Swim Wales E-Newsletter No Images? Click here Welcome to Swim Wales E-newsletter 'Making Waves in Wales'February 2017 Making Waves in Wales is designed to inform and keep you updated on all news relating to Welsh Aquatics. Please send us any feedback, suggestions or ideas as well as any articles or information you would like including in the next edition of Making Waves in Wales LATEST NEWSAnnual Renewals We are coming to the time of year for annual membership renewals and registrations for new members and we expect clubs will be very busy preparing their submissions. We trust the online system for clubs assists you and eases the burden of paperwork as you only need to complete Swim Wales membership forms for new to club members. We are delighted to advise there is no increase this year (2017/2018) in membership fees. Following a couple of questions and concerns raised with Swim Wales everyone involved in a club must be registered for membership within one month It is vital anyone involved in your club is registered as a member of both the club and Swim Wales as annually Swim Wales submit these details to our insurers who provide cover for registered members only. These details are subject to checks by the insurers in the event of any claim/litigation processes being instigated. We provide a reduced fee period during Jan – March outside of this period the appropriate annual fee is payable. The membership year runs annually from 1st April to 31st March. We welcome individual memberships from those residing outside of Wales or anyone who wishes to remain unattached (rules apply). The benefits of memberships include the following;
Thank you for your continued support and we wish you every success for the year ahead……… Jemma Lowe announces retirementThis month saw the announcement that Jemma Lowe has taken the decision to retire from Swimming Jemma Lowe swam for Wales for over 10 years. She competed at her first Commonwealth Games at the age of 15 (Melbourne 2006). Since then, she has competed at numerous international competitions, representing Wales at three Commonwealth Games and Great Britain at two Olympic Games, plus World Championships and European Championships. Jemma joined Hartlepool Swimming Club when she was 8 years old, but her parents introduced her and her sister to the pool when they were babies as they wanted them to develop the crucial life skill for safety. Jemma then moved to Stockton's Swimming Club to progress her swimming. She trained there for seven years with Graeme Antwhistle. She qualified for her first Olympic Games in 2008 whilst at Stockton. After her first Olympics, she went to train in Florida for a few years, where she was part of the Women's Swimming NCAA winning team in 2010. At the end of 2010, she returned to the UK and trained in Swansea with Bud McAllister, qualifying for her second Olympic Games in London. After 2012, she moved to Bath ITC where she was training towards the Olympic year with Dave McNulty and her previous coach Graeme Antwhistle. Jemma's achievements
All the very best from all at Swim Wales! Swim Wales welcomes new Sport ScientistBen Scott is the Performance Sport Scientist at Swim Wales. Ben joined Swim Wales in February having recently attained a Distinction in his Exercise Physiology Masters degree at Loughborough University. Alongside his academic studies Ben managed to gain practical work experience in the academy at Leicester City Football Club and the academy pathway at Leicester Tigers RFU. It was on a year abroad however, working as a Performance Physiology Intern at High Performance Sport New Zealand, where Ben really cut his teeth in the world of high performance sport science support. Here he assisted the delivery of physiology support for a number of international athletes in Athletics, Canoe/Kayak and Sailing. Welcome to the team Ben! Swim Wales Regional ChampsSwimmers from West, South East and North Wales competed in the Swim Wales Regional Competitions over 5 days of competition. The event, which included two full weekends of swimming, was a success across the country with support from over 100 dedicated volunteers and officials. Swim Wales would like to recognise and thank the efforts of all those involved in supporting such a fantastic event. Congratulations to all of our swimmers, in particular those who gained personal bests and who qualified for the Swim Wales Easter Long Course championships as a result. There we even a few surprise visits from Swimming hero’s, including Liam Tancock at the North Regional event. Swansea Sports AwardsGood Luck for next month to all nominees who have been shortlisted to the final of the Swansea Sports Awards.
