Fun Night 2008
Sunday 14th December saw WSC Annual Fun Night.
Starting on a serious note, we had the awards for the
best swims of the year, including a lifetime membership award for Emma
Davis, recognizing her achievements to date, including competing in this
years Olympic Triathlon in Beijing.
After the awards, it somewhat fell apart (reflected in
the fact your correspondent was so confused by the end of the evening - he
lost his notes - so here we go from memory).
There were 10 events and six teams -
actually we re-ran at least one of the events due to overwhelming confusion.
I won't even try and explain the events - but this year the woggle race
actually worked.
All was helped by marker elves (dressed as Mexicans -
don't ask me why) - who ran an unfathomable scoring system open to bribery
and corruption - it must have been as John's Black Team were the winners.
 Traditionally
John ended up in the pool & before everyone went home - we just had a chance
to say thank-you to all our coaches, helpers and the pool staff, that made
2008 another great year for Woking Swimming Club.
Have a great Christmas and see you
all again in the New Year
Swimmers Pool Together To End Year On A High
Woking’s swimmers completed their annual Club Championships this week as
a busy first term comes to a close. In a hectic schedule that began on the
4th November, they performed admirably, with many gaining significant PBs in
order to qualify for the Surrey County Championships next year. The Mayor of
Woking also attended a session to present the trophies.
Out of 1237 swims completed during the Champs, over half – 671 – were
personal bests. A number of Championship and Club records were also broken
during the course of the month, with Amy Edmonds leading the way with
ten
championship records and a stunning thirteen club records smashed. Hannah
Burvill claimed three championship records and one club record, with Dominic
Holloway doing enough to secure one championship record and two club records
to his name. Other championship records were obtained by Ben Kenworthy, with
two, and by Oliver Kenworthy, Sam Holloway, Hazel Ferguson and Lucy Maurer.
After Christmas, attention will turn to the Surrey County Championships
in February and March, and to gaining the necessary qualifying times for the
South East Regional Championships and National Championships later in 2009.
Woking finished their National Swimming League campaign this week with a
brave performance at Maidstone Leisure Centre. Facing the five best teams in
their division, they rallied together and produced some of their best swims
of the year so far. Unfortunately they missed out on promotion this time,
eventually placing in joint fifth with Hastings Seagulls.
Hannah Burvill, Ben Kenworthy and Ruth Tweedy-Smith all shone despite
swimming up an age group, with Tweedy-Smith also winning the 100m Backstroke
in her own age category. She formed part of the successful Under 16 Girls
relay teams that won their Freestyle relay (along with Jo Blair, Clare
Maurer and Amy Edmonds) and came an extraordinarily close second in their
Medley relay (with Becky Harding, Blair and Maurer). Edmonds also won her
two individual events, the Under 16 100m Freestyle and 100m Breaststroke,
attaining a club record in the breaststroke in the process.
There were eight other second place finishes in individual events over
the course of the evening, including from Alex Woodman in the Open 100m
Butterfly. The Open team also welcomed back Olympic triathlete Emma Davis,
and she aided the Girls 6x50m Freestyle relay team to a second place finish
in the penultimate race of the evening. In recognition of their efforts, the
coaches awarded the Swimmers of the Night titles to the entire team. Their
reward, 6th place overall in Division 1 of the National Swimming League –
and chips on the way home!
Woking Up To The Challenge
Woking's swimmers gave a good account of themselves at Haslemere Level 1
Open Meet as they sought to gain the necessary qualifying times for
the upcoming Surrey County Championships. They did not disappoint in what
was arguably the hardest open meet they will face this year, against many of
the country's best swimmers.
Overall there were twenty PBs out from fifty two swims. Hannah Burvill
gained five, securing improvements in her 100m Backstroke, 100m Freestyle,
200m Backstroke, 200m Freestyle and 200m IM. Not far behind with four PBs
were Lucy Maurer (50m Freestyle and Butterfly, 200m Backstroke and IM) and
Katherine Robbings (100m Freestyle and 200m Freestyle, Backstroke and IM).
Dominic Holloway continued to excel with three PBs (200m Backstroke,
Freestyle and IM), with the other PBs coming from Emma Maurer (200m
Backstroke and IM), Matt Dickenson (50 Freestyle) and Flyn Parker (200m IM).
In spite of the strength of the opposition, Woking showed their potential
to compete with the best as they amassed a total of seven medals. Hannah
Burvill again topped Woking's medal table with one gold, two silvers and one
bronze. Dominic Holloway gained two silvers, with Amy Edmonds plundering a
bronze.
