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.
Bradford on Avon ASC
Newsletter
February 2010
Remember – log on to www.boaswimming.org.uk for the latest news
Moonraker Winter League
Trowbridge A 1646 points
Tigersharks A 1623.5
Swindon Dolphins A 1582
Salisbury Stingrays 1532
Chippenham 1360.5
Bradford on Avon 1327
Corsham A 1287.5
Only the top six teams go through to the top level final on 27th March and so we need to make sure we are in 6th place or higher after Round 3. Last year we finished 4th, ahead of Salisbury and Chippenham; Salisbury, with their new eight lane pool, have improved greatly and are out of our reach at the moment but hopefully we will give Chippenham a good contest for 5th place on Finals Night. In the final all previous points are ignored and the result is by places on the night. We need all our best swimmers competing on both the 13th and 27th March to ensure we retain our position among the top clubs in Wiltshire.
Wiltshire Championships – Sprints 2010
Our swimmers performed really well at Milton Road, Swindon, at the unusual distance of 37 yards in the renovated G.W.R. Baths. Full Bradford placings were;
Backstroke Boys 9 & Under; 4th William Foster, 6th Henrik Humphries, 7th Jordan Ludlam: 10 years; 8th Finlay Jackson: 15 years; 3rd Max Hazell, 5th= Michael Sealy: Max Hazell was 3rd in the Junior Championship. Girls 9 & Under; 2nd Georgia Keen, 3rd Kara Mackintosh, 4th Stella Cookson: 10 years; 3rd= Megan Reckless, 10th Tiana James: 11 years; 3rd Megan Cookson, 5th= Sophie Maw, 15th Esther Archer-Brown: 12 years; 2nd Ellie Hine: 14 years; Katie Philpott: 16 years; 1st Savannah Wareham: 19 & Over; 1st Rebecca Smith.
Breaststroke Boys 9 & Under; 3rd Jordan Ludlam, 4th Henrik Humphries: 15 years; 2nd Max Hazell, 4th Michael Sealy. Max Hazell was 3rd in the Junior Championship. Girls 9 & Under; 1st Stella Cookson, 3rd Georgia Keen: 10 years; 1st Tiana James: 11 years; 1st Jessie Foster, 2nd Megan Cookson: 12 years; 3rd Ellie Hine: 19 & Over; 1st Emma Philpott; Jessie Foster was 5th in the Women’s Championship Final and 4th in the Junior Final.
Butterfly Boys 9 & Under; 4th Jordan Ludlam: 10 years; 3rd Finlay Jackson:12 years; 9th Guy Harrison- Murray: 13 years; 7th Ollie Foster: 15 years; 2nd Michael Sealy. Michael Sealy was 5th in the Men’s Championship Final and 2nd in the Junior Final. Girls 9 & Under; 1st Georgia Keen, 2nd Kara Mackintosh, 4th Stella Cookson: 10 years; 5th Megan Reckless, 6th Tiana James:12 years; 5th Ellie Hine: 16 years; Savannah Wareham: 19 & Over; 1st Emma Philpott, 2nd Rebecca Smith.
Freestyle Boys 9 & Under: 4th Henrik Humphries, 5th Jordan Ludlam:10 years; 2nd Finlay Jackson: 12 years; 9th Alex Keen, 14th Guy Harrison Murray:15 years; 5th Michael Sealy, 10th Max Hazell. Michael Sealy was 4th in the Junior Championship. Girls 9 & Under; 1st Georgia Keen, 3rd Kara Mackintosh, 5th Stella Cookson: 10 years; 4th Tiana James, 7th Megan Reckless, 15th Lottie Hazell: 11 years; 1st Jessie Foster, 12th Esther Archer-Brown, 16th Megan Cookson: 12 years; 1st Ellie Hine: 19 & Over; 2nd Rebecca Smith, 3rd Emma Philpott. Rebecca Smith was 4th in the Women’s Championship Final.
Well done to all these swimmers. A total of 11 gold, 10 silver and 14 bronze medals was a very good return for Bradford from these sprint championships.
Wiltshire Championships Long Distance
The long distance championships in the 50 metre pool at the University of Bath were a pleasant relaxed affair, well for the spectators, after the frenzy of Milton Road. Bradford had three swimmers competing and all did well. In the 12 year age group 800 freestyle Chloe Flower came 3rd in a time of 10:25.33, less than five seconds behind the silver medallist. In the 1500 freestyle Chris Harber was 1st in the 16 years, with a time of 17.31.60, and 4th overall in the Championship. James Marshman was 3rd in the 15 year age group with a time of 19:08.22 and 6th overall in the Junior Championship; however he was really swimming for a district time at 800 metres, which he achieved.
There are spaces for more swimmers in the Masters' Fitness squad and parents are most welcome to join. The Squad caters for swimming at any level and you need only swim on Friday evenings when two lanes are available.
Easter Training Camp
After the Pewsey Easter Course (see January Newsletter) Andy will be running our own training camp in extra pool time at Bradford. Dates are from 12th to 15th April between 9.00 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. If you are not going away at Easter please put these dates in your diary now.
