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June 2010 |
The Great East Swim at Alton Water - 19th June ,2014 swimmers turned up at Alton Water, Ipswich for The Great East Swim, this is an imperial mile swim in the lake. This year saw a turn in the weather and only the first two heats swam that distance. The next two heats swam 1500m and all the afternoon swimmers swam 1100m, this is reflected in the unusually fast times on the website. Colchester Swimming Club had three swimmers there, two of which were in the mauve wave for under 25minutes; they were Tom Rootsey (19) and Sonny Trigg (14). Dolly Trigg (12) was also there swimming in the newly introduced 500m swim for the younger swimmers. The 3 representatives of the club swam impressively on the day, even in the tough conditions, it even hailed at the start of Tom and Sonny's race. Tom was first out of the water in their wave and fastest in the 1500m groups in a time of 19:18, winning by a clear margin of 34secs. Sonny was 8th out of the water in the same heat in a time of 20.53. As for Dolly in the 500m race, she swam against eighteen other swimmers of all ages, she was 2nd out of the water in an excellent time of 7mins 57secs, not bad for her first open water race.
Essex Mini League Round 4 at Witham - 12th June Colchester Swimming Club maintained their great form to produce a string of magnificent results in round four of The Essex Mini League at Witham on Saturday 12th June. Considering it was England's first game in the World Cup, there was still a good turn out of swimmers and supporters. Over the evenings forty eight races Colchester finished outside the top three on only seven occasions this was to be an impressive haul of points to add to the previous three rounds scores. This puts Colchester in a commanding position, with one just round remaining for the club, to retain their title. The area that the swimmers excelled was in the relay events, of the sixteen relay events Colchester managed fourteen first places, the girls 9yr team of Sophie Lo, Megan Adamson, Jordan Glynos-Fernie and Ellie Duley achieved firsts in 4 x 25m breaststroke and then in 4 x 25m freestyle, the boys team of Hayden Cowan, Kirin Yeung, Rory Bennett and Jamie Coles duplicated the girls in the same categories with fine victories. More wins came in the girls and boys open 4 x 2 x 25m freestyle relay that has a slightly different format where each swimmer swims two legs, for the girls Chloe Vincett-Miller, Sophie Ramsdale, Lauren Richardson and Helena Wright and for the boys Guy Harrison, Chris Kwok, Joe Mackinder and Alex Carter, Chris also performed impressively in the boys open 100m freestyle with a great time of 1:06:95. The girls 6 x 25m butterfly team of Ellie Duley, Hannah Vickers, Martha Duley, Lydia Pearmain, Chloe Vincett-Miller and Lauren Richardson came home with a victory, two of the girls went on to win individual races, Hannah 10yr 25m butterfly and Martha 11yr 50m breaststroke. There was a great unity amongst the relay teams and they continued to dominate during the evening, the girls and boys 11yr 4 x 25m relay teams of Gemma Loftus, Martha Duley, Megan Adamson and Charlotte McDonnell and then Alex Cole, Tom Lo, Sam Mackinder and James Buckingham swam to first place. The girls 6 x 25 breaststroke teams of Sophie Lo, Elsie Phelan, Charlotte McDonnell, Helena Wright, Lauren Richardson and Sophie Ramsdale came home in first place as did the boys team of Jamie Coles, Sam Reeves, Tom Lo, Jack Urwin, Chris Kwok and Guy Harrison. A couple of the boys in the team also triumphed in their individual events, Sam in 10yr 50m backstroke and Jack in 13yr 50m breaststroke. The girl's 13yr team of Sarah Bird, Joy Huggins, Helena Wright and Lydia Pearmain swam an excellent 1:02:31 in the 4 x 25 freestyle relay, the same event, the boys Ruari Phelen, Alex Cole, Jack Gallagher and Jack Urwin also romped to victory with an impressive time of 59:95,. Jack Gallagher swam to victory in 13yr 50m butterfly. Sam Reeves, David Turner, Ben Bouckley and Jamie Coles came first in their 4 x 25 freestyle relay. The excellent relay results were backed up with a great scoop of nine second places, among them was Chloe Vincett-Miller, who swam a great 36:20 in her open 50m backstroke. There were also twelve third places. Colchester have their remaining fixture at Halstead in July but will have to wait until the final round of fixtures are completed in October to find out if they have done enough to retain their title. Round 4 Final Placings: 1st Colchester 178 points, 2nd Witham 144 points, 3rd Maldon 132 points, 4th Hornchurch 110 points, 5th Clacton 103 points.
East Region BAGCAT Swimming Championships at UEA - 5th/6th & 12th/13th June Colchester had great success at the 2010 regional championships swum over the first two weekends of June in Norwich. These events are for competitors aged under 14yrs who have gained very tough qualifying times and race against swimmers from a large area. To swim at these championships is a major accomplishment and to reach a final is a real triumph. The club are celebrating 2 regional champions; Ellie Tripp swam superbly to take the title in the 200m Breast with her national qualifying time, she also won silver in the 100m Breast and reached the finals of the 200m Individual Medley & 100m Free coming 7th in both. Philippa Davenall swam brilliantly to win the final and take her title in the 100m Breast as well as reaching the final of the 200m Breast. Silver and bronze medallists were: Regional finalists were: Spencer Prior, Charlie O'Connor and Harrison Sadler represented Colchester by qualifying and swimming at these Championships. Sadler was competing for the first time in a 50m pool and started extremely well by swimming in the ever exciting relay events. He swam in the Boys 4 x 200m Free Relay team who finished in a brilliant 5th place; teammates were Jim Vickers, Jarrod Bradfield and Sonny Trigg. O'Connor swam with the latter 3 boys to make up an awesome team in the 4 x 100m Free Relay who finished in a magnificent 3rd place. Matthew Lemnell joined the same 3 boys to swim in the 4 x 100m Medley Relay taking a superb 5th position.
National Junior Speedo League 2 at Grays - 23rd May Colchester Swimming Club took a coach full of swimmers and supporters to Blackshots Leisure Centre in Grays for the second round of the National Swimming League. It was to be a tough fixture with two strong clubs Camden and Thurrock competing, making up the other places were Halstead and Rochford. Colchester's first victory did not come until the eighth event and it was the 11yr boys freestyle relay team of James Buckingham, Spencer Prior, Tim Kwok with an impressive final leg from Cameron Simpson just edging out the Camden team. The same team were successful later on in the medley relay with Tim battling hard in the final leg to pip Camden again. Despite going under the minute with a time of 59.28 the girls team of Laura Stephens, Chloe Rudkins, Lucy Coates and Phillipa Davenall were just beaten into second place in their freestyle relay. However the same quartet went one better in the medley relay, swimming strongly in taking first place, in particular was Chloe's final leg. Phillipa was in superb form throughout and in both of her individual events of the 11yr 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke notched up fine victories. Cameron Simpson also having a good afternoon came first in the 11yr 50m breaststroke. Dolly Trigg lead from start to finish with an impressive personal best time of 35.27 in the 12yr 50m backstroke. Colchester managed seven first places, backed up with eight second places, among those were Elinor Duley 9yr swam a gritty 25m butterfly. Spencer Prior continued with good form in the 11yr 50m backstroke and 50m butterfly, Laura Stephens also in the same events for the girls, but in addition claimed a one second personal best in the backstroke with a 36.24. Colchester took seven third places, Megan Adamson 9yr had a personal best of 18.54 in the 25m freestyle as did Brittany Lodge 10yr in the 50m breaststroke with a time of 46.42, Tim Kwok 11yr also improved his personal best slightly in the 50m freestyle with a time of 33.21. The nine year old boys medley relay team of David Purser, Harry Chatterton, Kirin Yeung and Jamie Coles took a well earned third place, as did the twelve year old freestyle team of Matt Parsons, James Buckingham, Sam Watkins and Tom Illidge. Sam also grabbed a personal best in the 50m backstroke with 38.10. Alice Insull 12yr achieved two personal bests, the first in 50m butterfly in 35.23 and then in the 50m freestyle in 32.35. As predicted it was a close fought affair between Camden and Thurrock, with Camden edging it by just twelve points, Colchester with some solid performances came a pleasing third. The changeovers in the relays were a positive improvement. Round 2 final positions: 1st Camden 206 points, 2nd Thurrock 194 points, 3rd Colchester 136.5 points, 4th Halstead 102 points, 5th Rochford 90.5 points.
West Suffolk Open Meet at Bury St Edmunds - 8th/9th May Swimmers from Colchester Swimming Club swam against the clock at the recent West Suffolk Open Meet in Bury St Edmund's. There were some excellent performances with a huge percentage of entry times beaten, some by a massive margin. For younger members of the club it was one of the last chances to achieve precious East Region times. Medals were awarded to the top 3 in each age group in each event. 13yr old Matthew Lemnell continued recent good form: he won 4 races, the 50, 100 & 200m Butterfly (Fly) and the 100m Freestyle (Free) taking his time to under I minute in this event. He also took 2nd place in the 100 & 200m Breaststroke (Breast), the 200m Free & Individual Medley (IM). 16yr old Sarah Larner carried on her recent success by winning the 100m Fly & Free in her age group, as well as coming 2nd in the 50m Free, 200m Fly and the 100 & 200m Backstroke (Back). 14yr old Charlie O'Connor enjoyed victories in the 50m Fly & Back and 17yr old Tim Tripp took two victories in the 100m Breast & 200m IM. Youngster 11yr old Dolly Trigg swam tenaciously to victory in the 200m IM & Back while teammate 10yr old Spencer Prior won the 200m Fly and took 2nd position in the 200m IM & Back. 13yr old Megan Boyden was delighted to take 1st place in the 50m Fly and 2nd in the 200m Fly and 11yr old Cameron Simpson took home 3 silver medals in the 50m Fly & Back and the 200m IM with the addition of a bronze in the 200m Back. 14yr old Sonny Trigg won 2nd place medals in the 100m Back & 200m IM and took away 3rd place medals in the 100m Breast & 200m Fly, younger member 10yr old Laura Stephens gained 2 silver and a bronze medal in the 200m Fly & Free and the 200m Breast respectively. 11yr old Philippa Davenall came 2nd in the 100m Fly & 200m Breast and 3rd in the 100m Breast while 14yr old Paige Young won silver in the 100m Breast. 12yr Alice Insull won silver in the 50m Back and colleagues 13yr old Guy Harrison and 14yr old Harrison Sadler both won silver medals in the 50m Breast in the respective age groups. 17yr old Simon Vipond took 2nd position in the 100m Breast and newcomer to the club, 16yr old Jennifer Redmond, came 3rd in the 100m Fly & 200m Back. 9yr old Hayden Cowan and new member 11yr old Chloe Rudkin took home bronze medals in the 50m Fly and 200m Breast respectively. Many personal best times were beaten over the weekend, some by huge margins: Some of those achieving this were Lydia Pearmain, Tim Kwok, Emily Stephens, Christopher Kwok,
Karl Roberts, Grace Sanderson, Charlotte Marven, Matthew Parsons and Damien Green. Younger members of the club, fairly new to competing swam extremely well with some very
good times were Brittany Lodge, Holly Jones, Caitlin Sadler and Charlotte McDonnell. Essex County ASA Masters at Grays - 8th May Well done to everyone who competed this year. There were some great swims from everyone and we have three age group champions: Val Standage, Chris Wakeling and Katie Higgon who completed eleven individual swims to come second in the overall ladies championship. Colchester Ladies team also attained second in the county. Thirty teams competed and in the overall county championships as a club we did slip back one place to fourth this year. Despite fielding a team half the size this year over last due to commitments and injuries however we only allowed Thurrock to sneak into third spot by 3 points!
