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WATFORD SWIMMING CLUB NEWSLETTER March 2005
Cypress
Warm Weather Training Camp
by Stacey Raffety
As we
all waved goodbye to our parents from Watford Baths, we bubbling with
excitement, personally I’d been like that for the last four months.
The flight was delayed slightly, but soon enough we were on our way, no turning
back now. When the plane landed, everyone was exhausted from the long day, but
we were looking forward to seeing the 50meter pool we would be training in for
the next week.
We arrived at the 5 star Coral Beach Hotel in Paphos, very nice, but was this
too good for Watford Swimming Club?
When we saw the 50 metre Olympic size pool, everyone agreed it was amazing, but
we were all dreading the hard training that was to follow. After seeing the
pool the tour guide showed us around the hotel definitely too posh for Watford
Swimming Club, but we’d just have to get used to it.
Day 1: The girls were up early for the first training session. The pool was
freezing, but to my surprise we didn’t find it as hard as we’d expected. As the
day wore on with land training and another swimming session, I began to feel
very tired and homesick, but a quick phone call home in the evening to my
parents made me feel better and set me ready for day 2.
Every day seemed to get better and better; we trained hard because we knew we
would benefit in the end. Being on this training week made the team grow much
closer together, even though we did get tired and stressed out with each other
occasionally.
The adults that went on the trip were fantastic, Janet Lewis made things so much
better, she did the land training and physio. She would brighten up the days
with her funny comments and great personality.
Thursday, the dreaded 100x100’s, this was such a big thing for everyone and
everyone wanted to finish it. I was really nervous about doing this, but why?
This is what we had built up to.
I never thought this session was going to end, 5 minutes seemed like an hour,
but we got there, 100x100 completed! Three hours of hard swimming, and how
amazing was it to see Sian and Jess finish the session, we all cheered!
Everyone was feeling great. Terry gave a talk in the evening and has prise for
everyone. Personally I think Watford had benefited from having Terry as our
coach. He has helped
everyone in one way or another whether they are a seasoned swimmer or a
beginner. Three cheers for Terry!
Happy Birthday to
the following:
Feb: Sam Bingley,
Jonathan Bolton, Kit Burdon, Mark Cuthbert, Callum Griffin, Daniel Harris, Chris
Meeham, Liam Meeham, Daniel Nightingale, Matthew Waterhouse and especially Nicky
Dormer Happy 21st and Russell…life starts here! (he kept that quiet!)
Mar:
Alice Callanan, Rebecca Foley, Michael Dowds, Elroy Elvie, Ben
Godecharle, Chris Longman, Dean White and especially Pru also reaching that
magic age!
Race Night:
The Race night provided excellent fun of all who went. It was also proved to be
a great fund raising event, nearly £600! All the families who attended enjoyed
it and it was great to see some new faces but a few more would be good. We hope
to run this event again next year so see you there!
Congratulations to the
following who achieved flash times at the recent galas:
Katerina Clark – Platinum
in Free.
Sam Bingley and Olivia
Scott – Silver in Back.
Amy Callanan and Paige Dore-Boize- Platinum in Back
Louis Bingley and Megan Davies – Bronze in Fly
Holly Sullivan - Silver in Breast.
Remember
Don’t forget to check the board in the
foyer each week and while you are there Barbara can supply new kit and swimwear
as well as penny sweets.
Take plenty of drinks and energy
nibbles.
2 towels and costumes/trunks.
Sit don’t stand round the poolside.
Remember your T-bag.
Try hard and even if you don’t win be proud of
your achievement