Category Archives: News

Wiltshire Masters 2016 – Round 3

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.

2016 Summer League Final – Winners

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.

2016 Summer League Squad
2016 Summer League Squad

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

Wiltshire County Sprints

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

Moonraker III

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

Regional experience II

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.

Caitlin, Molly and Tyler at Millfield
Caitlin, Molly and Tyler at Millfield

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

Regional Age Group Championships

Good luck at Regionals this weekend and next!

Go Tyler, Go Caitlin…

Remember what you have been told by your coaches and go along an enjoy the experience.

Please bring back some Personal Best times.

Swindon ASC

Moonraker success continues

Round 2 of the Summer league was a much greater challenge for our squad with the hosts Warminster, in fine form and looking for the win. We didn’t have to wait long for Annabel and Max S to make the first double win of the night with both taking 1st place in the U12 Butterfly. Boys and girls double wins seemed to be the theme of the evening with Caitlin and Aaron both taking 1st place in the U14 Breaststroke along with Liberty and Alyx in the U16 Backstroke, Tyler and Sasha in the U14 Backstroke, Tomas and Emily in the 4 length open freestyle and Alyx and Rowan in the U16 Breaststroke.

Both the girls and boys U16 relay teams took 1st place in the Freestyle event (Rowan, Sasha, Liberty, Beth, Tyler, Max A, Will and Alyx) along with the U16 Medley teams of Sasha, Rowan, Liberty, Beth, Will, Alyx, Max A and Tyler.

However the night wasn’t all plain sailing and there was drama too with Lydia loosing her goggles in the Open fly, Adi and Alex stepping in as a last minute blood replacement for Harvey (who was away receiving treatment for a nosebleed) not to mention Jackie having to switch the relays teams around to cover for some no shows and the boys Open medley team receiving the only Swindon DQ of the night.

Other wins on the night went to Caitlin in the 2 length freestyle, Max S in the U12 Breastsroke. The boys U14 Medley relay team of Aaron, Alex S, Tyler and Charlie, Max A in the U16 butterfly, Tomas in the Open Breast stroke, Tyler in the U14 Butterfly (He came home 1/2 a length ahead of the rest) and the boys U14 Freestyle relay team of Alex S, Aaron, Charlie and Tyler.

Other notable performances on the night were Emmy with the first leg of the U14 medley relay, Amy in the U12 Freestyle and Backstroke. The girls U12 freestyle relay team of Aleyiah, Molly, Amy and Annabel and Joe, who swam on his birthday weekend. Happy birthday Joe.

Final points on the night were.

Swindon ASC – 152
Warminster – 127
Melksham – 115
Durrington – 92

Thank you to everyone (swimmers, , officials, volunteers, supporters) for a great night.

Swindon ASC

Regional Experience

Our top older swimmers were down in Plymouth for the first weekend of May to take part in the South West Regional Championships.

Emily, Tomas and Grace from Swindon ASC at South West Regional Championships 2016
Emily, Tomas and Grace – All hoodied up!

Emily, Grace and Tomas enjoyed the experience and the superb facilities. All achieved personal best times in a somewhat larger pool than they are used to swimming in.

A BIG THANK YOU to coaches, parents and siblings who went along in support.

A note of thanks to Louise, Jacky and Anthony from Swindon Dolphin for showing us the ropes on arrival. Nice to see some welcoming faces.

Summer Success in Moonraker

Moonraker Summer league Round 1 – 23 April 2016

Saturday the 23rd saw both the Junior and Senior squads representing the club in the first round of this years Moonraker Summer league away at Trowbridge. The night saw welcome first time appearances in the league for Joe, Molly, Aleyiah and Addison, who all played their part in the clubs first win of the campaign.

The night started with a win for Tomas and 3rd place for Emily in open Medley.
Max Sullivan and Annabel both took 2nd place in the U12 Butterfly whilst Beth and Max Adams took 1st and 2nd place in the U16 Freestyle. Birthday boy Aaron took 3rd in the U14 Breaststroke while Caitlin finished 1st for the girls followed by Alyx and Sasha who were 2nd and 3rd in the 100m Backstroke.

In the relays, the U12 boys Medley team of Louie, Joe, Max Sullivan and Harvey took the win, thanks to a great Breaststroke leg from Joe. Addison, Harvey, Joe and Max Sullivan were 4th in the Freestyle relay. The U12 girls team of Amy, Aleyiah, Annabel and Molly took 3rd spot with standout performances from the new girls Aleyiah and Molly. The U12 girls freestyle team of Alicia, Molly, Amy and Annabel were 4th in their race. Both the girls and boys U16 Freestyle teams won their events with ease and the U14 boys were 1st in the Medley with the girls in 4th, the boys and girls teams were 1st and 2nd respectively in the Open Medley.

More 1st places followed in the individual events for Tyler in the U14 Freestyle and butterfly. Caitlin in the U14 freestyle, Alyx and Liberty in the U16 Backstroke, Max Adams in the U16 Butterfly, Emily in the Open Freestyle and Alyx and Rowan in the U16 Breaststroke.

Individual 2nd places for Emily and Max Adams in the Open Butterfly, Alicia and Max Sullivan in the U12 Breaststroke, Liberty in the U16 Butterfly and Breaststroke, Sasha in the U14 Backstroke and Tomas in the Open Breaststroke.

3rd and 4th placed finishes on the night for Harvey and Annabel in the U12 Freestyle, Charlie in the U14 Backstroke,(who had to finish the race with no goggles), Emmie in the U14 Butterfly, Addison and Amy in the U12 Backstroke.

There were no DQ’s for the team on the night which is a credit to the hard work put in over the winter by all of the coaches and swimmers. Well done everyone.

Final points totals were.

Swindon ASC 152 points
Warminster 123
Melksham 117
Durrington 103

Team were in exceptionally good spirits on the coach home – anyone got the video of the singing?