Essex Mini League Round 3 at Dunmow - 8th May Colchester Swimming Club notched up their third victory in The Essex Mini League at Great Dunmow on Saturday evening. This was an outstanding result considering that the squad was slightly depleted of its regular league squad members due to swimmers competing at another event. The clubs competing on the night were Colchester, Harwich, Romford, Saffron Walden and Dunmow being the host club. In particular Romford had brought along a strong squad of swimmers, so it looked to be a tough test. The venue was compact creating an excellent atmosphere, there were high expectations of the Colchester swimmers as Colchester are the current title holders. Gemma Loftus got Colchester off to the best possible start with victory in 50m backstroke in a time of 40.95. During the first ten races Colchester swimmers were never out of the first three places in some tough races. Then there was a run of three first places in the 50m breastroke, David Turner 10yr in a time of 56.87, Charlotte Macdonald 11yr in a great time of 56.63 and Sam Mackinder 11yr in a time of 48.06. There were then two big relay events were each swimmer swims two legs, first the girls team of Joanne Illidge, Sophie Ramsdale, Lauren Richardson and Chloe Vincent-Miller tussled for second place as did the boys team of Joe Mackinder, Guy Harrison, Matt Davies and Chris Kwok. After a third of the programme completed Colchester were in first place, just ahead of Romford The Colchester swimmers went from strength to strength with a string of first places Sophie Marvin in the 10yr 50 freestyle in a time of 40.10, Jack Urwin in the 13yr 50m breaststroke, Ruari Phelan in the 13yr 50m backstroke in a time 37.27. One of the performances of the night came from Chloe Vincent-Miller in the girls open 100m freestyle in a great time of 1.09.72, another one was from Sophie Ramsdale in the girls open 50m breaststroke in 42.07. All of the girls relay teams played a big part with their seven races, they added plenty of points as they never finished out of the top two places. The boys relay teams were a bit less fortunate as there were a couple of badly timed changeovers resulting in a two disqualifications, apart from those they still managed a first place,4 second places and a third place. Ben Bouckley taking part in his first gala came second twice, firstly in his individual race 10yr 50m freestyle in 41.13, then in the relay team with Sam Reeves, David Purser and David Turner in the last race of the evening. Colchester maintained their position throughout and at end of the evening the swimmers efforts were rewarded with the overall victory and with the addition of a great point's total, which goes towards the final league placings at the end of the season. It would be great to mention that every swimmer contributed to this brilliant result. This was an impressive display, as out of a total of forty eight races, Colchester finished outside the top three on only six occasions. Colchester are in a strong position and hopefully they can maintain this form over their two remaining league meetings, over the next two months. However it will be a nervous wait though, as there will be other clubs completing their last league fixture is in October. Points standings from Round 3: Colchester 181 points, Romford 167 points, Harwich 131 points, Dunmow 121 points, Saffron Waldon 66 points.
ASA East Region Youth Championships at UEA - 1st/3rd May The ASA East Region Youth Swimming Championships 2010 were held in Norwich over the May Day Bank holiday weekend. Colchester Swimming Club was represented by 9 swimmers and the club congratulate all of them on competing over this weekend. To qualify for this competition is a huge achievement and a reflection of the commitment these youngsters have to their sport, they have worked hard to gain entry with what are extremely tough qualifying times. They were competing against very tough competition from counties included in the large East Region area. All swimmers swam brilliantly, many excellent times were swum in the challenging 50m pool and Colchester had swimmers finding fantastic form to reach finals and therefore take a place in the top 8 in the county. 20 yr old Thomas Rootsey reached the final of 4 out of 5 of his events: coming 3rd in the 200m Backstroke (Back), 4th in the 100m Back, 6th in the 50m Back and 8th in the 100m Butterfly (Fly) and also swam the heat of the 100m Freestyle (Free). 15yr old Cameron Bashir swam 6 events; taking 6th place in both the 400m Individual Medley and the gruelling 1500m Free, his other heat swims were the 50 & 400m Free, the 200m IM and the 200m Breaststroke (Breast). 17yr old Tim Tripp reached the finals of the 100 & 200m Back coming 7th in both; he also swam in the heats of the 50 & 100m Free. 16yr old Sarah Larner took 6th place in the final of the 50m Fly and swam in the heats of the 100m Fly, the 50 & 100m Free and the 100& 200m Back. 15yr old Tom Vickers swam in the final of the 50m Back taking 5th position and swam the heats of the 50m Fly and the 100m Back. 18yr old Joe Mackay swam the heats of the 50m Breast & Free. 16yr old Luke Heptonstall swam heats in the 50m Free & Breast. 15yr old Gemma Wass swam in the 50m Free and 15yr old Grace Sanderson swam in the 100m Free.
National Junior Speedo League 1 at Waltham Forest - 25th April Colchester Swimming Club took a coach full of swimmers, parents and organisers to Waltham Forest Pool for the first round of the National Swimming League, Colchester had the responsibility of being the host club for this event, so there was plenty of work to undertake. The format for this league is a total of forty nine races of different strokes over 25metres and 50metres and 17 relay events. The other clubs involved were Kingston Royals, Chelmsford, Halstead, Greenwich Borough Mariners and Griffin from Enfield. Colchester managed six first places, among those were Dolly Trigg in the 50m breast with a great time of 41:32, Chloe Rudkin also in the 50m breast in a pleasing time of 41:48, Laura Stevens gained a personal best in the 50m butterfly in a brilliant time of 34:54, these girls also swam well in their other events, including the relays. The boys equalled the girls with first places, Spencer Prior swam a personal best in the 50m butterfly in a wonderful time of 35:01, Cameron Simpson had a comfortable win in the 50m breast in a time of 41:61, both boys with the addition of Tim Kwok and James Buckingham swam to victory in the medley relay. Colchester backed up these results with a good haul of eleven second places, these included a good performance from the 9 year old girls in the medley relay of Jordan Glynos-Fernie, Sophie Lo, Ellie Dulley and Megan Adamson. There were a further nine third places to add to the Colchester tally, but unfortunately this would not be enough to catch the runaway winners of Kingston Royals, but it was still a pleasing result, enough to gain Colchester second place. Final Placing: Kingston Royals 253, Colchester 176, Chelmsford 157, Halstead 152, Greenwich Borough Mariners 139, Griffin 137.
Halstead Open Meet at Braintree - 18th April Colchester Swimming Club had huge success at the Halstead Open Meet held at Braintree pool on the 18th April. Medals were awarded to the top 6 places in each age group which meant a vast range of swimmers in many different events were rewarded for their hard work. 13yr old Matthew Lemnell swam superbly to win the overall Top Boy competition; he won 6 out of his 10 races, his victory in the 100m Individual Medley (IM) was 5secs faster than the 2nd place swimmer whilst he won the 100m Butterfly (Fly) by a huge 7second margin, his other victories were in the 50 & 100m Breast, 50m Fly and the 200m IM. He also came 2nd in the 50 & 100m Backstroke (Back) and 3rd in the 50 & 100m Freestyle (Free). Colchester dominated the Top Boy category with 7 boys being placed in the top 10; Lemnell 1st, Charlie O'Connor came 3rd whilst Jim Vickers, Timothy Kwok, Cameron Bashir, Spencer Prior and Matthew Parsons took positions 5th -9th respectively. 14yr old O'Connor won gold in 5 of his 8 races; 50 & 100m Breaststroke (Breast), 50 & 100m Free and the 100 IM, he took silver for the 50m Back and bronze in the 50m Fly and 200m IM. 13yr old Vickers won his 50 & 100m Back and 50m Free races and came 2nd in the 50 &100m Breast, the 50m Fly and 100m Free. 11yr old Timothy Kwok won his 50m Free race, came 2nd in the 50 &100m Fly and the 100 & 200m IM, 3rd in the 100m Free & Breast and 4th in the 50m Breast. 15yr old Cameron Bashir took 1st place in 4 out of 7 races, the 50m Free, 100m Breast, 200m IM and in the 100m IM he won by a brilliant 5secs. He took 2nd place in the 200m Free, 3rd in the 50m Breast and 4th in the 50m Fly. 10yr old Spencer Prior won a fantastic 5 out of his 6 events, the 50 &100m Fly, the 100m Breast & Free and the 200m IM and took 2nd in the 50m Free. 12yr old Matthew Parsons swam some nail biting races; he swam to victory in the 100m Fly in a very close finish, he also won the 100m Breast & 200m IM. He took silver in the 100m Free & Back and also in the 100m IM, again in a very exciting finish involving the top 3 swimmers. In the Top Girl competition Sarah Larner enjoyed success coming 3rd and Paige Young was delighted to take 6th place. 16yr old Larner continued recent fantastic form to win all 7 of her races; the 50m Free, Fly and Back, and the 100m Free, Fly, Back and IM. 14yr old Young found great form to win the 100m Free, Breast and IM, came 2nd in the 50m Breast, 3rd in the 50m Fly, 5th in the 50m Back & Free. On top of these she had a convincing victory to take gold in the 200m IM. Colchester dominated the top 6 in this event in this age group with Young's victory and Katharine Insull, Lauren Richardson and Sophie Ramsdale coming 3rd, 4th & 5th respectively. The latter 3 girls also finished in the top 6 in three other events each, therefore winning medals. Also in this age group results were: Sonny Trigg: 1st 200m IM, 2nd 50m Fly &100m Back; Christopher Kwok: 2nd 50 & 100m Breast, 4th 100m Free & Fly & 200m IM and 5th 50m Free; Joseph Mackinder: 3rd 50m Back & 100m Free, 4th 50m Fly & Free and 5th 100m IM; Joanne Illidge: 3rd in the 100m Breast and Molly Huggins 6th in the 100m Breast. Results in other age groups were: 9yrs- Megan Adamson: 6th 200m IM and Kirin Yeung: 3rd 50m Fly & 6th 50m Back. 10yrs- Laura Stephens maintaining recent brilliant form won the 100m Fly by a phenomenal 15secs and swam to victory in the 100m Free by a margin of 8secs. She also won the 100m Back and came 2nd in the 100m Breast. Arran Francis: took a well deserved gold in the 50m Free. Samuel Reeves: 2nd 100m Fly and IM, 4th 100m Free & 5th 100m Breast. Sophie Marven; 3rd in the 100m Fly & David Turner 4th in the 50m fly. 11yrs- Dolly Trigg: 2 great 1st places in the 100m IM and Back and 2nd 100m Free. Chloe Rudkin: a well swum 1st place in the 100m Breast, 2nd 200m IM, 4th 100m Free and 100m IM. James Buckingham: 2nd 50m Back, 2nd 50m Free. Charlotte McDonnell: 4th 50m Breast & 200m IM , 6th 100m Breast. Lewis Ward: 4th 100m Fly and 200m IM, 5th 100m Back & 100m IM. Alexander Cole: 4th 50m Back and Gemma Loftus: 4th 50m Free. Thomas Lo: 5th 50 & 100m Breast. Phoebe Coles: 5th 200 IM, 6th 50m Fly &100m IM. 12yrs- Alex Carter: 2nd 100m Fly, 3rd !00m Breast & IM, 4th 50m Free. K-J Watts: 3rd Fly. Charlotte Marven: 2nd 100m Fly, 5th 200m IM. Lydia Pearmain: 4th 50m Back,5th 50m Fly & 100m IM and Back. Samuel Watkins: 4th 100m Fly, 50m Back & 200m IM & 6th 50m Fly. Thomas Illidge: 5th 50m Back, 100m Fly & IM. Helena Wright: 5th 50m Free. Charlotte Holt: 5th 50m Breast and 6th 200m IM. 13yrs- Ellie Tripp and Megan Boyden had a very exciting finish in the 100m Fly with Tripp just taking 1st position. Boyden took 2nd in that race but swam to victory in the 50m Fly, came 3rd in the 100m Free and came 6th in the 100m IM. Jarrod Bradfield took gold in the 100m Free in a very close finish with team mate Jim Vickers. Danielle Hall: 3rd 100m Fly, Breast and 200m IM, 4th 100m Free and 6th 50m Breast. Damien Green: 2nd 200 IM, 3rd 100m IM, 4th 100m Back and 6th 100m Free. Guy Harrison: 4th in the 100 & 200m IM and 50 & 100m Breast. Taylor Young: 4th 100m Back. Emily Stephens: 4th 200m IM, 5th 100m Fly, Back & Breast. Jack Urwin: 6th 50m Breast and 100m Back. 15yrs- Tom Vickers produced some excellent swims, winning the 50 & 100m back, he won the 100m Fly race by a massive 13secs and also came 2nd in the 50m Fly. Gemma Wass: took gold in the 50m Back, 2nd in the 50m Fly & 3rd 50m Free. L-J Watts: 2nd 100m Back, 3rd 50m Breast and 4th 50m Fly. 16yrs/over- Robert Ewbank: swam very well to take 1st place in the 50m Back and 2nd in the 50m Free. Jordan Jago:2nd 50 & 100m Fly, 3rd 50 & 100m Free and 6th 50m Back. Tim Tripp: 3rd 100m Fly. Matthew Davies: 2nd 100m IM, 5th 50m Breast & Fly. Kenneth Dayman:4th 50 & 100m Back & 50m Fly and 5th 100m Fly. Luke Heptonstall: 4th 50 & 100m Breast. Karl Roberts: 5th 50m Back and 6th 50m Free.
