January 2011 Newsletter
Remember – log on to www.boaswimming.org.uk for the latest news
A Happy New Year to all our Members
Request from the Treasurer Can everyone please update their standing orders or direct debits in line with the new fees. Many Thanks
Moonraker Winter League
Round 2 takes place on Saturday 22nd January at St. Mary’s School, Calne. For those of you who haven’t visited the school before it’s on the A4 on the Chippenham side of the town. If you’re coming through Melksham and Bromham turn left on to the A4 at the White Hart junction, follow the A4 through the town centre and shortly after you reach the top of the hill on the other side you’ll see the school entrance on your right. Doors will be open at 6.30 p.m.
A very hectic Round 1 at Trowbridge Pool in November saw good performances by Bradford swimmers and our team was only just edged into 3rd place on the night by Salisbury. The points result was; Trowbridge A 218, Salisbury Stingrays 169, Bradford on Avon 164, Trowbridge B 122, Marlborough Penguins 86, Tigersharks B 58. Of course the Winter League is determined by the times of each swimmer or relay team in relation to the swimmers from the other 23 teams swimming on the night. The league table after Round 1 isn’t yet available but hopefully we are in the top six.
We will be swimming against Tigersharks A, Chippenham and Wootton Bassett at Calne and with a strong team we should be challenging Chippenham for 2nd place at the event. Interestingly the B teams of both Swindon Dolphins and Tigersharks are not performing as well as usual for these clubs that normally have great strength in depth.
Annual Re-registration
As previously agreed the Club is introducing an annual re-registration fee from 2011 to enable all individual ASA memberships to be renewed. The fee of £10 will be part payment for the regional and national fees and the rest will be collected through the monthly training fees. To swim with Bradford on Avon ASC, or any other club, all swimmers must be registered with the Amateur Swimming Association.
Re-registration will start on Friday 21st January and there will be a Club table in the lobby of Bradford Pool all evening. A parent or guardian will need to be present to confirm details and have a cheque book ready – we’re one of the many organizations that still need to use cheques even though the banks want to get rid of them! No swimmer can be registered unless training fees are paid up to date.
New Officers and Committee for 2011
A big thank you to all officers and committee members for their work in 2010. An especial thanks to retiring members Nick Matthews (Treasurer), Jenny Foster (Asst. Competition Secretary), Keith Withers (Parent Rep.), Emma Philpott (Club Captain) and Sarah Cleary (Workforce Co-ordinator). There are still a few positions vacant and the position of the Parent Reps. will be agreed at the January committee meeting. Officers and Committee as elected:
Chairman John Carling
Vice-Chairman Ruth Marshman
Secretary Jo Hine
Treasurer Stuart Hazell
Competition Secretary Margaret Smith
Asst. Competition Secretary Kath Hogg
Membership Secretary Su Sealy
Instructor/Small Pool Rep. Rebecca Smith
Girls’ Club Captain Meg Marshman
Boys’ Club Captain James Marshman
Welfare Officer Emma Legg
Swim 21 Officer Bethan Smith
Workforce Co-ordinator Rupert Baller
Trophy Steward Vera Tomlin
Media/Web Site Officer Michael Marshman
We would also like to thank some of the people in the above list who would have liked to retire but, as no one else was willing to take on the job, have agreed to carry on for another year!
Senior Squad Coach is Jamie Forrester and Junior Squad Coach is Rebecca Smith.
Wiltshire Age Group Championships
Well done to all swimmers who have qualified for these Championships. You will have received your form to enter any of the events for which you have qualified. A reminder that entries + money for all distances longer than 25 metres need to be with Margaret or Rebecca Smith by 23rd January (Sprints entries should have been handed in by 9th January).
We will be holding a time trial session on Sunday 13th February at Bradford Pool from 4.00 p.m. This will be for any BAGCAT swimmers who need to gain County qualifying times. Ages for BAGCATS are: Girls 9 – 13 years inclusive; Boys 9 – 14 years inclusive.
Calendar Change
Could you please alter the Swimming Calendar that you have received as follows please: The Summer League Division 6 gala will now be on 24th September not the 17th. This puts it on the sane evening as Divisions 5, 7 and 8.
More Lifeguards Wanted
We are still looking for some parents to train as lifeguards, either on an intensive week long course or on Saturdays with the Life Saving Club. Our need is great as three of our young lifeguards are entering a period of examinations and a fourth will shortly be off to Kenya for four months. If you are able to volunteer for this please contact Ruth Marshman at ruth@vawdrey1.fsnet.co.uk for further details.