Also for your diary – there will be no normal training on the evening of Good Friday but High Performance, Competitive Masters and Senior Competitive County will train from 6.30 – 7.30 a.m. The pool is closed on Easter Sunday and training is cancelled for Easter Monday. Training on Saturday as normal however.
The new squad training fees have now been calculated to allow us to pay for the pool time needed for lessons. E-mails have been sent to all swimmers providing information on their new fees. Please ensure that you adjust your standing orders or direct debits as soon as possible as the Club needs payments to be up to date so that we can pay the DC Leisure monthly bills. Many thanks
E- mail Addresses
As you are likely to have received this Newsletter by e-mail it may seem a little strange that we are asking you if we have your correct e-mail address. However when Ruth Marshman compiled the Squad mailing lists she found several people asked for their address to be changed from the one they had previously provided. So if you are reading this on the web site or in hard copy, not having received it by e-mail, please let us know your new address.
Novice Progress Gala
Friday 2nd April – Warm up 3.00 p.m.
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.
This will provide an excellent experience of competitive galas for young swimmers in familiar surroundings and will be good practice for the Moonraker Leagues and open meets in which they are likely to swim when they are older.
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
Entry Fees: £1.00 each for the four 25 metre events; free entry to the Individual Medley.
Medals for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places will be presented during the event
Awards will be given for ‘Best Girl’ and ‘Best Boy’ as judged by Head Coach Andy Harris
Entry forms available from coaches and teachers; please return completed forms and entry fees in a sealed envelope to Margaret Smith or Andy Harris by Friday 19th March
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.
Please remember that you need to wear BoA Club swimming hats and T shirts to Galas and Open Meets. See Jenny Foster if you need new ones.
The above notice was in the January Newsletter – could everyone please note that this includes the Wiltshire Championships, in fact any event where a swimmer is representing Bradford on Avon or is listed on the programme as being of Bradford on Avon ASC.
Corsham Meet 13th/14th February
A small group of swimmers attended this open meet which was a very friendly enjoyable gala for all. Despite having a small team Bradford swimmers did very well and scooped up a few medals and PBs as follows:
Finley Jackson: Gold for 200m fly; Silver for 200m breaststroke and 50m fly and Bronze for 200m I.M, 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle with PBs for 200mfreestyle, 50m backstroke and 50m fly.
Alex Keen: PB for 200m freestyle
Alex Hill: PB for 200m freestyle
Stella Cookson : Gold for 200m I.M. , 200m breaststroke, 200m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, Silver for 200m freestyle and 50m freestyle, Trophy for overall best 9 year old girl; PBs for all except 200m breaststroke.
Georgia Keen: Gold for 50m fly and 50m freestyle, PBs for both.
Kara Mackintosh: Silver for 200m backstroke and 50m backstroke; bronze for 200m freestyle and PBs for 50m backstroke and freestyle
Sophie Maw: PBs for 100m backstroke and 100m and 200m freestyle.
Megan Cookson: Gold for 100m breaststroke, PB for 100m and 200m breastroke
Well done to all.
Ann Cookson
A REMINDER – Closing Date Extended
Grand Poster Competition
All BOA swimmers are invited to design a poster that will advertise the club to children and parents who are not already members. The design will also be used on a leaflet with application form.
The poster needs to include the following information:
Bradford on Avon Swimming Club name
‘Please complete application from on leaflet or
Go to www.boaswimming.org.uk > Contacts > Membership Application’
We are looking for a poster that advertises the club in the following areas:
A Family Club
A Fun Club to be in
The club includes all abilities from: Learn to Swim > Development> fitness > competitive
You can also invent and include a slogan
Swimmers name and contact details are to be placed on the back of their entry
The competition will be judged in Squad groups: All Squad winners will then be entered into the final and the winning entry will be used as the basis for an advert for the club.
There will also be prizes for Squad 1st, 2nd, 3rd and the final 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Closing date 28 February - All entries are to be given to Andy Harris or Rebecca Smith.
All judging will take place on a club night; date to be confirmed.
New Closing Date – 31st March
Come on you artists and graphic designers get those designs in to
Andy or Rebecca
Bradford on Avon ASC
Newsletter
January 2010
Remember – log on to www.boaswimming.org.uk for the latest news
Message from Our Head Coach
Thank you for making me so welcome at Bradford on Avon. I would also like to thank Bethan, Rebecca and the coaching staff for all assistance and guidance in making my arrival go so smoothly.
As most of the swimmers are realising I believe in hard work through various training methods but I also believe in the swimmers having a little fun while training. I aim to make sessions challenging to all, but with a touch of fun.
Since my arrival I have been working with Rebecca to streamline the club structure, with a view to making it more inclusive to all levels of swimmers from Learn to Swim through to National Qualifiers. Most swimmers will see a squad name change, but we have aimed to keep disruption to a minimum. Like any change for the good of the majority, there will always be a few for whom the change will not work, so please feel free to let me know if you have any issues. The club will move to the new structure and timings from 1st February 2010. All parents have been e-mailed a letter, detailing the changes.
Can all swimmers who have qualified for the Wiltshire County Championships, make every effort to enter these, even if they only enter one or two events.
