35 swimmers attended Wiltshire sprints event on Sunday 25th March. This meet is usually swam over 33 meters at the historic Health Hydro in Milton Road, but a late change of venue meant swimming events at 25 meters.

This did not seem to affect the swimmers, who produced remarkable swims and we were soon racking up personal best times and achieving medal winning positions.

For some swimmers this was their first experience of an individual swimming meet. A big Swindon ASC welcome to Oscar Symons, Sebastian Scutt, Ava Kayani, Naila Hidouci and Lily Miles.

We racked up a 25 age group medals,8 junior championship medal and 3 open championship medals. The boys outdoing the girls in the age-groups by 14:11.

Top achiever on the day was Tyler Checchia who won gold in four events for his age group, 3 gold and 1 silver in the junior championship (15 and under), and qualified for the mens’ finals in backstroke, butterfly and freestyle.
Our only other finalist this year was Thea who made it through to the final of the womens backstroke.
Great to see newcomers Lily Miles (backstroke bronze), and Oscar Symons (backstroke silver, breaststroke bronze, freestyle gold) getting rewarded for their efforts.

Swindon ASC sprint placings..

Swimmer	Agegroup	Backstroke	Breaststroke	Butterfly	Freestyle
Lily	9	3
Oscar	9	2	3		1
Ava	10	7	16	7	8
Beth S	10	15		12	18
Naila	10		17
Sebastian	10	9	9		8
Abigail	11	19
Alex	11	2	5	8	4
Ashton	11	13	5	9	6
Ella	11	20	16		12
Freya	11	8	3	6	6
Matt	11	14	8		8
Molly	11	4		5	8
Rhys	11	10	4	8	7
Harry	12	10	11		8
Max	12	3	2	2	4
Amy	13	6
Annabel	13	7	2	7	9
Kyle	13		3		5
Thea	13	1	6	3	3
Aaron	14	4	3	3	4
Alice	14	4	3	6	5
James	14	5		5	5
Tamzin	14	5
Euan	15				5
Olivia	15	4	5	9	8
Tyler	15	1	1	1	1
Andrew	16				7
Beth B	16	2		4	3
Leon	16	6	4		5
Nicole	16	5		3	4
Alyx	17/18	4	3	5	4
Craig	17/18		7		7
Max	17/18			4
Will	17/18	7			10

Congratulations to everyone who qualified for the event, a big THANK YOU to the swimmers who came along and represented the club on the day.
Thank you to all the officials, organisers and special thanks to Sarah Bailey for organising our representation so well.

Go Team!

Round 2 of the winter league was hosted by the mighty Swindon ASC at the link centre and we saw a big contribution from parents as well as coaches and committee members to get the night to run to plan; well-done everyone. The swimmers came from Warminster, Calne, Chippenham and Royal Wootton Bassett for a great night of 35 relay races across the junior and senior squad.

With rule changes affecting the age groups, this year’s campaign was always going to be more of a challenge and we had to wait until race 12 for our first (and only) win of the night which came from the mixed 9 & 10 years Breaststroke team of Molly, Seb, Freya & Ashton – WELL DONE GUYS. Still, the winter league works on both points and times to create an overall comparison against the other teams in the league so there are still plenty of reasons to achieve the best possible time in each race. And we saw plenty of great team and individual performances on the night. Alex Bailey, team captain led by example in the Boys Open 50m breaststroke making an amazing recovery in the last leg to lift the team up the rankings. A feat emulated by Ashton in the mixed 9 & 10 yrs 25m medley where he accelerated into the wall giving 100% for the team, Max Sullivan for taking on 12 races and Tyler battling with Warminster to make sure we took an extra point.

The Final Scores after 35 events were….

Royal Wootton Bassett – 124 points
Calne – 104 points
Chippenham 85 points
Swindon ASC – 70 points
Warminster – 52 points

See you all at the next round (FINALS) in Trowbridge on Saturday 10th.

REMINDER – don’t forget to back the bid… see Back the Bid

Results and times for all rounds can be found on the Wiltshire ASA web-site here

We are currently 9th in the league (expected following rule changes), and will be swimming in the ‘B’ final against Tigersharks, Warminster, Durrington and Bradford on Avon.

And the award goes to Holly Sullivan of Swindon ASC.

Congratulations to Holly Sullivan who was voted Wiltshire Swimmer for the year for the period 1st September 2016 to 31st August 2017 at the Wiltshire Amateur Swimming Association Annual General Meeting.

Holly was nominated for the award by the club for her achievements in swimming:

• Holly started competing in swimming competitions a couple of years ago. She really stood out when she took part in the Special Olympics in November 2016 where she beat the DS female world qualifying time for 50m freestyle.
• In April Holly took part in the DS European Open Championships again coming away with a clutch of medals but more notably beating an established GB swimmer in the 100m freestyle. Following from this success Holly was invited to attend the Down Syndrome GB training camp in Nottingham in May 2017.
• On 5th July Holly received the letter she had been hoping for offering her a place in the GBR team travelling to Paris for the European Championships. Some of the countries she will be competing against include Brazil, Russia, Portugal and Denmark. Holly had achieved 10 DS GB qualifying times by this point. See: Swindon Advertiser – Article
• What is particularly remarkable about Holly’s story is that at 13yrs she is at the youngest age that swimmers can qualify for the DS GB team, yet still managed 10 qualifying times against swimmers of all ages as there are no age groups in this competition.
• Holly is a pleasure to teach, always keen to work hard and to improve, training twice a week with our junior squad.
• She is a truly valued member of our club, an example to all and we are extremely proud of her achievements.

Holly received the certificate at the clubs Annual Presentation evening on 2nd December.

There is a trophy to go with the award, which was still with the previous winner Jazz Carlin, who was away at a training camp.

Congratulations Holly

Great turnout at the annual presentation evening at the County Ground on the 2nd December. Fun evening with lots of medals trophies and certificates given to reward success in recent club champs.

Big Thank you to Joe Kerrighan and Corporate Events Ltd for the marvelous surprise podium in the club colours.

Pictures of all individuals & age groups are available, ask a committee member.

Swindon ASC swimmers went 10 better than last years amazing tally of 22 age group best times by racking up a massive 32 age group best times at Club Champs during November.

