2009 County Competitions update

We have now been able to finalise the dates and venues of next year's competitions. The staff at Tiverton pool have been persuaded to allow us five days for 2009 but, with no guarantee for future years, this will create ongoing problems. We are however extremely grateful to them for their help for the coming year.

This does, however come with some caveats!

At the majority of our Tiverton galas the numbers in the pool have been way over the Health and Safety numbers allowed and in future these will have to be severely restricted. The staff have insisted that spectator numbers are kept within those H & S limits and we shall be looking at how we are going achieve this demand.

We realise this will be very unpopular with parents but we have no option and we ask for everyone's co-operation. We have a limited number of suitable pools available to us and must make the best of those we have. It really is a question of co-operate with the pool's demand or have no galas!

We have 16 days of competition a year. Plymouth allows us just five days a year, Tiverton have now agreed to another five. Five have been booked at the Pyramids in Exeter with the venue for the remaining gala still under discussion.

As most of you will know Exeter also has limited balcony and deck space and for a number of reasons we have avoided this pool in recent years but will have no option but to use in the future. We may have to restrict numbers here too.

All dates for 2009 County galas are posted on the calendar.

There are a number of changes to next year's competitions as follows

• Due concerns expressed by coaches regarding age group finals, swimmers who qualify for Championship finals will no loner be eligible for age group finals. We have however introduced Championship finals for all 200m events and the 400m freestyle. This will give all finalist swimmers the opportunity for two swims.
• Reverse 800/1500m freestyle. We have removed these time trials from the Championships and Development Galas and will hold them as a separate gala on November 16 th (TBC). Although early, they will form part of the following years Championships and will allow swimmers the opportunity to gain an up to date time to enter the SW Time Trials in January at which they can gain a National qualifying time.

This event will be a Championship event only but will be open to younger swimmers. Depending on the take up this may become an age group event in future years. There will be no qualifying times but entries may be limited.

The Programme and full changes to conditions will be posted in due course.

FINA World Short Course Championships - Manchester by Phil Shute (Devon Medical Officer)

It was the most exciting (probably [well...almost definitely]) weekend of my life, watching the World Short Course Swimming Championships at Manchester.

I had the honour of serving as medical officer at the event (1 of 4 over the weekend period)  I saw 15 world records set from my vantage point, pool-side adjacent to the finish!!  Could have been priceless, got it for free!  There have NEVER been more World records set in any meet, anywhere (18 in total for the event [regrettably I could not get off work until the Friday]).  My wife and I had paid as spectators for the Friday eve session; we had cheap seats but the view from everywhere was superb.  Until, and including the Final session, we were disappointed by the attendances, most of Manchester was unaware of the event and certainly didn't give a stuff!  The venue and organisation was superb, the stage management (and I mean stage management) was stupendous, the scale of the event amazing, the MONEY involved staggering.  Apparently James Hickman had been on local radio and TV ad nauseam for months advertising the event, but still poor levels of interest.  The final session coincided with Man Utd vs Arsenal (the traffic coming home was "The Pits".... 4 miles in 2 hrs!!

What a thrill to see Liam in gold medal form; my daughter swam with him at Exeter City, to this date her greatest claim to fame (I doubt he says the same re my daughter).  Great to see so many Brits in finals and a team so cohesive and bouncy.  We still have our work cut out in Beijing!  I've been involved in sport of many disciplines for 40+ years; I've never such perfect athletes.

Thankfully medically it was a quiet Meet.  Worst injury to any athlete I observed was a Scandinavian lady who cut herself shaving (I can't say where).  Worst injury in toto was an interesting chap in the doping team who tripped on the staging and broke a finger in 3 places (had been an international swimmer).  Busiest line medically was competitors, officials and families who had come through "Terminal 5" Heathrow, lost baggage and regular prescribed medication.... the team spent days 1-3 replacing prescriptions.

If this was a dry run for London 2012 then I think the management committee has scored many "Brownie Points" with FINA (who were HUGELY impressed) [with the organisation, not just the medical side {which was frankly under-employed} but had the best view in the house].  In which case, I would give my right arm and most of my bodily fluids to play any part at all in London 2012.  If they don't need me as a medic, I'll sell programmes, or busk in under-passes; this was and will remain a huge thrill.

Plymouth Leander were the expected to winner of this year's Interclub gala which of course they were! The real competition therefore, was between the remaining clubs, each jockeying for position against their ‘nearest' rivals.

Exeter City , now renamed Exeter swimming, and Kelly College returned to the competition after a year's absence and it was Exeter who took the runners up position. They fought at tight battle with Barnstaple throughout the gala with only a few points between them but in the end Exeter just squeezed into second place by 2 points.

Kelly College who suffer from a lack of the younger age group finished fourth, 50 points behind.

Final results

1. Plymouth Leander 579
2. Exeter 478
3. Barnstaple 476
4. Kelly College 426
5. Kingsbridge Kingfishers 375
6. Dinnaton 364
7. Newton Abbot 322
8. Exmouth 293
10. Oddicombe 254
11. Tiverton 239
12. Torridgeside 229
13. Torquay Leander 217
14. Paignton 178
15. Ilfracombe 175
16. Tavistock 161

Exeter Swimming club took advantage of Liam Tancock's return to the city for a few days break and held a presentation evening to recognise his achievements. The presentation was attended by about 100 swimmers as well as guests including the Lord Mayor of Exeter and Devon County President Dave Avery.

Liam brought his amazing collection of medals for all to see. As well as the four he won at the FINA World Short Course Championships in Manchester last week he also brought medals from previous World Championships, the Commonwealth Games as well as other international meets.

Liam was presented him with a portrait, showing him at the end of his gold medal winning race at the Commonwealth Games in Sydney , painted by club member Rebecca Jenkins. Later Liam spoke about his experiences in swimming, his time at Exeter City Swimming Club and answered swimmers' questions.

He told the local paper, the Express and Echo, "I want to try to get more people involved in swimming, both watching and taking part," explained Liam.

"I want people to understand swimming and get to know more about it, like how much effort it takes to be at the top of your game and be the best in the world. I think they would be surprised how much, not just training is involved, but things like nutrition and time in the gym and in the pool.

"But it's not just that. People see someone with a hat and goggles on and a Speedo suit and that's all they see. I want them to see outside of that and find out what I'm like as a person. I think that's what the sport needs to boost the profile of swimmers.