Finally training in February for the more experienced squads is going to be very high intensity and then tapering off to County Championships, so I ask all swimmers to try and achieve 100% attendance.
Andy Harris
Please remember that you need to wear BoA Club swimming hats and T shirts to Galas and Open Meets. See Jenny Foster if you need new ones.
Easter Training Course at Pewsey Leisure Centre
For many years now Wilts County Amateur Swimming Association has run a week long course at Pewsey. It not only includes two sessions of swimming but games, indoor football, country walks and land training. This year it is from 5th to 9th April, running from 9.00 to 5.00 and costs just £40. Minimum age for children is ten on the first day of the course and they need to attend for a minimum of 4 days – they can miss the first or last day. Just think, children out of your way for 5 days during the holiday and for just £40! We have found that swimmers really enjoy this week.
Admittedly you have to get them to and from Pewsey but parents normally share this duty; you can also volunteer to be a helper (we need to provide two) and you can help with catering, tuck shop or first aid. We’ve volunteered for catering in the past which was great fun; heating up gallons of soup in the kitchen and serving this at lunchtime to supplement the packed lunches, serving chocolate bars, doughnuts and cakes at morning and afternoon break – all on a four shift system – and watching some of the activities. Oh, and washing up!
You could also spend a day or two in and around Pewsey while you wait. There are fewer than 4,000 people living in the whole parish but Pewsey has 24 shops including a good bakery (Wiltshire lardy cakes), a delicatessen, gift shops, furniture makers, and an art gallery, plus cafés and pubs serving good food. Also Cosser’s – a unique charity shop – go in and talk to Roger Pope who runs it. There are also really good half day or whole day walks in the Vale or over the Marlborough Downs.
An application form is attached to this Newsletter – please hand these to Andy or Rebecca.
Tigersharks Meet
On January 16th – 17th we set out to the Link Centre, Swindon to participate in our first open meet with our new Head Coach Andy Harris together with Rebecca. There we met clubs from as far afield as London and Cornwall as well as from Wiltshire, there was stiff competition in all events and the judges were especially harsh on illegalities as I found out personally! Despite the icy cold marshalling corridor Bradford managed to pull out some great swims with medal winning performances from: Wilf Lapes, Finley Jackson, Michael Dorsman, Hayden Burton, Georgia Keen, Chloe Flower, Ellie Hine, Flo Legg, Jessie Foster and Rebecca Hawkins.
The full Bradford Results are on the web site; medal winners were:
Wilf Lapes, Gold in 100 backstroke, Silver in 200 backstroke and 400 I.M., Bronze in 200 and 400 freestyle. Hayden Burton, Gold in 200 I.M. Finlay Jackson, Gold in 100 and 200 Butterfly. Michael Dorsman, Bronze in 100 backstroke.
Chloe Flower, Gold in 200 Freestyle and 100 and 200 butterfly, Silver in 100 and 400 freestyle. Jessie Foster, Gold in 100 breaststroke, Bronze in 200 backstroke. Rebecca Hawkins, Gold in 200 breaststroke, Bronze in 100 breastroke. Ellie Hine, Bronze in 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 200 I.M. Flo Legg, Silver in 100 and 200 breaststroke and 100 and 200 backstroke and Bronze in 400 I.M. Georgia Keen, Bronze in 50 freestyle.
Our other swimmers at the Meet – Henrik Humphries, Ed Hames, Alex Keen, Jordan Ludlam, James Marshman and Michael Sealy - all swam well, achieved good placings and many set PBs
So all in all a great meet.
James Marshman
A few years ago when Bradford swam as a club in Division 1 of the Speedo (now Arena) National League we used to put foreboding into the hearts of opponents by chanting
“B O A – Best Of All”
Let’s make Bradford best again!
Grand Poster Competition
All BOA swimmers are invited to design a poster that will advertise the club to children and parents who are not already members. The design will also be used on a leaflet with application form.
The poster needs to include the following information:
Bradford on Avon Swimming Club name
‘Please complete application from on leaflet or
Go to www.boaswimming.org.uk > Contacts > Membership Application’
We are looking for a poster that advertises the club in the following areas:
A Family Club
A Fun Club to be in
The club includes all abilities from: Learn to Swim > Development> fitness > competitive
You can also invent and include a slogan
Swimmers name and contact details are to be placed on the back of their entry
The competition will be judged in Squad groups: All Squad winners will then be entered into the final and the winning entry will be used as the basis for an advert for the club.
There will also be prizes for Squad 1st, 2nd, 3rd and the final 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Closing date 28 February - All entries are to be given to Andy Harris or Rebecca Smith.
All judging will take place on a club night; date to be confirmed.
Information about changes in squad structure and recent cancellations of training has been sent to you by e-mail. If you have not received these or have experienced problems please let Su Sealy or Ruth Marshman have your current e-mail address. If you do not have e-mail we will get information to you by letter but we may not be able to let you know about last minute cancellations
Club Presentation Evening 24th January
A large number of swimmers and parents assembled in the Scout Hut after Sunday training (damp hair was much in evidence) for the presentation of Club Championship medals and trophies and special trophies. A full list of results and awards will be on the web site at News/Results as soon as your editor has time to compile the table!
