The ASA South West Regional Age Group (11 to 14 years) Championships took place at Millfield during June with Dolphin represented by nine swimmers.  All competitors swam well over the four days with the best performance overall from Livvy Flack who made three [...]]]> Event: ASA South West Regional Age Group Championships
Venue: Millfield School
Date: 1st, 2nd, 8th and 9th June 2013

The ASA South West Regional Age Group (11 to 14 years) Championships took place at Millfield during June with Dolphin represented by nine swimmers.  All competitors swam well over the four days with the best performance overall from Livvy Flack who made three final appearances and won a silver medal in the 100m backstroke.

Flack had memorably collected bronze last year in the same event when against the odds she was called to the final as a reserve.  This year was a different story as she made the last eight ranked second and maintained this position in the final result.

Livvy Flack ~ Regional silver medallist

Sophie Bartlett set herself a manageable program of two events per day over the four days, setting personal bests in each and making three finals.  With three of the swims being first long course outings for the 11 year old, Bartlett must surely be looking to build on her long course experience during next season in order to further her success at this level.

Racing for the first time at regional level, Annie Ward and Regan Jefferies acquitted themselves well with a particularly impressive long course personal best swim by Jefferies in the 200m breaststroke.  Also competing in individual events for Dolphin were Ella Wardale, Millie Jeans, Rebecca Flack, Rebecca Matthews and Denice Gardo.

The team sprit invoked by the relays was clearly evident as the events produced notably fast swims in many instances; something that the swimmers will hopefully be able to apply to their individual performances next season.  Representing Dolphin in the team events were Ella Wardale, Rebecca Flack, Rebecca Matthews, Livvy Flack and Annie Ward.

Lauren Matthews increased Swindon Dolphin’s presence at the forthcoming ASA National Youth Championships by achieving her national qualifying time in the 200m butterfly at the City of Cardiff International Open Meet last weekend.  Dolphin now have seven swimmers competing across ten [...]]]> Event: Cardiff International Open Meet
Venue: Cardiff International Pool
Date: 7th to 9th June 2013

Lauren Matthews increased Swindon Dolphin’s presence at the forthcoming ASA National Youth Championships by achieving her national qualifying time in the 200m butterfly at the City of Cardiff International Open Meet last weekend.  Dolphin now have seven swimmers competing across ten events at the championships that take place at Ponds Forge, Sheffield during July and August.

Matthews was part of an 11 strong Dolphin squad at the Cardiff meet which was the last chance for swimmers to achieve national qualifying times.  Having consistently moved closer to the required 200m butterfly time throughout the year, Matthews put in a determined a effort at the start of the race although by the 150m mark was fractionally behind her target pace.  However, a strong work ethic in training ensured her ability to increase the pace on the final length and touched home in 2:26.00; the precise time required for qualification.

Lauren Matthews ~ 200m butterfly national qualifier

Also competing were two of Dolphin’s other national qualifiers, James Clark and Jon Audis.  Clark got off to a superb start with his opening swim where he recorded a lifetime best and new club record of 24.04s in the 50m freestyle.  The time ranks him within the top 10 nationally for his age group and making the final at this years championships is now a real possibility.  Audis meanwhile was looking to achieve the 50m backstroke national qualifying time but could not find the form that saw him achieve the 100m time at Millfield in May, and will now therefore look to focus his training on the longer event in the lead up to the nationals.

Mathew Sambrook has broken the 400m freestyle club record twice this year already and made in three in a row with an impressive 4:15.55 in the event.  Other personal best swims in the 200m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 100m butterfly rounds of a successful long course season for the 17 year old who must surely be looking to continue improvements on his middle distance freestyle events next season where his times have crept slowly but surely towards the national standard.

Liam Jefferies main event of the weekend was the 1500m freestyle having seen some significant drops in his times over the past few years. Although Jefferies would have been disappointed in his previous regional championships swim in May, he impressively bounced back at this meet with a performance that brought him within a few percent of the national mark and continued focus on his training program should reap rewards next season.