5 Medal haul for Swindon swimmer at European Open

Holly Sullivan swam at the at the Down’s Syndrome European Open event (one of only two Open Competitions exclusively for Down’s swimmers held in England ) on 16th & 17th of April in Southampton where she competed against swimmers from England, Sweden, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Estonia, Australia, Brazil.

Holly entered 6 individual events over the weekend plus swam the second leg of the 200M freestyle relay.

Holly swam her socks off! and was rewarded with 3 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze Medals in her age group.

  • Gold in 100M Freestyle (9th overall)
  • Gold 50M Freestyle (10th Overall)
  • Gold 50M Breaststroke (3rd Overall)
  • Silver in 50M Backstroke (12th Overall)
  • Bronze in 25M Breast stroke (3rd Overall)

Races at this event are contended by swimmers of all ages and therefore medals are awarded based on the finishing position in each age/time appropriate heat, the overall rankings reflect Holly’s position against all competitors.

Not everything went as planned, Holly was disqualified in 50M Butterfly for a one handed touch at the turn. Something she will remember and make sure never happens again.

Congratulations Holly!

Super result – well done team..

Moonraker Winter League Division 1 Finals

Link Centre Swindon, 19th March 2016

Finals time! Due to the teams fantastic efforts over the course of the winter, a top 6 finish in the league meant we’d be swimming in the top 6 shoot out with a guarantee of at least 6th place overall – the clubs best placed finish in a number of years. Once again we were anticipating a tough night as we lined up with Royal Wootton Bassett, Calne Alpha, Bradford on Avon, Chippenham and Trowbridge.

The night started with a 6th place for the girls U17 4×1 freestyle (Beth, Lydia, Liberty and Grace), but the gala came to abrupt halt straight after. A couple of blocks were found to be loose and it took 15 minutes to find a wrench to tighten them – much to the disgust to many of our boys who were hoping to be home in time for the Rugby!

Back under way and the boys U17 4×1 freestyle (Tyler, Max A, Alyx and Tomas) had a brilliant swim, fighting from 5th after 50 to finish 3rd by 9 one hundredths of a second! races 3-10 saw us gain 2 5th and 4 6th positions, with a special mention for Joe Warrington racing in the boys 9-12 4×1 backstroke in his first gala and in the girls squadron 4×1 fly, Marianne completed the first of her 2 races of the evening.

After 10 races, Trowbridge led from Bradford and Chippenham, with Calne, Bassett and Swindon all playing catch up.

Races 11-20 were eventful with 1 4th, 2 5th and 7 6th positions. The girls 9-12 4×1 breaststroke almost got under way to an unusual start signal as Ellie had forgotten to turn her ring-tone off! (Sorry Ellie!) The girls Open 4×2 medley of Georgie, Grace, Marianne and Emily gained a fifth after a great effort from Georgie who managed to complete the first 50m despite the distraction of her goggles hanging off. The girls U15 4×1 freestyle (Olivia, Caitlin, Beth and Liberty) fought all the way for their 4th place finish after being a close 6th at the 50m stage.

At halfway we had 28 pts in 6th; Royal Wootton Bassett were 5th with 54; Calne were 4th on 71; Chippenham 3rd on 83; Bradford on Avon 2nd on 86; and Trowbridge still leading the way on 94.

There were 6 5th place finishes in races 21-30 and 4 6th places. The girls U17 4×1 breaststroke (Olivia, Lydia, Liberty and Grace), the girls Sqn 4×1 breaststroke (Alice, Liberty, Grace and Emily) and the boys Sqn 4×1 breaststroke (Simon, Max A, Alyx and Tomas) all fought back from 6th position to gain their 5th places. Solid swims from the boys u17 4×1 breaststroke (Alyx, Jake, Max A and Tomas), the girls Open 4×2 Freestyle (Grace, Chloe, Emily and Georgie) and the girls u15 4×1 backstroke (Caitlin, Beth, Olivia and Liberty) also saw them gain 5th places. A quick note on race 23, the girls 9-12 4×1 medley, where confusion between the send up (me) and the swimmers led to the girls having to change their planned stroke/length as Emmie handed over to Georgia to swim the breaststroke (expecting to front crawl) and Annabel handed to Alice to swim freestyle (instead of breaststroke). To their credit they stayed focused and completed the race.

With 10 to go, we still chased the rest with Trowbridge leading the way.

The last set of races saw us gain another 4th place in the form of the boys open 4×2 backstroke (Tyler, Tomas, Alyx and Brad) after a fantastic swim – 3 of the 4 swimming above their age group!. There were also 2 5th places for the girls Open 4×2 backstroke (Chloe, Lydia, Emily and Georgie) and the Girls u15 4×1 breaststroke (Olivia, Beth, Liberty and Caitlin).

At the end of the night Trowbridge finished 1st on 180 pts, with Bradford on Avon on 172, Chippenham 139, Calne Alpha 148, Royal Wootton Bassett 90 and Swindon ASC in 6th place on 60pts.

As I said earlier, this was a great achievement for the Squad and they should all be very proud of their efforts. Of particular note, Tyler, Alyx, Tomas, Jake, Max A, Cameron, Liberty, Beth, Olivia, Caitlin, Grace and Lydia all swam either one or in some cases two age groups above their own and in the cases of Alyx, Tomas, Liberty and Grace, the send ups barely saw them as they finished one race to line up for the next!

Well done to everyone, and as always a big thank you to all the officials, helpers, and parents who supported the team on the night. Lets get training for Summer League and excel again!

Mike Bevan
Publicity Secretary

Top 6 finish…

We did it!

Some absolutely astounding times recorded in the 3rd round of Winter League meant that we have secured a place in the top 6 final of the Moonraker Winter league. Nobody at the club can recall us ever placing so highly in this event.