Parental Help
It is a sad fact that your officers and committee, most of whom have full time jobs and other interests as well as spending much time on poolside and working at home for the Club, can’t do all the work that a large organization such as ours requires. If you are able to offer a few hours help a month with administration, voluntary help on poolside or anything else please contact Ruth Marshman as above. We would also be happy to hear from any parent who may have contacts that can provide sponsorship for the Club. The amounts don’t have to be that large as we have several small projects and requirements for which we don’t have funding at the moment.
Bag Pack Update
With grateful thanks to Sainsbury’s and their staff, especially Richard Clarke, and to the 40 children, and a good few parents who helped, we collected £750 from the Bag Pack in November. This money will be used as match funding in our grant applications to replace our elderly starting blocks. Our thanks also to all the people of Bradford who gave us money on the day to record a very high total. A picture , from Richard Clarke, and accompanying article, has appeared in the Bath Chronicle and in last week’s Wiltshire Times
October 2010
This newsletter is not quite in the normal format as it has been produced in Word on a Mac Book in West Wales and I haven’t found where everything is on a Mac yet. E-mailed from Pembrokeshire 28th October. Mike Marshman
Congratulations Bethan
All our congratulations to Bethan and Tim on their wedding last Saturday. Bethan has spent most of her life in our swimming club as a competitive swimmer, teacher, coach, and is now also our Swim 21 Co-ordinator. The Club wishes them every happiness.
Bristol North Junior Open Meet 2010 Results
Top club award – Bradford on Avon 2nd
Boys 9 years 50m Butterfly 1st Jordan Ludlam
Boys 9 years 25m Butterfly 1st Henrik Humphries
3rd Alex Gulliford
Boys 9 years 50m Backstroke 2nd Jordan Ludlam
3rd Henrik Humphries
6th Alex Gulliford
Boys 9 years 50m Breaststroke 1st Jordan Ludlam
4th Henrik Humphries
7th Alex Gulliford
Boys 9 years 50m Freestyle 1st Jordan Ludlam
2nd Henrik Humphries
6th Alex Gulliford
Boys 9 years 4x25m Freestyle 1st Jordan Ludlam, Ryan Cooper, Henrik Humphries, Alex Gulliford
Boys 9 years 4x25m Medley 1st Henrik Humphries, Otis Newbury, Jordan Ludlam, Alex Gulliford
Girls 9 years 25m Butterfly 1st Cara Waldman
Girls 9 years 50m Backstroke 7th Cara Waldman
Girls 10 years 50m Butterfly 6th Georgia Keen
Girls 10 years 50m Breaststroke 7th Stella Cookson
Girls 10 years 50m Freestyle 3rd Georgia Keen
Boys 11 years 100m Butterfly 7th Michael Dorsman
Boys 11 years 100m Backstroke 3rd Michael Dorsman
Boys 11 years 100m Breaststroke 6th Michael Dorsman
Girls 11 years 100m Backstroke 4th Tiana James
6th Sophie Maw
Girls 11 years 100m Breaststroke 6th Holly Gulliford
Girls 11 years 100m Freestyle 8th Tiana James
Girls 11 years 4x50m Freestyle 5th Sophie Maw, Holly Gulliford, Tiana James, Megan Reckless, Ellie Dorsman
Girls 11 years 4x50m Medley 3rd Sophie Maw, Holly Gulliford, Tiana James, Ellie Dorsman
Boys 12 years 100m Breaststroke 7th Alex Keen
Boys 12 years 100m Freestyle 6th Alex Keen
Girls 12 years 100m Butterfly 1st Chloe Flower
4th Rebecca Hawkins
Girls 12 years 100m Backstroke 1st Ellie Hine (Meet Record)
4th Chloe Flower
6th Rebecca Hawkins
Girls 12 years 100m Breaststroke 1st Jessie Foster (Meet Record)
2nd Rebecca Hawkins
3rd Chloe Flower
Girls 12 years 100m Freestyle 1st Ellie Hine
2nd Chloe Flower
Girls 12 years 4x50m Freestyle 1st Chloe Flower, Rebecca Hawkins, Megan Cookson, Ellie Hine
Girls 12 years 4x50m Medley 1st (Meet Record)
Ellie Hine, Jessie Foster, Chloe Flower, Rebecca Hawkins
Best 9 year Boy 1st Jordan Ludlam
2nd Henrik Humphries
Best 12 year Girl 1st Chloe Flower
A big well done to all swimmers. Lots of PBs and a great team effort to come 2nd in the overall club award. 1st Next year!!!
