Newsletter 6 January 2013
Latest News Happy New Year! Welcome back to the club after the Christmas break – I hope you all had a great time over the festive season. While New Year is generally a time of resolutions and new-starts, we are already mid-season as far as swimming is concerned, so it’s all about kicking on from where we left off in December so that everyone is ready for the challenges ahead. In this bumper issue, we look forward to 2013, both in and out of the water. We also reflect on the very busy September-December period in polo, swimming and LTS.
Showing why we’re called Weston-SUPER -Mare SC
After promotion to the Premier Division of the Arena National League (Western) last year, this season’s campaign against the big boys and girls of swimming in the West and South Wales was always going to be something of a baptism of fire. After all, it’s not every day you get onto the blocks to race against an Olympian or GB swimmer.
When the heat was on, our swimmers performed absolutely superbly, achieving PBs for fun and destroying Bath and West Wilts Force 5 in the final gala, to deliver more Premier League swimming for Weston-Super-Mare Swimming Club for the 2013/14 season.
To everyone who competed for WSMSC in any of the three Previous world record holder in 50m backstroke, Liam rounds – you were fantastic, Tancock poses happily for a photo with Charlotte, Bethan doing yourselves, all our and Ruby. Shhhh girls!!! Don’t tell him the score of his parents/supporters, the club beloved Exeter City football team as they only drew 2-2 and the whole town proud. at home with the mighty (!!!) Fleetwood Town (I guess it could be worse – he could be a Cardiff City fan) Committee News As you will hopefully be aware, at the recent Annual General Meeting, a new committee was elected to carry the club’s progressive plans forward for the coming year. Your new committee, with a very brief outline of each member’s remit, is as follows:
Position Name Role President Peter Gonsalves Club ambassador Chair Giles Moroney Providing a strategic lead for the club, seeing things run smoothly, chairing meetings, etc. Secretary Mike Coles The focal point for correspondence, minute- taking at committee Treasurer Malcolm Anderson Dealing with the financial matters of the club, preparing accounts, budgets, etc. Advisor to Committee Sue Dors Advising committee from an ASA/SWR perspective on finer points of swim policy etc. Swimming Fixtures Leanne King Agreeing the club fixtures calendar with Secretary coach, promotion and processing entry forms Water polo secretary Nick Purslow Dealing with all matters polo Welfare Officer Maria Watkins Dealing with child protection, CRB and welfare issues at the club Membership secretary Sharon Davies Processing forms for new members, ASA returns, monitoring registers, etc. Easter Open Meet Co- Fraser Simpson Leading a group in organizing the club’s ordinator Easter Open Meet Swim 21 Co-ordinator Stephen Soper Co-ordinating and monitoring the club’s Swim 21 application Training Co-ordinator Jim Stanbury Facilitating the training of officials, coaches and team managers Communications & It could be you!!!!! Promoting the club, communicating Marketing information, noticeboard, etc.
One of the innovative features of the committee this year is that each post carries a functional responsibility. Each committee member will, throughout the year, need to draw on small teams to help them fulfill their brief. Please do offer your support where you can. It will be greatly appreciated. In terms of turnover, we are really like a small business in size, but at that juncture similarities end. We are run by a collection of volunteers therefore any help you can provide will be fantastic.
Whilst it is far too scary to include photos of each member here (after all it goes on the WORLD wide web!!!!!!!!!!), it is intended to do so on the club noticeboard, so that the committee are recognizable and accessible to all members and parents/guardians.
The newsletter will continue to be a means of communicating committee and club business with all members. The suggestion box (introduced last year) will continue to be placed next to the club shop on Tuesday evenings. Please use it, but also speak to the members of the committee, to convey your thoughts on how we can improve the club, which is what all of us strive to do. The website is something worth checking on a very regular basis, given how with Mark’s dedication, it is updated usually a couple of times a week and is an easy way for the club to get information out. Water Polo – “We are the Champions”
Division 2 League Table
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Weston 12 9 1 2 160 88 72 19 2 Exeter III 12 9 0 3 103 79 24 18
3 Frome II 12 8 1 3 92 75 17 17
4 Harlequins 12 7 1 4 113 100 13 15
5 UWIC 12 3 1 8 84 59 25 7
6 Bradford 12 3 0 9 82 132 -50 6
7 Bath Uni II 12 1 0 11 70 171 -101 2
*Points deducted from UWIC on 6 matches due to playing unregistered player. **Two points awarded to Exeter III for conceded game by Frome
Weston’s water polo section has made an absolutely blistering start to the season. The seniors recently won Division 2 of the Bristol & West Water Polo League, winning 9 of their 12 games and scoring 160 goals in the process – a whopping 47 more than their nearest rivals! No early Christmas break for the squad as they head down to Millfield for the Bristol & West Knock-Out Cup Final, where Newton Abbot will provide a stiff test. The juniors have also been in fine form. Most recently, they demolished Harlequins Colts 13-3, with hat-tricks for Reece Trapani and Harvey Reynolds. Scott Bradley, James Gahame and Tom Simpson each netted a brace, with James Bramwell completing the rout. Reece has been selected to represent the South West Region Under-16s at a competition in Liverpool early in the New Year. Meanwhile, the whole of the WSM junior girls team (Emma Simpson, Charlotte Bowden, Jess Dadds, Charlotte Bradley, Katy Watkins, Esme Bird, Emily Watkins and Beth Fisher) recently represented Somerset at the ASA South West Region County Championships at GL1, Gloucester. After a heavy defeat to Devon in their first game, the girls rallied superbly, narrowly losing their other two games to Dorset and Gloucestershire, to finish a hugely creditable fourth. Top scorer for Somerset with six super goals was Charlotte Bradley, with Emily Watkins and Charlotte Bowden close behind in the scoring stakes.
WSMSC LTS
21
W-S-M Swimming Club is the top junior swimming club in Somerset. Its hugely successful Learn to Swim section has recently expanded and currently has a number of SPARE PLACES for young swimmers (from 4 years upwards) who want to learn to swim with fully-qualified, enthusiastic swimming teachers. Lessons are 30 minutes each school-term week, paid upfront in blocks of 10 weeks (£50.00) and follow the NPTS Stages 1-7 (Aquazone levels). LTS classes run on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday evenings at Hutton Moor, with dedicated classes for the particular NPTS stages.
For full details, contact LTS Co-ordinator Zara Gardner on 07980294434 or email [email protected]. WESTON-SUPER-MARE SWIMMING CLUB LEARN TO SWIM UPDATE WINTER TERM 2012/2013
LTS TERM DATES - WINTER TERM 2012/2013 WEEK TUES WEDS THURS FRI SUN 1 20-Nov 21-Nov 22-Nov 23-Nov 22-Nov 2 27-Nov 26-Nov 29-Nov 30-Nov 02-Dec 3 04-Dec 05-Dec 06-Dec 07-Dec 09-Dec 4 11-Dec 12-Dec 13-Dec 14-Dec 16-Dec CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS 5 08-Jan 09-Jan 10-Jan 11-Jan 13-Jan 6 15-Jan 16-Jan 17-Jan 18-Jan 20-Jan 7 22-Jan 23-Jan 24-Jan 25-Jan 27-Jan
8* 29-Jan 30-Jan 31-Jan 01-Feb 03-Feb * Re-enrolment and payment week 9 05-Feb 06-Feb 07-Feb 08-Feb 10-Feb
Half-term - - - - - Half-term
See below for the current days/times/groupings for LTS DAY TIME LTS GROUP NPTS STAGE(S) CLASS CAPACITY TUESDAY 7.00 – 7.30pm DUCKLINGS N/A 10 TUESDAY 7.00 – 7.30pm 1 1 and 2 10 TUESDAY 7.35 – 8.05pm 2 3 and 4 12 TUESDAY 8.10 – 8.40pm 3 5 and 6 12 WEDNESDAY 7.15 – 7.45pm 1 1 and 2 10 WEDESDAY 7.45 – 8.15pm 2 3 and 4 12 THURSDAY 7.00 – 7.30pm 1 1 and 2 12 THURSDAY 7.35 – 8.05pm 2 3 and 4 12 THURSDAY 8.10 – 8.40pm 3 5 and 6 12 FRIDAY 6.30 – 7.00pm 4 7 24 SUNDAY 7.00 – 7.30pm 4 7 10 TOTAL 136
Wednesday classes were introduced a few weeks before Christmas to cope with waiting lists and to restructure the groups into the various NPTS stages. Please see the advert on the previous page to pass on details to any friends/school parents who you know may be interested in getting lessons for their child(ren) at Weston-Super- Mare Swimming Club’s growing and hugely successful Learn to Swim section.
Promotion to the Premier League of the National Arena League Western Division in December 2011 meant that the 2012 league season was always going to be tough, mixing it with the big boys and girls. We weren’t disappointed!
National League rounds comprise 50 events, in 4 age groups (11 & under, 13 & under, 15 & under and open), male and female events (32 individual and 18 relays). There are 18 teams in the Premier League, with 3 rounds of galas, with 6 teams in each of the first two stages. First place in an event carries 6 points, going down to one point for 6 th place. There are limits as to who can do what how many times, but time and the will to live preclude such niceties here. Round draws are seeded so that after pot luck in round 1, in round 2 teams are drawn together in such a way that the 1 st placed team after round one competes against the 4th , 7 th , 10 th , 13 th and 16 th placed teams; 2 nd , 5 th , 8 th etc are drawn together, etc. In round 3, the top 8 are pitted together in one gala to fight for the right to represent the west in the national final, the middle 5 in another and the bottom 5 slug it out among themselves to try to avoid relegation, with league points gained in the first 2 rounds carrying forward into the overall equation.
Round 1 – Saturday 13 th October Hutton Moor, the venue. Plymouth Leander, Bridgend, Keynsham, Seagulls and Nofio Sir Gar, the opposition. The context: Plymouth Leander - winners of the National League, the whole thing, not just the western division, 4 times in the past 5 years. Nofio Sir Gar - a performance squad training swimmers to compete for Wales in Commonwealth Games. Keynsham – sporting London 2012 Olympian Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, treble gold medal winner at the 2011 European Youth Championships. You get the picture.
As word filtered out that Plymouth’s Lithuanian Olympic 100m breaststroke gold medalist Ruta Meilutyte had chosen to swim in a world something or other in place of coming up the M5 to Weston for the afternoon (is the girl mad???), team sheets were in, lane draws made and warm up was well under way. Plymouth seemed to have brought a 6’2” swimmer for every single event (with spares on top) given that they occupied over a third of the space on the tiered seats. As Deena and Sarah on the entry desk cunningly listened in to the Plymouth team talk (all about “endeavour”, “mobilizing” and “fast back ends” – sounds painful), it was clear they really meant business. Onto the racing…….
In the first event, Lucy (14) swimming up as an open-age swimmer, came in 4 th but clocked a blistering 2.26.91 – marginally outside a national time! The first 4 events: a 4 th , 5 th , 6 th and a DQ – crikey, it was going to be tough! Event 5 and we score 5 points for a super second for the 13 and under girls’ medley team of Becca, Chloe, Evan and Jas. Another second soon follows as James, Scott, Reece and Marcus storm home in the 4x50m 15 and under freestyle relay. Nevertheless, after 10 events, the scores were looking a trifle ominous with Plymouth’s 7 wins putting them ahead on 52, with ourselves on 23, some 7 adrift of Keynsham in fifth place.
