SWELL 2024/25 South and West Essex Local League

4th Feb 25

SWELL is the South and West Essex Local League, an individual league which is run by Havering and South Essex (HAVOC) and Chigwell and Epping Forest (CHIG) orienteering clubs with Essex Stragglers Orienteering Society (SOS) hosting one or two events a season as well. There are eight to ten events held on either a Saturday or Sunday between September and June each season. The league is open to everyone. By virtue of taking part in a SWELL event you automatically qualify for the league, you do not need to register for the league. 

As a minimum, White, Yellow, Orange, Light Green, Green and Blue courses are offered and normally a Short Green. At some events a Very Short Green, Brown and even Black may be offered and possibly Short Blue and Short Brown.

Final Standings 2024/25

The SWELL event at Belhus Woods concluded this year’s series and before the race, most categories were undecided.

The event featured a set of tough courses, so congratulations to all who competed, and to those who subsequemtly completed their course.

The series Roll of Honour is as follows :-

WHITE – Sienna  Muggeridge had already become white course champion and had a go in yellow instead. Well done.

YELLOW – None of the top 4 competed at Belhus, so Amelie Maule-Lidbury held on to win.

ORANGE – Elysia Cowe had already won this colour code, with 3 wins from the 4 events contested.

LIGHT GREEN – Lulu Gooding won with 2 wins from 4 runs.

To the adults now, where everything was up for grabs on that final race:

GREEN – Noreen Ives held on from Ian Byford to win by 6 points.

BLUE -  David Float bags the blue. Pre-event leader Dil Wetherill missed Belhus and finished 6th.

BROWN – Donatas Tumatis came 2nd at Belhus and takes the brown category.

OVERALL ADULT – in a reverse of the green positions, SWELL Champion 2024-25 is Ian Byford, beating Noreen Ives – TOP FEMALE – into second place. Brown winner Donatas Tumatis completes the podium in 3rd.

There were nearly 900 runs on the senior courses and over 200 runs on the junior courses, across the seven events.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone for supporting the series.

Final scoring

Summary of winners since 2005/06

League events

SWELL Point Scoring Rules

1. Juniors score up to 100 points according to finishing position on White, Yellow, Orange and Light Green courses.
2. Recommended junior courses are White (School Years 3-6), Yellow (Years 7 & 8), Orange (Years 9 & 10) and Light Green (Years 11-13). 
3. Juniors running down a course score 50% points, 2 courses 25% points, etc.
4. Juniors competing as a pair each score 50% points; juniors score 10 points if with an adult.  
5. Adults on White to Light Green courses score up to 50 points according to finishing position. 
6. Adults on Green, Blue and Brown  courses (as well as Black if offered) score up to 100 points according to finishing position. 
7. Disqualified competitors score 10 points.
8. Adult league takes into account points scored on all courses.
9. Points scored on short courses are combined with those scored on the longer colour (e.g. Short Green is added to Green). Points scored on any Black course are combined with the Brown.
10. Points scored on "adult courses", courses above Light Green,are combined and shown as the Adult League.

Getting started

Orienteering means maps, forests and adventure. You can walk, jog or run and choosing your route to the red and white markers is fun. It does not matter how old, young or fit you are - you go at your own pace. If you like excitement, fresh air and exploring the countryside then Orienteering is the sport for you.

Orienteering can best be described as competitive navigation on foot. You find your way around a course going from point to point using a specially drawn large scale map and a compass. No expensive kit is needed - just sensible outdoor clothes (long trousers are compulsory at most events), a good pair of trainers, a red pen, a clear polythene bag to put the map in and a whistle for safety.

Getting started is easy. Each league event has a minimum of 5 courses. If you are new to the sport, you can start with the beginners courses of about 3 kilometres (white and yellow), and when you get more confident, you can move up to the intermediate courses of about 4 kilometres (orange and light green). In addition, there is a longer course of about 5 kilometres (blue), aimed at experienced orienteers.

Time

All events have Registration from 10am until at least 11am. Starts normally will be from 10.30 until 11.30 (12.30 on Sundays). Courses close at 1pm on Saturdays and 2pm or later on Sundays.

Courses

All events will have courses suitable for beginners, improvers and experienced orienteers. 
(A minimum of colour coded standard White, Yellow, Orange, Light Green and Blue courses will be on offer at each event.)
There will be help and advice for beginners at every event. (Please contact the Co-ordinator if you wish to bring a large group so that we can make arrangements to give you extra help with Registration and allocating Courses and Start times etc.)

Cost

Due to Covid, most events are now pre-entry only.

Saturday events: Seniors: approximately £7   Juniors: £3 
Sunday events:   Seniors: approximately £8 Juniors: £3
The events on Sundays are larger events, with a wider range of courses and normally a larger map. 
All events normally use electronic punching (SI). There will be an additional charge of £1 to hire an electronic punching “dibber” if you do not own one.

Car parking

NB Essex County Council levies a car parking fee.

Dogs

Unless otherwise stated dogs are welcome at these events, but must be under strict control at all times, both in the Registration area and in the competition area. 

HAVOC’s website is at www.orienteering-havoc.co.uk
CHIG’s website is at www.chig.org.uk
Essex Stragglers (SOS)'s website is at www.stragglers.info

The SWELL coordinator, Dale Bennett, can be contacted via