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David claims his 2nd Club Record at the Kate Lack Open Meet

Well done to David Shipman for breaking the Potters Bar club record for the Boys 11 & Under 100m Freestyle when swimming at last weekends Kate Lack Open Meet at Barnet Copthall. His time of 1 05.15 surpassed Jonathan's Quinn's record of 1 05.61 set in April 2002. David has trained extremely well over recent months and he is reaping the rewards of his efforts. This is the second Club record that David has broken this year.

Land Training programme

We are now taking bookings for places on the next "block" of ten land training sessions that will start on Friday 15th June. This block will run through to August 25th. It is clear from the recent performances of our swimmers that this additional "strength and conditioning" training has contributed greatly. The cost of this "block" of ten (10) sessions will be £25. To secure your place on the programme please register your interest by email to pbscselection@gmail.com

NB The Land Training programme is open in the first instance to all swimmers in Squads 1 and 2 and takes place on Friday evenings between 7pm and 8 pm. Those swimmers that wish to take part in this session must also commit to swimming in the Friday night Squad session between 8.15 pm and 9.15pm.

Time Trials for Squad 3, 4 and 5 - Sunday 27th May 2012 at FF

On Sunday 27th May 2012 we will be holding time trials at the Furzefield Sports Centre for all swimmers that are in Squads 3, 4 and 5. We are running the time trials to give our swimmers some valuable competitive swimming experience within the club environment and to establish current times in advance of the Potters Bar Summer Open meet. All Squad 3, 4 and 5 swimmers are encouraged to take part!

The swimmers will be competing over 50 metres on all the four strokes (time permitting) and the event will require all swimmers to "sign in" on the night by 5.45 pm. It is very important thall all swimmers sign in by this time so that the necessary "meet management" paperwork can be printed so that the time trials can start promptly. NB Please note that if swimmers do not sign in by 5.45pm then it is highly likely that you will not be able to take part. Clearly we do not want anybody to be disappointed so please arrive in good time to sign in.

On the night we hope to have electronic timing in operation so this should add to the excitement and enjoyment for swimmers and parents. The event will be subject to ASA rules and will be "officiated" by qualified officials from within the Club. We will have access to the pool from 6.15pm and need to be finished before 8.15 pm when the public swimming session starts.The results from these time trials will be entered into the Club database and are used to help select teams that represent the Club.

Kate Lack Trophy Results

A great turn out and lots of spectacular swims for Potters Bar swimmers at the Kate Lack trophy at Barnet Copthall on Sunday.  We were the third largest team with over 158 swims, 26 first places, 20 second places and 13 thirds.  To top it all we believe there were two new regional qualifying times set which takes the number of swimmers qualifying for regionals to 7 this year.  More details on this when we confirm the results have been posted to the national database.

Meanwhile the results summary is here.

Dunstable Gareth Jeans team gala results

The Potters Bar team won 14 out of the 49 events in this invitation gala at Dunstable on Saturday against Dunstable SC, Flitwick Dolphins SC, Witney SC and Aylesbury SC.  They were narrowly pipped into third place but plenty of great swims.  Here is the result sheet.

Squad 5 Training session on Sunday evenings

Squad 5 swimmers are invited to attend an additional session on Sunday evenings at the FF between 6.15pm and 7.15pm. 

PBSC swimmers represent Mid Herts Schools Team

The Club was well represented in the Mid Herts School Team that competed at the Primary schools district gala that was held at Watford earlier this evening. This event also acted as the selection trials for the Hertfordshire Primary School Team.

Those selected for the Mid Herts School team from the Club were: -

Kate Andrew, Katie Harrison, Elise Cork, Sophia Zeinden, Adam Zeinden, Katie Hamshere, Thomas Stanbury, Sean Lovell, Yasmine Crowe, Adam Gill, Edward Burt, Georgianna Balchin, Morgan Newman, Ben Harrison, Greg Hurley, Georgina and Stephanie Tallon and Susan Bugg. Well done to all these swimmers!

A particular well done to Morgan, Ben, Thomas and Georgianna for being selected to represent Herts County Primary schools team in a forthcoming Inter-County event to be held at Watford.

Our swimmers times have now been published on the PBSC Hytek Database that can be accessed via the swimmers times page.

Busy weekend ahead for PBSC swimmers!

This weekend we have a team of swimmers representing PBSC at the "Gareth Jeans" gala that is taking place in Dunstable on Saturday evening. We will be competing  against Dunstable SC, Flitwick Dolphins SC, Witney SC and Aylesbury SC in this team event - Good Luck to all those swimmers representing PBSC.

On Sunday we have a large team of swimmers competing at the Kate Lack Open Meet that is being held at Barnet Copthall Pool. It will be good to see how our swimmers perform particularly those who are looking to achieve Regional QT's before the closing date for entries next week. Last year we came away from the event with the "Top Club" Trophy and we hope to be in the running for it again this year - Good Luck to all those competing!  

PBSC Camping Trip

The camping trip over the weekend of the 6th, 7th and 8th of July has proved to be very popular with members. There are still pitches available should any more members like to come along - If you are interested you need to speak to Steve Shipman as soon as possible.  Scroll down this page for the full details of the campsite and its website.

For those that have already expressed an interest deposits of £10 need to be paid to Steve by Wednesday 16th May 2012 so that numbers can be finalised. Email secretary@pottersbarsc.co.uk and your email will be forwared to Steve.

Time Trials on Sunday 27th May 2012

We will be holding time trials over 50m for swimmers in Squads 3, 4 and 5. This will afford the swimmers the opportunity to have times recorded in advance of the PBSC Summer Open Meet. All swimmers in Squads 3, 4 and 5 are encouraged to take part in the time trial to gain experience. The swimmers times are also recorded in the Clubs Database and are used by the PBSC Selection committee to select the teams to represent the Club in the various leagues and galas that we participate in. More details concerning the time trials will be posted nearer the date.

PBSC Summer Open Meet - Saturday 30th June 2012

Just a quick reminder to PBSC swimmers to submit their entries for the PBSC Summer open meet promptly. The event is licensed at ASA Level 3 so times recorded at the event will be entered into the ASA's rankings database and will also be eligible to be used as qualification times for the Herts County Championships in 2013. The full details of the open meet and how to enter are on the PBSC Open meets page of this website.

A good evening had by all at the PBSC Social

About 150 PBSC members attended the social and disco held at Elm Court on Saturday. It was great to see the kids having a great time and there were some star performers on the dance floor and stage! Swimmers who represented PBSC in the National Arena League were awarded certificates marking their contribution to the team that gained promotion to Division 2. Swimmers who represented the PBSC-Jade Team, which  in the teams first year in the Herts Major League secured promotion to Division 2, were also awarded certificates to recognise their fantastic performance - Well done to all swimmers!

Amy Mason was awarded "swimmer of the month" trophy having excelled in recent weeks at training and having put in some great swims in the first round of the Peanuts League. Well done Amy!

A big thank you to Karen Lawson for organising an enjoyable evening and to all those that helped with the set up, the running of the bar/raffle and for the Chef's that worked hard in the kitchen.

Additional Squad 5 session on Sunday evenings!

Squad 5 swimmers are invited to train on a Sunday evening at the Furzefield Sports Centre between 6.15 pm and 7.15 pm. The PBSC Coaching team are keen for Squad 5 swimmers to take advantage of this additional session to help improve performances in the Peanuts League and the forthcoming Potters Bar Summer Open Meet. The first session will be on Sunday 29th April 2012. We look forward to seeing Squad 5 swimmers on Sunday evening. This session will be reviewed at the end of June .

This message has been "tweeted" to PBSC members so please follow us at @pottersbarswim if you have not already done so!

PBSC Blue Team put in a great performance and come 3rd in 1st round of Peanuts Division 1

The Blue team finished in a very credible third place with 148 points behind winners Hatfield (128 points) and City of St Albans (136 points). These are two of the biggest and strongest Clubs in the League so to finish so close behind them was an excellent performance. Over the course of the gala we had 14 1st places, 7 2nd places, 9 3rd places and just one DQ. Twenty four (24) personal best times were also recorded by PBSC Swimmers.

There were individual wins for Ben Harrison, David Shipman, Morgan Newman, James Woodward and Thomas Stanbury. In winning the 25m backstroke in a time of 17.97 seconds Thomas Stanbury broke the Club Record that had stood for over 9 years.

Well done to all PBSC Blue Team swimmers on an excellent performance. 

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "I am very pleased with the performance of both the Blue and Jade Teams. We have the 2nd round in a few weeks time and I'd like to see everyone put in a few extra sessions so that we can build on these 1st round performances. Well done to Thomas on breaking the 25m backstroke Club record"

PBSC Jade Team Win First Round of Peanuts Division 3

Here is the gala report for the Jade Team kindly written by Anna Church - many thanks for the report!

"It was an exciting night for the members of the Jade team at Borehamwood on Saturday. They won the close fought gala with a total of 148 points (9 points ahead of Hitchin, their nearest rival.) Amy Mason got the gala off to a great start by winning the freestyle and getting a personal best. There were also individual wins by Jordan Seal, Eliza Connery, Luke Maddock-Lyon, Lucy Hopkins, James Blount, Alex Ayres, Madeleine Formby and Jack Shewell-Cooper. The 9 year old girls (Anna Shipman, Eliza Connery, Holly Bradbury, Ella Higgens and Victoria Curley) and the 12 year old boys(Luke Maddock-Lyon, Nicholas Formby, Alex Ayres, Jack Shewell-Cooper and Josef Wheeler) won both the freestyle and medley relays. And the 11 year old boys (James Blount, Jordan Seal, Edward Burt and Ismail Mert) won their freestyle relay. We finished the evening off with an exciting squadron swim in which we came second with a brilliant final leg by Jack Shewell-Cooper in a time of 14.94 seconds! 

Coach Bronwen Hardy said "The children were fantastic they all swam brilliantly and the result was well deserved!"

The results from this gala are on the "reports and results" page and are also on the PBSC Hytek Database accessed through the link on the swimmers tims page. For relay splits make sure you click on the "relays" button and then the "splits" button and this will bring up the swimmers relay split times.  Here are some photos from the gala.

Follow PBSC on "Twitter"

Club members are now able to follow PBSC on "Twitter" @pottersbarswim . We will be "tweeting" news from the Club so if you have a "Twitter" account then please sign up to to keep up to date with the latest news.

Morgan Newman achieves two Regional qualifying times

Morgan attended the Redbridge Regional qualifying open meet this weekend with the aim of achieving two regional qualifying times (RQT's). In recent weeks he has worked really hard in training and his efforts paid off in that he attained RQT's in the 200m IM and 100m Breaststroke. The added bonus was that he won the gold medals in these events and the 100m backstroke too. His 100m Backstroke time was a 9 second personal best - Well done Morgan and keep up the hard work in training!

Morgan is one of five PBSC swimmers that have qualified to swim in the Regional Championships that take place in June. The Championships are being held at te 50m pool in Norwich. Ben Harrison, Thomas Stanbury, Georgina Lawson and Phoebe Love are our other qualifiers.

Herts ASA on "Twitter" and "Facebook"

PBSC swimmers and members may wish to sign up to Hertfordshire ASA's "Twitter" and "Facebook" accounts to gain instant unpdates from them regarding swimming in the County. See their website www.hertsasa.org.uk for more information.

Camping Trip - Friday 6th to Sunday 8th July 2012

Steve Shipman is kindly co-ordinating a camping trip over the above weekend for PBSC swimmers and families. A number of pitches have been reserved at the Hurley riverside park campsite in Hurley. The website for this campsite is www.hurleyriversidepark.co.uk which gives full details of the site and amenities available.

To secure your pitch requires a payment of £10 to Steve as soon as possible with the remaining balance to be paid to the campsite on arrival. A pitch for a small tent (up to 4 metres) to include 2 people costs £19 per night. A larger tent (up to 6 metres) to include 2 people costs £21 per night. Extra adults are £3 per night and extra children are £2 per night. Dogs are welcome too at a cost of £2 per night.This camping trip is open to all PBSC members and the site is a short drive away from Chessington World of Adventures.

Speak to Steve Shipman to reserve your pitch or email secretary@pottersbarsc.co.uk and your email will be forwarded to him. This is a good opportunity for the kids to have a fun weekend together away from the pool and enjoy the fresh air!

Peanuts League - Round 1

This weekend we will have about seventy of our youngest swimmers competing in the Peanuts League 2012. We have the PBSC - Jade Team competing in Division 3 at the Venue, Borehamwood (meet at 5.45pm) and PBSC - Blue Team in Division 1 at Stevenage (meet at 6pm). This should be a great experience for our swimmers and the PBSC Coaching team are keen to see how they perform.

Bronwen Hardy, PBSC - Jade Team Coach "I am looking forward to a great evening with the Jade team and I'm sure the swimmers will swim their socks off and have a fun night"

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC - Blue Team Coach "We are swimming against some of the strongest clubs in Hertfordshire so I'm looking for the Blue team to put in a big performance. Every point will count so its so important that we avoid unnecessary disqualifications and I'm confident we will do well if we do"

Want to swim like Rebecca Adlington?

PBSC swimmers will enjoy this video of Rebecca Adlington. There are some great underwater shots in which she demonstrates great streamlining and the importance of a good "catch" and "pull" through the water. Excellent streamlining is one of the most important skills that all competitive swimmers need to acquire! The "catch" and "pull" is equally as important as this helps generate speed through the water. Let your Coach know if you have viewed this video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuJo_lVmO1Q 

Starts and Turns - Friday 13th April

Just a reminder that this fridays session will be a "starts" and "turns" session and that all swimmers in Squad 1, 2, 3 and 4 are encouraged to attend. With the first round of the Peanuts League just a week away we are keen to see many of our younger swimmers at this session for some extra practice. 

Social and Disco at Elm Court Saturday 28th April

Put the date in your diaries.  There is a club social and disco at Elm Court on Saturday 28th April to celebrate the success at Herts Majors, the Herts Counties amongst others and to look forward to the forth coming Peanuts galas.  Start time 7.30pm and price £3.00 each.  Licenced bar and food available.  Tickets available from the "Help Desk" on the balcony from this Friday.

Phoebe at the Welsh National Age Group Championships

Over the Easter weekend 14 year old Phoebe Love will be competing in the Welsh National Age Group Championships that are being held at the 50m pool in Swansea, Wales. She has a busy weekend competing in the 50m, 100m, 200m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke and 100m Butterfly. In the 50m Freestyle she is currently seeded as the fourth fastest 14 year old in the age group. Phoebe will be cheered on by members of her family who live locally so she will have plenty of supporters to impress.  Good luck to Phoebe from all at PBSC!

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "Phoebe should be delighted she has qualified for the Welsh National Championships as this is a big achievement in itself.That said she has a great chance to make finals and I'm confident that in front of her supporters she will swim well and be a great ambassador for PBSC"

Potters Bar Summer Open Meet - Saturday 30th June 2012

We are now accepting entries to this years summer open meet which will be held at the Furzefield Sports Centre in Potters Bar. This event is an ASA Level 3 Licensed event so swimmers times will be eligible for the ASA's rankings database and for entry to next years Herts ASA County Championships. At PBSC we appreciate the importance of rewarding swimmers and will be making awards for those placed in the first eight (9/10 yrs and 11/12 years age groups) and to the top six in all other age categories. We are also mindful of the cost of entries so have fixed this at £4 per entry which is much less than the current norm.

Please click on the PBSC Open Meets Tab on the left of this page for full details including meet conditions, programme of events, upper and lower qualifying times and HYTEK files for visiting Club entries. This is a very popular event so you are advised to submit entries promptly.

PBSC Swimmers need to submit their entries via email to pbscsummeropen@gmail.com . The entry form can be found on the PBSC Open Meets page. Please also submit a hard copy entry to the Coaching Team or a member of the PBSC Committee. 

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "I am very keen to have a big entry from the Club and encourage all PBSC swimmers to compete in as many events as possible. There are medals and prizes for the first eight in some age groups and the first six in others so there is a good chance that your efforts will be rewarded"

South Herts Trophy

The results for the South Herts Trophy have been posted on the "reports and results page" and can also be accessed through the PBSC Hytek on line database the link for which is on the "Swimmers times" page on this website.

Last nights gala was a great introduction to competition racing for many of the young swimmers that took part and the PBSC Blue team put in a good performance to finish second to Hoddesdon SC by just seven points. PBSC Jade team also swam well and gained valueable experience ahead of the forthcoming Peanuts League.

Click on the below link for some pictures from last nights event.

https://picasaweb.google.com/115496772782293772798/SouthHertsTrophyMarch2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCNq0h5bm5cagywE#5726402412930861618

Swimmer of the Month - March 2012

At the end of last night's training session PBSC Head Coach Wray Shewell-Cooper awarded the swimmer of the month trophy to 10 year old Thomas Stanbury who trains in Squad 2. Thomas put in some great performances at the Herts County Championships in his first year of competition and won a bronze medal in the 50m Backstroke in a time that was just 0.03 seconds off the PBSC Club record. He also finished in fourth place in the 10 year olds BAGCATS competition and recorded several Regional Qualifying times which is a great ahcievement. Well done - Thomas!

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "This months award has been the most difficult for me to decide upon after a number great performances by PBSC swimmers at the Herts County Championships. Thomas has swum really well in his first year of competition and to win medals at the Counties, achieve Regional Qualifying times and come 4th in the BAGCATS competition is a real stand out performance" , "We have the Peanut's League and South Herts Trophy coming up and I'm looking for our younger swimmers to impress me over the next month"

Georgie at Scottish National Agegroups

This weekend Georgina Lawson, Girls Club Captain, will travel to the Sunderland Aquatics Centre to compete in the Scottish Gas National Age Groups Championships 2012 which are being held between the Saturday the 31st of March and Tuesday the 3rd of April. Georgina will be competing against Scotlands top swimmers in her age group at this National long course event. Georgie achieved qualifying times in the 100 back stroke and the 100 freestyle which will be swum on the Saturday and Tuesday afternoons. Good luck Georgie.

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach - “I am delighted that Georgina has qualified for the Scottish National Age Group Championships. It’s well deserved given her efforts over the last year and I’m sure she will thoroughly enjoy the event. I’m confident she will swim well and be a great ambassador for Potters Bar SC. Hopefully Georgie will rise to the challenge having just completed 2 weekends swimming at the County Championships"

Six PBSC Swimmers finish in the top 8 in the Herts ASA BAGCATS Competition

In this years BAGCATS we have six PBSC swimmers that have finished in the top eight of their age groups BAGCAT competition. They are Kate Andrew, Katie Harrison, Thomas Stanbury, Ben Harrison, Morgan Newman and David Shipman who are all invited to attend the presentation evening at Welwyn Civic Centre, Prospect Place, Welwyn, AL6 9ER on Wednesday 28th March 2012 where the final placings will be revealed. The presentation evening starts at 7pm. Our Bronze medal winning relay team of Georgina Lawson, Andrea Houben, Claire Dean and Phoebe Love are also invited to the presentation where they will be awarded their medals. Katie Gormley is also invited so she can be awarded her silver medal in the 1500m Freestyle.

The PBSC Coaching team are extremely pleased that so many of our swimmers have finished in the top eight and shows a big improvement on last year were we had two top eight finishes. In order to participate in the overall BAGCAT competition, you must enter and compete in at least one event from a number of categories. Points are scored for each event, dependent upon the time swum, contributing to an overall score and position. If you enter more than 1 event in any category it is only the “best” score that counts towards the overall competition.  

And more medal winning performances on the final day of the Herts County Championships!

Well done to Thomas Stanbury who swam a fantastic 50m backstroke on the final day that won him the bronze medal in the 10 year boys age group. Ben Harrison rounded off a very successful championhips by winning the silver medal in the 400m Freestyle. Both swimmers recorded personal best times to finish on the podium - Well done to Thomas and Ben.

We are awaiting the official result files from Herts ASA before posting our swimmers times on the website/swimmers times database but will do so as soon as we are able. That said the PBSC Coaching Team are delighted with the overall performance of PBSC swimmers at this years Championships.

PBSC swimmers win more medals at Herts County Championships 2012 and David Shipman breaks a Club Record

There has been more success this weekend at the Herts County Championships 2012 that are being held the Venue in Borehamwood as follows: -

1) David Shipman was in "red hot" form in the 50m Freestyle where he smashed the 11 year old boys Club record on the way to winning the silver medal - Well done David - well deserved.

2) Olivia Seal and Kate Andrew won silver and bronze medals respectively in the girls 9 years 50m butterfly, both girls swimming personal best performances to do so. Well done to Olivia and Kate!

3) Morgan Newman and Ben Harrison won silver and bronze medals respectively in the boys 11 years 200m breaststroke - Again both recorded new PB's for this event - Well done to Morgan and Ben.

There is one final day to go so we are hopeful of more medal winning performances and PB's from our swimmers.

Good luck to all that are competing tomorrow.

Good News

Masters rankings for 2011 are out and John Cunningham is ranked 3rd in the world for 50m and 100m short course butterfly!

Long-standing club member and masters swimmer Richard McGonegle picked up an award for "Highly Commended Adult Volunteer of the Year" at the Enfield Sports Awards for his work with Enfield swimming clubs.

Well done both.

Herts County Championships - Update!

Sunday

It has been another good day at The Venue, Borehamwood where our swimmers have continued with the good form of yesterday.They have again swum fantastically with many recording personal best times in their events. Again a number of medals have been won and they are summarised as follows: -

1) Georgina Lawson won a silver medal in the 14 year old 100m Backstroke, which added to her bronze medal of the previous day. Unfortunately Georgina injured her hand as she finished and had to withdraw from the 200m Backstroke and 100m Butterfly that was held later in the day.

2) Ben Harrison added to his haul of medals with another silver medal in the 11 year olds 50m Breaststroke and bronze medals in the 200m Individual medley and 200m Freestyle.

3) David Shipman raced to a bronze medal in the 11 year olds 50m Breaststroke, making it 2nd and 3rd for PBSC. 

4) Lauren Andrew swam a very determined 100m Butterfly which saw her win the bronze medal in the 11 year old Girls age group.

Again many of the PBSC swimmers swam PB's and we are awaiting the official results so we can enter them into the Club database. Well done to all swimmers that competed today and in particular to Thomas Stanbury and Morgan Newman who both achieved Regional Qualifying Times. Thomas attained qualifying times for the 200 IM and 200m Freestyle and Morgan the 200m Freestyle. Despite achieving these Regional Times they were both placed just outside the medals so this gives some indication as to the high standard of swimming that has been seen at The Venue over the weekend. 

Wray Shewell-Cooper " We have continued with good performances today and again I am delighted with the efforts of our swimmers. Despite it being the second day of competition many of the swimmers recorded PB's and won medals so they deserve a big "Well done". I'm looking forward to next weekend and hopeful that the good performances will continue"

Saturday

Today we have had a large number of our swimmers competing at The Venue in Borehamwood in sessions 2, 3 and 4 of the Herts County Championships. Many of our swimmers have put in great swims and recorded personal best times. We have also had swimmers achieve podium finishes in their events which can be summarised as follows: -

1) Phoebe Love swam an extremely fast 50m Freestyle to win the silver medal in the 14 year age group. This swim was just 0.03 seconds outside the PBSC Club Record.

2) Ben Harrison was in the medals with silver in the 400 IM and Bronze medals in the 50m Butterfly and 200m Backstroke. His 200m Backstroke was a Regional qualifying time.

3) Georgina Lawson swam a very fast 100m Freestyle in the 14 year old age group and won the bronze medal which is another great achievement.

4) The 15 & Under Girls 4 x 50m Freestyle Team of Phoebe Love, Claire Dean, Andrea Houben and Georgina Lawson put in a big performance to come third and collect the bronze medal. This is the Club's first relay medal at these Championships for many years. All of these swimmers will be eligible to represent the Club in the same event next year which is great news.

Many of our swimmers recorded PB's and these will be published once they have been inputted to the Club Database but a "big well done" to all those swimmers who raised their performance today.

Well done to Thomas Stanbury who became PBSC's fifth qualifier for the Regional Championships that take place later in the year. Thomas qualified in the 200m Backstroke and surpassed the qualifying time by over seven seconds. This swim placed him fourth today in the 10 year olds age group - Well done - Thomas!

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "PBSC swimmers have really stepped up today and I'm delighted with so many PB's. The medals won by our swimmers are an added bonus and hopefully we can continue with more great swims over the remaining sessions."

Hertfordshire County Championships 2012 - Warm up Times

Sunday 18th March 2012

Session 5 - warm up starts @ 0830 hrs and Session 6 - warm up starts @ 1200 hrs

Their will be a "live results" service operating over the weekend so you can keep in touch with the progress of our swimmers over weekend via the following link: -

http://results.hertsasa.org.uk/2012_champs/

Good luck to all those competing this weekend

Fantastic efforts by PBSC Swimmers who raise money for charity by taking part in the Rotary Swimathon

The following report and above pictures have been received courtesy of one of our members: -

"An excellent turn out from Potters Bar SC for the annual Charity Swim Challenge. Out of the 18 teams that entered, 10 teams included Potters Bar swimmers. This was an excellent turn out from the Club. All teams that entered did extremely well and appeared to being having great fun in aid of raising money for both The Alzheimer’s Society and The Orpheus Centre.

"The Girl Racers" (Samantha Over, Phoebe Love, Claire Dean and Rebecca Hurley) were in the lead up until the 6:30pm with a very respectful 56 lengths in 20 minutes of racing.

At 6:30pm The Dream Team (Morgan Newman, Ben Harrison, David Shipman, James Woodward & Thilan Wallalawita) were swimming alongside, or should I say against "The Strokes" (Paul Newman, John Cunningham, Neil Kirk, Nicola Lawrence & Julian Swindale). To say the testosterone levels where running high would have been an understatement. The rolling starts by a certain International master were rather dubious but The Dream Team matched them in speed and take-overs, both finishing with 63 lengths in the name of charity and good fun. The Old Codgers (Chris Dean, Tom Dean, Ed Lawson, Robert Branch and Andy Gardner) achieved 57 lengths in the 20 minutes. Robert swam back to back races, as The Old Codgers were running one short. Well done Robert!

Also racing at the same time where Team Flower Power (Harriet Newman, Victoria Curley, Anna Shipman and Yasmin Wheeler). The team were also one short and very sportingly both Anne Curley and Steven Shipman very kindly offered to step in at the last minute. Steve won the toss of the coin and added to the fabulous job that the girls did, achieving 32 lengths.

It is not currently known how much has been raised to date, but a rough figure of nearly £2,000 has been raised already. Sorry for any accidental omissions but unfortunately, did not see all of the races to comment on"

Many thanks for the report!

PBSC Swimmers enjoy a great evening at the Olympic Aquatic Center

 This evening a number of PBSC Swimmers attended the Olympic Aquatic Center to watch the British Gas Swimming Championships which are doubling up as the Olympic Trials. There was added interest in tonights session in that former PBSC swimmer, Joel Knight was competing in the final of the 1500m freestyle. Joel is pictured left with our swimmers.

Joel qualified for the final in 8th place but put in a fantastic performance to finish fifth  setting a new British record for 16 year olds in a time of 15 mins 24.92 seconds. This mark is also a European Junior Championships qualifying time. This is a great achievement and shows that Joel has great potential to make the 2016 Olympic Team that will compete in Brazil. His performance was an inspiration to our swimmers. Well done Joel!

To round off a great evening PBSC Swimmers managed to secure a great picture with Liam Tancock who is the current 50m Backstroke World Record Holder who secured his place on the London 2012 Olympic Team by winning the 100m backstroke. Our eagle eyed swimmers spotted Liam in the nearby Westfield Shopping Centre and congratulated him on his performances and in return he obliged by posing for a photograph.

       One young PBSC swimmer also managed to scure a hug from Liam after declaring   how much she loved his performances this week or was it how much she loved him?

       Thanks to Liam and good luck to him and all the GB Team at the Olympics

Here is a link to some more great photographs from the British Gas Championships 2012: -

https://picasaweb.google.com/115496772782293772798/BGasSwimmingChampionshipsMarch2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCJnUkYqk-tm9Rg

Joel Knight makes final of 1500m at the British Gas Championships 2012 (Olympic Trials)

Our friend and ex-PBSC swimmer Joel Knight has made the final of the 1500m at the British Gas Championships 2012 at the new Olympic pool. Joel who is 16 years old now attends and swims for Millfield School which has a great reputation for developing some of the very best swimmers in the country.

PBSC members will recall Joel kindly presented awards at the summer social event that we held at the cricket club. Joel also popped in over the summer and helped with sessions with some of our younger swimmers.The Final is on Saturday 10th March and for those that don't have tickets you will be able to watch it via BBC1 (red button) at 1825 hrs. In the final there are two places up for grabs on the GB Olympic Team. There are a number of PBSC members attending tomorrow night and will be rooting for Joel. Good luck to Joel from all of us!

Here are some photos from the heats.  Here is a link to their website.

Anna Church meets three time Olympian and ex-World Record Holder Mark Foster at the British Gas Championships 2012 (Olympic Trials)

  

Here is a super picture of Anna Church with Mark Foster outside the Olympic Aquatic Centre. Anna has been one of many PBSC swimmers that have taken the opportunity to attend the British Gas Championships which are doubling up as the Olympic Trials to select the GB Team.

Well done Anna on securing a great picture!

Herts County Championships 2012 - T-shirts and Hats to be presented on friday evening

This weekend sees the start of the Hertfordshire County Championships 2012. Over the next three weeks we have forty five swimmers from the Club competing which is a record entry. With so many swimmers competing it is going to be a very busy period and we will keep the website updated with our swimmers progress and achievements. Herts ASA will also be running a "real time" on line results service and the link will be published soon. Once it is known we will add it to the website so you can keep up to date with how PBSC Swimmers are doing!

At this fridays Squad session Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach will be presenting "Counties" T-Shirts and Hats to those swimmers competing at this years Championships, so swimmers please come along. We will also take the opportunity to have a team photograph. The "Counties" T-Shirts are to be worn to and from the pool, with the PBSC Rhino T-Shirts to be worn on the pool side. We are keen to have a uniform approach on the deck and be one team all supporting each other!

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach - "The PBSC Coaching Team are looking forward to see how our swimmers perform and have every confidence that we will see some great performances. Hopefully some performances will see podium finishes and I'm confident we will see improved results in the BAGCAT's events. Good luck to all PBSC swimmers and make sure you enjoy the occasion"

Swimmer of the Month - February

Josef Wheeler in Squad 2 was awarded the swimmer of the month trophy at last nights "starts and turns" session by Head Coach Wray. Josef has been a long standing member of the Club who was recently promoted to Squad 2, where he has excelled and managed to progress towards the front of the lane. Josef rarely misses a training session and his efforts have seen him achieve his first County Qualifying Time this year. Well done Josef your award was well deserved!

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "Josef's progress over the last few months has not gone un-noticed by the Coaching Team. His determination and hard work in training has paid off in that he has achieved a County Qualifying time of which he should be rightly proud" 

The Swimmer of the month trophy for March will be awarded at the next "starts and turns" session and with the Hertfordshire County Championships this month there is plenty of opportunity for swimmers to stake a claim for the award.

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "For next months award I am looking for a swimmer who put's in a big performance at the Counties, not necessarily one that win's a medal but a swimmer that shows a big improvement and a big step up! We have forty five swimmers competing so they all have a chance of winning the swimmer of the month trophy"

Herts Major League results published

See the articles below for the links for the swimmers results. The results can also be accessed via the "reports and results " tab. Well done to all swimmers on some great performances !

Kate Lack Open Meet at Barnet Copthall - Sunday 13th May 2012

We will be entering the Kate Lack Open Meet once again and this event is open to all swimmers in Squad 5 and above that meet the criteria for entry. This is a Level 4 Licensed open meet and is suitable for those looking to experience their first competition through to those who are more experienced competitors. It would be great to see some of our newer members taking part in this event as it is likely we will have a big team presence on the poolside. This will be the last opportunity for any swimmers seeking Regional Qualifying Times as Regional Entries Close on May 17th 2012.

The flyer for this event is here and the Upper Qualifying Times are here.

NB The Closing Date for Club Entries is Saturday 3rd March 2012 so don't delay in submitting your entry to Martin Higgins on pbscgalasec@gmail.com

PBSC Blue finish in top 6 of Div 1 Herts Major League

The Blue team took fifth place in the winners gala of the third round of Herts Major League on Saturday.  Chief Coach Wray said "This is a fabulous achievement for a team that was only just promoted to division one this year.  It proves we are truly worthy of our place in division 1".

Up against the top swimmers in the county many of our swimmers were achieving personal best times but still coming fourth or fifth in the races.  The Under 12 boys medley relay team won an exciting first place and boosted team morale. Here are the results. 

Here is a link to some pictures from this gala: -

https://picasaweb.google.com/115496772782293772798/HMLDiv1Final25212?authkey=Gv1sRgCJXA05q8lvqSfw&feat=email

Tania and Josephine qualify as J1 Officials

It wasn't only the swimmers that were put through their paces at the weekend, Tania Houben and Josephine Connery also undertook their J1 Judges assessments at the Herts Major League Div 1 Final and passed with flying colours. They are the latest club members to qualify as officials and thats great news for the Club as we always need plenty of officials to help with the running of gala's at home and when we are competing away.

Officials Training Courses are run by Herts ASA each year and we are keen for any other interested members or parents to undertake the training in support of the Club. If you are interested in undertaking the training then have a chat with Karen Lawson, PBSC's Officials co-ordinator or drop her an email at officials@pottersbarsc.co.uk . It's a great way to help the Club and learn more about our sport.

PBSC Jade Team come 2nd in Herts Major League Division 3

Last night PBSC Jade Team swimmers put in a great performance to win the final round in Division 3 of the Herts Major League 2012.This fantastic result elevated our position in the league to second behind Royston Swimming Club. Niamh Gormley and Robert Mclean, PBSC Jade Team Captains proudly collected the runners up trophy on behalf of the Jade team. This result will see the PBSC Jade Team promoted to Division 2 for next years competition.

On the night there were 19 first places, 11 second places and nine third places and just one disqualification which just shows how well the PBSC Jade team performed. The excellent results in the relay events showcased what great strength in depth we have in the Club and was integral to achieving such a good result.

There were individual first places for April Richards, Jack Higgins, Leah Refson, Charli Stapleton, Lorcan Vieyra,, Paul Newman, Thomas Stanbury, Chris Andrew, Josef Wheeler, Danielle Houben and Robert Mclean - Well done to these swimmers for winning their events!

There were individual second places for Thomas Hay, Rachel Connery, Ellen Hunt, Katherine McEnery and Luke Maddock-Lyon - Well done! Robert Mclean, Ellen Hunt, Martin Higgins, Madeleine Formby, Luke Maddock-Lyon, Rachel Connery and Jack Shewell-Cooper all had individual third place finishes in their events, so well done to them too.

Bronwen Hardy, PBSC Jade team Coach "Last night's performance by the Jade Team built on the excellent results the team had in the earlier rounds so well done to all swimmers that represented the Jade Team this year. I am really pleased with the strength in depth we have in the team and this should help us next year when we are in Division 2"

Here are the results from the gala. In the meantime here is a link to some photographs from the event: -

https://picasaweb.google.com/115528579666953238463/StevenageJadeHSLFeb12?authkey=Gv1sRgCIbY6PCYhq_pdA

Swimmer of the Month - February!

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach will be awarding the PBSC Swimmer of the month trophy at next Friday's "Starts and turns" sesssion so please come along to see who this is awarded too - It may be you!!

"Over the last month I have had a number of swimmers in mind for the award so I have a difficult decision to make over this week" said Wray earlier today when at the PBSC "Big Breakfast".

PBSC "Big Breakfast"

This morning saw a record turn out for Saturday morning training with many swimmers inspired to take part in the PBSC "Big Breakfast" event at the "golden arches!". In fact there were more swimmers there this morning than we see in some our evening squad sessions. Well done to all those swimmers who set their alarm clocks and made it along this morning, we hope to see you and more next week!

Next week we plan another "big breakfast" and plan to go to another venue in Potters Bar. If all PBSC Swimmers could wear their hoodies next week at the "big breakfast" that would be great!

Herts County Championships 2012 - Volunteers required !

We have received a request from Herts ASA seeking volunteers to assist with the running of the Herts Count Championships. Volunteers are required at each of the sessions to assist with roles such as running the door, marshalling, refreshments etc. This year PBSC has a Club record entry and therefore we need to do our bit to make sure these Championships run smoothly so are hoping that some of the parents of our swimmers will be able to assist.

