. Perhaps if those that were basically had been voted out of their posts had stepped down and accepted the majority decision things would now be very different at the club.
Unknown
2025-12-16 22:21:50
How devastating for all the swimmers of Harlow. I hope that someone can step in and save this club, a club that has been around for generations. Our children deserve the opportunity to be able to represent the town in which they live in.
Lisa Collins
2025-12-17 12:27:25
My son swam for a different local club, however we knew plenty of people who have swum at Harlow going back many years. It's devastating news that the club may have to be wound up. The Leisurezone is a fantastic facility and the loss of revenue for them will be significant too. My heart goes out to all the swimming hopefuls, the dedicated parents and those involved in tirelessly giving their time to help run the club. I hope a resolution can be found and that the club can forge forward into 2026 and beyond.
Julie Bull
2025-12-17 20:32:51
Having been part of this club for many years with my son, it's very sad to see. We paid big monthly fees, membership, gala competition fees and driving to various parts of the country a massive commitment. There are 300 to 400 hundred kids swimming here including swim school. Some swimming 7 or 8 times a week. There were a lot of issues within the club which I'm not going to mention here. There were also bad coaches who thankfully moved on and this allowed much needed growth and cutting edge development under Head coaches like Adrian who came in with new ideas and elite performance knowledge, he really brought the best out in the children. What is also extremely worrying is the knock on effect, as thousands of pounds is paid to rent the pool at Leisurezone, that will be a massive loss in business revenue. In lockdown, it was penguins that proped up LZ. Now, with memberships lost to David Lloyds opening. The loss of business must be very concerning for LZ Penguins is a massive operation dealing with hundreds of children if not managed properly can easily spiral out of control. It needs the right people, good governance, robust policies and procedures put in place with each committee role clearly defined along with a welfare team and codes of conduct for coaching. I hope existing members exercise their vote to save the club and Swim England step in as advisory support. There is some bad press for teenagers, knife crime and drugs but Penguins is a fine example of dedication from young people who have such an amazing dedication to their sport. I hope the grown ups can show the same dedication to lift it from the brink of collapse and the club can be something to be proud of again
Leigh
2025-12-18 09:46:31
Both the treasurer and chairman have now quit with no reasons given. Hopefully we’ll get some answers in January
Kevin Barnes
2026-01-29 23:21:08
As an ex member of them HSDC (Harlow Swimming and Diving Club) I feel so sad that this once great club has been put in this situation. HSDC trained myself and many others to represent Essex county. I joined the RAF with training from our coach (Mr. Ross) went to win many RAF and Inter Service championships because of the dedication he instilled all of the members of that period. All children should be taught to swim, because one it could save their lives and also other peoples.
Leave a Comment Below:
9 Comments for Swimming: Harlow Penguins set to have emergency meeting as they face uncertain future: