Swimming Reports and Press 2009
Swimming Reports and Press
2009
WATFORD SWIMMING CLUB
YOUNGSTERS OUT IN FORCE AT REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
BY
JACKIE SPENCE
(From left to right)
Amy Chung, Jack Pickford, Molly
Landolfi, Devon Prior,
Ashley Holness- Wright, Louis Mayhew, Jack Spence,
Matthew Chapman.
Watford Swimming Club
youngsters were back in action competing in the East
Region Championships over the last 2 weekends. 12
children age 14 and under qualified for a total of 70
events. First to swim were Amy Chung (12) and Devon
Prior (12) in the 200M breaststroke. Both girls excelled
themselves securing places in the finals where Devon
finished 5th and Amy 7th.It was then a tough
time for 6 of the boys, Ashley Holness -Wright (12),
Jack Pickford (12), Harry Beaumont (13) Matt Chapman
(13), Luke Jones (13) and Jack Spence (14) as they began
the 400M freestyle. For Luke Jones and Jack Spence this
race was quickly followed by the 800M freestyle where
Jack secured a place at Nationals with a time of
9.13.60.
Many of the swimmers gained places in finals. Louis
Mayhew (13) went into the 200IM final in 6th
place and finished 2nd claiming Watford’s
first medal. He then went on to get a bronze medal in
the 200m backstroke event. Team mate, Jack Spence,
gained a silver medal in an exciting 14 year old 200M
backstroke and gaining a second National time. Ashley
Holness- Wright got Watford’s fourth medal when he won
bronze in the 100M butterfly. Matt Chapman finished 8th
in the final of the 100M butterfly as well as putting in
a good swim in the 200m fly.
The second weekend saw the arrival of Hannah Jibson (13)
and Molly Landolfi (12). Hannah had 2 superb swims in
the 100M and 200M freestyle achieving PB’s in both
races. Molly and team mates Amy and Devon battled
against 30 other 12 year olds in the 400M freestyle
putting in some very credible swims.
This weekend also featured the boys 1500m swim however
as Jack Spence was within 0.5sec of his National
qualifying time for the 400m freestyle from last
weekend, chief coach Terry Davies, requested the referee
allow him to try the event again as part of the 1500m
swim. He achieved this to give him his third National
time. After 2 gruelling weeks the club returned with
their biggest number of medals from a regional
championships and look forward to further improvement
next year along with more top ten positions. Louis
Mayhew finished 5th in the 13 year old age
category and Jack Spence finished 7th in the
14 year old age group.
A big well done to all those swimmers who gained
Regional Championships qualifying times. Particularly to
those swimmers for whom this is the first time, Harry
Edwards (12), Matt Chapman (13), Harry Beaumont (13),
Molly Landolfi (12) and Hannah Jibson (13).
Jack Spence and Louis Mayhew now join their older team
mates Carolyn Astbury, David Godridge and Ricky
Jones at National Championships.
Stevenage Gala
By Zoe McQuire
On 10th May 31 swimmers from both the
development and Top squad converged on Stevenage for the
2009 open gala. There were many excellent swims and PBs.
There were 13 first place trophies awarded to Watford
Swimmers, 11 second place trophies and 14 trophies for
third place. Once again this was the first open gala for
many of the younger swimmers and many swimmers won a
trophy or a medal for the first time at an open gala.
Of the 13 first place trophies 5 of them were won by
Ashley Holness-Wright who swam 6 events winning 5 (100
fly, 200 IM, 100 breast, 100 free and 200 fly) and
coming second in the 100 back. Jack Pickford won three
first place trophies (200 back, 100 back and 200 free).
India Lawrence won 2 gold’s in 200 back and 100 free.
Chloe Arnold (200 fly), George Yerbury (200 back) and
Terence Holness Wright (200 IM) also picked up gold.
Eleven second place trophies were awarded to: Amy Chung
100 breast, Alsheigh Prior 100 free, Ashley
Holness-Wright 100 back, Chloe Arnold 100 breast, Daniel
Bellamy 100 breast, Devon Prior 200 IM and 200 breast,
Fiona McQuire 200 back, India Lawrence 200 breast, Joe
Prior 200 free and Lauren Robson 200 back.