If you are able to assist please email Caroline Holt on caroline.holt1@hotmail.com and please remember to mention that you are from Potters Bar SC. There are sessions on Sunday 11th March and both days of the weekends of March 17th/18 and March 24th and 25th. If you do volunteer please could you let Karen Lawson know too.

PBSC Blue and Jade Teams in action this weekend in the final round of the Herts Major League

The final round of the Herts Major League 2012 takes place this weekend and PBSC will have over fifty of our swimmers competing, so its another very busy weekend for the Club.

PBSC Jade Team have excelled and are competing in the final of Division 3 and need a good result to try and gain promotion in their first year of competition in this league. The Jade team is competing at Stevenage and the team needs to meet by 6pm.

PBSC Blue Team performance this year has already exceded our expectations and has made the final in Division 1 and will be competing against the very best clubs in Hertfordshire.  This means we will finish at least sixth in Division 1 which is a great achievement in our first year after promotion. PBSC Blue Team are at Hitchin and need to meet by 6.15pm.

Bronwen Hardy, PBSC Jade Team Coach "I'm looking for a good performance from the Jade Team on Saturday and have every confidence they will swim well. It should be an exciting gala as previous rounds have shown there is a small margin between the teams.We need to avoid any disqualifications in this final round as every point will count"

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "Good luck to PBSC Swimmers this weekend. The Jade team are in for an exciting gala and have a chance at gaining promotion. The Blue Team have already exceeded my expectations so they can go into the final and enjoy swimming against the very best teams in Hertfordshire"

Hertfordshire County Championships 2012

The closing date for entries to this years County Championships closed on Friday and PBSC has forty five swimmers competing this year. This is a fantastic achievement and a massive improvement from the twenty two swimmers that qualified last year. A big well done to the swimmers and Head Coach Wray and his coaching team on this great achievement. This has been the result of a great deal of hard work and commitment by the swimmers and coaching team over the last 12 months.

With just four weeks go to the Counties PBSC "County Qualifiers" are encouraged to try and add a couple of extra sessions to their training over the next few weeks. The PBSC Coaching Team are particularly keen to see those swimming at the County Championships at the Saturday morning, Thursday and Sunday evening sessions over the next few weeks. To encourage attendance at next Saturdays morning training session it is proposed that all swimmers are invited to a post training "big" breakfast at a location within Potters Bar. The venue is often referred to by some as having "Golden Arches" - The PBSC Coaching Team look forward to seeing our swimmers at next Saturdays session.

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "I'm delighted with the number of swimmers that have qualified for this year's Counties. With just four weeks to go it's now important that we focus on preparing the swimmers so that they raise their performances at the Counties. For that reason I'm encouraging them to try and fit in some extra sessions over the next few weeks "

Motivational quotes: -

• "If you're not on your 'A' game in your workouts every day, you're going to get absolutely smoked." - Michael Phelps, Swimming Legend
• "The swimmer who says, "It can't be done" is passed by the swimmer who is doing it"

Land Training Programme - Expressions of interest!

As many of our members know we have have been running a Land Training "trial" programme on a Friday night between 7pm and 8pm. Feedback to date suggests that the swimmers have found it very enjoyable and the PBSC Coaching Team are keen to continue running this session. We are seeking "expressions of interest" from those that would like to be considered for the next block of sessions. It is proposed to start these on Friday 30th March and run for 9 weeks which takes us through to Friday 25th May 2012, which is one week before the ASA East Regional Championships 2012. 

The Land Training programme is in the first instance offered to those in Squads 1 and 2. In the event of it being oversubscribed then a decision will be made by the Coaching Team as to who is offered places. This will be based upon factors that include frequency of attendance at swimming training, level of competition at which the swimmer competes, attitude and effort in training.

In the first instance swimmers are invited to register your interest by emailing Chris Andrew at secretary@pottersbarsc.co.uk

British Swimming Championships 2012 (Olympic Trials) - March 3rd to March 10th

For those British Swimmers seeking to make the Olympic Team there is just two weeks until the start of the British Swimming Championships 2012 (Olympic Trials) that are being held at the Olympic pool in Stratford. There are a number of PBSC swimmers that earlier in the year took the opportunity to purchase tickets. It is clear that these swimming championships are going to be one of the best ever swimming events staged in this country. This week the "draft" programme of entries has been published and this has revealed the large number of foreign international swimmers that are coming over to experience the Olympic Pool.  These include Paul Biederman of Germany and Milos Cavic of Serbia, who are both featured in the videos on the "Coaches Corner" page of this website. Lotte Friss of Denmark who was the silver medal winner behind Rebecca Adlington at the 2011 World Championships is also competing so this should make for an exciting race with the British Double Olympic Champion.

The draft programme is here and here is a link to information for those spectators attending the British Championships (Olympic Trials) 2012. For those attending it will be a great opportunity to meet some of the stars of our sport and they are often quite happy to sign autographs and have photographs taken so our young swimmers are advised to take along their camera's and autograph books. If you do get a picture then let Chris Andrew know via secretary@pottersbarsc.co.uk and we can arrange for it to be published on the website. Lets see who can get the best picture!

The event will also be covered on the TV so make sure you take the time to watch and see our top British swimmers competing for a place in the British Olympic Team.

Club Information Desk - Friday 17th February

This Friday members of the PBSC Committee will be staffing an information desk on the balcony at the Furzefield and will be available to help members with providing information about the Club. This could include information about membership, training times, open meet competitions, Club galas, volunteering and officiating opportunities so please don't hesitate to ask any questions that you have. They will also be available to collect membership fees that are now due. PBSC Hats will be on sale and it is also an opportunity to order PBSC Club T-Shirts for those that do not have them.

Eleanor Burt, the Club's membership secretary and Karen Lawson, a committee member and PBSC's officials co-ordinator will be staffing the desk so please stop by and have a chat with them.

Rotary Sponsored Swim 10th March

The Rotary Club is organising a sponsored swim on the evening of Saturday 10th March.  The application form here explains all.  You will need a team of 5 swimmers who swim in relay over 20 minutes.  Try to break a record or raise some money for charity or just have some fun.  Apply early to get the best start time.

Tape Trophy - Results are in!!

Well done to all PBSC swimmers that competed at the Tape Trophy on Saturday evening. It was a great event and the PBSC Blue team came out as winners (65 points) ahead of Stevenage (151 points), Bushey (162 points), Potters Bar Jade (171 points) and Broxbourne (215 points).

PBSC Jade Team put in some great swims so well done to all swimmers and in particular to Elena Izquierdo-Hall, Tomas Hay, Amelia Hardy, Nicholas Formby, Alice Johnston, Stephen Curley, Indigo Sagoo, Abbie Longley, Siobhan Gallagher, Nicole Humphreys, David Cai and Carlo Cusenza who all recorded Personal Best times (PB's)

A strong performance by the PBSC Blue Team, who managed to swim through the gala without picking up any disqualifications (DQ's) saw them come out as winners of the Tape Trophy for the second year running. Well done to all swimmers and in particular to Jessica Hurley, Lorcan Vieyra, Harriet Newman, James Smith, James Blount, Georgianna Balchin, Natasha Guidice, Katie Hamshere, David Shipman and Charlie Milbery who all recorded Personal Best Times (PB's).

The results are here : PBSC Jade Team and here: PBSC Blue Team

Bronwen Hardy, PBSC Jade Team Coach " I was delighted with the performance of the swimmers in the Jade team, many of whom were competing in their first competitive swimming gala. It has given them some much needed experience in preparation for the Peanut's League and they all did fantastically well"

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "It was another exciting evening of swimming and I am delighted to see so many of our swimmers doing well, so a big well done from me. Successfully retaining the Tape Trophy for the second year running was an added bonus, as was seeing so many PB's recorded by those in the Jade and Blue Teams"

A big thank you to all PBSC Officials, volunteers and our senior swimmers that all helped make this event happen. In particular it was great to see so many of our older swimmers volunteering to help and offering their experience and expertise to our younger members - A big "THANK YOU"

To see some pictures from the event please click on the below link:

https://picasaweb.google.com/115528579666953238463/TapeTrophy2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCPLvt4ul08rVGg

Herts Flyers Open Meet - Going ahead as planned

Today's event at QE Boys is going ahead as planned. The warm up is at 1.30 pm. Swimmers need to give notice if they are not attending so they can be withdrawn from the events they have entered. This is particularly important so that events are not swum with "empty" lanes. If you are not planning to attend then please email pbscgalasec@gmail.com . This email address is being monitored so your withdrawal can be notified to the event organisers.

To those swimmers who are attending we wish you the best of luck and hope that you swim well.

January - Swimmer of the Month Trophy "And the winner is........."

Wray Shewell Cooper, PBSC's Head Coach last night awarded the Swimmer of the month trophy to Nicholas Formby who swims in Squad 2. Nicholas has the honour of being the first recipient of this trophy and it is well deserved given the recent progresses he has made. Over the last few months he has shown a great commitment to training regularly and although not having been in Squad 2 for long has progressed towards the front of the lane. His commitment to training has also led to improved performances in competition where he has posted a number of PB's and he has also achieved his first County Qualifying time.

Well done Nicholas!

Herts Flyers - "Last Chance County Qualifier" Open Meet

Tomorrow we have forty four PBSC swimmers competing at QE Boys School in the Herts Flyers Open Meet. This open meet is the last opportunity for those swimmers seeking to attain County Qualifying times and we wish all PBSC swimmers the best of luck and hope they swim well.

The warm up starts at 1.30pm and PBSC Swimmers are advised to be ready on poolside by 1.15pm.

PBSC Camping weekend / Chessington World of Adventures

A number of the Clubs members are keen campers and Steve Shipman has kindly offered to organise a camping weekend for those that are interested in a weekend away. The dates in mind are the weekend of July 7th and 8th 2012. Initial thoughts are to look for a site close to Chessington World of Adventures to incorporate a day at the theme park. If you are interested in taking part in this weekend which is open to all Club members then either speak to Steve Shipman who is often on the balcony at the FF or email secretary@pottersbarsc.co.uk and your email will be forwarded to him. Steve will need to know numbers and tent sizes etc so that he can make appropiate enquiries with campsites.This is a geat opportunity for the kids to have some social time away from the rigours of training and competition.

Thanks to Steve for offering to arrange this activity! 

Herts Major League Results

We are still to post the Herts Major League results from last weekends events. This is because due to delays by the "hosting" clubs not submitting them to the Herts Swimming League(HSL). The HSL need to confirm the results before circulating the official results to Clubs.

As soon as we are able to publish the official results we will update tthe website and the PBSC Hytek Database. 

PBSC Social -Peanuts and Counties Awards night

PBSC will be having a social event and disco at Elm Court on Saturday 28th April 2012. At this event there will be awards for our swimmers who have swum in the Peanuts Trials and at the Herts County Championships. It will also be a great opportunity for the kids and parents to socialise away from the pool so make sure you put it in your diary now.

More info closer to the date!

Squad 4 - Friday training at 6.15pm

We are pleased to announce that Squad 4 will have a new session at the Furzefield starting this Friday 3rd February 2012 at 6.15pm. Swimmers will need to be on the pool side for 6.10pm.

This weeks usual Squad 4 session on Thursday at 7.15pm will go ahead as usual but will be replaced by the Friday session after this week. Over recent months we have seen significant growth in the Club which has led to a high demand on the water time that is available to our swimmers. To alleviate some of this pressure we have had consultation with the Furzefield Sports Centre management and have managed to secure this additional pool time.

Wray, PBSC's Head Coach has taken the decision to move Squad 4 to the Friday evening slot. This will allow Wray, the opportunity to take Squad 4 on a regular basis which also gives the swimmers a great opportunity to have his experience and direction as well as the opportunity to impress him.

In the event that this change causes any great difficulties then please speak with Wray and Bronwen.

We look forward to seeing Squad 4 swimmers at this new session.

Great Performances by "Jade" and "Blue" Teams

Last night saw two excellent performances by the "Jade" and "Blue" Team's that were competing in the second round of the Herts Major League in Divisions 3 and 1 respectively.

The "Jade" team who were competing at the Furzefield finished in second place to Royston SC in a close run gala. In the early part of the gala we were in fourth place but came through strongly to finish second. This result should put us into a good position in the league going into the final round where if we do well we may have a chance at gaining promotion - Well done to all PBSC "Jade" team on a great result!