Event eleven, the 11 & under backstroke and the start of a fightback? You bet! In a time of 35.30 Rachel powers home (some 4.22 seconds ahead of Plymouth in second) to record our first victory of the afternoon. C’mon! Despite lots of super swims, top 3 places proved elusive until Rachel bagged another 5 points with a 2nd placed 50 fly PB time of 34.84, 4 points for Ev in the 15 and under fly and another 5 points in the 13 and under fly in 1.07.22 – a time that is a 2013 national qualifying time for 13 year olds. Event 34 and Rich lands a fine 3 rd place in the open 100m breaststroke in a time of 1.12.59. After that event, Plymouth lead with a colossal 178 points, followed by Bridgend and Seagulls (both 120), Nofio 109, Keynsham 103 and WSMSC 79 points.
A couple of great fourth places (Millie, 13&U 100 free; Lucy, 15&U 100 breast) and a third for Marcus (15&U breast) bring in another 10 points. We were finishing strongly. Event 43 and Charlotte, Bethan, Rachel and Ruby claim 4 th in the 11&U medley relay. Their counterparts in the next age group – Millie, Becca, Jas, Ev - secured a super second in the freestyle relay in a time of 2.00.11. Not to be outdone, the 15&U boys (James, Marcus, Scott and Reece) stormed to a fantastic second place in the medley relay. The 2 canons (6 legged relays of 50m each) resulted in 6 th for the girls and 4 th for the boys.
Final Placings
1. Plymouth Leander 269 points (32 first, 13 second, 1 third) 2. Bridgend 175 points (4 first, 10 second, 12 third) 3. Seagulls 174 points (3 first, 8 second, 16 third) 4. Nofio Sir Gar 162 points (4 first, 11 second, 10 third) 5. Keynsham 147 points (6 first, 2 second, 8 third) 6. Weston-Super-Mare 117 points (1 first, 6 second, 3 third)
The final positions were the side-show (this is a more meaningful statement than in the footballing context of Cardiff City uttering phrases like “unlucky to lose”, or West Ham being “too good to go down”, or “it was a game of two halves” (and forgetting to say you were rubbish in both, etc, etc). Our PB analysts, Paul and Nic, report that in the 32 individual races our swimmers PBd in 16 of them and given the (small) size of our team, who swam up in so many events, this really is a truly awesome achievement.
Well done to all our team for a fantastic performance. You ALL did the club proud in the midst of some unbelievable competition (Plymouth’s points tally ranked them first of all 18 Premier League clubs at the end of round 1). Thank you also to all WSMSC parents who helped to make the event run so smoothly.
Round 2 – Saturday 10th November Hutton Moor, the venue (again, but Taunton Deane as hosts this time – great news for Leanne!). The seeded opposition this time (placings after round 1 of all Premier League sides in parenthesis): Taunton Deane (2 nd ), Millfield (5 th ), Seagulls (again! 8 th ), Exeter City (11 th ), City of Cardiff B (14 th ) and WSMSC (17 th ). In terms of the form guide, Taunton Deane were the big guns having won 30 events in round 1, fielding an array of GB and national championship swimmers, some with, allegedly (I’ve learned a lot talking to our colleagues from Powells!) tenuous links to TD. The big buzz around Hutton Moor on arrival was that GB Olympian, Liam Tancock, was in town and racing for Exeter City. Full credit to Liam, he scarcely had time to race, given the number of photographs and signatures he provided – a true swimming ambassador.
Into the pool and onto the racing. Event 1 and Lucy bags 4 points with a fine third in the 200 IM in 2.24.64. Event 2 – male open 200 IM, enter Rich in Lane 2, and errrrrrr, Liam Tancock in 6 and Tom Litten in 5 – best of British Rich! What a display from Liam Tancock, bagging the maximum 6 points for Exeter City in 2.02.23. Event 5 proves to be the next top 3 finish with the 13 & U girls medley team coming home for a super second, beating Millfield on the touch. Great stuff. The other relays yield great times, but little joy in points, with 4ths, 5ths and 6ths, such that at the points total announcement, with 10 events gone, we were in fifth place (24 points), just ahead of City of Cardiff (20) and trailing narrowly behind Seagulls (26) with the others well clear. Time for more top finishes methinks!
Event 11, 50 back and in a thrilling finish Rachel bags 5 points for a super second, edged out of top place by Millfield swimmer Lillis by 0.1, but ahead of the rest by over a second. Another second in event 17, Esme in the open 100 fly, in a time of 1.04.09. Event 19, quite a while into the meet, but worth waiting for – our first win. The 50 fly, sees Rachel home in a first placed time of 34.46, this time edging out Gray (Millfield, 34.50) and Eveling (Exeter, 34.94) in a fingertip finish. Swimming up in the 15 & U 100 fly, a 5 point haul comes our way with Evan’s 1.07.36, quickly followed by more good points (4) from Esme in the 100 back, finishing in 1.05.35.
No clapped out coach home for Mr Tancock then!
To the points. After event 26, the scores on the doors were: Taunton 132, Millfield 122, Exeter 95, then the real scrap – Seagulls 74, WSMSC 68, with Cardiff losing touch on 52. Lots of great swims followed in the remaining individual events but with the competition so fierce (one had the feeling time-keeping that these GB hats and GB racing suits were for real and not won in a Michael Jamieson competition), the only top 3 swims were the preserve of Evan (a super first in the 100 fly in 1.06.81, destroying Kayleigh Parker of Taunton; and a great second in the 100 free) and Lucy (third in the 100 breast in 1.16.66). So, with 8 relays to go, had we edged ahead of Seagulls? Despite not winning a single event all night and just 3 second places, Seagulls (116) had pulled away from us with a gap of nine points. Eight relays, could we claw those points back? Event 43 and the girls 11 & U’s medley relay brings home a great third, some 5 seconds ahead of Seagulls in 4 th . That point is won back by Seagulls in the boys 11’s race as we are nudged down to 5 th . Back come the 13 & U girls with a third place, scoring 2 more than Seagulls in 5 th . Two more third places for both boys and girls 15 & U medley teams, beating Seagulls in both, brings the gap down to just 5 points. Two canons to go – can we do it? The girls canon, a thrilling race, for 4 th sees WSM home in 2.57.30 – in 5 th (Seagulls in 6 th ). Over to the boys. In sporting analogies, I sense snookers were needed at this point – well, a point is what we got, with Seagulls a couple of places ahead in what was a super slog right to the end. Great swims from all our team, with some huge PBs on the way. When the final results were announced, they showed the following:
Final Placings
1. Taunton Deane 259 points (23 first, 17 second, 7 third) 2. Millfield School 245 points (20 first, 14 second, 11 third) 3. Exeter City 178 points (5 first, 11 second, 14 third) 4. Seagulls 135 points (0 first, 3 second, 7 third) 5. Weston-Super-Mare 129 points (2 first, 5 second, 7 third) 6. City of Cardiff ‘B’ 98 points (0 first, 0 second, 4 third)
What this meant was that 5 th place gained us a couple of league points, such that we’d secured a place in the third gala of round 3 – the battle to avoid relegation. Of greater importance, what the event gave our swimmers (again) was the chance to see, and compete against, some awesome swimmers, none more so than Liam Tancock, who tweeted afterwards: ‘It was also great to meet so many keen young swimmers today!’
Round 3 – Saturday 8th December So, while the big guns headed off to Millfield to slug it out for the title of champions of the Western Division, the main focus was on the third gala in Bath – the one to avoid relegation. Quite simply, three of the 5 teams would be relegated, only two would survive (sounds a bit X- Factorish!). Bring on the teams: Poole (a top team, huge club, only in the third gala as a result of not competing in round 1 due to alleged sickness throughout the camp, bagging them a 3 league points deduction, hence just one league point going into round 3), West Wilts Force 5 (5 clubs brought together to compete in National League, going into the gala with 4 points from 4 th and 6 th places in the first 2 rounds), WSMSC (a 6 th and 5 th place in rounds 1 and 2 respectively, had netted 3 league points), City of Cardiff B were also on 3 points, with the hosts Bath Dolphin on 2 points from two last places in the first 2 rounds.
The mathematics of this round were simple – at least for those with a degree in the subject! All would be decided on league points, with 5 points for the winners of round 3, 4 points for second and so on. Poole were expected to win the round, thereby were expected to finish on 6 points. West Wilts Force 5 were co-favourites to survive with 4 points already in the bag. We had already beaten Cardiff in round 2 so were confident of beating them. Bath, in their home pond, would surely be up for the fight wouldn’t they? Put simply, we couldn’t be beaten by two teams without needing an abacus. As long as we finished higher than two of West Wilts, Bath or Cardiff and weren’t more than 2 positions behind Poole, all would be well.
Event 1 and it’s Lucy first in. Two minutes later and we have 4 points from a great second. The relays bring lots of success: first for the girls 13 & U free team of Evan, Flo, Millie and Jess; second for the boys 11 & U free (Bradley, Toby, Evan and Jenson – the man who saved the day, coming into the team at the last minute); second for the girls 15 & U freestyle team (Indea, Lucy, Evan and Becca); and second for the girls open medley quartet (Esme, Lucy, Evan and Indea). Ten events gone and it was close – very close. Poole headed the field, as expected, with 43. Then, as per the form book, came West Wilts on 31, 2 ahead of WSMSC, who in turn were 4 clear of Bath, and like their football team, Cardiff brought up the rear (21). The next points total in National League is announced after 18 events (answers on a postcard as to the significance of doing so after 10, 18, 26, 34 and 42!!!). The 8 events after the above relays were fab for WSM. Bring on Bradley – a super second in 37.75 in 50 back – matched by big sis Becca in the 100 back in 1.09.44. Event 17, cometh the occasion, cometh the captain - Esme. First place in the 100 fly in the open age group for a much needed maximum five points in a super 1.04.19 – some 3.5 seconds ahead of the field. Eighteen events and a tie for second place on 51 points – Weston and Bath, with West Wilts breathing down our necks on 48. Goodness me, too close to call.
In the next block of 8 events, we needed to get ahead of the pack. Bring on Rachel (2 nd in 50 fly), Bradley (first in 50 fly), Becca (first in 100 back), Evan (second in 100 fly) and Esme (winning again in 100 back). Twenty six events gone and now we’re on 77 points with clear blue water between us and Bath (71), West Wilts (70) and Cardiff (63), with Poole well clear on 108. We needed to build on the strength of these last 8 events. Third for Evan B (50 breast), first for Evan K (100 fly), third for Lucy (100 free) and a second for Esme in 100 breast, all brought valuable points, but Bath had closed to within 3 points after 34 events. We simply had to beat them.
Event 35 and Rachel bags another first – completing individual firsts in each of the 3 rounds – this time in 32.13 in 50 free. Next up, a great 4 points for a super second for Toby in the same event, followed by a maximum for Evan in holding off the Poole swimmer to clinch 5 crucial points in the 100 free in 1.01.25. Event 39 and Lucy gives a lesson in how to swim a 100 breaststroke, demolishing the field to win in 1.16.38 – over 4.5 seconds ahead of the rest. An injured Marcus swims through the pain barrier to record 3 more points for a 1.14.94 100 breaststroke to give WSM a total of 125 points with relays to come. Bath were now back on 118, staring relegation in the face. Cardiff had just broken the 3 figure mark, with West Wilts seemingly treading water on 114. For the record (but frankly who cares!), Poole were currently well clear on 170 points.