Rebecca Smith
Bag Pack at Sainsbury’s
Please remember that our bag pack is on Saturday 20th November after early morning training. Committee members will be signing up volunteers for one hour slots over the next two weeks. We want as many people as possible helping on this day to raise funds for the Club.
Club Championships
A big thank you to all coaches, officials and volunteers who have enabled us to run these over several days of swimming sessions. And a very big thank you to Margaret for organising them. A reminder that the Finals will be held on the evening of Sunday 21st November.
Swimming Kit
Marian Mackintosh and Heather Waldman have volunteered to take over the job of ordering swimming equipment from Jenny Foster who has been doing it for quite a few years. Thank you Jenny for all those hours spent talking to suppliers, collecting money and handing out kit! Marian and Heather are both at the pool quite a few times a week so do come and find one of us if you want to ask about anything, or make an order on one of the sheets on the notice board.
Moonraker Winter League
The first round will be on Saturday 20th November and selected swimmers will be contacted soon. Please remember that in the Winter League it is times not places on the night that are important. You may be coming in 3rd or 4th at your venue but you could be 5th or 6th out of 25 and get a lot of points. So keep swimming as hard as you can and get the best possible time! We came 6th in the county last winter and could be looking at a 5th place for this season.
Child Protection
Following a child protection course that was attended by several of our members we realise that we need to bring in the following rule for the protection of both adults and children.
No one other than designated coaches, teachers, officials and helpers are to be allowed on poolside at any training session or competitive event, nor should any adult, other than those designated or Masters swimmers to remain in changing rooms.
No offence is intended but anyone who should not be on poolside will be asked to return to the public viewing area. All of our poolside volunteers have been CRB checked and have relevant qualifications or have received training for the roles that they undertake.
A further reminder that everyone who is on poolside should be barefoot or wearing appropriate footwear and not outdoor shoes.
Presentation and Disco
27th November
Christchurch School
Admission will be free but (remember that there’s no such thing as a free supper) you will be expected to bring a plate of food that would be sufficient for the people in your family attending. Bring some money though as there will be a fund raising raffle with lots of prizes.
Newsletter
August 2010
Welcome back from the summer holidays everyone and for those of you who attended the summer training sessions when in Bradford, Well Done! You should have an advantage when normal training resumes.
Back to School and Back to Normal?
A few parents may be pleased that a new term is about to start and, delightful though it has been to have the children around the house all these weeks, it will be very pleasant have them back at school so that you can establish your normal routine again.
Our return to normal training sessions after the summer timetable begins on Friday 3rd September; if during the heat of summer you have forgotten when these are for your group please see the ‘Sessions’ page on our web site. A reminder to Prior Park swimmers that we are no longer using this school pool and your session is now 7.00 to 8.00 p.m. at the University of Bath pool unless you have been notified of a move to another group..
Two Important Messages from Our Chairman
Head Coach
As you are all probably aware Andy Harris has resigned as Head Coach at the club.
It may seem that we have had a high turnover of coaches in the last 18 months, but of course two of our coaches were “head hunted” and moved on to full time coaching positions at larger clubs.
We have four volunteer coaches who will continue to take the sessions, helped out by all of our other volunteers. I would like to thank them all for “stepping in to the breach” so that the sessions continue to run smoothly.
We are hoping to use coaches from outside the club to cover some of the senior squad sessions, so you may see some new faces on poolside.
No changes are planned to the sessions except that from September the Monday evening swimming will start at 6.00pm instead of 6.30pm, and we will stop swimming at Prior Park and instead be at Bath University 50m pool from 7-8pm on Wednesdays. We hope to confirm these changes shortly.
If you have any questions please speak to me or another committee member.
Coaching News
As most of you have now seen, Jamie Forrest has taken on the role of coaching our senior squads. Jamie is based in Bath, where he has been swimming and recently completed a degree in pharmacology.
Jamie has swum to a very high level, being a member of the Great Britain and the Scotland swim teams from 2002 – 2009. Most recently he has represented GB at the 2008 European Open Water Swimming Championships in Croatia. Jamie’s list of other swimming achievements and awards is long and distinguished!
Jamie has recently completed the level 2 coaching swimming course.
After the summer break Jamie will continue to coach the senior squads, but will also attend some of the more junior squad sessions to help with the coaching of some of our younger swimmers. He plans to stay with us until he finds a graduate job in pharmacology.
Please continue to make Jamie feel welcome, train hard and benefit from his experience of training and swimming to these high levels!