Moonraker Winter League 2016 – Division 1
Team Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Total
Bradford On Avon A 563.5 576.5 576 1715
Chippenham 513 539.5 592 1644.5
Calne Alpha 4 492 567 511 1570
Trowbridge A 444 612.5 483 1539.5
Royal Wootton Bassett 536 452.5 509 1497.5
Swindon 412.5 389.5 434 1236
Marlborough Penguins 350 362 344 1056
Wroughton 349 313.5 296 958.5

Top results…

Girls U17 4*1L Front Crawl 5th
Boys 9-12 Backstroke 4th
Boys Open 4*2L Breaststroke 5th
Girls U15 4*1L Medley 3rd
Boys U15 4*1L Medley 6th
Boys Squadron 4*1L Butterfly 6th
Girls U17 4*1L Backstroke 6th
Boys U17 4*1L Backstroke 6th
Girls Open 4*2L Medley 6th
Girls U15 4*1L Front Crawl 4th
Boys U15 4*1L Front Crawl 4th
Boys Squadron 4*1L Backstroke 6th
Girls U15 4*1L Backstroke 5th
Boys U15 4*1L Backstroke 4th
Boys Squadron 4*1L Breaststroke 4th
Girls U17 4*1L Medley 5th
Girls U15 4*1L Breaststroke 4th
Boys U15 4*1L Breaststroke 6th

For full results, tables and times see the Wiltshire ASA web-site.

Well done everyone – keep up the good work in training.

Moonraker Winter League Round 3

Link Centre Swindon, 27th February 2016

Happy New Year and welcome back everyone! Winter League 3 and it seems an age since
round 2 on the 5th of December. The draw for round 3 saw us pitched into a gala with Calne
Alpha, Bradford on Avon A, Trowbridge A and Royal Wootton Bassett – a tough draw given that
they all sit above us in the table after round 2. It’s worth making the point at this stage that
in Winter League although we swim against 4 or 5 other clubs on the night, results are
compiled across all galas on the night meaning we’re actually competing with 16 other clubs
in total!

So a competitive night was expected and that was quickly established in the first 10 races.
The team gained 1 1st, 2 3rd, 2 4th and 5 5th places. The girls u15 4×1 medley (Sasha, Rowan,
Liberty and Beth) got a fab start to lead throughout and pip Bradford on Avon by a touch for
the 1st place. The 3rd places were in the boys u17 4×1 freestyle (Tyler, Max A, Alyx and
Tomas) and the boys 9-12 4×1 backstroke (Simon, Alex S, Charlie and Aaron). I’d love to tell
you more, but I missed the first few races!

After 10 we were trailing the other teams in 5th place on 21 points with Royal Wootton Bassett
leading the way on 35 points.

Races 11 – 20 were just as challenging, with 2 3rd places, 4 4th places and 4 5th places. The 3rd
places came in girls u15 4×1 freestyle (Olivia, Rowan, Beth and Liberty) who were in
contention for 3rd after 50m and had a strong finish to take the place; and the boys u15 4×1
freestyle (Andrew, Max A, Cameron and Tyler) who were pegged back from 1st position at
half way, but held on for top 3.

Half way on the night and we were still 5th with 39 points, chasing 4th place Calne on 57,
Trowbridge on 61, Wootton Bassett on 63 and Bradford on Avon on 74.
The second half of the evening was much the same as the first with races 21-30 bringing 2
3rd places, 5 4th and 2 5th. The girls u15’s (Rowan, Olivia, Sasha and Liberty) continued their
good form on the night in the 4×1 backstroke, just missing out on 2nd place after another
solid performance. The boys 4×1 Squadron breaststroke (Simon, Max A, Alyx and Tomas)
had a hard fought battle to finish 3rd just behind Trowbridge A, but only a touch ahead of
Calne in 4th.

After 30 races we were in 5th on 47 points.
The last 9 races brought 2 3rd places, 2 4th and 5 5th. The girls u17 4×1 medley (Sasha, Grace,
Liberty and Lydia) were pegged back from 2nd ahead of Calne after 50m, to 3rd by a touch.
The girls u15 (Olivia, Beth, Liberty and Rowan) then capped off their evening with another
3rd place in the 4×1 breaststroke.

The final results were:

Bradford on Avon 162
Calne Alpha 121
Royal Wootton Bassett 114
Trowbridge 105
Swindon 72

Now, despite a tough evening, the result was enough to maintain our position of 6th in the
overall league, guaranteeing the team a place at the top 6 showdown gala for Winter Finals!

I am also told by Ryan that overall the times swam were up on Winter League 2 so well
done team! Give yourselves a big pat on the back. It is also worth noting that many of our
swimmers were competing above their age group and in particular Tomas, Max A, Alyx and
Tyler who all swam against over 17’s in the open category.
As always, we can always improve and you will notice the coaches working with you on
starts, underwater phase, changeovers and finishes in the coming weeks.

Well done again, and we’ll see you at the Link on 26th March for finals!

Keeping our place at the top

Go team – we remain the highest placed Swindon area team in the Moonraker Winter league.

Results from Round 2 have recently been posted and we have maintained our position in 6th place in the league.
A change around in the top 5 places with Trowbridge A benefiting from being at home for round 2, leaping into 2nd place, and Royal Wootton Bassett dropping to 5th.

Moonraker Winter League 2016 – Division 1
Team Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Total
Bradford On Avon A 563.5 576.5 1140
Trowbridge A 444 612.5 1056.5
Chippenham 513 539.5 1052.5
Calne Alpha 4 492 553 1045
Royal Wootton Bassett 536 453.5 989.5
Swindon 412.5 390.5 803
Marlborough Penguins 350 363 713
Wroughton 349 315.5 664.5

Top results…

Girls U17 4*1L Front Crawl 6th
Boys U17 4*1L Front Crawl 4th
Girls Open 4*2L Breaststroke 6th
Boys U15 4*1L Medley 6th
Girls Open 4*2L Medley 6th
Boys U15 4*1L Front Crawl 5th
Girls U17 4*1L Breaststroke 5th
Boys 9-12 yrs 4*1L Medley 6th
Girls Open 4*2L Front Crawl 5th
Boys U15 4*1L Backstroke 6th
Girls Squadron 4*1L Breaststroke 6th
Boys Squadron 4*1L Breaststroke 4th
Boys U17 4*1L Medley 6th
Girls Open 4*2L Backstroke 6th
Girls U15 4*1L Breaststroke 3rd

For full results, tables and times see the Wiltshire ASA web-site.

