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November 2011 |
Essex Winter Long Course Championships at Basildon - 25-27th November Colchester Swimming Club's busy autumn schedule of events continued last weekend with a team of young swimmers competing in this year's Essex Winter County Championships, which were held at the new Basildon 50m pool for the first time. The 15 simmers competed in the Junior (16 & U) and Open age groups and continued the excellent progress the Club has made in recent seasons, achieving a record performance for the Colchester club in this event and a very creditable 3rd place in the points table. The final point table was: Romford 553, Chelmsford 228, Colchester 220, Killerwhales 203, Thurrock 178, Redbridge 175, Southend 122, Runnymede 95, Epping Forest 84, Waltham Forest 57, Basildon 49, Canvey 28, Brentwood 24, Bo Newham 22, Witham 16, Bo Southend 4, Clacton 2, Braintree 2. In the Women's competition, 17 year old Heather Rodwell swam a superb National Qualifying Time of 2:44.98 in the Women's 200m breaststroke to take 4th place in a very close finish, just 0.5 seconds behind the winner. Heather had a great weekend, securing another 4th place in the 100m breaststroke. Also swimming well, was 13 year old Philippa Davenall, who impressed as the youngest swimmer to make the final of both the Women's 100m and 200m breaststroke, and had some great swims in the 50m and 100m freestyle, 50m and 100m butterfly, and the 100m backstroke. Also competing this year were 12 year olds Chloe Rudkin and Martha Duley. Chloe swam a great 200m IM, leading her heat after the butterfly leg to finish 18th in the Junior age group, and she finished 14th in the 200m and 20th in the 100m breaststroke, while Martha's best performance was a very impressive 20th place in the 200m backstroke. The Stephens sisters, Laura and Emily, were again amazing, and their performances were testimony to how hard they both train and the dedication they show, as they churned out PB after PB. Laura's highlight was a long course National Qualifying Time of 1:08.17 in the 100m butterfly, the only 12 year old to qualifying for the Open final in 4th place, but she also swam superbly in both the 50m and 100m backstroke to again make the Women's Open finals, and swam a great PB in the 200m butterfly to finish in 6th place. Older sister Emily, who is still only 14, showed her strength in the pool and determination to compete, especially in the final length of a race. Her two highlights were: a magnificent Silver medal in the Women's Open 400m freestyle with a PB of 4:39.93; and to finish 2nd in the 50m "Skins" event, where the fastest 8 swimmers in the 50m freestyle event keep swimming rounds of 50m freestyle, every 4 minutes, until the last 2 remaining swimmers compete in a final swim-off for the title - incredibly, she PB'd on every round finishing with a time of 28.83 in the last round, only just losing out to Romford star, Elena Sheridan. In the Men's events, 15 year old Jarrod Bradfield had an amazing 1500m freestyle race to get the team off to a great start on the opening Friday evening, claiming a Bronze in the Open age and Silver in the Junior age group with a massive PB time17.32.45. That swim took a lot out of him, but he bounced back to take a Silver in Open and Gold in Junior on the 100m freestyle. 16 year old Charlie O'Connor swam a superb PB of 27.66 seconds to take the Junior Gold and Open Bronze medals in the 50m butterfly with some great finishing in the last 15 metres. The Men's team was boosted by the return from university of 19 year old Tim Tripp, who took a well deserved Bronze medal in the 50m backstroke in a good time of 29.72 in the final, and 21 year old Sargon Youssefi-Titchen, who swam great PBs in both the 50m breaststroke and butterfly events to take 2 Silver medals home. Men's Captain Alex Vipond continued his return from injury with another great swim for Colchester in the 50m backstroke, while Jim Vickers again belied his 14 years to finish 6th in the Open 50m backstroke final and went one place better in the final of the 100m backstroke, competing as the youngest finalist in both events. 13 year old Cameron Simpson also competed well in 3 events, but struggled for form due to illness. Joint Head Coach Michelle Young was full of praise for the swimmers, "Considering the swimmers have had a period of heavy competition recently, I was delighted with some great competitive and determined performances against the top swimmers in Essex, many of whom are much older and more experienced."
National Arena Swimming League Round 2 at Enfield - 12th November Last Saturday saw a return to the Southbury Leisure Centre in Enfield, as Colchester Swimming Club, sponsored by local accountants Griffin Chapman, competed in the 2nd Round of Division 1 of the London League of the National Arena Swimming League. Once again the team had a tough draw, but the team put in some great performances and came away with 4 wins - a big improvement on Round 1. Joint Head Coach Michelle Young was delighted with the way the team fought for every point, "We were up against some very strong teams tonight, with Olympic finalist and Commonwealth medallist Adam Brown swimming for Hatfield. Our team seemed inspired by the tough competition and competed for every point with some great racing and determined finishes." Heather Rodwell set the tone for the evening in the very first event with a superb swim in the Ladies Open Age 200m IM, just holding off the swimmer from Wandsworth at the finish to secure a solid 4th place. The impressive Girls 13 & U relay team of Martha Duley, Pip Davenall, Laura Stephens and Chloe Rudkin then took a deserved 3rd place in the 4 x 50m Medley event, before the Boys 15 & U team of Jim Vickers, Matt Lemnell, Harrison Sadler and Jarrod Bradfield snatched a 4th place in the 4 x 50m freestyle relay, with less than a second separating the four teams finishing 3rd to 6th. Following up on her win in Round 1, Pip Davenall once again led from the gun to win the 100m 13 & U 100m breaststroke in a great time of 1:20.41, before a great PB of 1:02.67 from Jim Vickers took 4th place in Boys 15 & U 100m backstroke. Laura Stephens matched her team mate's efforts in the 13 & U 100m backstroke, just holding off the swimmer from Ipswich to win in an impressive time of 1:08.45. She then followed this up with another win in her strongest event, the 100m butterfly, in a impressive time of 1:07.66. This was quickly followed by two 3rd places in the 15 & U freestyle for Emily Stephens and Jarrod Bradfield, before Heather Rodwell returned to dominate the Ladies Open Age 100m breaststroke to win in a great time of 1:16.07. 15 year old Harrison Sadler stepped up to swim the Men's Open Age 100m breaststroke with a great finish to snatch a tough 6th place, before he swam again to take 4th in the 100m breaststroke in his own 15 & U age group. Pip Davenall again showed the strength of the Colchester 13 & U girls with a great 3rd place on the individual 100m freestyle, before she joined her team mates to take 3rd in the 13 & U 4 x 50m freestyle relay event. The boys 15 & U relay team went one better in the 4 x 50m Medley relay to take a deserved 3rd place. Other swimmers competing for Colchester and contributing to the points total were Meg Adamson, Sophie Lo, Molly Duffett, Ellie Duley, Meg Boyden, Helena Wright, Paige Young, Sarah Purnell, Grace Sanderson, Jennifer Redmond, Jamie Coles, Antoinne Massey, David Purser, Matt Parsons, Jack Keane, Spencer Prior, James Buckingham, Tom Vickers and Dan Few. Team results were: 1st Hatfield 364 points, 2nd Teamipswich 289, 3rd Teddington 262, 4th Watford 231, 5th Wandsworth 223, 6th Colchester 161, 7th Sutton & Cheam 134, 8th Anaconda (London Holloway) 130.
Waterpolo - success for Juniors Two or Colchester Junior players, Ryan Bygrave and Joseph Mackinder, were selected to play for Essex in the Eastern Region Junior Water Polo Championships (for 1996 born age group) on 30th October at Basildon and helped Essex secure the title. Essex played against Hertfordshire A, Bedfordshire, Suffolk, and Hertfordshire B, and won all of their games to win the tournament, beating last year's winners, Hertfordshire A, in an exciting final. Ryan and Joseph played with and against a couple of the Region's players who train with the Great Britain 1996 Junior Squad, which was a great experience. Essex were coached by Basildon's Mike Chadwick and Colchester's Simon Lecomber, who was full of praise for the Colchester youngsters, "Our new Junior squad have come a long way since it was established 5 months ago and I was proud of Ryan and Joseph's achievement to be selected to play for a very strong Essex team." Well done to Ryan Bygrave and Josh Mackinder - Essex Champions.
Ipswich Open Meet - 22nd October A team of 24 swimmers from Colchester SC enjoyed a very successful weekend of swimming at the Ipswich Open Meet at Crown Pools, competing against top swimmers from Ipswich and across the Region. As well as 12 gold, 17 silver and 7 bronze Medals, the swimmers brought home some Top Girl and Boys awards, a host of PBs, County Qualifying times and a National Qualifying time. Emily Stephens was the Top Girl in the 13/14 years age group, with younger sister Laura Stephens taking the Top Girl trophy in the 12 years age group. In the 11 years age group Brittany Lodge finished in a very creditable 6th place, while Olivia Norman finished in 2nd place in the 9 years category. In the boys events Jim Vickers finished in 5th place in the 13/14 years age group. In the girls 9 years age group, Olivia Norman won both the 200m IM (3:24.20) and 200m backstroke (3:14.32) events with a couple of great PBs and County times and took a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke. Ellie Duley swam 3 great PBs, taking gold in the 100m butterfly (1:39.05) and silver in the 100m breaststroke in the 10 years age group, while in the 11 years category Brittany Lodge took silver in the 100m breaststroke and swam a great PB to take bronze in the 50m breaststroke. In the 12 years age group, Laura Stephens took 4 gold medals in the 400m IM, 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly, swimming to her first National Qualifying Time of the season with a great PB of 1:07.28 in the 100m butterfly, and Chloe Rudkin achieved 3 silver medals in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke with some very strong swimming. Emily Stephens dominated the 13/14 years category, bringing home 3 gold medals in the 400m freestyle, 200m butterfly and 50m backstroke as well as 3 silver and 2 bronze medals and 9 PBs and County times, while Pip Davenall swam 4 great PBs and won a silver in the 50m butterfly and a bronze in the 50m breaststroke. The boys also enjoyed success with 12 year old Spencer Prior swimming County times and PBs in 4 events and picking up 3 silver medals in the 50m and 200m backstroke and the 200m breaststroke, and a bronze in the 50m butterfly. In the 13/14 years age group Jim Vickers took gold in the 100m freestyle with a great PB of 56.96 seconds and the 50m backstroke in another PB of just 29.04 seconds, adding to his collection with a further 2 silver medals in the 50m freestyle and 200m backstroke. Older bother Tom Vickers also swam a good PB in the 50m backstroke in the 15 & Over age group to take a deserved bronze medal. Also competing well and swimming some great times were Meg Adamson, Martha Duley, Charlotte McDonnell, Louise-Jayne Watts, Grace Sanderson, Dan Few, Guy Harrison, Chris and Tim Kwok, Matt Lemnell, Charlie O'Connor, Matt Parsons, Harrison Sadler and Taylor Young. Joint Head Coach Michelle Young commented, "Our early season form has been fantastic and I am sure the swimmers will build on last year's epic achievements and get the rewards for all their hard work in training."