Liam, who is taking a year off from studying for a degree in sports science at Loughborough University , arrived on the world stage with a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke in the World Championships in Montreal in August, 2005.

Since then he has won medals all over the world. At the recent Olympic trials he became the quickest man ever over the 50m backstroke and won a gold, two silvers and a bronze in an incredible week in Manchester .

The 22-year-old was in Exeter for the last time before he resumes training for the Games, where he will compete in the 100m backstroke and the 200m individual medley and possibly the medley relay. With the Olympic Games in Beijing just 16 weeks away, national attention is sure to focus on him as one of Britain 's best medal hopes in China .

But he's taken it all in his stride and prefers to focus on the opportunities swimming has given him rather than the success he has enjoyed.

Liam said: "It's great to come back to Exeter and hopefully inspire all these young swimmers. I'm excited about Beijing . All my preparation over the last four years has been for this point."

Liam leaves Loughborough for Sardinia in a few weeks for training and then goes on to Japan in July and finally Beijing in August.

The County residential camp returned to Millfield this year as Crystal Palace was being renovated. Twenty three swimmers took part in the camp which included the usual pool sessions plus land training and talks. Jo John, Steve Carder, Paul Jackson and Kate and Simon Veale were the coaches.

Swimmers taking part were

Josh Carnell, Galerina Beriot, Laura Butler, George Fearnley, Abigail Budgett, Richard Forman, Nik Harris, Nicole Jones, Zoe Blackoe, Meg Callaghan, George Humphrey, Chloe Davey, Ethan Hutchinson, Connie Fearnley, Samuel Jackson, Maria Griss, Edward Jackson, Catherine Harvey, William Parr, Liam Ward, Laker Wong, Levin Veale, Helen Smith

Jeffrey Hill swept the board by winning all five freestyle events at the 2008 Championships. It is very unusual for a swimmer to win all distances from 50m sprint to long distance.

The 18 year old Kelly College swimmer had already taken the 100, 400 & 1500m free events and on the final day he celebrated this amazing feat by setting a new record of 1.52.64 in the 200m free before going on the take the 50m crown. He won the first event of the Championships, the 1500m and brought the Championships to a close by winning the 50m and the exciting SKINS.

Victoria Cadge (KC) added a further three championship titles over the weekend to her collection by taking the 50m breaststroke, the 200m freestyle, the 200m Individual medley. In the latter event she equalled the oldest record in the book, set by Zara Long in 1986. Vicky has won all three medley, and all three breaststroke, events as well as the 100m freestyle and the 100m butterfly.

Jodie Le Resche (PL) showed her sprint credentials by winning both the 50m freestyle and 50m fly. Georgina Barrington (PL) won the Junior 50m free and Tabitha Chivers (PL) won the Junior 50m fly. Tabitha has had an excellent championships picking up six junior titles and pushed some older opponents hard.

Matthew Henry (KC) clinched his first Championship title of the year by winning the 200m individual medley and team mate Joshua Lake claimed his third title by winning the 100m backstroke. Jennifer Oldham, also Kelly College took the 200m title butterfly. The Mens 50m butterfly was won by Edward Rafipay (Sid Vale).

Sam Straughan (PL) secured junior titles in the 200m freestyle, 50m fly and 50m freestyle to bring his total of junior awards to five. Also in the juniors Grant Halsall (PL) took the 100m backstroke and Fabian Whitbread (PL) the 200m Iindividual medley

The Highest GB points trophies were won by Vicky Cadge (KC) and Antony James (PL) . Antony won the Keith Yong Trophy for his record breaking swim in the 100m backstroke with 825 points and Vicky won the Strudwick Cup with 839 points for her record breaking swim in the 100m individual medley.

Analysis of Championships shows that only one title went to a swimmer outside Kelly College and Plymouth Leander and that was to Sid Vale. Kelly College won 10 Men's titles and 10 Ladies', Plymouth Leander won 6 Men's and 7 Ladies'. However in the Juniors Plymouth Leander took all 17 Girls awards plus 13 Men's events. Kelly College took 4 Junior Men's events.

To see photos from Championships, please click here

Records continue to fall at the Swimming Championships. After another busy weekend at Tiverton nine new County Champions were crowned, two County records broken and two British and one European Disability records were broken.

Louise Watkins broke two records in the S9 category. In the 400m IM the Kelly College swimmer set a new British and European record of 5.44.16 having already secured a British record in the 100m freestyle of 1.06.57 earlier in the day.

Once again Championship titles were shared between Plymouth Leander and Kelly College but swimmers from Exeter City, Barnstaple, Exmouth, Sid Vale and Dinnaton also featured among the Championship medalists.

A new County record went to Emma Wilkins (PL) who set a new time of 57.19 in winning the ladies 100m freestyle event. Vicky Cadge (KC) was second and Bo Cameron (PL) third. Achieng Ajulu Bushell (PL) won the junior title.

Plymouth Leander’s Antony James set a new record of 54.76 for the 100m fly with Matthew Henry second and Cameron Brodie (KC) third and winning the Junior title.

Vicky Cadge (KC) had a tough battle against Tabitha Chivers (PL) to win the 400m Individual Medley event. It was only in the final 50m that the Vicky came through to clinch victory in 4.56.60. Tabitha finished in second place and took the Junior title. Jennifer Oldham (KC) was third.

Laura Froshaugh (PL) secured both the senior and junior titles in a comfortable win in the 800m freestyle by over 25 seconds in 8.56.78 from second placed Sophie Howe (Barnstaple) with Annie Tinsley (Exeter City) third.

Adam John(PL) had a good battle with team mate David Gregory (PL) in the 200m backstroke to win in 2.04.64 and secure the championship title with David taking the junior title. Callum Jarvis (PL) finished third.

Vicky Cadge picked up her second title of the weekend in winning the 100m fly in 1.04.61 with Tabi Chivers finishing second and collecting another junior title. Lydia McManus (PL) was third.

Mark Conroy and Fabian Whitbread (both PL) won the Senior and Junior titles respectively in the 100m breaststroke. Antony O’Driscoll (PL) was second and Danny Brown (KC) was third.

Jeffrey Hill had no problem in securing the 400m freestyle finishing in 4.01.85, six seconds ahead of second placed Callum Jarvis (PL) who took the Junior title. Jonathon Hill (PL) was third.

