Congratulations to all our swimmers who participated in Meets in February most recently the State NZ Juniors. Good luck to all our swimmers for NAGs in Wellington; I will be there too. I would like to wish Kate, our administrator, all the best and thank her for her contribution to Swimming Waikato. Remember to get your nominations in for our Swimming Waikato Annual Awards dinner today! Have a great month and please stay in touch! We farewell Kate Thorn at the end of this month,, after 15 years of service to Swimming Waikato. Kate has been integral to the Swimming Waikato team and we would like to acknowledge her contribution to the sport in our Region. A passionate and incredibly knowledgeable administrator, Kate will be greatly missed by the Swimming Waikato community. Kate s last day will be the 28th of February and we welcome you all to wish Kate and her family the best for the future. See page 2 for a message from Kate. Thank you to all who took part in the Matamata Sponsored Meet on 4th 5th February! In response to the planned closure of Hamilton s Municipal Pools, Swimming Waikato, along with Sport Waikato presented a commitment to develop a business case for the municipal pools. This included options for partnership with trusts, clubs, and businesses. Swimming Waikato believes there are not enough pool facilities in the city for the population and the closure of the pools would put additional pressure on the already crowded remaining pools. Visit www.facebook.com/sinkorswimhamilton for more information & to show your support PO Box 4248, Hamilton Phone 07 834 4289 Lucy@swimmingwaikato.co.nz www.swimmingwaikato.co.nz
I would like to say thank you to all Club personnel and Coaches for the support you have given me over the past 15 years as Waikato Secretary/Administrator. It has been a privilege and an honour to be part of Swimming Waikato and I will be very interested to see membership dramatically grow I know there are many hidden members still not being affiliated. Swimming Waikato need these extra numbers to grow the sport. Clubs need to promote what they have to offer in order to build their Learn To Swim and Club Swimmer base and put pathways and strategies in place to encourage families to become part of the club and return year after year to Their Club. Parents need encouragement to participate within the club and it is this participation that will keep the swimmers involved year after year. Coaches I personally feel that Waikato has some very good coaches working in the Region. I urge you all to carry on with the good work and remember that your reputation is based not only on Results at National Level but very much on your contribution to your Club and Members. Working together will produce greater results. To Board Members over the past 15 years thank you for your friendship and thank you for all the many many hours you have voluntarily put into Swimming Waikato. Many of you are still involved and this is a testament to the old saying that you only get back what you put in Lucy has hit the ground running in her new position as Executive Officer and I am sure she will do a great job for Swimming Waikato but please remember that I have had 28 years, at various levels, experience and she will need time to build her knowledge base. Thank you everyone, good luck to our swimmers at the upcoming National Meets, I expect to hear about some more Waikato swimmers representing New Zealand in the no too distance future. Kate Thorn The Waikato Secondary School Swimming Championships 2012 will be held at Waterworld, Te Rapa on Wednesday 21st March from 9am. This year we are proud to be working with Swim Waikato to improve the competition and provide a higher quality event. All swimmers will have the luxury of using the touchpads and seeing their name on the big screen. This is one of the many changes we have made for 2012. Swimmers from all Waikato Secondary Schools are eligible to enter as there are no qualifying times or events. Students should contact their school sports coordinators if they wish to enter. We encourage all swimmers, competitive and novice to take part in this exciting event! - PAGE 2 -
