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Development courses for Open Water

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OW pic

An Open Water Development Course organised by the ASA SouthWest for swimmers age 12 to 17 years is to be held over two weekends in May and June. Land Training and Pool Exercises Workshops will be held on Saturday 27 May at Wells Pool, while Open Water Swimming Skills and Practice will take place at Preston Beach in Weymouth on Saturday 3 June. Course fee is £65 per swimmer – for further details contact ASA SWR Open Water Coach Kat Percival  kat.percival@outlook.com

ASA SouthWest is also holding development courses for new officials during the 2017 season with classroom workshops on 27 May at Wells Leisure Centre and practical sessions on beach and boat at Weymouth on 3 June. Anyone interested in training as an OW official should contact the ASA SWR Open Water Officials’ Coordinator Alan Withers arwithers@aol.com

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Entry details for 2017 Open Water Championships

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Preston Beach

The 2017 ASA South West Region Open Water Championships is now open for entry. The event will take place on Saturday 24 June at Preston Beach, Weymouth DT4 7SX with registration from 9 am. The event also incorporates County Championships for Dorset County ASA, Gloucester ASA, Somerset ASA and, new for 2017, the Police Open Water Championships.

Events in both male and female categories are 5km and 3km (13/over), 1.5km (12 years only) and a 750m Taster Event for 11 to 13 year olds, with age as at 31 December. All swimmers must attend the safety briefing prior to each event they have entered.

Entry fee is £22 for each distance event entered and £8.50 for the Taster Event. Swimmers must be Category 2 to compete and entry can be made using the online Entry Form. Deadline for entries is Friday 2 June 2017.

This event is usually a lovely day by the beach and if you don’t want to swim but want to get involved, officials for both onshore and in boats are always needed – training is free! – and there are plenty of other ways volunteers can get involved. Contact the ASA SW Open Water Competition Secretary, Kelly Podbury, at sasameetmanager@outlook.com.

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ASA National Open Water Festival 2016

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The ASA’s inaugural National Open Water Festival took place at South Yorkshire’s Rother Valley Country Park last weekend, with fourteen Age Group and Masters swimmers from Dorset heading north to participate in the event. The two-day Festival incorporates the ASA National Open Water Masters and Age Group Championships as well as a new 1,500m Challenge event with Masters competing in 1.5k and 3k events and age groupers going head to head across 1.5k, 3k, and 5k distances. Following her double gold success in the 19+ years age group at the ASA SouthWest and Dorset County ASA Open Water Championships in June, Poole’s Emily Clarke added silver to her open water medal collection by finishing second in the Girls 19+ years 5k event with a time of 1:06.55, while Swim Bournemouth’s Alexandra Palotai-Avella’s first national open water competition resulted in a bronze medal for a time of 20.43 in the Girls 12 yrs 1.5k event. Dorset’s qualifiers were: East Dorset Open Water – Clare Jevons, Dave Pratten; Poole – Emily Clarke, Jessica Kelleway, Maralyn Lewis, Thea O’Keefe, Liam Openshaw, Ben Porter; Swim Bournemouth – Savannah Barman, Toby Kitchener, Alexandra Palotai-Avella; Seagulls – Miles Ward; Tornadoes of South Dorset – Eve Hewett; West Dorset – Amie Buttle.        
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Lake Geneva challenge for Weyport Masters

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Weyport Masters 2016(1) Weyport Masters’ Julia Aston and Kate Mason have become the first female duo to swim the length of Lake Geneva, and only the second people in history to have swum the whole length of the lake. Swimming for two hours at a time with support boat alongside, the two-person relay began at the Chateau de Chillon Castle situated off the eastern coastline of the lake, and ended at the Parch des Bains in Geneva. The 44 mile challenge was completed in 28 hours 12 minutes. Monies raised through sponsorship helped purchase a VHF radio for Osprey Leisure Centre with the remainder being donated to a charity for research into Huntington Disease. Photo: (l-r) Julia Aston, Nigel Williams (General Manager, Osprey LC) and Kate Mason
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Swim Safe 2016