Joshua Lake (KC) took the 50m backstroke title. Sam Straughan (PL) finished second and took the junior title with Ed Rafipay (Sid Vale) third.

Competition returns to Tiverton in two weeks time for the final weekend of this year’s Championship programme which will end with the exciting Skins competition and presentations of the Bagcat awards.

To see photos from Championships, please click here

Despite problems with the timing system at Plymouth days two and three of the Championships were successfully completed with some exciting swimming.

Senior Championship titles were evenly distributed between Kelly College and Plymouth Leander with 5 titles each.

The final Championship event of the weekend produced a new record for 15 year old Jonathon Hill of Plymouth Leander when he won the 400m Individual Medley title in 4.26.06 taking 2 seconds off the previous record This also gave him the junior award. David Gregory and Fabian Whitbread, both PL, finish second and third respectively.

Victoria Cadge (KC) maintained her high standard following her record swim in the 100m IM the previous week by taking both the 100 and 200m breaststroke crowns. In the final of the 100m event she finished in 1.12.90, just 7 tenths of a second outside the previous record set and went all out to break it in the age group final. Finishing well ahead of her rivals she equalled the record, finishing in 1.12.19. The Junior title went to Jessica Ollie (PL) who finished second with Charlotte Foulds (PL) third.

In the 200m breaststroke Vicky finished in 2.36.86 with Charlotte Foulds, second and Emma Carter (PL) third and taking the junior title in 2.44.49

The weekends backstroke titles all went to Plymouth Leander with Zoe Hester taking the 100m event in 1.02.95 with Jenny Oldham second and Megan Bushnell third. Holly Campbell took the junior title. The 50m title went to Megan Bushnell in 30.18 with Jennifer Oldham (KC) second and Tabi Chivers, who took the junior title, third.

Laura Froshaugh (PL) took both the Senior and junior titles in the 400m freestyle in 4.19.89 with Vicky Cadge in second and Olivia Duffield-Moore third.

Jeffrey Hill (KC) was a comfortable winner in the Men's 100m freestyle finishing in 51.99 with Neal Taylor (Oddicombe) second and Kalon Veale (Totnes) third. The junior title went to Cameron Brodie (KC).

Joshua Lake (KC) won the 100m IM in 1.00.66 with Anthony O'Driscoll (PL) second and Edward Rafipay (Sid Vale) third. The junior title went to Sam Straughan (PL).

Fifteen year old Cameron Brodie (KC) finished the 200m Fly in 2.09.04 to take both the senior and Junior titles with Matthew Henry second and Sam Straughan third.

Mark Conroy (PL) secured the 50m Breaststroke championship in 29.45 with Paul Sutherland (KC) second and Edward Rafipay (SV) third. Fabian Whitbread (PL) took the junior title.

To see photos from Championships, please click here

Devon Championships Day 1

Kelly College 's Jeffrey Hill took the first 2008 Championship title by winning the 1500m freestyle in 16.13.56. It was a clean sweep for Kelly College as he was followed home by Matthew Henry, Cameron Brodie and three other Kelly swimmers. Brodie took the Junior Championship title for the second year running.

The 100m Individual Medley was the first ladies event contested and the Championship title went once again to Kelly College as Victoria Cadge saw off her challengers by winning in 1.04.78. Plymouth Leander's Achieng Ajulu-Bushell finished second to capture the Junior title and Lydia McManus , also PL finished third.

In the men's 200m breaststroke, fourteen year old Joseph Parker stole the title from his older rivals to pick up both the senior and junior Championship titles in 2.26.38. Alex Wooldridge ( Exeter City ) was second and Fabian Whitbread (PL) was third.

Jennifer Oldham ( Kelly College ) took the final Championship title of the day by winning the 200m backstroke in 2.16.36 with team mate Victoria Cadge finishing second and Zoe Hester (PL) third. Tabi Chivers of Plymouth Leander took the Junior Championship title.

In the women's 100m Individual Medley disability event Louise Watkin ( Kelly College ) won with 979 points with Claire Cashmore (KC) second with 935 point and Sarah-Kate Timms (KC) third with 897 points.

Archie Brew Mentors Youngsters in Devon

On Sunday 6th January, Devon County ASA in partnership with ASA South West held their first ever Young Volunteers Development Day at Kelly College, Tavistock for 16 young people; Keziah Smith, Abigail Smith, Samantha Gard, Chelsea Worts, Lucy Patten, Harriet Tuck, Emma Sloman, Hamilton Easton, Gary Smith, Jordan Hamilton, Jessica Collins, Alice Fountain, Greg King, Zoe Moss, Olivia Barnard and Amy Widger from Plymouth Leander, Exmouth, Kingsbridge Kingfishers and Crediton spent the day developing new skills.

The group welcomed Archie Brew , former England , Scotland and GB Coach to lead them in a practical session on key technical skills in the pool and giving lots of tips and advice on ‘what makes a good coach'. Archie led the session with passion and enthusiasm, motivating the volunteers to hopefully continue onto their own coach education pathways.

With Devon County representatives Daphney Turner and Chris Tremellen delivering the Club Timekeepers Qualification and ASA Regional Development Officer Kelly Gaffney tutoring the Young Aquatic Organisers Award the young people were learning on overload and are now set and ready to volunteer in their Swim 21 clubs in a variety of roles and put their new skills to use.

Kelly Gaffney, Regional Development Officer for ASA South West said, “The young people from Devon are enthusiastic and committed to learning new skills and helping in their clubs, already they have signed up to volunteer at County events and the South West Regional Disability Championships, they have great mentors within their Swim 21 clubs and I know they will continue to volunteer within sport with the great passionate and interest they have already shown”. 

Particular thanks should go to Volunteer Co-ordinator, Jeannette Stonemann and Chris Tremellen, from Devon County ASA for their support and time dedicated to the training and development of volunteers in Devon. 