The "Blue" team who were competing at The Venue, Borehamwood also excelled in their performances and finished in third place behind very strong teams from Watford SC and Hoddesdon SC. This great result should put us into the final where we will be competing against the top six Hertfordshire Clubs. This is a great achievement for the Club after gaining promotion last year - Well done to all PBSC "Blue" team on another fantastic result. 

Bronwen Hardy, PBSC "Jade" team coach - "It was a great performance by the Jade Team to finish in second place and I was delighted by the effort shown by the swimmers. This result put's the team in a great position going into the final round were if we can avoid disqualifications we can do well"

Wray Shewell-Cooper - PBSC "Blue" team coach "It was another great performance by the Blue team, who are performing well above my expectations in the Herts Major League. As Head Coach I'm also extemely happy with the performance of the "Jade" team who are competing in the Herts Major League for the first time"

The swimmers times from each of the galas will be posted as soon as we are able, which is likely to be in the next few days because we have to await the official results from each event.

Here are some photos from the Blue team gala at Borehamwood.

Georgina finishes 11th at "Zonal" Championships

The ASA "Zonal" Championships were held on Saturday 28th January 2012 at Corby in Northamptonshire and PBSC's only qualifier for this event was our girls captain, Georgina Lawson.

The "Zonal" Championships were a new competition introduced last year and they are the next "stepping" stone between the Regional and National Championships. To qualify and swim in these Championships is therefore a fantastic achievement in itself.

Georgina is the first PBSC swimmer to compete in a "Zonal" Championship and on Saturday she swam in the 50m Freestyle recording a time of 28.91 seconds to finish in 11th place out of 43 competitiors in the 14 year old girls age group. This was a great swim and Georgina just missed out on making the final by 0.2 seconds. Well done to Georgina!

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "Georgina swam really well to finish 11th and I'm very happy with the performance. It's my first "Zonal" Championships too and I'm hoping to be back with more swimmers from PBSC next year"

Good Luck to PBSC Swimmers competing this weekend!

This weekend we have Potters Bar Blue and Jade Teams competing in the second round of the Herts Major League at The Venue, Borehamwood (arrive 5.45pm) and Furzefield Sports Centre (arrive 6.15pm). We will have over fifty swimmers from the Club taking part in these two gala's. In addition to this Georgina Lawson, PBSC's Girls Captain will be competing in the "Zonal" Championships that are being held earlier in the day before heading back down the motorway to Borehamwood.

PBSC Blue are currently in sixth place in Division 1 going into the second round and need to consolidate on a great first round performance. PBSC Jade Team who are competing in the Herts Major League for the first time this year are currently in 3rd place in Division 3 and should have a good chance on improving on this position at our home pool. Good Luck to all PBSC swimmers that are swimming in the two galas!

Georgina Lawson is the Clubs only qualifier for the "Zonal" Championships that are being held this weekend in Corby. "Zonal" Championships were introduced last year and are the next tier between Regional and National Championships. Georgina will be competing in the 50m Freestyle and will be competing against the very best swimmers from East Region and the Midlands - Good Luck to Georgina!

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach " I was delighted with the first round performances from the Jade and Blue Teams. It's important we try and consolidate on the first round results, and I'm confident we will. It's important that both teams avoid picking up disqualifiactions as like the first round there is likely to be a small points margin between the competing Clubs"  , "I'm also looking forward to attending my first "Zonal" Championships with Georgina and I'm looking for her to cotinue her recent good form at this high level event"

Swimmer of the Month Trophy

As we approach the end of January 2012 it is an appropriate time to announce that Wray Shewell-Cooper, Head Coach will be awarding the "swimmer of the month" trophy. This is a new initiative for 2012 and Wray's nomination for January is currently under consideration. The recipient of the monthly award will be presented with the above trophy that can be retained until the next recipient is named.

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "I'm looking forward to awarding the "swimmer of the month" trophy and have a number of swimmers under consideration for the inaugural award. There are lot's of different criteria for which I will be making the award that include attitude and commitment to training, improvement in technique and competition perfomance. I was impressed by the swimmers performances in the Peanut's trials and have a number of the younger swimmers who took part under consideration for it's first award" 

Peanuts Trials at the Furzefield on Sunday 22nd January 2012

Well done to all swimmers, supporters, officials and helpers for a successful time trials on Sunday night.  62 swimmers swam 25m of each stroke and recorded 136 personal best times and a further 68 NPT (no previous time).  The information gained from the trials will help the selectors for the upcoming galas and will help the coaches develop the swimmers.  There were a small number of disqualifications which happens in all galas at all levels and even these help swimmers and coaches focus on swimming and racing technique.  Here are the results of the trials.  If you missed the trials please speak to your coach about whether there might be other opportunities to record times.

We will be entering two PBSC Teams "Blue" and "Jade" in the 2012 Peanut's league which is a swimming league for young swimmers in Hertfordshire. As part of the Club's preparation for these events we ran some time trials for all "Squad" swimmers who are under the Age of 13 as of 30th June 2012.

The results from these time trials will help us select the teams that will represent PBSC in the forthcoming galas: -

The Tape Trophy - Saturday 11th February
The South Herts Trophy - Saturday 31st March
Peanut's Gala Round 1 - Saturday 21st April
Peanut's Gala Round 2 - Saturday 19th May
Peanut's Gala Round 3 - Saturday 16th June

Please try and keep the above dates free so that you are able to swim for the Club (if selected). If you have any questions with regard to the Peanut's trials please speak with Wray and Bronwen. Note the youngest age for swimming in the galas is 9 years on 30th June 2012, but we encourage 8-year olds to enter the time trials.

Thanks to the older squad swimmers and masters swimmers for giving up their pool time on Sunday.

Hoorah for the young officials

Niamh Gormley has qualified as a level 2 judge and as such is probably the youngest in the country at 15.  This is hot on the heels of Samantha Burt who was the youngest J1 in the country at 14.  Fantastic progress and well done to both of them.

Watford Open Meet - The Results are in and PBSC swimmers performances exceed expectations

The results from this weekends County Qualifier Open Meet at Watford are in and show that PBSC swimmers were in great form. The results from the event can be summarised as follows:

* PBSC swimmers competed in 258 swims of which 142 (55%) were personal best times for the swimmer. In fact so many of our 55 swimmers set PB's that there are too many to list by name on this website entry. Please see the results on this link to see all the PB's but special mentions to Amelia Hardy for a 9 second PB on her 100m Butterfly, a 28 second PB to Jack Shewell Cooper in the 400m Free, Georgina and Stephanie Tallon in the 200m IM, Stephanie Tallon in the 50m Butterfly, Katie Gormley (200m Free, 400m Free and 200m Breast), Samantha Burt (200m free and 50m breast), Vinthiya Perinpanathan in the 200m Breaststroke, Charli Stapleton (100m Breast),  Madeleine Formby (50m Breast), Adam Gill and James Blount in the 50m Freestyle - Well done to all swimmers that achieved PB's in their events

* We had numerous swimmers who won medals in their events - Georgina Lawson, Ben Harrison, David Shipman, Andrea Houben, Ellen Hunt, Samantha Burt, Morgan Newman, Jack Higgins, Sean Lovell, Katie Harrison, Georgianna Balchin, Phoebe Love, Aryan Alekasir, Georgina Tallon, Thomas Stanbury, Andrew Bays, Kate Andrew, Harriet Newman, Lauren Andrew, James Woodward, James Ayres, Katie Gormley and Jack Shewell-Cooper - A big well done!

*There were 103 swims that were swum in a time that achieved the swimmers a County Qualifying time. Those that attained their first County Qualfiying times for the 2012 Hertfordshire County Championships were Harriet Newman, Rachel Connery, Claudia Hawkins, Sean Lovell, Nicholas Formby, Kaywon Alekasir, Joshua Higgins and Josef Wheeler. PBSC now have 46 swimmers that have attained qualification for the 2012 Championships. Well done to all PBSC Swimmers that swam CQT's this weekend.

* Four PBSC swimmers achieved Regional Qualifying Times. They were Ben Harrison (200m Breast, 200m Free, 400m Free, 200m Fly, 200m IM),
Morgan Newman (200m Breast), Georgina Lawson (100m Free, 200m Free, 400m Free, 100m Back) and Phoebe love (100m Free, 200m Free). Well done to Ben, Morgan, Phoebe and Georgina.

* Georgina Lawson continued her current record breaking feats by breaking four PBSC Club records in the 100m Individual Medley in a time of   1 min 11.66 and then breaking her own 100m Club record in the 100m Freestyle in a time of 1 min 01.08. Well Done to Georgina.

The results from the Watford Open meet are now on the PBSC Hytek Database that can be accessed via the link on the swimmers times page.

Wray Shewell-Cooper PBSC Head Coach "It has been a successful weekend at Watford and it is great that so many of our swimmers achieved PB's especially as for some this was their first open meet experience. It's also great to see so many of our swimmers winning medals and I am really pleased with how the team performed, it was above my expectation"

Here and here are some pictures from session 2.  Here are some pictures from Sunday.  Apologies for any accidental omissions.

Watford County Qualifier Open Meet 2012 - Good Luck to all PBSC swimmers that are competing!

This weekend there will be over fifty PBSC Swimmers competing in the Watford County Qualifier Open meet that takes place over four sessions, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. We are the Club with the biggest number of swimmers competing so we should have a big presence on the poolside which should help make for a great weekend of racing. For many of our swimmers they will be aspiring to achieve County Qualifying times to so they are eligible to enter this years Hertfordshire County Championships. The session timings are as follows: -

Saturday 14th January 2012   - Session 1 warm up 1300 hrs and start 1400 hrs, Session 2 warm up 1700hrs and start 1800 hrs.

Sunday 15th January 212 - Session 3 warm up 0830 hrs and start 0930 hrs, Session 4 warm up 1245 hrs and start 1345 hrs.

Wray Shewell-Cooper PBSC Head Coach "I'm excited about having such a big team from PBSC competing at the Watford County Qualifier Open meet and confident there will be some good performances from all of our swimmers. I'm looking for the team to encourage each other over the weekend"

Extra Video's on "Coaches Corner"

See "Coaches Corner" for some extra video's and the link to the "Go Swim" website, that has great video's, tips and drill's and well worth viewing by our swimmers.

Goals achieved in Bognor!

Samantha & Edward Burt ventured South over the weekend to take part in Littlehampton Swimming Club’s Splash into 2012 meet. They rose to the occasion and both achieved the goals they had set themselves. Edward started off the gala well, gaining a new personal best in the 50 free. He then joined his grandparents to watch Samantha come away with medals in all the events she entered, including gold for the 200m free. Medals were not what Sam wanted from the meet, her goal was to gain another CQT. This looked unlikely as she could barely walk following the land training on Friday. However, grit, determination and a strong level of competition meant that she achieved her aim. Well done to both of them. It was a great meet, the hosts were very welcoming and the level of competition was strong throughout the age groups. The pool was opposite Butlins at Bognor & close to the sea. Maybe this is a venue more of the cub could experience in the future – their next meet is in April.   

PBSC Morning training sessions at Queenswood School to start this week!

We are pleased to announce that PBSC will this week start two weekly morning training sessions at the Queenswood School pool. Wray-Shewell Cooper, PBSC Head Coach will be taking these sessions and PBSC swimmers will be training alongside swimmers from Queenswood School.

These morning sessions are an important development for the Club and are open to swimmers in Squads 1, 2 and 3. These sessions will take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, starting at 7am though to 7.45/8am depending on the swimmers need to get to school.

PBSC are keen to develop our swimming programme and the link with Queenswood School is a great opportunity, so we are encouraging our swimmers to try and get along and take part in these sessions. The first session will start on Tuesday 10th January 2011.

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "The additional water time and the opportunity to link up with Queenswood School is a fantastic opportunity for the Club and I am encouraging as many of our Squad 1, 2 and 3 swimmers to come along for some extra training"

PBSC Swimmers off to a "Flyer" in the Herts Major League 2012

PBSC swimmers made a super start to 2012 with two great team performances on Saturday 7th January 2012 in the first round of the Herts Major League.

