Swimming

The British Summer Nationals 2015 at Sheffield ended on 2 August with Dorset swimmers bringing home nine British Nationals medals – three gold, four silver and two bronze – and with a total of 22 Dorset County Long Course Records having been broken (9 Senior, 13 Junior). Competitors at the British Summer Nationals are ranked nationally 1 to 24 in their age group and event. Dorset clubs with swimmers competing were Bournemouth Collegiate SC, Poole SC and Tornadoes of South Dorset. Below, l-r, are Dorset clubs medal winners Beth Aitchison (BCS), Jacob Peters (Poole) and Alice Tai (BCS).

Day 6:

Alice Tai and Beth Aitchison (both BCS) finished the last day of the British Summer Nationals 2015 with medal winning swims. In the MC 100m Butterfly, Alice finished first in the heats with a time of 1:08.35 and race home to a gold medal with a PB time of 1:07.00 in the final. Beth went into the final of the 17/18 years 100m Breaststroke in third place, and gained a silver medal in the final with a PB of 1:09.35, which also improved her existing Dorset Senior Long Course Record. In the 19 years 50m Freestyle Fiona Hardie (Poole) finished in tenth place in both heats and finals with times of 26.86 and 26.90 respectively.

Day 5:

Qualifying in sixth place for the 19/overs final of the 50m Backstroke in a time of 30.46, Jenny Scott (Tornadoes) improved her existing Dorset Senior Long Course Record in the heats and then again broke that record with a time of 30.39 in the final, finishing in seventh place overall. In the 15 years age group in the heats of the same event, Harriet Perfect’s (Poole) time of 31.06 earned her a new Dorset Junior Long Course Record, breaking a record previously held by Jessica Brown (Ferndown) since 1999.

Day 4:

Beth Aitchison (BCS) qualified in first place in the heats of the 50m Breaststroke, going on to win the gold medal in the 17/18 years final and break her existing Dorset Senior Long Course Record with a time of 31.16. In the 15 years 200m Backstroke, Harriet Perfect (Poole) broke Senior and Junior County records in both heats and finals by finishing third in the heats with a time of 2:17.92 and fifth in the final with a time of 2:17.30, taking a Dorset Junior Long Course Record that had been held by Jessica Brown (Ferndown) since 1999. Jacob Peters was again on fine form by finishing in first place of the heats of the 15 years 50m Butterfly with a time of 25.79 and improving his time to 25.61 in the final to win a silver medal, with both times breaking the Dorset Junior Long Course Record that had been held by Seth Chappels (Ferndown) since 1998. Alice Tai (BCS) achieved third place in the heats of the MC 50m Freestyle with a time of 30.09, finishing in fourth place in the final with a time of 29.79.

Day 3:

After finishing in fifth place in the heats of the MC 100m Freestyle, a time of 1:03.2 in the final secured Alice Tai (BCS) a silver medal while Beth Aitchison (BCS) qualified in sixth place in the heats of the 200m Breaststroke to win a bronze medal in the final with a time of 2:31.95. Jacob Peters (Poole) qualified for two finals in today’s programme, finishing in first place with PBs in both heats and final of the 200m Butterfly and finishing in seventh place in both heats and final of the 50m Backstroke, PB’ing in the final. Jacob’s 200m Butterfly time of 2:05.70 knocked over three seconds from his Dorset Junior Long Course Record while his time of 28.36 for 50m Backstroke also broke his existing Dorset Junior Long Course Record.

Day 2:

In the heats of the Multi-Disability 100m Backstroke Alice Tai (BCS) qualified in fourth place to win a place in the final, holding on to that placing in the final with a time of 1:08.69. In the 15 years age group, Harriet Perfect (Poole) finished in tenth place in both  heats and final of the 100m Backstroke with a heat time of 1:05.87, breaking her existing Dorset Senior and Junior Long Course Records in that event.

Day 1:

Beth Aitchison (BCS) qualified in first place for the final of the 17/18 years 200m Individual Medley, breaking her existing Dorset Senior Long Course Record. Jacob Peters (Poole) also qualified in first place for the 100m Butterfly 15 years’ age group final, breaking the Dorset Junior Long Course Record held by Nathan Theodoris since 2011. In the 13/14 years age group, Jasmine McCrea (Poole) qualified third for the finals of the 50m Butterfly, improving her entry ranking by 12 places and breaking the Dorset Junior Long Course Record held by Leanne Studley since 2003. In the final of the 200m Individual Medley, Beth’s time of 2:15.81 was a second faster than the heat swim, earning her a bronze medal and a further improved County Record. In the 100m Butterfly final, Jacob’s time of 56.59 was also a second faster than his heat swim, earning him a silver medal as well as an improved County Record. Jasmine swam a second PB of the day in the final of the 50m Butterfly with a time of 28.93, earning her sixth place and a further improvement on her new County Record.