The 2016 winners will be announced in a special ceremony held at the Brangwyn Hall on Thursday 16 March 2017. 'Learn to Swim Wales' goes InternationalHarbor Swim School in Saudi Arabia have recently adapted 'Learn to Swim Wales' as their LTS programme. They will be teaching the Welsh framework in their Swim School from March 2017. Lee Evans who runs the swim school approached us to use the Welsh framework having previously used this whilst working in North Wales. Welcome aboard Lee and your swim team! Also welcome to Olympia Swim School in Bangor, North Wales who have changed over from the ASA plan to the Welsh framework. Welcome on board Alan Gregson and team! City of Cardiff Swimming ClubSOUTH EAST WALES REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS The City of Cardiff Swimming Club had an outstanding regional championships, with a record number of swimmers qualifying for the event. This year, without some of the senior swimmers at the meet as they were competing elsewhere, the club had 149 swimmers qualify with over 900 swims between them! This meant a very hectic time for the coaches, and also the small army of team managers who assisted over the two weekends to ensure the swimmers got to their races on time! On the first weekend, the club had a very strong showing in the distance events. Special mention must be made of Cian Hughes who took his first regional title in the boys 12 years 1500m freestyle. He was matched in the 14 years event by Ellis Young who stormed to victory in this age group while for the girls, the club made a clean sweep of wins from 12 year olds upwards. The winners were Arwen Stephens (12 years), Becci De Torres (13 years), Morgana Moretti (14 years), Ciara Morris (15-16 years) and Katie Rees (17 years and over). It was really nice to see some new swimmers winning medals at this meet – Ruby Stephens, Sophie Brassington, Georgia Iles and Carwyn Stephens were all amongst the medal winners in the 11 years age group over a number of events. Isobel Joseph was another prolific new medal winner in the 12 years age group, where she joined Arwen Stephens in scooping a brace of medals for the club. In the 13 years age group, there were many close fought battles for the top two medals in the boys events between Kaden Edwards and Cai Wardhaugh, while for the girls Becci de Torres, Amy Shelton and Rosie Domican were again prominent on the podium across a range of events. The standard of swimming was very high at the meet, and the coaching staff were all very pleased with the level of skill and determination displayed by all of the Cardiff swimmers. The championships, which were held over two weekends, were rounded off in style with the relay events which were very exciting from the start. The club won every relay that they contested, and with A and B teams in these events it meant that the strength and depth of swimming prowess in the club was on display. Many congratulations to all who competed at this event, and thanks to all of the officials and volunteers who helped to make it such a resounding success. DAVE McCULLAGH MEMORIAL MEET, BANGOR An intrepid band of 3 swimmers and a coach travelled to the Swim Ulster International/Dave McCullagh Memorial Meet in Bangor Northern Ireland to compete in what is one of the top events on the Irish domestic calendar. This is a fantastic senior meet that has A and B finals for every event, and it was one of the first opportunities for the Irish swimmers to post qualifying standards for the World Championships, World Junior Championships and European Junior Games. As a result of this, it swam very fast with a number of Irish senior and junior records being broken. It also attracted a strong contingent from the University of Stirling including 3 of their Olympians, as well as a strong team of Para swimmers from the Scottish national team. Ioan Evans was in scintillating form for the club. Despite being 15 years old this year, he made the A final of the 400m and 1500m freestyle as well as the 200m Backstroke. In addition, he made the B finals of the 50m and 100m Backstroke as well as the 200m Freestyle. His best effort was in the 1500m Freestyle where he smashed 6 seconds off his best time to record a swift 16:28.73 for 3rd place and recording a qualifying standard for the GB trials event to be held in Sheffield in April Logan Davies made B finals of the 400m Freestyle and 200m Butterfly, while Craig Barnes made the B final of the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke events. All three swimmers acquitted themselves well, and enjoyed the challenges of the meet. Logan was especially good at navigating the streets of Belfast to ensure we got to the pool in Bangor on time every day! Our thanks go to all involved at Swim Ulster for the very warm reception we received, and for hosting such a fantastic meet. CARDIFF CLOSED INVITATIONAL MEET City of Cardiff Swimming Club hosted their first meet of 2017 at the Cardiff International Pool on 18th & 19th February. Invites to the meet were accepted from Barry, Celtic Dolphins City of Newport, City of Oxford, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath, RCT, Severnside Tritons and Torfaen Dolphins. Along with Cardiff swimmers from our academy and competitive squads as well as a few fast track swimmers seeking to renew some old PB's competed over the weekend, there were 393 swimmers competing in the 50m pool. For some it was their first competition and for others it was their first competition swimming in a long course pool! Over the weekend there were some great swims from all swimmers achieving lots of personal best times, with numerous speeding tickets awarded over the weekend. Out of the pool, a number of Fundraising activities took place including a Coach Plank Competition. Swimmers were able to nominate their coach and after a long 5 minutes Coach Andrew from Merthyr Tydfil was victorious. Olympian Liam Tancock was on hand to judge the competition and after invited all the swimmers for a mass poolside selfie. Our thanks go to those who donated a total of £100 which goes to the Keith Bewley Swimming Trust Fund. Congratulations go to City of Oxford who won the Top Team Award, supplied by Swans UK and also retained the Dave Haller Cup after an exciting