Well done everyone – keep up the good work in training.

Top Swindon Team in Wiltshire

Congratulations team – we are the highest placed Swindon area team in the Moonraker Winter league.

Following our recent trip trip to Calne for the first round of Winter League on 21st November the results are in and we are in 6th place in the division 1.

Moonraker Winter League 2016 – Division 1
Team Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Total
Bradford On Avon A 563.5 563.5
Royal Wootton Bassett 536 536
Chippenham 513 513
Calne Alpha 4 492 492
Trowbridge A 444 444
Swindon 412.5 412.5
Marlborough Penguins 350 350
Wroughton 349 349

For those of you not sure of the scoring system check out Wiltshire Leagues
Basically the times from all the teams are sorted in order and points awarded for the fastest, 2nd fastest etc..

Our top results…

Boys U17 4*1L Front Crawl 5th
Girls Open 4*2L Breaststroke 4th
Girls U15 4*1L Medley 6th
Girls Open 4*2L Medley 4th
Girls U15 4*1L Front Crawl 5th
Boys Squadron 4*1L Backstroke 5th
Girls U17 4*1L Breaststroke 6th
Boys U17 4*1L Breaststroke 5th
Girls Open 4*2L Front Crawl 5th
Boys U15 4*1L Backstroke 4th
Boys Squadron 4*1L Breaststroke 5th
Girls U17 4*1L Medley 4th
Boys 9-12 yrs 4*1L Front Crawl 5th
Girls Open 4*2L Backstroke 4th

Well done everyone – keep up the good work in training.

Winter League Round 1 – Calne

Round 1 of the Winter league saw our squad take on teams from Calne, Wroughton, and Trowbridge in an exciting night of relays hosted by Calne Alpha.

With over 30 swimmers in our squad alone and 39 races on the night – each involving 4 swimmers from each club – it is no surprise that the night resembled organised chaos at times and a great deal of credit needs to go to the coaching team who kept the swimmers focused, the heats running smoothly and the event fun.

There were too many great individual and team performances to names names but a special well done should go to the girls open 4×2 breaststroke team of Liberty, Emily, Tracey and Grace and the girls U17 4×1 breaststroke team of Olivia, Lydia, Liberty and Grace for their well earned wins.

In total, our squad took 2 first placed finishes, 10 second places, 16 third places and 13 fourth placed finishes on the night. (Subject to final clarification from the officials).

It was also great to see so many new faces in this years Winter league squad and let’s make sure we take the momentum from round 1 into the next round on 5 December at Trowbridge.

The overall team results on the night were.

Calne 122
Trowbridge 100
Swindon 84
Wroughton 74

Wrougton Sprint Meet

Only 12 points separated us from hosts Wroughton for top club at the Wroughton ASC sprint meet held at the Link centre on Sunday 8th November.
Swimming against Wroughton, Tigersharks, Royal Wootton Bassett Otters, Durrington, Malmesbury and Gibralta we did fancy our chances, but with only 30 of our swimmers taking part, it was not going to be easy.
Only five events to choose from and most of our swimmers took part in all five – 50m in frontcrawl, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and a 100m individual medley.

A successful day with 60 personal best swims, 24 Gold, 10 silver and 11 bronze medals and we had 18 swimmers just missing out on the medals with 4th place finishes.

Age group best swimmers were also rewarded with a trophy. Our age-group winners were:

  • Rory Halliday 10 years
  • Tyler Checchia 12 years
  • Grace Steckerl 15 years
  • Lydia Zoupos 16 years
  • Emily Moore 17+

Well done to everybody for taking part. Thank you to Sarah & Kelly for organising and thank you to all the officials and helpers. A big thank you to Wroughton ASC for hosting.

Looking forward to next year..

Note to club: Need to get the whole squad to go along next year!

Calne Last Chance Open Meet

A chance to swim in a different pool and perhaps pick up a qualifying time was all the incentive needed for seven of our swimmers to take a short trip out to Calne to take part in their inaugural ‘Last Chance’ meet on Saturday 7th November.

Calne were very welcoming and also very busy with all hands to the pump to get the new electronic timing equipment installed. There was more gaffer tape poolside than parents as they all elected to go upstairs and view the event from the gallery/bar. This made for a somewhat subdued atmosphere on poolside.

The swimmers did not seem to notice (Parents: they can’t hear you when you shout anyway!) and we recorded lots of personal best swims.

Of the seven swimmers who took part (Aaron, Alyssa, Alyx, Max A, Olivia, Rory & Tyler) in 20 swims, 15 acheived personal best times.
Eight of the times recorded were county qualifying times and two were regional qualifying times.
A successful day out on the medal front, 5 Gold, 4 Silver and 6 Bronze.

Thank you to Calne for the invite and putting on the event. Thank you to the officials, thank you to Sarah and Kelly for
organising our entries, and your support on the day.

Swindon Dolphin Novice Gala

Our U12 novice swimmers were invited to compete at a gala along with Bradford on Avon, Royal Wootton Bassett, Dolphins, Cirencester and Marlborough at The Link on Saturday 16th October 2015. Whilst the team included many of our junior squad members, for many others it was their first taste of team competition. Unfortunately, I haven’t got enough editing space or time to emphasise the fantastic effort showed by all of our swimmers, so I have only named the ones who had top 3 finishes. Here’s how they got on.