This upward trend of breaking club records began in 2013 with two new records. 2014 saw this increase to 10, 2015 saw a leap to 25 new records. The coaching team thought we’d plateaued after this went down in 2016 to 22.

Some of the records may have only stood for a year, but there were also some really old records beaten. Six from prior to 1998, five from 1998-2010 and three from 2011-2015.

Congratulations to:
Sebastian Scutt, Alex Scutt, Max Sullivan, Tyler Checchia, Max Adams, Alyx Bailey, Hannah Lewington, Annabel Ollerhead, Olivia Moore, Thea Rhodes and Liberty Slowly.

All swimmers were presented with certificates to mark the achievement at the clubs presentation evening.

Round 3 of the summer league was a home fixture for Swindon and the plus sized pool at Milton Road would add new challenge for the swimmers as races in this league are categorised by the number of lengths and not distance in meters. The 1 length races were started at the shallow end to keep all finishes at the deep end and so shallow diving starts were essential for most swimmers.

The first races on the programme were the men’s and women’s open 4x1L medley and our first swimmers were Tyler (3rd) and Emily (3rd).

Max S (1st) and Molly (2nd) up next in the U12’s 1L butterfly. Molly (swimming up an age) was unlucky not to win and both swimmers got new PB’s. Up next were Craig (3rd) and Beth (3rd) up next in the U16 3L freestyle. Craig was in a close race, just missing out on 1st place in the final length.

James (3rd) and Annabel (1st) in the U14 1L Breaststroke with new PB’s. In the 3L backstroke Alyx led the whole race but the Warminster swimmer fought back hard in the final length but Alyx held on to get the touch. Liberty was in a neck and neck race with Warminster and Wroughton but just couldn’t hold on during the tail end of the race.

In the relays, George, Kyle, Max S and Finlay came in 3rd in a nail biter of a U12 boys medley. Whilst Alex S, Freya, Molly and Jayne also took 3rd for the girls in another nail biter. The U16 teams of Aaron, Craig, Tyler and James were 1st and the girls team of Beth, Olivia, Nicole and Sasha were 2nd. Aaron was 3rd with a new PB and Thea 2nd in the 1L U14 freestyle followed by Max A 2nd and Liberty 3rd in the open 3L Butterfly. Max S and Hannah up next in the U12 1L Breaststroke. The boys race was neck and neck with Max taking 1st on the touch whilst Hannah fought hard and got a new PB – well done Hannah. Tyler and Olivia both won convincingly in the U16 backstroke taking maximum points for the team.

In the next round of Relays, The U14 boys medley team of Aaron, Max S, James and Harvey took 3rd while the girls team of Emmie, Thea, Annabel and Hannah were 2nd. In the open Medley Alyx, Craig, Max A and the girls team of Sasha, Emily, Liberty and Beth with both races too close to call from the gallery.

Kyle and Hannah up next in the 1L freestyle for the U12 with both taking 1st place and both setting new PB’s in incredibly fast and close races. In the 3L butterfly. Tyler put in another convincing performance to come 1st by almost a length, whilst Nicole had to dig deep during her neck and neck race with Wroughton and Warminster to eventually take 2nd place and set a new PB.

Aaron and Emmie both took top spot in the U14 back with Emmie putting on an amazing fight back to move from 3rd place into 1st in the final third. U12 boys freestyle relay team of Finlay, Harry, George and Kyle finished 3rd and the girls team of Jayne, Hannah, Freya and Alex Sc also finished 3rd. Harvey stepped up to the U16 freestyle relay team and swam with Aaron, Craig and Tyler to take 3rd spot while the girls team of Nicole, Beth, Sasha and Olivia took 1st place in an amazing head to head with Warminster. Max S stepped up in the U14 fly along with Annabel for the girls, with both taking 2nd place

Max A in men’s open 3L free took 2nd with Emily taking 3rd. Harry was up next in the U12 1L backstroke taking 2nd place with a new PB, followed by Alex Sc for the girls who again, took top slot with a new PB – well done Harry & Alex. Craig and Sasha finished the individual races by both 3rd position in the U16 3L breaststroke.

The final round of relays saw James, Max S, Harvey and Aaron come 3rd and the girls team of Emmie, Annabel, Hannah and Thea take 2nd in the U14 Freestyle relay. The men’s open freestyle relay team of Tyler, Craig, Max A and Alyx was close to call between Swindon and Wroughton for 3rd. The woman’s team of Liberty, Olivia, Beth and Emily took 3rd.

Final scores on the night:
Warminster 148
Swindon 146
Wroughton 116
Bradford on Avon 74

Congratulations to Holly Sullivan, who has been selected to represent Great Britain in the Down Syndrome European Championships in Paris from 30/10/17 to 3/11/17.

Holly has been selected as one of 31 athletes from all over the country. To see the full team visit: www.dss-gb.org/news/

Go Holly!

Coaching Team
Swindon ASC

Round two of the summer league was hosted by Wroughton and the squad were in fine voice for what would turn out to be thrilling and noisy night of racing.

Alyx kicked of proceeding in the open medley coming in 3rd with Emily coming 2nd.

Max S took top spot in the U12 50m fly where unusually one team didn’t enter a swimmer. Molly led most of the race in the to eventually get pipped into 2nd in final few meters to what was undoubtedly the loudest cheer of the night.

Alex Stone was 3rd in the U14 breaststroke in a closely fought battle with Warminster whilst Annabel took top spot for the girls; both with new PB’s

Boys U12 medley team, Harry, Matt, Max S and Rhys took 1st place after Rhys swam the race of his life in a neck and neck final leg against Warminster. The girls team of Alex S, Freya, Molly and Jayne took 3rd with standout performances from Freya in breaststroke and Jayne in freestyle.

The U16 boys team of Charlie, Craig, Tyler and Andrew came 1st with a convincing win. The girls of Sasha, Olivia, Nicole and Beth took 2nd.

Next up, Aaron and Thea in the the 2 length freestyle. No joking around from Aaron who set a new PB in a thrilling 4 way head to head With Thea coming in second for the girls.

