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Haslemere Open 6th July 2008

Sunday 6th July was a day full of sporting drama. The rain may have disrupted what is probably the best Wimbledon Men’s Final ever and given us the first British winner of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix since 2000.

But water and Woking based teams mix well together.

Woking Swimming Club headed off to Haslemere for their summer Open Meet.

40 swimmers competed in 152 individual swims across three sessions totalling an exhausting 11 hours at the Herons Swimming and Fitness Centre, Haslemere.

The first event of the day saw Woking take 1st (Andrew Roy) and 2nd (William Hurman) in the 9-year old boys 50m Backstroke, and this marked the start of another successful event for the club.

  • 2nd placed visiting club (345.5 points to Kingston Royals 408.5 points)
  • Best individual swim, Hannah Burvill (10 year old girls) in the 100 metre Individual Medley
  • Best individual swim Dominic Holloway (12 year old boys) also in the 100 metre Individual Medley
  • 10 Golds, 7 silvers, 10 bronzes
  • 90 swims beat their PBs by more than a 1 second, 17 by more than 10 seconds and 4 by more than 20 seconds.

Golds came from Hannah Burvill (4), Andrew Roy and Dominic Holloway (2), Kirsty McKnight and Calum Ferguson (1).
Silvers from Dominic Holloway, William Hurman, Christopher Zahn, Alice Russell, Ruth Tweedie-Smith, Haaris Wyne and Hannah Russell.
Bronzes from Dominic Holloway, Kirsty McKnight, Hannah Russell (2), Andrew Roy, Calum Ferguson, Haaris Wyne and Katherine Robbings.

Younger swimmers Harris Wyne, Charlotte George, Andrew Roy and Jack Porter knocked an incredible 38, 35, 30 and 21 seconds respectively off of their 200m Freestyle PBs.

With the season now drawing to a close, the club will be wishing their National Qualifier, Amy Edmonds, good luck for the 50m Freestyle at the National Championships to be held at Ponds Forge, Sheffield on Saturday 2nd August.


Woking Aquathlon

Aquathlon is like a triathlon without the cycling so it is timed from the start of the swim till the end of the run, any time spent between the swim and the run is included in the overall time.

This year's event is on the 20th July - more details click here


Cranleigh Open Meet

Woking Swimming Club’s successful year continued with an outstanding performance at the Cranleigh Open Meet on 22nd June. Following some excellent races, they ended the day with a medal haul of 38 Golds, 34 Silvers and 17 bronzes, amassing numerous PBs along the way.

The Cranleigh Meet is something of a favourite of Woking’s for its friendly atmosphere and suitability for both young and older swimmers alike, and the club again had a great day both on and off poolside. In the water, several swimmers achieved the Top Boy or Top Girl award for their individual age group – Ben Smith in the Open (four golds), Alex Smith in the 17 years (five golds), Ross Arnfield (five golds, three silvers) and Bethany Eastwood (two golds, two silvers, one bronze) in the 16 years, Hannah Russell (three golds, two silvers) in the 11 years and Flynn Parker (one gold, two silvers, one bronze) in the 10 years age group.

Other impressive medal hauls came from U13 stars Calum Ferguson and Dominic Holloway, who gained three golds, three silvers and three golds, two silvers, one bronze respectively, Jeremy Mulliez (two golds, four silvers), Amy Edmonds (two golds, two silvers), Katherine Robbings (one gold, two silvers), Tom Marshall (one gold, one silver, two bronzes), James Watson (one gold, three silvers, one bronze), Lucy Maurer (one gold, one silver), Chris Zahn (one gold, one silver), Emma Maurer (one gold, two bronzes) and Hannah Burvill (one gold, one bronze). The medal tally was completed by James Cumins (one silver, two bronzes), Ben Haskell (one silver, one bronze), Katy Shiel-Rankin (one silver, one bronze), Filippo Carrozzo (one silver), Matt Dickenson (one gold), Abbie Johnson (one silver), Stephanie Holohan (two bronzes) and Niall Johnson (two bronzes).

