THE crisis at the heart of swimming in Harlow has deepened with two senior members of the club stepping down their roles.

YH understands that both chairperson, Michael Hardware, and treasurer, Jo Broderick, have each decided to resign from their Executive Committee positions with immediate effect.

In a letter sent to members and seen by YH, the remaining committee members state:

“The Club would like to sincerely thank our resigning committee members for their time, commitment, and service.

“In particular, we extend our deepest gratitude to Jo Broderick for over 10 years of dedicated service to the Club. Jo’s contribution, leadership, and tireless efforts have played a significant role in the Club’s development and we are extremely grateful for everything she has given.

In this current situation we have sought advice from Swim England and will continue to do so as we head towards our SGM. We want to make sure we are fully transparent with what we are working through and we are trying to ensure we do the right things for the club and swimmers.

At present, the Harlow Penguins Committee members are Chrissie Jamieson, Melissa Matthews, Nicola Arnold, Sancha Dennehy and Siobhan Perrin.

To make sure we meet our constitutional requirements, we will need to appoint new executive committee members for the positions of Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary.

If you are a member of Harlow Penguins and would be interested in taking on an executive role, please contact the committee at [email protected]

Without these roles being filled, from January 31st our Swim England club affiliation will expire and our swimmers will no longer be able to compete.

“As a committee, we are now working on providing you with information before the SGM meeting on Sunday January 4th. We will do our best to provide you with information to help you make an informed decision on the resolution”.

YH has contacted Harlow Penguins requesting a statement but they have not replied.