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swim safe® logo Swim Safe, a joint project between the ASA and the RNLI that aims to provide practical open water safety sessions for 7-14 year olds is to take place in Poole this summer. Hosted by Poole Borough Council, the event will be held at Sandbanks as well as the Council’s facility at Shore Road. The annual programme offers improver swimming tuition and water safety sessions at beaches and lakes across England with a focus on skills to keep safe in open water. Beach safety advice will be provided by RNLI lifeguards with up to 30 minutes of in-water tuition provided by ASA accredited swimming teachers. Two weeks of Swim Safe for Schools will run from 4 July, followed by three weeks of public access to the project from 30 July. Children must be able to swim a minimum of 25 metres to take part but attendance is free. Further information and booking form can be found at https://swimsafe.rnli.org/. There are also volunteer and teaching opportunities for members of Dorset affiliated clubs, so if you would be interested in helping out contact the ASASW Area Swim Manager Ashley Jones at ashley.jones@swimming.org. The Swim Safe pilot scheme was so successful that in 2015 the programme was extended to six locations in Bournemouth, Brockhole, Bude, South Shields, Jersey and the Isle of Man, which were attended by 3,600 children with an average of ten at each session across the five weeks. Having Swim Safe held locally is a good opportunity for clubs to get involved and encourage participants to carry on from their first open water swimming experience.
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ASASW/DCASA Open Water Championships 2016

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The ASASW Open Water Championships incorporating the Dorset County ASA Open Water Championships will be held on Saturday 25 June 2016 at Preston Beach, Weymouth. The programme of events includes a 1.5km, 3km and 5km swim with a minimum entry age of 12 years for the 1.5km event and 13 years for the longer distances – ages are as at 31 December 2016. Wetsuits are now permitted, but wetsuit wearers will not be eligible for trophies. For younger competitors 11-13 years of age who are new to open water swimming, there will also be a 750m taster event. Application forms are on the ASASW website and entrants need to register online at http://http://www.swimwest.org.uk/swim/index.php/open-water-events/icalrepeat.detail/2016/06/25/93/-/asa-sw-region-open-water-championships. Applications are now also open for the ASASW Open Water Development Days which are to be to be held on 28 May and 4 June 2016. The Development Days are aimed at club swimmers age 12-17 years inclusive, and closing date for applications is 7 May 2016. Applications forms can be found at  http://www.swimwest.org.uk/swim/index.php/regional-news/250-asa-south-west-open-water-development-course.  
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Cross Channel Challenge

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CHANNEL PICA record breaking Channel Relay Swim has been achieved by Dorset coaches Barry Alldrick and Glenn Bailey, together with Poole SC’s Danni Callahan. Initially scheduled for mid-September, the challenge was put on hold due to unfavourable weather conditions until 3 October, when the three-person team were eventually able to take to the water at 3am on Shakespeare Beach, Dover.

Having trained in every stretch of water from Steamer Point to Sandbanks, and along with members of local associations including Poole Lifesaving Open Water Swimmers and East Dorset Open Water SC, the team clocked up an impressive 7.2 miles on the first round of swims. The main focus on the second leg was to minimise the tidal pull to the east so that the team could hit the midpoint and then return west, keeping the ‘arc’ to a minimum. After the second round of swims the team had passed the half way point and the third leg provided clear water, allowing some big distances to be achieved as the three swimmers were pulled west towards Cap Gris Nez. Finishing in 10 hours and 32 minutes, the team was finally rewarded with the fastest time ever achieved by a British three-person relay. Barry and Danni are now old hands at Channel swimming, having previously participated in a successful relay swim in 2008, but it’s a first (and hopefully memorable experience) for Glenn. Thanks to the generosity of family, friends and well-wishers, the charity swim raised £800 for Boscombe Lifeguards and £740 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The team also expressed their gratitude to Stuart Gleeson, pilot of the Sea Leopard support boat, and to Swans Goggles, Dry Robe and Reckless Clothing for provision of kit.
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Weyport Masters

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linda1 Weyport Masters Linda Ashmore has completed her first ever IronMan competition at the age  of 68, finishing in first place in the 65-69 age group and earning a place in this year’s World Championships in Kona, Hawaii in October.

Held in Bolton on 17 July, Linda finished in a time of 15 hours and 19 minutes, completing a 3.8km swim, 180km hilly bike ride and 42km run. She was the oldest person in the race and ranked 1438 out of a total of 2157 competitors, many of whom did not make it to the finish line.

Linda has only been training in earnest for a little over a year, and this was the first time she had completed a marathon-length run or attempted the whole course at once. Already an accomplished swimmer, Linda became the oldest woman in the world to swim the English Channel in 2007 at the age of 61.

Linda’s focus is now on competing at IronMan Wales in September to qualify for the 2016 World Championships when she will be in the 70-74 age group.

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Poole Swimming Club

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National Qualifiers

  As the 2015 swim season draws to an end, fifteen PSC swimmers will be heading to Sheffield to compete in the British Summer Championships, the English National Championships and the Open Water National Championships. PSC congratulates these swimmers and wishes them, together with all swimmers from Dorset clubs,all the best as they represent their club and County at these prestigious competitions. Follow this link for the PSC website article on PSC qualifiers