We are a fast, fun and friendly swimming team that trains at the Burnham-on-Sea Swim & Sports Academy in Somerset and races in events throughout the country. Formed on the 1st October 2013 the club has grown steadily since then and now comprises 8 different squads from Potential through to County, Regional and National level. Over the last 9 years we have helped train many talented swimmers who are not only competitive at a local level but are going on to compete in national events as well. The Academy Swim Team offers the opportunity to swim competitively and train regularly, but also to just swim for enjoyment and fitness.

The club is affiliated to Swim England South West Region and as swimmers progress through the Academy from Stage 6 upwards they are then able to join the swim team. The team is also Swim Mark accredited.

The beginnings of the Academy Swim Team can be traced back to 2008. At the time the only swimming pool in the local area was the Burnham pool that had been in the centre of the town since it was opened in 1974. In 2006 Sedgemoor District Council, who at that time owned and ran the pool, began seeking new owners as they could no longer afford either the running costs or fund the repairs needed at the time. A major campaign to keep the pool open by the local community and Burnham-On-Sea Swimming Club that gained national attention culminated in 2008 when new owners took over and re-opened the pool as the Burnham-On-Sea Swim & Sports Academy. As part of this takeover the new owners committed to not just the swimming but growing the pool into a modern gym and sporting facility that also spawned a successful Triathlon team alongside the Swim Team.

As the new gym, cardio studio, sports hall and cafe was built the new academy started to grow and was recognised as the UK's top Swim School of the Year in 2012. In 2013 Burnham-On-Sea Swimming Club relocated to Brean Splash and the Academy Swim Team Burnham-On-Sea was started up. We competed in our first ever event at the end of November that year in Exeter finishing 3rd out of 15 teams and collecting 10 gold, 14 silver and 12 bronze medals in the process.

ASTBOS Swimmers after their first competition in November 2013

In February 2014 the team competed in another regional competition racking up 72 personal best times along with a host of gold, silver and bronze medals with 19 swimmers qualifying for the Somerset County Championships in the following month. Later that year the Academy Swim Team was selected to compete in the National Arena Swimming League for the 2014 season. The league was reserved for the top 400 teams in the country and was the culmination of the hard work and dedication of the swimmers and coaches involved during the team's first year in existence.

Competing in Newport at the 1st round of the National Swimming League in October 2014

By the start of 2015 the team had grown to 5 squads training regularly and hosted the 2nd annual Sprint Open Meet for the Somerset County Championships at the end of January. As well as achieving numerous new personal best's and winning 18 gold, 10 silver and 13 bronze medals, the team had also qualified swimmers for over 130 events at the Somerset County Championships held in March. This level of success continued throughout the year with a 2nd place at the annual Tim Bratchel Memorial Relay Gala in Horfield and another strong showing at the Clevedon & Chard Open Meet before the club started to run their own annual Academy Swim Team Championships in the summer.

ASTBOS at the Annual Relay Gala at Horfied in June 2015

On the club's second anniversary in October 2015 we gained the Swim21 (now known as the Swim Mark) accreditation, which is Swim England's quality standard for swimming clubs, recognising high standards of governance, sustainability and effectiveness, an accreditation that has been maintained ever since. Swim Mark is about creating the best possible swimming experience for all which is still something that the swim team looks to provide to the present day.

Second Birthday of the Academy Swim Team in October 2015

At the 2016 Somerset County Championships Callum Richards became the first Academy Swim Team member to become a County Champion, winning the Under-16 50 metre Backstroke, with the team sending 20 swimmers overall to the event and capturing 10 medals, reaching 32 finals and collectively knocking 300 seconds off their personal best's in the process. This outstanding effort saw the team break into the top 10 performance clubs in Somerset for the first time. In the summer of 2017 Callum followed this up by becoming the first ASTBOS swimmer to qualify for 3 events at the Summer Nationals. He then went on to make the Finals in the 50M Free, 50M Back and 50M Breast where he finished 7th, 2nd, and 7th respectively and become the first national medal winner from AST Burnham.

Some of the highly successful Somerset County Championship Swimmers in February 2016

In March 2018 Macy Noad became the first female from the Academy Swim Team to become a Somerset County Champion, winning gold in the Under-11 400 metre Freestyle. The number of young swimmers beginning to come through was highlighted again at the start of 2019 when the Junior Development Team (aged 8-12) finished 2nd at the Bristol Penguin Junior Gala in Easton.