National Inter County Masters 2007

The Devon masters team took part in the West regional Inter County gala on the 18th Nov 2007

It was a hard fought competition against the 5 other western counties. The gala consisted of 68 events. Devon managed to get 33 1st places & 16 2nd places. The result of this gala was:-

Devon 342 points
Wilts. 279 points
Dorset 258 points
Gloucester 226 points
Cornwall 184 points
Somerset 129 points

The team consisted of:- Rob Bunney (Barnstaple) Jean Kitson, Sian Boulton (Brixham) Paul Russell (Dinnaton) Rebecca Russell, Jane Nevin, Norman Storey & Peter Hayward (DT's) Denise Ward (Devonport) Kayliegh Vine, Tara Dudley, Louise Kathro, Bill Letch, Olly White, Ross Szender, Jonothan Hawkins, Richard Lander (Exmouth) Russell Page-Dove (Kelly) Neil Taylor (Oddicombe) Mark Plumridge (Paignton) Richard Baker, Robert Will (Plynmouth Leander) June Porter, Ann Grantham (RNRM) Edward Rafipay (Sid Vale) Susan Haigh, Rebecca Jenkins on (Tiverton) Margaret Bickley, Samantha Hayman, Victoria Hayman, Trish Warren, Emma Robinson, Kate Veale, Terry Windeatt, Neil Roberts, Simon Veale. (Totnes).

Thanks to the efforts of these swimmers Devon retains the Sun Life Inter County Masters Trophy,( best Western county), for another year.

The times from this gala where sent to the ASA to be merged with the results of the other regions that were swum that weekend. There were 29 counties taking part, the results were as follows:-

Warwickshire 1732.5 points
Yorkshire 1602.5 points
Cheshire 1544.5 points
Devon County 1455.5 points
Berks & S.Bucks 1388.5 points
Sussex 1373 points

This is the six top counties.

The full results can be found on the British swimming web site.

This gala followed on from a successful ASA masters championships at Sheffield for Devon masters swimmers who achieved 22 1st . places, 15 2nd places & 11 3rd places & many PB's.

Devon masters have also broken 8 short course British & 2 European records plus 5 long course British & 1 European records this year. This means that Devon swimmers now currently hold 41 British Masters records. I would also like to mention that the Exmouth girls 18 to 24 age group F/S relay team broke the Senior British record at Sheffield.

If you find this interesting & you are 18 & over & interested in competition swimming get involved with a great group of people & start to swim masters competitions.

The Swimmer of the Year award for 2007 goes to Cameron Brodie. Fourteen year old Cameron moved to Kelly College in January and immediately made his mark on the County when he became our first ever Junior Champion when he finished runner up in the 1500m freestyle. He went on to gain two further Junior Championship titles in the 100 and 200m butterfly.

At the Regional Championships he was a medallist in five events and followed this with a very successful Scottish Nationals where he won the 100 and 200m fly and the 200 IM as well as finishing second in the 200m freestyle. It was here that he first came to the notice of Scottish Swimming and on the back of these achievements he was selected for the Scottish Squad.

In August at the ASA National Age Groups he won the 100m fly after being narrowly beaten into silver medal position in the 200m fly. In both events he set new Scottish Junior records. These events plus further finalist placings won him the overall BAGCAT award in his age group. Following his achievements at this year's Nationals he has been short listed for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India in October 2008.

As his coach said of him - talent alone is not enough. It takes passion, determination, discipline, commitment and a sense of personal responsibility to succeed in this very demanding world of swimming and Cameron has showed that he possesses these special attributes.

I am sure you will join me in wishing him well in the future and look forward to being able to celebrate many more of his successes.

Please click on photos to view larger version of photo

	Retiring President Steve Ward and incoming President Dave Avery		Swimmer of the Year Cameron Brodie (Kelly College) with President Steve Ward
	Presentation of Waterpolo trophies		Presentation of Waterpolo trophies

Mid October means it is time for the National County Team Championships once again. This massive competition, held at Ponds Forge Pool in Sheffield, is the biggest team and most prestigious competition held in this country as it involves the best swimmers including many international swimmers from every English County, N & S Wales and 3 regions of Scotland.

Twenty eight Devon swimmers aged 12 - 17 years of age and 5 staff (of undisclosed ages) plus 2 officials, the Devon President, Steve Ward and his wife travelled north on Saturday morning. The journey was uneventful except for an brief unscheduled stop at Sedgemoor Services for a little emergency dentistry on a swimmer's brace. The team arrived at their hotel in time for an early dinner with plenty of time for a team talk and presentation of badges by our President before settling down to watch the rugby world cup match.

After breakfast on Sunday morning it was time to leave for the gala. On arrival at the pool the building was already heaving with a mass of swimmers with more teams streaming in. This is a very colourful event with all the team in their various coloured kits filling the whole of one enormous balcony. The event was filmed and before the gala the camera scaned the balcony with much waving and whistling as swimmers saw themselves on the big screen. Once all the warm ups were completed there was an opening ceremony with a parade of the Presidents and officials and then it was the turn of the teams to parade onto poolside. Our banner this year was carried by Alex Wooldridge and Sophie Howe. Speedy the Shark made an appearance (see photos) to promote the World Championships in Manchester next April. There was just time for singing the seemingly obligatory singing of YMCA before competition began.

The competition is held as two short course 10 lane galas running at the same time with two heats in each event. From the start Devon's swimmers demonstrated their determination by setting new pbs. Almost every swimmer lowered their previous best with some showing amazing improvements and in 17 individual events improved their position.

Jodi Worbey and Kalon Veale (both 16yrs) got the gala off to a good start by setting new pbs in the 100m freestyle and improving their positions from 12th - 6th and 7th to 4th respectively. Kalon went on the perform a similar feat in the backstroke.

Devon didn't have any winners but Alex Wooldridge (16yrs) took over 3 seconds off his 100m breaststroke time to move up from 6th to second place and Sally Whybra (13yrs) took third place in her age group100m fly with a one second pb.

Thirteen year old Levin Veale continued his rapid improvement reducing his 100m breaststroke by an amazing10 seconds from his entry time and moved up from17th to finish 7th.

James Bunney (15yrs) also had an excellent swim reducing his pb in the 100m fly by almost 4 seconds to move up from 15th to 9th. Lawrence Oxborough (15yrs) dropped over 2 seconds off his freestyle time to move up from 15th to 6th and then took a further 2 seconds off his backstroke time to move up 4 places while Freddie Hedger (14yrs) also took 2 secs of his breaststroke.

At one point Devon was in 5th place but an unfortunate and rather bizarre disqualification in the 16/17yrs boys relay in which the boys had finished in a magnificent second place dropped the team down to 10th place. Although they moved up to 9th for a while they finished on 10th with 375 points. The number of new best times and swimmers' improvement against their opponents was an excellent effort by the whole team and they should be very proud of themselves.

