A central location to help our role as Doncaster's Performance Programme.

There can be no doubt (among those of us who remember) that Dartes suffered after its decision to move away from Hall Cross school in the centre of Doncaster in 2016 years ago. It was a necessary move, but it still hurt, and forced us to take water time at the extreme edges of the Doncaster borough (and on occasion even outside its borders in Minsthorpe). We've always kept one eye on travel distances when considering new pool time, as we know it's one of the two big deterrents to joining the Dartes Performance Stream

We measure travel times between pools as a rough approximation for the distance Doncaster's swimmers need to travel (each pool being considered as the centre of each feeder club's catchment area). The travel times below are taken from google maps, going the fastest route, pool to pool. Minsthorpe is included for historical reasons. As suspected, the numbers backup the claim that Rossington CSP is one of the more central locations since the Great Yorkshire Way opened.

As a club we are growing in scope and ambition, yet will not forget our Performance Heritage.

Our coaching team is keen to make the training environment at Rossington CSP the best it can be. The committee is eager to support that and our close relationship with DCLT will help achieve that. But to demonstrate the importance of the local clubs in the area, the performance stream would simply not exist, limiting opportunities for our young athletes and further education for local coaches. Doncaster Dartes has historically been reliant on the local clubs to exist, since merging with Rossington Rascals that is no longer the case, with only a third of our members coming from outside Dartes. That offers hope that Dartes is no longer reliant on the local clubs but places focus on a worrying trend, the number of swimmers coming to Dartes has drastically reduced post covid. 

In 2012 we hit the magical 100 members in the performance stream alone! A feat that has not been accomplished before or since, in 2019 we came close with 94 and saw somewhat of a resurgence of Doncaster Dartes, compare that to 2025, although we have grown significantly over the last 2 year, we have only 74 swimmers in the performance stream. We need 10 more young athletes to find this year.

Nothing ever stands still - no room for complacency.

If we rest on our laurels and just allow things to tick along, expecting that to produce the same outcome as this year, the chances are we'll take a step backwards. Focus for the new season must be on taking the next step forwards - no matter who you are: coach, athlete, or parent. For the rest of the season then it's business as usual - more hard work for everyone!

The challenge laid down for the 2025/2026 season is Pathways and as it impacts Dartes: increase the flow of swimmers from clubs to performance programme.

Have things improved?

Will the new season bring change for better or worse?

Here are the current raw numbers, you decide:

This truly is an exciting time for Dartes and a fantastic opportunity for all our members no matter which stream best suits your needs. Let's get off to a flying start next week, and begin making memories and training traditions to make Rossington CSP our Pool of Dreams.