In races 1-10, we placed 1x1st, 2x2nd, and a 3rd. The 1st place was for Olivia who won a tough battle with Cirencester by just 4 tenths of a second in the girls 12/u 50m freestyle. The 2nd places came in both the boys and girls 10/u 50m butterfly. For the boys, Max put in a great swim, whilst Annabel fought for the top 3 all the way in her race, digging deep to take 2nd. A fantastic swim from Addison in the boys 8/u breaststroke earned him a 3rd place finish.

In the next 10 races the team managed 2x1st, a 2nd and 3x3rd places. In another closely fought race in the boys 9/u 25m butterfly, Max just stretched his arm out enough to win by a touch, whilst in the girls 12/u 50m breaststroke, Caitlin was neck and neck halfway, but pulled away to win by 2 metres. Alice took the 2nd in the girls 11/u 50m freestyle in yet another closely contested race. The 3rd places came in the boys 10/u 4×1 freestyle relay (Max, Tim, Harvey and Harry); Riley in the boys 8/u 50m backstroke, just beating Bradford on Avon; and Abigail G with a fab swim in the girls 8/u 50m backstroke.

There was 1x1st, 2x2nd and 1x3rd in races 21-30. Addison led from start to finish in the boys 8/u 25m butterfly, winning by 3 seconds. The first 2nd place was for the boys in the 9/u 4×1 medley (Joe, Addison, Max and Harry), who were battling to be in the top 3 at halfway, but were unlucky to be pipped for 1st by Cirencester. In the girls 12/u 50m, Sasha was also pipped by just 2 tenths into 2nd. Charlie bucked the trend of being pipped in the boys 12/u 50m backstroke as he held on for a 3rd place finish.

At halfway in the gala, Dolphins led with 128 points from Cirencester (124), Wootton Bassett (105), Swindon ASC (104), Marlborough (99) and Bradford on Avon (65).

Tyler and Sasha led the way in races 31-40 with dominating performances in the 12/u 50m butterfly. Aaron had to fight Cirencester over the last 15 metres to earn a 2nd in the boys 11/u 50m backstroke and in the boys 10/u 50m breaststroke, Max just missed out to Bradford on Avon and Wootton Bassett for 3rd.

Race 41 saw another battling effort from Addison holding on to 2nd in the boys 8/u 50m freestyle. In the following race for the girls Freya put in a really strong 2nd length to take 3rd. The boys 12/u 4×1 medley were 2nd throughout their race, but the girls followed up by smashing the field for 1st. Harvey took a 3rd and Annabel was 2nd all the way in the 10/u 50m backstroke and Max blew the rest away to take 1st in the boys 9/u 50m breaststroke.

Going into the last 10 races the team were still 4th, just 15 points behind Dolphins in 3rd.

The last 10 races brought 1x1st, a 2nd and 2x3rd places. The first 3rd was in the boys 10/u 4×1 medley (Harry, Max, Harvey and Tim) with just ½ metre separating the top 3. The boys 12/u 4×1 freestyle (Aaron, Charlie, Alisdair and Tyler) were a close 2nd ahead of Wootton Bassett at the 50m turn, but were pegged back into 3rd place. A strong start for the boys 8/u 4×1 medley (Riley, Addison, Harry and Daniel), was equalled by a strong finish giving them a well deserved 2nd place; and in the final race of the night, the awesome foursome of Sasha, Caitlin, Olivia and Alice, dominated all the way in the girls 12/u 4×1 freestyle.

At the end of a really enjoyable evening, Marlborough finished 6th on 107 points, Bradford on Avon 5th with 189, Swindon ASC 4th on 216, Wootton Bassett 3rd on 230, with Dolphins 2nd on 240 and the winners Cirencester on 252.

Well done to all our swimmers, especially those experiencing their first gala. A huge thanks as always to the coaches, officials and helpers and of course to the parents and family cheering the swimmers on.

As always, the club will keep you informed of upcoming events by email, but you can also follow us online at swindonasc.co.uk or visit our Facebook page.

Remember, there’s no lessons or squad sessions between 24th October and 31st October and if you haven’t done so, get your entries in for the club champs. November is a big month with the club champs, the start of Winter League and everyone’s favourite the Club Presentation and Disco night on 28th November. Look out for more details in the coming weeks!

Have a great half term and terrifyingly frightening Halloween from all the team at Swindon ASC!

Mike Bevan
Publicity
Swindon ASC

Gloucester Sprint Meet

An early start for 12 of our swimmers who entered into the Gloucester Sprint Meet on Sunday 20th September. All turned up for 7:30am looking half asleep after having the Summer League finals the night before.

glos_sprintsa

No excuses for not liking the facilities, wow! 8 lanes, spotless pool, and the swimmers and parents had somewhere to sit where they could see all the action.

Loads of room in the warm-up, excellent marshalling and totally organised.

 

 

First up was the Boys Butterfly, 13 heats; Alyx yawning on starting block, not a good sign. 4 of the 5 boys coming away with a new PB. Tyler got a 2nd place in his age group, 4th place for Rory, well done boys.

Next was 22 heats of Girls Butterfly, that’s over 170 swimmers! Only Grace and Caitlin managing PB’s – obviously a bit early for the rest of the girls.

Boys Backstroke, 3 of 5 recording PB’s. Tyler again getting 2nd in his age group. The Girls Backstroke and they seemed more awake. 5 of 7 recording new PB’s. Annabel and Alice, taking off 4 seconds, amazing!

Last event before lunch was the Boys 100m IM, 4 of 5 PB’s. Tyler knocking 4 seconds off his time to get another silver. Tomas took off 2 seconds for a 4th place missing out on bronze by less than arms length.

The morning session complete with 17 PB’s out of 29 races. A very short and early break for lunch.

After another warm-up the afternoon session was under-way with the Girls 100m IM.

4 out of 6 PB’s. Annabel smashing a massive 10 second PB ,Caitlin 8 Second PB, Alice 3 second PB and Olivia 2 Second PB keep up the good training girls.