The prize of Premier League swimming in 2013 all hinged on 6 relays and 2 canon events. Surely we couldn’t surrender a lead of 7 points – or could we? Event 43, girls 11 & U 4x50m medley relay. Charlotte’s off on her back, 41.8 seconds later, Bethan is off on the breaststroke leg, handing on to Rachel in 47.7 seconds. In 34.2 seconds, Rachel has completed her fly and it’s Ruby bringing the team home in a fine first in a split of 36.3, and a team time of 2.40.06. Bath trailed in third, albeit within a second of first. So far so good. The boys, 11 & U 4x50m medley. Bradley’s off first, handing on to Evan, to Toby and finishing off is Jenson, in a super team time of 2.43.00 – ahead of Bath, and a crucial 4 points. Super splits from our 13 & U freestyle team from Evan (29.1), Flo (30.8), Millie (30.2) and Jess (30.2) secured another 2 nd place and four more points. I’m hearing a little tune in my head – with the words “Bath are going down, you’re going down”, but as with all sport, it’s not all over til the fat lady sings and she’s just warming up her voice as the rest of us are losing ours. C’mon Weston, the prize is in sight.
Event 46 and a 5 th place for our 13 & U boys free team, but great splits with James K’s 31.3 awesome. Two relays then canons. The first, the girls 15 & U medley relay. Becca (32.4, back), to Lucy (36.3, breast), on to Evan (32.0, fly) and finished by Indea (29.1, free) for a super third – almost 20 seconds ahead of Bath. Whatever the girls can do, the boys can match. Bring on Reece (32.2, back), Marcus (32.7, breast) Scott (30.6, fly) and James (27.5, free) for a smokin’ hot 2.03.00 time – good enough for 3 more points, holding off a late surge from Bath (4 th ). Bring on the canons! The open-age girls, sporting a very young line-up, with Evan (13), Flo (13) and Jess (12) battered Bath, coming home in a time of 2.55.69 – faster than the previous 2 rounds, with super splits: Esme (28.0), Lucy (28.4), Evan (28.8), Indea (29.4), Flo (30.4) and Jess (30.4). The one point from the last event merely confirmed what we had all thought, as we awaited official confirmation of the final results. They showed the following:
Final Placings 1. Poole 201 points (22 first, 17 second, 5 third) 2. Weston-Super-Mare 150 points (10 first, 13 second, 5 third) 3. West Wilts Force 5 138 points (5 first, 7 second, 15 third) 4. Bath Dolphin 136 points (7 first, 10 second, 11 third) 5. City of Cardiff B 122 points (6 first, 3 second, 14 third)
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Against all the odds – remember the fact that West Wilts Force 5 is a combined team of swimmers from Trowbridge, Bradford-on-Avon, Westbury, Warminster and Melksham and that Bath is a much bigger place than WSM – we did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, the peculiar nature of the league rules meant that it was ourselves and West Wilts Force 5 who survived, with Poole relegated alongside Bath Dolphin and City of Cardiff B. The amount of ‘swimming up’ that went on this year in the 3 rounds (typified by Jess and Will, both aged 12, swimming in the open age canon at Bath) says that next year with the same grit, determination, belief and colossal effort shown by all our swimmers this year, that we can again compete with the best. Our swimmers made us all so proud.
GALA ENTRIES – IMPORTANT NOTES
CONVERSIONS Paul very kindly separates the PB sheet into Long Course (50 metre pool) and Short Course (25m pool) times. It is really important that you use LC times for LC competition and SC times for SC competitions as much as possible. The conversion software/books give you an estimated time but there are various factors affecting how well you perform over the different distances. To be able to show improvements properly, the BEST way to monitor progress is to ONLY compare times that you have actually achieved (i.e. not use estimated times). Thank you, Rachel.
ESTIMATED TIMES For level 1 (and increasingly, level 2) meets, the promoters’ can now easily check swimmers’ entry times against PBs held on the British Swimming database. It is therefore very important to see level 1 meets, designed for the most proficient swimmers to gain National and Regional Qualifying Times, as not the place to use anything other than official times. Club championship times are not ‘official’ times as the champs are not licensed. Club championship times ARE 100% suitable for entry into the County Championships, which are licensed, which therefore will give all competing swimmers ‘official’ times to use for the rest of the season for entering galas, so please enter as many events as you have qualified for at the Somersets.
Final Western League Positions After Round Three – 2012
PREMIER DIVISION Gala Gala Gala League League League Points Points Points Points Points Bonus Points Team Total Total Round Round Round Round Round Points Round 1 2 3 1 2 3 Plymouth Leander 269 278 329 876 6 6 10 16 38 Taunton Deane 244 259 290 793 6 6 10 12 34 Millfield 186 245 292 723 6 5 10 14 34 City of Cardiff 'A' 236 213 182 631 5 5 10 6 27 Swim Swansea 'A' 141 217 195 553 5 4 10 10 27 Swim Bournemouth 'A' 146 205 185 536 4 4 10 8 25 Exeter City 155 178 168 501 1 6 10 4 22 Bridgend 175 168 152 495 2 5 10 2 21 Soundwell 'A' 175 160 161 496 4 3 5 4 16 Nofio Sir Gar 5 162 160 166 488 5 2 5 5 16 City of Newport 187 136 144 467 4 3 5 3 15 Seagulls 174 135 137 446 3 3 5 1 13 Keynsham 147 155 139 441 2 2 5 2 11 West Wilts Force 5 162 139 138 439 3 1 3 7 WESTON-SUPER- 117 129 150 396 1 2 4 7 MARE Poole 0 161 201 362 -3 4 5 6 Bath 135 99 136 370 1 1 2 4 City of Cardiff 'B' 146 98 122 366 2 1 1 4
Fundraising for WSMSC
the EASY way
At the time of writing, 23 supporters of WSMSC have raised £201.78 for the club in about 6 months via easyfundraising.
Like a well-known DIY product, easyfundraising really does do what it says on the tin – it is EASY – and certainly beats standing outside shaking a tin all day or doing a sponsored watching paint dry event. A full version of how to sign up for easyfundraising and some Q&As were included in Newsletter 4 (available on the club website), so here is the bite-size version. Please do sign up by following these simple stages:
1) Visit easyfundraising.org.uk 2) Click “ Support a good cause ”, then ‘ Find a Cause ’ 3) Input ‘ Weston-Super-Mare Swimming Club ’ as your cause 4) Click Search . You’ll then see a box that says “Weston-Super-Mare Swimming Club”, together with our logo. 5) Click “ Support ” at the right hand side of this box. 6) You will then need to provide your name , email address and set up a password . 7) Having done this, the next page will state “ Then Raise up to 5 times as much money ” and invite you to "Install now" and follow the installation steps. 8) This installs Find & Remind (this pastes the easyfundraising logo into your toolbar), to remind you to log in to this. For every installation, WSMSC gets 50p. Multiply that by all the over-18s connected with the club, and the £ signs are lighting up.
This is just for starters – it will remind you to log in to easyfundraising when you go onto your PC each time. Now for the real money-spinners – searching online and shopping online.
(1) Searching online Every time any one of us searches via the charity search engine easysearch (provided we’ve logged in to our easy account) and then clicks on one of the websites that the search engine throws up, WSMSC will get 0.5 pence. It doesn’t sound a lot, but consider this. If we can increase from 21 supporters to 100 and on average those 100 supporters conduct about 3 searches a day, each will generate £5 a year = £500 total for the year - this is easy money – doing what you normally do, but using easysearch to help OUR club instead of google.
Individually, 0.5 pence doesn’t seem significant, but collectively, the money adds up and can become huge for WSMSC
I hope you can see how we can achieve amazing things together. The beauty of this is that it is effortless, doesn’t cost anything, yet can be a huge source of ongoing income to WSMSC.
How do I carry out a search? Click on ‘ login ’ on the toolbar of your browser. You will then be able to enter your email address and password and click ‘ login ’. You’ll then be greeted by a page that states along the top “ Hi XXX, you're supporting Weston-Super-Mare Swimming Club who have raised £XXX .” Just scroll down this page until you see:
Raise money with every Internet search
Click on the easysearch logo, then enter your search term in the box, click search, then once you have your results, get visiting websites to complete the search and bring the money into the club/ Our easysearch page is: http://wsmsc.easysearch.org.uk/
(2) Shopping online You can shop with over 2,000 well known stores and each will donate up to 15% of what you spend. For example, John Lewis will donate 2.5%, Amazon 2.5%, The Body Shop 10%, Sainsburys 3%, Asda Direct 3.5%, National Trust 10%, some insurance retailers will even donate up to £30 simply for taking out a policy with them!
The great thing is it won't cost you any more , plus there are lots of voucher codes and special discounts that can actually save money while you help your good cause . There is no cost for the good cause either – the service is totally free .
How to generate donations - It's very simple - once you've registered with easyfundraising, when you shop with one of their retailers (look at the menu on the easyfundraising.org.uk site and click on retailers) , the easyfundraising system makes a note of your purchase, collects the donation from the retailer and passes it to your chosen good cause . That's it! You just shop as your normally would (How does the retailer know who to pay? Every member who registers is automatically allocated a 'UID' - Unique ID Number which is passed to retailers when you visit them. If you make a purchase, this UID Number is returned back to easyfundraising to tie the donation to you and your cause ).
GALA REPORTS (September – December 2012)
What a fantastic start to the new swimming season! Weston swimmers have smashed previous PBs, have competed in greater numbers than before (isn’t it great to see over 25 WSMSC purple hats in the water at an event) and lots of young swimmers (the future of the club) have competed for the first time. Fasten your seatbelts, sit back and enjoy our journey through the first events of the season, starting with Bristol North and concluding with our own fantastic club championships.
JUNIOR OPEN MEET (22nd & 29th September)
Sometimes at a gala you feel as if you’ve been sitting there for days – with Bristol North, it really is true!!!! The gala, open to 9-12 year olds for a range of sprints and relays, is held over two Saturdays at Hutton Moor, so really does take 8 days to complete. That said, what a super start to the season for WSMSC – big Weston entry and lots of successes.
Day 1, first event and the 11 year boys 100m freestyle. Forty-two entrants in the field, so tough competition for our 4 representatives – Ev, Joe, Vaughan and Luke – who all rose to the challenge and swam hard coming in with times at or below their seed times. Top finisher, Ev, just missing out on a final (in 11 th ). Next up, the girls100m freestyle. Charlotte and Immy our sole swimmers – Charlotte clocked a super 6.9 second PB at 1.19.97; Immy destroyed the field, finishing as fastest qualifier for the final, then going faster again in the final to claim our first gold medal and trophy of the day.
Events 3 and 4, 50m fly for boys and girls, didn’t seem to attract the same number of entrants as the freestyle – I wonder why??????????????? No boys from Weston, but in the girls event, a huge 5.5 second PB from Jess Knight in 53.20 to claim 11 th and Maddy Soper, a 25 second PB in 47.08 to make the final, where a super 5 th place followed. In the fifth event, up pops Ben Bradley-Wilson to record a super 10 th in the 25m fly, agonizingly missing out on a final. In the girls event, three entrants and 3 PBs – well done Lottie (2.55 second PB at 29.45), Rhianna (10.35 second PB to finish 10 th ) and Sarah (0.16 PB on seed time in heats, for a super second – then swam the final and came out with a fantastic silver medal in 22.64 seconds. Fantastic.
On to relay action. First in the pool, the boys 11 years 4x50m medley team. Against strong opposition, the boys qualified in 6 th place for the final and then repeated that same result in the final, taming Phil’s lions (Bath Dolphin) and Bristol North, in the process. Super swim from Bradford-on-Avon to claim gold (we need to look out for them for Southern Junior League in 2013). In the girls, our A team (interesting title, given we didn’t have a B team) qualified narrowly behind Burnham on Sea for the final, then despite recording a faster time in the final, were still narrowly behind the green hats of B-O-S, but a silver was a great reward for a super time of 2.34.54. Well done. In the 9 year age groups, our boys A and B 4x25m freestyle teams finished 4 th and 6 th respectively, while all 3 girls teams made the final, finishing 1 st , 7 th and 8 th . Super swimming from all concerned and great hopes for our Southern Junior League (rounds in April, May and June) in 2013 with this depth of strong swimming.