Tyler was good value for 2nd in the men’s open fly followed by Max S and Freya in the U12 breaststroke with all 3 swimmers delivering mature league swims to take more points for the team.

Aaron, Alex Stone, James and Harvey brought home 2nd in the U14 medley with Emmie, Thea, Annabel and Hannah doing the same for the girls.

Harry fought hard to take 2nd spot ahead of Wroughton in the U12 boys free whilst Hannah fought off the whole field to take the no.1 spot.

Nicole and Tyler both led from start to finish in the U14 fly. Whilst Aaron and Emmie followed with two excellent performances of their own in the U14 backstroke.

The fab 4 of Matt, Harry, Rhys and Max showed us that the sum of the parts would equal first place in the U12 freestyle relay. The girls team of Jayne, Hannah, Freya and Alex fought just as hard in the girls race to take 3rd place for the team.

James was 3rd and Annabel 2nd in the U14 fly followed by two thrillers in the U12 2L backstroke from Matt and Alex Sc which were both to close to call.

James, Alex Stone, Harvey and Aaron were 2nd in the boys U14 freestyle relay and Alex Sc, Annabel, Emmie and Thea achieved the same for the girls.

These are just some of the highlights from a great night of racing which saw the Swindon team remain in 2nd place in the league behind the league leaders Warminster.

See you all again for round 3.

Saturday May 6th saw us take on Warminster, Bradford on Avon and Wroughton in the first round of this year’s Summer league. This league meeting was a good chance for the squad to get together again and to welcome some of the newer members of the team like Felix, Rhys, Jayne, James, Abigail, George, Freya, Alex and Harry. A great night of swimming was made even better as the team had no DQ’s across all of the 50 races.

Molly and Max S secured our first wins of the night in the U12 2L Butterfly with both swimmers winning their race by a fair margin. This was closely followed by some great battling swims by Andrew and Beth in the 4L freestyle and Aaron and Alice in the 2 Breaststroke.

The boys U12 Medley relay team of George (back), Max S (Breast), Felix (fly) and Rhys (free) and the girls team of Abigail (back), Alex S (breast), Molly (fly) and Jayne (free) both took second spot with great performances from some of our first time racers. Max S took top spot in the 2L Breaststroke for the boys whilst Freya was involved in a 4 way neck and neck race which was too close to call from the gallery.

James’ super fly and Felix’s fast freestyle legs helps the U14 medley team to 2nd place whilst the girls team of Emmie (back), Alice (breast), Annabel (fly) and Thea (free) took top spot.

Race 27 & 28 saw Harry and Alex S swim hard for the team in the U12 freestyle in a very closely run contest which was a great contrast to Tyler in race 29 , the U16 4L fly, which saw him break away from the field early and finish almost a whole length ahead of the pack, an achievement which was almost immediately repeated by Aaron in race 31, the U14 2L backstroke and Alyx in race 33, the 4L Open breast.

The U12 freestyle relays gave some of our newer swimmers a chance to show us what they could do and the girls team of Abigail, Freya, Jayne and Alex S and the boys team of George, Rhys, Harry and Max S didn’t disappoint with both teams showing what great potential they all have.

Our open age group freestyle relay teams of Andrew, Max A, Tyler and Alyx and Liberty, Tracey Emily and Grace helped to finished the night on a high with 3rd place for the boys and 1st place for the girls in the last race of the night.

We were missing a few of our regular squad members for this round due to long standing DOE commitments so it was a credit to the remaining swimmers that the team took a well-deserved 2nd place overall on the night, beaten by a very strong Warminster team.

Well done to all the first time swimmers and a big thank you to the coaches and the team captains for all their hard work – see you for the next round soon.

Over the weekend of the 1st & 2nd of April Holly Sullivan swam at the Down’s Syndrome European Open event which is held each year in Southampton. The competition attract swimmers from all over the British Isles and many European countries and this year included swimmers from Russia, Sweden, Ireland, Estonia, Spain, Scotland and of course England.

As always medals were awarded for finishing position in each heat and due to some really good entry times Holly was entered into some of the stronger heats but she still managed 2 gold (100 freestyle & 100m Backstroke) , 1 silver (100 Breaststroke) , 1 bronze medal (50 freestyle) and a ribbon for 4th place in the relay.

Holly’s favourite event, the 100m freestyle saw her entered into the second fastest of the 5 heats but with the slowest entry time of the 7 swimmers. The heat was made up of 2 swimmers from Ireland aged 29 & 34, one from Scotland aged 34 and three from England aged 24 & 19 along with Holly herself aged just 13. Holly started strongly and the race was neck and neck for the first length however a great turn put her in pole position going into the second length and lead which she was able to maintain for the rest of the race. A new PB and gold medal for Holly after a thrilling head to head with some of the best Down’s syndrome swimmers around. Holly’s time – a new PB of 1:45:29 – placed her 6th overall and 3rd across the English entrants.

We are hoping that her times and performance over the weekend will allow her to qualify for the GB team which will swim in France at the end of October…..what this space.

Congratulations team on a fine performance to retain our position as the top ranked Swindon based swimming club in the Moonraker Wiltshire Winter League.

Due to some confusion around the pool bookings, we were swimming at Wroughton against Warminster and Wroughton, which meant that the highest place we could achieve was 6th. The 5 teams ahead of us were all swimming at Calne and in finals it’s all about the result on the night.

A more focused performance and no DQ’s helped us to top spot on the night just 1 point ahead of Warminster!

