 |
May Newsletter - 04-06-2009MAY 2009 NEWSLETTER It is a long time since the last newsletter, many apologies, but there has been a dearth of articles sent to me. Please do send in news, however short, and especially if it is something different eg sponsored swim, schools gala success Exciting news - a few changes at the Club As a result of Club expansion and success, exciting changes to improve the running of the club are being planned and will be ready for implementation by the start of the new swimming year in October. These changes will be for the benefit of all the swimmers, by providing a clear route of progression through the club, in line with achievements and goals, and will give each swimmer the benefit of being coached in a "squad" with a specific coach who can focus on their needs, as well as promoting a sense of belonging to the club. More details on these changes will follow shortly, so keep an eye out on the website, and watch out for a meeting to discuss the changes. National Success Congratulations to Xander Alari-Williams, who competed for the English Schools team and in the British Team World Championship trials within the space of six days at the end of March. The WISE meet (teams from Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England) took place in Swansea. Xander, in his first national representation, swam a fantastic long course personal best time of nearly two seconds, to swim 1.07.04 in 100m breast stroke, winning Silver. He then went on to win Gold as part of the intermediate medley relay team, setting a new WISE record in the process. Xander then travelled to the British Championship trials in Sheffield, a meet used to select the Great Britain team for this summer’s World Championships and where Olympian Joanne Jackson has just set a new World Record in 400m freestyle while Hannah Miley and Ellen Gandy were some of the swimmers to set new European Records. The Championships also saw double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Addlington return to competition. Xander, competing alongside former Sevenoaks Swimming Club members Steff King and Leisje Van De Velde, had achieved the qualifying times for 100 and 200m breaststroke earlier in the year. In the 200m event, the first time he has swum this at National level, he swam an impressive personal best time of almost 6 seconds, to achieve 2 minutes 25.44 seconds. On the back of these swims, Xander was ranked number two in 100m breaststroke and three in 200m breaststroke in Great Britain in his age group, events in which he also holds the Kent records. He also clocked the fastest 50m breaststroke time nationally over the first 50m of his swim at WISE
More National Level Swimming Medals This year has seen more success at National level for Sevenoaks Swimming Club members. The National Secondary Schools Team Championships took place on 7.2.09 at Gloucester and 7 Sevenoaks swimmers, Emily Skinner, James Manning, Max Wallis, Ford Curran, Jacob Stapleton, Joseph Choong and Benjamin van Leeuwen travelled through the snow to participate. Congratulations to all who went, but especially to the following medallists: James Manning and Max Wallis in the Intermediate Boys 4 x 50m freestyle relay SILVER Ford Curran in the Intermediate Boys 4 x 50m medley relay SILVER
And more National Success! The Modern Tetrathlon is part of the Modern Pentathlon, and involves 4 of the disciplines, but not the horse riding: swimming, shooting, fencing and running. The National Modern Tetrathlon finals took place in April at Crystal Palace, and 2 SSC members participated. Jacob Stapleton came away with GOLD medal in his age group, and Joseph Choong collected the BRONZE in his age group. Both won their age group swimming component – thanks to SSC training! Jacob is on the Great Britain Talent Development Programme as a result of his success in this and previous competitions, and was selected to represent Great Britain in the European Junior Championships in the Czech Republic in May. Well done Jacob !
Novices success Success at National competitions starts with competing in galas for younger swimmers. On February 8th several of our younger swimmers went to the Orpington Ojays Novices gala, and experienced an "Open" for the first time. Congratulations to all who went, but especially to those who qualified for the final in their age group: Georgina Powell 10 yrs 1 length breast Harry Stacey 11yrs 1 length fly and a BRONZE medal Georgina Labrum 11yrs 1 length freestyle, qualified in 6th place, but swam a superb final to finish 4th, narrowly missing out on 3rd.
Sponsored Swimathon Five of our younger swimmers recently participated in the Swimathon to raise money for Charity. Frankie Bachelor, Cecilia Fenner, Tom Hordle , Laura Phillips and Nathan Marsh are pictured below. They raised about £800 for Swimathon, so thankyou to everyone who contributed. Cecilia Fenner wrote: "We all enjoyed the experience and it was nice to be able to do Next year we would love to see as many people from the Club as possible doing the Swimathon. Perhaps
South East Regional Youth Championships Congratulations to the impressive number of Sevenoaks Swimming Club swimmers who qualified to swim in these Regional championships, held in Aldershot earlier this month. Those who qualified were: Sarah Hickey, Gabby Norris, Emily Cast, Caroline Gloyne, Natasha Hickey, AJ Airey, Holly Miles, Elliot Neale, Max Wallis, Xander Alari-Williams, James Macauliffe, James Manning and Jacob Stapleton. Despite two very hot days on poolside at a crowded Aldershot Garrison, there were some very impressive swims, notably from the boys’ medley and freestyle relays, where the team finished in 12th place out of all clubs in the South East of England, one of the largest and hardest regions to compete in. Meanwhile, the girls freestyle relay team were not to be outdone by the boys and were also on fine form, with Natasha Hickey narrowly missing out on gaining another national qualifying time in the first leg of this relay. There were also some highly impressive individual swims: James Macauliffe swam a superb split on the 100 butterfly in the relay, and Max Wallis was on excellent form in 200 freestyle and 50m butterfly. Ford Curran swam the fastest individual split in the mens 100 freestyle relay, Xander won two individual silver medals in the 50 and 100 breaststroke, while narrowly missing out on a national qualifying time in 200 Individual Medley where he won bronze in the 15/16 age group. James Manning also swam a strong 50m freestyle race, also narrowly missing out on a national qualifying time. For the girls, Gabby Norris swam a superb 50m freestyle race, while Emily Cast was equally impressive in the 50m butterfly, both swimming in clear personal best times. Overall, the meet was highly successful. Coaches Julian Metcalf and Jo King were impressed with the number of swimmers in the club keen and able to compete at this level, while all the swimmers also gained invaluable long course racing experience.