Essex Mini League Round 5 at Basildon - 8th October Colchester Swimming Club confirmed their domination of the Essex Mini League by lifting the 2011 title with yet another emphatic win, making it 5 wins out of 5 in the league this year and claiming the trophy for Top Club of the 14 Essex clubs for the 3rd year in a row. The team of younger and less experienced swimmers travelled to Basildon to take on 4 other clubs, needing a win in their final fixture to secure top spot, and came away champions, with many of the swimmers achieving some great PB swims, cheered on by the coaches and supporters. The rapidly improving Olivia Norman got the team off to a great start with a 2nd place in the 11 & Under 50m backstroke with a PB of 42.74 seconds, with both the girls team of Anshma Rai (swimming in her first competition), Phoebe Crofts, Abbie McCarthy and Millie Lancaster and the boys team of Chris Ashdown, Oliver Hamblet, Christian Tilley and Isaac Pavey both securing 2nd place in the 9 years breaststroke relay events to get the team off to a great start. 11 year old Brittany Lodge swam another great PB of 1:14.28 in the 13 & U 100m freestyle to take Colchester's first win of the meet, quickly followed by 10 year old Rory Bennett, who took 1st place in the 10 & U 50m breaststroke with a PB time of 52.30 seconds. There were further wins in the individual events for Adam Buckingham in the 10 & U 50m freestyle (PB 41.38), 14 year old Sarah Bird in the 50m backstroke (PB 36.29), Beverley Whittaker in the 13 & U 50m breaststroke (4 second PB 43.78), Sam Mackinder in the boys 13 & U 50m breaststroke, Rory Bennett again in the 10 & U 25m butterfly, Sam Reeves in the boys 11 & U 50m butterfly, Catherine Blacklock in the 50m butterfly (PB 38.83), and Alex Carter in the boys open 50m breaststroke (PB 38.73). There were some other great swims too from Meg Wall Peters, Hayden Cowan, Charlotte Marven, Taylor Young, Madison Young, Mia Nicholson (3 second PB in the 50m breaststroke), Emma Bouckley, Sophie Marven, Nicholas Mitchell, Beth Blacklock, Alex Cole, Joanne Illidge, Hannah Vickers, James Buckingham (3 second PB in the 100m freestyle), and Charlotte Holt. There were further wins in the relay events for the girls Open age freestyle relay team, the girls 9 years freestyle relay team, the girls Open breaststroke relay team and finally the Girls 13 & U freestyle relay team. The final result of the gala was: Colchester 167 points, Basildon 139, Saffron Walden 134, Canvey Island 132, and Hornchurch 123. Joint Head Coach Michelle Young was full of praise for her young team, "Mini League is a great opportunity for some of our younger swimmers to represent the Club and gain experience of competing as a team against other clubs from across the county. The team rose to the challenge and there were some great PBs, which are down to regular attendance and hard work in training, and we are delighted to retain the trophy for another year".
National Arena Swimming League Round 1 at Enfield - 8th October Colchester Swimming Club started their campaign to stay in Division 1 of the London League of the National Arena Swimming League with a trip to the Southbury Leisure Centre in Enfield last Saturday. Drawn against some of the top clubs in the League it proved to be a tough night of swimming for the Colchester team, who put in some great performances, despite missing some key swimmers due to late withdrawals and injuries. Heather Rodwell got the team off to a positive start in the opening race with a very creditable 4th place in the open age Ladies 200m IM. This was shortly followed by a great 3rd place from the Girls 13 & under 4 x 50m medley relay team of Martha Duley, Pip Davenall, Laura Stephens and Chloe Rudkin, with the Boys 15/U team of Matt Lemnell, Jim Vickers, Harrison Sadler, and Jarrod Bradfield grabbing another 3rd place in the 4 x 50m freestyle relay. Colchester's only win of the night came from Pip Davenall, who swam a superb 100m breaststroke in the 13/U category to lead all the way to the finish. Jim Vickers was just edged into 4th place in the Boys 15/U 100m backstroke, with Ellie Duley swimming a great 50m butterfly to finish 5th in the 10/11 years age group, and Laura Stephens fighting off some tough competition to take 4th place in the Girls 13/U 100m backstroke. The second half of the evening proved to be more successful, with 11 year old Sophie Lo putting in a determined swim to take 6th place in the 50m. This was quickly followed by a 2nd place from 12 year old Laura Stephens, who was just edged out on the finish in the 13/U 100m butterfly, a 3rd place for elder sister 14 year old Emily Stephens in the 15/U 100m freestyle, a 2nd place for Jarrod Bradfield in the 15/U 100m freestyle and a fine 2nd place for Heather Rodwell in the Ladies Open 100m breaststroke. Pip Davenall swam a strong 100m freestyle to take a 5th place in the 13/U category, with 15 year old Harrison Sadler swimming a great race to take 3rd in the 15/U 100m breaststroke. In the final batch of relay races the highlights were a great 3rd place for the Girls 13/U freestyle relay team and a 4th place for the boys 15/U medley relay team. Other swimmers competing for Colchester and contributing to the points total were Meg Adamson, Daisy Jackaman, Meg Boyden, Helena Wright, Sarah Purnell, Jennifer Redmond, Jamie Coles, Kirin Yeung, Antoinne Massey, David Purser, Matt Parsons, Jack Keane, Spencer Prior, Tom Vickers, Charlie O'Connor and Dan Few. Joint Head Coach Ian Johnson was pleased with the performance, "This first round was always going to be a tough competition for us and, with a number of key swimmers not available, we had a high number of swimmers competing in multiple events and swimming up in older age groups to cover the gaps. Many of our younger swimmers faced much older and more experienced opposition, such as 10 year old David Purser swimming in the 13/U age group and 14 year olds Helena Wright and Meg Boyden putting in great performances in the Ladies Open age group. The team should be proud of their performance and support for each other, and we are lying 12th in the division - above the relegation zone!" Team results were: 1st Camden Swiss Cottage 327 points, 2nd Team Ipswich 306, 3rd UEA City of Norwich 284, 4th Wandsworth 245,5th Shiverers (Brighton) 180, 6th Colchester 163, 7th Bishop's Stortford, 152, 8th Anaconda (London Holloway) 139.
Masters Reports
Bishop's Stortford Open Meet at Braintree - 24th/25th September Colchester SC made their presence felt at the early season Bishop's Stortford Open Meet at the Braintree Swimming Centre, as a large team of young and more experienced competitors delivered some great swimming and results in a very long and hectic weekend schedule. As well as bringing home 20 Gold,10 Silver and 13 Bronze medals, Colchester's swimmers delivered 46 Essex County qualifying times and 118 Personal Best (PB) times - after only 4 weeks back in the pool after the summer break! A few of the younger swimmers have enjoyed their first taste of early morning training this season and their enthusiasm and commitment was duly rewarded. The outstanding swimmer in the Girls' events was young Olivia Norman, who dominated the 9 year old age group and took 5 Gold medals in the 100m and 200m IM, 200m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke, achieving 6 County times. Philippa Davenall grabbed 2 Golds and County times in the 50m freestyle and 100m butterfly, while Ellie and Martha Duley each secured a Gold medal and County time. Charlotte McDonnell took Gold in the 100m Breaststroke and a County time and Silver in the 50m breaststroke, and Brittany Lodge stepped up to win 2 Silvers, a Bronze and achieve 6 PBs. Also swimming some great PBs were Meg Wall-Peters (4), Millie Lancaster (4 PBs and a County time), Daisy Jackaman (4 PBs and a County time), Holly Jones (4), Zoe Clark (4), Meg Adamson (4). Elisha Henslick (2), Hannah Vickers and Ella Dickson. Also competing well were Grace Sanderson and Caitlin Sadler. In the Boys' events Jim Vickers showed his pedigree, competing in 6 events and achieving 6 Gold medals and 6 County times, while older brother Tom won 2 Golds and a Silver to add to the family trophy cabinet and secured 3 County times. Despite a recent back injury Charlie O'Connor competed in 6 events to win 3 Gold medals and secure 6 County times and 5 PBs - an impressive effort. Jack Keane also returned from injury to make a great start to the season with 2 Silver medals and 1 Bronze, and 2 County times. Also in the medals were Spencer Prior, with a Silver and 2 Bronze and 5 County times, Matt Holland with 2 Silver and a Bronze and 2 County times, Harrison Sadler with a Silver and 4 County times, Cameron Simpson with 2 Bronze medals and Tim Kwok with a Silver and a Bronze and 7 PBs, with older brother Chris gaining 5 PBs and a County time. Club Captain Dan Few returned from university to lead by example and impress with a Bronze medal and 2 County times. Taylor Young, Kirin Yeung, Matthew Purser, David Purser, Nicholas Mitchell, Matt Lemnell, Guy Harrison and Samuel Firth all swam well to achieve numerous PBs, with Alex Cole and Matt Parsons also competing well. Joint Head Coach Michelle Young was delighted with the weekend's achievements. "I was impressed with our swimmers' commitment and enthusiasm, and the hard work in training is already paying dividends, especially the early mornings at Leisureworld, who have kindly hired out an extra lane for training."
Novice Open Meet at Ipswich - 18th September Once again a large team of Colchester's younger swimmers got their season off to a great early start at the annual Ipswich Novice Season Opener at Crown Pools and came away with a host of medals and impressive early season PBs. The coaching team were delighted and for some of the younger swimmers it was their first taste of medal success and a great boost to morale. In the Girls 9/10 years age group the powerful and improving Daisy Jackaman swam an excellent 50m Butterfly to take the Gold medal in 43.60 seconds and swam well in the 200m freestyle and backstroke events. In the same age group, Molly Duffett showed great technique to take Gold in the 50m breaststroke (49.87), while Ellie Duley won Gold in the 50m freestyle (36.88) and 200m butterfly (3:40.49) and Silver in the 200m IM, and Olivia Norman took Gold in the 200m breaststroke (3:56.80) and also achieved 3 Essex County qualifying times. Millie Lancaster swam a great race to achieve a county time in the 200m backstroke. Charlotte McDonnell achieve a county qualifying time to win the 11/12 years 50m breaststroke (41.06), also taking Gold in the 50m butterfly (39.36) and a Silver in the 50m backstroke. In the same age group, the impressive Martha Duley achieved a county time to win the 50m freestyle (31.67), taking Gold in the 200m IM (2:52.72) and a Silver in the 50m breaststroke, while Brittany Lodge made it a clean sweep of the medals for Colchester in the 50m breaststroke and was just edged into Silver place in the 200m breaststroke. In the 13/14 years age group, Katie Leonard won Gold in the 200m butterfly (4:06.75) and a Silver in the 200m IM, while Victoria Bush claimed 2 Silvers in the 50m and 200m breaststroke. The boys' team were not to be outdone! In the 9/10 years category, Jamie Coles took Gold in the 50m breaststroke (51.38), while Kirin Yeung grabbed 2 Silvers in the 50m freestyle and 200m backstroke. Alex Cole swam well in the 11/12 age group to take 3 Golds in the 200m IM (3:10.22), 200m backstroke (3:03.26) and 50m backstroke (39.17) and a Silver in the 50m butterfly. Taylor Young showed great attitude to take a Silver in the 13/14 years 200m backstroke, while in the 15+ age group Guy Harrison took Gold in the 200m breaststroke. Joe Mackinder won Gold in the 200m IM (2:25.78) and 2 Silvers in the 200m backstroke and the 50m freestyle in a county qualifying time. Well done to all the swimmers who took part, won medals or swam great PBs: Sam Mackinder, Isaac Pavey, Oliver Hambleton, Christopher Ashdown, Samuel Firth, Sam Bocking, Hayden Cowan, Megan Arthrell, Elizabeth French, Ariana and Gabriella Toscano, Jocelyn Edwards, Meg Wall-Peters, Beverly Whittaker, Elisha Henslick, Zoe Ashbury, Hannah Fifield, Madison Young and Chloe Bush.
Olympic torch comes to Colchester Swimming Club! The swimmers swam with an Olympic torch replica passed to them by Stuart Bennett, one of the partners at Griffin Chapman and a member of the Club, who had cycled from Braintree with the torch. The swimmers passed the torch on to Samantha Cantrell (Griffin Chapman), who ran the next leg of the journey from the pool. After a well earned overnight rest the torch was taken on horseback by Rachel Elliott (Griffin Chapman) to Marks Tey, from where it left for Wisbech on a motorcycle. The torch will reach the Olympic Stadium in November. The 12 swimmers involved were Olivia Norman, Meg Adamson, Alice Insull, Martha Duley, Chloe Rudkin, Laura Stephens, Matt Parsons, Spencer Prior, Harrison Sadler, Isaac Aldridge, Jenni Redmond and Dan Few.
National Championships at Sheffield - 21th/31st July Ten swimmers from Colchester Swimming Club, sponsored by Griffin Chapman, qualified to swim in this year's Age Group and Youth Championships and compete against the country's top elite swimmers at the 50m pool at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. Just to qualify to compete at the top level is an incredible achievement, but the Colchester swimmers capped an impressive season of success for the Club at all levels with some high quality personal and team performances.