The Dolphin contingent maintained a strong presence throughout the meet, with final appearances from Lauren Matthews, James Clark, Jon Audis, Matthew Sambrook, Charlotte Gardo and Beth Crouch.  Podium places proved hard to come by, with James Clark Dolphin’s only medallist with silvers in the 50m freestyle and 200m breaststroke.

First up was the sea swim [...]]]> After a winter of competing at freezing temperatures in outdoor lidos Helen Hanks returned to open water swimming in May and notched up excellent placings in each of her three competitions. Hanks’ achievements were even more impressive as the events included a first 10,000m event and a first swim in the sea.

First up was the sea swim which took place near Poole during the early May Bank Holiday weekend. Hanks entered the 1,500m event and despite having to come to terms with the mass start as the swimmers raced to the water finished 16th overall in a field of 135.  Hanks also won her age group and was the third fastest female entrant.  A few of weeks later it was off to the slightly more serene environment of Eton Dorney for a 3,000m lake swim. This time Hanks finished 22nd overall in a field of over 300 and ninth in the female competition in a time of 46m 38s.

A mass start in Poole

Finally Hanks headed off to the Jubilee River for her first competitive 10,000m race from Maidenhead to Eton, roughly the equivalent of junction 8 to junction 6 on the M4, much of the route running along the motorway. Hanks achieved her best result of the three swims finishing sixth out of 139 and second fastest female swimmer. Just as encouraging for Hanks will be her split times which saw the Dolphin Masters swimmer record the fourth fastest time in the last quarter of the race, a good indicator of strength and fitness.

This has been a good month for Hanks who will now be looking to take this recent form into the Wiltshire Open Water championships in the familiar surrounds of Lake 32 at South Cerney later this month.

Swindon Dolphin sent a team of 30 swimmers to Abingdon on Saturday to compete in the inaugural Vale Cup.  Dolphin were up against Newbury, City of Oxford, Wantage and two teams from the host club Abingdon who competed in the 49 event meet following a similar format [...]]]> Event: Vale Cup
Venue: White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre, Abingdon
Date: 25th May 2013

Swindon Dolphin sent a team of 30 swimmers to Abingdon on Saturday to compete in the inaugural Vale Cup.  Dolphin were up against Newbury, City of Oxford, Wantage and two teams from the host club Abingdon who competed in the 49 event meet following a similar format to the national Arena League, although aimed at non-Arena League swimmers.

In a noisy and packed White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre, the competition kicked off with the girls 10 years and under 4 x 50m freestyle relay. A goggle malfunction on the third leg caused the Dolphin girls to slip back to a 6th place finish; not an ideal start, although was enough to raise the tempo of the meet. The boys 10 years and under 4 x 50 freestyle that followed put the team back on track with a 2nd place finish.  This ensured Dolphin enjoyed top 3 finishes in all the first 10 races including 1st places for the girls 14 years and under 4 x 50 freestyle relay (Holly Parsons, Kayleigh Bartlett, Laura Brown and Amber Davies) and the ladies open 4 x 50m medley relay (Gemma Lucas, Kayleigh Bartlett, Victoria Tainty and Bethani Crouch).

Events 11 through to 30 were a little more evenly balanced across all participating teams with mixed fortunes for the Dolphin team although there were first place finishes for William Davies (50m Breaststroke), David Ward (100m Backstroke), Gemma Lucas (100m Backstroke), Annie Ward (50m Butterfly) and Kayleigh Bartlett (100m Freestyle). The Dolphin team began to turn up the heat from event 31 through to 48 with first place finishes for Annie Ward (50m Freestyle), Kayleigh Bartlett (100m Breaststroke), Regan Jefferies (100m Breaststroke), Bethani Crouch (100m Freestyle), Patrick Seed (100m Freestyle), the girls 14 years and under 4 x 50 medley relay team (Holly Parsons, Kayleigh Bartlett, Laura Brown and Amber Davies) and the boys 14 years and under medley relay team (Harry Mundy, Regan Jefferies, David Ward and Anant Mane).