Back to the individual events and the 100m breastroke where Ev (1.48.52) and Luke (1.52.35) acquitted themselves well against tough opposition (the top swimmer being a regionals winner).The girls 11 years breaststroke and the Moroney fireplace needs reorganizing again to make way for Immy’s second trophy of the day, this time recording a big 1.82 second PB to destroy Bath’s Laura McNab. In the next event, great swims from the boys in the 9 years 50 back. Charlie Webb-Sperrings – super 2.98 sec PB in 52.02; Ben B-W another great swim and just outside a top-8 finals place; and Ben Jones – 0.32 sec PB to qualify for the final in 8th . Ben went one better in the final to finish 7 th overall, in an event won in a championship record time by Trowbridge swimmer Alexander Shannon. More joy in the girls event. Lottie (1.75 seconds) and Jess (3.78 seconds) both notched great PBs. Sarah recorded a really slick 50.95. Rhianna and Maddy both achieved great PBs – finishing the heats in exactly the same time to qualify 8 th equal fastest for the final. With Hutton Moor being an 8 lane pool, medals picked up elsewhere by Maddy and the will to live (the first session was in danger of not being complete before darkness fell), and into the final goes Rhianna, who kicked on again to record a fantastic 7 th place. A great finish to the first session (as the parents for the second session admired the paint on the wall along the corridor between the café and the toilets for over an hour).
Bring on the 10’s and 12’s. First up, Toby in the 10’s 50 free – a PB of 0.64 seconds at 36.14 secured an agonizing 9 th place, missing out on a final by a fingernail. For the girls, 6 swimmers and 6 PBs – super stuff. Sophie (PB of 1.45 seconds), Chloe H (3.18), Naomi (1.49), Bethan R (2.50), Ruby (2.02) and Rachel (0.84). The latter was sufficient to qualify in second place for the final, where Rachel PBd again, coming home in a blistering 32.10 for silver, behind a fantastic Rhiannon Bowen (Keynsham) in 31.91. To the 100 fly and the 12’s. Enter Will. A 2.48 second PB ensured will qualified third fastest for the final. In the final, he kicked on further to claim a super silver in 1.21.13. Great stuff. Not to be outdone, the 4 girls in the same event, achieved 3 PBs and 2 finals places. Well done Tori (8.73 sec PB), Jess (2.83 sec PB), Lauren (5 th in the final) and Hannah (6 th in the final, 9.08 PB).
Relay time. Boys 10’s, 4x25m medley – 6th . Girls 10’s, 4x25m medley – A team 3 rd overall and B team 12 th . Boys 12’s 4x50m free, a brilliant bronze in 2.16.16. In the girls, 12’s 4x50m free, two teams and both making the final: A team winning in a fantastic 2.05.04 (just a couple of seconds off a championship record) and the B team coming home in a great 7 th .
Back to the individual events and Toby in the breaststroke. Another PB (this time 0.87 seconds) was good enough to beat another 24 in the event, but not quite to make the final. Chloe (1.03.69), Ruby (3.74 PB), Naomi (1.01 PB), Bethan R (2.13 PB, super 7 th in the final) and Rachel (0.59 PB and 4 th in final) flew the flag for the girls. To the ‘oldies’ in the 12’s 100 back. Will qualified for the final and finished 8 th , Hannah (PBd by 0.49 to finish 9 th ), while Ella achieved a great 1.60 second PB.
Day 2
Another weekend, and we’re ready to go again! On to the 9’s and with seed times frequently guesstimates, our swimmers were again outperforming the clock. To the 50 free, super 11 th for Joe Reeves (big big 5.25 sec PB in a time of 40.87), and great swims from Ben and Charlie. The great start continued, with a 14.23 second PB for Maddy, coming home in 11 th in a time of 41.36. Close behind with a super 3.88 PB was Beth Bryant, Jess K (0.76 sec PB), Sarah (0.48 PB), Rhianna (44.93) and Lottie (4.03 sec PB). To the 100 fly: Immy second in the final in the 11’s; Charlotte (a 0.64 PB) and a nice time for Luke at 1.45.62.
Fancy some relay action? Here we go. First in – the boys for a 4x25m medley. Off the A and B teams go and in just over 91 seconds they’re touching the wall for a fantastic 4 th (A team) and the B team claim a big scalp beating Soundwell (national league premier division club) to finish 6 th . To the girls, three teams (all swam really well) with the top two places on the final podium filled by Weston (not quite true as the old ‘elf and safety seemingly meant it was far too dangerous to stand on the podium. Whatever next???????????). One more trophy to engrave and polish. In the 11s, the boys 4x50m freestyle was won by Soundwell in a championship record, with WSM claiming a great bronze. The girls went one better in their event, beaten by a very strong Burnham on Sea team.
To the 50m breaststroke for the 9 year olds. In the boys, a super 4 th for Ben J – 0.01 seconds behind third (talking about split seconds being important). A great swim and a 3.6 second PB, going 0.54 faster in the final than the heat. In the girls event, a super 1.64 second PB for Sarah to secure a final’s place, then another half second shaved off to claim 8 th overall – great stuff. Our other swimmers all performed well with Maddy and Jess dipping below the magic 60 seconds for the first time; Lottie will do so next time having clocked a fab 8 second PB of 1.00.05. Great swims by Beth (57.43) and Rhianna (62.98).
In the 11’s backstroke events, a 4.28 second PB for Ev to qualify 7 th for the final. Another PB in the final, secured a super sixth place in 1.22.98. Great PB swims from Joe (3.68 seconds) and Luke (1.15 seconds) too. Two more PBs in the girls event: Immy to add another trophy to her growing collection with a gold winning time only marginally outside the championship record set in 2007 by a certain swimmer called Siobhan O’Connor (Keynsham) who ended up swimming in the Olympics! No pressure there Immy! Charlotte also recorded a fantastic PB of 2.58 seconds, coming home ahead of 28 others in 1.30.21.
The final session (10s and 12s) of day 2 of the meet got off to a great start with Will flying the flag for the boys, knocking off 0.9 seconds in his 100 freestyle to secure a super silver, adding to his collection from the previous weekend, and again showed top racing in peaking in the final with a swim over a second quicker than in the heats. In the girls event, a PB swim from Hannah led to a finals place and a bronze medal. Inside 2 seconds of a finals place were Jess and Lauren, with a 6 second PB from Tori the pick of the other performances. Great swim! In the boys 50 fly, featuring 5 DQs from the 32 entrants (none from WSM I’m pleased to say – but what were the officials on???), Toby was on fire, securing a big 3.66 second PB to make the final, finishing 4 th , with the top 2 swimmers in the event breaking the championship record that had stood since 1992. Bristol North, a gala for slow swimmers – forget it. Tough, tough competition. Harry and David competed well in this event too.
In the girls 10’s 50 fly, 4 WSM swimmers and 4 success stories (which is what we like to see). Chloe H – a 3.17 second PB – super stuff. Bethan R, a whopping 6.95 second PB. Ruby – an 8.09 second PB and 3/100 of a second off a finals place. Great swimming. At the head of the field, Rachel, who demolished her rivals to equal the Championship record (from 6 years ago) in a gold medal winning swim of 34.73, a whole second ahead of second place and over 3 seconds ahead of third.
The relays brought yet more success: 12’s 4x50m medley team came home in 2.35.15 to secure a well-deserved bronze. The girls in the same event sported two teams: the A team won the trophy by the proverbial country mile (well 5.87 seconds) from Keynsham. The B team were fantastic too – qualifying 7 th for the final, they swam hard, changed over incredibly well and touched for a super 5 th place. In the 10’s 4x25m freestyle relays, our boys team secured a great bronze medal in a nailbiting race with 0.5 seconds separating 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th places. In the girls event, the A team edged out Bradford on Avon to finish third in the final (having been seeded fourth), while the B team came home in 7 th .
The final series of individual events, and back to Will, continuing his impressive meet, collecting yet another medal (contents insurance at chez Daniel has gone up markedly). A 1.94 second heat PB was the precursor to another 1.21 seconds coming off his finals time in the 100m breaststroke to claim bronze, so narrowly missing silver. In the girls breaststroke, great to see Jess (4 th ) and Lauren (5 th ) compete hard in the final. Hannah took off another 4.7 seconds off her PB, while Tori completed a great day’s work with another huge PB – this time 9.02 seconds. Awesome stuff.
The final event – are you still with me??? Hang on in there, we have more ching-ching medals to come. Fifty backstroke in the 10’s. For the boys, top billing to Harry – a super 1.89 second PB to qualify for the final, then a great 7 th overall. Toby bowed out with another PB swim, this time knocking off another 2.30 seconds to get down to 43.23. Well done to David H too, finishing his day with a nice swim of 51.16. In the girls, our fab 5 all came away with PBs. Chloe recorded 54.99, Naomi shaved off 2.46 seconds, Bethan took off 4.31, Ruby PBd by 3.17, while Rachel added to her trophy collection by beating the championship record (set in 2006) twice within the space of a couple of hours. She took 0.06 off her PB in the heats to break the record, then went exactly one second faster in the final to shatter the record (and the hopes of her opponents), in 35.63.
At the conclusion of the gala, with presentations galore, we were picking up trophies for fun, best this, best that, best the other. We couldn’t really keep up with what we were getting them for, other than thinking treasurer Giles was going to have to pick up the tab for a huge engraving bill.
In the overall competition, top 11 year old girl at the meet went to Immy Moroney. Top in the 10 years overall girls event was Rachel Anderson. Well done to you both. Top raffle prize has to go to Steve Soper LLB. After hearing he had won the raffle and the cautionary note of the announcer that under-18s could not collect alcoholic prizes, the look on Steve’s face as he returned with his ‘prize’ was an absolute picture – forget the brandy, who wants that when you can have your very own copy of the best glitzy colouring-in mermaids book that money can buy (for everything else there’s Mastercard) – look out for it at the next school raffle in Uphill!!!
Overall, a fantastic start to the season – loads of WSM swimmers racing really, really well. WELL DONE TO ALL OF YOU – ABSOLUTELY SUPER.
Thanks to all the adults there: coach Rachel, all our team managers and not forgetting, our vociferous supporters (quite a bit of competition from a Caerphilly mum in the decibel stakes though).
WANT TO WIN THOUSANDS OF POUNDS?
THEN READ ON …..
We were all inspired over the summer by the amazing performances of athletes from all over the world during London 2012. But it wasn’t just the athletes who were making the news. The headlines were also about those amazing volunteers working both front and back stage to make sure everything ran smoothly – and with such enthusiasm! A massive standing ovation at the closing ceremonies was proof of the effect they had had on everyone there, including the athletes. The volunteers themselves spoke about what an incredible experience it had been and how much they had got out of it. There is no doubt that it was the volunteers who really made London 2012 special.
Here in Somerset we can’t promise an experience quite on that scale, but you can be assured that your club, the county and the region will be very grateful of any time you can give either poolside, on committees or in the “back office”. Whether it is just an hour here or there that you can spare, or time commitment on a more regular basis, we all need you. Just take some time to look at the number of people visibly helping. Then give some thought to those who you don’t see so much of who do most of their work behind the scenes. There are a lot and the problem many organisations face is that people are constantly moving on, so there is a need to have a constant supply of willing helpers.
London 2012 would simply not have happened without the volunteers. Your child would not be able to take part in swimming if it were not for the volunteers. The swimmers are the stars – they put in all that effort and commitment – and they deserve our support.