In the individual boys' events, 14 year old Jarrod Bradfield swam a time of 55.74 seconds to qualify in 7th place for the final of the 100m freestyle and then swam three tenths faster in the final to consolidate that remarkable 7th spot, confirming his status as one of the top swimmers in the UK. In the 200m, Jarrod finished in 12th spot in the heats, despite swimming a PB time of 2:02.02. Team mate Jim Vickers, also 14, had a superb start and took on the field in his heat of the 100m backstroke, but just missed out on qualifying for his final, finishing in the dreaded 11th place despite a PB time of 1.03.35 to qualify as 1st reserve for the final. On her first appearance at the Nationals, Laura Stephens, swimming in the girls 12 years age group, finished her season with a time of 1:09.07 in the 100m butterfly to qualify for the final, where she improved her time to a PB of 1:08.33 to finish in 8th place and confirm her standing as one of the country's top butterfly swimmers. Ellie Tripp celebrated her 15th birthday with a superb swim in the 100m breaststroke in the 14/18 years heats to finish in 69th place against much older and more experienced swimmers in this hotly contested event. Team mate Heather Rodwell, 16, swam a solid 1:16.80 to finish in 62nd place in the same event, and went on to compete in the 200m breaststroke, where she finished in 52nd spot in a time of 2:45.08. The boys relay team of Jim Vickers, Matt Lemnell, Matt Holland and Jarrod Bradfield took on the best swimming teams from the top clubs in the country in the boys 4 x 100m freestyle and swam an incredible heat swim to qualify in 7th place for the final, ahead of local rivals Ipswich. With parents and supporters urging them on they all swam PBs and put in an incredible performance in the final to move up to 6th spot, beating Ipswich by just 0.24 seconds! In the heats of the 4 x 100m medley relay the boys once again put in a great performance to finish in 23rd place in a hotly contested event. As 1st reserve for the national championships, the girls medley team of Alice Insull, Chloe Rudkin, Laura Stephens and Martha Duley were invited to experience swimming at this elite level and compete with just 24 hours notice and parents made the dash up the M1 to Sheffield for the race. The team put in a superb performance to finish in 29th place, with Martha Duley swimming a great PB as a late replacement in the team. Joint Head Coach Ian Johnson made the trip to Sheffield to support our swimmers and commented, "I feel our team of National qualifiers representing the Club excelled themselves in producing some fantastic results at the National Swimming Championships. This was the culmination of a season's programme of committed and regular hard training, and for some it was their first experience of competing in a National event, but they all rose to the occasion superbly and gave their best, backed up with committed parental support. This was a great performance by all and a very successful National Championships for the Club to end the season and register its presence on the National framework."
Essex County Relay Championships at Basildon - 9th July Colchester Swimming Club sent an impressive 13 teams to the inaugural Essex County Relay Championships, held at the new 50m Pool at Basildon - and the 52 competing swimmers returned as Champions in both the Junior and BAGCAT combined girls and boys age categories. In the older Youth age group, Colchester finished in 8th place. Following the successes at the individual Essex County Championships earlier in the year, this was a great achievement, with Colchester beating arch Essex rivals Thurrock SC. With medals awarded for top 3 placings and points up for grabs for top 8 finishes, Colchester amassed an impressive 45 points in both age groups to clinch the titles, bringing home 5 Gold medals, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze. Joint Head Coach Michelle Young commented, "We decided to enter up to 3 teams in some age groups to give our younger swimmers the experience of competing at County level and for some it was their first competitive swim in a 50m pool. Everyone enjoyed the day, supported their team mates and delivered some great swimming to be proud of." The Colchester "A" Boys 10/14 years team of Jim Vickers, Matt Lemnell, Jarrod Bradfield and Matt Parsons won Gold in the 4 x100m freestyle, the 4 x 100m medley and the 4 x 200m freestyle events - a clean sweep! The Girls 11/12 years "A" team of Meg Adamson, Brittany Lodge, Phoebe Coles and Megan Athrell, won both the 4 x 50m freestyle and medley events to add a further 2 Gold medals to the Colchester haul. Not to be outdone the Boys 11/12 years "A" team of Arran Francis, Spencer Prior, Cameron Simpson and Tim Kwok took deserved silvers in both their relay events, just missing out on 1st places to a strong team from Borough of Southend. The two Bronze medals were won by the Girls 10/13 years "A" team of Alice Insull, Pip Davenall, Laura Stephens and Chloe Rudkin in the 4 x 100m medley and 4 x 200m freestyle events. The other swimmers representing Colchester and adding to the points totals were: Youth Girls - Heather Rodwell, Paige Young, Sarah Purnell and Emily Stephens; Youth Boys - Tom Rootsey, Dan Few, Harrison Sadler, Tim Tripp, Alex Vipond, Charlie O'Conner, Tom Vickers, Joe Mackinder, Joe McKay, Guy Harrison, Chris Kwok and Robert James; Girls 10/13 years - Martha Duley, Gemma Loftus, Charlotte McDonnell, Joy Huggins, Caitlin Sadler, Charlotte Holt and Lucy Coates; Boys 11/14 years - Isaac Aldridge, Damo Green, Alex Carter, Taylor Young, Matt Parsons and Jack Keane; Girls 9/10 years - Isabella Tanenbaum, Beth Coiley, Chloe Bush, Molly Duffet, Ellie Duley, Jordan Glynos-Fearnie, Meg Wall Peters and Daisy Jackaman; Boys 9/10 years - Jamie Coles, Kirin Yeung, Harry Chatterton and David Purser. A great team effort - well done to all the swimmers!
Essex Mini League Round 4 at Witham - 9th July Colchester Swimming Club took another step closer in retaining their title in the Essex Mini League for the third season in succession. The league is made up of sixteen clubs and Colchester competed in the fourth round of fixtures against Canvey, Maldon, Saffron Walden and host club Witham. It was a weekend that presented the clubs with team selection problems as on the same weekend there was the Essex Championships Special Relays held at the Basildon Sporting Village. The swimmers in the nine year old category seem to be bonding extremely well together and girls 4 x 25m breaststroke relay team of Millie Lancaster, Emma Bouckley, Elisha Henslick and Olivia Norman demonstrated this in grabbing the first victory, Elisha in her first gala for Colchester swam to third place with a 3 second personal best (PB) time of 40.40 in the 50m freestyle. Olivia Norman knocked 4 seconds of her PB time in the 50m backstroke with an impressive 42.77. The boys swam a great relay event in the 4 x 25m freestyle, Oliver Hambleton, Isaac Pavey, Christian Tilley and Joe Haines came home in first place. It was the same result for the 13U 4 x 25m freestyle team of Alex Peterson, Sam Mackinder, Alex Coles and Sam Watkins. Alex Peterson swam up, in the tough open age group with great results, he was second in the 50m butterfly with a 4 second PB of 35.50 and then first in the 50m backstroke with a PB of 35.83. Sam Mackinder also had individual success in the 13U 50m breaststroke with first place and a PB of 42.15, Sam Watkins in the same age group also came first in the 100m freestyle with Katherine-Jayne Watts producing the same result for the girls, with a 3 second PB of 1.14.09. Helena Wright also PB'd in the 100m freestyle open with a great time of 1.09.80 and first place. There was however, some disappointment during the relay events as the Colchester swimmers picked up a total of four disqualifications, but still managed to gain seven first places and three second places. The 11U boys 4 x 25m freestyle relay team of Thierry Ajala, Nicholas Mitchell, Ben Bouckley and Rory Bennett were victorious, Nicholas swam to top spot in the 50m breaststroke and was rewarded with a PB of 49.18. Rory also had some great individual results, a first place in the 25m butterfly and a second place with an excellent PB of 53.46 in the 50m breaststroke knocking four seconds off. Hannah Vickers had a successful gala in the 11U with two cracking PB's, a second place and a time of 43.40 in the 50m backstroke shaving four seconds off, then even better with a first place with a time of 43.34 in the 50m butterfly, she also swam well in the relays. Holly Jones knocked four seconds off her PB in the 13U 50m backstroke to gain second place with a time of 40.86. Colchester will be competing in October in the final round of the league, if they can continue with the same team spirit, there is a great opportunity of making it a hat-trick of titles.
National Junior Swimming League Round 3 at Braintree - 26th June Colchester Swimming Club took part in the final round of the National Junior Swimming League at the Braintree Swimming Centre and had to settle with the runners up spot. This league is for swimmers aged twelve and under and the competition in this division is always tough and the other clubs competing were Anaconda, Chelmsford, Halstead, RTW Monsoon and Runnymede. In the first event the 12U 4 x 25m medley relay team consisting of Martha Duley, Phillipa Davenhall, Laura Stevens and Chloe Rudkins romped home in first place, then immediately after, the boys team of Aaran Francis, Cameron Simpson, Spencer Prior and Tim Kwok also claimed the top spot in the same event. Later on in the meet the same two teams won the 4 x 25m freestyle relays for the boys and girls.
Laura Stevens went on to secure a convincing first place in the 50m butterfly with a personal best of 31:41, then another great swim in the 50m backstroke gave her a second place. Phillipa Davenall came first in the 50m breaststroke. Aaran Francis also had some great individual performances with two excellent first places in the 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke. Spencer Prior was rewarded with a personal best that he has been pushing hard to achieve in the 50m butterfly and it came with a time of 34:88 and a second place. The Colchester swimmers had more success in the relays, when the girls 10yr 4 x 25m medley relay team of Megan Adamson, Sophie Lo, Ellie Duley and Isabella Tanenbaum stepped up to the blocks and swam to first place. Megan Adamson swam to second place with a great personal best time of 40:87 in the 50m backstroke, Ellie Duley was impressive with her first place in the 50m butterfly and 9 year old Isabella Tanenbaum swam an amazing 25m butterfly to gain second place with a personal best time of 19:58. The personal bests continued to fall, first with 9 yr old Meg Wall Peters in the 25m backstroke in second place with a time of 21:86, then 11 yr old Brittany Lodge swam to fourth place with a personal best time of 41:04 in the 50m backstroke, 10 yr old Sophie Lo swam to third place with a personal best time of 47:84 in the 50m breaststroke and Kirin Yeung swam a personal best time of 50:6 in the same event. 10 yr old Rory Bennett took an impressive four seconds off his 50m backstroke time to record 45:78 and grab second place. David Purser came home in third place with a personal best of 39:36 in the 50m freestyle. There were plenty more personal bests from the 9 yr age group in both the boys and girls Christian Tilley 22:67 and Abbie McCarthy 19:91 in the 25m freestyle, Oliver Hambleton 29:08 and Emma Bouckley 25:48 in the 25m breaststroke. Then older brother Ben Bouckley swam to fourth place with a personal best of 36:71 in the 11yr 50m freestyle. It was a solid performance from the Colchester swimmers to take second place and an encouraging result for future seasons, joint head coach Michelle Young said "Really strong swimming came from our older swimmers, with some super prospects for the future in our nine year old boys and girls and a good sprinkling of talent amongst the other age groups" Overall Positions: RTW Monsoon 223, Colchester 181, Chelmsford 175, Anaconda 169, Halstead 147, Runnymede 113
East Region British Age Group Championships (weekend 2) at UEA Norwich - 11th/12th June Colchester Swimming Club's young team of swimmers returned to the 50m pool at the Sportspark, UEA Norwich, to take on the best swimmers of the East Region to compete in the East Region British Age Group Championships, adding yet more medals to their haul. Every swimmer achieved some great PBs and the Club brought home 2 more Bronze medals to take their total haul to an impressive 7 medals - 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 4 Bronze, with the Club finishing 15th on the medal table, just 1 medal behind arch Essex rivals Thurrock. In the 12 years age category, Chloe Rudkin swam a huge PB in the 200m breaststroke to qualify for the final, only to beat her new best again to take a deserved Bronze medal in a time of 3:04.21. Fresh from her medal success, Chloe went on to swim another great PB in the 100m breaststroke to qualify for the final, just missing out on another medal in a close race for that 3rd place. In the same age group, Philippa Davenall continued her improved form, qualifying for two finals in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke, and setting 2 big PBs in both the 100m and 200m backstroke. Laura Stephens also swam a good PB to qualify for the final of the 100m backstroke and just missed out on another final despite a massive PB in the 200m backstroke.