Norwich Easter Meet - 2nd/3rd/4th April Easter weekend proved busy for a handful of members of Colchester Swimming Club; they were competing in the Norwich Open Meet. This competition is very demanding as it is held in a 50m pool, it is a challenge for the youngsters but also a great opportunity to experience long course racing. There were many excellent swims with personal best times beaten, East Regional times achieved and some National qualifying times were narrowly missed except for one swimmer, Jim Vickers, who swam with determination to gain a fantastic national time. The club are now proud to have 3 national qualifying swimmers. Awards were given to the top three in mixed age group categories; 9/10yrs, 11/12yrs, 13/14yrs and 15yrs & over, a tough situation for the younger swimmers in the age groups so to reach a final in this competition was a huge achievement. 13yr old Jim Vickers gained his national time in the heat of the 100m Backstroke (Back) in a brilliant time of 1:06.60secs, he qualified for the final taking 6th position. Through the course of the weekend he came 2nd in the 50m Back, 5th in 50m Freestyle (Free), 6th in 200m Butterfly (Fly), 7th in 200m Free, 8th in 200m Back and 8th & 9th in the gruelling 1500 & 800m Free respectively, some fine swimming. 10yr old Laura Stephens was on great form, taking a gold medal in the 50m Fly, silver in the 200m Back, the 50 & 200m Free and bronze in the 50m Back. 10yr old Arran Francis continued recent superb form and won the 50m Back, came 2nd in the 50m Free & Fly whilst coming 5th in the 200m Free. 10yr old Spencer Prior took 2nd place in the 200m Back & Individual Medley (IM), 3rd in the 50m Fly, 6th in the 50m Breaststroke (Breast) & 200m Free and 7th in the 200m Breast. 13yr old Ellie Tripp swam very well to take 2nd place in the 100m Breast final, took 5th in the 200m Breast and 6th in the 200m IM. In the same age group Sonny Trigg swam strongly to take bronze in the 100m Fly, 4th in 50m Fly, 5th in 50m Breast and 10th in the very demanding 1500m Free. 11yr old Dolly Trigg came an excellent 3rd in the 50m Back. 19yr old Sargon Youssefi made the finals of 3 races and came 4th in the 50m Fly & Breast and 5th in the 50m Free. 13yr old Matthew Lemnell found great form to come 6th in the 50m Breast and 7th in the 50m fly & 100m Breast. 16yr old Sarah Larner reached the final of the 100m Fly coming a brilliant 6th; she also came 8th in the 100m Back. 11yr old Cameron Simpson took 6th position in the final of the 100m Breast whilst 10yr old Martha Duley took 7th place in the finals of both the 50m Free & Back. Tim Tripp, Alice Insull, Grace Sanderson, Emily Stephens, Tom Vickers and Matthew Parsons all swam extremely well against fierce competition gaining valuable experience in the 50m pool.
Essex Championships Block D - 27th/28th March Colchester Swimming Club has finished in the highest position ever in the Essex County Championships; they were 6th out of 26 clubs in the top club competition, a reflection of the high level of performance by the young members of the club over the 4 weekends of competition. The last weekend of March saw Colchester gain 6 Essex County champions: Newcomer 13yr old Jarrod Bradfield won the 50m Freestyle (Free) with an event best time of 26.36secs, he was on great form to achieve a superb National Qualifying time in the 200m Free coming 2nd and he came 4th in the 400 Free. 13yr old Ellie Tripp continued her recent fine form to take the County titles in the 100m Free and Breaststroke (Breast). 10yr old Arran Francis added to his haul of awards with 2 more County titles; the 200m Backstroke (Back) and the 200m Individual Medley (IM), he came a brilliant 2nd in the gruelling 400m IM. 11yr old Cameron Simpson found excellent form to take victory in the 50m Breast after swimming a fantastic best event time of 38.79secs in the heat. He came joint 3rd in the 200m IM and 4th in the 200m Breast. Also in the 11yr old age, Spencer Prior enjoyed a splendid victory in the very demanding 400m IM; he also took a haul of other awards: 2nd in the 200m IM and Back and 5th in the 200m Breast. Team mate Philippa Davenall, in the same age group, maintained her consistent level of performance becoming Essex champion in the 100m Breast, she also came 3rd in the 100m Free and 5th in the 100m Butterfly (Fly). The club had a huge number of competitors racing in Block D, all swimming their very best, many achieving personal best times and precious East Regional times. Many youngsters were cheered on in finals meaning they finished in the top 6 in the County: 19yr old Tom Rootsey came 3rd in the 200m Free, 4th in the 100m IM, 5th in the 200m IM & Back and 6th in the 100m Fly & Free. 13yr old Jim Vickers came 2nd in the 100m Back, 4th in the 50m & 200m Free and 6th in the 400m Free. 16yr old Sarah Larner came 4th in the 100 & 400m Free and the 200m IM and was 5th in the 400m IM. Young 10yr old Laura Stephens took three 2nd places, in the 200m Fly & IM and the 400m Free. 11yr old Dolly Trigg won two bronze medals in the 400m IM and the 100m Breast. 13yr old Matthew Lemnell took 5th in the 200m Fly and 6th in the 200m Breast. 13yr old Harrison Sadler came 5th in the 50m Breast and Megan Boyden, in the same age group, came 6th in the 200m Fly. Other swimmers qualifying and swimming for Colchester were: Tom Vickers, Danielle Hall, Guy Harrison, Sonny Trigg, Timothy Kwok, Gemma Wass, Grace Sanderson, Oliver Crosby, Daniel Few, Tim Tripp, Luke Heptonstall and newcomer Chloe Rudkin.
Water polo vs Basildon - 23rd March Colchester saved one of their best performances for the end of the season with a comprehensive victory over a strong Basildon team. The first quarter started brightly for Colchester as their immediate pressure led to an early expulsion for the Basildon defender. Capitalising on the man advantage the in form Duncan Lowe scored following a good interchange of passes. This immediately put Basildon on the back foot and further goals from Martin Vinter and Eddie Corcos saw Colchester ease into a 3-0 lead.
The second quarter continued in the same vain, Colchester's pressure led to mistakes from Basildon and Lowe was now terrorising the Basildon defence. He was able to help himself to 2 further goals and captain Simon Lecomber also joined in the scoring. Colchester's free scoring was mainly due to the fact that their defence was so solid. Jimmy Lang in goal producing several notable saves when Basildon were able to get the chance to shoot. David Nicholson and Richard Horrocks marshalled the Colchester defence superbly. Constant movement and some terrific covering defence left Basildon wondering if they were ever going to score. A 6-0 lead at half time would be tough to come back from. The third quarter led to a few changes in personnel from Colchester; however this did not disrupt their movement or free scoring. Attacking the shallow end Simon Nicholson constantly proved a threat with his dynamic swims; he was soon rewarded with 2 goals. Eddie Corcos also found himself free in front of goal as Chris Harrington's cross pool swim caused havoc in the Basildon defence. Corcos duly despatched his chance with aplomb. Basildon were now desperate just to save face and desperate to score. A 9-0 deficit going into the final quarter saw most of their heads drop. As Basildon pressed further up the pitch in an attempt to finally score Colchester found more and more space up front. With some more accurate shooting the scores could have resembled something far worse for Basildon. Lowe and Simon Nicholson each added 2 more to their personal tally's before Basildon finally produced a terrific shot out of the blue to finally beat Lang in the Colchester goal. Corcos should have completed his personal hatrick but was denied by the woodwork when one on one with the Basildon goalkeeper. Lecomber scored from a similar position before Basildon finished the game with a flourish to double their score for the night. Final score: Colchester 14 Basildon 2. Another great performance as they travel to Ipswich to complete their summer league fixtures next Tuesday. Spirits are high with the summer leagues fast approaching.
The Art of Breaststroke by Nick Gillingham MBE 9 young swimmers from Colchester Swimming Club recently attended a very worthwhile course entitled "The Art of Breaststroke" held at Halstead swimming pool. The course was run by Nick Gillingham MBE and GB double Olympic swimming medallist. It aimed to improve the swimmers breaststroke for Individual Medley or for general competition. Nick Gillingham opened with a very inspiring talk about swimming and the merits of staying committed at any chosen level. There followed a 2hr pool session with Nick in and out of the water giving helpful tips for the children to take away and it also included work on the ever important starts and turns. There was a question and answers session and opportunities for photos and autographs as well as taking away a medal at the end. The 9 attendees were: Charlotte Holt, Selina Cresswell, Gemma Loftus, Alex Coles, Cameron Cowan, Taylor Young, Chris and Tim Kwok and Charlotte McDonnell.
Water polo vs Chelmsford - 16th March Colchester travelled the short distance up the A12 to play Chelmsford on Tuesday night. Short of games in recent weeks Colchester travelled with a strong squad all eager for pool time. Colchester started the game well taking the game to Chelmsford, this pressure finally paid off mid way through the first quarter as Chelmsford committed one foul too many and finally had a man sent from the pool for a major foul. Colchester took full advantage of the extra man with some neat passing and finally a good finish from Duncan Lowe. However Colchester did get another man up in the first quarter but could not capitalise despite lots of practice in recent weeks, it was left for Martin Vinter to double the score with a long range effort just before the end of the first quarter. Vinter, buoyed by his earlier goal, shot from range again at the start of the second half to surprise the Chelmsford goal keeper. This seemed to be a wake up call for Chelmsford who suddenly started to stretch Colchester. Colchester conceded two quick goals and were under pressure. The goals had dried up at the other end too as David Nicholson, Eddie Corcos and Simon Lecomber were all guilty of misses in front of goal despite being left in space. Simon Nicholson did eventually beat the Chelmsford keeper, but another two for Chelmsford saw the scores levelled. Colchester started to spread the play at this point and their passing improved goals for Vinter, Lowe and Lecomber meant that Colchester went into the second half with a 4-7 lead, maybe more than their play deserved. The third quarter saw Chelmsford again mount a comeback; Colchester had several players excluded at the start for major fouls. Chelmsford took full advantage of this to bring the scores back to 6-8. But once again Lowe and Vinter produced the goals to settle Colchester nerves. Chelmsford were beginning to tire and space was beginning to open up for Colchester. Quick thinking from Jimmy Lang and Craig Snowdon saw early passes executed to release Lowe and Vinter respectively; both players continued their fine shooting with goals to extend Colchester's lead to 7-10 going into the final quarter. The final quarter saw Colchester punish Chelmford with some great polo; finally Colchester started to shoot with power and precision, goals for Lecomber, Corcos and two for Simon Nicholson saw Colchester race into an unassailable 9-15 lead. There should have been more but for the fact that Chelmsofrd goalkeeper pulled off some remarkable saves, notably from Snowdon and Chris Harrington. Despite not having played for a few weeks Colchester showed they are a force to be reckoned with in this league. They now enter the last couple of weeks of the winter league with games against Basildon and Ipswich which should see them secure second place in the league behind their local rivals Clacton.