Special Awards
The Emma Catt Salver for the best girl of 9 and Under was awarded to Amber Burton and Georgia Keen
The Hudson Trophy for the best boy of 9 and Under was awarded to Henrik Humphries
The Saxon Cup for the best 10-15 year old was awarded to Hayden Burton
The Eric Blackmore Trophy for Senior Girls was awarded to Felicity Bartlett and Meg Marshman
The Eric Blackmore Trophy for Senior Boys was awarded to James Marshman
The Junior Trophy for Girls was awarded to the Southern Junior League 11 year old girls team
The Junior Trophy for Boys was awarded to Hayden Burton
For many reasons I was pleased to present the Andrew Harper Shield and as I believe that the continuity of family involvement is important in a club like ours I’m going to print what I said about the recipients;
The Andrew Harper Shield is presented for commitment to the Club; it came into existence when Andrew Harper retired as our Head Coach and as he did not want a leaving gift the Committee decided to present this trophy in his name.
Now, as an historian I sometimes research in field of population studies – there we find that core families are important in communities – they are there for generations, provide a lead and a model for newcomers, preserve values and influence the development of that community. The same is also true in some organisations such as our own swimming club – not for too many generations yet, though we do have parents who swam for our club and whose children are now swimming with us. These core families include the Harpers, whose daughters no longer swim but Andrew is still coaching, and the Carlings; again their daughters, both former club captains, are at university and only occasionally swim here but John is our Chairman and Sharon is still a teacher and lifeguard.
We are a family club and you have probably already gathered from my remarks that Andrew’s Shield is destined for a family this year. A family that has been with the Club for many years, whose mother organises our Club Championships, is our Competition Secretary, is frequently to be found on poolside, who represents us on Wiltshire Swimming and Force Five, and is a Past President of the County Association. Her daughters between them have been regional and national swimmers and have led and carried Bradford through many years of competitive galas and, most importantly now, coach and teach our swimmers. During our difficult year of 2009 they have led the other coaches and teachers and carried through teaching and coaching in all age groups and, with Keith Withers, planned a new squad structure and coaching plan.
This year the Andrew Harper Shield for commitment is presented to Margaret, Rebecca and Bethan Smith. Now Rebecca and Bethan also received a presentation and flowers on poolside at 5.00 o’clock today and so it is only fair that their mother should also receive flowers this evening.
Margaret was presented with flowers by Stella Cookson; Rebecca and Bethan had been presented with card and flowers in recognition of their additional work in coaching during 2009 by our Secretary, Jo Hines.
Vera Tomlin was presented with flowers by Henrik Humphries in recognition of all her behind the scenes work, Again I quote myself;
Vera Tomlin has worked in the background for many years and still does so even though her children and grandchild no longer swim. Vera is involved in assisting the Treasurer by chasing overdue fees and subscriptions, she obtains prizes and also sweets and crisps for coach journeys. Tonight sees the culmination of her work with the trophies – collecting them from previous winners, polishing many of them, and having them all on display tonight. Vera is always there for the club.
Southern Junior League 11 year old Girls’ Team of Rebecca Hawkins, Jessie Foster, Chloe Flower and Ellie Hine
Felicity Bartlett and Meg Marshman, joint winners of the Eric Blackmore Trophy for Senior Girls
James Marshman, winner of the Eric Blackmore Trophy for Senior Boys
Rebecca and Bethan Smith after their presentation on poolside
Hayden Burton, winner of the Hudson Cup and the Junior Trophy for Boys
Wilf Lapes, William Patmore, William Foster and Harry Pengelly discuss their trophies while Hayden Burton looks forward to the next Championship and Jenny Foster searches for the next trophy to be presented
I have received several requests from swimmers that birthdays be reinstated in the Club Newsletter. This list appears in the newsletter that has been e-mailed to members.
Bradford on Avon ASC
Newsletter
Christmas 2009
A Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year to Members of Bradford on Avon Amateur Swimming Club from your Committee.
A very big thank you to all the voluntary coaches, teachers, lifeguards, officials and helpers without whom this Club could not function. An especial thank you to Rebecca Smith who has so successfully taken on the role of Coach since August.
Bradford on Avon Club Championship Finals 2009
Full results of the short distance finals are on our web site - www.boaswimming.org.uk/
100 Metres Open Freestyle Gold Medals: Harry Ash, Rebecca Smith
50 Metres Open Freestyle Gold Medals: Michael Sealy, Rebecca Smith
25 Metres Butterfly Gold Medals 8 & Under: Henrik Humphries, Amber Burton. Gold Medals 9 Years: Jordan Ludlum, Georgia Keen
50 Metres Butterfly Gold Medals 10-11 Years: Hayden Burton, Jessie Foster. Gold Medals 12-13 Years: Wilf Lapes, Chloe Flower. Gold Medals 14-15 Years: Harry Ash, Charlotte Patmore. Gold Medals 16 & Over: Dominique Bedoya, Rebecca Smith
25 Metres Backstroke Gold Medals 8 & Under: Henrik Humphries, Amber Burton. Gold Medals 9 Years: William Foster, Georgia Keen
50 Metres Backstroke Gold Medals 10-11 Years: Hayden Burton, Ellie Hine. Gold Medals 12-13 Years: Wilf Lapes, Katie Philpott. Gold Medals 14-15 Years: Harry Ash, Albany Burton. Gold Medal 16 & Over: Rebecca Smith.