Woking March On (National
League Round 2)
Woking sealed their place in the final round of the National Swimming
League (Southern Region/Division One East) with an assured display at
Epsom's Rainbow Centre. They finished the night in a comfortable second
place behind Black Lion, taking them through to the last gala at Maidstone
on Saturday 13th December. There they will compete against the five best
other teams from the division in order to determine which clubs will be
promoted to the premier division, with Woking seeded fifth.
There were seven PBs overall on the night, coming from Oliver Kenworthy
in the 11/U 50m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle, the Holloway brothers (Dominic
and Sam) in the 13/U and 15/U 100m Breaststroke, Alex Woodman in the Open
100m Butterfly, Calum Ferguson in the 13/U 100m Backstroke and Matt
Dickenson in the 15/U 100m Freestyle. Woodman was also an admirable late
stand in for club captain Alex Smith, suffering from illness, in the Open
100m Backstroke.
There were also impressive performances from the Girls 15/U relay team of
Chloe Bard, Ruth Tweedy-Smith, Jo Blair, Amy Edmonds and Becky Harding, who
won both of their relays. The Girls Open 6x50m team won again with Bethany
Eastwood, Tia Thurlow, Catherine Taylor, Chloe Bard, Jo Blair and Amy
Edmonds making it two victories in two rounds. Edmonds also won her 15/U
100m Breaststroke and 100m Freestyle, gaining her Swimmer of the Night along
with Sam Holloway.
The final point totals were:
Black Lion 245
Woking 205
Epsom 184
Redhill & Reigate 159
Erith 145
Ashford 106
Woking's Gold Rush
Matt Dickenson, Ben Smith & Katherine
Robbings
Woking continued their fine start to the swimming season with a good
performance at Rushmoor Royals Open Meet at the Aldershot Garrison 50m Long
course pool. Out of 64 swims there were a total of 35 PBs, led by Hannah
Burvill and Dominic Holloway with five each. Holloway also contributed
significantly to Woking's medal haul, grabbing a gold, a silver and a bronze
in the 11-12 Years age group to maintain his excellent recent form. Two
other gold medals were won over the course of the weekend, with Amy Edmonds
(15 & Over) and Calum Ferguson (11-12 Years) the recipients. Edmonds also
claimed a silver medal to add to her collection, a feat that was then
emulated by Ben Smith (15 & Over). Smith also plundered three PBs, as did
Ferguson, Charlotte George, Hazel Ferguson and Katherine Sheil-Rankin.
Calum Ferguson also collected three bronze medals, and the weekend's
total was completed with two other bronzes for his sister Hazel Ferguson
(9-10 Years) and Bethany Eastwood (15 & Over). Finally, gaining one PB each
over the two days were Amy Edmonds, Amy Harrington, Edward Lee, Flynn
Parker, Harrison Porter, Katherine Robbings, Matt Dickenson, Natasha Carr,
Robyn Hartwell and Tom Marshall, with Robbings narrowly missing out on a
club record for the Under 14 Girls 400m Freestyle.
Junior Cup - Maur of the
same for Woking
Emma Maurer and James Cumins were Swimmers of the night as Woking put in
a quality showing in the final round of the Junior Cup. They went in seeded
only third, but it was a demonstration of the potential of Woking’s
youngsters that they narrowly missed out on the trophy, taking Locks Heath
all the way to the final race of the night before they were finally beaten.
The night began promisingly down on the south coast as Maurer coasted to
victory in the opening event, the Under 14 Girls 100m Breaststroke, in a new
PB. Her dominance was equalled several events later, as Dominic Holloway
eased away from the rest of the field to take a first place and a new PB in
the Under 13 Boys 50m Breaststroke. He was later to take another first, this
time in the Under 13 Boys 50m Freestyle.
The undoubted PB king of the gala though was Calum Ferguson, who
plundered three during the course of the night. His first came in the Under
14 Boys 100m IM, where he came second despite swimming up an age group. This
was then followed later by wins in the Under 13 Boys 50m Backstroke and 50m
Butterfly. He, Dominic Holloway, Callum Thomas and Daniel West as the Under
13 Boys relay team were undefeated in either of their two races, and their
success was mirrored by the Under 12 Girls Freestyle relay team of Jasmine
Holden, Emily Smith, Kirsty McKnight and Hannah Burvill. McKnight and
Burvill would later go on to record victories in their respective individual
events – McKnight in the Under 12 Girls 50 Breaststroke and Burvill in the
Under 12 Girls 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke.
Emma Maurer then made a second telling contribution in the Under 14 Girls
100m Freestyle with another victory that took her personal PB tally to two
for the night. Relay team-mate Katherine Robbings then decided to get in on
the act, taking her first win of the night in the Under 14 Girls 100m
Backstroke with victory on the touch. Flynn Parker also won his Under 12
Boys 50m Backstroke.