In the Boys events, 14 year old Jarrod Bradfield swam a good PB to qualify for the final of the 200m freestyle, improving his time yet again in the final to win a deserved Bronze medal in a new PB of 2:04.46. In the same age group, Matt Lemnell qualified for the final of the 100m breaststroke and then swam a good PB in the 100m butterfly, just missing out on another final spot. In the 12 years age group, Cameron Simpson qualified for the final of the 100m breaststroke, and then added two great PBs on the 200m IM and the 400m freestyle. In the only relay event of the weekend, the girls 4 x 100m freestyle relay team of Stephens, Davenall, Alice Insull and Rudkin competed well, finishing in 6th place in a close fought event against some fierce competition. Head Coach Michelle Young was delighted with the continued success, "Stepping up to swim at regional level is a challenge, especially in a 50m pool, but I am proud of all our young swimmers. They all gave their best against some tough competition and every swimmer achieved some great PBs."
Essex Mini League Round 3 at Romford - 11th June Colchester Swimming Club continued their domination in the Essex Mini League with yet another victory in defence of their 2010 title. Their team of swimmers went to Romford full of confidence for round three where they competed for points against Dunmow, Harwich, Havering and Colchester's closest rivals Romford. Sam Reeves got the first victory of the fixture in the boys 11U 50metre backstroke. Millie Lancaster, Abbie McCarthy, Isabella Tanenbaum and Olivia Norman swam to first place in the 9yr 4 x 25m breaststroke relay, in particular Isabella and Olivia continues to make good progress. It was another great gala for improved personal best times and Ellie Duley grabbed one in the 50m backstroke with a time of 43.11. Tim Kwok swam to first place in the 13U 100m freestyle. Megan Adamson gained a great four second PB with a first place in the 10U 50m breaststroke in a time of 51.38 and Jamie Coles repeated the result for boys with a PB of 51.34. After twelve events Colchester and Romford were locked together in first place on 41 points with Harwich just behind on 36 points. Sam Reeves grabbed first place in the 50m breaststroke in the 11U category. David Purser swam a superb 38.43 for first place in 50m freestyle in the 10U category and Joe Gallagher also swam to first place in the same event in the boys 11U with a PB of 37.96. Robert James swam magnificently in his open events with a 34.82 for 50m backstroke and a first place, then a superb time of 31.27 for 50m butterfly. Lucy Coates came home first in the 13U 50m breaststroke. At the halfway stage Colchester had just crept in front of their rivals. Chloe Vincett-Miller swam a great PB of 1.09.26 in the open 100m freestyle and was rewarded with a second place, another PB came her way in the open 50m backstroke with a time of 37.50 and a third place, Chloe was amazingly quick in the freestyle relay along with Lydia Pearman, Lauren Richardson and Charlotte Marvin who swam particularly well in the open 50m butterfly. Taylor Young swam to second place in the open 100m freestyle with an excellent PB of 1.06.97. Brittany Lodge who always puts in consistent performances notched up yet another PB with a second place in the 11U 50m butterfly with a time 41.60, Brittany stepped up an age group and swam to victory with Lucy Coates Lydia Pearman and Charlotte McDonnell in the 13U 4 x 25m freestyle relay. James Buckingham also swam up an age group in the open 4 x 2 x 25 relay event, swimming alongside Taylor Young, Robert James and Joe Mackinder, Joe was in top form in the open 50m breaststroke with a comprehensive victory and a PB of 38.03. Colchester dominated the relay events once again and of the sixteen relay races the Colchester swimmers never slipped outside the top three, in particular there was good contributions from Sophie Lo, who hit good form in the butterfly and freestyle relays, Rory Bennett in the butterfly, Hayden Cowan and Megan Wall-Peters had good legs in the freestyle. Oliver Hambelton and Christopher Ashdown deserve a mention as they competed well in their first gala. Joint Head Coach Michelle Young said "It was a very strong finish to the gala winning all the remaining relay events. Once again this was a great team win for Colchester, they should all be very proud of their achievement" Points from Round 3: Colchester 179, Romford 156, Dunmow 134, Harwich 120, Havering 92
East Region British Age Group Championships (weekend 1) at UEA Norwich - 4th/5th June A determined team of Colchester Swimming Club's younger stars travelled to the 50m pool at the Sportspark, UEA Norwich, to take part in the first of two weekends of competition in the East Region British Age Group Championships against top swimmers from 6 counties, achieving yet more success to maintain Colchester's growing reputation for excellent swimming. Our swimmers brought home 5 medals - 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze - and qualified for numerous finals with a host of excellent PBs, to leave the Club lying joint 11th in the medals table at the half-way point. 12 year old Laura Stephens was again Colchester's "golden girl", swimming a great heat to qualify for the final of the 100m butterfly and then knocking 2 seconds off her personal best and previous National Qualifying Time to make sure of the Gold medal in a time o 1:08.38, just missing out on a Regional record. To add to her medal tally, she swam another massive PB in the gruelling 200m butterfly to take a Bronze medal in the final with a storming last leg to finish in 2:39.28, just missing out on another National Qualifying Time. With a busy schedule, Laura also qualified for the final of the 200m freestyle, where she finished 5th and also finished 9th in the 200m IM and 11th in the 100m freestyle. Also swimming well in the 12 year old category was Philippa Davenall, who swam a great butterfly length to qualify for the final in the 200m IM, and finished 9th in the 100m freestyle and 21st in the 200m freestyle. Chloe Rudkin also finished a very creditable 16th in the 200m IM. The boys too had a great weekend, with 14 year old Jim Vickers swimming in 3 events, making 3 finals and grabbing a superb Silver Medal in the 100m backstroke in a time of 1:04.84. He just missed out on a medal in 4th place in a very close race in the 200m backstroke, and finished 7th in the 100m freestyle. Not to be outdone, team mate Jarrod Bradfield, also 14, took a Silver in the 100m freestyle in a time of 56.77 seconds and finished 5th in the 100m backstroke. Matt Lemnell also swam well in the 200m breaststroke to qualify for the final in 8th place, finishing in 16th place in the 100m freestyle. Swimming the in the 12 years age group, Cameron Simpson raced hard to finish in 11th place in the 200m breaststroke and 12th in the challenging 400m IM. Colchester's fifth medal of the weekend came in the exciting relay team events, with the boys team of Vickers, Lemnell, Bradfield and Matt Holland taking a great Bronze medal in a nail-biting 4 x 100m freestyle relay, with Jarrod Bradfield swimming a PB on the freestyle anchor leg to touch out City of Peterborough by just 0.19 seconds and take the place on the medal podium. In the 4 x 100m medley relay, the boys just missed out on a medal, finishing in 4th place, with City of Peterborough taking revenge by 0.26 seconds, despite Matt Holland giving everything he had for the team on the anchor leg. The girls too competed in their 4 x 100m medley event, with the team of Alice Insull, Rudkin, Stephens and Davenall just missing out on a medal to UEA City of Norwich, despite great swims and a PB from Insull. Head Coach Michelle Young was delighted with the continued success, "Stepping up to swim at regional level is tough, especially in a 50m pool, but I am proud of all our young swimmers, who gave their best in the first weekend and have the chance to shine again next weekend."
Katie's visit to Uganda Colchester Masters swimmer Katie Bailey visited a school in Uganda in February and gave the children some swimming lessons! Katie says "I just wanted to say a huge, huge thank you to everyone who gave swimming costumes and goggles for me to take to Uganda. I managed to completely fill one large rucksack with costumes which was brilliant!! The experience was truly amazing and touching.
"We were shown so much generosity and kindness. We spent an afternoon in the lake (whilst it was raining!!) with some pupils and teachers. The children were amazed by the goggles and all tried on a pair and walked round in them, whilst wearing their school uniforms! The head teacher is due to visit my high school in May and we are hopefully going to bring him down to Leisure World to meet people and show him what a swimming club looks like in the UK. Thank you again, your generosity was greatly appreciated by the children."
National Junior Swimming League Round 2 at Grays - 22nd May A team of Colchester's younger swimmers, aged 12 and under travelled to the Blackshots pool at Grays, Thurrock last Sunday for another taste of top level competitive swimming in the 2nd round of the National Junior Speedo League, finishing in 4th place, despite some excellent performances. Colchester started the competition well with both the girls team of Martha Duley, Pip Davenalll, Laura Stephens and Chloe Rudkin and the boys team of Arran Francis, Cameron Simpson, Spencer Prior and Tim Kwok winning the opening 12 & U girls and boys 4 x 25m medley relay events, and then completing their relay success by winning the 4 x 25m freestyle relay events at the end of the meet. There were also some fantastic wins in the individual 12 & U 50m butterfly for Laura Stephens in a time of 32.24 and Spencer Prior, whose hard work in training paid off to swim a great race in a time of 35.72 seconds. Pip Davenall and Cameron Simpson made it another Colchester double act in the 12 & U 50m breaststroke to secure two more victories. In the 50m backstroke in the same age group, Arran Francis secured another win in a time of 34.65, while Laura Stephens just missed out on a victory. Some more great swims came from Arran Francis, 2nd place in the 50m freestyle, Brittany Lodge, 2nd in the 11 & U 50m breaststroke with a great 2 seconds PB, Ellie Duley, 2nd place and a great PB in the 10 & U50m butterfly, and Chloe Rudkin, 3rd in the 12 & U 50m freestyle, again in a PB time. Some good PBs were also achieved by Laura Small, Mia Nicholson, Jordan Glynos-Fernie, Hannah Vickers, Thierry Ajala, Sophie Marven, and David Purser, while there was some strong competitive swimming form the inexperienced 9 year olds: Isabella Tanenbaum, Emma Bouckley Meg Wall Peters and Adam Buckingham. Head Coach Michelle Young praised her young team, "Our 11 and12 year olds again showed they can compete at the highest level, and while our 9 and 10 year olds swam some great PBs and showed great promise for the future, we still have a lot of training to do to be up there with the best in the country."
Norfolk Open Masters Competition at Norwich Sportspark (UEA) - 21st May This was awell supported event, with over fifty men and forty-eight women competing in the 50m freestyle events, and two swimmers from the Colchester Masters travelled up to Norwich to take part. Katie Higgon in the 25-29 age group again entered all events, taking 1st Place in the 100m IM and 50m breaststroke, 2nd in the 50m freestyle, 4th in the 50m backstroke and 5th in the 50m butterfly. Valerie Standage took 2nd place in the 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke and a 3rd place in the 50m breaststroke in the 65-69 age group. Another good day for the Club’s older swimmers!