 

PHOTO: Dorset Talent ID camp 2015

The Dorset County Talent ID age group camp was held again this year at Bath University on the weekend of 27/28 June with 30 swimmers having been selected from six Dorset clubs, and 28 of those swimmers attending. Coaches for the weekend were Barry Alldrick (Poole), Chris Beal (Tornadoes) and Dan Dew (Bridport) with along with Team Manager Sam Alderton (Swim Bournemouth). Keen to make this camp as much about team building as swimming, the swimmers were split into three teams aptly named Yellow Fins, Black Tips and Great Whites, with individual swimmers being awarded points over the weekend for working hard and helping others as well as developing aspects of their swimming. Teams also earnt points for winning activities both in and out of the pool. The first pool session saw an ice breaker/mobility session as part of the pre-pool routine, with development work on freestyle/backstroke rotation and underwater fly kick. The second session introduced further work on underwater fly kick along with breaststroke techniques and kick challenges. In between pool sessions, there was a talk on swim down and land based warm-ups at competitions, with each swimmer receiving a handout developed by England Programmes. Additionally, each swimmer was given a Learning Log to use to make notes during the weekend. Following overnight accommodation at the nearby YHA Bath, the swimmers returned the next day for a land-based training session focusing on mobility/stability and basic movement patterns. The third and final pool session included techniques on butterfly, especially breathing body position, as well as a key set to develop opening pace efficiency and 200m pace endurance. Lead Coach Barry Alldrick commented, “The format of this year’s camp was to reflect the skills that have been worked on at England Programmes training camps. By the swimmers having to put aside their friendly club rivalry to work to gain their ‘shark’ team points, it ensured the effort and concentration was very productive and these swimmers now know each other when they get selected to swim for their County. I am very impressed by the wealth of talent coming through on this camp. Dorset has a bright future”. Taking into account all events and activities, the winning team ended up being the Yellow Fins! Talent ID swimmers for 2015 were: Bridport Barracudas – Henry Wyrill; Bournemouth Collegiate – Anashe Chisadza, Nyasha Chisadza, Honor Davies, Alesha Gibson, Amy Mills, Ben Samuels, Christian Tai, Finn Trehane, Kayla Van Der Merwe ; Christchurch Seagulls – Abbie Peckham, Miles Ward; Poole SC – Lloyd Arnold, Kieran Duffy, Teagan-Mae Graham, Robbie Hemmings, Jessica Kelleway, Jasmine McCrea, Liam Openshaw, Summer Torkington ; Swim Bournemouth – Ella Bowman, Oliver Fairman, Izzy Hepburn, Rosie Holland, Abbie Manns, Drew McGregor, Issy Pryce, Abbie Quarrie, Josh Wickens; West Dorset – Finley Jarvis.  

In the early hours of the morning on 24 June an intrepid team consisting of Seagulls parents and friends will depart Dorset destined for Bonnie Scotland to undertake the highly respected 3 Peaks Mountain Challenge 2015. The team consisting of 18 climbers and four drivers will embark on a gruelling expedition, which will see them climb the highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales consecutively within 24 hours. Overall, the team will cover a distance of 20 miles on foot, ascending and descending at total of just over 11,000 feet and 500 miles by road between the three mountains; this is no event for the faint hearted. The aim of the Club is to raise £10,000 with money raised being put towards purchasing new starting blocks for the Club. A very worthy resource indeed. The Seagulls Team are entering the event under the auspices of the Fire Services and are pleased to confirm that the event is their 44th Challenge to date. The intrepid Seagulls climbers are Glenn Bailey, Susie Donaldson, Wayne Ellis, Michelle Gormley, Zoe MacIntosh, Lee Mulholland, Theresa Oakley, Emma Peckham,Richard Porter, Chandy Rance, Kristina Razey, Louise Sharp, Nigel Sharp, Becky Ward, Tristan Ward, Pam Webb, Chris Williams, Jacqui Williams, along with the invaluable services of Kev Devereux and Nick Razey as drivers. If you wish to support the Seagulls 3 Peaks Challenge, visit the Seagulls website at http://seagullsswimming.club/3-peaks-challenge/.  

BALMER LAWN SPONSORSHIP FOR SEAGULLS

Seagulls flocked down to New Milton on Saturday 24 January for a collaboration with one of their favourite sponsors; Balmer Lawn. The swimmers and Coach Martin Littlefair assumed their best streamlined positions in perfect harmony with the aerodynamic contours of the Suzuki Swift. With the Christchurch swimmers preparing to compete in the upcoming Dorset County Championships towards the end of February it is fantastic for the club to receive the support of the local Honda and Suzuki dealership. Huge thanks to all the staff at Balmer Lawn!

Results for the Dorset County Championships 2015 held at Littledown are now available on the Swimming Results pages, together with BAGCATs points for 9 to 14 year olds, as at 1 March. Over the two weekends there were over 50 new CBTs, as well as seven short-course County Records broken by Jay Lelliott (Swim Bournemouth), Harriet Perfect (Swim Bournemouth), Jacob Peters (Poole) and Jenny Scott (Tornadoes). BAGCAT awards were presented to nine and ten year olds on Sunday 1 March; BAGCAT awards for 11 to 14 year olds will be presented at Dorchester on 14 March.