Our first win came in the 3rd race where the girls 9-12 years backstroke team of Amy, Annabel, Thea and Alice took top spot in a neck and neck race with Warminster.
In the Butterfly Squadron the boy’s team of Max S, Tyler, Max A and Brad and the girls team of Annabel, Sasha, Liberty and Tracey both took 2nd place.
The backstroke Squadron girls team of Alice, Olivia, Beth and Tracey took 2nd and the boys team of Aaron, Tyler, Alyx and Brad took 1st place.
Both teams took top spot in the Breaststroke squadron with the girls team of Annabel, Caitlin, Grace and Emily leading the race from start to finish.
A handover mix up in the boys open 4 x 2 length Backstroke cost the team a few 100ths of a second and saw the team miss out on 2nd spot by a tiny margin.
The girls U12 freestyle team of Amy, Alice, Annabel and Thea went toe to toe with a very strong Warminster team in a race that was far too close to call from the viewing gallery. It was finally judged that Thea touched ahead of the Warminster swimmer and the win went to Swindon.
A great swims by Harry in the first leg and Aaron in the final leg of the boys U12 backstroke relay weren’t enough to catch the opposition on the night with the team taking 3rd place.
The U12 medley saw Alice, Tamzin, Annabel and Thea take 2nd place in a very closely fought race whilst the boys team of Aaron, Alex S, Max S and Harvey took 1st place.
The boys U15 4×1 length breaststroke team took 2nd after a great final leg comeback by Tyler who would no doubt have taken the win if the pool was a metre or two longer.
The parents and spectators cheered the team to overall victory with some noisy support courtesy of the Bang Bang sticks!
On the night the team had 16 wins, 12 x 2nd place and 11 x 3rd place finishes.

Wiltshire Sprints 2017 – Sunday 12th March

Over 30 qualifiers for the sprints this year resulted in lots of organinsing for coaches Sarah and Ryan. Never has so much highlighter ink been required.

Our Junior medley relay team of Olivia Moore, Aaron Bailey, Caitlin Warrington, Tyler Checchia, Rowan Kitchener, Charlie Adams, Beth and Andrew Dolman got things off to a terrific start taking gold in a time of 3:04.02.
Rowan swimming so fast she got a nosebleed which meant she missed the presentation.

The boys were next up for the Mens 36.67 yards backstroke:
Max Sullivan 3rd (11), Aaron 6th (13), Tyler 1st (14), Max Adams 4th (16), Alyx Bailey 1st (16) and Bradley McCabe 1st (21).
Tylers was also 2nd in the Junior Championship, and swam in the open final with Alyx. Alyx placed 3rd to take bronze, with Tyler in 6th.

Womens open 36.67 yards breaststroke:
Alexandra Scutt took silver over a very narrow margin from Freya Howie who got bronze. 1st time attendee Ella Spencer was 7th and Molly Checchia was 11th in the 10 years age group.
Annabel Ollerhead won gold and Thea Rhodes just missed out on the medals to take 4th place in the 12 years age group. Alice Steckerl also placed 4th ath 13 years.
The 14 years age group saw another 4th place for Swindon, this time it was Caitlin. Sasha Stone was 6th and Olivia 8th.
And another 4th place, Rowan and Beth at 15 years took 4th and 6th place. Yet another 4th for Swindon, Liberty in the 16 years. Grace put a stop to the non-medal positions winning gold in the 17/18 years with Lydia 5th. Emily Moore took gold the 19 years and over category.
Caitlin’s 4th place was enough to get 6th place in the junior championship. and in the open final Emily took 1st place, and Grace 3rd. Well done!

Mens 36.67 yards butterfly
Another newcomer to the sprints was Sam Morris swimming in the 10 years age group, who was disqualfied for illegal arms. Max Sullivan (11) took gold, and Felix James took 4th place, which considering he had the cast taken off a broken arm only a week before is a remarkable acheivement.
Aaron placed 7th, Tyler 1st, Max Adams 6th, Alyx 3rd and Brad 1st.
Tyler place 1st in the Junior Championship.

Womens Open 36.67 yards freestyle:
Alexandra, Molly and Freya were all in action again, 4th, 6th and 7th respectively.
Then it was the turn of very patient newcomers Hannah Lewington and Laila Howse, in the 11 years age group. Hannah took 1st place and Laila 9th.
Thea and Annabel were 5th and 7th in the 12 years. Alice 7th (13), Emmie nursing a sore shoulder 13th (13).
The 4th place demon struck again – this time it was Sasha (14) and Beth (15) with Olivia (14) 9th, Caitlin (14) 11th and Rowan (15) 7th.
Liberty (16) took 5th. Grace (17) 6th, Lydia (18) 7th. Emily(19) 2nd.
In the Open Final, Emily placed 3rd.

—-

After the lunch break we were back in the pool for the Mixed open 8x1L medley relay.
The team of Beth Brewer, Tyler Checchia, Grace Steckerl, Alyx Bailey, Liberty Slowly, Max Adams, Emily Moore, Andrew Dolman were narrowly beaten into 4th place.

Womens Open 36.67 yards backstroke:
Alex kicked off the medals for the afternoon with gold in the 10 years age group. Newcomers Amelia Smith and Abigail Garland placed 6th and 8th, with Molly and Freya place 9th and 11th.
Hannah Lewington missed out on another gold by 7 hundreths and Verity Pocock placed 10th at 11 years.
Annabel and Thea were 4th and 9th at 12. Emmie and Alice 12th and 13th at 13. Sasha and Olivia 6th and 7th at 14. Beth Brewer took silver and Rowan placed 6th in 15 years.
Liberty (16) was 7th, Grace (17) and Lydia (18) were 4th and 9th. Emily placed 2nd in the 19 and over.

Mens Open 36.67 yards breaststroke:
Recent newcomer Matthew Widdop swam in hist first meet to take 2nd place and a silver medal in the 10 years age group. Max Sullivan took silver at 11 years. Aaron (13) was 6th, Tyler (14) 1st, Max Adams (16) 5th and Alyx took gold in the 17/18 years.
Tyler beat all teh 15 years olds to take 1st place in the Junior championship, and in the final of the mens Alyx took silver.

Womens Open36.67 yards butterfly:
Yeah – Molly took gold in a time of 30.20, Ella Spencer was 4th, Freya 5th and Alex managed to get disqualfied for alternative kicking. At 11 years Hannah Lewington added to her medals to take bronze.
Annabel also added a medal with bronze while Thea was placed 8th.
Alice came 11th in the 13 years age group. Sasha and Olivia were 5th and 9th. Rowan and Beth placed 4th and 5th at 15, with Liberty also taking 4th at 16. Lydia finished 5th, with Grace placed 8th and Chloe Higgs 10th . Emily took silver in the 19 and over.

