Welcome to the home of

Dorset County ASA

W.

World Class Iron Man

By In Masters0 Comments19 Views
An impressive performance from Littledown Masters’ James Gilfillan in the Florida sunshine earlier this month has resulted in the club celebrating its’ first amateur Half Iron Man World Champion. Finishing the half Iron Man course in a time of 3hrs 54mins, James completed a 1.2 mile swim in 24mins 44secs, a 56 mile bicycle race in 2hrs 6mins followed by a 13 mile run in 1hr 19mins. With 149 athletes competing in his age group (30-34yrs) James was some five minutes ahead of his nearest rival and also emerged as overall fastest from all age groups where a total of 1457 athletes started the course. A separate event for professional tri-athletes was held at the same time and James, who has a full time job in local government in Poole, would have finished 22nd in that competition. A truly phenomenal performance!
S.

Seagulls scoop silver

By In Water Polo0 Comments19 Views
In a stunning weekend of water polo, Christchurch Seagulls simultaneously took silver medals in two of the most prestigious tournaments in the country. Seagulls U19 squad arrived at the ASASWR Championships in Exeter looking to improve on their fourth place from 2010.  The draw saw Seagulls go head-to-head with tournament favourites Cheltenham in the first match of the day and in a pulsating game both sides swapped scores with neither team getting ahead by more than one goal until with less than two minutes to go Cheltenham pushed ahead, scoring twice in the last 30 seconds to take a thrilling match 8-5. Seagulls bounced back with close wins over both Barnstaple and old rivals Exeter to fix a final round match against local counterparts Bridport.  Seagulls, needing a win to secure the silver medal, struggled to find their rhythm in the first half but bouncing back after half time, played their usual brand of fast, free flowing water polo to score at ease throughout the second half winning 11-1. At the end of the tournament coach Tony Kingsley said, “This is a fantastic result for us.  The first medal in this age group by a Dorset side.  Three of our usual first team players were away with the SW academy side so bring this team here and take silver is special.” At the same time on the other side of the country three Seagulls players were part of the South West U16 squad contesting the Inter-regional championships in Basildon. Jackson Mullins, Charlie Roberts and Cianan Mann helped ease the South West side through the preliminary rounds to secure a place in the semi-final and in a tough semi-final overcame the North East to set up the final against pre-tournament favourites North West.  The final, however, was just one step too far as the South West lost 6-5 in a tight match – a repeat of the 2010 result. Seagulls U19 Squad: Charles Elderfield, David Gallagher, Joe Foale-Groves, Mikey Kingsley, Josh Lay, James Rogers, Anand Vaithilingham, Sam Webber, Elliot Wilks,
M.

Masters Inter-County Championships 2010

By In Masters0 Comments20 Views
British record holders Jean Howard-Jones and Nic Vaughan led the way as the Dorset Masters team achieved one of its best results in the South West round of the ASA National Inter-County Masters Competition. Hosting the event at the Oxley Leisure Centre in Sherborne, Dorset kept within a point or two of perennial winners Devon for most of the gala, eventually finishing just 7.5 points adrift. Howard-Jones, 67, the oldest woman in a 33-strong Dorset team whose ages ranged from 21 to 70, swam six times and won all six – the individual Women’s 65/o event on each stroke and two relays with individual 50m times of breaststroke 47.72, backstroke 50.99, freestyle 34.42 and butterfly 43.49. Vaughan, 46, won the 45/o 50m freestyle and butterfly in 26.24 and 28.58 and the 35/u backstroke in 32.72. Laura Bale recorded two individual wins for Dorset in the 25/o 50m backstroke (33.19) and butterfly (32.53). Other individual winners were Robert Lloyd-Evans (65+ breaststroke 46.01), Peter Grounds (55+ backstroke 39.46), Andy Small (45+ backstroke 31.09), Les Jessop (55+ freestyle 31.51), Sarah Meaker (18+ freestyle 28.29) and Tom Cunningham (25+butterfly 27.99). Dorset also showed its strength in the relays by winning nine of the 20 events, often finishing half a length ahead and lapping the competition more than once, and coming second in a further nine. Race by race results of the ‘virtual’ gala are now available www.swimming.org showing Dorset’s final national placing as 11th out of the 29 counties participating. Thanks also go to Sue and Andy Smart, our mandatory officials, and to the small group of Dorset supporters who made the journey to Sherborne together with Kirsty Heard, Laura Bale and Elaine Lewis who took on extra swims at a few minutes’ notice. RESULTS: Devon 212; Dorset 204.5; Wiltshire 158; Somerset 92.5. DORSET TEAM: Bere Regis – Bob Holman; Bournemouth SC – Kirsty Heard; Bournemouth Dolphins – Tom Cunningham; Ferndown SC – Cathy Hartle, Jackie O’Connor, Andy Small; Littledown Masters – Peter Kirk, Carol Moss (Littledown); Poole SC – Sean Heppell, Jean Howard-Jones, Elaine Lewis, Joe Lewis, Robert-Lloyd-Evans, Judy McRae, Sarah Meaker, Tony Perrella, Rachael Potter, Lee-Jay Robertson, Nic Vaughan, Alan Werring, Karen Yendole; Seagulls – Martin Scott, Kostas Stamatakis; Wareham – Pete Grounds, Les Jessop; West Dorst – Laura Bale; Weymouth – Helen Dickens, Tony Flattery, Becky Kelly; Weyport Masters – Linda Ashmore, Kate Mason, Paul Mason, Murray Shackleford. Team manager: Roger Guttridge.