Please don’t think that there is no need for you to help out, that you need experience or that you must have knowledge of swimming! Whilst it may look on the surface like there are enough people, we can guarantee that there are not. So please just offer your help. Anyone can volunteer. Each individual has a wealth of skills, attributes and experience that can be used in volunteering. Volunteering is a rewarding experience, benefiting both the organisations and the individual. It is a two way process – whilst the swimmers benefit, we in turn can offer volunteers support and recognition and for those that want it, the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge. And there is definitely a job there to suit you – it is not all just about poolside, but other skills too which you may also use from day to day – or perhaps you could develop a brand new skill.
And it is not just the clubs who need your help, the county and the region also need volunteers on committees and to help run events. Okay – so you’ve read the article, but are still no wiser on how to win thousands of pounds! Well sorry, but there isn’t a massive cash prize! However, you could have something that is priceless! The satisfaction that you, in some small way, helped that swimmer achieve their goal, whether it be swimming one length butterfly or winning that gold medal. Because whatever you do to help out, it will have an effect on someone’s dreams.
So do it now!!!! See someone on the committee at your club.
(reproduced with the kind permission of the author, Fiona Bowen, Somerset Volunteer Co- ordinator) KNOWING THE OFFICIALS’ ROLES AT A MEET
THE REFEREE As with most sports the referee is in charge. You will hear the announcer give the instruction ‘your race referee’ at the start of a race. From this point on the referee has control. The next thing as a swimmer you will hear is a whistle either a long or a series of short whistles. This is just to get your attention! You will then hear another whistle which is the signal for you to get on the blocks or into the water for backstroke. You will note that there is another whistle for the backstroke this is again to get swimmers into the starting position. The referee then hands the race to the starter, usually by raising their arm, who will then start the race.
During the race the referee will look for infringements of the rules along with the other judges. Remember only the referee can disqualify a swimmer - all the judges do is bring infringements to the referee’s attention. All disqualification slips will always have the referee’s signature on them to confirm the disqualification.
The referee will also make a note of the finish and confirm this with the place judges. The referee determines the finishing order and times of the swimmers in a race. Straightforward if the electronic timing is working but difficult in a 50m freestyle in an 8 lane pool when it isn’t!
THE STARTER Having successfully completed your J1 and J2 training you can then take on the training for the role of starter, probably the 2nd most important official at the gala. The starter controls the race once the swimmers are called up onto the blocks for the start by the referee. The control of the race is usually handed over by the referee raising their arm as a signal to the starter. The starter then gives the instruction “take your marks”. For those of you lucky enough to take part in the Olympic Games, World Championships and other FINA events this will be given in English so no need for phrase books!
Once the swimmers have settled the starter will start the race with a signal. This can be by a horn, gun or whistle. Contrary to popular belief you can’t be disqualified for moving at the start of the race only for starting before the signal. Some swimmers especially those using the sprint start tend to rock backwards before the signal which is acceptable but any forward movement can be interpreted as starting. Therefore it is always wise to remain still once the command “take your marks” has been given. The starter determines whether a fair start has taken place and will notify the referee should there be an infringement of the rules. Please remember don’t start before the signal, as 1500m is a long way to swim to find out that you were disqualified at the start!
Becoming an official is fun and is an excellent way to continue in the sport once you have finished competing or a great way to get a better understanding of swimming. As a parent, when your children are swimming, you get an uninterrupted view of the race, fed, a free copy of the programme and don’t have to pay the spectator fees!
If you would like to find out a bit more about becoming an official, do have a chat to Jim Stanbury, our training co-ordinator, or email - training@weston-super-mare-swimming- club.co.uk
LEVEL 3 OPEN MEET – 5TH -7TH OCTOBER
Light in numbers, but not on performance would perhaps sum up the WSMSC experience up at GL1. Just Flo, Hannah and Rachel in action, but medals, PBs and great swims came aplenty.
Gloucester City run several open meets across the year, at level 2 and level 3. All are well- organised and staged in the impressive GL1 centre, which as the postcode implies, is very central to the centre of the city. Well worth keeping an eye out for their April and July meets in 2013. Word has it, well Scott’s word to be precise, that the water at Gloucester is great and makes for fast times – give it a try next time.
Friday night, after a day at school and a trip up the M5 – what better than an 800m freestyle at 7pm? A first time outing at this distance for Hannah and Rachel, so pacing was going to be a big test. Rachel home in 10.55.90 for gold in the 10’s. Hannah, on the way to a bronze- winning 10.25.90, achieved a 400m PB at half-distance and then came home 3 seconds quicker again. A great start. Exit the Andersons for the Saturday (something to do with other activities potentially linked to Swansea City) and enter Flo. First event of the day (100 fly) and a first medal (bronze) – a super start to the day Flo! Fourth in the 200 breast then a couple of events before a storming finish in the 50 fly with another bronze to take back down the motorway.
Hannah and Rachel ended up 3 rd overall in their best girl categories, despite swimming fewer than 1/3 of the events at the meet. Hannah bagged PBs in all events, collecting a gold, silver, three bronze and two fourths along the way. Rachel PB’d in all events bar one, grasping 6 golds and a bronze.
Flo, Hannah and Rachel – a nice weekend’s work. Well done!
WSMSC – INFORMATION EVENING FOR PARENTS/GUARDIANS Thank you to all parents who attended the information evening on Tuesday 25 th September and to those involved in its organization. We hope you found the event to be useful.
WSMSC – ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Thank you to those of you who attended the club’s AGM on Tuesday 6 th November.
WSMSC – PHOTOGRAPHS WANTED Without doubt, photographs brighten up the newsletter. Please send me photographs of your children at galas/polo matches so that they can be reproduced in future newsletters. Sending photographs implies consent to publish in hard and electronic copy formats. All photographs taken out of the water must not have swimmers with only their racing suits on (child protection guidelines). Please email photos to [email protected]
Somerset ASA Annual Development Meet 6th -7th October 2012, Millfield
A fantastic WSMSC turnout at Millfield for this meet. A sea of purple shirts over in the swimmer’s area, with young people chatting ten to the dozen, beavering away on DS’s and games, sharing sweets (healthy ones Rachel, don’t panic) and shouting on for their team- mates. This is what swimming is all about. Once in the fantastic Millfield water, the purple army didn’t disappoint. Some super swims, great times, PBs by the lorry load and medals too.
GOLD MEDALS SILVER MEDALS BRONZE MEDALS Ruby Soper (100 back) Maddy Soper (200 breast) Bethan Rees (200 breast) Ruby Soper (100 fly) Freya King (100 IM) Alicia Pollard (200 breast) Will Daniel (50 breast) Will Daniel (100 breast) Ben Bradley-Wilson (50 back) Ben Jones (200 free) Freya King (50 free) Ben Jones (200 IM) Will Daniel (200 free) Maddy Soper (200 back) David Hoskin (50 fly) Jackson Harper (50 back) Will Daniel (200 breast) Ruby Soper (100 free) Bethan Rees (100 fly) Ben Jones (50 fly) Bethan Rees (50 breast) Bethan Rees (100 breast) Ben Jones (100 IM) Will Daniel (100 fly) Will Daniel (200 IM)
The Macarena – WSMSC style
WSMSC (Female Branch) display their dancing prowess on the blocks at Millfield – they weren’t bad in the water either!
Medals are but one barometer of success. Here we highlight, in no particular order, the major achievements of the non-medal winning swimmers who all performed incredibly well, some swimming in an event of this magnitude for the first time. Lottie D – a fantastic 31.62 PB to finish 8 th in 200 breaststroke, and a 6.42 second PB in 50 free. Caitlyn W – a huge 7 second PB to finish 9 th in 200 breaststroke, and a super 5 th in 100 IM – oh, and an incredible 37.48 second PB in 200 back. Naomi P – a PB of just (!!!) the 71 seconds in 200 breast and 13.31 in 100 IM. Luke Y – a whopping 40 second PB in 200 free and a huge 27.68 second PB in 200 breast, for a super sixth place. Joe H – a 5 second PB in the 200 back and another 2 seconds off in the 50 free. Mariya G – a super 100 IM destroying her previous PB by 8.18 seconds and a 3.05 second PB in 50 free. Rachel E – an amazing 18 second PB on 100 breast and a 9.13 second PB in 200 free. Aimee H-W – a huge 7.22 second PB in 100 back,11.38 off in the 200 back and 7.27 seconds PB
in 50 breast.
Rhianna G – a super 2.60 second PB in the 50 free to claim 6 th place. Amber S – a 2.88 second PB in the 50 free and a huge 8.98 second PB in the same stroke over 200m. Beau A – a 2.07 second PB in 50 free and 2.23 in 50 back. Jenson H – 3.63 second PB in 50 free, but the big one – a 76 second PB in 200 breast. James K – a super 3.94 second PB in 50 free. Toby D – a superb 8.78 seconds PB for 7 th in 200 breast, 5 th in 200 free in a 5.89 second PB and a magnificent PB of 26.60 seconds to claim 4th in 200 IM. Jacob T – a fantastic 2.85 seconds ahead of seed time in the 50 breast. Ruby R – a 2.41 second PB for 10 th in 50 back. Charlie W-S – a super 50 back in a 2.64 second PB for 11 th . Henry B – a fine 54.58 in 50 free. Sophie L – a fine PB in 36.90 in the 50 fly for 12 th spot. George L – a fab 5th in 50 back in a 2.35 second PB and one better in 50 fly, narrowly missing a bronze in a 7.98 second PB. Thanks to coach Rachel, our team managers, officials, those who volunteered to help with programmes, marshalling etc., and our wonderful supporters. Without all your support, there is no gala. Thank you.
WSMSC Team Manager's Course Thank you to the parents who gave up their time to attend the Team Managers course at Hutton Moor recently, with a special thank you to Fiona Bowen from Somerset ASA for running it. Another session will be arranged in the New Year for parents who missed out, along with a few Clevedon and Backwell parents. If anyone wishes to assist the Club by Volunteering as a Team Manager, Competition Official or maybe interested in assisting the Coaching Team please contact Jim Stanbury (WSMSC Training Co-ordinator).
WSMSC Vacancies The thrill of a competitive team event is unbelievable and generates a great sense of belonging, team-spirit and camaraderie amongst all the swimmers. We currently have vacancies for Southern Junior League Co-ordinator and Arena National Swimming League Co-ordinator . To find out more about what's involved in SJL, please speak to Giles Moroney (club chairman). To discuss the ins and outs of National League Co-ordinator, please speak to Leanne King (Swimming Fixtures Secretary). Many thanks to Sarah Pollard (SJL) and Leanne King (ANSL) who have undertaken these positions for several seasons. Neither is a committee position. Help, support and guidance will be available to those taking on these important roles.
Another position unfilled from the AGM is that of Marketing/Communications Officer . This is a committee role and really revolves around ensuring that all the good work in the pool is supported outside the pool, by informing others and promoting the club through the media/website and through sponsorship. To have a chat about the role, see me – Malcolm Anderson – at any time.
Please do consider helping the club by filling one of these positions. Thank you.
Hutton Moor Changing Rooms Can all swimmers please use the lockers in the changing rooms to store their clothes/bags while swimming and not leave them in cubicles. This is for obvious security reasons and also to ensure that cubicles are free for members of the public to use. Thank you for your co- operation in this.
Jean Fin dlay Trophy Gala, Keynsham 20 th October 2012
With no disrespect, we have no idea who Jean Findlay is or was, but what we do know is that when we compete in this event, the competition is going to be tough. This year didn’t disappoint in that regard, but were we up for the fight? You bet we were!