Mens Open 36.67 yards freestyle:
Final event of the day. Matthew Widdop placed 6th in the 10 years, Max Sullivan took bronze in the 11 years. Aaron got another 6th place at 13 years and Tyler another 1st. Andrew Dolman was rewarded with a bronze medal in the 15 years age group. Max Adams place 10 just one place ahead of Cameron Jennings. Alyx Bailey was 2nd in the 17/18 years.
In the junior championship Tyler placed 2nd.

So a remarkable acheivement overall. The swimmers allseemed to enjoy it, especially the poolside dancing! Coaches Ryan and Sarah were exhausted by the end of a very long day.
Thank you to Wiltshire ASA for the organisation of the event. Thank you to all the officials and volunteers who made the day possible.
And thank you to the swimmers who represented the club to such high standards.

The final tally of medals..
15 gold, 10 silver, 6 bronze + 3 championship gold, silver and bronze + the junior medley relay gold!
the final tally of 4th places = 15!

Coaching Team
Swindon ASC

Our masters swimmers were in action at the Link Centre for Round 1 of the Wiltshire Masters on Saturday 18th February.

Welcoming Chloe Higgs to her first masters event and a return for Ellen Christmas, were the usual(?) team of Tracey Sharland, Marianne Bennison, Emily Moore and Paul Wise.

50m Backstroke was first up. Emily taking silver and Chloe in 4th for the 18-24 age group. Tracey and Elle took gold and silver in the 25-29’s. Paul weighed in with bronze in the 45-49’s.

Next up 100m butterfly. Emily taking bronze, with Chloe in 5th.  Then it was the turn of Marianne, who with a swim of 1:29.71 set a NEW COUNTY RECORD! in the 50-54 age group. Paul picked up another bronze.

Our 120-159 (add up the ages) relay team of Elle, Tracey, Marianne and Emily took gold in the 4 x 25 medley relay, and as an observer I must say I’ve never seen Andrea Christmas get quite so animated over swimming. I can’t imagine what she was like when both her girls were swimming.

In the 25m breaststroke, Emily took bronze and Tracey gold.

100m freestyle, Emily silver, Chloe sixth, Tracey gold and Marianne missed out on another county record by 2 hundredths of a second. Paul added to his collection of bronze medals for the evening.

The team stands in sixth place in the table.

The atmosphere at these events is very relaxed (except for Andrea during the relay) and I would encourage anyone who is at all interested to contact Tracey and get involved.

Congratulations to everyone, a big well done to Marianne who made the papers see http://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/news/15136595.SWIMMING__Marianne_Bennison_s_international_pedigree_helps_her_to_three_Wiltshire_Masters_titles/

Thank you to all the officials and organisers. Next rounds are:

3rd June in Trowbridge and 7th October in Salisbury

Coaching Team

Our older swimmers were in action at the Wiltshire Championships in February.

In attendance were:

Olivia Moore, Caitlin Warrington, Rowan Kitchener, Bethany Brewer, Liberty Slowly, Grace Steckerl, Chloe Higgs

Tyler Checchia, Max Adams, Alyx Bailey, William Mangan

 

Over the two weekends they swam 48 times, a lot of personal bests times achieved and a few disappointments.

Max Adams running in a cross country and arriving as his heat were lined up by the doors did not help his chances of a regional qualifying time.
All that turkey over the Christmas period didn’t help someone (you know who) according to grandad.

Tyler was the only swimmer to recieve medals, with a silver in the 200m fly and a bronze in the 50m fly.

Congratulations to all the swimmers who qualified, thank you to those who took part and represented the club.

Thank you to the organisers and officials, and to the parents for your continued support.

Coaching Team
Swindon ASC

Wiltshire Age Group Championships – January 2017

Congratulations and a big thank you to our younger swimmers who represented the club in spectacular fashion at the Wiltshire Championships in January.
Star of the show was Max Sullivan who competed in ten events, made the final in seven and received medals in four:

• Gold 100m Butterfly
• Bronze 100m Individual Medley
• Bronze 100m Freestyle
• Silver 50m Butterfly

In all events his worst place was 7th!

Our other rising star was Hannah Lewington who swimming in only her second meet managed to make the final of the 10/11 years 50m freestyle, coming 4th.

Thea Rhodes was swimming in eight events over the weekends. Her best result being 7th in the 50m freestyle.

After missing the first weekends competition due to illness, Annabel Ollerhead swam in 50m Butterfly, 100m Freestyle and 200m Breatstroke, placing 9th, 14th and 12th respectively.
Our other attendees were Aaron bailey who was 6th in 400IM and Alice Steckerl 13th 50m butterfly.

Thank you to the officials and organisers, and to the parents for their support.

Coaching Team
Swindon ASC

Holly Sullivan has been invited to the Down Syndrome Swimming – Great Britain training camp in Portsmouth over the weekend of 14th and 15th January 2017 along with the current GB squad.

A weekend of land training, guest speakers, nutritionists and long and short course pool sessions awaits.

Congratulations Holly
Swindon ASC

Two of our swimmers were chosen for the County team in the Intercounty Masters Gala held at Dorchester Pool on Sunday 20th November.

Joined by swimmers from across the County, both were selected to swim in 5 events.

Tracey Sharland swimming in the 25+ backstroke, 140+ freestyle relay, 25+ breaststroke, 180+ medley relay and the 140+ medley relay.

Emily Moore swimming in the 100+ freestyle relay, 72+ freestyle relay, 100+ medley relay, 18+ freestyle and the 72+ medley relay.

The Wiltshire team were up against; Devon, Gloucestershire, Dorset, Cornwall and Somerset. Wiltshire came 5th.

Full results are here

What do all these swimmers have in common?

Addison Starsmeare-Ferris, Kriday Bhatt, Verity Pocock, Layla Richards, Roxanne Rose, Amelia Rose Smith, Imogen Ray, Sarah Muldoon, Alicia Hawkins, Max Sullivan, Felix James, Aaron Bailey, Tyler Checchia, William Jeary, Charlie Adams, Denis James, Andrew Dolman, Cameron Jennings, William Mangan, Alyx Bailey, Tomas Starsmeare-Ferris, Molly Checchia, Alex Scutt, Freya Howie, Hannah Lewington, Amy Jones, Annabel Ollerhead, Thea Rhodes, Emmie Raine, Hannah Dolman, Rachel Dolman, Alice Steckerl, Olivia Moore, Sasha Stone, Caitlin Warrington, Bethany Brewer, Rowan Kitchener, Melissa Butler, Liberty Slowly, Grace Steckerl, Emily Moore, Chloe Higgs, Samuel Morris, Aiden Keevans, Harry Carpenter; Maximus Bailey Hibberd, Holly Bailey Hibberd, Ella Spencer, Holly Sullivan, Euan Balmer, Aleyiah Barnet, Melissa Butler, Tamzin Cuppage, Jamie Watson, Georgia Watson, Grace Steckerl, Finley Davies, Abigail Garland, Chloe Higgs, Jessica Hendry.