Despite a valiant comeback in the Squadron, Woking were unable to catch
Locks Heath and were touched out in the finish. This meant they had to
settle for second place overall, falling just five points short. Other PBs
on the night came from Catherine Campbell, Haaris Wyne (both with two),
George Hatfield, Hannah Burvill, Anna Marks, Susan Sheil-Rankin, Katie Sheil-Rankin,
Hazel Ferguson, Charlie Bridgewater, Katherine Robbings, Callum Thomas,
James Watson and Kirsty McKnight.
Final points totals:
Locks Heath 214
Woking 209
Seagulls 194
Winchester 182.5
Hamble 135.5
Fareham 131
See here for results table
National Swimming League Round 1 - Woking Success
Woking Swimming Club travelled to Bexley for the first round of the
National Swimming League (formerly the Speedo League) on Saturday 11th
October. Despite adverse traffic conditions – the M25 eastbound was at a
standstill for part of the evening - the team arrived in time to compete in
the gala and put up a fantastic performance.
There were some notable individual swims and relay achievements
throughout the gala and a further 10 personal bests were attained on the
night by Hannah Burvill, Dominic Holloway, Ruth Tweedie-Smith, Kirsty
McKnight, Oliver Kenworthy, Alex Miller, Ellie Galloway, Emma Maurer,
Katherine Robbings and Matt Dickenson.
The girls Under 15 Relay teams of Jo Blair, Amy Edmonds, Chloe Bard,
Becky Harding, Ruth Tweedie-Smith and Sarah Noble were unbeaten.
Alex Woodman, arriving back from Australia, made a welcome return to the
team by winning his Open 100 Fly event and contributing to the relay teams’
results.
The best was saved to last with the Boys Open 6x2 and the Girls Open 6x2
relays. With the excited gallery on their feet for both events, Woking took
up the challenge and delivered two first places, bringing to a close a great
evening of entertainment and a very well deserved 2nd place in the gala by a
narrow margin of 3 points.
The entire team were fired up with the performance and the result.
Swimmers of the night were the two Club Captains, Alex Smith and Bethany
Eastwood.
Results were:
Chelmsford 172
Woking 169
Atlantis 141
Erith 138
Bromley 125
Commenting on the evening, Olive Carroll, WSC’s Team Manager said that
she had “never seen such an enthusiastic and combined team spirit in and out
of the pool.”
The penultimate round of the National Swimming League is on the 8th
November when Woking will be travelling to Epsom.
Cranleigh and Crawley Open - Divide and conquer
Woking Swimming Club sent representatives to the recent Level 1 long
course Open meet at Crawley and also to the Cranleigh Level 2 meet.
Level 1 and 2 meets are aimed at swimmers looking for National or
Regional qualification times respectively and Woking proved they were able
to compete effectively at both these levels.
Crawley gave Woking 10 personal best times across 45 individual swims.
Recently selected to swim for Surrey in the inter-county Hampshire Centenary
Gala, swimmers Amy Edmonds, Dominic Holloway, Calum Ferguson and Hannah
Burvill underlined their talents with some solid results. Amy Edmonds topped
the Girls placing 4th in the 12 and Over 50m Breaststoke with Dominic
Holloway placing 5th in the 12-13 100m Breaststroke leading the boys
peformances. The boys ended up with 3 top ten finishes with the girls taking
11 top ten slots. Hannah Burvill finished in the top 10 in each of her 6
swims, including 3 5th places in 10-11 100m Freestyle, 100m and 200m
Backstroke.
At Cranleigh, 72 individual swims yielded 34 medals (8 Golds,
15 Silvers and 11 Bronzes). 37 swims were personal bests and 7 swims
achieving Surrey qualification times.
Cranleigh Girls (left to right): Hazel Ferguson, Emma
Hassanein, Charlotte George
Woking also walked away with 3 of the Top Boy/Girl awards, James Watson
(2 Golds, 3 silvers) in the 13 year-old boys, Ben Smith in the Open Age
Group and Charlotte George in the 9 year-old girls, taking 3 Golds and a
Silver from her four swims.
The 9 year-old girls almost swept the board in both the 50m Freestyle and
200m Breaststroke races, with Charlotte George and Hazel Ferguson grabbing
medals and Emma Hassanein finishing just outside in 4th in both races.