25 Metres Breaststroke Gold Medals 8 & Under Henrik Humphries, Amber Burton. Gold Medals 9 Years: Jordan Ludlum, Georgia Keen
50 Metres Breaststroke Gold Medals 10-11 Years: Hayden Burton, Jessie Foster. Gold Medals 12-13 Years: James Missen, Flo Legg. Gold Medals 14-15 Years: Harry Ash, Charlotte Patmore. Gold Medals 16 & Over: Mark Warren, Emma Philpott
25 Metres Front Crawl Gold Medals 8 & Under: Henrik Humphries, Amber Burton. Gold Medals 9 Years: William Foster, Georgia Keen
50 Metres Front Crawl Gold Medals 10-11 Years: Hayden Burton, Jessie Foster. Gold Medals 12-13 Years: Wilf Lapes, Chloe Flower. Gold Medals 14-15 Years: Michael Sealy, Charlotte Patmore. Gold Medals 16 & Over: Peter Richardson, Rebecca Smith
As observed poolside during medal presentations
Apologies to Ellie Hine whose name I omitted from our successful swimmers at the ASA South West Regional Championships in the November Newsletter. Well done Ellie, I did know you were there really.
Christmas Disco
A very successful disco involved about 70 swimmers dancing the night away in the Scout Hut. The excellent DJ organised games, dancing competitions and gave out prizes. Some of the younger boys had such good moves that they could be planning future appearances on Strictly Come Dancing.
The evening was organised by Ann Cookson, once found selling tickets at the pool when she was far from well, who put in a lot of hard work for this event. A special Thank You to Ann and her team of helpers who ran the evening and provided food and drink
Presentation Evening
Sunday 24th January in the Scout Hut. Please put this date in your diary - you will be e-mailed details early in the New Year.
Welcome to new Chief Coach Andy Harris
Most of you will already know Andy as he has been to several of our training sessions, both at Bradford and Bath. He officially takes up his post with us on 1st January (first training session Saturday 2nd January) and will be keen to meet all swimmers. I’m sure you can’t wait to get back in the water having become a little sluggish over Christmas with too much food, especially sweets and chocolate, so start training as soon as possible. In January we have the next round of the Winter League and swimmers will need to be on top form if we are to retain our high ranking in the county. If you’ve let your training slip do come back, we do need more older and Open swimmers. Please be on poolside before the time your session starts.
Volunteers Needed
We need people to volunteer for lifeguard training. You need to be 16 and also be able to swim! Please contact John Carling or Sarah Cleary if you are interested.
We only have 2 Referees in the Club and one will be moving to the far north next year, while the other is often at sea (literally). If any current officials would like to qualify as a Referee please contact John Carling. You need to qualify as Timekeeper/Judge, Judge 2 and Starter before you can qualify as a Referee.
Only a Few Days Left
To get those entries in for the Wiltshire Championships and Age Group Competition. Information and forms from, and entries to, Margaret Smith:
3rd January for Sprints and Long Distance
24th January for Youth
31st January for Bagcats
Rebecca has organised a special training session at the University of Bath Sports Village. This is on Tuesday 29th December; land training from 12.30 to 1.30 in the indoor throws area and swimming from 2.00 to 4.00 p.m. in the 50 metre pool. The cost is £3.00
Dates for Your Diary
16/17 January: Tigersharks Level 2 Meet Swindon Link Centre
23 January: Moonraker Winter League
6 February: Wiltshire Long Distance at Bath
7 and 21February: Wiltshire Sprints at Milton Road, Swindon
Bradford on Avon ASC Newsletter November 2009
NEW HEAD COACH APPOINTED
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Andy Harris as the Club’s new Head Coach.
Andy has been coaching at Swindon Dolphins, where he has been in charge of the junior squad, whilst also helping with training their performance squad.
Andy will take up the position leading the coaching team from 1st January, but will be attending a number of sessions through December to get to know us all! Please do talk to him, make him welcome, and ask any questions you may have.
Once again I thank all our coaching team who are doing a superb job, and giving up so much time for the swimmers.
Thank you all.
John Carling, Chairman
Christmas Disco 2009
21st December at the Scout Hut
6.00—7.30 p.m. for 5 to 8/9 years
8.00—10.30 p.m. for 9+ years
This year we are hoping to make the Christmas party more inclusive for swimmers from the small pool who may prefer an earlier party time and are hoping to have some games, as well as spot prizes and dancing for the younger age groups, with a later session for older swimmers. Some overlap is expected but this will not be a problem.
Please put the date in your diary; more details on noticeboard at pool.