The last race of the night was the 8 x 50m freestyle relay which involved one boy and one girl swimmer from each age group. As the event unfolded, different teams led at different stages of the race. For Swindon Dolphin, Maya Grounsell was first off the blocks, followed by Henry Pearce, Annie Ward, William Davies, Kayleigh Bartlett and Anant Mane. It was not until the closing 100m that Dolphin began to expand their the lead with Victoria Tainty handing over the last leg to Patrick Seed who 25 seconds later secured the win to a deafening roar from around the pool and spectators area.

The Vale Cup team celebrate victory

Patrick Seed and Kayleigh Bartlett with the Vale Cup

Final points: Swindon Dolphin 198, Abingdon Vale Green 171, Newbury 166, Wantage 156, City of Oxford 133, Abingdon Vale Yellow 133

Over fifty swimmers from the Swindon Dolphin Learn to Swim programme took part in a Race Night event at the Link Centre on Saturday.  Competitors as young as five took part in the event that primarily aims to give [...]]]> Event: Swindon Dolphin Learn to Swim Race Night
Venue: Link Centre, Swindon
Date: 25th May 2013

Over fifty swimmers from the Swindon Dolphin Learn to Swim programme took part in a Race Night event at the Link Centre on Saturday.  Competitors as young as five took part in the event that primarily aims to give the youngsters and their parents the experience of a competition environment which includes a full complement of officials.

Swimmers had the opportunity to compete over either 25m or 50m in all four strokes and the 100m individual medley.  Notably several swimmers stepped up to the challenge of entering all the 50m events plus the 100m individual medley including seven year olds Abby Birchall and Madeleine Maysey and eight year old Sophie Preece who all looked particularly impressive in the 50m butterfly.

There are already some friendly rivalries starting to emerge amongst the youngsters.  Nine year olds Tyler Hillier and Noah Parker enjoyed titanic battles in the 50m breaststroke and 50m freestyle events with a dead heat between the two in the breaststroke and Parker just having the edge in the freestyle.

The girls 100m individual medley also produced some interesting encounters.  The challenging event requires swimmers to balance their focus between the technical aspects of the strokes and turns whilst maintaining speed through the water.  Seven year old Lyra Sheppard and Madeleine Maysey spurred each other on to finish within a second of each other whilst ten year old Cerys Baker could not quite match Olusola Deinde on the final freestyle leg as Deinde recorded the fastest girl’s medley time of the evening.

Anthony Clark who manages the Learn to Swim Programme was delighted with the event.  “It is a privilege to see the progress all of the swimmers have made and a testament to all the hard work put in by the teachers and young helpers within the scheme.  Whilst it is also interesting to see the results and times from the event, given the ages of many of these swimmers, it is the participation and enjoyment of the evening that for me is far more important.  Most of the swimmers here tonight will not be embarking on a full competition programme for another one or two years and this experience is a major part of their preparation in working towards this.”

Swindon Dolphin were out in force at the Trowbridge Spring Level 3 Open Meet with 36 swimmers attending, mainly from the club’s younger County Squad.  This would be the last chance for swimmers aged 11 to 14 years to achieve regional qualifying times and [...]]]> Event: Trowbridge Spring Level 3 Open Meet
Venue: Trowbridge Sports Centre
Date: 12th May 2013

Swindon Dolphin were out in force at the Trowbridge Spring Level 3 Open Meet with 36 swimmers attending, mainly from the club’s younger County Squad.  This would be the last chance for swimmers aged 11 to 14 years to achieve regional qualifying times and as always a good opportunity to set new personal bests.

A full programme of 50m, 100m and 200m events packed into two sessions on just one day was always going to be tough for all competitors.  With some swimmers having had a long evening of racing in the Southern Junior League the previous day, it was a time for the youngsters who are still very much in the relatively early part of their swimming development, to show their mettle.