Essex Mini League Round 2 at Rochford - 13th March Colchester Swimming Club had a fantastic win in round 2 of the Mini League on the 13th March at Rochford. The swimmers won a huge number of both individual and relay races whilst rarely being placed below 2nd position. The team were boosted by both fantastic team work and spirit in the Colchester camp. Cameron Koczian opened the gala with a superb victory in the girls 11/u 50m Backstroke (Back) with a personal best time. She also swam a strong leg for the victorious 11/u 4 x 25m Freestyle (Free) relay team along with team mates Charlotte Holt, Sophie Marven and Phoebe Coles. Holt won the 11/u Breaststroke (Breast) and was kept busy swimming valuable legs in 3 other winning relay teams with colleagues Vicky Skornia, Joy Huggins, Megan Adamson, Sophie Lo, Lauren Richardson, Chloe Vincent-Miller, Martha Duley, Helena Wright and Grace Sanderson. Sanderson also won the girls open age 50m Breast, Duley won the11/u 50m Butterfly (Fly) and Wright won the 13/u 50m Breast. Rachel Heptonstall had a great win in the 10/u 50m Free with a personal best time; Hannah Vickers did very well to win the 10/u 25m Fly as she has only just moved up to this age group and Charlotte Marven produced a great swim to win the 13/u 50m Back. These 3 girls also swam resolute legs in victorious relay teams earning valuable points for Colchester along with Rhianna Preece and Ellie Duley. The boys also enjoyed excellent victories in individual events but particularly in the relay races. They swam out of their skins to earn vast numbers of points for the team. The young
9yr old Breast relay team won brilliantly, it was Kirin Yeung's first gala for Colchester and he along with Jamie Coles, Harry Chatterton and Hayden Cowan were delighted to win.
Chatterton and Coles also swam in another winning relay team. Joe Gallagher won the Boys 10/u 50m Free whilst Jack Urwin won the 13/u 50m Breast. Both boys also swam to
impressive relay race victories with hard working and determined swimmers Arran Francis, Sam Mackinder, Sam Reeves, David Turner, Guy Harrison, Luke Heptonstall, Lewis Ward,
Sam Watkins, Matthew Purser and Alex Carter. Essex Championships Block C - 6th/7th March Colchester Swimming Club are delighted to congratulate their four new Essex County Champions after Block C of the Essex County Championships held at Braintree of the 6th/7th March. 11yr old Philippa Davenall swam a phenomenal 200m Breaststroke (Breast) to not only take the Essex Champion title in her age group, but with a national qualifying time of 2 minutes 59.21 seconds. She also came 3rd in the 11yrs 200m Individual Medley (IM). 10yr old Arran Francis was on superb form to take an amazing 2 titles: he is Essex Champion in the 200m and 400m Freestyle (Free) in his age group. 13yr old Ellie Tripp found fine form and swum with determination to win the Essex title in the 200m IM in her age group and also came 4th in the 200 Breast. 19yr old Sargon Youssefi had a tremendous swim to victory in the 100m Breast to become Essex Champion.
The club is very proud to have been so well represented over the weekend by a large number of swimmers in all age groups competing in a wide range of events. Many personal best times were beaten by a huge margin and a great number of East Regional times were achieved. The top 6 fastest swimmers receive awards and Colchester had 9 other finalists in addition to their champions: 16yr old Sarah Larner reached 4 finals coming 2nd in the 50m Butterfly (Fly), 3rd in the 100m Fly, missing a national time by 0.4secs and 4th in the 100m Backstroke (Back). 10yr old Spencer Prior took a silver medal in both the 200m and 400m Free and Laura Stephens won silver in the 50m Fly in the same age group. 11yr old Dolly Trigg came 2nd the 200m Back and 5th in the 200m IM. 13yr old Jim Vickers took bronze in the 100m IM, came 4th in the 100m Free, just missing a national time by under a second and swam extremely well to take 4th in the very tough 1500m Free. 13yr old Matthew Lemnell won bronze in the 100m Fly, came 5th in the 100m IM and 6th in the 200m IM. 19yr old Tom Rootsey came 5th in the 17 years/over 50m Breast and 11yr old Cameron Simpson came 6th in the 200m Free. 15yr old Luke Heptonstall was delighted to come 4th in the 50m Breast and 5th in the 100m Breast. Heptonstall made up a quarter of the Colchester A Relay team who swam brilliantly, just missing the final of the 4 x 50m Free Relay. Other team members were Jordan Jago and brothers Tom and Jim Vickers. Colchester also entered another relay team comprised of Matthew Lemnell, Matthew Davies, Guy Harrison and Damian Green. Other Colchester swimmers who qualified for and swam excellently in Block C were: Martha Duley, Joe Mackay, Tim Tripp, Simon Vipond, Paige Young, Gemma Wass, Grace Sanderson, L-J Watts, Matthew Parsons, Harrison Sadler, Charles O'Connor, Sonny Trigg, Alice Insull and Thomas Illidge.
Essex Championships Block B - 13th/14th February Colchester Swimming Club are celebrating after another successful weekend of swimming at Block B of the Essex County Championships. The club was represented by a large number of youngsters across all age groups, entering a wide range of events with a huge percentage reaching finals to achieve a place in the top 6 in the county. The club are delighted to congratulate 2 new Essex champions: Arran Francis swam brilliantly to victory the boys' 10yrs 100m Individual Medley (IM) and new club member Laura Stephens swam superbly to win the girls' 10yrs 200m Backstroke (Back), as well as coming close 2nd in the finals of the 200m Freestyle (Free) and 100m IM. 15yr old Tom Vickers reached and swam determinedly in a nailbiting final of the 100m Back, coming 2nd by a whisker of 0.01secs . Philippa Davenall picked up a silver medal in the final of the girls 11yrs 100m IM, Spencer Prior also took silver in the 10yrs boys 100m IM final, while Ellie Tripp won a silver medal in the girls 13yrs 100m IM final. Dolly Trigg was delighted to win a bronze medal in the girls 11yrs 100m IM and Jim Vickers picked up a bronze medal in the final of the boys' 200m Back as well as taking an impressive 5th place in his age group 800m Free event.
Matthew Lemnell reached the final of the boys 13yrs 100m Breaststroke (Breast) and took 4th place, Tim Tripp also took a well deserved 4th place in the final of the boys' 17yrs/over 100m Back. 16yr old Sarah Larner was placed 4th in her age group final of the 100m IM. 11yr old Cameron Simpson reached the final of the 100m IM and took 5th place whilst Sonny Trigg came 5th in the final of the 14yrs boys 100m Breast. Charlie O'Connor, another new club member, was close behind Trigg and took 6th place in the same Breaststroke final. Paige Young, Martha Duley, Danielle Hall, Matthew Parsons and Emily Stephens all qualified for and represented Colchester in Block B of these championships.
Essex Mini League Round 1 at Colchester - 6th February Colchester Swimming Club made an excellent start in the Essex mini league at the weekend. Maldon, Rochford, Basildon and Braintree made the trip to the host club's venue where Colchester were hoping to defend their title over the coming season in the five fixtures that count towards the overall title. Colchester Leisure World was packed to capacity with an electric atmosphere created by all the swimmers and supporters. Colchester got off to a great start with Rachel Heptonstall winning the 50m breaststroke in 44.54. Helena Wright and Taylor Young both won their 100m freestyle in the u13 with fantastic personal bests knocking several seconds off their previous times, Helena put in further great performances during the night. Alex carter put in a solid performance in the 50m butterfly open. Fast improving Gemma Lofthouse swam confidently in the 50m freestyle producing a personal best time of 36.43. Joe Mackinder produced magnificent personal bests in the 100m freestyle with a time of 1.05.31 for first place, this was backed up by another determined performance, in the 50m backstroke which gave him second place. Fourteen year old Lauren Richardson has been consistently impressive in training, swam a great personal best that was thoroughly deserved in the 50m backstroke of 36.46. Phoebe Coles swan consistently well all-night in several wining relay teams and was rewarded with an individual win in the 10yr 25m butterfly. Lucy Coates swam strongly in her 11yr 50m butterfly to produce a first place. Fifthteen year old Grace Sanderson had a great win in the open 50m breaststroke, leading from start to finish swimming a good personal best of 42.13. There were supurb wins produced in the girls butterfly relay, breaststroke relay and the freestyle relay team of Rachel Heptonstall, Phoebe Coles, Hannah Vickers and Megan Adamson. The boys 11yr freestyle team of Cameron Cowan, Tim Kwok, Alex Cole and Jack Gallagher swam superbly. Colchester was ahead on points throughout the evening and the victory was an impressive start to the league that is made up of fifthteen other clubs. Joint head coach, Michelle Young, said "I am delighted by the teams performance, they all produced superb early season form." Points: 1st Colchester 165, 2nd Basildon 144, 3rd Braintree 136, 4th Rochford 124, 5th Maldon 105.
Essex Championships Block A - 23rd/24th January Colchester Swimming Club are celebrating after a very successful first session of the Essex County Championships. They had a large number of swimmers qualifying for the Block A events, which is a huge achievement in itself, many reached finals against fierce competition and personal best times were beaten in a camp with fantastic team spirit. The club is proud of all the youngsters who competed, particularly the three new Essex Champions. Man of the event was 10yr old Arran Francis who performed outstandingly to become Essex Champion in three races: he won very convincingly in the 50m Freestyle (Free), won by a phenomenal 2 seconds in the 50m Backstroke (Back) and also took the 50m Butterfly (Fly) title. Not only is he champion but he also broke two Event Best times in the heats: a tremendous time of 31.07secs in the Free and a brilliant 35.54secs in the Back.
11yr old Philippa Davenall also swam superbly and was delighted to become Essex Champion in the 50m Breaststroke (Breast), she found fine form and reached two other finals, coming 2nd in the 50m Fly and 6th in the 50m Back. 13yr old Ellie Tripp reached two finals and swam with huge determination to deservedly win a very close 50m Freestyle final to become Essex Champion. She came 4th in the 50m Breast final and was 1st reserve, just missing the final, in the 50m Fly. 10yr old Spencer Prior kept busy, reaching the final in 4 events. He came a splendid 2nd in the 50m Free and Fly, 3rd in the 50m Back and 5th in the 50m Breast. 15yr old Tom Vickers reached two finals, coming 2nd by a whisker in an exciting 50m Back race and 6th in the Fly. 13yr old Matthew Lemnell swam to 3rd place in the 50m Fly final and was 1st reserve for the 50m Back final whilst team mate Jim Vickers reached the final of the 50m Back and took 3rd place. 12yr old Alex Carter took 4th place in the 50m Fly, 16yr old Sarah Larner reached 2 finals taking 5th place in the 50m Free and Back and 17yr old Tim Tripp took 6th place in the final of the 17yrs/over 50m Back. 11yr old Cameron Simpson swam into two finals, placed 5th in the 50m Fly and 6th in the 50m Back whilst teammate 14yr old Sonny Trigg came 6th in the 50m Breast. 10yr old Martha Duley reached the final of the 50m Back and took 6th place. Colchester entered teams into the ever-exciting championship relay competitions. The Men's 16yrs/under 4 x 50mMedley team consisted of Jordan Jago, Luke Heptonstall and brothers Tom and Jim Vickers, they reached the final and swam superbly to take 6th place. For the girls Colchester entered a 16yrs/under team for two relay heats; the 4 x 50m Free and Medley Relays; competitors were Ellie Tripp, Grace Sanderson, Sarah Purnell and Gemma Wass. The girls enjoyed good times in both heats whilst Sanderson and Purnell just missed finals in their individual 50m Back, being 1st and 2nd reserve respectively. Other club members qualifying for and swimming excelllently in events in Block A were: Bronwyn Carter, Thomas Rootsey, who was 1st reserve for the 17yrs 50m Back final, Joe Mackay, Paige Young, Megan Boyden, Alex Vipond, Alice Insull, Matthew Davies, Thomas Illidge, Matthew Parsons, Dolly Trigg, Lucy Coates, Lydia Pearmain, Danielle Hall, Helena Wright, Megan Adamson, Samuel Watkins, William Chapman and Jack Gallagher.