John Carling, Chairman, BoA ASC
Date for Your Diary
On 20th November we have booked a Bag Pack at Sainsbury’s and will need lots of volunteers in BoA ASC tops (swimming caps and goggles not essential!) Being sordidly commercial, as your Editor is occasionally, we would like a selection of cute young swimmers to tug at the purse strings and a goodly number of older swimmers and parents to do the actual packing.
We will start after Saturday morning training and continue until we run out of volunteers. We would like to have a club member at every till and I know from past experience that we can raise a lot of money in a short time.
Members of the committee will be on poolside to add you to the rota this autumn.
Date for Your Diary 2
Club Presentation Evening will be on 27th November at Christchurch School
We are urgently looking for a new Treasurer and Assistant Competition Secretary for the Club as Nick and Jenny need to stand down after several years in these posts. If you are happy with figures and spreadsheets and get 2 + 2 to = 4 we would like to hear from you. Alternatively if you can make 2 + 2 =5 for income and 2 + 2 = 3 for expenditure we might like to hear from you even more. Seriously though if you are interested in taking on either of these posts please contact Ruth Marshman and she will arrange for you to speak to the current post holders so that you can find out what is involved.
Voucher Success
You provided the Club with 3,521 Sainsbury’s vouchers this year, which is a fantastic result. It has been decided to carry these forward to next year so that with the 2011 vouchers we will be hoping to acquire a video camera for helping with techanical training.
Galas and Meets
Saturday 4th September Summer League: Bradford on Avon B at Bradford Pool 6.45 p.m.
Saturday 11th September Summer League: Bradford on Avon A in Division 1 Final at the Link Centre, Swindon. Coach leaves Station car park at 5.15 p.m.
Saturday 18th September Summer League: Bradford on Avon B in Division 6 Final at Calne (Leisure Centre and Pool by John Bentley School) 6.30 p.m. at Calne
And then summer is over. Our B Team are favourites for promotion to Division 5 while our A Team is fighting relegation from Division 1 after several years in the top flight. An intriguing couple of weekends for our Club.
Successes in Lifeguard Examinations
Congratulations to Charlotte Patmore, Jim Gladwin, James Marshman and Michael Sealy who have all recently completed their lifeguard training course and passed the testing exams to qualify as lifeguards. Our especial thanks and salutations to Jim Gladwin, who unlike the others is not in the first flush of youth, but who is as keen and enthusiastic as a two year old (sorry mixing my sports there). Well done all four of you especially as the Club is very much in need of more lifeguards at this time of year. We do need more people (16 and over) to train as lifeguards – please speak to any coach, teacher or officer if you are interested.
Bradford on Avon ASC
Newsletter
March 2010
Remember – log on to www.boaswimming.org.uk for the latest news
Chloe Blossoms at the Wiltshire Championships
Twelve year old Chloe Flower achieved her first national qualifying time at the Wiltshire Youth Championships this year. Swimming a time trial in the 100 metre fly she came in at 1.09.57 and was also only half a second away from a national time with a really gutsy swim in the 200 metre fly. Well done Chloe – we know there are many more national times to come.
South West Regional Qualifiers from Bagcats and Youth
Andy has provided me with a list of swimmers who have regional qualifying times, consideration times, or a good chance of getting a regional time. So here goes:
Qualifying or Consideration time
100m Backstroke: Chloe Flower, Eleanor Hine, Florence Legg, Hayden Burton, Max Hazell, Chris Harber (+ National time), Harry Ash
200m Backstroke: Jessie Foster, Florence Legg, Hayden Burton, Max Hazell
100m Butterfly: Chloe Flower (+ National time), Charlotte Patmore, Harry Ash, Chris Harber
200m Butterfly: Chloe Flower
200m Individual Medley: Eleanor Hine, Chloe Flower, Jessie Foster, Charlotte Patmore, James Marshman, Michael Sealy, Chris Harber
400 Individual Medley: Jessie Foster, Chloe Flower
50m Freestyle: Charlotte Patmore, Harry Ash (+ National Time)
100m Freestyle: Eleanor Hine, Jessie Foster, Chloe Flower, Charlotte Patmore, Hayden Burton, Chris Harber
200m Freestyle: Tiana James, Jessie Foster, Chloe Flower, Charlotte Patmore, Harry Ash, James Marshman, Chris Harber
400m Freestyle: Jessie Foster, Chloe Flower, Charlotte Patmore, Harry Ash, James Marshman
800m Freestyle: Harry Ash, Chris Harber, James Marshman
1500m Freestyle: Chris Harber, James Marshman
100m Breaststroke: Rebecca Hawkins, Chloe Flower, Jessie Foster, Emma Philpott
200m Breaststroke: Jessie Foster (+ National time), Rebecca Hawkins, Edmond Hames, Hayden Burton
In addition Andy thinks that the following swimmers have a chance of getting more Regional times:
Rebecca Hawkins (2 events), Eleanor Hine (2), Chloe Flower (1), Florence Legg (2), Tiana James (3)
Wilf Lapes (3 events), Hayden Burton (5), Michael Dorsman (1), Edmond Hames (1), Max Hazell (3), Michael Sealy (5), James Marshman (2)
A pretty impressive list but remember, as we used to be told on school Speech Days, ‘The race is not always to the swift. We have good swimmers in the Club but everyone is important at whatever level they swim. Everyone has their own goals and targets and can feel great satisfaction when they achieve these. We exist to teach people to swim and to provide training for all ages and abilities; we also hope that our members enjoy themselves at their sessions, even if exhausted afterwards! We have also noticed over the years that some swimmers are late developers, perhaps after a growth spurt, so no one knows what they may be capable of in the future.