Essex Mini League Round 2 at Great Dunmow - 14th May Colchester Swimming Club maintained their unbeaten run in the Essex Mini League with a great performance in the second round at Great Dunmow, Colchester have maintained an excellent winning run that dates back to July 2009. Colchester took a team containing several swimmers making their gala debut to compete against Rochford, Clacton, Basildon and hosts Great Dunmow. Jocelyn Edwards swam an excellent five second personal best in the opening race over 50 metres in the girls 11&U breaststroke with a time of 46.60 to gain a 3rd place. Joe Gallagher grabbed a 2nd place in the same event for the boys. Lizzie French also got a 3rd place in the girls 10&U 50m backstroke and Hayden Cowan for the boys achieved a PB with a technically good swim in a time of 50.12. Caitlin Sadler 13&U swam a textbook 100m freestyle, swimming strongly throughout the four lengths with good turns to achieve a 1st place with a PB of 1.10.35, Tim Kwok followed, with another great swim for the boys over the same distance with the same results with a time of 1.10.09. Sarah Bird achieved PB's in both of her individual races in the open section, a time of 36.90 and 3rd place in the 50m butterfly and then with a 36.58 and a 2nd place in the 50m backstroke. The PB's continued to fall with Zoe Ashbury in a time of 55.45 and then Jamie Coles in 51.31 and 1st place swam strongly in the 10U 50m breaststroke. Megan Athrell swam a beautiful 50m breaststroke in the 11&U with a two second PB of 46.54 and 1st place, Sam Reeves also grabbed a PB with a 49.78 in the same event for the boys. Rhianna Preece grabbed 1st place in the 10&U 50m freestyle with a PB of 39.94, Gabriella Toscano knocked two seconds off her PB with a 45.04 in the same event in the 11&U category. Robert James in his first gala for the club swam fantastically throughout the evening, with a great relay leg and then a couple of individual PB's, Robert swam to 1st place in the open 50m backstroke with a time of 35.51 and a time of 1.03.79 in the open 100m freestyle. For the girls open 100m, Lydia Pearmain stepped up to gain 2nd place in a hard fought race. Charlotte Holt swam an amazing three second PB in the 50m breaststroke for the 13&U with a time of 43.75 and a 2nd place, then Sam Mackinder produced a two second PB to win the same event for the boys in 42.24. James Buckingham was in good form in the same age group during the evening, his 1st place in the 50m backstroke was impressive as was his contributions in the relays. Megan Adamson with her consistent attitude towards training hard was rewarded with a PB and 1st place in the 10&U 25m butterfly and some fast relay legs. Samuel Firth in the same event for the boys grabbed 2nd place. Brittany Lodge also swam to 1st place in the 11&U 50m butterfly with a PB in 41.64 and contributed with some good relay splits. Charlotte Marvin in the 13&U age group was also impressive in the butterfly event over 50metres as she grabbed 1st place with a great PB of 36.00 and again impressive with her relay legs. Jack Gallagher hung in during a great butterfly race in the same age group with another PB of 37.98 and 2nd place. An area Colchester consistently performs well in are the relays, there were sixteen in total to contest, which is a third of the evening's races. Colchester finished in the top two in all but four of them with some great performances, there was a win for the 9yr girls breaststroke team of Millie Lancaster, Abbie McCarthy, Isabella Tamenhaum and Olivia Norman who always swims her heart out. The same team were also victorious in the freestyle with Isabella swimming a great fast leg. and the boy's team of Isaac Pavey, Adam Buckingham, Christian Tilley and Joe Haines gaining a 3rd place. Chris Kwok swam particularly well in a number of relays and with Adam Buckingham, Jamie Coles, Sam Reeves, Sam Mackinder and Guy Harrison were winners in the 6 x 25m breaststroke. With two rounds completed the Colchester swimmers are again demonstrating that they are motivated to succeed in this league again this season. Joint Head Coach Michelle Young said "I'm delighted to see new swimmers competing and thoroughly enjoying participating in this development gala, whilst producing some superb new personal best times and in the process gaining lots of valuable racing experience" Round 2 Results: Colchester 175, Rochford 151, Clacton 135, Basildon 133, Dunmow 108
Essex Masters at Blackshots, Grays - 7th May The Colchester Swimming Club masters ventured out to Blackshots pool, Grays, to compete at the Essex Masters. Eleven swimmers competed, ranging in age from just 20 up to 69, showing once again how inclusive competing at the Masters level is. The swimmers produced some fantastic results giving the club an overall position of 2nd overall out of 25 clubs, finishing above Rochford and Chelmsford. Katie Higgon led the way for Colchester, taking leave of her senses and competing in every event and producing some fantastic swims resulting in 3 Gold, 5 Silver and 3 bronze medals along with a number of PB’s. Katie also finished in 3rd position overall. Well done Katie! Mark Heptonstall, swimming for the first time in a new age category, swum to a new PB in the 50m backstroke in an impressive 37.48, taking the Silver medal position. Mark also narrowly missed out on bronze medals in both the 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly. The youngest of Colchester’s Masters, Kenny Dayman, contributed to the growing medal haul with 5 Gold medals, in the 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly and 50m Freestyle. Kenny was also rewarded with PB’s in the 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle. The dynamic duo of Katie Bailey and Hannah Stubbs produced more great results for the Club, with Katie a bronze medal in the 400m PB 5.48.91) freestyle and a silver medal in the 50m breastroke (PB 40.19). Hannah collected silver in the 50m butterfly and narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in both the 50m and 200m freestyle events. Damian Naverette swum his preferred strokes and delivered some great results taking gold in the 50m breaststroke and silver medals in the 100 breastroke (PB 1.21.54), 50m (PB 32.54) and 100m butterfly. Jason Cole, competing in his second Essex Masters managed PB’s in four of the five events he entered; collecting gold in the 400m Freestyle (5.56.95) and bronze medals in the 50m Fly (40.31) and backstroke (41.75). Dave Treliving competing for the first time as a Colchester master added to the medal haul with Gold in the 200m freestyle and a silver in the 100m backstroke for a PB of 1.19.43. Alison Coleman ventured back into the pool for her first competitive swim in 2 years achieving a 4th place finish in the 50m Freestyle and a silver medal position in the 50m back. Val Standage and Christine Wakeling produced more great swims, with Val collecting gold medals in the 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 100m backstroke. Chris added to the tally with a gold medal in the 50m backstroke and a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke.
The overall medal total was 16 Gold, 13 Silver and 6 bronze. It was a great day out with all competitors giving support and encouragement to each other, reflecting the team spirit that exists throughout the club; we are now looking forward to our next outing at the West Suffolk Masters in July.
West Suffolk Open Meet at Bury St Edmunds - 6th-8th May An enthusiastic team of Colchester swimmers took on swimmers from across the Region to compete at the annual West Suffolk SC Open Meet at the Bury St Edmunds Pool and achieve some impressive PBs, with 14 year old Emily Stephens taking away the prize for Top Girl of the meet with a series of outstanding swims. Emily swam a fantastic time of 4:37.16 to win the 400m freestyle, also taking victories in the 400m IM in 5:26.11, the 200m IM in 2:33.17 and the 100m butterfly in 1:12.82. With two 2nd places in the 200m backstroke and 50m freestyle and three 3rd places in the 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle and 200m breaststroke, the 14 year old enjoyed a great weekend of swimming to take top spot in the Girls events.
Close on her tail, was younger sister Laura Stephens, who once again swam to an impressive series of wins in the 11 years age group in the 400m freestyle (5:00.37), 200m freestyle (2:25.39), 100m breaststroke (1:29.42), 200m butterfly (2:41.20), 100m backstroke (1:12.93), 200m IM (2:42.38)and 50m butterfly (32.40 seconds), taking 2nd place in the 200m breaststroke. Also swimming well in the girls events were 12 years old Philippa Davenall, who not only won the 100m butterfly in a time of 1:16.46, but also swam a great PB in the 200m backstroke to grab a Regional Qualifying time and just miss out on 1st place. Two 3rd places in the 400m freestyle and the 100m breaststroke made it a great weekend of swimming from this promising youngster. Also taking a Silver medal in the 13 year old category was Alice Insull, who swam a great PB in the 50m backstroke, as well as the 200m backstroke. There were some impressive swims in the boys events too, with 11 year old Spencer Prior winning the 200m butterfly in a time of 2:45.90 and 14 year old Isaac Aldridge winning the 50m breaststroke in a PB of 37.79 seconds and just missing out on a win in the 50m backstroke. 14 year old Matt Lemnell continued his good form to win the 100m breaststroke in 1:19.37 and take a 3rd place in the 200m IM, while 15 year old Charlie O'Connor took a 2nd place in the 50m freestyle and two 3rd places in the 50m butterfly and 200m IM (PB), and Harrison Sadler fought off some stiff competition in the 15 and above age group to take 2nd place in the 100m breaststroke and swim a great PB in the 200m IM. 12 year old Cameron Simpson once again showed his potential with a great PB swim in the 200m IM to take 2nd place and another Regional Qualifying Time, as well as 3rd place in the 200m freestyle. Also swimming well at the meet with some great PBs were Tim and Chris Kwok, Alexander Peterson, Guy Harrison, James Buckingham, Matt Parsons and Kieran Collins, and in the girls events, Caitlin Sadler (who swam PBs in every race), Lydia
Pearman, Jordan Glynos-Fernie and, swimming to a PB in the 50m butterfly in only her second open meet event, 10 year old Zoe Asbury. Well done to all the swimmers who took part in the meet! East Region Youth Championships at UEA Norwich - 30th April/1st May Following on from the success at the Essex County Championships, a team of the older swimmers travelled to the 50m pool at the Sportspark, UEA Norwich, to compete in the East Region Youth Championships against swimmers from 6 counties. Once again the Colchester swimmers showed their strength and progress with some outstanding swimming achievements and yet more best times. 16 year old Heather Rodwell had an outstanding weekend, competing in numerous events and collecting a full set of medals in the 16 & over age category - Gold in the 400m IM in a time of 5:16.45, Silver in the 200m breaststroke (2:43.83) and Bronze in the 100m breaststroke (1:17.76). Heather also achieved a very creditable 4th place in the 200m IM, 7th in the 200m freestyle and 14th in the 100m freestyle.
Also swimming in the same age group was 17 year old Jennifer Titterington, who made it a Colchester 1-2 in the tough 400m IM event, taking Silver in a time of 5:28.08, and just missed out on a medal in a finger-tip finish in an exciting 800m freestyle race. She also finished 4th in the 200m butterfly with a great PB, 11th in the 200m backstroke and 18th in the 50m butterfly. 17 year old Jennifer Redmond maintained her record of qualifying for a final in every Regional Championships since their inception in 2006 by swimming a great PB in the 200m backstroke to qualify in 7th place for the final, and also competed well to finish 15th in both the 50m and 100m backstroke events and 16th in the 50m butterfly. In the 14/15 age group, 14 year old Ellie Tripp once again showed her class and potential with a great Bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke final in a time of 1:19.62, a 4th place in the 200m breaststroke, 5th in the 50m freestyle and 11th in the 200m IM. The ever-improving 14 year old, Emily Stephens swam some great long-course PBs to achieve a superb 4th place in the 400m freestyle with a commanding swim in her heat, 9th in the 100m freestyle, 16th in the 50m freestyle and 17th in the 200m IM. In the boys 15/16 age group, 15 year old Charlie O'Connor built on his experience of previous competitions to display great potential for the future and achieve some very creditable PBs in a very strong field, finishing 10th in the 50m breaststroke, 13th in the 100m freestyle, 14th in both the 50m freestyle and butterfly events, and 22nd in the 100m butterfly. 16 year old Tom Vickers, still on the road back to fitness after an injury, competed hard to achieve 15th place in the 50m and 19th place in the 100m backstroke events, while 15 year old Harrison Sadler swam a superb PB to finish 17th in the 50m breaststroke. In the relay events the girls' team of Heather Rodwell, Jennifer Redmond, Ellie Tripp and Emily Stephens swam well to finish 6th in the 4 x 100m medley and 9th in the 4 x 100m freestyle competitions, while the boys' team of Tom Vickers, Harrison Sadler, Charlie O'Connor and Alex Vipond also swam hard to finish 10th in the 4 x 100m medley and 11th in the 4 x 100m freestyle events. Joint Head Coach Ian Johnson was delighted with Colchester's 5 medals and 11th place in the Club Medals table. "To train primarily in a 25m short course pool, then race effectively at Regional level in a long course 50m Olympic-size pool against top clubs across 6 counties, is a tough call. The team rose to the occasion with a very positive and determined attitude which reflected in their excellent overall results and final placings. Competing at this level in a long course environment always highlights any weaknesses yet proves very useful in enabling us to review and plan our future training strategy. It was a very useful weekend of competition with some very creditable results and evidence of strong personal progress."