The huge medal collection was also complimented by some storming PBs. The largest came from Elizabeth Jamieson and Haaris Wyne, who both managed to take an amazing 27 seconds off their 200m IM personal bests. Equally stunning were the performances of Katy Shiel-Rankin (12 seconds off her 200m freestyle and backstroke, and 7 seconds off her 200m IM), Lucy Maurer (17 seconds off her 200m IM), James Cumins (15 seconds off his 200m breaststroke), Chris Zahn (13 seconds off his 200m freestyle) and Amy Harrington (11 seconds off her 200m freestyle).

The day was completed by a one-two-three finish from Woking in the boys 50m breaststroke, with Alex Smith just touching ahead of Ross Arnfield and Ben Smith. Woking’s next Open Meet will be at Haslemere on the 6th July.


South East District success

Success at the final weekend of the South East Regional Age Group Championships held at the K2 pool in Crawley cemented Woking Swimming Club's recent result record at all levels of competition.

10-year old Hannah Burvill struck gold on both weekends, first in the 100m Freestyle and subsequently adding the 200m Freestyle, giving her an impressive overall 8th in the BAGCAT tables for the event.

Ten Woking swimmers qualified for this regional event and strong swims saw a number of improved PBs and a sub 3-minute short course time and bronze medal for 12-year old Dominic Holloway in the 200m Breaststroke.

Other Woking swimmers were Calum Ferguson, Oliver Kenworthy, Flynn Parker, Zack Fowden, Katherine Robbings, Kelly Davidson, Hannah Russell and Kirsty McKnight.

Earlier in the year, Dominic and Callum Ferguson had finished 1st and 3rd respectively in the 11 year-old Surrey County BAGCAT Championships.


More recently 14-year old Amy Edmonds achieved a fantastic National Qualifying Time (NQT) of 28.59 in the 50m Freestyle and she will now go on to swim in the National Championships to be held at Ponds Forge, Sheffield on Saturday 2nd August.

 

As if County, Regional and National success weren't enough, step forward Emma Davis, long time member of Woking Swimming Club who still swims in league matches when her training and travel schedule allows. At the recent World Triathlon Championships in Vancouver, Canada, Emma finished a superb 15th and thus became the first Irish Tri-athlete to qualify for the Bejing Olympic Games later this year.


Woking Battle On (Rother Round 2)

Woking Swimming Club continued their Rother League campaign with a brave effort at Guildford’s Spectrum pool. Facing four of the strongest teams in the south east with a much depleted squad, they finished sixth overall on the night, only three points off fifth placed Sutton & Cheam.

The second round of the competition was effectively a relay gala, with swimmers racing in teams of two rather than competing individually, and Woking got off to a solid start with good swims from Emma Maurer and Katherine Robbings, who placed 4th. This was shortly followed by one of the races of the night from the U12 girls team of Hannah Russell and Hannah Burvill, who came 2nd in their 2x25m freestyle. Russell then followed this up with two more impressive swims, placing 3rd twice with Kirsty McKnight in the U12 2x25m butterfly and with Burvill again in the U12 2x25m backstroke.

The U12 boys were not to be outdone however, and the team of Chris Zahn and Charlie Shortland swam hard to come 3rd in their 2x25m breaststroke. Shortland then joined James Cumins, Andrew Roy and Flyn Parker for their U12 4x25m medley relay, where they again came 3rd. At the halfway stage in the gala, Woking were fifth and involved in a three-way tussle, as they were only three points ahead of Sutton & Cheam and three points behind fourth placed Staines.

Numerous swimmers were forced to swim out of age, such was the extent of the lack of numbers. 13 year old Emma Adams more than held her own in the Ladies Open 2x50m breaststroke, while Natasha Holden competed bravely in the U16 2x50m backstroke. Katherine Robbings too swam up two age groups to race in the Ladies Open 2x50m backstroke, and Katie Brown valiantly raced the first leg of the Ladies Open medley relay.

The older swimmers too fought courageously, with brothers Ben and Alex Smith blasting through their Open 2x50m freestyle race to record another 4th place finish. Alex, who would later go on to be named the male swimmer of the night for his efforts, also swam well in his Open 2x50m backstroke with George Tweedy-Smith and in his relays with Rob Taylor, Tom Marshall and Ross Arnfield.