Six teams, 49 events (a combo of individual and relay races, culminating in the fantastic eight- legged canon) and just one trophy. Event 1, girls 4x25m freestyle and a super second for Maddy, Jess, Ruby R and Beau. Third in the same event for Charlie W, Charlie D, Ben J and Ben B. Super seconds followed for Caitlyn, Toby (10’s 50 breast) and Jess (9’s 25 breast), followed by fab firsts for Lauren, Will (12’s fly) and Jackson (9’s 25 back). Third (boys 11’s medley – Harry, Ev, Luke and Vaughan) and fourth (girls – 11’s medley – Alysha, Rachel E, Charlotte and Lois) followed. Then three wins on the spin: Ruby S, Toby (both 50 fly), then Hannah (100 back). Top swims from Bradley (100 back), Alysha and Ev (50 free), Lottie and Ben J (25 breast) and Harry (50 back) but top 2 finishes proved elusive for a few events. Forget top 2, pile in with some firsts which is precisely what Hannah (100 free) and the girls 9 medley team did. Either side of those, a fab second for James K and a third for the 9 years boys medley team. Both 10’s medley teams landed second with great swims (Naomi, Bethan, Holly, Freya; and for the boys, Jackson, Ben J, Toby and Harvey), with special mention to Ben Jones who did a 25 fly in the 9’s, dashed to the other end of the pool then swam in the 10’s medley with a breaststroke leg. That’s what all the training’s for Ben!
We were on fire at this stage: first for Maddy in 25 fly, second for Ben J (again!!!! – same event), then first for Immy (50 fly), second for Bradley (50 fly) and two firsts for the 12’s medley teams. Well done to Tori, Jess D, Lauren and Alicia; and for the boys, Bradley (a 1 minute 12 second rest after his last race!), Will, Mason and Joe. Holly, Harvey and Beau brought home another 5 points before another rash of firsts and seconds. Firsts for Immy (50 breast) and Jess D (100 breast). Seconds for Bradley (50 breast), Ruby (50 back), Jackson (50 back) and Will (100 breast). Coming into the last 7 events and it was so tight at the top. Keynsham and Weston were going toe to toe at the top of the leaderboard. Seven relays would decide the destination of the Jean Findlay Trophy for 2012. Second, sixth, fouth in the first three. Could we do it? Boys 11’s free quartet storm home to 2 nd , the 12 years girls power to victory in their 4x25m free, a second for the 12’s boys in the same event, then the finale. The eight legged canon: Maddy to Jackson and onto to Ruby, into Toby, onto Immy, 15.68 seconds later Bradley is on his bike and again sub-16, onto Jess for a phenomenal split of 14.71 (wow!!!!!) and into Will to bring the team home in first place. Awesome.
Out came the abacus, fingers and toes for the final count. Keynsham’s hold on the trophy remained, but crikey – it was close, so very close – 2 points. A super evening’s work by all our swimmers – you were all amazing. Well done and thank you to all our team managers and officials, and parents who supported the swimmers.
Final Results 1. Keynsham ‘A’ 229 points 2. Weston-Super-Mare 227 points 3. Southwold 195 points 4. Bradford-On-Avon 164 points 5. Keynsham ‘B’ 113 points 6. Severnside Tritons 87 points “SPLASH & DASH” Sunday 21 st October 2012 Strode Leisure Centre
Another day (one day later to be precise) and yet another event. This time, the Splash and Dash event, organized by Clevedon Amateur Swimming Club. A first for several of us, but a hugely enjoyable event, mercifully conducted on a dry day (the one dry Sunday in the past 3 months). This is the Ronseal event – it does what it says on the tin. First you “splash” (the least splash the better) by swimming a set distance for your age group (50 metres for 8 year olds, 150m for 9-10, 200m for 11-12 and 300m for 13 years upwards) then you run out the pool (taking into account the latest health and safety directives issued by the European Parliament, of course), whip on your t shirt and trainers then “dash”, running around the marked course, again with the distance dictated by age (600m for the 8’s, 1400m for 9-10, 2200m for 11-12, and 3000m for 13’s and upwards). For the slightly less energetic, the team event allowed a separate splasher and dasher, with the distances run/swum dictated by the age of the swimmer.
Weston had a number of competitors, all of whom distinguished themselves. In the 8’s, a gold medal for Bethan Anderson, completing the course in 5.17 – ten seconds ahead of second place. In the 9-10’s, another gold for Weston, with Rachel Anderson coming home 47 seconds clear of her nearest competitor in a time of 9.50. Into the 11/12 age group and a super second in 15.37 for Amy Lance and a nice 6 th for Lois Bird in 18.49. Into the 13/14 age group and a clean sweep for Weston girls. Following Alice’s prodigious exploits in cross country, older sis Lucy bounded out of the pool and into her run, completing the course in a super time of 18.16. In second and third were the two Hannah’s – the Vallance variety taking silver in 21.02 with the Anderson version just 14 seconds further back in bronze place.
In the team event, well done to splasher Jess Knight and dasher Connie Ballentine, who completed the course in 10.56 for a great third place. A big well done also to Alysha Wilmott and her uncle Stuart who won their team event in 12.10 with Stuart even having time to smile as he made very light work of the 3 lap course. Well done to all WSMSC competitors and to Fiona and all her support team at Clevedon ASC for hosting a really enjoyable event. With T shirts included in the price, a barbecue cooking away all morning, hot drinks available, expert commentary from Fiona, this really is an event to mark in your diary for next year – you can even enter on the day. ------Paralympians recognised in New Year’s Honours List Congratulations to double Paralympic Champion Ellie Simmonds who has been awarded an OBE, alongside Jessica-Jane Applegate, Josef Craig, Jonathan Fox, Heather Frederiksen and Ollie Hynd who receive MBEs. Simmonds became the youngest ever recipient of an Honour in 2008 when she was awarded an MBE for her Services to Swimming during the Beijing Games. She has received her second Honour, an OBE, for her impressive medal haul during the London Paralympics. Somerset Swimming claim podium finish at Ponds Forge
Somerset ASA Swim Team produced a fantastic all-round display at the British Gas ASA National County Team Championships held at Ponds Forge, Sheffield 21 October 2012 to secure a podium finish. The Somerset team stood out right from the start when during the parade of county banners by Siobhan-Marie O'Conner and Thomas Gabb, the noisy reception from the crowd suggested a great performance was on the cards. The third place finish was the County's best in 10 years and only the second time in the history of the competition that Somerset has secured podium honours.
Olympian Siobhan-Marie O'Connor in the girls 16/17yrs 100m butterfly and Charile Attwood in the boys 14/15yrs 100m breaststroke led the way in their events and by the halfway stage of the competition Somerset had secured 213 points, lying in third place, just five behind Yorkshire and eleven behind leaders Lancashire.
The second half of the competition saw Somerset, who were captained by Stephanie Reynolds and Joel Knight, comfortably retain that third place with Siobhan-Marie continuing to dominate her age group taking the 100m breaststroke, the event she swam in the 2012 London Games. Whilst eventual champions Lancashire (472 points) and Yorkshire (450 points) battled for the top spot, Somerset (434 points) kept first Surrey and then Middlesex (404 points) back in fourth place with strong swims from the whole team.
County Secretary Ben Batley said, "Today's team performance demonstrates the strength of the collaborative approach taken by clubs across the County to ensure our swimmer pathways and four network and performance centres develop talent with the support of a first class County Team of volunteers and professionals alike. Congratulations to all involved and a special mention for those who took time out to take the swimmers to Sheffield. With continued enthusiasm and hard work across Somerset who knows what we might be able to achieve next year!"
Well done to swimmers Esme and Evan and in the support crew - Rachel (Assistant Coach) and Chris (Team Manager).
1ST LEVEL 3 LONG-COURSE OPEN MEET HENGROVE PARK LEISURE CENTRE 3RD - 4TH NOVEMBER 2012
As the half-term holiday ebbed away, a great turn-out from WSMSC at the inaugural Level 3 COB Open Meet at the fantastic 50 metre Hengrove Pool. The only problem appeared to be the icy conditions for the swimmers with several threatening to swim in hoodies.
As always, with lots of swimmers each with individual goals, it is difficult to pick out performances, but you have to start somewhere. Here is the list of WSMSC medal winners, and what a healthy list it is.
GOLD MEDALS SILVER MEDALS BRONZE MEDALS Immy Moroney (400 free) Rachel Anderson (400 free) Millie Dadds (400 free) Jasmine Moroney (400 free) Hannah Anderson (400 free) Hannah Anderson (200 IM) Rachel Anderson (200 IM) Oscar Rogers (100 back) Rachel Anderson (50 breast) Immy Moroney (200 IM) Oscar Rogers (50 back) James King (50 fly) Jasmine Moroney (200 IM) Rachel Anderson (200 back) Hannah Anderson (50 free) Immy Moroney (200 back) Jasmine Moroney (200 back) Millie Dadds (400 IM) Hannah Anderson (200 back) Rachel Anderson (200 free) Oscar Rogers (200 IM) Marcus Gardiner (200 breast) Jasmine Moroney (200 free) Hannah Anderson (100 back) Hannah Anderson (100 fly) Rachel Anderson (400 IM) Chloe Knight (50 back) Immy Moroney (200 free) Marcus Gardiner (100 breast) Evan Brunsdon (200 back) Hannah Anderson (200 free) Rachel Anderson (200 breast) Oscar Rogers (200 back) Evan King (200 free) Hannah Anderson (50 fly) Madeleine Soper (50 fly) Rachel Anderson (50 free) James King (50 free) Evan King (50 free) Immy Moroney (400 IM) Top 60 finishes overall fema le Hannah Anderson (400 IM) 2. Hannah Anderson Top 60 finishes overall male Jasmine Moroney (400 IM) 3. Rachel Anderson 25. Evan Brunsdon Rachel Anderson (200 fly) 11. Immy Moroney 33. Oscar Rogers Hannah Anderson (200 fly) 16. Jasmine Moroney 47. Marcus Gardiner Millie Dadds (200 fly) 23. Madeleine Soper 60. James KIng Immy Moroney (100 back) 34. Ruby Soper Rachel Anderson (50 back) 41. Millie Dadds Evan Brunsdon (50 breast) Top Clubs ( male) Marcus Gardiner (50 breast) 10. WSMSC Immy Moroney (100 free) Top Clubs (female) Hannah Anderson (100 free) 1. Tigersharks Jasmine Moroney (100 free) 2. Swindon Dolphin Top Clubs (overall) Rachel Anderson (50 fly) 3. WSMSC 4. WSMSC
But what was really great about this meet was the strength in depth. We had a large number of swimmers at the meet, and aside from the medal winners, all of our swimmers broke PBs or achieved first long course times. Stand out performances included: • a monster 95 second PB for Ruby Soper in 400 free • a whopping 60.08 second PB for Madeleine Soper, a 16.72 second PB for Bethan Rees and a 15.63 second PB for Rachel Eveleigh (all 200 IM) • a super 12.39 second PB for Harry Reynolds in 200 free • PBs for Maddy Soper, Rhianna Gardner, Bethan Rees, Caitlyn Wallis and Ruby Soper in 50 breast. • A PB for Charlotte S in 100 fly (photographed below left in freestyle action). • A 6.2 second improvement on his 200 breast seed time for Marcus Gardiner. • A 14.18 second PB (and title of Usain Bolt for his super fast starts) for James King in the 100 free. • Super PBs for Maddy and Ruby Soper in 200 free, with another fine swim from Rachel Eveleigh in the same event, taking off another 5.87 seconds. • A 6.13 second PB for James K in 50 fly and not to be outdone Freya’s superfast 50 free landed a near 3 second PB in 38.06. PBs in this event for Maddy, Rhianna and Ruby. • A 19.26 second PB for Evan B in 400 freestyle (Dave – are you sure you were shouting for your own grandson?????????????????) • Some super PBs in the 400IM for Ruby, Immy, Jas, Hannah, Millie and Chloe. • A 10.25 second PB for Aimee Hunter-Weldon in the 100 back. • A 3.03 second PB for Jess Knight and a 2.70 PB for Rhianna G, both in the 50 back. • 9.7 second PBs for Bethan R and Maddy S (photo, below right) in the 200 breast. • A 7.02 second PB for James K in the 50 breast. • A monster 46.59 second PB for Joe Reeves in 200 back. • PBs all around in the 100 free for Immy, Rachel E, Hannah, Jas and Aimee. • Great PBs for Ruby (2.82 seconds), Bethan (3.79) and Freya (2.43) in the 50 fly. • Joe Reeves achieved a super 50 free time of 44.07, smashing his PB by 10.81 seconds. In the same event, James K claimed bronze in a PB time of 33.28, beating his previous record by 4.72 seconds.