Cliff Threadgold ACE Swimming Club Tell us about your coaching history and background? My involvement with teaching swimming started while I was still a competitive swimmer aged 15. At 18 I started coaching as well and became head coach of the swimming club by necessity not design. I continued to teach and coach as a volunteer until I took on the role of head coach at ACE in 2007. Who are your coaching mentors? I have had several mentors over the years. With the recent retirement of my last mentor, Trevor Nichol, I am now looking out for a new one, any offers? How would you describe your coaching style? In a word "Caring" What is the most important role a swim coach serves for a team? To be there for support to the athletes. What advice do you find yourself repeating most often to your swimmers? Streamline! What kind of challenges do you face as a coach of a successful club team? Keeping things consistent. I believe consistency plays a major role in success. Everything from stroke counting to regular attendance, having consistent training lane space and a consistent team of swimmers, coaches and committee, around me. Can you share a key moment of meaningful accomplishment in your coaching career? I have had many meaningful moments over the years and am sure there are many more to come. I take pleasure in watching my current and ex-swimmers continue to excel in the sport even when they have left my tutelage. I have two key moments I would like to share. The first took place 32 years ago, my UK club Potters Bar SC competed each year in a regional trophy for under 14's. The Daplyn Trophy was introduced in 1960 and for the first 20 years was dominated by the two powerhouse clubs in Hertfordshire Swimming, Hatfield and Watford. In 1980 my team broke that dominance and went onto win twice more in the next 3 years. Great confirmation my coaching style worked for me. The second came more recently. Shayne Kiekebosch was progressing well with his swimming, particularly breaststroke, when he decided it sounded like fun jumping off the grandstand at Mystery Creek. The smashing his ankle and leg wasn't so much fun. Shayne is a pretty tough nut to crack and this breakage gave him the resolve and desire to succeed in swimming. With several months of careful rehab and lots patience together we built up his fitness and in 2010 he won his first Gold medal at NAGS. The icing on the cake was that his sister Dayna also won gold for the same event at the same meet. What one piece of advice do you have for young coaches that you wish you had learned earlier in your career? Probably asking the wrong person about a "Career" as a coach, however, i suggest you ask yourself a few questions - would you go to the pool regularly most evenings and mornings for the love? are you prepared to dedicate yourself to the team? is it a merely a job with means to an end or are you really passionate about swimming? be honest with yourself and I believe this will help you decide how far you want to go with your coaching. Swimming Waikato have confirmed their vision, mission, values and goals: Vision: Swimming for Life Mission: Swimming Waikato will foster swimming throughout our region by creating strong partnerships, participation growth and performance excellence. Values: Excellence Working Together Improvement & Innovation Respect Inclusive Goals: Partnerships, Participation & Performance Find out more details by visiting about us on our website - PAGE 3 -
Well done to all of the swimmers who competed at the Central Swimming NZ Champs at Waterworld on 10-12 February the event was a resounding success! Thank you to the organising committee; the Meet Director, Mandy Elliott & all of the officials who made it a successful meet. Also a big thank you to all of our sponsors including event sponsors Swim T3 & New World Te Rapa Medal Table assistants Lynelle Flynn and Melvene from Bay of Plenty Meet Officials, Liz Agnew (referee), Mandy Elliot (Meet Director), Tim Rogers (starter) Naomi Smith (Sun Devils), Tracy Keith-Matchitt (St Peter's Swimming Academy) & Bernadette Reedy (Central Hawkes Bay) William Griffith from Swim Rotorua singing the national anthem AWD Medallists Simon Perry awards a New World Te Rapa Voucher to Mabel Aupouri from Gisbone - PAGE 4 -
On 18th 19th February, Swimming Waikato hosted the State NZ Juniors. Councillor Pippa Mahood declared the opening of the Meet and MPs, David Bennett and Tim Macindoe were also present to watch the action. An outstanding team effort by Dave Beattie (Meet Director), Lisa Conroy (Swimming NZ), Jenny Lornie with the Swimming Waikato Board & Staff and all of the excellent volunteers made for a great event a big thank you to all the Waikato Swimmers who volunteered! Our Swimmers on task! Curtis Edgecome from the Gallagher Group presenting medals The opening ceremony Swimming Waikato would like to acknowledge the support of our local Councils For myself, losing is not coming second. It's getting out of the water knowing you could have done better. For myself, I have won every race I've been in -Ian Thorpe - PAGE 5 -