There was stong show of personal best swims across the board, although going one step futher Sophie Bartlett added the 100m breaststroke to her existing regional qualifying times, as did Livvy Flack in the 200m individual medley and Ella Wardale in the 200m freestyle.  Regan Jefferies has been making some significant gains over the past year in his 200m breaststroke times and an equally impressive drop on this occasion give the 13 year old his first ever regional qualifying time.

The 100m backstroke proved to be a “regional nemesis” for several swimmers with Laura Brown, Annie Ward and David Ward all coming agonisingly within one percent of the regional mark in the event.  Ellen Hicken however secured the time and will represent her first claim club Marlborough at the regional championships.

There was no shortage of Dolphin medallists at the event with Annie Ward top of the podium finishers with 3 gold and 3 bronze.  William Davies secured 2 gold, 4 silver and bronze whilst Henry Pearce collected 2 gold, 2 silver and bronze.  Other Dolphin top medal winners included Ellen Hicken (gold, 3 silver), Alice Lockey (gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze), Calum Marriott (gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze), Rebecca Flack (gold, silver, bronze) and Georgia Dicks (gold, silver).

A goal just 8 seconds from time denied Swindon Dolphin a share of the spoils as they went down 7- 6 at Bristol Central II, the British champions’ second string.  This was a big disappointment for the visitors who had pulled back [...]]]> Event: Bristol and West Division One
Teams: Bristol Central v Swindon Dolphin
Venue: Bristol
Date: 19th May 2013

A goal just 8 seconds from time denied Swindon Dolphin a share of the spoils as they went down 7- 6 at Bristol Central II, the British champions’ second string.  This was a big disappointment for the visitors who had pulled back a two goal deficit late in the game and leaves Dolphin with four points from the opening four league games of the season.

A tough and attritional first quarter set the tone for what was a tough and physical tussle throughout. In an opening period of few chances and in which both sides failed to capitalise of major fouls it was leading scorer Michal Trzeciak‘s goal that separated the sides at the first break. The second period was just as close, Central equalising early on before the teams traded late goals to be level at 2 – 2 at the half way point, Andy Strong notching the second Dolphin goal from a penalty.

Central came out fired up in the third quarter and slowly pulled clear of Dolphin as they scored three unanswered goals in the first 5 minutes of the period before Matt James reduced the arrears to two going in to the final quarter.

A good start to the final period saw Strong cut the deficit to one from a man up situation but Central responded immediately. Dolphin then began a great comeback. Ian Brewer reduced Central’s lead to one with a deft flick before. A superb drive by Strong set up an exciting finale. As the game entered its final 30 seconds both sides called timeouts to prolong the tension before Central took advantage of a man up situation to score the decisive goal.

Captain Andy Hicks felt a draw would have been a fair result.  ”The lads showed great fight to pull themselves back in to the game but that’s twice we have missed out in the last seconds of matches this season and we must learn from this to ensure it does not happen again.”

Dolphin’s next game is at Milton Road against Bristol Central II on Sunday 2nd June, stating at 8.30pm.

Result:  Bristol Central II 7, Swindon Dolphin 6

Team: Andy Hicks, David Quinlivan, Chris Selby (1 major), WIll Smith, Andy Strong (3 goals, 1 major), Dan Dixon, Ian Brewer (1 goal, 1 major), Matt James (1 goal), Jack Plumb, Mark Lawlor, Michal Trzeciak (1 goal, 1 major), Fraser Durston

Swindon Dolphin returned to winning ways in their Bristol & West league campaign with a comfortable 12 – 8 victory away at Frome.  Last season’s leading scorer Michal Trzeciak was in good form scoring six goals in a game that saw junior squad [...]]]> Event: Bristol and West Division One
Teams: Frome v Swindon Dolphin
Venue: Frome
Date: 16th May 2013

Swindon Dolphin returned to winning ways in their Bristol & West league campaign with a comfortable 12 – 8 victory away at Frome.  Last season’s leading scorer Michal Trzeciak was in good form scoring six goals in a game that saw junior squad member Jack Plumb make his first team debut.