SSC competes in Europe! At the end of the February half-term, a team of swimmers from Sevenoaks Swimming Club travelled to the Estoril International Meet in Portugal to compete against swimmers from Portugal, Spain and Romania. The swimmers had all met the entry times and been invited and sponsored by the Regional Portuguese Swimming Association. The team also put in two outstanding relay performances, with AJ Airey competing well in both: in the medley relay, the team qualified for the final as 8th fastest, before a storming swim took them to forth place, just missing out on the medals by the narrowest of margins. In the freestyle relay, a strong lead-off from Max Wallis and anchor leg from Sarah Hickey again brought the Sevenoaks team in in 4th place. National competitors Steffi King and Xander Alari-Williams were on medal winning form: Xander taking gold in 100 metres breaststroke in a personal best time, and Steffi taking gold in the 200m I.M. and silver in the 100 backstroke. Both of these swimmers used the competition to assist in their preparation for the British Championships in three weeks time. Club coaches Jo King and Julian Metcalf were delighted with the swimmers’ results. ‘This is the first time we have taken a team to Portugal, and to come home with a collection of medals and nearly all swimmers making the finals of their events is just fantastic!’ Sevenoaks Swimming Club would like to thank Clube de Beleneses who arranged the visit.
Masters’ news In the boys’ events, impressive swims came from James MacAuliffe in 100 freestyle, breaking the minute, and from Joe Choong, in a number of events. An in-form Holly Miles prepared herself for the county championship with a strong swim in the 100 freestyle while Leandre Stevens swam a strong 100 butterfly for a second weekend in a row.The first major gala of 2009 was the ASA South East Region Masters Long course competition at the end of January. The results of this have now been added to the ASA Masters National Rankings and all of the Sevenoaks’ Masters gained a ‘top ten’ position as follows: (position for event nationally within age band) Lesley Cameron (D): 2nd 100 breast, 4th 100 breast, 6th 50 breast Lucy Dickson (E): 5th 50 breast, 5th 100 breast Shelley Robinson (G): 4th 200 back, 5th 200 IM 6th 200 free, 9th 100 free Yon Marsh (E): 8th 50 back Stephen Rickards (F): 9th 200 breast Nigel Robson 40-44 3rd 200 free 7th 800 free 9th 50 free Training is currently geared towards the Kent County Champs at Black Lion on 4th July. One of the Masters, Nigel Robson, is planning to put his swimming skills even further to the test when he swims the English Channel on the first tide of the Channel swimming season. Good luck! More details next newsletter from the man himself! If anyone is interested in joining the Masters, have a look at their revamped noticeboard at the Leisure Centre, or contact Stephen Rickards. Officials’ success Congratulations to the following who have recently passed their Judge 1 qualifications: Ann Walkley Ian Cochran Vince Norris Yon Marsh Chris White I am hoping to organise another course for timekeepers and Judge 1 shortly, as we are always in need of more officials to help at galas. At present we usually rely on the help of people whose children are not swimming any more. It really is not difficult, and is a fun way to support your child/children and meet more people. Please e-mail me on mloc@lineone.net if you are willing to help and attend a course, or if you would like more information. I usually run the courses on an evening when the children are swimming to take care of childcare difficulties. Extra sessions available
More sessions have been created for our younger swimmers on Monday evening at Combe Bank School. Please see the website for more details, or ask Mandy Turner or Gail Leathers when you are poolside. The Kent Junior League for 2009 starts in June so these sessions are an ideal opportunity for younger swimmers to get more pooltime and improve their times in an effort to be selected, and to maintain the Club’s success in this league. Swimmers must be 9 or older during 2009 to be able to be selected. If you are younger then keep swimming hard for when your turn comes! Also we are in the process of setting up a lifesaving section for the club, so again keep watching the website for more details.
And lastly! Summer BBQ and Disco Friday 26 June at St Julian's at 6.30. See website for more information. All members and their families are welcome. A great opportunity to find out more about the club, to meet new friends and have a good time !! And don't forget www.easyfundraising.org.uk For all your on-line purchases. It's free to register, very simple, and requires very few detail, and helps the club raise extra money to keep costs down, without costing you anything more. After registering choose Sevenoaks Swimming Club as your chosen club to support. Have a look at their website to see the wide variety of businesses which will donate money to the club eg Argos Amazon, Next, Sky, Marks and Spencer etc etc more news articles... |  NoticeboardSunday, 5th Feb Training: The Sennocke Centre is open so all training is on, although there is no dry land session for Silver There will be no swimming at Combe Bank on Monday 13th Feb due to half term.  |