Female swimmer of the night was U16 Amy Edmonds, who began the night by anchoring the girls U16 4x25m freestyle relay to an excellent 3rd place. She then added to this with another 3rd in the U16 2x50m freestyle with team-mate Amy Harrington, and a hard-fought 4th in the U16 2x50m breaststroke alongside Emma Adams. Finally, her evening’s work was completed as she took her place in another tense squadron relay, at the end of which Alex Smith snatched 4th place for Woking. Sadly though, the team’s heroic efforts proved to be too little to compensate for the missing members of their squad, and they narrowly missed out on 5th place in the total points. The final round of the competition will take place later on in the year, in September.


Woking Rother Impressive (Rother Round 1)

Woking Swimming Club’s Rother League campaign got off to an excellent start  with victory in the first round of the competition. Utilising home advantage to the full, they eventually cruised to success by a comfortable margin of 246 points to second-placed Hamble’s 220 point haul.

Last year Woking finished 4th overall in Division 1 after the three rounds, and it was clear from the beginning that they were out to try and improve upon that placing. The evening began with strong performances from Tia Thurlow and Ben Smith in the Open 50m Fly. Smith in particular continued his superb recent form by posting a half-second personal best. Despite pressure throughout from Hamble, Woking were never really out of the driving seat in the gala, and this was emphasised by two stunning swims from U13 swimmers Dominic Holloway and Callum Ferguson, who dominated their 50m Breaststroke and 50m Fly races to win by a clear margin.

Elsewhere, Hannah Burvill came second in her U13 Freestyle race despite not being 11 until September, and there were impressive swims from the U11 age group as the boys and girls relay teams won most of their relays with a comfortable lead. In addition, Elizabeth Jamieson and Lucy Maurer swam well in their respective U11 individual events as did Ben Kenworthy with his well executed 50m backstroke, contributing to what was becoming a notable points total from Woking.

The most nail biting races of the night were coming from the Open age group though. The talismanic Alex Smith led the way, first by romping home to win the 50m Backstroke before making it a personal double by clinching the 50m Freestyle on the touch at the end of a thrilling race, in a time of 25.15 secs. He then anchored the Men’s Open relay team to victory in their Freestyle relay with his brother Ben and team-mates Ross Arnfield and Tom Marshall.

Woking by this point had started to pull away from their rivals, and with 11 races left they had accumulated a ten point advantage over second placed Hamble. Making sure things stayed that way were Bethany Eastwood and Amy Edmonds, who finished 2nd in their Open 50m Backstroke and 50m Freestyle races, and in the U15 age group, James Watson battled hard despite being out of age. As the squadron relay team blasted home in 1st place, Woking extended their lead to 26 points, an advantage which they now will carry through to the next round on the 21st June. Swimmers of the night were Alex Smith and Emma Adams.

The evening was made doubly satisfying for head coach John Eastwood when Woking learnt that they had won the Rother Junior Cup outright. The competition, contested several weeks ago on the 17th May, had ended in a tie on the night with 2007 champions Staines, but the rules state that in the event of a draw the winner of the squadron relay takes the trophy.


Minor League

Following on from this success Woking hosted the final round of the Hants and South Coast Minor League on 14th June, competing against teams from Fareham, Andover, Epsom and the Isle of Wight. From the outset the team set a high standard as Open Ladies swimmer Rebecca Merritt powered through her 100m Breaststroke to take first position, followed closely by club captain Robert Taylor who came third in his 100m Breaststroke event.

The younger swimmers, spurred on by their older team mates, achieved some fantastic times. In the U11 age group Andrew Roy (50m Back), Elizabeth Jamieson and Christopher Zahn (both 50m Free) all won their events whilst Hazel Ferguson, Charlie Bridgewater and Alice Killen all came in the top three.

After 30 events the pressure was on as Fareham and Woking battled for top spot, with Fareham narrowly leading. Woking responded, and stepped up with Tia Thurlow (100m Ladies Open Fly) and Ben Smith (Mens Open 100m Free) who took first and third respectively. This was quickly followed by notable swims from the U12 age group. Helen Street stormed to victory with her 50m Fly and third in her 50m Free whilst James Cumin (50m free and back) and Ben Haskell both swam hard in their races.

In the U13 age group both Emma Adams and William Killen had a fantastic gala - achieving first place finishes in their 50m free and backstroke events respectively, whilst 13 year old Amy Harrington shone as she bravely competed in the Ladies Open 100m Freestyle.