Water polo vs Ipswich - 19th January Colchester began the New Year in good spirits with a hard fought game against Ipswich. Playing in the newly refurbished Leisureworld fitness pool Colchester had a strong side out, all keen for pool time after an extended Christmas break with no games. The extra training should have seen Colchester to an easy victory but training is no substitute for real games as they soon found out. An early lapse saw Ipswich open the scoring early in the game. This saw Colchester spring into life as David Nicholson scored two and captain Simon Lecomber added another to squeeze into a the lead after the first quarter. The second quarter saw Colchester tighten up their defence and an early goal from Martin Vinter began to ease the tension but still they struggled to score goals. This was further highlighted when a penalty awarded to Colchester was saved by the Ipswich goalkeeper, keeping newly crowned penalty champion Chris Harrington's shot out of the goal. Ipswich managed a goal back as captain Simon Lecomber lost his man down the wing and the youngster fired in past Jimmy Lang in the Colchester goal. The quarter finished with Colchester just in the ascendancy at 4-2. Finally the third quarter saw Colchester's shooting improve. Lecomber made amends for his earlier error with two well taken goals and James Tomlinson also scored a brace to signal his comeback to the team. Ipswich did score two further goals in the third quarter as they caught Colchester on the counter attack. However Colchester's lead of 8-4 going into the final quarter was going to tough for Ipswich to pull back.
The final quarter saw Colchester press hard as Ipswich tired. A further goal for Lecomber and another for the tireless Duncan Lowe saw Colchester ease to a 10-4 victory, although they know they should have made the game allot easier for themselves and have work to do before playing Baslidon in two weeks time.
Sudbury Open Meet - 9th/10th January A number of members of Colchester Swimming Club braved the adverse weather conditions and travelled to Sudbury to compete in their Open Meet over the weekend of 9/10th January 2010. This was a Time Trial event with the swimmers racing against the clock to improve personal times, medals were not awarded but many Colchester swimmers were high ranking in their age groups. Many entry times were beaten and a high number of Personal Best times (PBs) were progressed. A significant number of youngsters received "speeding tickets", this means that they swam faster than the qualifying entry time, therefore swimming excellent times for their age. Those competitors who were fastest in their age group, as well as gaining PBs and speeding tickets in a variety of the weekend's events were: Other swimmers taking part, many acheiving excellent PBs and speeding tickets were: Alexander Cole, Charlotte Holt, Thomas Illidge, Alice Insull, Jim Vickers, Lydia Pearmain, Charlotte Marven, Joanne Illidge, Martha Duley, Cameron Simpson, Philippa Davenall, Guy Harrison, Victoria Bush, Madison Young and Hannah Vickers.
Griffin Chapman Christmas Gala at Leisure World - 19th December Despite the weather there was a good turnout for Colchester Swimming Club's Christmas Gala, sponsored by Griffin Chapman. Colchester had two teams, the Gladiators and Warriors, racing alongside teams from Braintree, Clacton and Maldon. The Gladiators were impressive right from the start, and notched up plenty of first placings, Charlotte Holt U12 in 50m fly maintaining good recent form, Lydia Pearmain U13 another personal best in 50m freestyle, Sophie Marvin U10 in 25m freestyle, Phoebe Coles U11 in 50m backstroke followed up with a second place in 50m butterfly. William Chapman U11 was first in 50m backstroke, Lucy Coates U12 swam a personal best in 50m breast, Taylor Young U13 produced a good time in 50m butterfly, new comer Cameron Koczian swam nicely in her 50m backstroke, freestyle and relay leg. This was followed up with some good second place results by the Gladiators, Sophie Lo U10 in 25m breast, Jamie Cole U10 in 25m freestyle, Elliot Bennett U13 in 50m backstroke, Helena Wright U13 in50 butterfly, Sam Watkins U12 in 50 breast, Rachel Heptonstall U11 in 50m freestyle and Chloe Vincett-Miller U13 in 50m breast. Colchester's other team the Warriors also had some notable performances, in particular Tom Lo U11 a fairly new member to the club that has an impressive attitude to training and racing, his nice stokes earned him a first in 50m breast and 50m butterfly. Alice Insull U13 produced a personal best in 50m breast, Arran Francis U13 was also first in the boys event. Jordan Glynos-Fernie U10 confidence got a great boost with a win in 25m breaststroke and gave everything in the relays. Jack Gallagher U12 swam to first in 50m freestyle. Joe Gallagher U11 swam his heart in all his races and was rewarded with a second place in 50m backstroke, Elsie Phelan U11 was also second in 50m breast and Gemma Lofthouse U12 is making improvements in her swimming came second in 50m backstroke. After the programme of races it was left to the 'Skins competition' an elimination format of racing that is a great event for the spectators. The boys event was comfortably won by Jim Vickers, the girls event was a lot closer with Pip Davenall eventually winning the final head to head, with the two winners coming from the Gladiators, the Warriors Arran Francis and Alice Insull finished in third. Final standings: 1st Gladiators (Colchester) 162 points, 2nd Braintree 136 points, 3rd Clacton 119 points, 4th Warriors (Colchester) 117 points, 5th Maldon 74 points.
National Arena Swimming League Round 3 at Watford - 12th December Colchester finished 4th overall against fierce competition in what was an exciting & electric gala. All Colchester swimmers swam to their limits for their team and there was fantastic support & team spirit. There were some great swims, many finishing in the top 3 positions. Philippa Davenall, Lucy Coates, Charlotte Holt and Dolly Trigg made up the girls 9-11yrs relay team swimming to magnificent victory in the 4 x 50m Free race. Davenall was also victorious in her individual 50m Free & Breast races. Trigg came a determined 2nd in her 50m Back race. Matthew Parsons, Spencer Prior, Cameron Simpson & Guy Harrison made up a superb Boys relay team in the same event and age group. The boys also swam excellently in their individual races, taking top 3 positions and earning valuable points for Colchester. Harrison swam in the 13/under Medley & Free Relay teams who had awesome victories in both races; he was joined by Jim Vickers, Matthew Lemnell and Damien Green. Lemnell pulled out a fantastic performance in his individual 100m Breast race to come 1st & also took a great 2nd place in the Fly. Vickers found fine form to take 2nd in the 100m Back & 3rd in the Free. Lemnell and Vickers also swam up to swim in the 15/under Relay teams; coming 3rd in the 4 x 50m f ree and 2nd in the Medley. Their team mates were Luke Heptonstall, Tom Vickers and Sonny Trigg, also swimming up an age group. These 3 boys swam excellent individual races too, taking 3rd place in each adding to Colchester's points tally. The Men's Open 4 x 50m Medley relay team; composing of Tim Tripp, Sargon Youssefi, Tom Rootsey & Oliver Crosby, proved a very strong combination taking 2nd place. They were joined by Joe Mackay & Dan Few in the 6 x 50m Free relay, proving to be a killer combination as they swam to a well deserved victory . Youssefi maintained his recent impressive form by winning his 100m Breast race and coming 2nd in the Fly. Rootsey also retained excellent form to take 3rd place in the 200 IM. Ellie Tripp, Katharine Insull, Sarah Larner, Gemma Wass, Megan Boyden, Sarah Purnell, Paige Young, Danielle Hall and Alice Insull formed relay teams and swam determinedly in all their individual races.
Braintree 200m Open Meet - 6th December A group of youngsters from Colchester Swimming Club competed in the Braintree Open, many swimming personal best times and taking top 3 medal positions. They were:
Over the last few weeks members of Colchester Swimming Club, sponsored by Griffin Chapman, have been competing against each other in the annual Club Championships. Many awards and medals are handed out after this event and this year they were spread through many age groups and amongst many swimmers. The club would like to thank all helpers and officials without whom this year's championships would not have taken place, many hours are given up by everyone to help the events run smoothly over many evenings. Also thanks go to Colchester mayor and mayoress Henry & Vivien Spyvee for joining the club at the presentation ceremony.
Entry numbers for the championships were high, including a huge number entering The Beast Challenge, the coaches' personal challenge to the swimmers, which involves completing the following three races; the 200m Butterfly (Fly), 400m Individual Medley (IM) and 800m Freestyle (Free) for girls and 1500m Free for Boys. This year those who were successful received a new kit bag. The Gwen Allan Trophy is awarded every year to the club's highest overall achiever. This year the trophy was won by 19yr old Sargon Youssefi, whose achievements at Club, County and Regional level have been fantastic. These have been topped by him qualifying and competing in 3 races at National Championships swimming personal best times. This is a huge achievement and reflects his commitment to training and he acts as a wonderful role model to the younger swimmers.