Crawley Spring Open Meet - 16/17th April An enthusiastic team of Colchester swimmers travelled to the challenging 50m pool at the Crawley K2 Leisure Centre last weekend, testing their fitness and skills against some of the toughest competition in the South East in the Level 1 Spring Open Meet. After the fantastic achievements in the recent Essex County Championships our swimmers showed they are equally as impressive in an Olympic size 50m pool, returning with numerous medals, personal bests and National Qualifying Times. Leading the girls once again was the ever impressive 11 year old Laura Stephens, who won 4 Gold medals, a Silver and a Bronze, including an outstanding National Qualifying Time of 1:10.72 to win the 100m butterfly in the 10/11 age group. Her other winning times were 1:15.85 in the 100m backstroke, 2:46.59 in the 200m backstroke and 5:42.30 in the 400m IM, which she led from start to finish. The equally impressive 16 year old Heather Rodwell won 3 Gold medals in the 16 & over age group, winning the 100m breaststroke in 1:16.55, the 200m breaststroke in 2:43.54 and the 200m IM in 2:30.12. 14 year old Ellie Tripp won a Silver in the 200m breaststroke and Bronze in the 50m freestyle, while 12 year old Philippa Davenall won a Silver in the 50m breaststroke and swam a great PB of 1:05.61 in the 100m freestyle. Jen Titterington grabbed 3 Bronze medals in the 800m and 400m freestyle and 200m butterfly. There were also some great swims from the rest of the girls with 12 year old Chloe Rudkin getting some impressive PBs in the 100m and 200m breaststroke; 14 year old Emily Stephens getting PBs in all her races and just missing out on a medal in the 800m freestyle; and 13 year old Alice Insull swimming a very impressive PB in the 50m backstroke. For the boys, 14 year old Jarrod Bradfield had some good swims, with the highlight his Gold medal in the 400m freestyle in 4:24.36, fighting back in the last 2 lengths to snatch a win. Jarrod added to his medal collection with a Silver in the 200m freestyle and Bronze in the 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke and the 100m freestyle. His teammate 14 year old Jim Vickers also had a great weekend, winning a Silver in the 50m backstroke and swimming a great PB on the 100m backstroke in a National Qualifying Time of 1:04.12. 12 year old Spencer Prior swam well in all his races, but impressed with a Silver in the 200m butterfly and a Bronze in the 400m IM - both very challenging events in the long course 50m pool. 14 year old Matt Lemnell continued his improvement with some great swims in the 50m freestyle and 100m butterfly as well as a great 5th place in the 50m breaststroke. Tom Vickers continued his return from injury with some good strong swimming in the 16 years age group, despite losing his hat in the 50m butterfly, while 13 year old Matt Parsons pushed hard in all his races and 12 year old Cameron Simpson showed great commitment to compete in two events despite suffering from an illness all week. Joint Head Coach Michelle Young was pleased with the performances, "Competing in an Olympic 50m pool is always a real test for any swimmer, but our team showed why we were so successful in the Essex County Championships, with some great racing, endurance and commitment from the swimmers and great support from everyone who made the journey to the K2 pool".
National Junior Swimming League Round 1 at Barnet Copthall - 3rd April Colchester Swimming Club took a team to Barnet Copthall to compete in the first round of the National Junior Swimming League, along with Barnet the other clubs represented were Edmonton, Romford and Anaconda. Although there were not many victories for Colchester, there was a tremendous team spirit and plenty of personal bests. Pip Davenall had a great gala with two convincing victories in the 12U girls 50 metre butterfly with a PB of 33.16 and then in the 50 metre breaststroke. Cameron Simpson swam superbly in the 12U boys breaststroke to win with a PB of 37.6. Arran Francis good form continued and was rewarded with two second places and BP's, one in the 12U boys 50 metre freestyle with a time of 29.31 and another with a time of 33.8 in the 50 metre backstroke. Arran, Cameron, Spencer Prior and Tim Kwok swam a great 4 x 25 metre medley relay to gain second place. Chloe Rudkin swam great 50 metre freestyle to achieve a second place in the girls 12U. Brittany Lodge swam really well in her races to gain new BP's in the girls 11U 50 metre backstroke with 41.67 and 50 metre breaststroke for a second place and a time of 44.46. Sophie Lo improved on her PB by two seconds with a time of 48.09 in the girls 9 yr 50 metre breaststroke to gain a third place. Sam Reeves also improved his PB by the same margin with a time of 49.88 in the boys 11U 50 metre breaststroke. Megan Adamson swam to third place with a good PB of 36.29 in the girls 10yr 50 metre freestyle. Thierry Ajala also gained a PB in the 50 metre freestyle for the boys 11U with a time of 37.86. Martha Duley got a PB of 36.72 in the girls 12U 50 metre backstroke, then her younger sister Ellie swam a terrific PB of 39.62 in the 10yr 50 metre butterfly and was rewarded with second place. Joe Gallagher 11U knocked three seconds off his 50 metre backstroke with a time of 43.03. Adam Buckingham in the 9 yr 25 metre freestyle swam to second place and was also a solid performer in the relays. There were a number of swimmers competing in their first gala, Pheobe Crofts and Ellie Pavey. Zoe Clark had a good butterfly leg in the medley relay. Megan Wall Peters swam especially well in the freestyle. Joe Haines swam strongly in the butterfly and backstroke. Isaac Pavey swam a good breaststroke and Ben Gallagher in a freestyle relay. Final Positions: 1 - Romford 2 - Barnet 3 - Edmonton Phoenix 4 - Colchester 5 - Anaconda GB Swimmers inspire Colchester's young swimmers Last weekend saw the visit of GB swimming stars Matt Clay and Grant Turner to Colchester Swimming Club to share their skills and experiences with our rising young stars in a Masterclass at the sports complex at Ipswich High School for Girls. With the support of Club sponsor, Colchester accountants Griffin Chapman, Commonwealth backstroke Gold Medallist Matt Clay and Commonwealth freestyle Silver Medallist Grant Turner spent the day with the swimmers and their coaches, working on stroke technique and fitness. The day started with Matt and Grant putting the older swimmers through a tough land training session in the gym to learn how to build core body strength and how to stretch and warm up and down to maximise performance in a race. This was followed by a 2 hour session in the pool, with Grant in the water coaching freestyle through drills and focus on stroke length and with Matt focusing on backstroke techniques, especially the hand rotation and "catch". The session ended with work on race starts, which can make all the difference between a place on that podium and the dreaded 4th place! Grant and Matt then gave a talk on not only the importance of the strength and fitness of the body, but also the importance of motivation and how to prepare psychologically for the challenge of competing. The following question and answer session gave a fascinating insight into a range of issues facing our top level athletes: how to balance the demands of school and university studies with the daily early morning and evening training sessions; how to cope with a "bad race" and build on the great performances; and how to prepare for competition and "visualise" touching that finish wall first. As the older swimmers left truly inspired to focus on achieving their best, Colchester's younger squad swimmers arrived for their afternoon session to learn the importance of good training, a great attitude and self-belief.
Joint Head Coaches Michelle Young and Ian Johnson were full of praise for both the positive impact from Matt and Grant and the response of the Colchester swimmers. Michelle commented, "Grant and Matt used the whole day to inspire and
motivate the swimmers, emphasising how much they enjoy swimming and competing, what they get out of the sport in terms of travel and life-long friendships, and how much their success has depended on teamwork and support from other
swimmers, coaches and families. Our swimmers asked a lot of searching and intelligent questions and it was great to see some of the country's top swimming stars sharing their enthusiasm and experiences. Ian and I have seen a renewed focus
and enthusiasm in the pool, even at 6.00am in the morning, and with Griffin Chapman's continued support we are already planning the next Masterclass." Essex Championships Block C at Braintree - 26th/27th March This weekend saw the final weekend of the Essex ASA Age Group Championships at Braintree Swimming Centre - and what a weekend for Colchester Swimming Club! The swimmers enjoyed fantastic success, winning a further 27 medals - 13 Gold, 9 Silver and 5 Bronze - to take the grand total for the Championships to a staggering 66 medals. In the club overall points total, Colchester achieved an impressive 736.5 points to finish 5th highest club in Essex, ahead of Chelmsford, Southend and Basildon. Joint Head Coaches Ian Johnson and Michelle Young were delighted with the magnificent achievements of all the swimmers that qualified and took part. Ian commented, "I must congratulate the performance of the whole team - a period of committed and focused training building up to the Championships was reflected in the team's excellent success in achieving numerous PB's, together with final and medal placings." Michelle praised the progress in recent years, "Since we put the new coaching structure in place in 2007, we have seen the Club progress from 17th place in 2007 to a fantastic 5th place this year. We have some great swimmers coming through our swimming programme and the Club is going from strength to strength". Golden girl of the weekend was once again 11 year old Laura Stephens, who swam fantastic PBs to win a further 5 Gold medals and 1 Silver to take her to top spot in Essex in her age group. She won Gold in the 100m backstroke (1:12.97), 200m IM (2:39.93), 200m backstroke (2:38.75), 100m butterfly (1:10.16) and 100m freestyle (1:05.15) and a Silver in the 100m breaststroke. Arran Francis made it a clean sweep for Colchester in the 11 years age group by taking top spot in Essex for the boys, adding a Gold medal in the 200m backstroke (2:39.75) and 2 Silver medals in the 400m freestyle and 200m IM. Both Laura and Arran are exciting prospects for the Regional Championships in June. In the boys 14 years age group, Jarrod Bradfield once again showed his class, taking the Gold medal in the 100m freestyle in a County Event Best Time of 54.87 seconds, which was his first sub 55 second swim and a national qualifying time. With 2 further Silver medals in the 100m butterfly and 400m freestyle, Jarrod finished in 2nd place in Essex in his age group. Other Gold medal winners were Philippa Davenall, who swam an impressive PB in the girls 12 years 100m breaststroke (1:20.40), 12 year old Cameron Simpson in the boys 12 years 100m breaststroke (1:22.17), 14 year old Jim Vickers with a great PB in the 100m backstroke (1:02.91), who also won 2 Bronze medals in the 200m backstroke and 100m freestyle, and 16 year old Heather Rodwell in the 200m IM (2:24.90), who also won a Silver in the 100m breaststroke. Other medal winners were 11 year old Spencer Prior, who won a Silver in the 200m backstroke and a Bronze in the 200m IM, 14 year old Ellie Tripp who won 2 Silver medals in the 200m IM and 100m breaststroke, 14 year old Emily Stephens, who won a Bronze in the 400m freestyle, and 14 year old Harrison Sadler, who won a Bronze in the 100m breaststroke with an outstanding PB. In the Championship Age Group tables, the following swimmers achieved a very creditable top 10 placing in Essex: 9 year old Jordan Glynos-Fernie (9th), 11 year old Spencer Prior (5th), 12 year olds Cameron Simpson (5th) and Philippa Davenall (7th), 14 year olds Ellie Tripp (7th) and Harrison Sadler (7th) and 16 year olds Heather Rodwell (4th) and Tom Vickers (7th). Other swimmers to achieve Top 6 places and points for the Club were: Martha Duley, Grace Sanderson, Tom Vickers, Charlie O'Connor, Matt Lemnell and Tom Rootsey. Swimmers that qualified and took part in the final weekend were Paige Young, Gemma Wass, Meg Boyden, Alice Insull, Chloe Rudkin, Jennifer Redmond, Dan Few, Joe Mackay, Isaac Aldridge, Cameron Bashir and Tim Tripp.
Essex Championships Block B at Southend - 12th/13th March Another large contingent of swimmers from Colchester Swimming Club headed back to Southend for the second weekend of the Essex ASA Age Group County Championships, showing once again the excellent progress being made under Joint Head Coaches Michelle Young and Ian Johnson. Colchester's young swimmers added another impressive 18 medals to their haul - 4 Gold, 9 Silver and 5 Bronze - taking their total to 39 with one more weekend of competition to go, consolidating Colchester SC's position as one of the top clubs in Essex. Michelle and Ian's "swimmer of the meet" was undoubtedly 11 year old Laura Stephens (pictured), who won an amazing 3 more Gold medals and a Silver, taking her to a personal haul of 8 medals so far and top spot in the county in the 11 years age group. Laura swam an incredible PB of 32.20 seconds to take Gold in the 50m butterfly, which was not only an Event Best Time, but the fastest time in the country this year in her age group. She then won Gold in the 200m freestyle in 2:22.12 and the 400m IM in 5:35.92, followed by a Silver in the 200m breaststroke, showing what a great all round competitor she is.