As the gala drew to a close Fareham had edged tantalisingly out of reach, but Woking were determined to win the most prestigious event of the evening, the freestyle relay squadron, involving the fastest girl and boy swimmers from 10 years to the Open age group. Driven on by phenomenal support, they blew the opposition out of the water to record a stunning victory, and there was an explosion of noise as 20 year old Ben Smith hit the finish. The final results put Woking second with 183 points, and they vowed to come back next year to reclaim their title (which they had held for the previous three years).


South East Regional Youth Championships

The South East Regional Youth Championships involving 75 swimming clubs from over 7 Counties in the south east of England met at Aldershot’s Sports Garrison over the weekend of 3rd /4th May.

It was an exciting time for Woking Swimming Club as 14 year old Amy Edmonds took over a second off her 50m Fly to climb 18 places to 9th position in the 14/15 year age band. This was an incredible achievement but she had more surprises in store as she stormed to victory to achieve her first NQT (National Qualifying time) for her 50m Freestyle in a time of 28.59 seconds.

15 year old Bethany Eastwood and 17 year old Alex Smith both were determined to do equally well in their respective races. Bethany swam strongly in her 100m backstroke and 50m freestyle races gaining a personal best time of 30.36 secs in the latter. Alex Smith narrowly missed his NQT in the 50m freestyle by 57 hundredths of a second. Despite this he swam an amazing 50m fly in 28.91 seconds a personal best to win his heat and produced an incredible swim in the 100m freestyle gaining a converted time of 55.70 a personal best.

Head Coach John Eastwood commented that he was pleased with the efforts of all of the swimmers but was especially proud of the achievement by Amy gaining her NQT for the 50m Freestyle.


Annual General Meeting

The WSC AGM is being held on WEDNESDAY 11th JUNE at 8.00pm at Woking Leisure Centre in the Restaurant.

All parents are welcome including swimmers 14 years and older. There will be reports from the Chairman Simon Johnson, Treasurer Julie Burvill and Head Coach John Eastwood. There will be information about SWIM 21 and a chance to ask questions about the Club and its plans for the future.

If anyone wants to join the Committee or just help out in the Club could they contact either Liz Robbings or Jackie Smith through the normal email address.


Bournemouth Bonanza!

Woking Swimming Club had a fantastic Open Meet at Bournemouth. which concludes a very successful spring session as the Club not only did very well in the County Championships but also achieved the SWIM 21 accreditation after many months of hard work.

Swimmers ranging from 9 to 19 years produced some superb personal bests at the Meet gaining in total 25 Gold, 13 Silver and 13 Bronze medals.

12 year old Callum Ferguson took 10 seconds off his 100m backstroke and 8 seconds off his 100m fly a fantastic achievement! His sister Hazel, not to be out done won 2 silver and 1 bronze medals. Elizabeth Jamieson won 6 bronze medals whilst Kirsty McKnight and Hannah Burvill had a storming meet gaining 2 silver and 3 gold and 3 silver medals respectively.

The older swimmers equally shone with 14 year old Amy Edmonds producing nail biting finishes to take 7 gold and 1 bronze medal whilst 17 year old Alex Smith achieved 2 golds for his 200m and 100m backstroke, 2 silvers for his 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle and a bronze medal for his 100m freestyle. Tia Thurlow won gold for her 100 IM. 19 year old Ben Smith took 2 seconds off both his 100m breaststroke and 100m freestyle only narrowly missing out on the medals. 11 year old Dominic Holloway was top of the Woking table with 11 gold and 1 silver medal a tremendous achievement!

The meet concluded with the prestigious 50m freestyle skins event whereby the top 8 girls and top 8 boys battle it out to see who is the fastest male and female 50 m freestyle swimmer of the meet. After going head to head for 5 swims with an army of very vocal supporters Amy Edmonds came 5th and Vice Captain Alex Smith came a credible third. Head Coach John Eastwood commented,” I am very proud of all of the swimmers who have taken part this weekend and the tremendous team spirit they have displayed supporting one another.”


Swimathon - WSC raises over £1,000!

Thanks for all your support for the Swimathon.