Together they achieved the highest number of points at the Wroughton Sprint meet meaning that our club, Swindon ASC won the Club competition.

Well done everyone – you are the club.

Swimmers, coaches & parents from Dolphins, Swindon, Tigersharks & Wroughton Swimming clubs presented a united front outside the Swindon Council Offices on Thursday 10th November.

We were there to make the councillors aware of the strength of feeling in the town in support of the Health Hydro.

Congratulations to Tyler Checchia who was chosen to represent Wiltshire in the ASA National County Team Championships held on 23rd October 2016 at Ponds Forge International sports centre, Sheffield.

Joining up with swimmers from across the county for a road trip and overnight stay, Tyler was selected to swim in 3 events.

An individual swim in the 12/13 years 100m backstroke resulted in a personal best time of 1:10.46. Tyler also competed in the Boys 12/13 4 x 50m medley relay and the Mixed 6 x 50m freestyle.

More info: ASA County Team Championships – Wiltshire

Video of event: ASA National County Team Champs 2016 – Division 2

On Saturday 1st October Holly swam at the Down Syndrome Internationa Swimming Organisation – British Nationals held in Rugby.

This short course event exclusively for swimmers with Down’s Syndrome was attended by swimmers from all over Britain and included teams from Bristol, Newcastle, Reading, Chester, Harrogate and Scotland to name a few and like all the Down’s and multi-disability swimming events Holly has attended this event had an inclusive, accessible and festival feel to it.

Heats were raced based on entry time rather than age which meant that Holly, at 12 was racing against swimmers twice her age or more! Medals were awarded for the first 3 finishers in each heat and a cups were awarded to the swimmer with the overall fastest time.

Swimmers were limited to 3 races and Holly picked the 100m freestyle (or 4 lengths front crawl as Holly would say), 50m freestyle and the 50m breaststroke. Diving starts and legal turns gave Holly a competitive edge and she finish in 2nd place in all 3 of her heats and her times were good enough to place her 2nd overall in the woman’s 100m freestyle, 2nd overall in the woman’s 50m breaststroke and 3rd overall in the woman’s 50m freestyle.

Well done Holly.

Swindon ASC

The third and final block of the Wiltshire Masters series was held in Salisbury on the 1st October
2016. A total of 14 clubs from across the county were in attendance with Swindon (ASC) represented
by just two swimmers, Paul Wise and Tracey Sharland. Paul entered 4 events with conservative
predicted times, having not competed in several years! He went on to surpass his expectations and
achieved faster than his predicted times in all 4 races. In a very competitive age group, Paul
managed to place 5th in the 100m IM and 25m Backstroke and 6th in the 50m Freestyle and 25m
Butterfly. Tracey also entered 4 events and managed personal best times in the 25m Backstroke and
25m Butterfly. She went on to win 3 gold medals, including the 50m Breaststroke, 25 Butterfly and
25m Backstroke, but was unfortunately pipped to the post at the finish on the 50m freestyle to
settle for second place.

As the scores from all three events have been combined Swindon (ASC) finished in 10th place, despite
only having 4 representing swimmers in the competition across block 1 to 3. The club did manage a
top 10 place in the overall rankings with Tracey Sharland placing 10th with 23 points. Marianne
Bennison finished the season in 21st place with 12 points, Georgie Manning in 45th with 2 points and
Paul Wise in 52nd with 4 points.

The series recommences in the February 2017 and Swindon will be back to pick up where they left
off and hopefully take a few more points on the way.

The final round of the Summer League was a home fixture for Swindon ASC and the home venue of Milton Road provided a great backdrop for a thrilling night of racing with added drama of a chance of winning the league and securing promotion.

The first 10 races on the night saw Tomas and Emily in the open medley, Max Sullivan in the U12 fly and Alyx and Grace in the 3 length backstroke all take 2nd place and Annabel, in the fly, Beth and Max Adams in the U16 freestyle, Caitlin and Tyler in the U14 breaststroke all take 1st.

After 10 races the team were 5 points ahead of Warminster in second place.

In races 11-20 The U12 medley relay teams of Alex, Aleyiah, Annabel, Freya, Addison Joe, Max Sullivan and Harry took 3rd spot while the U16 medley teams of Will, Alyx, Max Adams, Andrew, Sasha, Rowan, Liberty and Beth both took 1st. Charlie and Caitlin took 3rd and 1st respectively in the U14 freestyle, Emily was first and Max Adams 2nd in the 3 length fly and Max Sullivan and Annabel were 1st and 2nd in the U12 breaststroke.

The team were 10 points ahead of Warminster in second place after 20 races.

Races 21-30 saw wins for Alyx and Liberty in the U16 Backstroke, the boys U14
Medley team of Aaron, Alex, Tyler and Charlie, girls open medley team of Chloe, Grace, Lydia and Emily, Harvey in the U12 freestyle and Max Adams in the U16 1L butterfly. 2nd place for Liberty in the U16 1L butterfly, the boys open medley team of Alyx, Tomas, Tyler and Brad. 4th place for the girls U14 Medley team of Holly Sullivan, Alice, Olivia and Emmie and a DQ in the U12 girls freestyle.

The team were 18 points ahead ahead of Warminster after 30 races and continuing the good results into races 31-40 would see the team take an unassailable lead in the league and secure promotion. This session started with Aaron and Olivia both taking 2nd in the U14 backstroke followed by Grace an Tomas both taking 1st place in the open 3L breaststroke. The U12 freestyle relay teams of Kriday, Addison, Joe and Harry, Aleyiah, Molly, Freya and Annabel to 3rd and 4th place. The U16 relay teams of Rowan, Olivia, Liberty and Beth took first place whilst the boys team were DQ’d. Tyler and Sasha were 1st and 2nd respectively in the U14 butterfly.