As for the official’s lunch, in a cramped room, the spread was okay but much better fare has been enjoyed elsewhere. On this basis, and the delights of Somersets, Gloucester, Easter Open Meet, etc., a rating of no more than 6/10 I’m afraid. Otherwise, excellent facilities. A great showing from MJ SUPERSTAR MJ in the BBC’s special Olympic Superstars, broadcast recently. Against Alistair Brownlee, Jonathan Brownlee, Mo Farah, Robbie Grabarz, Anthony Joshua, Andrew Triggs Hodge, and Peter Wilson, MJ won the archery and gym tests (see left) finishing second overall to boxer Joshua. We won’t mention capsizing in the kayaking in your own Bath pool MJ!!!!
------
Stockport Metro November (16 th -18 th ) Meet 2012
The magical splits (below) that produced the first National Qualifying Time (NQT) for Immy Moroney at the Stockport Metro meet. Amazing consistency in these splits and a super finish. A last 100m of just outside 72 seconds and that awesome last 50m to finish exactly 3 seconds inside the NQT and this just a few days after Immy’s 12 th birthday – and with 7 months to spare. Well done Immy from everyone at WSMSC.
12 Yrs Age Group - Full Results – 800m Freestyle Place Name Age Time Imogen 3. 12 9:52.45 Moroney 50m 100m 150m 200m 250m 300m 350m 400m
33.02 1:09.42 1:46.47 2:23.59 3:00.93 3:38.55 4:16.43 4:54.35 33.02 36.40 37.05 37.12 37.34 37.62 37.88 37.92 450m 500m 550m 600m 650m 700m 750m 800m
5:32.16 6:10.21 6:47.53 7:25.56 8:02.62 8:40.42 9:17.24 9:52.45 37.81 38.05 37.32 38.03 37.06 37.80 36.82 35.21
------CITY OF HEREFORD OPEN MEET (LEVEL 3) 17 th – 18 th NOVEMBER 2012
While Immy and Giles were enjoying the delights of Stockport (and Giles was praying he’d get out with the four wheels on his vehicle intact), a small contingent of the purple army headed off to Hereford for their Level 3 Open Meet. A new pool for our swimmers – and a new meet for our army of officials, with Jon, Steve, Diane and Malcolm all rating this as the lunch of the year in the officials’ banqueting stakes (lovely rolls, fantastic cheesecakes and none of the WSMSC Easter Open Meet dangers of hot chilli down the white tops – a definite 9.5 out of 10, with 0.5 held back in case there is better to come in 2013 – he said hopefully). Anyway, enough of this piffle and into the action.
Event 1 and a good start: 3 big PBs (Jess, Rachel and Maddy) and 3 medals (Rachel gold, Maddy silver and Chloe bronze) in the 200m breaststroke. Event 3, the 100m backstroke. A 3.01 second PB for Ruby and a gold-winning PB for Hannah in a time just outside a SWR QT. On to event 5, 100 fly and just two takers: another PB for Ruby in 1.41.33 and another gold for Hannah, edging out Tewkesbury’s Hannah Church in a time of 1.22.36. The final girls’ event of the morning session, bring on the 50m freestyle. In the 9’s, PBs for Maddy (41.56) and Jess (43.24). A third PB of the morning for Ruby in 36.39. Rachel took gold in 32.36, with Hannah’s 32.09 securing a silver. Time for that lunch and a play in the lovely park right next to the impressive centre (photo below) for the swimmers.
Event 10 and it is the distance merchants – the 400m freestyle. Two Andersons in action and two gold medals, with a big PB for Rachel. Next up, its Chloe and Rachel in the 100 breast. Rachel takes gold and Chloe silver, edged out by the impressive Ellie Sykes (Shrewsbury). All but Rachel (too fast) are in for the last girls event of day one – the 50 fly. At the end of a tough day on the back of an 0500 alarm call, only Ruby and Hannah can muster PBs, but in the ching-ching medal stakes, great to see Ruby head home with a richly deserved bronze (just edged out of silver by 0.17, but a 1.23 second PB), Maddy collected a silver for her 48.31 and Hannah’s 1.51 PB secured bronze in 35.50.
Day 2 and 3 families became 2 with the departure of Team Knight. First up Hannah in the 200 fly. A gold in a PB time of 2.55.56. Good start. Bring on the 400IM. Two golds for Hannah and Rachel but most significantly, Hannah’s 5.47.56 (a huge PB) was well inside the SWR QT of 5.51.1 – a first regional time. Well done Hannah (photo, overpage top, on the backstroke leg).
Rachel’s 5.54.84 represented another huge PB – this time just over 17 seconds. Great swims.
Enter Maddy and a nice PB in 50 breast in 54.93 (4 th ), followed by another PB for Rachel to take gold in 43.88. Enter Ruby, an early start then a long wait, so a very respectable 2.59.85 in the 200 free – a fingernail off another PB. Maddy took a nice bronze in 3.18.74, while Hannah added to her gold tally with a PB of 2.25.87. I think it’s time for cheesecakes.
With lunch taken, just 4 more events to go for our 4.
First off in the afternoon, the 200 back. Bronze medals for Maddy (a 2 second PB) and Hannah, but star turn goes to Ruby (photographed below). Forget the 10 th place (the worst of having just had your birthday) and focus on the 14.53 second PB, in a time of 3.10.91. Well done Ruby.
In the 200 IM, PBs for Ruby and Maddy, with the latter’s 3.36.72 securing a silver, one better than Hannah’s 2.49.76 gained.
Another PB for Ruby in the 100 free, this time shaving off 0.94 seconds; another gold for Hannah. The final event – the 50 back – saw a bronze and 0.02 second PB for Hannah, who duly collected the top 12 year old girl award – a fitting end to a very enjoyable and friendly weekend (and those lovely cheesecakes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). AQUAE SULIS 2012 GRAND PRIX 17 th - 18 th November 2012
With the organization of this event having resembled a pig’s breakfast in 2011, the vast majority of our swimmers gave this one a miss, with the exception of Marcus. With names on the start sheet including Siobhan Marie O’Connor, Michael Jamieson, Andrew Willis and Anne Bochmann, this was indeed a top meet staged at Hengrove and not the Bath ITC where last year’s shambles was played out.
First up for Marcus – the 200 breaststroke, with a certain MJ heading the field! No problem there then Marcus. Home in 10 th in the open category in 2.42.99 – a good start, with MJ taking the gold in 2.15.83 – but then he doesn’t go to school and have homework does he? After recovery, on to the 100 breast – again MJ in the water (1.06.60), but beaten into second by Charlie Attwood (1.06.38). Marcus’ 6 th place in a time of 1.11.52 was just outside a national qualifying time, bringing real optimism that this will be achieved by the deadline of 1 st July 2013.
In the sprint, 50m breaststroke, Marcus narrowly missed a gong, coming home in a lightening 32.20 to claim 4 th , with gold taken by London 2012 Olympian Andrew Willis (29.63).
One more event for Marcus – 200 IM – and a tidy swim in a time of 2.27.55 for a 14 th place.
Great swims Marcus - well done. I look forward to writing about that NQT in the next newsletter.
------MJ named British Gas Ambassador On 18 th December, it was announced that British Gas has signed London 2012 Olympic silver medallist and newly- crowned world short course silver medallist Michael Jamieson as a swimming ambassador for the next two years. Jamieson will help to promote British Gas’s sponsorship of swimming from grass roots to elite level.
SWR Short Course Championsh ips st nd 1 - 2 December 2012
Another big event in the annual swimming calendar – the regionals, but in a short-course (i.e. 25 metre) pool. Many of the big names in the region were in action (Joe Patching, Andrew Willis, Antony James, Elizabeth Simmonds, etc), with some of the biggest names out in Istanbul at the short-course champs there. We had seven swimmers competing, who did so with distinction.
Millie – three events and three PBs – it doesn’t get better than that. Almost three seconds shaved off her 100 breast PB to power home in 1.23.48, and well over a second off in the 200 in the same stroke. Top 20 finishes at this level, with swimmers drawn from 6 counties, is top drawer.
Jas – four events and four PBs – super stuff. Large chunks knocked off 200IM (5.6 seconds), 200 back (3.69) and almost 2 seconds in the 200 free. Well done
Immy – three events and three great times: 2.36.40 in 200 back, 4.50.20 in the 400 free and 5.28.59 in 400IM, and attaining some top 25 finishes despite very recently having celebrated her 12 th birthday. Cracking stuff.
Rich – swimming on the cusp of PBs across the board, with a big stand out swim in the 100 breaststroke, with a second taken off his PB to come home in 1.10.39. Well done.
Also flying the male flag, Marcus. A 2.11 second PB in 200 breast to kick off the first day. More joy in the 50 and 100s in the same stroke. Ching – 50 breast, a new PB of 31.46 and a super bronze medal. In the 100, almost a 2 second PB, finishing in 1.08.94 and a fourth place finish. Excellent swims, Marcus. Fancy some more medals? Read on and we can deliver.
Evan – eight events – quite a punishing schedule over the 2 days, but lots of medal jangling in the car on the way home. In the 200 fly, a super silver in a time of 2.33.49. Two bronze medals in 100 fly and 200 free – the latter in a PB time of 2.10.69. In the 400 free, very nearly another medal in 4.34.74 – 4th . Super swimming.
And last, but by no means least, Esme. Swimming in the open-age category, top 15 finishes across the board in all 5 events. The stand out swims were in 200 fly – a super silver medal in a time of 2.18.04, and fifth in the 100 fly in a time of 1.04.48. Awesome. Marcus in the 50m freestyle in a new PB of 26.52
LONG COURSE LEVEL 1 MEET PLYMOUTH LIFE CENTRE 14 th – 16 th December 2012
Huge reward for the few distance merchants on the Friday evening with the chance to watch Tom Daley diving off the 10m board – all rather more appealing than jumping in the ice bath to warm up for an 800m it appeared. Anyway, once in the water, good swims from Rachel (gold), Hannah and Jas, all recording long-course PBs, with an NQT within range for Jas next time round. Day 2 and the cavalry arrive, with some obscenely early alarm calls reported. First event of the day – 200 free – and an early gold and PB for Rachel in 2.31.62, with Hannah matching the PB element, in 2.28.13. With 50s being open events (a code for them being cheap skates and not giving medals for each age groups), good PB fly swims from Ollie (33.63) and Hannah (35.56), with Rachel’s 35.49 the fastest of all 10 year olds. The 200 back saw another gold and PB for Rachel, Immy finish in 9 th not far off a NQT, with Jas and Hannah mixing it in the same age group as Nationals winner Holly Hibbot fromEnter Southport. Lucy and Chloe in the 100 breaststroke.