In the 12 years age group Philippa Davenall took her second Gold of the Championships in the 50m breaststroke in a time of 37.95 and added a well-deserved Silver in the 200m breaststroke. Dolly Trigg won a Silver in the 50m Breaststroke and a Bronze in the 800m freestyle. Young Jordan Glynos-Fernie took a deserved second Silver of the Championships with a great PB in the girls 9 years 50m butterfly, while Ellie Trip swam an impressive PB to take Silver in the 14 years 50m breaststroke. The boys added a further 8 medals for the Colchester team, with 14 year old Jarrod Bradfield adding a Silver medal to his collection with a PB in the 50m butterfly. In the same age group and final, Matt Lemnell pushed Jarrod hard, swimming a great PB to snatch a Bronze in the 50m butterfly. In the 11 years age group, Spencer Prior swam a super PB to take Silver in the very challenging 200m butterfly to take him to 4th spot in his age group in the county, while Arran Francis added two Bronze medals to his overall tally in the 400m IM and the 50m butterfly. The 12 years age group saw Cameron Simpson swim a great PB in the 100m IM to take another Silver and keep him in 3rd spot in his age group. 15 year old Charlie O'Connor took a deserved Bronze in the 50m freestyle, with 16 year old Tom Vickers taking a very impressive Silver in the last finals of the weekend in the 50m backstroke. Other top 6 spots in the girls events went to 12 year old Chloe Rudkin with a great PB in the 200m breaststroke, Emily Stephens with a 7 second PB in the 200m backstroke, Dolly Trigg in the 200m freestyle and 400m IM, and Jennifer Redmond with a PB in the 400m IM. Top 6 spots for the boys went to Spencer Prior in the 50m butterfly, 100m IM and 400m IM, 14 year old Harrison Sadler in the 100m IM, where he swam yet another great PB, Sonny Trigg in the 200m freestyle, Charlie O'Connor in the 50m breaststroke and Tim Tripp, who came home from university to swim a great PB in the 50m backstroke. Improving their personal bests were Isaac Aldridge in the 100 IM, Charlie O'Connor in the 50m freestyle, Harrison Sadler in the 400m IM, Jack Keane in the 50m butterfly, Ellie Duley in the 50m butterfly, and Tom Rootsey and Dan Few in the 200m freestyle. Other swimmers who qualified and competed this weekend were Joe Mackay, Grace Sanderson, Alex Carter and Alex Vipond. Commenting on the great weekend of swimming, Joint Head Coach Ian Johnson said, "We are having a fantastic Essex County Championships this year, with the swimmers really motivated to perform to their best, supporting their team-mates poolside and continuing the great form of the first weekend. With one weekend of competition to go I am sure we will see some more great performances from the whole team."
Essex Championships Block A at Southend - 19th/20th February A large team of 31 Colchester swimmers gained qualifying times and competed at the first weekend of the Essex ASA Age Group Championships at the new pool in Southend, collecting a staggering 10 Gold medals, 7 Silver medals and 4 Bronze medals as well as five Championship Best Times and a clutch of personal best times over the 2 days of competition. Young Arran Francis won 3 Gold medals in the Boys 11 years age group, winning the 50m freestyle in a Championship Best Time of 29.68 seconds, as well as Gold in the 50m backstroke and 200m breaststroke and a Bronze in the 50m breaststroke. In the Girls 11 years age group, Laura Stephens continued to show her pedigree with a Gold medal winning Championship Best Time of 33.61 seconds in the 50m backstroke, also taking Gold in the 50m freestyle, a Silver in the 100m IM, missing out on Gold by just 1/100th of a second, and swimming an aggressive last length to take a Bronze in the challenging 200m butterfly. An impressive 4 medals each for Arran and Laura! In the 12 years old age group, Philippa Davenall took a deserved Gold medal in the 100m IM in a time of 1:12.70, adding to her medal collection with a Bronze in the 50m freestyle, while Dolly Trigg took a Silver in the 50m backstroke and a Bronze in the 100m IM, and Cameron Simpson took an impressive Silver medal in the Boys 50m breaststroke final. The Boys 14 years age group saw some more great swims, with Jarrod Bradfield continuing his great form to win Gold in the 200m freestyle, in a national qualifying time and Championship Best Time of 1:59.26, and a Gold in the 50m freestyle in a Championship Best Time of 25.40 seconds. In the 50m backstroke final Jim Vickers dominated the final to win Gold in an impressive 29.29 seconds, with teammate Jarrod snatching a Silver medal to give Colchester a great one-two finish. In the older age groups, Heather Rodwell swam a Championship Best Time of 2:40.10 to take Gold in the Girls 16 years age group 200m breaststroke and added to her medal tally by taking Silver in the 200m freestyle. Sonny Trigg spotted the wall perfectly in the Boys 50m butterfly final to snatch the Silver medal from a Thurrock swimmer in an exciting close race. Swimming in her first County Championships, 9 year old Jordan Glynos-Fernie swam a superb 100m IM to take an impressive Silver medal, while 9 year old Harry Chatterton swam very well to qualify for the final of the Boys 50m backstroke, showing that Colchester has some great young talent for the future. The team spirit was evident all weekend, with all the swimmers demonstrating their competitiveness and pushing themselves to some impressive swims. 14 year olds Harrison Sadler and Matt Lemnell just missed out on medals despite both swimming superb PBs, with Harrison finishing in 4th in the 50m breaststroke final and Matt just touched out in the 50m freestyle final. Harrison also swam a great PB in the 200m breaststroke to take 6th place. There were also some great PBs for Chloe Rudkin in the 100m IM, Paige Young in the 50m freestyle, Jennifer Redmond in the 100m IM, and for Cameron Simpson, who took a staggering 33 seconds off his 1500m freestyle time. Other swimmers who competed were Grace Sanderson, Gemma Wass, Megan Boyden, Alice Insull, Martha Duley, Caitlin Sadler, Dan Few, Spencer Prior, Jack Keene, Thomas Illidge, James Buckingham, Damian Green, Isaac Aldridge, David Purser, Jamie Coles, Alex Vipond, Matt Davies, Tom Vickers, and Charlie O'Connor.
Joint Head Coaches Michelle Young and Ian Johnson were both poolside, encouraging their young swimmers to achieve their potential, and were delighted with the performance of all the swimmers over the weekend. Michelle commented, "We were competing against some big clubs such as Romford, Thurrock and Redbridge, but our swimmers showed how much they have improved this year and have a desire to win for themselves and for the Club. We have had our best start to the Championships for years and with some of our swimmers away on a school skiing trip this weekend, we can only get stronger over the next two weekends of the Championships."
Essex Mini League Round 1 at Halstead - 12th February Colchester Swimming Club made a great start in defence of their Essex Mini League title, with a convincing win in the opening fixture. The Colchester swimmers continued with the form that has seen them win the league for the last two years. Colchester used the Halstead pool as they were unable to host the event at their home pool. Brittany Lodge started the evening off with a first place in the 11yr 50m breaststroke and then Sam Reeves produced a first in the same event for the boys. There were a number of girls making their gala debut and the 9 yr team of Mia Nicholson, Beth Coiley, Millie Lancaster and Olivia Norman produced a great team effort to win the 4x25m Breaststroke. Bethany Adamson stepped into the team later on in the gala when a swimmer fell ill. Caitlin Sadler produced a 2 second personal best with an impressive time of 1:11:01 for the girls 13yr 100m freestyle. Taylor Young displayed great sportsmanship in the same event for the boys and was rewarded with a 1 second personal best with a fine time of 1:08:71. Taylor swam with Tim Kwok, Elliott Bennett and Tom Illidge in the 13yr 4x25m freestyle relay winning team. Tim was an impressive winner in the 13yr 50m butterfly. Ellie Duley in the 10 yr 50m breaststroke swam a personal best of 50.70 to gain first place. Jamie Coles also swam to victory in the same event. Sophie Marven swam to first place in the girls 10yr 50m freestyle with a personal best of 40.00. One of the top performers of the night was 10 year old Antoinne Massey swimming in his first gala, he swam to victory in the next age group up with a 4 second personal best in the 50m fly with a time of 43.48. He also swam an impressive leg in the 10yr 4x25m freestyle relay victory, along with Rory Bennett, David Purser and Jamie Coles. The girls 6x25m butterfly relay team of Olivia Norma, Ellie Duley, Martha Duley, Charlotte Marven, Lydia Pearman and Joanne Illidge were victorious. Martha swam a great personal best with a time of 44.55 in the 11yr 50m breaststroke. Tome Illidge swam a personal best in the 13yr 50m backstroke with a time of 37.22. Chloe Vincett-Miller swam a brilliant 100m freestyle, in the girls open to gain first place. Chris Kwok repeated the same feat in the boys open with a personal best of 1.04.06. Megan Adamson swam a personal best with a first place in the 10yr 25m butterfly and then with Martha Duley, Ella Dickinson and Brittany Lodge gained first place in the 11yr 4x25m freestyle relay. Lauren Richardson swam a personal best in the girls open 50m breaststroke with a great time of 42.57. Isaac Aldridge also swam an excellent personal best in the same event for the boys with a winning time of 38.27. Isaac also contributed with some very fast relay legs. The Colchester swimmers performed consistently throughout the evenings 48 races with plenty of impressive personal best times. They accumulated a good points total with 24 first places, 8 second places and 7 third places. The next round in
this competition for Colchester is on May 14th. 1st Round Placing & Points:
Sudbury Masters' Valentines Meet - 12th February With the youngsters leading the way in Essex County Championships, they were reminded by Colchester Swimming Club's growing Masters squad that competitive swimming can be a lifelong sport. The Masters swimmers achieved some great times and performances in their age categories at the Sudbury 16th Masters Valentines Sprint meet. Katie Higgon won four of her events, achieving winning times of 2:29.30 in the ladies 200m freestyle, 1:17.33 in the 100m IM, 30.85 seconds in the 50m freestyle and 38.35 in the 50m breaststroke. Katie rounded off an excellent weekend with two 2nd places in the 50m backstroke and the 50m butterfly. Christine Wakeling won her 50m freestyle, in a time of 47.93, and grabbed two 2nd place finishes in the 100m IM and the 50m breaststroke. Valerie Stannage continued the Colchester successes with three 2nd places in the 50m breaststroke, 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke, while Diana Hunt took two second places in the 200m freestyle and 50m backstroke and secured two 3rd places in the 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke. In the men's competition, Martin Cram took two 1st places with times of 46.56 seconds in the 50m breaststroke and 45.68 in the 50m butterfly. With three more great swims in the 200m freestyle, 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke Martin secured three more 2nd places for the Colchester team. Also competing in the men's event was Kenneth Dayman, who had some great swims in the 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly, 50m freestyle and 100m IM.
Honour for Michelle Congratulations to Michelle, who recieved a certificate of commendation in the "Coach of the Year" category at the Colchester Sports Awards on 7th February. She was one of only two coaches to recieve recognition from all those nominated and the Club is justifiably proud of her coaching achievements last year. In nominating Michelle for the award, Club Chairman Tony Bush said "Michelle has been joint chief coach of Colchester Swimming Club for the last three years, which have seen a period of significant improvement and the Club is currently enjoying its most successful period in its history. In 2010 Colchester SC gained its highest ever placing (6th place) in the Essex County Championships beating many larger London based clubs. Under her coaching over 60 children gained County Qualifying times, over 25 qualified for the Regional championships and 9 swimmers represented Colchester at the National Championships in Sheffield. A fantastic year of achievement for a local community focussed swimming club.