Across the age groups, the girls 200m Freestyle provided 3 silvers
(Charlotte George, Louise Harvey, Amy Harrington), 200m Backstroke 2 Golds
(Hazel Ferguson and Louise Harvey) and 1 Silver (Natasha Holden). For the
boys the 200m Backstroke saw 1 Silver (James Watson) and 2 bronzes (Kristian
Payne, Flynn Parker) and the 200m Individual Medley 2 Silvers (Harris Wyne,
James Watson) and 2 Bronzes (Zack Fowden and Christophe Gilson).
The busy schedule of events in October continues with the National
Swimming League (Woking compete in Division One East of the South Region),
2nd round of the Hants and South Coast Junior Cup, the Surrey Qualifier gala
at Elmbridge and the Rushmoor Royals Long Course Open at Aldershot.
The Committee, swimmers and coaches of Woking Swimming
Club would like to thank Exxon Mobil for their generous donation. Committee
Member, poolside helper and official Catherine Ferguson successfully applied
for a grant from the ExxonMobil Volunteer Involvement Programme, which
recognises the contributions of time and energy made to local community
groups. The programme is open to ExxonMobil employees and their families.
Inter Counties Gala Results
This Hampshire Centenary Gala took place in Southampton on the 27th
September and we were delighted that
Amy Edmonds, Calum Ferguson, Dominic
Holloway and Hannah Burvill were selected for the Surrey team.
Results
1st Hampshire Black 212
2nd Kent 169
3rd Surrey 155
4th Sussex 152
5th Hampshire Gold 146
6th Wiltshire 102
Dominic got a 2nd in the 100Breast, Hannah 6th
in the 100Free, Calum 5th in the 100Fly.
http://www.hampshireswimming.org/lib/file.php/comps/129/Surrey.htm
Battling Performance from Woking
Woking completed the final round of the Rother League with a confident
showing that secured them a solid fifth place in the competition. Facing
some of the best clubs in the south east, including local rivals Guildford,
they did not look out of place alongside their more illustrious opponents
and produced some excellent swims which will no doubt have pleased the
coaches.
Swimmers of the night were Chloe Bard and Matthew Dickenson, who
both worked tirelessly all evening.
Tom Marshall and Tia Thurlow started the evening off with solid
performances in the Open Men's and Ladies 100m butterfly, with Marshall
claiming a one second PB. Amy Edmonds, fresh back from her display at the
nationals, came in third in her Under 16 Girls 100m breaststroke, and Alex
Campbell followed this up in the equivalent boys event with an excellent PB.
Hannah Burvill, recently selected to swim for Surrey along with team-mates
Callum Ferguson and Dominic Holloway, then claimed a stunning first place
finish in her Under 12 Girls 50m freestyle with a one second PB.
In the relays there was a thrilling climax to the Open men's 4x25m
freestyle, where the team of Ross Arnfield, Ben Smith, Charlie Cope and club
captain Alex Smith came in a narrow fourth, only just behind Bracknell.
Swimmer of the night Chloe Bard then took a well deserved third place in her
Under 16 Girls 100m butterfly with a scorching PB, and shortly afterwards
Hannah Burvill was again in action, grabbing second place in her Under 12
Girls 50m backstroke. Dominic Holloway replicated that performance with a
second place in his Under 14 Boys 50m breaststroke, before Amy Edmonds again
performed well, earning another third place in her Under 16 Girls 100m
freestyle. Kelly Davidson too came third shortly afterwards in her Under 14
Girls 50m freestyle.
As the final relays were completed, with a notable third place finish
from the Under 16 Girls 4x25m freestyle relay team, Woking finished in fifth
place overall. There were fifteen PBs from
Woking's swimmers during the course of the night. The gala ended with the
master's relay, with Woking achieving a third place finish with their team
of Ben Smith, Sheila Tattersdill, Catherine Ferguson and Brian Robbings.
Earlier in the week, several of Woking's swimmers took up an Olympic
challenge of their own. In an initiative inspired by the handover of the
Beijing Games to London, the swimmers were challenged to swim as many
lengths as possible in 20 mins 12 seconds. Twenty-two swimmers took part,
ranging in age from eight years old to twenty. The eventual winner was Alex
Smith, who achieved 62 lengths in the allotted time. Mayor Cllr Peter Ankers,
an ex-chairman of Woking Swimming Club, was there to watch, and certificates
were awarded from Woking Borough Council on behalf of the London 2012
Olympic Committee.
Inter Counties Gala
This Hampshire Centenary Gala is taking place in Southampton on the 27th
September and we are delighted to announce that Calum Ferguson, Dominic
Holloway and Hannah Burvill have been selected for the Surrey team.
The other counties appearing are Wiltshire, Sussex, Kent and of course
Hampshire who will be sending 2 teams.
We wish Calum, Dominic and Hannah all the best...and enjoy the
experience!
