WATFORD SWIMMING CLUB NEWSLETTER

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1 PAGE 1 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 5 th 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. PLEASE NOTE Please hand back your completed forms to Justine Chung for the Stevenage Open by 1 st April. Thank you. URGENT REQUEST We are in desperate need for helpers for our Easter Open Meet. If your child is swimming on one or more of the sessions that weekend and you could spare some of your time, it would really be very much appreciated. We always seem to get the same volunteers so some new ones would be great and it would also ease the pressure on the few that we do have. Please see Attracta, Anne & Sue on poolside for info. Thankyou RAFFLE We have had some lovely prizes donated for the raffle at our Easter Open Meet but we could do with a few more. Easter eggs, Chicks, books etc would be great. If everyone donated a little something it would be such a great help. The deadline for donations is the 1 st April. Thank you.

2 FRIENDS OF WSC Don t forget to look at the Friends of WSC link on the website if you are looking for local companies for domestic and commercial assistance. We have three new companies this month who are: WT REEVES ELECTRITIANS for all domestic jobs. CAKETASTIC Amazing cakes for special occasions. HMK Computing Services for any problems with your computer at home or work. If you know any local companies who would like to advertise on the Friends Of WSC page on the website from 25 for 12 months, please contact Nigel Jibson, Sponsorship Officer, please call or E mail nigeljibson@aol.com. Many Thanks, Nigel. FLASHES (From Justine Chung) FREE-(Bronze-) Jishoan Mathan (Silver)- Joseph Prior, Daniel Bellamy, Christopher Redjeb (Gold) Ashleigh Prior. BACK- (Silver) Joseph Prior, Leanne Carey. (Gold) Ashleigh Prior. (Platinum) Devon Prior. BREAST (Bronze) Joseph Prior. (Silver) Camilla Allibone. FLY (Bronze) Joseph Prior. (Platinum)Amy Chung IM (Silver) Joseph Prior. (Platinum) Fiona McQuire Godridge closes in on his Olympic dream From The Watford Observer PAGE 2 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 2 nd in the 100m Freestyle with a time of 52.3.He also knocked off 4 seconds of his 200m individual medley, to come 3 rd 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. BIRTHDAYS Many Happy Returns to: Jake Adcock, Lewis Sills,Mark Coggins, Liam Hall, Jake Williams, Carey Leigh, Ricky Jones, Paul Cuthbert, Michael Dowds.Angus Chung.Joe Prior. Kieron Morgan- Stower. Lauren Clarkson, Meg Hutchinson, Georgia Meaker,Hannah Lewis, Alice Callanan, Emily Jolliffe, Kim Cox, Lydia Cox Sponsor a race at the WSC Easter Gala We are urgently looking for local companies or families to sponsor a race at the Easter Gala and be name checked in the programme! The cost is 20 to companies. Discount to WSC families. Please contact Nigel Jibson on or nigeljibson@aol.com or speak to a committee member. Thank you for your support! SCHOOL OF SWIMMING Congratulations to all the swimmers from the School of Swimming who have been promoted to the Development squad with Josie. Over 30 swimmers have achieved a standard and moved on. Well done!! Also many of our swimmers will compete for the first time at Leighton Buzzard, Grade C Gala, on the 2 nd May, so GOOD LUCK to you all. Easter Fun Day For School Of Swimming For all the swimmers who attend School Of Swimming, an Easter Fun Bowling day at Woodside Hollywood Bowl on Friday 18 th April has been arranged. This is open to all School Of Swimming pupils aged 5+ and also any who have recently moved up.come on down for a couple of games and a spot of lunch. Watch out for the notice boards and flyers at Woodside and Westfield.There will be medals DATES FOR YOUR DIARY WSC Easter Open Meet 10th-12 th April Peanuts Round one -25 th April.Round two- 16th May. Round three- 4 th July. Milton Keynes 25 th -26 th April. Leighton Buzzard 2 nd May. Stevenage open meet-10 th May. for the highest scores in each age group. Congratulations to Sue Tysoe for passing her starters practical.well done Sue!! There is a competition to swim from Santa Monica to Catalina doing only breaststroke and the 3 women entering the race were brunette, a redhead and a blonde. After approximately 14hrs the brunette staggered up on the shore and was declared the fastest breaststroker. About 40 minutes later the redhead crawled up on the shore and was declared the 2 nd place finisher. Nearly 4hrs after that the blonde finally came ashore and promptly collapsed in front of the worried on lookers. When the reporters asked why it took her so long to complete the race, she replied I don t want to sound like I m a sore loser, but I think those two other girls were using their arms!! (Apologies to all blondes)

3 March PAGE 2A WATFORD SWIMMING CLUB Photo by Paul Scarborough SOUTH HERTS TROPHY TEAM 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.

4 WATER POLO NEWS PAGE 3 Water Polo News March Winter League season We have now played nine Winter League fixtures, winning four, losing four & conceding the other. Our final league game is at home to Sutton & Cheam. Current League Table: Winter League Division One Played Won Lost Draw Void Points Croydon Amphibians Sutton & Cheam Beckenham Watford Hornchurch West London Penguin In the Winter League Cup we have now progressed into the final having beaten Bexley (Away) The two legged final will be against Maccabi dates to be finalised. Winter League Junior s The under 14 s have finished their first Winter League season in second position following a very successful final league weekend at Croydon. They played three games & beat Beckenham (7-3) WL Penguin (6-0) & Sutton & Cheam (4-2). Winter League Under 14 s table final positions for the season Under 14 s Played Won Lost Draw Void Points Croydon Watford Sutton & Cheam Haywards Heath Beckenham Worthing WL Penguin

5 WATER POLO NEWS PAGE 4 Water Polo News March The Under 16 s played their second Winter League tournament at Whitgift School on the 1 st March, we had a excellent tournament & the team played extremely well. In the three games we played we beat Hythe (10-1) & Haywards Heath (6-2) & drew with Beckenham (8-8). We have one further tournament again at Whitgift School on the 22nd Match when we will play four games another good weekend could see us finish third or even higher. Current League Table: Under 16 s Played Won Lost Draw Void Points Beckenham Hayward s Heath Sutton & Cheam Watford Hythe Croydon Amp WL Penguin ASA National Championships Our under 16 s team competed in the ASA National Championships at Walsall Gala Baths on Sunday 15 th March, unfortunately the team lost all their games as we were up against much stronger opposition however the team enjoyed the day & will have gain valuable experience. The Under 14 s preliminary rounds & finals will be held on Saturday 4 th April at the Manchester Aquatic Centre, we will play Lancaster & Cheltenham in the opening round.

6 WATER POLO NEWS PAGE 5 Water Polo News March Men s Water Polo Fixtures; March: Wednesday 25 th Sutton & Cheam (Home) Winter League Division Two April: Wednesday 8 th Dunstable (Home) Herts League Wednesday 15 th Cambridge (Home) Herts League Tuesday 21 st - Chelmsford (Away) London League Div 2 Wednesday 29 th Reading (Home) London League Referee s Cup 1 st round Winter League Cup Final home & away dates to be arranged Junior Water Polo Fixtures; March: Sunday 22 nd - under 16 s Winter League Whitgift School April: Saturday 4 th under 14 s ASA National Manchester Aquatic Centre Sunday 5 th under 18 s London Whitgift School Sunday 26 th under 18 s London Whitgift School If any swimmer is interested in playing Water Polo at Senior or junior level please contact Steve Chambers on: or via the swimming club website