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Please click on pictures to view a larger version

71013 Press Report:
Brixham Swimming Club.
Swim 21 Celebration Day, Saturday 6th October 2007.
Brixham Indoor Pool

World Quadrathlon Champion Helen Parkinson was not only the honoured guest at a celebration day held by Brixham Swimming Club at the Indoor Pool in Higher Ranscombe Road last Saturday (6.10.2007) but she also organised a special Aquathlon event that was enjoyed by many of the Club's young swimmers.

The Club was primarily celebrating recognition by the Amateur Swimming Association as a Swim 21 Accredited Club for Teaching. A ‘quality mark' that acknowledges that the club operates within national guidelines and provides a quality service for all members. But it also acknowledged their pleasure that the future of their unique Indoor Pool has at last been secured.

The day began with ‘early bird' adult swimmers adding more lengths to the total they had been achieving in their 7am sessions during the week. They were aiming to swim the English Channel by completing over 1,400 lengths but they didn't quite make it and needed another session on the Monday to ‘make it to the French coast'.

As a prelude to the mornings Aquathlon event Brixhams former international star Linda Williams (Criddle) demonstrated the powerful technique that took her to the Commonwealth Games in Australia & World Championships in Ecuador while the World Quadrathlon Champion 2006 & 2007 & five times British Champion Helen Parkinson demonstrated the four disciplines; swimming, canoeing, cycling & running that make up her gruelling event. Her father Dick Dyke explained that like Linda, Helen did much of her training with the Brixham Swimming Club and the Ibex Canoe Club.

It was then the turn of 28 of Brixhams young swimmers to take up the challenge and several waves of competitors in ages groups ranging from Year 3 to Year 11 began by completing swims of either 8 or 16 lengths (200 or 400m). Helen had briefed the competitors on the transition so they removed their swimming hats and goggles and put on their shoes and tops and off they went to run once or twice around both the Astley Park Rugby Field and the pitch to the rear of the pool to complete 2,000 or 3,000m according to the age.

The World Champion had kindly provided winners trophies and certificates for the competitors and she looked on as Chris Tremellen from the Amateur Swimming Association and Swimming Club President Joan Evershed made the presentations to the tired but delighted youngsters.

This was followed by the formal presentation of the Swim 21 Certificate by Mrs. Tremellyan, the Chair of the ASA's Swim21 Regional Panel. She congratulated officials on the achievement but reminded them that it was on-going. Officials will have to satisfy the ASA that they are continuing to follow the Club Development model every year.

In the afternoon it was fun for the Club swimmers aged between 5 & 10 years with 40 children making up four teams that each spent five minutes on four different activities across the pool. As one proud parent remarked “It is amazing how children are tempted to do that little more when they having such fun with their friends, and all for a Mars Bar”.

The final event was a canoeing demonstration by the Ibex Club that undertakes basic winter training sessions in the comfort of the Pool. They demonstrated a variety of rolls and recoveries and played ‘canoe polo' before sixteen young swimmers where given the chance to handle a canoe under the supervision of the qualified Ibex instructors.

With a variety of stalls, two bouncy castles, a barbeque, tile painting and a very professional and informative celebration booklet there was plenty of entertainment for everyone and although it was planned as a one off event members who enjoyed the day are asking, “Please could we do it again?”.

The Club President Joan Evershed adds, “The day was such a wonderful success. It was hard work but we all had such fun. Every thing was so well organised – even to the beautiful weather. It was lovely to welcome our World Champion Helen and we thank her for the trophies and for organising the Aquathlon. I must thank the organising group Vanessa Dunn, Helen Miller, Sue Turk, Di Harrison, Linda Williams & Charlotte Rea and all the sponsors, businesses and members who made it such a wonderful celebration day”.

Photo shows the trophy and certificate winners from the Aquathon with Club President Joan Evershed and Chris Tremellen.

Representatives from eleven Devon clubs attended a Swim21 seminar held on 6th October in Exeter. The seminar was held to kick start the accreditation process and Kelly Gaffney, Regional Development Officer took the attendees through the various stages of accreditation and what would be required from clubs. All the clubs registered their interest (the first stage) and completed an Action Plan (the second stage).

All agreed to attend group meetings in January, April and July to work on their evidence files and support each other. They all have the ambitious target of accrediting by next October which will more than double Devon 's Swim21 Accredited clubs.

Fifteen swimmers have signed up to the Devon Young Volunteer Project and 12 of them attended an introductory seminar at which they were told of the many ways young volunteers could carry out the requirements of the project. The project will run from now until the end of March. Volunteers must spend at least 25 hours volunteering in their club or with the County (eg at County galas) and the project will culminate in a Regional Presentation evening with a dinner and disco.

A training day will be held in the new year where the volunteers will be able to take courses such as officiating, team manager training, aquatic organisers course, synchro recorders course and more.

There are still vacancies for anyone wishing to sign up to the project. More information and an application form are available here. Swimmers must be 14 – 19 years of age. Contact Jeanette Stoneman (Volunteer Co-ordinator).

Kelly College Swim Squad sent 13 swimmers to the National & Youth Championships at Sheffield with ten swimmers making a total of 35 finals.

In the multi-disability events Claire Cashmore made 6 finals breaking the British (S8) record in the 50m Breaststroke (twice) lowering it to 40.45, the 100m breaststroke (1.27.26) and the S9 200m Individual medley (2.47.46) while winning silver in the 50m free and bronze in the 50 and the100m breaststroke and 100m backstroke.

Louise Watkins (S9) qualified for 7 finals and broke British records in the 100m Freestyle (1.07.16), the 400m freestyle (5.03.26) and the 50m breaststroke (40.38) and won bronze in the 100m fly and the 400m free.

David Hill made 6 finals and won gold in the 50m fly and bronze in the 50 and 100m backstroke while Jan Langton made 4 finals and winning silver in the 50m backstroke Sarah-Kate Timms also made 2 finals.

In the Youth events Victoria Cadge made 3 finals, Matthew Henry 2, Jennifer Oldham 2, Jeffrey Hill 2 and Daniel Brown 1.