Frome opened the scoring before Dolphin struck back with strikes from Trzeciak and Matt James. Trzeciak‘s second goal extended the lead before Frome pulled one back to trail by one at the end of the first quarter.  It was in the second period though that Dolphin pulled away from their opponents.  Attacking the notoriously difficult shallow end of the pool Dolphin continued where they left off and overwhelmed the home side as Trzeciak completed his hat trick and Matt James claimed three goals of his own with just a sole reply from Frome.

Despite a comfortable lead at the half way point, Dolphin failed to build on their advantage as the team’s matched goals in the final two quarters with Chris Selby, Will Smith and Trzeciak (3) on target for the visitors, before the Swindon side competed their second league victory of the season.

Top scorer Trzeciak was balanced in his thoughts after the game.  ”It was a good team performance and a big plus was the debut of young Jack Plumb who showed a very cool head under pressure and provided a number of good scoring opportunities for the senior players. Overall though we looked short of match practice and need a run of games.  We are making errors and not taking all of our chances and tonight we committed a number of needless fouls but we will work hard to correct that.”

Final score:  Frome 8, Swindon Dolphin 12

Team: David Quinlivan (1 major), Chris Selby (1 goal, 1 major), Andy Hicks (1 major), Will Smith (1 major), Andy Strong, Michal Trzeciak (6 goals, 1 major), Ian Brewer, Matt James (4 goals, 1 major), Jack Plumb

Dolphin’s youngsters found the going tough last weekend in the second round of the Southern Junior League at Horfield, Bristol where they had to settle for fifth place.  The meet was won convincingly by last year’s overall league winners and National Arena Junior [...]]]> Event: Southern Junior League 2013 Round 2
Venue: Link Centre, Swindon
Date: 11th May 2013

Dolphin’s youngsters found the going tough last weekend in the second round of the Southern Junior League at Horfield, Bristol where they had to settle for fifth place.  The meet was won convincingly by last year’s overall league winners and National Arena Junior Inter-League finalists, Swim Bournemouth with Wiltshire’s Bradford-on-Avon narrowly missing out on the runner up spot to Bristol Penguins.

A long evening of racing saw some good performances from Dolphin. The 11 year old girls were undoubtedly Dolphin’s main strength, with an in-form Livvy Flack winning both the 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle.  Team-mate Sophie Bartlett also won the 50m butterfly but had to settle for third in her breaststroke swim.

Livvy Flack ~ 2 wins from 2 swims

Flack and Bartlett were joined by Denice Gardo and Lucie Wells in the relay events which included a second place in the freestyle event, one of the nine runner-up places throughout the evening including two from Henry Pearce and one each from Oscar Pearcey, Maya Grounsell, Annie Ward and Millie Jeans.   It was however no match for the superb Swim Bournemouth who racked up 24 first places from the 49 event meet and must surely be favourites to retain their title.    A number of key absences in the Dolphin line up also gave some of the less experienced swimmers the chance to compete against regional standard swimmers, enabling them to see first-hand what they need to aspire to in the future.

The final round of the Southern Junior League takes place on 22^nd June.

Second Round Points: Swim Bournemouth 242, Bristol Penguins 184, Bradford on Avon 176, Keynsham 168, Swindon Dolphin 148, West Dorset Warriors 103

Dolphin’s national qualifier tally increased to seven last weekend at the ASA South West Regional Championships where Jon Audis made the national grade in the 100m backstroke and the girls’ 4 x 200m freestyle team of Charlotte Pitts, Lauren Matthews, Victoria Jennings [...]]]> Event: ASA South West Regional Youth Championships
Venue: Millfield School
Date: 4th to 6th May 2013

Dolphin’s national qualifier tally increased to seven last weekend at the ASA South West Regional Championships where Jon Audis made the national grade in the 100m backstroke and the girls’ 4 x 200m freestyle team of Charlotte Pitts, Lauren Matthews, Victoria Jennings and Georgina Pitts recorded a time that will also enable them to take on the country’s best at Ponds Forge, Sheffield in July.