In case you weren't aware we ended up with 5 teams, totalling 24 swimmers and on each day we fielded a WSC Team.

The boys achieved the fastest time for the 200 length (5,000 m) distance, completing it in 1 hour 5 minutes!

The younger girls (98/99) came home in under 2 hours !

The Woking News and Mail were there to take a picture on Thursday, so I'm hopeful we'll get a mention in the paper (not sure whether it will be the free one or the Woking News and Mail).

The best news of all is that because of your friends and families generosity we raised just over £1,000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The details of the donations (and a few pictures) can be found at: http://www.justgiving.com/wscathon08  

Many thanks once again for making our participation in the event such a success!


Swim 21

Swim 21 is the ASA's Club Development model - a planning tool, based on the principles of Long Term Athlete Development, enabling clubs to help athletes, teachers, coaches and administrators to achieve their full potential. It focuses particularly on the needs of athletes - striving to provide them with the best possible support and environment.

Swim 21 Accreditation is a 'Quality mark'. It recognises nationally and regionally the clubs that are committed to providing safe, effective and quality services for the benefit of their members.

Swim21 is awarded by the Amateur Swimming Association to clubs able to meet its stringent standards in all areas including such items as child welfare, organisation and communication.

Swim 21 Accreditation is available to ASA clubs of all aquatic disciplines that are positioned at one or more of the four levels of:

  • Teaching
  • Skill Development
  • Competitive Development
  • Performance

Woking Swimming Club led by Jean Styles has worked steadily towards the attainment of Swim 21 for Skill Development over the last 12 months and we are delighted to announce tonight that on 28th Feb the National Accreditation Panel approved our submission.

This is a huge milestone for the club and on behalf of all the members we want to thank Jean and all other contributors for the enormous amount of effort and congratulate them on this achievement.

We will discuss further the positive impact this has for the club going forward at the AGM this year being held in June.


Surreys 2008

The Surrey County Championships started on the 9th February with the 800m and 1500m being held at Aldershot 50m pool and finished with the Relays on the 9th March at the Spectrum. A long month but well worth it for all the Woking swimmers.

 

Woking came 8th in Surrey with a total tally of 23 medals.

 

A total of 295 individual swims resulted in no less than 158 Personal Bests, 3 Club Records, 6 Gold medals, 6 Silver and 8 Bronze.

 

The Relay teams provided another Gold, Silver and Bronze.

 

 

The Club Records came from:

Dominic Holloway: Under 12 200 Breast and 50 Breast.
Calum Ferguson: Under 12 200 Fly.
Dominic was also 1st in the Boys 11 years Bagcats, with Calum coming 3rd.
Hannah Burvill came 4th in the Girls 10 years Bagcats.

 

Gold Medals were won by:

Dominic Holloway – 50 Breast, 200 Breast
Calum Ferguson – 50 Fly, 50 Back
Amy Edmonds – 50 Breast, 100 Breast
The Boys 9-11 Medley Relay team of Oliver Kenworthy, Dominic Holloway, Calum Ferguson and Daniel West.

 

Silver Medals were won by:

Dominic Holloway – 100 IM, 200 IM
Calum Ferguson – 50 F/C, 200 Breast
Kim Glazier – 100 IM
Hannah Burvill – 50 Back
The Boys 9-11 F/C Relay team of Connor Wingham, Daniel West, Dominic Holloway and Calum Ferguson.

 

Bronze Medals were won by:

Calum Ferguson – 100 IM, 200 IM
Amy Edmonds – 50 F/C, 100 IM
Dominic Hollway – 400 IM
Kim Glazier – 100 F/C
Hannah Burvill – 50 F/C
Bethany Eastwood – 50 Back
The Girls 14-15 F/C Relay team of Jo Blair, Chloe Bard, Bethany Eastwood and Amy Edmonds.

 


Fun Night 2007

16th December saw total mayhem at Woking Pool in the Park, as hundreds (well seemed like it!) of colourful swimmers took part in the annual WSC Fun Night - a chance to forget all the hard work of the year so far, for one night anyway.