The Carol Hart Memorial Cup is awarded each year to a young swimmer whose dedication, determination and general attitude to training, competition and loyalty to the Club sets a good example to others. This year 11yr old Charlotte Holt was the delighted recipient of this trophy. There were a vast number of club records broken this year - see here. A major part of the competition is the 200m Championships within which swimmers must swim all four strokes. The awards are worked out on a points basis with an age group adjustment, so that all swimmers compete equally. Another section of the Championships is the IM Competition, involving the 200 & 400m IM races, the results are also worked out on a points system. The results of these two events can be found here. The Junior & Intermediate squads compete in 50m sprints in all four strokes plus the 100m IM over these Championships. For the girls' 9yr old age group Megan Adamson featured in the top 3 placings in all 5 races, winning 3 out of the 5. Sophie Lo and Hannah Vickers won the 50m Breaststroke (Breast) & Fly respectively, whilst Sophie Marven and Jordan Glynos-Fernie shared the other positions. For the boys in this age group Thierry Ajala was dominant in winning all five races whilst David Purser took three 2nd positions and Kirin Yeung, Henry Chatterton & Jamie Coles shared the 3rd place slots except in the 100m IM where Coles came 2nd. In the 10yr old age group four young girls swam very competitively against each other to dominate the top three places in all four races, Martha Duley was on flying form to win all 5 races with Phoebe Coles close behind taking 2nd place in all the same races. Rachel Heptonstall came 3rd in 4 out of the 5 with Elsie Phelan snatching 3rd place in the 50m Breast. For the boys in this age group there were also four youngsters sharing the top 3 positions. William Chapman won 4 out of the 5 with Thomas Lo winning the 50m Breast. Lo, Joe Gallagher and Samuel Reeves shared different top 3 placings in the 5 events. In the 11yr old age group Lydia Pearmain won the 50m Fly and Back. Sophie Ramsdale won the 50m Breast whilst Chloe Vincent-Miller won a great 50m Free and the 100m IM. These three girls along with team mates Charlotte Head, Lucy Coates and Cara Porter dominated the top 3 positions in the 5 sprints. For the boys in this age group Samuel Watkins swam to victory in 4 out of the 5 sprints, Henry Gilbert enjoyed winning the 50m Breast. Jack Gallagher, Joshua Farmer, Benjamin Watts, Cameron Cowan and Timothy Kwok all fought for 2nd & 3rd places in different events. All age groups compete in the four 100m sprint events in each stroke with many swimmers performing extremely well to win medals. In the 11yrs & under, Philippa Davenall convincingly won 3 events and came 2nd in the 100m Back, team mate Dolly Trigg won the 100m Back and took 2nd place to Davenall in the other 3. Lucy Coates came 3rd in 3 out of the 4 races and Charlotte Holt won a 3rd position medal in the 100m Free. For the boys in the same age group four boys dominated the top 3 positions in the four sprints; Arran Francis won 2 out of the 4, Spencer Prior & Cameron Simpson won 1 race each and these three youngsters along with Matthew Parsons shared different placings in the medal placings in all the races. In the 13yrs & under Ellie Tripp was superb in winning 4 1st place medals, three other girls shared the 2nd & 3rd place medals taking different ones in different races. They were Danielle Hall, Megan Boyden and Philippa Davenall. Matthew Lemnell won 3 out of the 4 sprints for the boys in this age group, Jim Vickers won the 100m Back. He along with Damien Green, Guy Harrison, Joseph Mackinder and Spencer Prior took a mixture of 2nd and 3rd place medals. In the Open Age group Tim Tripp & Thomas Rootsey won 2 races each, Tom Vickers, Dan Few, Joe Mackay, Simon Vipond & Jim Vickers swam to share round the 2nd & 3rd positions. Sarah Larner won 3 out of the 4 sprints in the girls competition with Ellie Tripp winning the 100m Breast. Grace Sanderson, Paige Young, Megan Boyden and Philippa Davenall were recipients of 2nd & 3rd place medals. There were three long distance Freestyle events swum over the last few weeks with medals being won for the top 3 placings in three different age groups for the boys & girls. Sarah Larner won both the 400 & 800m races in the open age group with Danielle Hall winning the 1500m. Dolly Trigg swam well to win the youngest age group in the 400 & 800m races and came 3rd in the 1500m, whilst Ellie Tripp won the 400 & 800m in her age group. Jim Vickers performed excellently to win the 400m and the 1500m in his own age group. In the youngest age group Cameron Simpson won the 400m and Arran Francis won the 1500m. Tim Tripp showed stamina to win the 400m & 1500m in the Open Age group. The last event in these championships was the 50m sprints for the senior and county squads, this is always very exciting, culminating in the knockout Freestyle skins race. 3 club records were broken this year; Ellie Tripp wiped the board and won all her races in the 13yr old age group, breaking 2 records in the 50m Breast and 100m IM on the way. Sarah Larner swam determinedly to do exactly the same in the 15yrs/over age group, except she broke the 50m Back record. Tripp was also the Girls skins champion and Mens captain Daniel Few was Boys skins champion in what is always an exhilarating competition. Gold and silver medals were awarded on the night - see here.
Essex County Senior/Junior Championships at Braintree - 21st/22nd November A handful of members of Colchester Swimming Club qualified and performed superbly last weekend in the Essex County Senior/Junior Championships at Braintree. This event has two age categories, has tough qualifying times with fierce competition in both groups. The Colchester swimmers were outstanding, achieving some fantastic times with many personal best times beaten and the club was well represented in a large number of finals. There were specific age group relays, in which the youngsters swam out of their skins and were incredibly exciting, as well as an electric Boys knockout 50m Freestyle (Free) skins final on Sunday. Colchester finished a fantastic 5th overall in the club point's competition, a very pleasing result and great achievement for all participants.
Finalists were:
National Arena Swimming League Round 2 at University of Hertfordshire- 14th November A team from Colchester Swimming Club competed in round 2 of the National Arena Gala at the University of Hertfordshire on Saturday 14th November. It was very exciting with a noisy, electric atmosphere, Colchester came a very pleasing 4th position overall against extremely strong opposition. There was a fantastic team spirit in the Colchester camp with all the youngsters supporting each other and swimming with determination and strength to earn valuable points for their club. Some personal best times were beaten and the team finished in the top 3 positions in many races.
Matthew Lemnell found terrific form and swam superbly to victory in the 13/under 100m Breaststroke (Breast), he came a fantastic 2nd place in his other individual race, the 100m butterfly (Fly). He swam very strong legs in two thrilling relays with team mates Damien Green, Guy Harrison and Jim Vickers. Vickers swam brilliantly in his individual 100m Freestyle (Free) and Backstroke (Back) races, taking 2nd place in both. Philippa Davenall continued her phenomenal form by convincingly winning the 10-11yrs 50m Free and coming 2nd in the 50m Breast. She swam tenaciously in two 9-11yrs relays, the team coming joint 2nd in one and 3rd in the other with colleagues Lucy Coates, Charlotte Holt and Dolly Trigg. Trigg swam out of her skin in her leg of the Freestyle relay to earn Colchester valuable points. The boys- 9-11yrs age group relay team swam two awesome races, victorious in both. Team members were Arran Francis, Matthew Parsons, Spencer Prior and Cameron Simpson. Francis was also superb in his 50m Back race coming 2nd and Simpson took the same position in a brilliant 50m Breast race. Prior showed determination when taking 3rd position in the 50m Fly and Parsons swam excellently, also coming 3rd in the 50m Free earning a high numbers of points between them. Gemma Wass and Sarah Larner rose to the occasion and came 3rd in the 100m Back and Fly respectively. The evening's relay races were incredibly exciting; Wass and Larner were enthusiastic members of Colchester's girls' teams along with Bronwyn Carter, Paige Young, Grace Sanderson, Evie Thatcher, Sarah Purnell, Danielle Hall, Alice Insull and Megan Boyden. The boys' relay races were equally rousing and fiercely fought, Colchester team members Tim Tripp, Dan Few, Jordan Jago, Joe Mackay, Sonny Trigg, Tom Vickers, Luke Heptonstall and Alex Vipond all performed superbly in their respective teams.
Ipswich Junior Open Meet - 31st October/1st November A small group of swimmers from Colchester Swimming Club took part in the recent Ipswich Junior Open Meet. It was an excellent weekend of swimming with the majority of entry times beaten, personal best times (PB) improved on, some by a vast margin and precious Essex County & East Regional qualifying times achieved in some fiercely fought races amongst extremely strong competition. Colchester came 2nd out of 21 clubs in the Top visiting club competition, a very pleasing position reflecting the huge effort put in by the youngsters. Medals were awarded to the top 6 swimmers in each age group in all events. 11yr old Philippa Davenall shone in all her races, performing so impressively to take 1st place in the 50m Breaststroke (Breast) with a phenomenal swim, the 50m Freestyle (Free) with an unbelievable time of 30.14secs, the 50m fly with a PB and the 200m Breast with a great time and PB. She came 3rd in the 200m Individual Medley (IM) and 4th in the 200m Free, both with PBs. 10yr old Arran Francis enjoyed a successful event, swimming with style and determination to victories in the 50m Free and Butterfly (Fly), as well as coming 2nd in the 200m Free and Backstroke (Back) both with PBs. 12yr old Jim Vickers swam with great tenacity and energy to 1st place in the 100m Back and took 2nd place in 4 races, the 100 & 200m in Back and Free. He also took 3rd place in the 200m IM with a good PB. 16yr old Sarah Larner took a hoard of medals away and swam purposefully to take victory in the tough 200m Fly, 2nd in the 100m Fly, 3rd in the 100 & 200m Back and the 100m Free and took 4th place in the 200m IM. 14yr old Tom Vickers swam with strength and power to come 2nd in the 100 & 200m Back and 3rd in the 100m Fly and 200m IM, all with PBs. Team mate 15yr old Grace Sanderson discovered great form to take a splendid 2nd place in the 100m Free, 3rd place in the 100 & 200m Back, all with PBs and she also came 5th in the 200m Free. 11yr old Matthew Parsons swam well with determination to take 3rd place in the 50m Breast, as well as 5th in the 50m Fly, 6th in the 200m Breast & he achieved a huge PB with his 6th position the 200m IM along with PBs in his other races. In the 13yrs boys category Sonny Trigg had a busy weekend, swimming vigorously to smash many of his PBs. He came 4th in the 100m Fly, 5th in the 200m IM and 100m Free and 6th in the 200m Free. Team mate Matthew Lemnell competed tirelessly and elegantly in all his races producing splendid PBs in all his events and he took 4th place in the 100m Breast. 11yr old Cameron Simpson found fine form to gain 2nd position in the 50m Breast, 4th in the 50m Back and 6th in the 200m Free. In the same age group Dolly Trigg swam with enthusiasm and vitality to gain 2nd place in the 200m Back and 6th in the 200m IM, she produced some excellent PBs in her other races. 10yr old Spencer Prior came away with two 3rd place medals in the 50m & 200m Fly and two 6th place medals in the 200m Free & Back. 12yr old Megan Boyden earned two 4th place medals in the 100 & 200m Fly with good PBs and she picked up PBs in the 100m Back & 200m IM. 14yr old Sarah Purnell secured a 5th place medal in the 100m Back whilst 6th place medals were won by; Lucy Coates in the 11yrs 50m Back with a PB, Joe Gallagher in the 9yrs 50m Back with a PB, Jordan Jago in the 16yrs 100m Free and Paige Young in the 14yrs 100m Breast. Other club swimmers who competed producing good swims, many with PBs were; Megan Adamson, Jack Gallagher , Katharine Insull, Damien Green, Danielle Hall, Thomas Illidge, Luke Heptonstall and Karl Roberts.
Water Polo vs Cambridge - 13th October Homeless Colchester took to the road for the long trip to play a Cambridge side buoyed by their success in the National league competition the previous weekend. Again Colchester travelled with the bare minimum 7 players, and were met by a Cambridge team with a full allotment of 13 at their dispense. Immediately Colchester were forced onto the back foot as Cambridge took an early lead. But Colchester did manage to equalise when Craig Snowdon broke forward to slam the ball past the Cambridge goal keeper. Cambridge continued to press Colchester back with countless waves of attack and eventually scored again. Colchester's defence was run ragged in the second quarter as they began to loose their way in the game. The hard work of the first quarter was paying off for Cambridge as they opened up a deserved lead. Colchester could find no response as Cambridge stormed into a 6-1 half time lead. With players constantly allowed a rest by their squad size Colchester feared the worst for the rest of the game. Captain David Nicholson spurred on Colchester with a rousing half time team talk. This was enough for Colchester to regroup and suddenly started to play their best polo of the evening. Pressing the Cambridge players proved vital as suddenly they seemed to run out of ideas and started to make mistakes. Colchester took full advantage of this, goals from Simon Lecomber, another for Snowdon and Duncan Lowe, who was finally rewarded for his tireless work in the pit, often fighting off 2 Cambridge defenders for Colchester to build attacks around. With the scores standing at 6-4, heading for the final quarter, suddenly Cambridge were concerned. Lowe earned an early penalty which Martin Vinter duly dispatched, leaving a single goal deficit for Colchester. As they pressed hard they allowed Cambridge to score, but a back flick from Lecomber saw the gap reduced again, to 7-6. With the clock ticking Colchester gained possession, but Snowdon was unable to score from long range to secure a draw. Colchester left the game disappointed they could not have come away from the game without a point, but have to see this as one of the best results and performances in recent games. Colchester now head to Bishops Stortford this weekend with a tournament full of confidence.