Competing at Horfield in January 2018

Junior Development Team at Easton in February 2019

In October 2019 the Academy Swim Team sent 23 swimmers to the Somerset Development Meet where they won 18 Gold, 13 Silver and 11 Bronze medals with 23 qualifying times achieved for entry into the 2020 Somerset County Championships. Over the months of January and February 2020 the swimmers that qualified were able to turn that success into many new PB's and qualification for multiple finals over the 4 weekends. At this point it became the most successful Somerset Championships so far for Academy Swim Team members with 11 year old Zach Powell claiming 5 silver and 4 Bronze medals across multiple events, 10 year old Maisie Fisher taking silver in the 100 metre Breaststroke and the Boys 10-12 Freestyle Relay Team of Finley Fooks, Zach Powell, TT Magang and Lewis Hay gaining a bronze medal.

AST Swimmers from the Somerset Development Meet in October 2019

From March 2020 the great progress being made by the swim team was halted along with the rest of the world by the response to Covid. The team continued to train hard throughout 2020 and into 2021 when they could in between lockdowns and Tiered restrictions with access to swimming pools hit particularly hard during this time. However, the team still gained recognition in October 2020 when they were awarded first place in the B Final of the Cotswold League after three rounds of the 20 team tournament were completed prior to the first lockdown.

Head Coach Sara Dykes and various members of the ASTBOS Team holding the Cotswold B Final Winner's Trophy in October 2020

After swimming pools reopened in 2021 swim meets were few and far between but as Head Coach Sara Dykes summarised at the end of 2021, the AST swimmers had shown exceptional resilience and outstanding positivity to continue through uncertain times. This was then demonstrated by the team posting its best year so far for County qualifiers, meaning we would be sending a team of 21 swimmers to the 2022 Somerset County Championships to compete in 116 events and 12 relays.

A snapshot of some of the ASTBOS Team at the end of 2021

As swimming resumed something like normality in 2022 the first full post lockdown year saw the Academy Swim Team continue to grow and reach new heights. The Somerset County Championships at the start of the year once again saw the team set new records for the club with 24 medals won (3 Gold, 12 Silver & 9 Bronze) with several swimmers going on to gain Regional and National Qualifying times in the process.

Team Photo of 2022's Somerset County Championship swimmers

Having been abandoned without finishing properly in 2020 and cancelled in 2021 the Cotswold League returned at the end of February 2022 and the Academy Swim Team embarked on a great run of results, winning all 4 rounds of Gala's to reach the A final for the first time as the 3rd best ranked side in the competition. They went on to finish in a highly commendable 5th place in the final. In April 2022 the Yeovil & District Spring Fling Meet returned at Millfield and the growth of the squad could be seen with the number of new swim team swimmers beginning to achieve qualifying times for the 2023 County Champs.

In April 2022 the Academy Swim Team had only its second ever swimmer, and first since Callum Richards in 2017, compete at national level when 14 year old Lewis Hay took part in the Scottish National Championships. The club also fielded its most number of qualifiers so far at the 2022 Swim England South West Regional Championships in April and May before 14 year old's Zach Powell and Lewis Hay qualified for the English and Scottish National Summer Meets in June. Under 11 swimmer Leo Woodrow also took part in the Welsh National Development Meet with great success in the same month, winning 3 Silver and 2 Bronze medals in one day. 

Team Photo at the 2022 Tim Bratchel Memorial Relay Gala

In July the Swim Team took part in the Tim Bratchel Memorial Relay Gala in Horfield and again showcased the growing strength of the team with a great second place in the relay event only meet. In September 2022 11 year old's Leo Woodrow and Xander Powell were recognised for their impressive achievements by being selected for County and Regional development programs respectively. 

In October the focus switched back to gaining County Qualifying times for the Development and County Squads at the Somerset Development and City of Bristol Halloween Spooktacular meets which sandwiched the Team Bath and Millfield Level 2 Meet in the middle of the month for the club's Regional and National Squads. There was one more opportunity to compete as a team in November in the 2nd round of the Bristol Penguins Winter Gala where the team again gave a great account of themselves in finishing second.

Presentation Evening 2022

2022 came to an end with the club holding its annual awards night presentation at the Lakeside Holiday Park in December and it was the first time in a few years that the whole club was able to come together and celebrate an unprecedented year of success for the team. Following the Yeovil Christmas Cracker at Millfield in mid-December the Academy Swim Team ended the year by again breaking the club record for highest number of qualifiers for the 2023 County Championships.