Hemel Hempstead

Potters Bar "Jade" were competing in the Division 3 at Hemel Hempstead and finished in fourth place, just missing out on third place to Bushey SC by six points. This is a great first round performance by the team as it is the first time we have entered two teams in this swimming league and our swimmers demonstrated they can do well in this competition. 

There were individual first places by Thomas Stanbury, Paul Newman, James Blount, Rebecca Hurley and Stephen Curley - Well done to these swimmers and it's good to see their efforts in training being rewarded.

It is also very pleasing that there were 25 PB's Times achieved by the following swimmers: Eleanor Lawson, Amelia Hardy, Siobhan Gallagher, Luc Houben, Lorcan Vieyra, Nicholas Formby (x3), Madeleine Formby, Josef Wheeler, Sabrina Dighe, Jessica Hurley, Alex Ayres, Adam Gill, Mathew Papa (x2), Kate Andrew, James Blount (x2), Rebecca Hurley, Paul Newman, Yasmine Crowe and Stephen Curley - Well done to all these swimmers.

The results are here.  The results can also be accessed via the PBSC Hytek on-line database, the link for which is on the "Swimmers times" page. To see the splits from the relays just "click" on the "Relay" button.

https://picasaweb.google.com/115528579666953238463/HemelHSL7thJan2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCKGdmpyjwNjqqgE

Click on the above link for some photographs take by our swimmers

Borehamwood

Potters Bar "Blue" were competing in Division 1, having been promoted last season and showed that as a Club we have really progressed over the last 18 months. In this first round gala we finished in third place behind very strong teams from Watford SC and City of St Albans SC. This was a great performance, especially in light of the fact that many of the swimmers were feeling the rigours of land training the previous night.

There were individual 1st places for David Shipman, Katie Conyers, Ben Harrison and Georgina Lawson and personal best swims from Phoebe Love, James Woodward, Jash Pooni, Claire Dean, Oliver Formby, James Ayres, David Shipman and Stephanie Tallon. Well done!

The results are here. The results can also be accessed via the PBSC Hytek on-line database, the link for which is on the "Swimmers times" page. To see the splits from the relays just "click" on the "Relay" button. 

Coaches Comments: -

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "I'm delighted with the performance of the two teams last night and it shows we can hold our own in Division's 1 and 3. I'm really pleased that there were so many PB's and it's a great start to 2012 by the PBSC "Blue" and "Jade" teams so a big well done to all the swimmers"

Bronwen Hardy, PBSC Senior Coach "The performance by the PBSC "Jade" team was excellent and all the swimmers swam really well. In particular I was really pleased with the team spirit and I'm delighted with so many PB's"

And finally, a big thank you to all the PBSC Volunteers and helpers that assisted with the management of the teams and the running of the gala's as without you these events would not happen.

Mid Herts Schools Team

We have received a request for swimmers to represent Mid-Herts Schools in the Hertfordshire School's Swimming Association District Gala on Friday 3rd February at Watford. This is to swim for Mid-Herts against five other districts in Hertfordshire as a team gala. The races are 100m IM, 50m each stroke individuals and a medley and freestyle relay each 4 x 50m. These are swum for each gender and for each of three agegroups: Years 7-8, years 9-10 and years 11-13. To qualify the swimmer needs to be at a school in the right area (Mid Herts - area 4) of Herfordshire:

http://www.hertsssa.org.uk/uploads/5/2/5/3/5253152/herts_district_map.pdf  

Joanne Mitchinson jmt@monkswalk.herts.sch.uk is coordinating entries for Mid Herts and has vacancies in most genders and agegroups. The next step for you is to reply to Joanne. Please mention your date of birth, which school you attend and that you swim with Potters Bar Swimming Club. Then Joanne will confirm whether you are selected to swim.

Wray Shewell Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "I am encouraging all PBSC swimmers to put themselves forward for selection for the Mid-Herts Schools Team as being selected is a worthy achievement and it also helps raise the profile of our Club. I'm hoping that some of our swimmers may gain selection for the area schools teams and perhaps even go on and swim in the Schools National Championships"

Happy New Year - It's Olympic Year!

 

It's "Olympic Year" and best wishes to all swimmers, families and friends of Potters Bar SC for the year ahead. With the excitement of the Olympic's it is going to pass quickly and the sport of swimming will have its profile raised in the media in the coming months. The fireworks in London last night have given an insight to how exciting the year ahead will be.

At the beginning of March we have the British Championships at the Olympic pool in Stratford, which also double as the "Olympic Trials" for those hoping to make the British Team. A number of PBSC swimmers have tickets for this event and it will be a geat opportunity for them to see some great swimming. You can get to know more about the GB swimmers who will be looking to qualify for the Olympics by following the attached link http://www.swimming.org/britishswimming/2012trials/  . You can check out the stat's and profiles of swimmers such as Liam Tancock, Rebecca Adlington, Fran Halsall and Hannah Miley who are all Olympic podium prospects.

Not withstanding the excitement of the Olympics at PBSC we have a busy start to the New Year with two teams competing in the Herts Major League (Divisions 1 and 3) this weekend, with over fifty swimmers representing the Club. We also have over fifty swimmers competing at the Watford County Qualifier Open Meet over the weekend of January 13th and 14th 2012. This is a Club record entry for an open meet.

So far we have 38 swimmers qualified for this years Hertfordshire County Championships and many of those competing at Watford will be looking to attain qualifying times for additional events with some aslo aspiring for regional, zonal and perhaps National qualifying times! Good luck to all those competing! 

The Hertfordshire County Championships are a little over 10 weeks away and it will be of great interest to see how our swimmers perform. This week sees the start of a 10 week Land Training programme trial which should help boost our swimmers performances and help provide a varied form of training. For our younger swimmers we have the Peanut's Trials that will take place at the Furzefeild Sports Centre on Sunday 22nd January which is an event for them to look forward too. More details on the Peanut's trial to be published shortly.

Those that have been at the Furzefield over the Xmas break will have seen that our swimmers have put plenty of time in the pool and Wray and Brownwen are delighted with the attendance.

Wray Shewell-Cooper, Head Coach "It has been great to see so many swimmers taking a "dip" in the pool over Xmas and I'm confident this will help them perform well in the Herts Major League and Watford Open meets. The Herts County Championships are just over 10 weeks away and I'm hoping that the good attendance will continue" 

We hope to keep the website up to date with good news stories. If you have any suitable items then please email them to Chris Andrew secretary@pottersbarsc.co.uk

Coaches Corner

PBSC Swimmers are encouraged to check out the video's on the Coaches Corner page, just click on the links. The Coaching staff are interested to know who has watched them so make sure you mention that you have the next time your at training.

Eugene Gormley awarded the Masters Trophy for 2011

Twenty six PBSC Masters swimmers met this evening for the annual Christmas Curry. This evening is also the presentation evening for the Masters Trophy, which this year has been awarded to Eugene Gormley. Eugene has been a PBSC Masters swimmer for a number of years, regularly training with the masters and squads. He is also a PBSC Official and often on the poolside helping out at the various galas as a volunteer and always greets everyone with a big smile!

Well done, Eugene - well deserved!

Hertsmere Challenge Team Gala

Well done to the PBSC swimmers who competed in the Hertsmere Challenge at The Venue, Borehamwood. The Official results have been received and have now been posted on the PBSC Hytek on-line database that can be accessed via the Swimmers times page. On the night : -

• Four individual 1st places for Emily Dean, Paul Newman, Luc Houben and James Blount - Well done to these four swimmers.
• Sixteen PBSC swimmers recorded PB's, they were Sabrina Dighe, Luc Houben, Harriet Newman, Sean Lovell, Vinthiya Perinpanathan, Mathew Papa, Siobhan Gallagher, James Blount, Kirsty Newton, Jack Shewell-Cooper, Sophia Zeinden, Yasmine Crowe, Paul Newman and Anna Church - Well done!

Wray Shewell-Cooper - PBSC Head Coach "PBSC Swimmers once again showed that they are swimming well and I'm extremely happy that so many of the swimmers recorded PB's"

Click on the below link to see some pictures from the evening

https://picasaweb.google.com/115528579666953238463/HertsmereChallengeDec11?authkey=Gv1sRgCOn--8vE8Z3p0AE

Georgina Lawson swims fantastically well at the Scottish Open Winter Championships

  

PBSC Girls Captain, Georgina Lawson has these last few days been in Inverness, Scotland competing at the Scottish Winter Short Course Championships. This is an Open Age competition so for 14 year old Georgina to qualify for this event is a big achievement at such a young age. Georgina has Scottish heritage, through her Mum, Karen.

On day one of the competition Georgina spent part of the session chatting with Scottish swimming sensation, Hannah Miley (pictured above) who is already an Olympian and World Championship silver medallist and a podium prospect for London 2012. In fact Georgina has commented that she was delighted that Hannah asked to look at her programme to keep track of events. On the first day of competition Georgina competed in the 50m Butterfly and set a personal best time of 31.43 seconds coming 36th out of 63 swimmers. This time was a fraction of a second outside the PBSC Club record and was a great 1st swim at these Championships.

Georgina also competed in the 50m backstroke where she made the "B" final in which she swam an incredible 31.83 seconds to finish 14th in the whole of Scotland. At the age of 14 this is a superb performance. Her final time of 31.83 seconds is not only a PB but but also broke four PBSC Club Records. This result also placed her as the 4th fastest 14 year old in Scotland.

On the final day of competition Georgina competed in the 50m Free and recorded a time of 28.49 seconds which placed her 22nd out of an entry of 60 swimmers. This fast time saw Georgina become the third fastest 14 year old in Scotland in this open age group event. This swim also surpassed the ASA Zonal Qualifying time for the Zonal Championships that take place in January 2012. Georgina is the 1st PBSC Swimmer to qualify for these new Championships, that are the next step between ASA East Regional Championships and ASA National Championships.

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "Georgina has done amazingly well and to make the "B" Final in the Scottish National Championships is fantastic. To raise her performance in the final and finish 14th in the whole of Scotland whilst breaking Club Records too is just great. I'm absolutely delighted for her"

Swimmers Times Database, Club records and ASA Rankings Database

PBSC Swimmers should now be able to access the PBSC Hytek-On Line Database to view their times and the PBSC Club Records. The database also records the times from each of the galas we have taken part in, so it is well worth saving the link as a "favourite" on your computer.

There is also a link to the ASA Rankings database as you may wish to search their databse to see how you are ranked Nationally, in ASA East Region and Hertfordshire ASA. The ASA Rankings database only records times that have been attained at ASA Licensed events. For those competing at the Hertfordshire County Championships 2012 you may wish to see how you are currently ranked within Hertfordshire ASA.

The link for access is on the "Swimmers Times" page, there is also a link from the "Club records" page.

Good Luck to PBSC Swimmers competing this evening in the Hertmere Challenge!

A team from PBSC are competing in the Hertsmere Challenge Gala this evening at The Venue, Borehamwood. We hope they have a great time and swim well.

Wray Shewell-Cooper - "I'm looking forward to being on poolside with the team, who I'm confident will swim well. For some of the swimmers it will be their first competition in the new season so I'm keen to see how they perform. It should be an exciting event!"

NASL Final - PBSC Swimmers achieve 19 PB's and Georgina Lawson breaks 13 Club Records

The official results from last weekend's Division 3 Final have been received and as expected show that our swimmers swam fantastically well recording 19 Personal Best times (PB's). Georgina Lawson was in incredible form breaking an amazing thirteen (13) Club Records on the night, some of which have stood for over 15 years. Georgina's times and the  Club records broken were: -

• 50m Back in a time of 31.99 seconds breaking the 14,15,16 and Open age group records 
• 100m Back in a time 1.08.64 breaking the 14, 15, 16 and Open age group records - These records were held by Sarah Price, who went on to become a double Olympian!
• 50m Free in a time 28.28 seconds breaking the 14,15,16 and Open age group records 
• 100m Free in a time 1.01.62 breaking the 14 years age group record - This record had stood since 1987.

There were PB's for Katie Conyers, Morgan Newman, Claire Dean, Joshua Higgins, Thilan Walallawita, Kelly Sanders, Lauren Andrew, James Woodward, Andrew Bays, David Shipman, Jash Pooni, Katie Gormley and Phoebe Love

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "The results show that our swimmers really swam well and I'm delighted that so many of them recorded PB's on the night. Georgina was in "red hot" form and to break 13 Club records in one gala is a great achievement" 

The results are here.