Annual General Meeting
The meeting approved the revised Club constitution, which has been passed by the Wilts ASA and the Inland Revenue. We can now claim tax relief on any donations to the Club. A list of the elected officers and committee and the speech given by Chairman John Carling can be found on our web site— www.boaswimming.org.uk
Recent Results for Bradford Swimmers
Salisbury Stingrays Autumn Open Meet 18th October
Over a dozen of our swimmers attended this meet which had cut off times; if a competitor swam faster than that time they did not receive a medal. Several of our younger swimmers had this honour while the older ones paced themselves to come in just under the cut off time. Bradford had 4 top girls and boys in their age group—Georgia Keen (9yrs), Michael Dorsman (10yrs), Ed Hames (11yrs) and James Marshman (14+). Apart from these swimmers many medals were won by Tiana James, Stella Cookson, Megan Cookson, Ben Harris, Guy Harrison-Murray, and Finlay Jackson.
Avalon Open Meet, Millfield 24th & 25th October
Lots of medals for Bradford swimmers and many 4th and 5th places. Medallists were: Jessie Foster gold in 100 br, 200 IM, 200 back, 200 br, silver in 50 back, 50 fly, bronze in 100 free; Ellie Hine gold in 100 free, 50 back, silver in 200 IM, 200 back, bronze in 400 free; Rebecca Hawkins bronze in 100 br, bronze in 50 br, 200 br; Florence Legg silver in 50 br, 100 back, bronze in 100 br, 200 br, 50 back; Chloe Flower gold in 100 fly, silver in 400 free; Albany Burton bronze in 400 free, 200 back; Hayden Burton gold in 200 free, 200 IM, silver in 200 br,400 free, 200 back; Wilf Lapes gold in 50 free, silver in 200 back, bronze in 100 back; Miles Burton gold in 400 free; Max Hazel gold in 50 back, 100 back, 200 back, 50 br, silver in 400 free. Well done all swimmers who competed here.
WANTED
New Secretary and Treasurer
Jo Hines and Nick Matthews are continuing in these posts at the moment but we would like someone to take over the post of Treasurer as soon as possible after shadowing Nick. We would also like someone to shadow Jo with a view to taking over at the next AGM.
Please to Jo or Nick, or John Carling or Ruth Marshman, if you are interested
Did You Know?
The Club pays an annual fee for every swimmer’s membership of the National, County and District ASAs: Category 3 (parents & helpers) £6.75, Category 1 (non-competitive swimmers) £9.50, Category 2 (competitive swimmers) £24.75. These fees are likely to increase in 2010 The committee agreed to introduce an annual membership fee for each swimmer (not parents) to go towards the cost of these fees.
Pool charges have also increased - the main pool is about £41 and the small pool £20 per hour. The committee agreed to make a small increase in monthly fees from January to cover this increase.
Winter League
Bradford put up a strong performance in the opening round at Trowbridge on Saturday 21st November. Competing against the Swindon Dolphins B team, Chippenham, Warminster and Wroughton, we were 3rd behind the powerful Trowbridge A team and a point behind Chippenham. This League is decided on the event times from all competing clubs and we will have to wait to see our position after the first round. Hopefully in the top six.
ASA South West Regional Championships 2009
Seven Bradford swimmers qualified for these at Hutton Moor on 7th and 8th November. There are only 2 categories Open and 15 & Under. Jessie Foster was 13th in 100 br; Flo Legg 12th in 200 back; and Josie Hunt 12th in 100 back. Max Hazell 17th in 100 back; Michael Sealy 13th in 400 IM; James Marshman 18th in 200 free, 14th in 400 free; Chris Harber 5th in 200 free, 8th in 50 back, 20th in 200 IM; Harry Ash 8th in 50 free 1st in 400 free, and was 4th in the 200 free heats but did not swim in the final.
Remember—obtain donations whenever you can as we can reclaim the tax paid
New Chief Coach, Andy Harris
Andy is a highly successful swimming teacher and coach having been with Swindon Dolphins since 2006. He has experience in working with external organisations to promote swimming at club and business levels. He also holds coaching certificates in football, athletics and is currently taking Fitness Trainer Level 3. He is a Level 2 ASA Teacher and Coach and is currently completing ASA Level 3 Swimming Coaching.
He is married with two children, a boy and a girl, both of whom are club swimmers; some of our 6th form members may remember Andy’s daughter in our past galas with Dolphins. His whole family are involved in swimming, which is excellent in a Club like ours with its ethic of family membership and swimming, both competitive and non-competitive.
A big thank you from your new editor, as a parent, to Rebecca and all the other coaches for the excellent work and planning they have put in since we lost our last Head Coach. Results in the Moonraker League, Open Meets and the large number of lollipops given out at the Club Championships for PBs are testimony to their time, efforts and expertise.
Any ideas for sponsorship of the Club will be most welcome. Please talk to any committee member.
Date for your diary; Club Championship Presentation Evening 24th January in the Scout Hut
BoA ASA Newsletter October 2009
Club AGM
Saturday 17th October 11.15am at the Scout Hut
All welcome and refreshments available
Come and find out all about what has been happening in the Club for the past year.
HEAD COACH UPDATE
The committee continue to seek a new head coach for the Club.
In the meantime we are in the fortunate position of having four ASA qualified coaches in the club. Rebecca Smith and Keith Withers have produced a training plan for the squad sessions, with the training cycle tailored to suit the swimmers and the competition schedules.
Rebecca, Keith, Andrew Harper and Bethan Smith will run the sessions, and we thank them for taking on this task.