2 New Scottish Records for Cameron Brodie

Cameron Brodie of the Kelly College Swim Squad won the overall Swimmer of the Championships award at the National Age Group in the 14-year-old Boys category. In two of the most exciting races of the competition, Cameron won gold in the 100m Fly (58.98) and silver, separated by a mere four hundreths of a second, in the 200m Fly (2.09.06) setting new Junior Scottish records in both events. Cameron won the overall award by tallying the most amount of points in five events which included the 100m & 200m Freestyle, 100m & 200m Fly and also the 400m IM where he produced a personal best time by some 10 seconds.

Bill Clements

It is with great sadness that we learned of the death on July 23rd of Bill Clements aged 80. Bill coached many generations of Plymouth swimmers including Sharon Davies. He was a Life member of all three Plymouth Clubs, Devonport Royal, Port of Plymouth and Plymouth Leander and at various times coached at all three plus the City of Plymouth sessions. He was a very respected member of the swimming community and held in great affection by countless swimmers.

His funeral will take place at St Mary's Church, Tamerton Foliot, Plymouth on Wednesday 1st August at 2.45pm.

Immediate family flowers only please but donations may be made to Children's Hospice South West by retiring collection or sent to Co-operative Funeral Service, Ermedale Chapel, Fore Street, Ivybridge. PL21 9AB. Tel. 01752 690890.

Exeter Swimmer Liam Tancock has received the highest sporting accolade awarded to an athlete competing while in Higher Education when he was named British Universities Sports Assocaition Sportsman of the Year on an International Stage.

The 22-year-old Loughborough University sports science student received the BUSA award for the second year running after an impressive 12 months that saw Tancock add to his ever-growing list of achievements in the water.

Tancock is a British and Commonwealth Backstroke Record holder, twice World Championship bronze medallist and Commonwealth Champion, and is also no stranger to awards after collecting the BBC (South West) Sportsperson of the Year 2006 and British Swimming's Male Swimmer of the Year 2007.

Totnes Master swimmer Simon Veale dominated his age group at the British Masters Championships claiming one European and three British records. He took the European and British record in the 200m freestyle and British records in the 400m freestyle and the 200m individual medley

Heather Fell kept up her return to top form at the European Modern Pentathlon Championships last weekend where she won an individual silver medal and a team gold medal. Heather is a former Kelly pupil who lives locally and has been training with Kelly College Swim Squad since last September in preparation for the Olympic Games in Beijing . The result from last weekend means that Heather has achieved the qualifying standard for the Olympics and will also be participating in the World Championships on August the 14th .

Cassie Patten took the European title at the LEN 5km Open Water Swimming Cup in London 's Dockland but needed a strong sprint finish to secure gold in windy conditions.

Patten, now swimming at Stockport, was in London after a packed week of competition that saw her swim at two international meets - the FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup in Seville and the Barcelona Mare Nostrum.

Swimming was well represented at the Devon Coach of the Year Awards held at The Tiverton Hotel.

Robin Brew won the Senior Male Coach of the Year for his achievements at Kelly College having earlier been runner up in the Coach of Disabled Performers Category Robin went on to win the final top award of the evening - the Award for a Significant Contribution to Sport in Devon which is chosen from all winners of the various categories of awards made throughout the evening. Robin paid tribute to all the coaches and volunteers present and urged them to keep pushing the boundaries.

Keith Pring was also a winner, this time in the Services to Sport – Volunteer category for his outstanding involvement to swimming over 40 years and Jane Brimacombe was runner up in the Services to Sport – Mentor/Tutor category.

Cassie Patten was presented with her ‘Swimmer of the Year' trophy by President Keith Pring at the ASA South West Youth Championships at Millfield. Cassie was awarded The Regions ‘Swimmer of the Year' Award for her open water achievements in 2006.

Since then Cassie won silver at the World Championships in Melbourne in the 10K open water event and she brought her medal to Millfield for everyone to see.

Three Kelly College swimmers reached finals in the Paralympic World Cup in Manchester last week. In the S9 100m freestyle Claire Cashmore and Louise Watkin were up against the great Natalie Du Toit. Du Toit won but Claire finished second in a new British Record ahead of Louise, who had been the second fastest qualifier going into the final. Louise Watkin won bronze.

Cashmore said of her British record: “I wasn't expecting that at all. My training is so hard at the moment and I haven't been swimming that well so far this year, so that was a real boost.”

Earlier Watkin finished eighth in the women's multi-disability 100m Freestyle.

David Hill, who came sixth in the S9 100m backstroke in Manchester , set a new British record in the 400m IM in the ASA South West Youth Championships at Millfield the weekend before taking a minute of the old record.

National Speedo League Cup Final

Plymouth Leander's inclusion as West of England champions in the National Speedo League Cup Final was to see them achieve the same result as in their baptism at this level in 2005. Two years ago, it was Millfield School who prevented the Plymouth club from taking the title but Millfield were left in Leander's wake this time of asking, finishing some 36 points behind Plymouth in third. Stockport Metro were to prove to be the thorn in the Leander side on this occasion, this their first Speedo League season for a number of years. Last year's champions Hatfield were over 100 points behind Leander in fifth.

With a National ‘B' Final victory under their belts from 2006, Leander were one of the favourites going into the Cup Final and will have to wait at least one more season before making a further attempt to win the one chalice that has so far escaped them. The status of ‘second strongest swimming club in England' will do for now, particularly with Leander claiming the Relay Challenge Trophy en route for the best performing relay teams, as well as both Joe Parker and Laura Froshaug winning the Top Male and Top Female Athlete Awards in the 13 years age group.

The extension of the final to 10 teams this year as opposed to 8 certainly intensified an already electric atmosphere at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield , the long course (50m) pool packed to the rafters.

Plymouth Leander Head Coach Jon Rudd said, “To have featured in two National Cup Finals in the last three years and finish as runners-up in both is a great achievement for any club. We are consistently strong and will be an even more powerful force next year. I hope that it won't be too long before we have this piece of silverware in our grasp.”

Final Points for the 38th National Speedo League Cup Final 2007

Devon were the victors in a very exciting gala held at The Link Centre, Swindon to celebrate Wilts County 's centenary. It was difficult to predict the strengths of the participating teams due to the unusual age groupings which included swimmers from 9 to 25 and over. Devon were well in the lead after the first 20 events but this was whittled down to just one by event 40. However the going into the final cannon relay Devon had banked sufficient points and could not be beaten.