round of relay events on Saturday evening. Coach Ben thanked all of the officials and volunteers for making the meet run so smoothly and a big well done to all Cardiff swimmers who swam fast whilst holding a high level of skills which was most pleasing to see. KEITH BEWLEY Keith Bewley dedicated his whole life to the swimming and CCSC wish to continue his work through a new fund. The money raised through the Swimming Trust will establish a fund to honour Keith’s fantastic contribution to the sport and ensure his work continues to help swimmers in the future. It will be used to help swimmers from City Of Cardiff Swimming Club achieve their long-term goals. The precise criteria will be announced as soon as possible. Money raised so far has reached over £2500. If you wish to donate, please click on the link. In memory of Keith Bewley just giving page New Welsh RecordMartyna Ruszkowska from Swim Gwynedd broke the Junior Welsh Short Course record in the 50m Backstroke (SC) in a time of 29.07 North Wales Regional Championships, Llandudno. 3/2/17 Well done ! The Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK), the drowning prevention charity, Runners and Walkers awareness campaign is primarily a social media-based campaign and targets running and walking groups as well as individuals. The purpose of the campaign is to highlight that this group is the highest group at risk of accidental drowning. The campaign is running from 20 – 26 February, warning the public to be extra careful around water. Latest figures show (2013) of the 381 people who unnecessarily lost their life to drowning in the UK – 126 were runners or walkers. This represents a third of all drowning victims. Click here to view our Runners and Walkers Campaign Marketing Pack. Download campaign marketing resources here. Top 5 Water Safety Tips near open water:
Tides In the UK tides are relatively regular and predictable, yet despite this fact every year a number of people are caught out by rapidly rising water and end up being trapped in isolated bays. If you intend to venture across any beach or bank affected by tidal water make sure you know when the incoming tide is expected and know where all the exits are. Swim Wales wish Phil Melhuish the best of luck in his New Zealand adventureSwim Wales would like to say a massive thank you to Phil Melhuish for his incredible contribution and dedication to performance swimming in Wales both as a Coach and a Swimmer. Phil has been involved directly in Welsh swimming for over 30 years and in that time has excelled both in the pool and on poolside. As a swimmer, Phil spent almost 10 years as the number 1 breaststroke swimmer in Wales and in that time broke over 20 Welsh Senior records. Phil’s highlight year came in 1994, a season which saw him represent Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, and also rank top 12 in the world in the short course pool. After retiring from competition, Phil immediately went into the coaching arena (starting his career as a head coach at Swansea Valley SC) and his subsequent career coaching in Wales has been exceptional. Phil moved to Bridgend County Swim Squad in 2003, and since then has coached an incredible number of swimmers to international selection including Welsh National squads, GB European Junior teams, GB Open water teams, GB European Youth Olympic Festival teams and Commonwealth Games teams. He has also coached tri athlete Helen Jenkins to represent GB at 3 Olympic Games. He has himself gained selection numerous times to coach on international teams, including Welsh National Youth and Senior teams and GB Junior squads. Phil will be moving to New Zealand at the start of March to take on a new coaching challenge, and Swim Wales wish Phil and his wife Deb all the very best of luck in their new adventure. His engaging, fun and professional personality will be greatly missed around the poolside’s of Wales. Thank you Phil and Good luck form all of us at Swim Wales. Swim Wales LogoIt has been drawn to our attention that Swim Wales logos are being used outside of the organisation on clothing and marketing materials. The Swim Wales logo must NOT be used without prior consent of Swim Wales. This applies to any of the SW logos in any format or colour. If authorisation is granted, any artwork MUST be approved by Swim Wales in the first instance prior to any publication. Best wishes to Martyn WoodroffeSwim Wales staff wish Martyn Woodroffe best wishes for the future as he steps down from Swim Wales Board of Directors. Martyn Joined the Board as a non-executive member after his retirement from his position of National Performance Director. Martyn has been a huge part of Welsh swimming for many years and will be sorely missed. BUCS SwimmingLast weekend saw the BUCS swimming event in Ponds Forge, Sheffield. Cardiff Uni and Swansea Uni came 11th & 15th respectively The competition was also the 1st race of the year for double Olympic silver medalist Jazz Carlin, although she couldn't compete in any final as she is not an academic student at the university, she still put in a good performance and topped the 900 IPS points mark, with efforts of 2:00.66 and 4:14.64 in the 200 and 400m freestyle. Well done to all who took part! Upcoming eventsAvailable CoursesTo register an expression of interest in our Level 2 Coaching Open Water course in South East Wales, please email katie.genan@swimming.org Level 2 Swimming Teacher – Ebbw Vale Sports Centre – 25.03.2017 -03.05.2017 - 1 Place Level 2 Coaching Aquatic Pre-FUNdamentals – Llantrisant Leisure Centre – 09.05.2017 – 30.05.2017- 1 Place For more information please contact Katie Genan on 01792 513580 or click HERE Do you have any news stories?If you have any news stories that you would like to be included in our newsletter, please forward to llinos.morris@swimming.org before the last Friday of each month. Swim Wales will also advertise any vacancies from affiliated clubs. If you would like your vacancy included and posted on our website and social media chanels, please send the vacancy job title, link to your website where the full job description can be found, how to apply and a closing date along with your club/swim school logo. Swim Wales, WNPS, Sketty Lane, Swansea. SA2 8QG Tel: 01792 513636 |