If you have any questions regarding squad swimming please contact Rebecca Smith or one of the committee. We will update you when we have any further news.
Thank you, John Carling
IMPORTANT CHANGES
CHANGES TO CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
In common with current practice in most other swimming clubs we will be introducing an entry charge for each event in our 2009 Club Championships. This will enable us to recover much of the cost of the Championships, which amount to over £1,500 with medals, trophy engraving and lollipops (awarded in copious quantities for PBs!), from the entry fees. By doing this we will avoid having to introduce an element to pay Championship costs in any future increase in fees.
Entry fees at £1.00 per swimmer per event or a maximum of £12 per swimmer will be collected on the three Friday evenings before the Championships; if there are any problems with this please talk to the Committee members who will be collecting the fees.
Club Championship heats and finals will take place on the dates below.
Closing date: 16th October - make sure you put your name down before this date - entries will not be accepted after the above date.
For 200m events age group trophies will be presented to the swimmer accumulating the most points in the 200m events.
All 25m events for 8 and 9 year olds and 50m events for 10+ will culminate in a final – so the 4 fastest in each stroke will go through to Finals Night.
The rest of the events will be Heat Declared Winners (HDW) so remember you will be swimming against the clock not just the swimmers in your heat. Heats will be seeded.
The 4 fastest overall for 100m Frontcrawl and 50m Frontcrawl will go forward to Finals Night (Open events) - Anyone under the age of 12 who would like to enter the 100m Frontcrawl please enter on the Open 100m Frontcrawl sheet.
If you have any further questions, please see Margaret Smith - Competition Secretary
Programme
Monday 9th November 6.30-9pm BoA 25m Backstroke; 50m Breaststroke; 100m Frontcrawl; 200m Butterfly
Sunday 15th November 4-7pm BoA 4x50m IM; 25m Frontcrawl; 50m Butterfly; 100m Backstroke; 200m Breaststroke
Friday 20th November 6-9.15pm BoA 25m Butterfly; 50m Backstroke, 100m Breaststroke; 200m Frontcrawl
Sunday 22nd November 4-7pm BoA 4x25m IM; 25m Breaststroke; 50m Frontcrawl; 100 Butterfly; 200m Backstroke
Sunday 29th November 4-7pm BoA FINALS NIGHT Open 100m Frontcrawl; 25m Butterfly; 25m Backstroke; 25m Breaststroke; 25m Frontcrawl; 50m Butterfly; 50m Backstroke; 50m Breaststroke; 50m Frontcawl; 50m Open Frontcrawl
Monday 14th December 6.30-9pm BoA 400m Individual Medley; 400m frontcrawl
Sunday 20th December 4-7pm BoA 800m Frontcrawl; 1500m Frontcrawl
Jess and her parents would like to thank everyone at the Swimming Club for their tremendous support and good wishes for her trip to Ponds Forge in Sheffield, to compete at the British Gas ASA National Age Group Championships.
Jess reached the final of the 100m Breaststroke event, where a tremendous swim saw her finish in 6th place. Jess also competed in the 200m Breaststroke finishing in 11th place.
It was a fantastic opportunity and a very exciting experience for Jess. The huge number of text messages from friends, some of whom were watching the event live on the internet, was especially encouraging. We would like to say a particular thanks to Rebecca Smith, for travelling to Sheffield to support and cheer Jess on. Jenny Foster
BOA ASA Newsletter June 2009
What do they do? – our Lifeguards.
In order to keep the club’s costs down we try to provide our own, volunteer lifeguards for the swimming sessions. The lifeguards are older swimmers (over 16) and parents who give up their time to firstly complete the National Pool Lifeguard Qualification (44 hours training plus exam), then complete 2 hours compulsory training monthly at the pool, and then again give up their time to actually lifeguard our swimming sessions. The costs of training are born by the club, but not providing our own lifeguards could add up to £12,500 to the club’s cost each year – an amount of course that would have to be made up from your fees!
We are always looking for new volunteers for this important duty – we are running a course at the moment for 6 volunteers, but we are always willing to look at funding training for willing volunteers, either on slow or intensive, 5 day courses. You learn accident prevention, first aid and resuscitation skills, as well as how to rescue someone from the water – all skills that can be useful at any time in an emergency. Then there’s the stylish yellow shirt…….!
I would like to thank all our lifeguards, and all the club’s other volunteers. Without them giving up their time for the club we could not function, so thank you all.
John Carling
Chairman, BoA ASC
Swimmer’s Behaviour
There have been complaints recently about the behaviour of youngsters outside the pool building, particularly on Friday evenings. This has included climbing onto the roof of the building. In this area the children’s behaviour is the parent / guardian’s responsibility, so please ensure your children behave appropriately and safely whilst outside the pool building. If your child is not swimming ensure that he/she is with you at all times.
SUMMER SWIMMING SESSIONS
There will be no swimming sessions in the small pool during the Summer Holidays. For information on all other sessions during the Summer please see the notice board at BOA Pool.