Devon had 20 winners in the 61 event gala but it was their consistency in finishing in the top two places in 47 events which won the day. Commentator Hugh Porter frequently commented on the strength of the Devon team.

There were double wins for four swimmers. Swimming for Devon for the first time and picking up double wins were Cameron Brodie ( Kelly College ) - 100m IM and 100m fly, Laura Shears ( Exeter City ) – 100m IM and 50m fly and Ethan Hutchinson ( Barnstaple ) – 100m IM and 50m fly. Ed Rafipay (Sid Vale) was also a double winner in the 100m IM and the 50m breaststroke.

We were able to welcome back to a Devon team several swimmers who had competed in the County some years ago. In the 25 years & over medley relay, Olly White, Kieran Brown, Russell Page Dove and Rob Will won in comfortable style while at the other end of the age span Nik Harris, Adam Farmer, Ethan Hutchinson and Tom Wadeley Jones also won by a huge margin.

Other winners were – 9/11 yrs – Adam Farmer (Dinnaton) 50m Breaststroke and Jessica Twose (Newton Abbot) 50m Backstroke; 12/14yrs - Hannah Schultz (Exeter City) 100m breaststroke, Sally Whybra (Dawlish) 100m fly and Annie Tinsley (Exeter City) – 100m freestyle; 15/17yrs – Tom Howe (Barnstaple) 100m IM; 18/24yrs – Emma Robinson (Totnes) 50m fly; 25/over – Jane Nevin (DTs) 50m breaststroke, and Kate Veale (Totnes) 50m backstroke.

Devon ran out winners on 301.5 points with Wilts A on 295pts, Gloucs on 259pts, Wilts B on 200.5 & Cornwall on 148pts.

The winners' trophy and commemorative medals for the whole team were presented by Anita Lonsborough and Devon County President, Steve Ward presented Wilts County President, Jean Pitfield with a trophy to mark their centenary.

Click here to download results.

Congratulations to Liam Tancock who won 2 Bronze medals at the World Championships in Melbourne . Liam's best effort came in the 100m backstroke where he twice lowered the British record, in the heats and again in the final. His achievement now means he is automatically pre-selected for the Olympics in Beijing next year.

His second bronze came in the 50m backstroke. Although he went into the event as fastest qualifier it was a mad dash for the wall and he missed getting the touch.

Liam was also part of the 4 x 100m medley relay team that set a new British record in finishing in 5th place.

For those younger swimmers who do not know Liam he is an Exeter boy and swum with Exeter City Swimming Club until he went to join Loughborough team. He swam in the County Championships from the age of 10 (9 year olds were not able to compete then) until he was 18 and represented the County on numerous occasions.

Congratulations to Cassie Patten for her superb open water swim at the World Championships in Melbourne where she took silver in the 10K. Cassie, who is our current Swimmer of the Year, bravely withstood jellyfish stings as she pursued her goal of going home with a medal. Following the open water events Cassie and the rest of the open water team were taken to Beijing to acquaint themselves with the city and the facilities before next year's Olympics – hopefully Cassie will be back there in 2008!

Kelly College had a clean sweep in the Championship team events at Central Park . They won both the women's 4 x 100m freestyle and medley relays with Plymouth Leander second. Third place went to Barnstaple in the freestyle event and Dawlish in the medley.

In the men's 400m events Kelly beat Plymouth Leander by over 7 seconds in the medley event but the freestyle race was much closer with Kelly touching a second ahead of Plymouth Leander. Oddicombe finished third in the freestyle event with Exmouth finishing third in the medley.

Plymouth College took both the schools 4 x 50m freestyle relays. Plymouth Leander had the best of the age group events but Barnstaple's 9/10yrs girls won the freestyle event and Kelly College won the freestyle and medley events in the girls 15/16 yrs age group.

After an hours less sleep a hectic day followed with approximately 370 swimmers competing in the Junior Sprint Gala. All went well until the starting mechanism failed but officials reverted to the old methods of manual timing and placing and the gala was completed. Congratulations to all the aggregate trophy winners (see results).

We have now completed this section of the Devon competitions. Our thanks to everyone who helped in any way at all - we can't run without you all!

We are always looking for new helpers especially recorders and announcers. If you are interested in either of these please contact anyone from the Swimming Committee ( see contact email addresses ). You do not need any prior knowledge for recording – we can teach you all you need to know and you won't be left on your own.

The same applies for announcing. Come and work with one our announcers and learn the ropes. We look forward to hearing from you!

The 2007 Championships finally came to an end at Tiverton on March 11th. Vicky Cadge (KC) added four more titles to her collection by winning the ladies' 200m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 50 fly and 50m breaststroke. She was piped to the touch in the 50 free by Bo Cameron (PL) who won her first Devon Championship, also taking the junior title.

Richard Salhus (PL) took two more titles by winning the 200m freestyle and 50m fly but Joe Tellett (PL) grabbed the 50m free title. Tom Howe took the men's 200m individual medley title, Amy Ballantyne (PL) added to her large collection of titles by winning the 200m fly and James Edmonds (PL) retained the men's 100m backstroke title.

Junior Championships went to – Olivia Duffield Moore (KC) 50m breaststroke, Laura Froshaug (PL) 200m freestyle, Danny Brown (KC) 200m IM, Amy Ballantyne (PL) 200m fly, Sophie Howe (KC) 200m IM & 50m Fly, Joshua Dunn (Din) 50m fly, Kalon Veale (Tot) 200m freestyle, and Anthony O'Driscoll 50m Freestyle.

Congratulations to all our 2007 Champions.

The final gala was rounded off nicely with a very exciting SKINS competition. This event involves, speed, stamina and tactics and the two swimmers who used this to the greatest effect and were the eventual winners were Vicky Cadge (KC) in the ladies' event and Richard Salhus (PL) in the men's.

They beat the following swimmers –

Claudia Coleman wins the Strudwick Cup for the highest GB points in any swim with 799 for her time in the 50m Backstroke Championship final. Steven Beckerleg wins the Young Cup for his swim in the age group final of the 200m freestyle (796).

Claudia Coleman set this year's first new record when she won the 50m Backstroke Championship. The Plymouth Leander swimmer lowered the record to 29.89.

Nine swimmers from four different clubs shared the glory from the ten events swum over the weekend at Plymouth.