Appeal from your Editor
I need information from you about the achievements of our swimmers for both this newsletter and the press. It doesn't have to be a polished article - just the facts and perhaps a little background information. If you have any relevant photos please let me have them - they can be JPEGs but they need to be reasonable sized files, megabytes not kilobytes.
I also need information about forthcoming events please.
Preferably everything in digital form to Michael Marshman
Golden Girls at the Wiltshire Championship Bagcats
Five girls from Bradford on Avon Swimming Club brought home 25 gold medals between them from the British Gas Wiltshire Championships and Age Groups at the Link Centre in Swindon. This haul was well ahead of the 17 golds gained by Swindon Dolphins and 13 by Swindon Tigersharks; Trowbridge and Warminster girls won seven apiece.
Moonraker Winter League
Bradford has once again qualified for the top final of the Winter League, although this time it is much closer than in previous years. The top six teams after three rounds are;
Trowbridge A 2454 points
Tigersharks A 2451 points
Swindon Dolphins A 2372 points
Salisbury Stingrays 2307.5 points
Chippenham 2063.5 points
Bradford on Avon 2000 points
Corsham A, in 7th place scored 1946.5 points and could soon be breaking into the top six having improved greatly in the last couple of years,
Well done to all our swimmers, many of whom swam up in older age groups, who have done really well to get us into this position. In the final all points previously scored for times are discarded and it is a straightforward gala with points for 1st to 6th places on the night. Compared to our rivals we have a mainly young team so give them all your support at the Link Centre this Saturday.
Coach to the Link Centre leaves the Station Car Park at 5.10 p.m. this Saturday 27th March. Cost is £2.50 for swimmers and adults. Let Jennie Foster know if you are travelling on the coach.
Southern Junior League
The first round will be swum on 24th April and we are at Weymouth. There will be a coach so plenty of time for team bonding (and probably sweets on the return journey). Bradford has been very successful in this competition in recent years and we have some very good young swimmers competing this year.
The league is for swimmers up to the age of 12 and we swim against top clubs from all nearby counties. Each round contains 49 events comprising both individual and relay races.
Lifeguard Training
A course for new lifeguards will be held in the early summer. If you can swim reasonably well (not necessarily competitively) do please think about training. Lifeguards do seem to have an enjoyable time on poolside and the more there are the less everyone has to do! Please contact Sarah Cleary or Su Sealy if you are interested.
Bradford Mini Gala
A reminder to everyone that this will take place on Friday 2nd April – Warm up 3.00 p.m. It is a Bradford on Avon ASC competition open to Learn to Swim (Stages 6 & 7), Pre-Competition (Stages 8-10), Development Squad swimmers + DC Leisure swimmers at these stages. Doors will be open at 2.45 p.m. and the event will finish by 6.00 p.m.
The gala will comprise 25 metre events in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly; swimmers who enter all 4 events and are not disqualified in any will be automatically entered for a 100 metre Individual Medley race (25 metres of each stroke).
Age Groups: 7 and Under, 8 Years, 9 Years, 10 Years, 11 Years, 12 and Over
We have a good number of entries, including quite a few from DC Leisure swimmers, and it looks like a good afternoon’s swimming on Good Friday.
We need parents and older swimmers to act as team managers, timekeepers, recorders, officials, drinks suppliers, etc. Please see Margaret Smith or Andy Harris if you are able to help.
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