After 40 races the team were 18 points ahead of Warminster and with a league win and promotion now secured the last 10 races took on a celebratory feel but there was still a job to be done and Emily and Brad lead by example by taking 2nd and 1st in the open 3L freestyle followed by a 3rd for Harvey and 2nd for Alex in the U12 backstroke. Alyx and Rowan were both 1st in the U16 breaststroke. The boys and girls open freestyle relay team were 2nd and 1 whilst the girls U14 open relay team of Holly Sullivan, Alice, Emmie and Caitlin were 4th and the boys team of Max Adams, Brad, Tomas and Alyx took 2nd.

Well done to all of the swimmers who took part in this years summer league and congratulations on a very well deserved win and promotion. A big thank you to all the coaches, parents, guardians, brothers, sisters, friends and family members who have helped to make this years Summer league such a huge success.

26 wins
14 second
5 thirds
3 forth
2 DQ’s

Total points on the night 159

Total points after 3 rounds

Swindon ASC 627 points
Warminster 521
Melksham 463
Durrington 350

Judging by the smiles on the coach’s faces I think we did well!

Sunday 10th July 2016 – rearranged Wiltshire county Sprints held at the Milton Road Health Hydro.

Some absolutely stupendous swims – We like to sprint and it seems we are getting a lot lot better at it!
The focus on technique is paying off..

11 gold medals, 7 silver and 9 bronze! WOW!
That’s just the medals – there were also fifteen 4th place finishes and 9 swimmers finishing 5th.

The Junior relay kicked things off after the usual ‘technical difficulties’. Sasha Stone with a monumental underwater phase handed over to Aaron Bailey for the backstroke. Aaron to Rowan Kitchener for the breaststroke, Rowan to Alexander Stone. Alex to Liberty Slowly for the butterfly, Liberty to Tyler Checchia. Tyler to Bethany Brewer for the freestyle and Beth over to Andrew Dolman. A great effort by all the swimmers, but only enough to warrant 5th place.

We were then into the individual events starting with the boys backstroke.
Max Sullivan (10) not his favourite stroke, and definitely an area we need to work on still managed to come 5th. Joe Warrington disqualified for an unmissable flyer. Harvey Stone (11) seemed to have forgotten how to race, nothing like his summer and winter league performances 12th overall. Aaron Bailey (12) started the flow of medals winning bronze. Tyler Checchia judged the finish perfectly taking gold in his age group (13) and 2nd place in the junior championship.
Alyx Bailey (16) also took gold and a place in the open final. Tomas Starsmeare-Ferris taking bronze in same age group.

In the final Alyx took another half a second off his time to come 3rd.

Girls Breaststroke
The younger girls, Molly Checchia (9) in her first County Sprint event , Alyssa Halliday (10) and Annabel Ollerhead (11) all swam well, but were beaten into fourth place. Recently transferred Thea Rhodes (11) finished narrowly behind Annabel to take 5th spot. Alice Steckerl (12) finished 7th and Emmie Raine came 12th.
Caitlin Warrington with a somewhat slow tempo start, remembered the advice from regional’s and stepped up the pace to take gold in the 13 years age group and 2nd place in the junior championship. Can’t imagine what would have happened if she had swam with her fingers somehwere near each other! Sasha Stone and Olivia Moore finished 6th and 7th inthe 13 years.
Rowan Kitchener with an absolutely enormous underwater phase won bronze in the 14 years age group. Liberty Slowly went one better taking silver in the 15.
Grace Steckerl (16) stepped it up again, taking gold and a place in the final. Lydia Zioupos (17) was place 4th in the 17/18 age group.
Grace swam faster still in the championship final, a time of 24.49 enough to get 3rd place.

Boys Butterfly
Mas Sullivan (10) likes butterfly! He likes to win races, combine these two things and you get a gold medal at 10 years! Joe Warrington disqualified again for a false start.
Harvey Stone (11) recovered some of his Moonraker smarts to finish 5th. Aaron won another bronze in the 12 years age group. Tyler won gold again in the 13 years age group. This was also enough to see him win the Junior Championship and a place in the Open final.
Tomas and Alyx finished 3rd and 4th in the 16 years age group.

In the championship final Tyler swam the same time 20.21 as his qualifying heat to finish 4th.

Girls Freestyle
First swim for Alexandra Scutt (9) in a county sprint event, a solid 4th place. Molly Checchia (9) finished 6th.
Alyssa Halliday (10) was place 9th and Verity Pocock 16th.

Thea Rhodes and Annabel swapped things around, Thea in 4th and Annabel 5th. Amy Jones finished 21st.
Alice Steckerl was 5th in the 12 years age group, Emmie Raine 12th.
Sasha, Caitlin and Olivia finished 8th, 9th and 16th in a closely contested 13 years age group battle.

Beth got into the medals taking bronze in 14 years, pushing Rowan out to 5th place. This earned Beth a 5th place in the Junior Championship.
Liberty took Gold in the 15 years age group.

Somewhat surprising to see Grace just outside the medals in the freestyle, 4th.
Lydia Zioupos was up against the regional swimmers from Chippenham and Trowbridge and did well to take bronze in the 17/18 years age group.

LUNCH

After lunch, and warm-up we started things off with the Mixed Open 8 x 1L Mixed medley. Our team comprised of BK: Lydia & Alyx, BR: Grace & Tomas, BF: Liberty & Brad, FC: Beth & Tyler
So a couple of juniors, but what juniors!
Closely contested by the three teams (eh where was everyone?) involved. We came 2nd. Well done team!

Girls Backstroke
The 9 year olds were back in the pool. Alexandra Scutt winning her first county medal, taking silver. Molly finished 5th.
Alyssa Halliday (10) finished 9th.
Thea and Annabel let somebody come between them on this event. Thea coming 4th and Annabel 6th.
There was also one swimmer separating Alice and Emmie (12) place 11th and 13th.
All change in the 13 years age group. Olivia finishing ahead of Sasha and Caitlin – 8th, 10th and 13th.
Beth took silver in the 14 years age group. Liberty just outside the medals taking 4th place in the 15 years.
Grace back in the medals with bronze in the 16’s. Lydia pushed out of the medals to 4th in the 17/18 years.