"Michelle, always keen to improve her own skills, is currently undertaking her level 3 coaching award which will make her one of the most qualified coaches in Essex. The knowledge and experience she is gaining is already proving beneficial, not only to the young swimmers but also to her team of coaches whom she mentors. Six of the more senior swimmers have been selected to represent their County, and one swimmer has been placed on the England talent development programme. As well as her excellent coaching, Michelle continues to drive the club forward with her enthusiasm, dedication and commitment, and gives as much attention to new young swimmers just joining the Club as she does to the National swimmers. She has the respect of all the swimmers and club members. I have no hesitation in recommending Michelle as Colchester Coach of the year as she is a fine ambassador for coaching, sport and Colchester." Jennifer Redmond, Ladies Captain, added "As one of the swimmers at Colchester S.C, I see firsthand the positive effect Michelle's support and encouragement has on the whole team. Individually, I have benefited from her praise after a good race and advice and guidance on how to improve when I have not performed at my best. In addition to the hours that Michelle contributes in regular training and competitions, her organisation of extra training sessions such as land training and long course training has been invaluable to many of the team's progression in the sport. Michelle creates a very positive 'can do' attitude within the club and I speak for all of the swimmers when I say that Michelle's constant enthusiasm and motivation inspires us to train hard, aim high, have fun and enjoy our swimming."
Hatfield Valentines Meet - 5th February This weekend saw a large contingent of swimmers from the rapidly improving Colchester Swimming Club travel to the University of Hertfordshire Sports Village to compete in the annual Hatfield Valentines Meet in preparation for the Essex County Championships, which start later this month. Once again the swimmers demonstrated the benefits of those early morning training sessions, achieving 9 Gold, 5 Silver and 4 bronze medals, with a staggering 48 personal bests and multiple qualifying times for the Regional Championships in May and June. Joint Head Coach, Michelle Young, commented, "There is no substitute for hard work, with some swimmers training up to 10 times a week, and it is fantastic to see swimmers across all age groups from 11 to 19, achieving Regional qualifying times and setting some great PBs, as well as competing with some of the best swimmers in the Region." The Gold medallists were Jarrod Bradfield, who took 4 gold and 2 bronze medals in the 13/14 years age group and in the 11/12 years age group, Laura Stephens, who took 2 golds in the 50m and 100m fly, Philippa Davenall (100, breaststroke), Matt Parsons (200m IM) and Cameron Simpson (100m breaststroke). Philippa also grabbed 2 silver medals in the 100m fly and 50m breaststroke, as did Jim Vickers who took silver in the 13/14 years 50m and 100m backstroke events, as well as a deserved bronze medal in the 50m free. Matt Lemnell took a silver in the 13/14 years 100m breaststroke and Dolly Trigg secured a bronze medal in the 11/12 years 200m IM. The swimmers achieving qualifying times for the East Regional Championships were: Jim Vickers, Matt Lemnell, Jarrod Bradfield, Jennifer Redmond, Emily Stephens, Philippa Davenall and Laura Stephens. There were also some great PBs for Chloe Rudkin, Alice Insull, Paige Young, Tim Kwok, Spencer Prior, Chris Kwok, Alex Vipond, Harrison Sadler, Sonny Trigg and Dan Few. A great effort all round!!
ASA Zonal Meet at Corby - 29th/30th January This weekend saw the inaugural Central Zone meet at the new Corby International 50m pool, with the top swimmers from 3 Regions - East, West Midlands and East Midlands - competing for medals and national qualifying times under the ASA's new competition plan to highlight swimmers with future potential. Seven swimmers from Colchester SC made the journey along the A14 to compete against some of the top swimmers in the country. The outstanding performance of the weekend came from rapidly improving 14 year old Ellie Tripp, who took a fantastic Gold medal in the girls 14 & U 100m breaststroke, with a national qualifying time of 1.17.47. This win came hot on the heels of a superb bronze medal in the 200m 14 & U breaststroke the day before.
In the 15 & Over age group, 16 year old Heather Rodwell qualified for 2 finals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke events and, swimming against some tough senior swimmers, set national qualifying times in both events. Heather also qualified for 2 other events, finishing 10th in the 200m freestyle and 27th in the 100m freestyle. The busiest swimmer of the weekend was 13 year old Emily Stephens, who qualified for no less than 8 events in the 14 & U category. Despite her hectic schedule, Emily finished a very creditable 15th in the 400m free, 16th in the 200m Fly, and also competed in the 400m IM, 200m IM, 100m free, 50m free, 200m free and100m back. 12 year old Dolly Trigg competed in 5 events in the 14 & U category: the 100m back, 200m back, 200m free, 200m IM and 400m IM. Other girls gaining experience of top level competition were 12 year old Philippa Davenall in the 14 & U 100m and 200m breaststroke and 11year old Laura Stephens, who also gained a great 19th place finish in the tough 200m 14 & U fly event. With Jim Vickers and Jarrod Bradfield invited to compete at the Euromeet in Luxembourg this weekend, where Jarrod set a national qualifying time in the 100m free, 15 year old Sonny Trigg was the only male Colchester swimmer at Corby, competing in both the 100m and 200m 16 & U fly events. Joint Head Coach Michelle Young was full of praise for Colchester's young swimmers, "We are all delighted for Ellie who thoroughly deserves her success, but I am really excited about the way all our young swimmers competed against the top swimmers from 3 regions. With the Essex County Championships approaching, they will learn from the experience and continue to improve throughout the rest of the season."
Sudbury Open Meet - 22nd/23rd January With swimmers looking to gain more experience of competitive swimming against swimmers from many clubs from across the East Region, Colchester Swimming Club took a large team of young swimmers to the Sudbury Open meet last weekend, where they grabbed 21 1st, 29 2nd, and 19 3rd places, and numerous outstanding PBs. In the boys events, the winning swimmers were Jamie Coles (4), Tim Kwok (3), David Purser (2), Sam Reeves (2), Jack Keane (2), Sam Firth, Alex Carter and Guy Harrison. Other top three places went to Chris Kwok, Kirin Yeung, Taylor Young and Matt Purser, while Kieren Collins, Alex Cole, Adam Buckingham and Alex Paterson all set some great PBs and James Buckingham also swam well. The girls also showed the great depth of talent in the younger squads, with Jordan Glynos-Fernie (3), Martha Duley, Ellie Duley, and Charlotte Marven all finishing in top spot. Other top three finishers were Gemma Wass, Helena Wright, Brittany Lodge, Charlotte Holt, and Phoebe Coles, with Cath Blacklock, Holly Jones, Jessica Riches, Beth Blacklock, Lizzy French, Ella Dickson, Caitlin Sadler, Megan Bettis, Jocelyn Edwards and Zoe Asbury also getting some great PBs. Coach Jeff Coles was delighted with the performance of the young team, "Our swimmers competed really well and enjoyed their swimming, and it is great to see the improvement and future potential of our less experienced swimmers".
National Arena Swimming League Round 3 at Watford - 11th December Colchester Swimming Club made the long journey to Watford on Saturday for the 3rd and final round of the National Arena Swimming League. Although depleted in numbers due to the absence of some key swimmers, the team were by no means depleted in spirit, as they competed against some tough teams to secure another year in Division 1 of the London League, finishing in a very creditable 4th place on 236 points. The young team achieved 6 first, 6 second and 9 third places, with every swimmer gaining points for the team.
The Essex county championship winning 11 and U girls relay team of Laura Stephens, Chloe Rudkin, Brittany Lodge and Martha Duley set the scene with stunning wins in both the medley and freestyle races, while the girls 13 & U team of Alice Insull, Pip Davenall, Emily and Laura Stephens took a well-deserved 2nd place in the medley relay. The boys played their part too, with the 13 & U team of Jim Vickers, Cameron Simpson, Matt Parsons and Arran Francis claiming 3rd place in both the freestyle and medley relays and the boys 15 & U team of Charlie O'Connor, Matt Lemnell, Harrison Sadler and Jarrod Bradfield taking 3rd place in the freestyle relay. Well done to Thierry Ajala, Martha Duley and Sam Reeves for stepping into the relay teams at the last minute. Cheered on by their teammates and supporters, there were some great individual swims too, gaining some invaluable points for the team. In the 11 & U age group, Laura Stephens dominated the 50m girls butterfly event to take 1st place in a stunning time of 32.91, while grabbing 2nd place in a tight finish in the backstroke. Chloe Rudkin took 1st place in the 50m breaststroke, leaving the field trailing behind her from the start with an excellent dive, and grabbed a great 3rd place on the touch in the 50m freestyle. Arran Francis hung on for 1st place in the boys 50m backstroke and then secured 2nd in the 50m freestyle. Jim Vickers led the way on the 13 & U age group with another great win in the 100m backstroke and a 2nd place in the 100m freestyle. There were great swims too from Pip Davenall and Cameron Simpson in the 13 & U 100m breaststroke events with both young swimmers grabbing 3rd spots. In the 15 & U category, Jarrod Bradfield took second in the boys 100m freestyle with a great time of 56.16, while Ellie Tripp fought back to take 2nd in the 100m breaststroke and swam a great PB in the 100m freestyle in 3rd spot. Harrison Sadler swam a PB of 1.15.23 to take 3rd place in the 100m breaststroke, while Jim Vickers popped up again in the boys 15 & U age group to take another top 3 spot in the 100m backstroke. There were also some great swims from Meg Boyden, Dan Few, Sarah Purnell, Jennifer Redmond, Tom Vickers and the tireless Emily Stephens. Joint Head Coach Michelle Young commented, "The team were a credit to Colchester, with some of the younger swimmers competing in extra events in older age groups to cover the gaps, and we had some fantastic swims and PBs to finish the year strongly. The swimmers have gained experience racing in the Arena League against swimmers from some top London clubs, and I am looking forward to seeing some great performances in 2011."
50m Sprints 2010 - Press report Saturday saw the final stage of this year's Club Championships, as swimmers competed in the annual 50m Sprint Championships at Colchester Leisureworld. To be eligible for a medal place, swimmers had to win points by racing all four strokes and the 100m IM, with gold and silver awarded to the top 2 swimmers in each age group and bronze medals going to all the other swimmers who completed the sprint challenge. In the 12 and under category, Dolly Trigg held off the challenge of 11 year old Laura Stephens, while Cameron Simpson took gold in the boys' event, beating Arran Francis by just 1 point! In the 13/14 category, Ellie Tripp edged out the younger Emily Stephens to take Gold, while the boys event was again close with Jarrod Bradfield taking gold and Matt Lemnell only 2 points behind to take silver. Ellie also again showed her class in the breaststroke, with the 14 year old setting a new Club record for the 50m breaststroke sprint in 36.87 seconds. In the 15 and over age group Jennifer Redmond dominated to take Gold, with Paige Young taking a deserved silver, while the older boys competition was the closest of the night with a tie for Gold between Robert Ewbank and Sonny Trigg who both won 20 points! To round off the evening's competition the parents, officials and spectators were treated to the exciting boys and girls "Skins" events, with the fastest 6 freestyle swimmers of any age racing 50m every 2 minutes, with the slowest swimmer eliminated in each of the 4 rounds, before the exhausted finalists raced head to head to decide the "Skins Champion". With the crowd cheering loudly, the 6 girls, Laura and Emily Stephens, Dolly Trigg, Jennifer Redmond, Paige Young, and Ellie Tripp, pushed themselves to the limit of their endurance and speed, until Ellie Tripp beat Emily Stephens in the final to take the girls' trophy. The boys' competition saw some amazingly close finishes between Robert Ewbank, Sonny Trigg, Dan Few, Charlie O'Connor, Matt Lemnell and Jarrod Bradfield, until 19 year old veteran Club Captain Dan Few took on the challenge of racing 14 year old national silver medallist Jarrod Bradfield in the final, with Jarrod saving enough in the tank to see off Dan and take the trophy. Well done to all the swimmers who took part in a very tough and exciting night's competition.
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