Georgina to compete at the Scottish National Short Course Championships in Inverness, Scotland

Georgina Lawson, a pupil at Mount Grace School and Potters Bar Swimming Club’s Girls Captain, will fly to Inverness in Scotland to take part in the British Gas Scottish National Open Short Course Championships that are being held between December 15th and 18th 2011. This is one of the premier events in the Scottish Swimming Calendar and Georgina will be rubbing shoulders with 2012 Olympic hopefuls like Hannah Miley, who won a silver medal at the World Championships in 2011.

Georgina has succeeded in attaining qualification to compete in the following events: -  50m, 100m and 200m Freestyle, 50m and 100m backstroke and the 100m Individual Medley

Over the last year Georgina has excelled in her performances that have included breaking a longstanding club record held by double Olympian Sarah Price. As Captain and one of our strongest swimmers Georgina is a great inspiration and role model for our young swimmers.

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach - “Georgina should be delighted she has qualified for the Scottish National Short Course Championships. It’s well deserved given her efforts over the last year and I’m sure she will thoroughly enjoy the occasion. I’m confident she will swim well and be a great ambassador for Potters Bar SC”

Ian Bays, PBSC- Chairman “It’s great to see our swimmers competing at such a high level and on behalf of all at Potters Bar SC I wish Georgina a successful time at these National Championships

Timekeepers Course

A big thank you to our members who gave up their time to complete the Timekeepers Course which was held at the Furzefield Centre on Sunday. The Club now have 11 newly qualified TKs - well done to Todd Chadwell, Luc Houben, Georgina Lawson, Aryan Alekasir, Graham Lovell, Darren Woodward, Ian Bays, Eleanor Burt, Bronwen Hardy, Pia Cunningham and Dani Harrison. The course involved a 2 hour classroom session followed by a poolside assesment. All those who passed are given the opportunity to continue onto the Judge 1 course. The club is grateful to Ian MacKenzie who facilitated the afternoon and the clubs own J2S Gary Wright who filled the role of starter for the assessment. The club intends holding another TK course in the New Year - anyone interested in taking part please contact Karen Lawson (officials@pottersbarsc.co.uk) or speak to any Committee member for further information.

PBSC Swimmers excel at Division 3 - Final of the National Arena Swimming League

In a very exciting final PBSC swimmers raised their performances to finish in second place behind Deben, who were worthy winners. The evening got off to a tense start when a number of our swimmers arrived late due to a car fire causing havoc with the London traffic. It was a great relief though to see them arrive moments before they had to get onto the blocks and race. PBSC swimmers showed great determination throughout the gala and were consistently well placed in most races despite some very close finishes. There was fantastic support from the balcony and this made for a great atmosphere. At the end of the gala, Andrew Bays (Boys Captain) and Georgina Lawson (Girls Captain) were presented with the Pennant for PBSC finishing in second place in the Final.

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "It was a great gala and a great result for Potters Bar Swimming Club. The swimmers swam fantastically well and they should all be really pleased with their performances"

We are awaiting the official results before publishing the swimmers times but are confident the results will bear out that our swimmers stepped up and swam fantastically well.

Good Luck to PBSC Swimmers in the NASL Division 3 Final

On Saturday 10th December 2011 PBSC swimmers are competing in the Division 3 final of the National Arena Swimming League (London) which is being held at the Clissold Sports Centre, London. PBSC are currently in second place in the league behind a strong team from Deben. On the night we will also be competing against Ware, Brompton Bees, Clissold, Bethnal Green Sharks, Berkhamsted Sports Centre and Griffins of Enfield. If we finish in the top two in the league we will be promoted to Division 2. It is going to be an exciting final and our swimmers will need to raise their performances and swim well to secure promotion.

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "This is going to be a very competitive final with many of the events decided by fractions of a second. We must avoid disqualifications so we don't drop unnecessary points. That said it's going to be a great event to take part in and I'm sure our swimmers will do well. I'm also expecting the usual fantastic support from the balcony as this will help raise our swimmers performances"

Niamh and Sam pass their J1 Officials Course

Congratulations to Niamh Gormley and Samantha Burt, who are the latest PBSC swimmers to pass their J1 Officials assessment! Niamh and Sam have already started the next stage of officials training by undertaking the J2 course and we wish them well with that.

Coaches Corner

Have a look at the new tab on the left called "Coaches Corner". There are some video links published that swimmers may enjoy.

PBSC Swimmers excel at the ASA East Region Winter Championships in Norwich, with PB's and Club Records!

Both Georgina Lawson, PBSC Girls Captain and team-mate, Phoebe Love were in excellent form at the ASA East Region Winter Championships, where they were competing against the very best swimmers from the Counties of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk. This was an open age group competition so it was a big "step-up" for Phoebe and Georgina, who are the first two PBSC swimmers to compete at these Championships for many years, and they can be delighted with their performances as follows: -

• Georgina Lawson set personal best times in the 50m Backstroke recording a time of 32.80 seconds and in doing so broke four PBSC Club records in the 14 & Under, 15 & Under, 16 & Under and Open Age Groups which is a fantastic achievement! Georgina swam 29.17 seconds in the 50m Free, 32.90 seconds in the 50m Fly, and 1.03.71 in the 100m Free.
• Phoebe Love recorded a personal best in the 50m Free in a time of 29.00 seconds, a time of 32.17 seconds in the 50m Fly and a time of 1.05.18 in the 100m Freestyle. 

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "Phoebe and Georgina qualifying for these Championships at such a young age is a great achievement in itself and for them to perform so well on the day is very very pleasing. I'm delighted they both set PB's as this shows they rose to the occasion and swam well on the day. Georgina breaking the Club Records in the 50m Backstroke is a great accomplishment of which she should be very proud"

The Daplyn Trophy - PBSC achieve best results for many years!

It has been a busy weekend for PBSC with two boys teams and two girls teams competing at The Daplyn Trophy at The Venue, Borehamwood on Saturday evening. In the Girls competition our teams were up against 15 teams from clubs from across Hertfordshire and our Boys were in a field of 12 teams.In a very exciting gala the PBSC Boys and Girls Teams achieved the best results the Club has had for many years of entering this particular competition, and in particular well done to: -

•   PBSC Girls Blue Team of Anna Church, Katie Gormley, Claire Dean, Andrea Houben and Jessica Hurley who were bronze medal winners. 
•   PBSC Boys Blue Team of James Woodward, Joshua Higgins, Thilan Walallawita, Ben Harrison and David Shipman who came in 5th place.
•   PBSC Girls Jade Team of Georgianna Balchin, Katherine McEnery, Vinthiya, Perinpanathan, Lauren Andrew and Rebecca Hurley who came 12th
•  PBSC Boys Jade Team of Morgan Newman, Jack Higgins, Oliver Formby, Jack Shewell-Cooper and Jash Pooni who came in a very creditable 6th place

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach "It's great to see PBSC post its best results in this competition for some years and well done to Claire, Anna, Katie, Andrea and Jessica for winning bronze medals, which is a great result. I am also really pleased with the achievements of our other teams"

The results from the Herts ASA website are here. Swimmers performances are here.

ASA East Region Winter Championships 2011

                                                                                      

Phoebe Love and Georgina Lawson, two of PBSC's leading female swimmers will this weekend travel to Norwich to compete in the ASA East Region Winter Championships 2012 that are being held at the University of East Anglia Sports Park. This is one of the premier events in the East Region calendar and the girls are the first PBSC swimmers to qualify and compete at these Championships for many years, which is a great achievement in itself.

Wray Shewell-Cooper PBSC Head Coach - "Phoebe and Georgina qualifying for these Championships is not only a fantastic personal achievement but great for PBSC too. As the Head Coach I'm looking to see them raise their performance and I'm confident they will"

Watford Middle Distance Open Meet

It was a busy weekend of competition for the thirty plus PBSC swimmers competing at the Watford Middle Distance Open Meet, the results of which are on the "reports and results" page. 

The overall performance of the swimmers was fantastic with a Club record broken by Georgina Lawson in the 50m backstroke, Ben Harrison achieving East Region Qualifying times, 1st places for Morgan Newman, James Ayres, Olivia Seal, David Shipman, Katie Gormley, Niamh Gormley and Andrea Houben. There were also medals for Katie Harrison, Danielle Houben, Jack Shewell-Cooper, Andrew Bays, Thomas Stanbury, Thilan Walallawita, James Woodward, Lauren Andrew, Aryan Alekasir, Kate Andrew, Georgina Tallon, Georgina Lawson and Emilea Read-Letts. There were lots of PB's too - A big well done to all of our swimmers!

Danielle Houben, Stephanie Tallon, Katie Harrison, Luc Houben, Katherine McEnery and James Ayres also became 1st time County Qualfiers, a great achievement and well done! In total there were 61 swims that surpassed the CQT at this meet.

And not to be outdone by the swimmers, Karen Lawson (J2), Eugene Gormley (J1) and Chris Andrew (J1) also made it a successful weekend by passing their officials course assessments. 

Wray Shewell-Cooper "It's great to see so many of our swimmers coming away from this meet with medals and PB's which is a reward for their commitment in training and well deserved. I'm also delighted that a number of PBSC swimmers became 1st time County Qualifiers as it's going to be great to have a big squad at the Counties" 

Herts Development Meet 

The official results for this gala are on the Reports and Results Page. Well done to Emilea Read-Letts and Olivia Seal on achieving County Qualifying times and also to Amelia Hardy, Georgina Tallon, Stephanie Tallon and Josef Wheeler for setting new Personal Best Times!

Are you interested in becoming a qualified time keeper?

We will be running a time keepers course at the Furzefield Sports Centre on Sunday 11th December 2012. We would encourage any interested members to take part, the course will consist of a two hour classroom session followed by a practical assessment that will be integrated into a time trial session for our younger swimmers.

As a Club we are very keen to increase the number of qualified timekeepers so that we can run the various swimming galas we have planned for next year, so if you are interested please speak with Karen Lawson, our Officials Co-ordinator for more details. Karen can be found on the balcony at the FF most evenings.

Hertfordshire Masters win at Newmarket

A team including nine Potters Bar Masters won the East Region Inter-county Masters competition on Sunday.  Report and writeup are here. Results download is here.  Our own John Cunningham broke the East Region 50m fly record.  Daryl Mason, Nicola Lawrence, Wray Shewell-Cooper, Ian Bays, Barbara Edlin, Steve Lestrange, Kelly Sanders and Jackie Jackson also represented PB for Hertfordshire.  This is the second year that Hertfordshire has won the trophy.  Full results including County positions as a download are here.

Presentation evening

Here are some pictures from the awards ceremony at the presentation evening.

Over 250 PBSC members attended the presentation evening which was held in the school hall at Mount Grace School. It was great to see our swimmers being presented with their medals and certificates by Wray and Bronwen.

Wray, PBSC Head Coach "I was delighted to present our swimmers with their medals and certificates as they have performed so well this year. It was also great to see so many of our Club members at the presentation evening as it's important we celebrate the achievements of all our swimmers" 

Barnet Copthall 100s

Great swims at the Barnet Copthall 100s meet.  Here are the results.  In summary 25 swimmers, 71 swims, one 1st place, two 2nd places, four 3rd places and 31 PBs.

Also here are the current CQT swims for the 2012 County Champs. We are already up to 105 swims, compared to the 98 swims this time last year

NASL Round 2

Great result from the second round of the National Arena Swimming League on Saturday.  First place again and by a mnargin of 35 points.  Well done to the swimmers - young and old and all those who helped make it possible.  Here are the results and here are some photos.

Presentation evening 19th Nov

This year's Presentation Evening will be held at Mount Grace School, Potters Bar on Saturday the 19th of November. 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Presentations to all those who competed in this year's Club Championships, individual squad awards, club trophies including Swimmers Swimmer, Hurley Trophies, Wray's Award and more. We plan to operate the evening as a fundraiser which means we will be operating a Raffle - any donations would be gratefully received - prizes can be anything from a bottle of wine, sporting tickets, unwanted presents to meal vouchers. There will be a licensed bar and food available. Tickets for the evening are priced at £3 per head and are available from Karen Lawson, Ian Bays or from any member of the committee or coaching staff. We look forward to seeing you there and making this another enjoyable night for our swimmers and their families ! This really is a chance for swimmers and parents alike to mix and hopefully raise some funds in the process.