Boys Breaststroke

Max Sullivan likes breaststroke almost as much as he likes butterfly. He likes it even more when he wins gold, which he did.
Joe managed to wait for the starting signal and finished in 9th place.
Harvey Stone (11) is not so keen on breaststroke but that did not stop him taking 8th place.
Brother Alex Stone (12), narrowly beat Aaron Bailey. The Swindon swimmers placed 9th and 10th.

Tyler won another gold and took 3rd place in the junior championship.

In the 16 years age group we knew it was going to be a close contest between Alyx and Tomas. Tomas despite a somewhat slow start to his heat took gold, Alyx silver. Both Swindon swimmers earning a place in the open championship final.
In the final, Tomas took 1 hundredth of a second off his heat time, Alyx .44. This was enough to earn Tomas 2nd place in the championship and Alyx 3rd place.

Girls Butterfly
Molly Checchia, Alyssa Halliday and Annabel Ollerhead must have had the same game plan. All saved their best performance until last. Molly with a fine 4th place finish in the 9 years age group. Alyssa taking bronze in the 10 years and Annabel finally getting in the medals taking silver in the 11 years.
Thea not far behind Annabel finishing 4th.
Alice came in 10th in the 12 years age group. All change again with the 13 year olds, Sasha, Caitlin and Olivia – 8th, 14th, 15th.
Not much separating Rowan and Beth (14) either who finished 5th and 6th.
Liberty took silver in the fly (15). Lydia was again placed 4th (17/18).

Boys Freestyle
Max Sullivan was narrowly beaten into 4th place. Joe Warrington finished 9th. Harvey Stone (11) was 8th. Aaron came 7th and Alexander Stone 14th.

Back on the medal trail, another gold for Tyler and the fastest time from anyone at the club. This was still only fast enough to get 4th in the junior championship (still 2 years left for Tyler as a junior).

Tomas narrowly beat swimmers from Marlborough and Durrington to take silver, Alyx finished 5th.

Congratulations everyone.
Thank you to Sarah, Peter and Frank for your poolside assistance.
Big thank you to Sarah and Kelly for organising entries.

Thank you parents for your support.

Thank you officials and Wiltshire ASA for helping to stage the event.

Finally thank you to the swimmers. It is you all the ‘grown-ups’ do this for. You all did the club proud with you attitude, behaviour and performance.

Coaching Team
Swindon ASC

Full Results available here

Round three of the Moonraker summer league on 25th June was moved to Tidworth after a last minute change by the hosts Durrington because of problems at their home pool.

The coach trip down was a lively affair and the team had high hopes after the success of the previous rounds and after some last minute instructions from Ryan the team was ready to race.

The night started a little slower than previous rounds and we had to wait until race 4 for our first win of the night which went to Annabel in the U12 fly and was the first of 5 straight wins from Max A and Beth in the 50m free and Caitlin and Tyler in the 50m breast. Although we led by 5 points after the first session the team went on win just 3 of the next 10 races (Max S in 1 25m BR and boys and girls U16 relay teams of Sasha, Rowan, Liberty, Beth and Will, Alyx, Max A and Andrew) and our lead was reduced to just 3 points after 20 races. The next session saw Alyx taking first in the 50m backstroke (Liberty was just beaten into second). The boys and girls U14 Medley teams of Aaron, Alex S, Tyler, Charlie, Sasha, Caitlin, Olivia and Alice along with the Open medley teams of Alyx, Tomas, Max, Brad, Sasha, Rowan, Emily and Beth all took first place along with Max A and Harvey in their individual races. This improved things dramatically and give us a 19 point lead at the top of the table after 30 races.

Performances in races 31-40 were more in line with Ryan’s pre-race chat, and saw Addison, Harvey, Harry and Max S taking first place in the U12 freestyle relay and the girls and boys U16 teams of Rowan, Olivia, Liberty, Beth, Andrew, Max A, Will and Alyx repeated this achievement. Individual wins for Tyler (by a royal mile) in the 50m fly, Tomas in the 100m breast along with a great swim by Freya, Molly, Amy and Annabel in the U12 freestyle relay meant we had a lead of 25 points going into the last session.
Three more individual wins in the final session from Alex, Alyx, Rowan along with wins from both the U14 freestyle relay teams of Alex S, Aaron, Charlie, Tyler, Alice, Sasha, Olivia and Caitlin saw us end the night with a total of 164 points, a lead of 33 points over second placed Warminster.

Well done team. Thank you to all officials, helpers and supporters.

Final Round is at home – Milton Road on September 17th

Final points position:
1st Swindon ASC – 164 points
2nd Warminster – 131 points
3rd Melksham – 111 points
4th Durrington 81 points

Our regional youth qualifiers hit the road on the weekends of 14th and 22nd May to attend the South West Regional Age Group Championships. On the first weekend journeying to Hengrove, Bristol was Tyler Checchia. PB’s in both to finish 15th out of 49 in the IM and 21st out of 52 in the 100 Free. Tyler came back the next day with more PB’s finishing 12th from 34 in 100 Fly and 19th out of 30 in the 200 Backstroke.

The following weekend saw Tyler joined on his travels this time to Millfield by debutant regional swimmer Caitlin Warrington. More PB’s followed, Tyler racking em up; 13th out of 52 in the 50 Backstroke, 12th in the 200 Fly and 100 Backstroke. Tyler narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the 50 Butterfly, 10th in a field of 42 with a PB of 31.80. In his last event Tyler came 14th of 46 in the 50m Free.
Caitlin joined Tyler on the PB campaign, finishing 23rd in a field of 48 was a great result.

Joining our swimmers for a picture was Molly Checchia.

Congratulations both and well done. Really nice to see our younger swimmers represented at this level.

A big THANK YOU to the parents and supporters. Also a special thank you to Lesley and the other Tigersharks coaches for making our swimmers and coaches welcome on poolside.

Coaching Team
Swindon ASC