The third place trophies were awarded to Amy Chung for
200 IM, 100m Back and 200m breast, Ashleigh Prior 200m
back, Becky Hopper for the 100 breast and 100 back, Ceri
Heard 200 back, Daniel Bellamy 100 free, Fiona McQuire
100 breast, George Yerbury 100m back and India Lawrence
200 free.
Medals were awarded to swimmers who came in 4th 5th and
6th place overall at the Stevenage gala and it was
particularly pleasing to see so many new names appearing
as recipient of these medals. Congratulations to
Ashleigh Prior, Chloe Arnold, Devon Prior, Georgia
Meaker, Joe Prior, Rachel Aylward-Jones, Terence
Holness-Wright , Becky Hopper, Daniel Bellamy, Fiona
McQuire, Lauren Robson, Molly Landolfi, Rachel Vangucci,
Rhiannon Heard, Ceri Heard, Chloe Arnold, Leia Dowding,
Nicole Trup, Peter Pickford and Terence H-Wright.
Leighton Buzzard Gala
BY ZOE MCQUIRE
38 of the club’s development squad
swimmers congregated on Milton Keynes on the 2nd May to
participate in the Leighton Buzzard Swimming Club open
gala. Some of our youngest swimmers, as young as 9 years
old, were participating in their first ever gala.
The children did themselves and the club proud. The
atmosphere was brilliant with the swimmers swimming
their hardest and being cheered all the while by their
team mates who delighted in each others victories. There
was a startling array of PBs and 54 Speeding Tickets as
well as medals of all colours.
Speeding tickets were awarded to Annabelle Thomas,
Broghan Finneghan, Ceri Heard, Christopher Redjeb,
Daniel Bellamy, Eloise Lineham, Emily Joliffe, Francesco
Campanella, George Thomas, Hannah Lewis, Heather Thomas,
Jan Feil Salcedo, Jishoan Mathan, Joy Sampson, Shaquille
Sampson, Kieron Morgan, Lauren Clarksoin, Leanne Carey,
Lucy Parks, Meg Hutchinson, Miqdad Somji, Niamh Burns,
Sophie Burns, Vinaya Haria and Zoe Hurst.
First place medals were won by Annabelle Thomas for the
50 fly Jan Feil Salcedo 50 fly and Katherine Lennarddo
for 50 back. 2nd place for 50 breast was won by Danielle
Carey. 3rd place medals were awarded to Hannah Lewis 50
back, Heather Thomas 50 fly, Kieron Morgan 50 fly, Liam
Hall 50 fly and Miqdad Somji for the 50 back.
These and all the young swimmers should be
congratulated.
Leighton Buzzard Open Meet 2009 Results
SOUTH HERTS TROPHY
By Zoe McQUIRE
Watford Swimming Club’s youngest swimmers took to the water and stormed to victory in the South Herts Trophy Gala last Saturday leaving other local clubs in their wake. The squad picked up eleven individual wins lead by Devon Prior (U13 Breaststroke), Molly Landolfi (U13 Backstroke), Harry Edwards (U13 Freestyle), Fiona McQuire (U12 Butterfly), Daniel Bellamy (U11 Backstroke and Freestyle), Nicole Trup (U11 Freestyle), Leanne Carey (U10 Backstroke), Joe Prior (U10 Breaststroke) and India Lawrence (U10 Freestyle and Butterfly). The club then consolidated their points total over second place Potters Bar and third place Cheshunt by winning eight relay races to take the Trophy. The young swimmers achieved 24 personnel best times out of 32 races.” Girl and boy captains, Amy Chung and Jack Pickford, received the trophy on behalf of their team. Coach Josie Hoare commented, “I’m very proud of our young swimmers. Some of them are only 9 years old and this was their first gala. They all swam extremely well.”
WATFORD SWIMMING CLUB’S ‘BEST EVER
CHAMPIONSHIPS’
By Attracta Stewart
Over the last three weekends Watford Swimming Club along
with all the other swimming clubs in Hertfordshire were
competing in the County Championships.
Watford took 32 swimmers along who between them amassed
a fantastic number of personal bests, medals, trophies
and Regional & National Championship qualifying times.
In total Watford gained a staggering 123 awards which
was an amazing achievement.
Overall in the women’s category Watford were awarded a
trophy for first place which was sensational as were the
men coming in second in their category. In the younger
age group category the boys took second place with the
girls coming in eleventh.