South West Region Swimming
Last month saw 4 swimmers enter the Regional Youth Age Group Competition at Millfield.Those that qualified were Michael Sealy, James Marshman, Josie Hunt, and Jessie Foster (who was able to enter an under 13 Category as she had the specified qualifying time.)Well done to all those swimmers.
Then on 17th May, we travelled to Millfield again with 5 relay teams who swam Medley and Freestyle races, and did very well.
15/16 boys: Harry Ash, Chris Harber, James Marshman and Michael Sealy - they gained 2nd and 3rd places.
15/16 girls: Josie Hunt, Collette McCambridge, Charlotte Patmore and Savannah Wareham - finished 4th in both events.
11/12 girls:Jessie Foster, Chloe FLower, Ellie Hine and Florence Legg - wona silver medal in medley and 5th in the Freestyle.
9/10 boys - Ed Hames, Michael and Raphael Dorsman and Finley Jackson
9/10 girls - Tiana James, Eleanor Dorsman. Holly Humphries and Isobel Calvert finalists for the medley relay.
June 6th saw our swimmers travel back to Milfield for the Regional Age Group Competition.
These were Max Hazell and Wilf Lapes, both swimming their first Regional Event; Finals were reached by Chloe Flower who gained 3rd in 400m Ind Med, and 4th in 200m Fly; Ellie Hine 8th in 100m Freestyle; Becky Hawkins - 7th in 200m Breaststroke and Jessie Foster who came 3rd in 200m Breaststroke and 7th in 200m Backstroke.
Good luck to all swimmers including Flo Legg for this weekend at Millfield
Congratulations to Jessie Foster who has qualified for 100m and 200m Breaststroke at the British National Swimming Age Group Event taking place in Sheffield in July. Well done Jessie and of course to all the Bradford on Avon Coaches who have helped Jessie obtain this result.
Water Polo News:
Bradford water polo team’s record in the Bristol & West League has shown steady improvement this season – five wins and three defeats, so far. Much of this has been due to the expert coaching of ex-GB international Louise Betts, who has worked hard with the squad on skills and fitness. Lou assures us she will still be on poolside once the new addition to her family arrives in July!
Biggest win so far was against Bath University 21-2, whilst perhaps one of the best performances occurred in an 11-10 away defeat by UWIC, fresh from their recent appearance in the BUCS finals at Ponds Forge, Sheffield.
In the Bristol & West Handicap KO competition, Bradford were given a 15-goal start in the away tie against Bristol Central. The Bristol side included two ex-internationals, plus an additional couple of players who appeared for the club in National League Division One last season. A thrilling match saw Bradford start well but then struggle to contain the experienced opposition. Eventually, Bristol snatched victory at the death – 25-24!
January 2009
Club Coach
Obviously we are all saddened by this decision, as Lawrence has done so much in his time here to move the club forward. He is leaving us with a strong squad structure and great groups of swimmers at all levels, so that we can continue to move successfully into the future.
The club committee is already taking steps to try to find a replacement for Lawrence, including advertising nationally, and we will do our best to recruit a suitable person as soon as possible. If we can find one ”Lawrence”, then hopefully we can find another!
In the meantime please continue to give Lawrence all your support, continue to swim and train hard, and make sure he leaves on a high note with good results in forthcoming galas and events!
Thank you,
John Carling
Chairman
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTATION EVENING
On Sunday 8th February — Starting at 6pm
At the Scout Hut, BOA.
There will be hot dogs available for sale
Donations of cakes and raffle prizes would be very much appreciated
Whilst we want all swimmers and proud supporters to attend space is very limited in the scout hut so please only bring a couple of supporters to cheer and applaud.
The Performance training will finish at 6pm for this event
9th January 2009
Dear Swimmers/Parents/Club Members,
It is with huge difficulty and sadness that I inform you; unfortunately I will be leaving the position of Head Coach at Bradford on Avon Swimming Club at the beginning of April 2009. My time at Bradford has been brilliant but I have been approached and offered a position at a large swimming club in London near my family.
The job is an excellent step for me in my career and for personal reasons allows me to be closer to those most important to me. I hate the fact that I will be leaving all those who have supported me, swimmers and parents alike, and when I heard the news it was the happiest and saddest I have ever felt at the same time about the same thing. These opportunities never come up at an ideal time and this move was not planned but I feel I am unable to turn down the position.
Firstly I would like to thank all the swimmers, without you there is no swimming club and your focus, drive and determination is what has allowed Bradford on Avon to achieve some amazing results during my time here, as a team and as individuals. Thank you also for the challenges, the tantrums and the arguments I know I will leave being a much better coach because of them. You are the hardest people to leave and I hope we can together have many further successes between now and April.
Secondly thank you to all associated with the club, my time at Bradford on Avon has been so much smoother because of the support and guidance I have received from so many different people. There are a huge number of people I would like to individually thank but I'm sure you know who you all are.
All I hope is that everyone understands my decision, please come and talk to me at any point to discuss this, I will be more than happy to talk about it. Leaving my position has been really hard for me; Bradford on Avon has become a club I am so proud to be associated with, and even after April I will still be proud whenever I see the successes which I'm sure are still to come.
Yours faithfully,
Lawrence Northover
Bradford on Avon – Head Coach
Please can everyone ensure they are now paying their correct new fees
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