Edward Rafipay (Sid Vale) continued to dominate the sprint Breaststroke events when he added the 50m Breaststroke to his 100m title while Amy Ballantyne (P.Leander) added to her collection of wins with the Senior and Junior 400m Freestyle titles.

The women's backstroke events have now been shared by three different swimmers as Jenny Oldham ( Kelly College ) took the 100m Backstroke Championship title.

Charlotte Foulds (PLeander) won the 200m Breaststroke but Victoria Cadge ( Kelly College ) edged her out to win the 100m title.

Richard Salhus (P.Leander) took two titles over the weekend winning both the 100m Freestyle and the 200m Butterfly while his team mate Anthony James won the 100m IM Championship.

Tom Howe ( Barnstaple ) easily won the final Championship of the weekend winning 400m Individual Medley title.

Junior Championship titles went to - Adam John (PL), 100m Freestyle & 400m IM, Sammy Conroy (PL) 100 & 200m Breaststroke, Cameron Brodie (KC) 200m Fly, Danny Brown (KC) 100m IM, Anthony O'Driscoll (PL) 50m Breaststroke, Elaine Myo (PL) 100m Backstroke and Chloe Iliffe (Barn) 50m Backstroke.

The third day of the championships saw all five Championship titles going to different swimmers. The first two titles went to Kelly College as Victoria Cadge held off all challengers to win the 100m Freestyle and Jeffrey Hill took honours in the 400m Freestyle with Callum Jarvis (PL) taking the Junior title.

Amy Ballantyne (15) won her third Championship title so far this year by winning the 400m IM as well as collecting the Junior title. She was also the Junior 100m Freestyle Champion.

Anthony James (P.Leander) took the 50m Backstroke title with team mate Adam John collecting the Junior title and in the Mens 100m Fly Richard Salhus (PL) took the title with Cameron Brodie (KC) picking up his second Junior Championship.

Swimmers are reminded to contact Jeanette Stoneman by Tuesday 20th February if they will wish to withdraw from an event on the 24th / 25th February.

Full results available here.

View photo gallery

The 2007 County Championships got underway at Tiverton with two additional categories, multi-disability events and Junior Champions. We are delighted to be able to include disability swimmers to our Championships, and although their numbers are small at the moment, we welcome them and look forward to having more competitors in the future.

The multi-disability events got off to an excellent start when Kelly College's David Hill (S9 category) set a new European record when he equaled his own 200m backstroke British record which he set at our Championships in 2006. This year we have been able to get approval for our competitions so that disability European and World records can be ratified. For those of you who have not come across these events before an explanation will be printed in forthcoming programmes.

Junior Champions have also been added to our award system for the first time and our first Junior Champion was Cameron Brodie (Kelly College). The 14 year old was runner up in the Men's 1500m freestyle behind Plymouth Leander's Rob Adams.

The Plymouth club had the best of the Championship winners with top places also for Mark Conroy (200m breaststroke), Megan Bushnell (200m backstroke), Amy Ballantyne (800m freestyle & 100m Fly), and Adam John (200m backstroke).

Championship crowns also went to Edward Rafipay (Sid Vale) in the 100m breaststroke and Jodi Worbey (Exeter City) in the 100m Individual Medley.

Congratulations too to our new Junior Champions. Apart from Cameron Brodie they were Emma Carter (P.Leander) 100m IM, Antony O'Driscoll (PL) 100 & 200m breaststroke, Maria Graney (Exeter City) 200m backstroke, Amy Ballantyne (PL) 800m freestyle & 100m fly & Adam John (PL) 200m backstroke.

Full results available here:-
3rd February 2007 Results
4th February 2007 Results

English Schools Relays

Harrogate were hosts of the 2007 English Schools Swimming Association (ESSA) relay Championships on 3rd February.

Three Devon schools qualified for this event and made the long journey north.

Kelly College were double Champions as their senior girls team won both the freestyle and medley relays.

Plymouth College intermediate girls team were also winners taking the freestyle relay but had to settle for runners up spot in the medley event.

Kelly College's senior boys missed out on the medals, finishing 4th in the freestyle relay and 5th in the medley event and Plymouth College junior boys finished 4th in the freestyle race.

Also competing were Torquay Grammar School who finished 9th in the Junior boys freestyle race.

Plymouth Leander were winners of the 2007 inter club gala held at Central Park Pools, Plymouth on 28th January. Leander were the expected victors but for the remaining 15 clubs there were scores to settle and all were out to make their mark against their nearest rivals. With Exeter City and Kelly College not attending this year the minor positions were up for grabs. The rapidly improving Barnstaple dominated the runners up spot rarely finishing outside the top 3.

Just four swimmers were able to grab individual winning spots from Plymouth Leander to take maximum points. Jessica Twose won the 11/under 50m backstroke for Newton Abbot, Sophie King the 11/under fly for Kingsbridge, Freddie Hedger the 13/under 50 fly for Barnstaple while William Parr won both the 11/under 50m Fly and breaststroke for Tiverton.

By the break after event 22 Leander were in the lead with 348 points with Barnstaple adrift by 38 points on 310. At this stage Kingsbridge were lying third with 250 points with Dinnaton 4th just 6 points behind and with Dawlish 5th on 235.5.

Kingsbridge were unable to hold on to the third position after the break and dropped back behind Dinnaton and Dawlish.

The mixed medley relays were exciting as always but with all but one relay going Leander's way the result was never in doubt. Barnstaple's 15/under team were the only team to wrest a win from the Plymouth club.

The final cannon relay was seeded on points achieved after the next to last event so that ‘points rivals' were in head to head clashes in each heat. By the time the cannon relay started the final top three order could not change as the differentials would withstand a disqualification but that didn't put off the supporters as noise levels reached deafening proportions as each team was urged on. Plymouth Leander won the cannon with Barnstaple second and Kingsbridge third.

The final result showed a win for Leander on 554 with Barnstaple runners up just 26 points behind on 528 and Dinnaton third with 425 points. Dawlish managed to keep Kingsbridge at bay with just two and half points between the two clubs.

Final table.
Plymouth Leander	554
Barnstaple	528
Dinnaton	425
Dawlish	400.5
Kingsbridge	398
Newton Abbot	362.5
Torridgeside	345
Tiverton	338.5
Exmouth	268
Tavistock	248
Devonport Royal	232.5
Oddicombe	228
Ilfracombe	206
Paignton	199
Honiton	156
Torquay Leander	128