Top of the score board for Watford in the Youth category
was 15 year old David Godridge gaining a magnificent
haul of 33 medals and 12 trophies. David having just
returned from a week at the British Championships still
looked fresh and ready for a battle for top spot in his
age group as well as competing in the Junior
Championships and the Open Championships.
Also swimming well and amassing a total of 12 medals was
16 year old Club Captain Carolyn Astbury. Carolyn
continues to be a force for Watford and a figurehead for
the younger girls coming up through the ranks. Other top
medallists in the Youth category were; Amy Stewart (15),
9 medals, birthday boy Ricky Jones (15) 8 medals, & Zoe
Stewart (14) 6 medals.
In the younger Age Group category Watford’s younger
swimmers were delighted at the amount of personal bests
and medals they took home. Top spot went to 14 year old
Jack Spence who just got faster and faster as the weeks
went on. Jack amassed an impressive 14 medals and 1
trophy and was also part of the U16’s relay team which
won a gold medal in the 4 x 50 freestyle. After a very
close fought competition Jack finished second in his age
group overall.
Other top medallists in the Age Group category were;
Louis Mayhew (13) 7 medals, Ashley Holness-Wright (12) 5
medals and Jack Pickford (12) 3 medals.
The heart of the Championships has to be with the
younger swimmers who swam their hearts out. For some it
was the first time they had qualified to attend the
Championships and the smiles on their faces was evident.
The youngest swimmer Watford had was Joe Prior who just
turned 9 on the last day of the Championships. Joe came
5th overall in his age group which was a fantastic
achievement and a great way to celebrate his birthday.
Watford had six other winners who were all awarded with
a trophy for coming in the top eight; Harry Edwards
(11), Devon Prior (12) Amy Chung (12), Ashley
Holness-Wright (12), Louis Mayhew (13), & Jack Spence
(14).
Congratulations also goes out to Harry Beaumont, Matthew
Chapman, Nik Spears ,Heather Tysoe, Hannah Jibson ,
Alice Callanan and Molly Landolfi who all gained
regional times .
Other swimmers who took part were Georgia Meaker,
Ashleigh Prior, Fiona McQuire, Annabelle Thomas, Becky
Hopper, Shannice Chapman, Megan Davies, Terence Holness-
Wright, George Thomas, Billy O’Neill and John Pickford
.Well done to you all.
For Watford Swimming Club the Championships were a great
success and our swimmers are now looking forward to
taking part in the Regional Championships in Norwich in
the next couple of months.
Godridge closes in on his Olympic dream
From The Watford
Observer
David Godridge has consolidated his position as the top 15 year old in the country with a number of personal best performances at the British Swimming Championships in Sheffield.The teenager from Watford Swimming Club set a new personal best coming 2nd in the 100m Freestyle with a time of 52.3.He also knocked off 4 seconds of his 200m individual medley, to come 3rd as well as taking two and a half seconds off his 200m freestyle and half a second off the 50m Free. His performance in the 100m free, which saw him just pipped to fist place, was good enough to earn him a ticket to the junior Olympics in Finland in July. The aim for David remains the 2012 London Games.
Herts League B team
Our B. Team triumphed
in the 3rd round of the Herts League by storming through
to win.
Jessica Sullivan took us into the lead from the start
with such a determined swim. From then onwards, with
everyone putting in maximum effort we gained first and
second places for most part of the first half. With
every race we stretched further and further away from
the other teams giving us a great advantage…but we still
had the final relays where anything could happen.
Nobody gave up, from the under 12’s to the over
16’s.Megan Davies, Holly Sullivan, Hannah Lewis &
Jessica Sullivan stole the open Fee Relay as did Billy
O’Neil, Toby Hosker, Paul Jones & John Pickford. In the
under 12’s,Racheal A-Jones, Tatum Wells, India Lawrence
and Nicole Trup came in at 2nd place While George
Thomas, Terence - Holness -Wright, Kit Burden and Oliver
Quint stole the U16 Free-style Relay by coming in first
place. The squadron Relay went off fiercely and we were
just pipped into 2nd place. We won on the night by a
massive margin, 27 points ahead of Letchworth!! We had
accumulated 23 1st places! Every one swam so well and
was rewarded by all receiving trophies and going up into
Division 2.Well done!!