50m Breaststroke next and a PB of 6 secs getting 40.64 and Rory dying to tell Alyx and Tomas how close his time is to theirs, this, as you can imagine, forcing a reaction with Alyx and Tomas “he ain’t gonna beat us at breaststroke”. Did they try? Yes they did! Bronze for Tomas and a 2 second PB, a little glance after the turn and he sped right up……… no looking Mr …….. sprint to start with. A 1½ second PB for Alyx ………………… first in his heat after turn, first in his heat at the flags, you all know who Tomas was looking at, he knew he could get him especially when Alyx thinks the race finishes at the flags and not the wall.

Grace achieved Silver in her 50BR just off of her short course personal best but a fabulous swim, well done.

Good swims all round in the final event 50m Freestyle and another Silver for Tyler.

Afternoon session finished with 17 PB’s out of 29 races.

Some tough teams but well done everyone you did our club proud.

Thanks to all the officials, helpers and parents for your support.

Summer League Finals 2015

The final round of this years summer league was hosted by Swindon ASC at Milton Road on 19th September. Scores on the night were Calne Alpha in first place with 170 points, Swindon ASC second with 135, Warminster in third place with 112 and Durrington in forth place with 77.

The night started brightly for Swindon ASC with Brad taking second and Tracey 3rd in the 4 X1  individual medley; a 2nd place for Rory and 4th for Annabel in the U12 Butterfly followed by races for Liberty and Tomas in the U16 freestyle which were too close to call. Rowan  narrowly missed out on a win in the U14 breaststroke after leading for the majority of the race.

More excitement in the U12 medley relay with the girls team of Georgia, Alicia, Annabel and Alice taking 3rd whilst the boys team of Aaron, Alex S, Rory and Max S took 2nd on the night. A battling performance by Alicia in the U12 breaststroke saw her narrowly miss out on a third place finish.

There were second placed finishes on the night for Alex in the U16’s 1 length backstroke; Jake and Beth in the U14 freestyle; Alex S in the U12 breaststroke; Olivia in the U14 fly; Tyler in the U14 backstroke and U14 fly; Emily in the 3 length open free and Grace in the U16 breaststroke.

1st place finishes went to Tomas in the U16 breaststroke; Aaron in the U12 backstroke; Rory in the U12 free; Tyler in the U14 backstroke and Sasha in the U14 backstroke. The relays saw wins for boys U16 medley team of Alyx, Tomas, Max A and Archie. The girls U14 medley team of Sasha, Rowan, Olivia and Beth. The U14 girls 4×1 freestyle team of Sasha, Regan, Olivia and Beth. The boys U16 4 X11 relay team of Archie, Max A, Alyx and Tomas.

Prior to warm-up we tried yet again to get a squad photo, where everyone was looking at the camera, with their eyes open and without a daft look on their face…

How did we do?

 

DSC_0348

Thank you to all the volunteers on the night, the officials and the coaching staff; to all the parents and siblings who come along and give such wonderful support.

Swindon ASC

Wiltshire Masters Team Selected

Congratulations Tracey Sharland on being selected to represent the county in the Intercounties masters gala to be held at Hutton Moor, Weston Super Mare on Sunday 15th November.

Tracey as well as organising our masters section, teaching, co-ordinating the Highworth pool and organising the young volunteers also makes time to swim.

Good luck
Swindon ASC

Masters swimming is arranged throughout the year and swam at various locations in 18+; 25+, 35+, 45+ 55+ and 65+ age groups. If you would like more information please contact Tracey.

Tigersharks No National Qualifiers Meet

We had a group of 20 swimmer attend the Tigersharks ‘No National Qualifiers’ Meet on the 18th and 19th July at the Link Centre, Swindon. This was the largest group from Swindon ASC for a long time at an open meet which goes to show that the the club is becoming more competitive.

Between the 20 swimmers they entered 96 events and achieved 72 personal best (PB) times, winning 28 medals.

Saturday

Tyler got us off to a good start with a personal best of 2:48.93 in the 200m Butterfly knocking a whopping 9 seconds off of his time and achieving a well deserved Silver.  Next up was a Gold for Alyx and Silver for Tomas in the 100m Breaststroke both achieving personal best times.  A fantastic effort from Alyx on his turns and underwater phases proving to Ryan that although it may not look like it 98% of the time he was actually listening at training.

A well deserved PB for Emmie in the 100m freestyle taking 6 seconds off her time and 5 seconds for Grace well done girls. PB’s also for Rowan, Olivia, Amy and Emily.

Rory up next in the 200m backstroke, first time entering this event and comes away with silver, Tyler also placed in this event taking bronze in the 11/12 yrs.  We will never know what Alyx could of got if he actually tried, Alyx took bronze in this event and achieved a PB of 4 seconds but looked a little like he was doing a cool down…….swim faster next time, you are not swimming against the others in the heat you are swimming against the clock.

Another amazing PB of 5 seconds from Olivia in the 200IM and Emily took the bronze in the 15&overs.

Tomas has found a new passion other than Breaststroke, the 50m Fly taking 6 seconds off of his time and easily winning his heat. Another Gold medal for Tyler and a Bronze for Rory.

The 50m Backstroke PB’s for Rory, William, Tomas, and a PB and Gold for Tyler and Bronze for Alyx.

Rowan and Olivia on a mission in the 100m IM each lowering their time by 4 seconds. Lightning Liberty struck out for a 5 second PB! Shortly followed by another 2 second PB for Liberty in the 100m Butterfly.

100m Backstroke up next, Tyler took Silver, Rory and Alyx Bronze.  Moving on to the 200m Breaststroke; Tomas a took a well deserved Gold with a PB of 5 seconds.  William, what can I say, you have proved to us that you can swim fast taking an unbelievable 25 seconds off of your time.

Sunday

Emmie came back on Sunday to start off where whe left off with another PB this time knocking 7 seconds off in the 50 Backstroke along with Caitlin who also knocked off 7 seconds. Grace swam another PB to take Silver.