The 100 breaststroke saw Lucy and Chloe swim at their seed times, with Lucy qualifying for the final, where she took a great bronze in 1.17.85. Saturday afternoon started well with Lucy and Evan both qualifying for the 200IM final, with PB’s from Rachel (photographed below) and Immy. In the final, 0.2 seconds separated second, third and fourth, with Lucy (2.28.67) edged out of silver by Rebecca Wilde by 0.11, but beating Nadia Redza by 0.09. Evan finished 7 th in 2.34.55. Esme kicked off her day bang on seed time with a time of 2.26.89. Soon afterwards, our elite fly swimmers were back in action – in the 100. Evan qualified for the junior final in 4 th in 1.08.61 and went 0.04 faster in the final to hold down the same position. Esme’s heat of 1.06.05 was second fastest, and a finals swim of over 1.5 seconds faster was sufficient to gain a bronze in 1.04.50 behind Plymouth’s Sian Harkin. The 400 free saw a gold for Rachel, silver for Immy and L/C PBs for Jas and Hannah. To the 50 breast and Chloe produces an absolute stormer, coming home in 38.73, compared to a seed time of 41.63. A super start to Sunday – clearly benefiting from an industrial-sized piece of haddock the night before. The 200 breaststroke saw Lucy qualify for yet another final with a heat time of 2.44.91, taking silver in the final. Rachel PB’d L/C to take a silver. In the 400 IM, huge PBs for Rachel (gold) and Millie, with Lucy taking
bronze in 5.17.35. After consuming the mother of all jacket potatoes at lunch, the Andersons were in great form in the first event of Sunday afternoon, with both Hannah and Rachel clocking L/C 50m free PBs, Hannah in 31.59, Rachel in 32.52.
Released from dad Dave’s history lesson of “when I was a lad growing up in Plymouth ……..”, Ollie was back in action, along with Rachel, Millie, Evan and Esme, in the 200 fly. A PB in 2.57.05 brought gold for Rachel. Ollie was bang on her seed time. Millie’s PB of 2.45.20 brought a place in the junior final, alongside Evan, while Esme’s 2.24.98 ensured she would get a good lane draw in the senior final. The junior final saw Evan in top form and go well inside the 14 year old L/C NQT to claim bronze in 2.27.29, just 0.3 behind local girl
Emily Graham.
Millie finished in a super sixth place, breaking her PB again to come home in 2.43.31. By now the electronic timing was losing the will to live and the scoreboard seemed to be undergoing some kind of nervous breakdown – shame it happened in such a big final and not the 7 and unders doggie paddle event. So as Esme finished her epic final racing so hard against 23 year old Stacey Tadd (Bath ITC) in a new world record time, mum took a snap of the scoreboard, then it was a wait to see what the real time was, given that the clock had only started at the 25 metre marker. It was quick, some 4.5 seconds faster than the heat – 2.20.44. Great swims. One female event to go – 100 free. Four WSM swimmers in action for this one: Evan qualified for the final in 1.02.75 and shaved off another 0.11 in the final to claim 9 th . Millie rounded off her day’s work with a 1.06.05. Hannah hit the pads in 1.08.39, with Ollie signing off in a time of 1.11.19.
Medals, PBs, a Tom Daley experience, finals, NQTs and a top 9/10 year old trophy for Rachel – a good weekend’s work for Team WSM. Well done all.
Onto the verdict of the official’s lunch. Having been a turn judge for 4 hours, a sandwich in a bag with a packet of crisps, with a bun fight afterwards to get more did not quite live up to the standard of everything else at the magnificent Life Centre, so very much a “could do better” 5/10 rating I’m afraid. All in all, the Plymouth Life Centre is a fantastic venue. Last year, they ran a level 3 meet there in July, which if repeated, would be well worth considering for county swimmers in the club.
“C’mon Rachel – Move It!!!!” After swimming in the coaches race at the Plymouth Leander Meet for a team called “Allsorts 1”, senior WSM swimmers Esme, Lucy, Evan, Millie and Ollie provide critical feedback on Rachel’s performance, pointing out a few things to work on to improve on a 50 free split of 31.34. Well done Rachel – and even a purple cossie!
WSMSC SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Could your business or your employer be using this space in the next Newsletter to raise awareness of their activities? 2013 packages will be available very soon from as little as £30, to include Easter Open Meet race sponsorship/programme advertising, noticeboard advertising, Newsletter advertising, and links from our website to yours.
Please do look out for notices on the website and noticeboard very soon for full details of all the various packages available. If you are in a position to help in this way, please do so.
WSMSC Club Championships 2012
Held over 7 nights with 12 championship events, 8 age groups each for males and females, 114 competitors, over 1000 race entries, the 2012 champs sponsored by Powells with Chawner Grey were indeed something of a marathon. With medals up for grabs, competition was tough, with new club records achieved in every event. Results are posted on the trophy cabinet at Hutton Moor and in the rack adjacent to the noticeboard. A big thank you to everyone who helped at the championships – without you, we couldn’t have done it. Also many thanks for the collective efforts in raising £237 for the Bone Cancer Research Trust.
A big well done to everyone who competed. The full list of honour is as follows:
BARNES SOFIA SIMPSON EMMA BRYANT BETH BIRD ROBSON HODDER REBECCA GARDNER RHIANNA HUNTER- REYNOLDS MAX WELDON AIMEE HARPER JACKSON BOOBYER JAYDEN GIFFORD LAUREN JONES BEN BINKS EDDY ROGERS OSCAR SOPER MADELEINE BALLENTINE CONNIE KNIGHT CHLOE POLLARD NAOMI ASHBEE BEAU DEW ELLIOTT REEVES JOE LONGSTAFF ISABEL LYNCH JONAH YEATES LUKE SPILLANE AMBER LUCAS BRADLEY HATHAWAY JENSON COOK GEORGE KING JAMES EVELEIGH RACHEL PADUIM -QUAN SAVIO ELLIOTT OLIVIA HUDGHTON HOLLY STATTER NOAH DANIEL WILL WALLIS CAITLYN BINKS HENRY VALLANCE HANNAH REEP ALISON TURVEY ARIANNA HODGKIN LAUREN LANGMAN GEORGE GEORGIEVA MARIYA BIRD ESME COOMBES JORDAN TAYLOR JACOB REEP JONATHAN PRICE KATIE CARR SARAH ANDERSON RACHEL DEW CHLOE ASHURST CAITLIN POLLARD ALICIA REEP SUZANNE BURNS EDWARD ANDERSON HANNAH BIRD LOIS RICHARDSON RUBY MORONEY IMMY KING FREYA COOMBES REECE LYNCH CALUM REES BETHAN REDMAN ELEANOR BRAMWELL JAMES BRUNSDON EVAN DADDS LOTTIE DAVIS FLORENCE LANGMAN SOPHIE SMERDON ABIGAIL DADDS JESS MONTGOMERY MOLLY SIMPSON RACHEL MORONEY JASMINE HUMPHRIES BELINDA HOWE SOPHIE DAVIES LUCY CANEY EMMA WEBB- SPERRINGS CHARLIE DADDS MILLIE CLARKE VAUGHAN LANCE AMY LUCAS REBECCA HOWE ELLA KINGSTON TAYLOR-JAY GULLICK ESME SOPER RUBY FORD WILLIAM KING EVAN BOOBYER MASON ROBINS JAKE GAHAME JAMES DANIEL TOBY DEW HARVEY TRAPANI REECE DAVIES ALICE HOSKIN DAVID BRADLEY SCOTT REYNOLDS HARRY ANDERSON BETHAN GARDINER MARCUS WILMOTT ALYSHA KNIGHT JESSICA SIMPSON TOM STANBURY CHARLOTTE HODGKIN CHLOE KUHT NICHOLAS WADSWORTH HOLLY SHEARER ELLIE MAE HODDER AMY LEEKS VICTORIA BRADLEY- WILSON BEN MONTGOMERY LILY HAM JOSEPH Noah and the tale of the Number 7 Bus Noah Statter looking rightly very proud with his first ever swimming medal – a super bronze in event 1 at the club champs (photo, left). Just like the tale of the number 7 bus – none for a while then 2 together, so it was with Noah. By event 2, proving that confidence is everything in sport, another fine swim in the 200 breaststroke – and another medal, this time gold. As the photograph (right) shows, Noah almost needed a neck brace by the end of the champs to support the weight of all his gongs. Well done Noah - super swimming and the epitome of what the club champs are all about.
------ASA chief welcomes Sport England funding announcement
David Sparkes, the Chief Executive of The ASA, has welcomed Sport England’s £20m funding announcement for the next four years. The ASA will receive funding of £20m from 2013 until 2017 to get more people participating in aquatic sports. This figure represents a stand-still budget. Of this amount £6m will be awarded to Talent showing continued confidence in the ASA’s talent programmes looking ahead to both the Olympics and Paralympics 2016. The remaining £14m will be awarded to Participation, with subject to a one-year investment of £3.5m and a further investment of £10.5m for 2015, 2016 and 2017 providing the numbers participating in swimming continue to grow. Sparkes stated, “We are delighted to have received this award today. We remain confident that our talent programmes will deliver results in the Olympic arena in 2016 that we have seen in the Paralympics 2012. Olympic talent takes time to develop and there is still lots of hard work to do, but it will be our priority to drive this forward over the coming months." He continued: "While we are disappointed with the one-year investment for Participation we are encouraged by the confidence Sport England has shown in our plans to increase swimming participation levels over the next four years. We will continue to work with the industry and our partners over the next four years to see a positive growth in both the number of people swimming both recreationally and in our clubs.” WSMSC’s Senior Swimmers Model Arena’s New Racing Range for 2013
CHRISTMAS FUN GALA at SIDCOT SCHOOL 18 th December 2012
Festive fun, frolics and food were, as usual, the major items served on the menu at the annual Christmas gala. Hosting such an event in a 4 lane pool added to the excitement (!!!) for the organisers (I believe they’re now out of the Priory Clinic).
Relay races, silly costumes and hats, pulling, pushing, iffy takeovers, lots of encouragement, great swimming – all in evidence in abundance, with swimmers young and old mixing together like those Christmas cocktails.
A great night. Well done to all swimmers and to all those involved in organising the swimming and food.
SWIMMING TIMES
FANCY A NEW PAIR OF GOGGLES?
Subscribe to Swimming Times and receive the Aqua Sphere Kayenne goggle*
If you’re passionate about all things aquatics and want to be in-the-know then Swimming Times is the magazine for you – the only magazine with all the latest news, views and features for British aquatics and only £26.00 for the year (UK price).
The Aqua Sphere Kayenne goggle increases the field of vision for open water and pool swimmers:
• low drag micro-frame that sits close to the face and offers 4-point expanded vision • patented curved lens allows for up and down visibility in addition to the trademark wide-angle 180-degree peripheral vision
*This is a strictly limited offer open to new subscribers. Terms & conditions apply. For more information on the offer visit - http://www.swimming.org/asa/clubs-and-members/swimming- times-magazine1479/ - telephone 01509 640230 and email: [email protected]
Swimming Times is also available without subscription, at £3.20 per month, from WH Smith.
Thank You Thank you to those who have brightened up this edition by contributing photographs.
Next Newsletter The next newsletter will report back on progress in the January to March period, with a particular emphasis on the Somersets. Do please send any photographs from swimming, LTS, masters and polo and they will be included in future newsletters. Likewise, contributions of articles, good websites, jokes or reports from galas would be REALLY welcomed. Please send to [email protected] by 10 th March 2013.