National Arena Swimming League Round 1 at Hatfield - 10th October A team of swimmers from Colchester Swimming Club went to Hatfield recently to compete in the National Arena Swimming League (formerly the National Speedo League). The group of youngsters were delighted to finish 4th out of 8 teams in what is a fiercely competitive league with some very tough opposition. It was an exciting evening with a lively atmosphere and some fantastic swimming by the Colchester competitors. A great team spirit was very apparent with the swimmers supporting each other all the way through the gala, particularly in the exhilarating relay races during which they displayed their hunger to win. Philippa Davenall swam superbly to victory in the Girls 10-11yrs 50m Breaststroke (Breast) & Freestyle (Free) as well as swimming an awesome leg in the 9-11yrs 4 x 25m Free Relay. Her team mate Dolly Trigg swam out of her skin in her leg of the same relay along with K-J Watts and Charlotte Holt, earning valuable points for Colchester. Arran Francis & Cameron Simpson were on phenomenal form winning their individual races in the Boys 10-11yrs 50m Backstroke (Back) & Breast respectively. They also made up half of the superb Boys 9-11yrs relay team with team mates Spencer prior and Matthew Parsons, they swam tenaciously to take 2nd place in the 4 x 25m Free & Medley relay races. Jim Vickers enjoyed a determined victory in the 13/under 100m Back and also came an excellent 2nd in the 100m Free. Matthew Lemnell found magnificent form to claim 2nd position in the 13/under 100m Breast. These two boys were strong members of the brilliant 13/under relay team along with Damien Green and Guy Harrison who took 2nd place in the 4 x 25m Free & Medley relays adding to Colchester's points tally. Ellie Tripp continued her recent fine form to come 3rd in the Girls 13/under 100m Back as well as being a huge asset to relay teams. There were many excellent swims during the evening with a high number of personal best times obtained, overall a great performance by the whole team.
Essex Mini League Round 5 at Basildon - 10th October Colchester Swimming Club triumphed at their final gala at Basildon to win the Essex Mini League title. It has been a tough summer at the club due to the disruption to their training schedule, but there was a real buzz on the coach as the swimmers were made aware of the fact that the club needed 181 points from the evening's races to take the overall title. Colchester would be racing against Basildon, the host club, Hornchurch and Saffron Walden. The evening consisted of the same 48 races, of all the strokes, in either individual or relay events that were swum at all the fixtures. Colchester got off to a great start with Amarlie Perkins and Lewis Ward winning their backstroke races in fine style, and then Rachel Heptonstall scooped two first places in her backstroke and freestyle races. Things just got better as Jack Urwin swam with great strength and determination to win the freestyle. New comer Gemma Lofthouse was incredibly powerful in her freestyle race. Tom Lo looked good in the water to win his breaststroke race, showing a great attitude as a newcomer. After 20 races Colchester were in first place, but the swimmers and supporters were more interested in what the points tally was, it was standing at 85 with 28 races remaining. Martha Duley showed great attitude and temperment when she swam to victory, up an age group in the butterfly, she also swam an integral part in a number of relays. Phoebe Coles won her breaststroke race and has been such versatile swimmer over the all the rounds swimming every stroke asked of her, with great results. The senior girls, Vicky Skornia, Brogan Simpson, Hannah Bain and Lauren Richardson have been great throughout every round, and demonstrated their consistency and reliability during their individual races and working together in the relays, with some impressive victories, in addition, the senior boys of Chris Kwok and Joe Mackinder have contributed in the same way. Then the points were announced, Colchester were still leading but now with 157 points, the tension poolside was amazing, Colchester just needed 24 points from the remaining 8 races, with 5 points for first place, 4 points for second, 3 points for third, it was looking well within the grasp of the swimmers. The Colchester swimmers that had played their part in the pool were now poolside supporting and encouraging their team mates over the remaining events, there was great strength in the team, created by the unity of the swimmers, the coaches and the parents. The last races gave Colchester 34 points, this was more than enough to secure the title, but the club had to wait nervously for the official result. As the announcement was made the swimmers launched themselves into the empty pool for a victory splash. Colchester achieved 19 firsts, 17 seconds, 8 thirds and just 1 fourth place accumulating a total of 191 points, Hornchurch 148 points, Basildon 134 points and Saffron Walden 103 points. Colchester winners of the Essex Mini League, runners up Rochford and Braintree third. It would be impossible to mention every swimmer but it would be fair to say that the victory was down to the contribution of all the swimmers over all the rounds. Joint Head coach Michelle Young said " Delighted to win the gala and the league, team work and determination was the key for these young swimmers, it has been difficult training
without Leisure World and we are grateful to the Army for allowing us to train at the Garrison pool, without their support, this fantastic result would not have been possible."
Water Polo vs Hornchurch - 8th October Colchester travelled to play a strong Hornchurch team still without several first team regulars. Again playing with a bare 7 squad they produced some of their best polo of the season to outwit their opponents. A terrific start saw Colchester press their opponents at every opportunity. This led to mistakes from Hornchurch and a vital early exclusion, allowing Craig Snowdon to open the scoring; this was quickly followed by a Ross Johnson effort that secured a first quarter lead. The second quarter began at a frantic pace as Hornchurch tried to find a way back into the game. Continual pressing from Colchester gave Hornchurch little time to dwell on the ball, but they did manage to get a goal back. Snowdon doubled his personal tally at another man up to regain Colchester's 2 goal advantage. But some slack defending allowed Hornchurch back into the game and the scores were level at half time. The game continued at a frantic pace in the third quarter as both teams pressed for a lead in to the final quarter. Hornchurch finally went into the lead as Jimmy Lang n the Colchester goal was powerless to stop a Hornchurch surge, but Colchester battled back through Johnson. Again Hornchurch scored but this was cancelled out by Martin Vinter's effort just before the end of the quarter. With the scores level entering the final quarter Colchester expected a full onslaught from Hornchurch. But this never materialised as their early effort had obviously tired the Hornchurch players and it was the away team that did all the attacking in the final quarter. The new strike force of Johnson and Duncan Lowe took full advantage, Johnson scoring a hatrick and Lowe a single goal. Even Vinter attacking from defence added a further 2 goals as Colchester pulled away with surprising ease to see Colchester home with a convincing 11-5 score line. As the season comes to a close Colchester seem to be getting stronger and stronger. Next week sees them travel to Cambridge which could be the toughest game of the season so far.
Bishop's Stortford Open at Braintree - 26th/27th September Swimmers from Colchester Swimming Club returned to competing after the summer break at the Bishop's Stortford Open Meet held at Braintree swimming pool over the weekend of 26th/27th September. There was a large number of entrants from the club all keen to get a good start to their competing year. Trophies and medals were awarded to the top 6 fastest swimmers in each age category, Colchester's youngsters went home with a huge hoard of these, many finishing in the top 3. Personal best times were broken by the majority with many smashed by a huge margin and as always there was great team support and an exciting atmosphere. 12 yr old Jim Vickers had an awesome weekend, swimming to superb victories in all 5 events he had entered with excellent times; the 100m Individual Medley (IM) and Breaststroke (Breast), 50m Backstroke (Back) and Freestyle (Free), and the 200m IM. Ellie Tripp, in the same age group, was also on exceptional form, storming to victory in style in the 100m Butterfly (Fly), IM and Back, the 50m Free and Breast, as well as taking 3rd place in the 200m Free. 13 yr old Matthew Lemnell had a very busy weekend swimming in 11 races and finishing no lower than in 4th position; he was outstanding in his victories in the 50m Breast & Free and the 100m Fly and IM. He came 2nd in the 100m Back & 200m Free, 3rd in the 100m Breast, 50m Back and 200m IM and 4th in the 50m Fly and 100m Free. 14yr old Tom Vickers found magnificent form to win the 100m IM and Fly, as well as the 50m Back and 200n IM. He also won a 3rd place medal in the 50m Free. 13yr old Sonny Trigg enjoyed a splendid weekend of swimming, winning 1st place trophies in the 200m Free & IM and the 100m Free, as well as taking 2nd place in the 100m Breast and 3rd in the 50m Fly & Breast. 11yr old Matthew Parsons was delighted to take to great victories in the 50m Fly and the 100m IM, he also came 2nd in the 50m Breast & Back. Philippa Davenall in the same age group swam elegantly to victory in the 50m Free & Back. 15yr old Sarah Larner swam with tenacity to take a well deserved victory in the 15yrs and over age group 50m Fly. She also took 2nd place in the 50m Back, 3rd in the 100m IM, 50m Free, 200m IM & 100m Free and 4th in the 100m Fly & Back. 12yr old Megan Boyden enjoyed a fine victory in the 50m Fly, she also came 3rd in the 100m Fly and 4th in the 100m Free. 11yr old Cameron Simpson won his 50m Breast race with great style. Other medal winners over the weekend included:
Elliot's Triathlon Success Elliot Bennett, of Colchester Swimming Club, has been sucessful in the Eastern Region Triathlon Race Series, coming 3rd in the the TriStar 2 level (11 & 12 year olds). Each triathlon involved swimming 400 metres, cycling 4,000 metres and running 1,800 metres; there were numerous races throughout the season all over the region and points were awarded at each one. Elliot did particularly well as he only really started competing properly half way through. He recently came 1st at The Clacton Duathlon and finsihed 2nd or 3rd in all his other events.
Water Polo vs Ipswich - 18th September Colchester travelled the short trip up the A12 to Ipswich to play in an eastern league double header, played at Crown pools due to the closure of the fitness pool at Leisureworld. Ipswich fielded a young side with their University players still available, but Colchester were equal to the task at hand. Ross Johnson returning for a rare appearance caused the Ipswich defence all kinds of problems with his strength and stamina scoring 3 goals in the first quarter. Duncan Lowe, playing one of his first games for Colchester, forged an early partnership with Johnson as he also helped himself to a goal as Colchester finished the first quarter 4-1 up. The second quarter began in the same mode, as Colchester captain Simon Lecomber sprang to life scoring 2 early goals before Ipswich finally fought back with a well taken goal. This turned out to be a consolation as Colchester and Lecomber continued to force Ipswich onto the back foot with a further 2 goals and a seemingly unassailable 8-2 lead at half time. The third quarter saw Colchester further extend their lead through goals from Lowe, 2 more for Johnson and also Chris Harrington getting in on the scoring, with a smart finish from the left wing. Ipswich did manage to claw another goal back to score past the largely redundant Colchester goalkeeper Jimmy Lang. The final quarter began with Colchester cruising at 12-3, easing off a little with the game won, they still managed to score further goals through Lowe, Johnson and Martin Vinter with a deft lob to round a fine performance off. Despite the lack of training facilities Colchester still defy all the odds with another convincing victory. Final score: Ipswich 4 Colchester 15.
Water Polo vs Chelmsford - 15th September Colchester travelled to Chelmsford on Tuesday night hoping to gain revenge for 2 recent defeats. Colchester have been struggling to fulfil their fixtures, as the extended closure to the fitness pool at Leisureworld plays havoc with arrangements. Without training facilities Colchester have been forced to play home games away, and often with no training in between games. This showed as they let Chelmsford sneak into an early lead as the Chelmsford pit man took advantage of Colchester's lack of match practice. Edward Corcos and Simon Nicholson did manage to score for Colchester, but it was Chelmsford who took a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. Colchester moved up a gear in the second quarter, as the rustiness wore off. Jimmy Lang was a happy man in goal as he kept Chelmsford at bay, with some smart saves. But it was Colchester's attacking polo that really shone in the second quarter. Quick, decisive passing and direct swims caused Chelmsford's defence all kinds of problems as Craig Snowdon and Simon Lecomber both grabbed 2 goals. Defenders David Nicholson and Martin Vinter also scored, the addition of Richard Horrocks to the team allowed them to venture further forward, as Colchester took control of the game with a 3-8 lead at half time. Colchester again showed their lack of practice as they let Chemsford back into the game with some poor defending and over committing in attack. Chelmsford pulled 3 goals back in the 3rd quarter and it was only a late penalty that kept and distance on Colchester's lead. The penalty was duly despatched by Craig Snowdon for his hat-rick. Captain Simon Lecomber had some choice words before the final quarter began. Colchester again found there rhythm, as 3 quick, goals two for Lecomber and one for Simon Nicholson, soon put the game safely in Colchester's hands. Craig Snowdon added a fourth to his personal tally and an outrageous lob by Vinter ensured that Colchester came out 6-14 winners over their local rivals. A very rewarding result considering they have not trained together for 3 months.