Boys 100m Fresstyle; 9 seconds off for Rory and Tomas and another Medal for Tomas this time Silver.

Grace loving her Breaststroke to take Silver in the 100m. Another Medal for Tyler, Silver in the 200m IM and Tomas, Bronze in the 100m IM – Go Tyler!! Go Tomas!!

A good 4 second PB for Aaron in the 100m Butterfly…………..and another Gold for Tyler.

Annabel put in a fantastic swim in the 50m Breaststroke just missing out on a medal but a PB of 3 seconds well done.  Lots more PB’s  in this event form Alyssa, Emmie, Caitlin, Rowan and Liberty, big cheers for Grace who took Gold.with a time close to her personal best from Regionals.

Rory and Tyler entering the 400m Freestyle for the first time with Rory a bit cautious on how fast to swim putting in an amazing final length sprint looking like he hadn’t already swam 15 lengths, he took the Bronze. and Tyler produced a massive 46 second PB to take Silver.
All in all a fabulous weekend
6 Gold
9 Silver
13 Bronze

Well done to everyone that entered you did yourselves and our club proud.

Big THANK YOU to Tigersharks for yet another super open meet. And as always thank you to the officials and volunteers without who these events would not take part.

Thank you to new Open Meet Secretaries Sarah & Kelly
Swindon ASC

Summer League Round 3

A slower than expected start to Round 3 of the Summer League at Calne meant we waited until the 11th race, the boys U12 medley relay, to get our first win. This race saw Aaron, Alex S, Rory and Max S quickly take the lead and stay out in front, an achievement which was immediately equalled by the girls team of, Molly, Alice, Annabel & Georgia. Tyler led from the start to take the U14 50m Fly with Olivia taking second for the girls. Grace took first place for the girls in the U16 Breast stroke whilst Tomas gave a tremendous performance for the boys in a race that was too close to call.

The Girls Open 100m Fly was another close one which saw Tracey race neck and neck with the Calne swimmer for 3 lengths just narrowly missing out in the final length to take a well-deserved second place. Other close races on the night included Annabel’s battle for 3/4 in the U12, 1 length Butterfly, Rowan’s battle for 2/3 in the U14 2 length freestyle along with Sasha, Olivia, Regan and Rowan in the U14 Girls Freestyle and the U14 girls Medley relays.

Other wins on the night included Alyx in the U16 50m Backstroke, Sasha in the U14 2 length back stroke, the boys U16 freestyle relay team, of Archie, Max A, Alyx & Tomas all of which helped Swindon take second place on the night with points total of 107 – Well done everyone.

Mike Sullivan

Summer League Round 2

The Summer League trip to Durrington on Saturday 13th June proved eventful with SASC finishing in 3rd place on the night.

Representing the U12’s were:
Girls: Molly, Alicia, Alice and Annabel
Boys: Aaron, Louie, Rory, Max S, Harvey and Alex
U14’s:
Girls: Bethany, Olivia, Rowan and Sasha
Boys: Jake, Tyler and Andrew
U16’s:
Girls: Liberty, Grace and Cloe
Boys: Alyx, Tomas, Archie and Max A
Open:
Girls: Emily and Tracey
Boys: Brad and Jack

14 swimmers acheived personal best times during the event:

Rory – 25m Butterfly
Annabel – 25m Butterfly
Archie – 50m Freestyle
Rowan – 50m Breaststroke
Brad – 100m Backstroke
Grace – 100m Backstroke
Alex – 25m Breaststroke
Molly – 25m Breaststroke
Rory – 25m Freestyle
Max A – 50m Butterfly
Liberty – 50m Butterfly
Tyler – 50m Butterfly
Brad – 100m Freestyle
Annabel – 25m Backstroke

Lots of second and third places from the start. It took until event 23 for us to record a 1st place finish – well done Jake, Alex, Tyler and Andrew in the Boys U14 Medley.

Some very close finishes (and some not so close) saw us pushed back to second and third and fourth again and again.

Sasha was the next to take a first place in #32 Girls U14 50m Backstroke.

Boys U16 4×1 Freestyle relay team were on fire to take first place in event 37.

No suprises in the U14 50m Butterfly, Tyler coming in first and getting a PB.

Not to be outdone fellow Regional competitor Grace took 1st in the U16 50m Breaststroke.

U14 Girls 4×1 Freestyle recorded the last win for us on the night in event 48.

Calne are proving pretty tough to compete against this year, need to be at our best during the next round which is at Calne on 27th June.

Ryan / Mike Sullivan
Swindon ASC

 

Wiltshire ASA Open water taster session

Looks like water, but did it taste like water?

Three of our swimmers were brave enough to accept the challenge of an open water taster session arranged by Wiltshire ASA at Cotswold Water Park, South Cerney on 7th June.

Bethany Brewer, Sasha Stone and Max Adams went along with others from various clubs (including Swindon Dolphins, Tigersharks, Bradford-on-Avon and Warminster).

Having completed the sessions, the girls were less than impressed with the water quality and will stick to the pool in future.

Beth and Sasha – after their dip..

Wiltshire Masters – Block 2

Our older swimmers faced a long trip to Salisbury to swim in Block two of the Wiltshire ASA Masters.

Tracey Sharland and Paul Chilcott were the only representatives (long way Salisbury!), but they came away with a haul of medals between them.

Tracey was in for 4 events (100m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly, 25m Freestyle & 100m Breaststroke), coming away with 4 gold medals.

Paul was in for 3 events (100m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly & 25m Freestyle), coming away with three bronze medals.

Congratulations to you both, and keep up the good work.

Anyone fit and able (and over 18) who fancies joing the masters section please speak with Tracey.

South West Regional Age Group Championships:

8 out of 8

Tyler Checchia went to the ASA South West Regional Age groups Championships and got 8 personal best times from 8 swims.