A Dolphin squad of 21 were at Millfield for the Championships which for some would be the pinnacle of their season, but for most would hopefully be a springboard towards achieving the prestigious national qualifier status.

James Clark who had already achieved the 50m freestyle national qualifying time (NQT) was looking to add to this and did so in the heats of the 100m freestyle. Clark’s 100m breaststroke entry time also made it look likely that he would achieve a further NQT in this event, but was disappointed with a heat swim that fell well short of his previous best. Undeterred, and following some sound technical advice from Chief Coach Louise Clayton, Clark went on to finish the final in a significantly improved time falling just a few tenths short of his target time.

James Clark ~ 50m and 100m freestyle national qualifier

It was a similar story but with a better ending for Jon Audis in the 100m backstroke who had earlier missed the national qualifying mark in his more favoured 50m backstroke. A below par heat swim by Audis’ standards only just made the final eight and to pull off a faster finals swim was always going to be a tough call for the 33 year old. However, a change of overall approach to the swim left Audis with more in reserve in the last 25m and this improved back-end speed gave him his NQT for an incredible eleventh year running. This achievement is made all the more remarkable by the fact that Audis went against the grain of most swimming careers by qualifying for nationals for the first time during his early twenties. Whilst not providing a major threat to senior swimmers at the very top of the sport nationally, he has clearly demonstrated that performance swimming at club, county and regional level can transcend the traditional age group, youth and masters structure.

Jon Audis ~ 11 at 33

Despite focusing largely on medley events in training, Lauren Matthews looks to have found a new niche in the 200m butterfly and has been steadily creeping towards her national time in the event. Having taken 2 seconds off her personal best recently at Bristol to bring her within 4 seconds of the required 2:26.00, Matthews made a valiant effort in both heat and final swims, falling just short of the mark in each but picking up a bronze medal for her efforts. The 15 year old also came close to the national mark in the 400m individual medley with another bronze medal performance, but will probably now be looking to focus on her butterfly in the lead up to the final chance of qualification at Cardiff in June.

Lauren Matthews ~ a close call in the 200m butterfly

Matthews is not a complete stranger to the national stage having qualified as part of the 4 x 200m freestyle team last year. This year, she was joined by Victoria Jennings, Georgina Pitts and 400m freestyle national qualifier Charlotte Pitts as they attempted to make it two years in a row for Dolphin. A solid performance from all four girls saw them finish 6th on the day and by recording one of 40 fastest times nationally, earned the right to compete at the national championships in the summer.

Lauren Matthews, Charlotte Pitts, Victoria Jennings, Georgina Pitts ~ Sheffield bound

Podium places were as usual hard to come by for Dolphin in a top performing region that includes Olympians and now Olympic gold medallist Ruta Meilutyte. It was interesting to see the 16 year old diversifying from the event that won her the ultimate accolade and still achieving success, and perhaps something that all swimmers should take note of.

Craig Harris was competing in the open age group S14 Multi-Disability category and found the going tough up against the likes of 2012 paralympian Ben Proctor who dominated the category’s gold medal positions. Consequently Harris had to be content with winning five silver and two bronze medals.

Liam Jefferies found himself in a tough 1500m freestyle heat up against European Youth gold medallist and British Age Group record holder Joel Knight.  Jefferies put in a good swim to give him a well earned silver. Charlotte Pitts’ 200m and 400m freestyle swims won her a bronze in each and an exciting finish in the 400m individual medley saw her touch out team-mate Lauren Matthews to take silver.

The Regional Championships continue on 1st June at Millfield with the age group (11 to 14 years) competiton.