Great North Swim at Lake Windermere - 12th September Colchester Swimming Club's Tom Rootsey swapped the pool for Lake Windermere on Saturday joining more than 4,500 others to take part in the Great North Swim. This one-mile lake swim is open to all, but as a competitive swimmer Tom took his place in the sub 25 minute 'red wave'. World Champion backstroker Liam Tancock set the wave off to a crowded start (no lane to yourself here) and a dash into the water, the race ended with a run out and under the finish gantry. Tom finished his own wave in 1st place and was also placed 1st overall in a superb 19.46 secs almost 30 seconds ahead of the second placed swimmer.
International elite swimmers including Britain's Jo Jackson, Cassie Patten, Keri-Anne Payne and David Davies had their own races, with a dive start and a finish in the water, rounding off an exciting spectacle in a stunning location, under a beautiful blue sky. Tom was delighted with his result and was pleased that training with Colchester Swimming Club has gone so well (despite the closure of Colchester Leisure World), at the Garrison pool in Colchester. After attempting to repeat his success at Alton Water in Suffolk in the Great East Swim on 26th September, he is looking forward to returning to the pool for the coming competitive season, building on this great start.
Big South Swim at Dorney Lake - 29th August Sonny Trigg, of Colchester Swimming Club, swam 3.8km at Dorney lake in the Red Bull sponsored F3 open water swim. This is the venue for the 2012 rowing events and was a perfect
setting, with 123 male competitors and 90 female starting seven minutes behind. Sonny was the first junior across the line finishing in a superb 51.55mins. He came 8th overall in the
men's race, the winner posting a 43 minute time, and 10th in the field with ladies, with 2 ladies breaking the 50:00min mark. Sonny received a prize for winning the junior age group as
the top three places won medals on the day.
Sargon's Success at Sheffield Colchester Swimming Club's Sargon Youssefi (18yrs) competed this weekend at the British Gas National Youth Championships, held at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. Youssefi had gained three National Qualifying times, the 100m freestyle, 50m freestyle and 100m butterfly; he swam fantastically, producing excellent new long course personal best times. In his 100 freestyle he swam a very determined race achieving a time of 54.90 secs, smashing his previous time. Excellent reactions and a terrific underwater phase got Youssefi off to a flying start in the 50m fc storming to the finish in a time of 24.87secs. He produced another superb time in the 100m butterfly, racing with true grit on the final length home to break the minute and swim an excellent time of 59.90 secs.
Joint Chief Coach Ian Johnson said "In the lead up to the National Championships, Sargon trained methodically to prepare himself both physically and mentally for the three events
for which he had qualified at this level. His commitment, effort and attention to detail prior to and throughout the week's competition were reflected in the superb personal best times
he achieved in all three events. Congratulations to a talented swimmer".
Water polo vs Eastern Otter - 20th July Colchester travelled to East Ham to play an amalgamation of Ilford and Plaistow waterpolo teams. With Colchester left without a pool during the refurbishment works at Leisure World, they thought it would take them a while to get back in the swing of things, after a quiet couple of weeks. However it was team veteran Edward Corcos who led from the front. The pool is very narrow and there is little room to find time on the ball. But Corcos found himself in space 3 times in the first quarter and on each occasion slotted the ball past the Otter goalkeeper as Colchester stormed into a 3-1 lead after the first quarter. As expected Otter fought back in the second quarter and were quickly back on level terms as some slack defending twice allowed Otter players’ time and space in front of goal. But once Colchester settled they again found their rhythm and added 2 goals themselves, from Ross Johnson and Simon Lecomber, to open up a slender lead again. The third quarter was a frantic affair as both teams attempted to settle the game. Tempers were frayed as both teams disputed refereeing decisions. Ugly scenes began as Otter had a man removed from the game but Colchester failed to take advantage of this and ended up giving Otter a passage back into the game by giving them a needless penalty. Jimmy Lang in the Colchester goal stood strong and saved the penalty to give Colchester a huge boost. Colchester then pushed forwards and 2 goals from Lecomber meant that Colchester went into the final quarter with a fairly comfortable 7-4 lead. The home side would not give up and managed to get 2 quick goals at the start of the final quarter. This ensured a far trickier final quarter than Colchester had envisaged. Eventually a good counter attack and fine swim and rasping shot from Chris Harrington meant that Colchester came out 8-6 winners.
Sonny's charity swim Sunday 19th of July was the second year for the Fair Havens Hospice charity (Great Pier Swim) in Southend, from Jubilee beach (the pier) to Thorpe bay in Shoeburyness, a total of three kilometres. This year saw 182 entries compete in this challenge, with one of the youngest swimmers there being Sonny Trigg (13), from Colchester. Being a dedicated swimmer for Colchester Swimming Club he entered this to see if he would like open water swimming as much as pool swimming and having completed it in 37 minutes has been bitten by the bug and wants to enter the Great London swim. Sonny managed to raise £90 for the charity and was the fastest in his group of fifty on this bright sunny but windy day, perfect for spectators, but choppy and challenging for the swimmers. All in all it was a well organised and fun day out for all who took part. He said "I felt very safe as there were lots people in boats and plenty of canoeists looking over us. It was cold and wavy but the suit I hired kept me warm although my feet were numb, I really enjoyed it"
Essex Mini League 4 at Dagenham - 11th July Colchester came away with a great result at Dagenham considering the disruption to their training due to the work at the clubs home pool. On the Saturday Colchester took a coach full of eager swimmers to race at the Essex Mini-League against Becontree, the host club, Canvey Island and Clacton. The evening consisted of 48 individual and team races of all four strokes within a range of age groups. There was an electric atmosphere, even more so during the relay events where there were some awesome performances from Colchester in particular Luke Heptonstall, in individual backstoke as well as freestyle and breastsroke relays, who swam impressively in all his races, bagging two firsts. Martha Duley swam outstandingly in backstroke and freestyle relay to scoop a first place in both. Helena Wright also swam a brilliant individual backstroke as well as freestyle and breaststroke relays to achieve first place in all three. Determined performances, creating outstanding results form Gemma Loftus and Katherine-Jayne Watts both in individual breaststroke and freestyle relay, Cameron Cowan in individual breaststroke and in the breaststroke relay as well as Charlotte Macdonald individually in freestyle and breaststroke relay who not only stormed their individual races to take first positions but also swam an integral part in team relays which also took maximum points. Strong performances from Katie Stratton in backstroke, Sarah Bird in breaststroke, Shane Monks in butterfly to take more individual victories helping the club build an impressive final total. With the events points going towards the final placing at the end of the season Colchester's consistent performances won them 16 firsts, 14 seconds and maintained second place overall throughout the evening. They accumulated a total of 167 points with the host club Becontree narrowly tfirst with 178 points, Canvey Island third with 138 points and Clacton, who are one of Colchester's closest rivals in the league fourth with 135 points. Colchester are in a strong position with one remaining meet in October at Basildon were they could finish as winners of the league over the fifteen other clubs.
Braintree Summer Sprint Meet - 5th July A large number of Colchester Swimming Club members competed in the Braintree Summer Sprint Meet on Sunday 5th July. It was an exciting and successful day for Colchester, culminating in 15yr old Sarah Larner and 10 yr old Philippa Davenall sharing 1st position in the overall Top Girl competition. The award on the day was presented to Davenall, being the youngest competitor, a fantastic achievement for both girls. Larner found amazing form to win 4 finals out of her 5 races, the 15yrs/over 50m Freestyle (Free), Backstroke (Back), Butterfly (Fly), 100m Individual Medley (IM) and she took 3rd in the 50m Breaststroke. Davenall gave astonishing performances, also winning 4 finals out of the same 5 races in the 10yrs age group; she also came 3rd in the 50m Back.
There were a huge number of excellent swims by the Colchester youngsters, breaking entry times, some with personal best (PB) times. Swimmers across all age groups qualified for finals and then gained high placings, many beating their heat times as well as achieving PBs. The 12yrs Boys age group were on excellent form, dominating many finals. In the 50m Back 5 out of the 8 finalists were from Colchester, with Jim Vickers, on outstanding form winning, Damien Green taking 4th, Jack Urwin 6th, Taylor Young 7th and Guy Harrison 8th. They also swept the board in a fiercely fought final of the 50m Breast final; Vickers performing superbly to win again with Green a close 2nd, Harrison 3rd and Urwin 4th. Vickers also won the Free, came 3rd in the Fly and 1st in the 100m IM. Green also took 3rd in the Free and 2nd in the IM; Urwin came 5th in the Free, 8th in the Fly and 7th in the 100m IM, whilst Harrison also took 4th in the Fly, 7th in the Free and 5th in the IM. 13yr old Sonny Trigg enjoyed some tremendous swims, he won the 50m Fly and Back with great strength and came 2nd in the Free and Breast came 1st in the 100m IM. 14 yr Grace Sanderson swam with determination to take 1st position in the 50m Free and Back, she also came 2nd in the 100m IM as well as coming 4th in the Breast and 5th in the Fly. Her team mate Gemma Wass swam with purpose to come 2nd to Sanderson in the Back final, in a very exciting finish with just 0.5sec between them. She also went on to win the Fly in great style. 10yr old Arran Francis was magnificent in two victories in the 50m Free and Back, as well as coming 2nd in the Fly and 4th in the IM. 11yr old Matthew Parsons had a fabulous day of swimming, powerfully winning the 50m Free and the IM, he also came 2nd in the 50m Fly and Breast and was 3rd in the Back. 10yr old Spencer Prior enjoyed some splendid swimming, he won the 50 m Fly in a close finish with Francis, came 1st in the 100m IM and went on to come 3rd in the Free and Breast. He also came 6th in the Back. 17yr old Joe Mackay found terrific form to win the 15yrs/over 50m Breast and came 2nd in the Fly and 4th in the 100m IM. 12yr old Megan Boyden took a wonderful victory in the 50m Fly, came 2nd in the 100m IM, as well as taking 5th place in the Back. 11yr old Dolly Trigg was delighted to reach finals in all strokes, coming 3rd in the 50m Breast, 6th in the Back and Fly and 8th in the Free and 6th in the IM. 13yr old Chris Kwok swam extremely well to reach all finals, taking 7th in the 50m Free and 8th in the Fly, Back and Breast and 8th in the IM. 16yr old Jordan Jago found superb form, reaching 3 finals, coming 3rd in the 50m Free, 4th in the Back and Fly and also came 7th in the IM. 11 yr old Jack Gallagher had some tremendous swims to reach 3 finals, taking 5th in the 50m Fly, 7th in Free and 8th in the Back and 7th in the IM. 13yr old Joe Mackinder reached 3 well deserved finals coming 5th in the 50m Back and 6th in the Free & Breast and also took 6th place IM. 9yr old Martha Duley had some great swims in her finals taking 4th in the 50m Back and 6th in the Fly and Free and 6th in the IM. 15yr old Hannah Bain was delighted to reach 3 finals, taking 5th in the 15yrs/over 50m Breast, 6th in the Back, 7th in the Free and took 8th place in the IM. In the same age group Luke Heptonstall swam stylishly in 2 finals, coming 5th in the 50m Free and 6th in the Fly. 10yr old Timothy Kwok reached 2 finals, he was 6th in the 50m Breast, 7th in the Free and also was placed 7th in the IM. 11yr old Katherine- Jayne Watts came 5th in the 50m Fly final, whilst Sam Watkins in the same age group came 6th in the 50m Fly and the 100m IM.
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