Brave Effort by Woking
One week into the new swimming calendar and Woking began their year with
a solid performance in the first round of the Hants and South Coast Junior
Cup. The team travelled down to Basingstoke with a youthful squad, and many
were asked to race up an age group. Nevertheless, they swam admirably
despite coming up against much older and more experienced opposition.
The gala began with two excellent races from Catherine Campbell and
Dominic Holloway in the U14 girls and boys 100m breaststroke, with Holloway
narrowly missing out on a 1st place finish. The team then continued to punch
above their weight with numerous 2nd and 3rd place finishes, and after
twelve races Woking began to pull away with Winchester Penguins and hosts
Basingstoke Bluefins. Haaris Wyne produced a stunning swim in the U11 boys
25m butterfly to take the first win of the night for Woking, with Lucy
Spruzs only just missing out shortly before in the girls event.
Neither did Woking disgrace themselves in the relays. Alice Killen in
particular swam two age groups up to help keep the team fighting for the
lead, while the U11 girls freestyle relay and the U14 boys medley relay
teams blew their opposition out of the water to take more 1st place
finishes. Key members of those teams were brother and sister Callum and
Hazel Ferguson, who shortly afterwards came 1st and 2nd in their respective
individual events - the U14 boys 100m butterfly and the U11 girls 50m
backstroke - to keep Woking in touching distance of the lead.
Hannah Burvill, who has only just turned 11, produced a hard-fought
effort to take 2nd place in the U13 girls 50m backstroke, and minutes later
Zack Fowden followed this up with a strong 1st in his U12 boys 50m
breaststroke. More wins were to come from Emma Hassenein in the U11 girls
50m breaststroke and Ben Kenworthy in the U12 boys 50m backstroke.
With the Squadron to go Woking were tied for 2nd place with Winchester, 6
points behind Basingstoke. Despite best efforts Woking we not able to
capitalise on this and finished in 3rd place overall.
 
Swimmers of the night
were Natasha Carr and Zack Fowden.
The final round of the cup takes place on 18th October and the team go
into this confident of another solid performance.
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Woking will complete in the
other Hants and South Coast league competitions.
The focus being:
- Premier League - regain promotion to Division 1
- Minor League - cement position in Division 2 having gained promotion
last season
- Defend the Rother Junior Trophy and Gemini titles
- Battle for final position in Division 1 of the Rother League with
final round at Woking on Saturday 20th Sept
The main league campaign, the National Speedo Swimming League competition
kicks off on Saturday 11th October. Woking compete in Division One East of
the Southern Region and will travel to Braintree for this, the first of
three rounds.
To add to this busy schedule the swimming club supports various Open
meets held across the region, with the first of these being at Cranleigh on
Sunday October 5th and we also go to the Crawley
Open meeting on the 4th/5th October. These events provide great
opportunities for the swimmers to better their personal best times as well
as go for individual and top visiting club success in various events.
Looking further ahead to next year the club aims to increase the success
and number of swimmers qualifying for the Surrey County Championships (held
in February/March 2009), the South East Regional Championships (May/June
2009) and the prestigious National Championships (August 2009) where Amy
Edmonds represented the club this year in the 50m freestyle event.
Finally the Committee, coaches and swimmers would like to extend their
congratulations to Emma Davis for completing the Olympic Triathlon,
representing Ireland in 2:06.29 (37th), she now looks forward to building on
this success for London 2012.
Aquathlon 20th July
WSC had some more good results at the Aquathlon. Ben Smith won the adults
race. The tristar1 age group (9-10) was dominated
by WSC girls with Katie Shiel-Rankin claiming her third
win, Elizabeth Jamieson another second while Charlotte George and
Emma Hassanein were inseparable in 3rd.
Sebastian Zahn won the boys race. Tristar2
(11-12) was won by Chris Zahn for the third time, Matthew Hassanein was
second and Michael Sugden 3rd. Tristar3 (13-14) saw Susan Shiel-Rankin take
her second win and Joshua McDonough improved on his
previous 2nd place to win the boys race.
We also had a family competition based on family members positions. There
was a clean sweep in the "Sibling Team" results: Shiel-Rankin 1st,
Zahn 2nd, Hassanein 3rd. Shiel-Rankin and Zahn tied on points and
only seperated by time! The club got 2nd and 3rd
in the "Offspring Team" results: McDonough 1st,
Zahn 2nd, Jamieson 3rd.
Next event 28th September
Beijing Olympics
 WSC Committee, coaches and swimmers would like to extend their
congratulations to Emma Davis for completing the Olympic Triathlon in
2:06.29 (37th)
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