Starting on a serious note, were the annual awards - as follows

  • Dominic Holloway - Tom Olley Cup for most points in the Surreys
  • Emma Maurer - Phillip Page Breaststroke Cup for best improver.
  • Hannah Burvill & Callum Ferguson - most improved junior
  • George Hatfield - most improved intermediate
  • Lucy Troman - most improved senior

And finally the Rose Bowl (which can only be won once) goes to Sarah Noble for her performance in the 2007 Surrey 1500 metres, taking over 1 minute off her PB and picking up 3 Club Records during the year.

After that, it all got a little bit silly!

Over 10 games, competing in 6 teams, there were two hours of extreme silliness, lots of bribery, a couple of elves and the occasional penalty for outrageous behaviour.

The singing at the end of the races was fairly appalling, but the rules had to be followed. Actually the best game finished with complete silence!

Even so, in the Junior Woggle Race, so few understood or kept to the rules, the judge deemed it had to be run again.

 

There was a fight to keep an maintain first place, with the Green Team holding the lead through the first 6 races. Whether it was the adept use of the joker in Game 7 or just pure skill the final winner on the night was the Yellow Team.

 

And John ended up in the pool (which was expected - but Ross was probably involved!)

So we end by wishing you all a Happy Christmas and see you in the New Year!


ASA advertising Coach position

Regional Skill Development Coach – Disability Swimming
Location: Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre, Nr Marlow,
Buckinghamshire, SL7 1RT

For full information click here


Woking Swimmer World Champion at Biathle World Championship in Monaco.

Emma Davis, competing for Ireland, won her first World Championships at Monaco on the 28th September. Competing in the Senior Race, Emma beat the two competitors for Great Britain in a thrilling finish.

The race took place on Larvotto Plage with the run leg made up of three 500m out and back loops and the swim a 200m out and back in the sea. Transition was on the beach and proved challenging given the uneven surface.

Emma, whose previous position in the September Triathlon European Cup was second and is on the Elite Women's program, is really looking forward to next years championships which are to be held in South Africa.

Emma returned home for a rest (!) and swam for Woking Speedo team in Round 1


2008 Surrey Championships

The qualifying times are now available. Click Here for the document


Rushmore Royals Open Meeting 20/21st October 2007

Some great swims over the 2 days of the Rushmore Royals Long Course Open meeting at Aldershot resulted in 4 Club Records, 4 Gold, 6 Silver and 4 Bronze medals.

Out of the 65 swims there were 35 PB's rewarding those swimmers that have been putting their hard training to good use.

Gold Medals came from Bethany Eastwood (200 Back, 50 Back), Amy Edmonds (50 Breast, 50 Free) and Hannah Burvill (50 Back)

Silvers came from Victoria Thurlow (50 Fly), Amy Edmonds (50 Fly), Bethany Eastwood (50 Free), Ross Arnfield (50 Breast), Dominic Holloway (50 Breast), Alex Smith (50 Free..and who narrowly missed out on an NQT)

Bronze medals were won by Victoria Thurlow (50 Free), Hannah Burvill (200 Free), Kirsty McKnight (50 Fly), Emma Maurer (200 Breast).

Club Records were achieved by:

Amy Edmonds: U16 and Open 50 Free
Sarah Noble: U16 and Open 800 Free.

Congratulations to all the swimmers for their spirit and determination.


Open Meets

The Club will be attending the following Open Meets in the early part of the 2007/8 season:

Surrey Qualifier 20/21 October 2007
Rushmoor Royals Level 2 20/21 October 2007

Woking Club Champs Level 4 Oct/Nov 2007
Haslemere Level 1 17/18 November 2007
Guildford Level 1 1/2 December 2007
Brighton Level 2 early January 2008
Cranleigh B Level 3/4 27 January 2008 (provisional)
Surrey County Championships Feb/March 2008
Bournemouth Level 2 April 2008 February 2008

Meets noted in blue show that forms/letters have already been, or are about to be, distributed.

For further details of WSC supported meets please continue to check the noticeboard or the website. This list is not exhaustive and is subject to change.

This notice will also be regularly updated so please keep checking the board.

Please note that, with immediate effect, I shall not be accepting any entries which are handed in after the publicised WSC closing date. Late entries delay our official club entry, and can result in all swimmers losing out because a meet has been over-subscribed and our entries did not arrive in time.

Hilary Dickenson Open Meet Secretary 1/8/07