Road trips to Bristol and Millfield were well worth the journey for Tyler.

Competing in 4 events at each location, Tyler managed to get 8 out of 8 as personal best times.

His first attendance at ‘Regionals’ is an experience he is looking forward to repeating for years to come!

The first weekend at Bristol, Tyler achieved PB’s in 50m Backstroke, 100m Backstroke, 200m Butterfly and 50 Butterfly.

Two weekends later at Millfield, Tyler chalked up more PB’s in 100m Freestyle, 200m Individual Medley, 200m Backstroke and 100m Butterfly.

His best result would be 10th in the 200m IM.

Congratulations Tyler on qualifying for Regionals and for all those PB’s.

SX3 Team Announced

17 of our swimmers have been selected for the Swindon Swim Squad this year.

This is a massive achievement for our club and I think a record number of swimmers selected.

Congratulations to:

Alyssa Halliday
Max Sullivan
Harry Carpenter
Joseph Warrington
Alice Steckerl
Annabel Ollerhead
Alicia Hawkins
Amy Jones
Rory Halliday
Harvey Stone
Georgia Bevan
Aaron Bailey
Ethan Jennings
Chris O’Hara
Olivia Moore
Sasha Stone
Tyler Checchia

What is SX3?

In October 2007, Swindon Swim Squad (Sx3) was formed with the objective of enabling the elite swimmers of Swindon based swimming clubs to compete at the highest possible level. The aim was to achieve this by competing as combined teams in the Southern Junior League. The team is made up of the top young swimmers from Highworth ASC, Swindon ASC, Tigersharks ASC and Wroughton ASC.

What events are involved?

There are 4 age groups, 9, 10, 11 and 12 years old. There are individual events for each stroke within each age group and relay events within each age group.

How are swimmers selected?

The swimmers are selected based on their performance at the SX3 development time trial, and times recorded on the ASA rankings database.

 

Summer League Round 1

Its Moonraker Summer League time again, which means the weather is getting better, the nights are longer and poolside is like a sauna! After 2 years of back to back promotions, the team were unfortunately relegated last year meaning we are in a division with Warminster, Durrington and Calne this time round.

For the benefit of those of you who are new to the team, Summer League takes the format of 4 teams competing with each other over 4 rounds with top and bottom finishers promoted/relegated. There are a number of relays as with Winter League, but there are also individual races and increased distances of 50m for younger age groups and 100m for the oldies!

After the long journey to Warminster, the team took a little while to get going with a tough first 10 races bringing one 1st for Alyx dominating the boys U16 2L freestyle, a 2nd for Olivia in the girls U14 2L breaststroke and then 7 x 3rd places and a 4th.

Races 11-20 faired a little better with the boys U16 4×1 medley (Alyx, Tomas, Max and Archie) leading throughout and despite a valiant fight back from Calne. Tracey held her nerve in the girls open 4L butterfly for another 1st place. There was a 2nd for Jake in the boys U14 2L freestyle and for Beth in the girls race. There were also 2 x 3rd and 2 x 4th places leaving the team 3rd after 20 races, 13 points behind Warminster in 2nd and 17 behind Calne in 1st.

There were no fewer than 6 x 2nd places in the next 10 races, with a 3rd and 2 x 4th places. In their respective U16 2L butterfly races, Alyx was unlucky to pipped by a stroke, whilst Grace put in a solid performance to be 2nd throughout. The boys U14 4×1 medley (Jake, Alex S, Tyler and Andrew), finished 2nd to Calne with Andrew unlucky not to catch the winner. The boys Open 4×1 medley (Jack, Tomas, Max and Paul) gained another 2nd and in the U16 butterfly categories there were strong swims by Max and Liberty for their 2nd places with Liberty beaten by just a stroke. Just over half way through the evening and the team now found themselves 14 points behind Warminster with Calne running away a full 26 points ahead of them!

After a typically strong effort from Tyler for a second in the boys U14 2L backstroke, Sasha put in a fantastic performance to run away with the girl’s race. In the boys U12 4×1 freestyle (Harvey, Rory, Ethan and Aaron) led from start to finish to win by a touch, followed by a win for the boys U16 4×1 freestylers (Archie, Max, Alyx and Tomas) who again led throughout, winning by a couple of strokes. In a very close race, the girls U16 4×1 freestyle team (Katie, Cloe, Liberty and Grace) were very unlucky to finish second by just a touch after being in contention the whole race. These results were backed up by 4 x 3rd and 1 x 4th places.

In the final 10 races there were 3 x 1st places, 3 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd and 2 x 4th. A determined performance from Aaron in the boys U12 1L backstroke in which he even had time for a look across to see where his rivals were, produced the first win. Tomas had a battle in the boys U16 2L breaststroke, neck and neck all the way with him touching the wall just a hand length ahead of 2nd place. Another closely fought race was the girls U14 4×1 freestyle relay (Sasha, Regan, Beth and Rowan) who managed to dig in and hold on to the 1st place they held the whole race. As with the 1st place races, the 3 x 2nd places were all gained in races where the swimmers were in contention throughout, but just beaten by the smallest of margins. Emily in the open 4L freestyle, Grace in the U16 2L breaststroke and the boys U14 4×1 freestyle relay (Harvey, Jake, Andrew and Tyler) were all pipped despite valiant efforts.

Remembering the gap to Warminster was 14 points after 30 races, the team managed to end the night in second place with 122 pts, with Calne the winners on the night with 155 pts, with Warminster on 116 pts and Durrington in 4th (98).

A fantastic finish to the night and well done to all the swimmers, especially many of the youngsters who were swimming in their first league competition. Let’s start off Summer League 2 as we ended round 1 and claw back that point’s gap to Calne!

As always, a massive thank you to all the coaches, officials and volunteers for your help and all the parents and family who made the long trip to Warminster to give the team their support.

Summer League 2 is at Durrington on 13th June. See you all there!

Mike Bevan
Publicity Secretary