Butterfly Clinic Sun 6th Nov

We are delighted to announce a 'Butterfly Clinic' to be run on Sunday evening from 6.15pm to 8.15pm on Sunday 6th November. John Cunningham our own reigning world champion butterfly swimmer will be demonstrating technique and leading the coaching at this session. The session is open to all squad swimmers and masters who would normally be eligible to swim on Sunday evenings. The different squads will be given appropriate training for their level of development. Just turn up at your normal training time and prepare to have your butterfly tuned up.

We have the whole six lanes of the pool on Sundays from this Sunday 6th November until 18th December. We are suggesting a voluntary donation of £2 per participant at this fly session to contribute to the cost of additional pool time. This can be collected by the coaches or committee on the balcony.

We urge all squad and masters swimmers to take advantage of this offer. If it is successful there may be similar clinics between now and Christmas. Please speak to your coach in the first instance if you have any questions.

Charity Gala 5th Nov

The club is organised a charity gala on 5th November in aid of Pancreatic Cancer Research.  The gala was at Furzefield using the format of the Herts Major League division 2.  PBSC entered two teams as the club will be entering two teams in the Major League in the new year.  Here are the overall results.  The team results are here.  Here are some pictures of the occasion.

Over £600 was raised for Pancreatic Cancer Research from entry, the raffle and Wrays "golden" moment!!

Three cheers for Chief Coach Wray on his golden birthday year and for being a good sport in the name of charity.  Some extra photos here of this sponsored event.

Barnet Copthall 200s

PB swimmers notched up 21 personal bests and 10 NPTs with 3 firsts and 3 seconds at the recent Barnet Copthall 200s meet.  Here are the results.  The picture shows Olympian Ed Sinclair with the PB team.  During his swimming career Ed Sinclair represented Great Britain at two Olympic Games - Sydney 2000 as part of the 4 x 200 Freestyle relay team which finished 5th and Athens in 2004. He also competed at 4 European Championships winning 6 medals and 5 World Championships winning 3 medals. He also held the British record for three years in the 200 meters Freestyle. His highest World Ranking was 7th in 1999 in the 200m Freestyle Long Course.

National Arena League Round 1

Chief Coach Wray Shewell-Cooper said: "PBSC swimmers excelled themselves in the first round of the National Arena Swimming League coming out worthy winners in a very exciting gala. The performances by all swimmers were fantastic and I was particularly pleased with the relay teams as we were well placed in each event. It was also great to have the best support in the gallery as this always spurs the swimmers on! The second round is only a few weeks away so I’m looking for our swimmers to continue to work hard in training so that we can build on last night’s result."

Well done to all that took part.  The Results are here. Here are some great pictures too

Outing to Panto

We are organising a trip to the Panto at Wyllyotts for Dec 22nd. All details here. Closing date Nov 1st.

Club AGM

The Club's Annual General Meeting will be on Thursday 17th November at the Furzefield Centre, starting at 8.30pm, more details and a committee nomination form are here.

Herts Senior League

Please see the Masters page for those masters swimmers and other swimming parents for a fun gala on Nov 26th!

Club Champs

Thanks to all the organisers, officials, helpers, coaches, supporters and swimmers.  Plenty of great swims and some photos are here and here. Photos for session 2 are here and here. Photos for session 3 are here and here. Results are finally here.  Sorry for the delay.  Winners over the years are here

Hoddesdon Open Meet

A good attendance and performance from PB swimmers.  18 first places, 14 speeding tickets, 8 County qualifying times and 58 PB or NPTs.  Here are the results.  Did anyone get any pictures?

Sheffield Dukeries 28th Aug

A team of Potters Bar Swimming Club swimmers travelled North to compete in the Worksop Dolphins “Dukeries” Open Meet, which was held in the 50 metre International Pool at Ponds Forge, Sheffield over the August Bank Holiday weekend. This is the second year that PBSC have competed at this event. It gives our swimmers the opportunity to experience swimming at this prestigious venue at the very start of the new swimming season. The early start for the warm up necessitated that the team stayed over the previous night at a hotel in Sheffield. There was a team bonding session over Pizza’s at a Local restaurant before retiring for an early night. The performance of PBSC Swimmers can be summarised as follows: -

· Phoebe Love was placed 1st in the 50m Butterfly, and 2nd place in the 100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle. Phoebe also qualified for the “Skins” Final, which was a new experience for her. She made it through to the second round before being eliminated. She also won the Top Swim award for her age group, which capped off a very successful weekend.

· Georgina Lawson won the 100m Freestyle for 12/13 year old Girls, in which Phoebe came second making it a PBSC “1-2”. Georgina was also 3rd in the 50m Backstroke.

· David Shipman swam extremely well to finish in 2nd place in the Boys 11/12 years 100m Freestyle in a time of 1.12.36, a new PB by 2.6 seconds and a County Qualifying time.

· Georgianna Balchin was in great form achieving three County Qualifying times in 100m & 50m Breaststroke events and the 50m Freestyle. Jack Shewell-Cooper (50m Freestyle), Lauren Andrew (50m Butterfly & 100m Freestyle) and Katie Gormley (100m Freestyle) also swam well to achieve County Qualifying Times. Well done to Georgianna, Jack, Lauren and Katie.

· There were also Personal Best swims from Amelia Hardy, Josef Wheeler, Kate Andrew, Luke Maddock Lyon and good early season swims from Eleanor Lawson and Niamh Gormley.

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach – “ It was a very enjoyable weekend at Sheffield and I am pleased with the performance of our swimmers so early in the season. The team spirit was great and It was good to see the swimmers enjoying themselves. Phoebe was our top performer at this event and it was great to see a PBSC swimmer winning the Top Swim award and being in the “Skins” final. I’m also delighted with the win by Georgina, the silver medal won by David and the good performances by the rest of the team, many of whom recorded PB’s and achieved County Qualifying times! ”

Bronwen Hardy, PBSC Senior Coach – “ It was great to see our swimmers performing well in this long course pool, and to see many of them recording PB’s in their swims. It was a great opportunity for them to swim in a 50 metre pool, which is often very daunting and they can feel very proud of how they all performed”

Here are some pictures.

Swim Camp 2011 report

A number of swimmers attended a swim camp at Millfield School in Somerset this summer.  Read about it in the Swimmer Information page.

Joel wins gold in European Youth Olympics

Joel Knight former PBSC swimmer has just won gold in the 1500m race at the European Youth Olympics in Trabzon, Turkey.  He broke the British record by 11 seconds in a time of 15:28.26.  Well done Joel!

Joel is pictured at the recent club celebration with the Peanuts teams and their awards.

County Qualifying times

The dates for the Herts County Championships have now been set so we can now see who has achieved CQTs so far.  This will be maintained on the Swimmer Information page.

Watford Open

“Georgina Lawson, PBSC’s Girls Captain was in “red hot” form at the “Alternative Nationals Open Meet” held this last weekend in Watford, where she broke long standing Club Records in the following events: -

· 50m Backstroke in a time of 33.65 seconds
· 50m Freestyle in a time of 28.89 seconds
· 100m Freestyle in a time of 1 min 02.70 seconds – This particular record was held by Sarah Price, who went on to compete in the Sydney Olympics in 2004. Sarah also broke over 30 British Records and one world record, as well as setting Commonwealth and European bests during her swimming career that started at Potters Bar Swimming Club.

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach stated “Georgina has done exceptionally well this year and breaking all these Club records in one weekend is a remarkable achievement. To see Sarah Price’s record broken gives you some idea of the potential Georgina has, and as one of the Club Captains she is a great inspiration for our younger swimmers”

There were also great swims from Sam Burt who swam in the 400m IM in a time of 6.07.15. This was her first time swimming this event and she looked very strong and swam very well. She also swam in the 400m free, this she hadn't swum for a very long time and did a very big PB. She achieved a very good time of 5.19.50. Sam also swam in the 50m fly and free and was very near to her PB times in both.
Ellie Lawson swam well especially in the 200m freestyle, which I believe she hadn't swum before and she clocked a time of 2.53.35, well done to her.
Ben had some good swims too, he swam for the very first time in the 400m IM in a time of 6.06.62, however was dq'd on a backstroke turn (glided in), but really enjoyed the experience and is desperate to do it again! He also swam in the 400m free and looked very strong clocking a time of 5.30.11 a new PB, his previous time was 6.18.55!
Another new event for him was the 200m breaststroke in a time of 3.23.47.
Morgan swam a great 200m breast in a time of 3.32.29, but was unfortunately dq'd - an official even commented on what a great swim it was!
As a club with only a few swimmers we didn't do too badly on the medal table -

Georgie won 4 Golds
Ben won 5 Golds and 1 Silver

It was a great end to a very successful swimming season!

Peanuts Round 3

The Jade team swam brilliantly coming third on the night and third in the league.  Here are the results and  here are some photos of the action.  This means the Jade team should be in a strong position in division 3 next year if the number of teams stays steady.

The Blue team won their gala on the last race at Borehamwood in an exciting finish.  Here are some pictures and here are the results.  This puts the Blue team in 7th place out of 12 in division 1.

Katie Qualifies for Irish National Championships

Potters Bar SC swimmer, Katie Gormley took part in the Irish National Age Group Championships  held at the National Aquatics Centre in Dublin, Ireland. Katie has qualified to compete in the 400m and 800m Freestyle events and will be competing against the best swimmers in Ireland at this prestigious event. It is a fantastic achievement for Katie to qualify for these National Championships and from all at PBSC we wish her the best of luck.

Head Coach Wray Shewell-Cooper said “Katie is one of the hardest workers in training so I’m delighted that her efforts have resulted in her qualifying for the Irish National Age Group Championships. The National Aquatic Centre looks a great venue to compete at and I’m sure the occasion will help Katie raise her performance. I’m confident she will swim well!”

Live results here.

Herts Masters 2011

The Herts Masters Championship was held at the Venue, Borehamwood on Saturday 25th June.  Your team from PBSC put up an impressive performance including 26 first places with 61 personal best or NPT.  Cate Jackson broke the East Region record for 100m IM and Jackie Jackson broke her own East Region record for 50m freestyle.  Daryl Mason broke the club record for 50m breaststroke.  Full results with all competitors are here, and summary of our club's competitors are here.  The team points total is here.  More galas coming up on our Masters page.

PBSC Summer Open

Many thanks to all who competed, officiated, supported and helped at the Summer Open gala at Furzefield on 18th June.  Here are the results. Here are the PBSC swimmer results.  Here and here are some photos of the action.

Open Water Swimming?

Su Tysoe the County Open Water Coordinator has negotiated an opportunity to train in Open Water once a week. This is following initial contact with the centre by Ian Mackenzie. This is a fantastic opportunity to establish regular training for those interested in Open Water swimming - please use it!  Here is the document explaining the arrangements.

Regional Championships

The Regional Championships held the at the 50m pool at the University of East Anglia Sports Park in Norwich concluded this weekend and our four swimmers, Ben Harrison, Georgina Lawson, Phoebe Love and Andrea Houben can be delighted with their performances in the pool at this top level event. Their performances can be summarised as follows: -

· Ben Harrison was PBSC’s top performer with silver medals in the Boys 10 years 100m Freestyle and 100m Butterfly, 200m Individual Medley; a bronze medal in the 200m Butterfly and 200m Freestyle, 6th in the 200m backstroke and 10th place in the 100m backstroke. Ben was placed 3rd overall in the BAGCATS competition and his successes should be set against the fact that he was competing against Hatfield swimmer, Nathan Hughes who broke a British Age Group record at these Championships (subject to ratification) and is probably the fastest 10 year old in the country. Well done, Ben!

· Andrea Houben qualified for the 3rd year in succession for the Regionals. This year Andrea qualified for the 12 years 100 m Breaststroke and swam incredibly well finishing in 11th place. Well done, Andrea!

· Phoebe Love swam in the Girls 13 years 100m Freestyle and swam a personal best of 1m 04.87 seconds which saw her come 9th place and being the “reserve” finalist. This was Pheobes first time swimming at Regional level and missed a place in the final by the smallest of margins. Well done, Phoebe!

· Georgina Lawson, PBSC’s Girls-Team Captain swam superbly in the Girls 13 years 100 and 200m Freestyle races, qualifying for both finals where she came 5th. In an exciting 100m Freestyle final where there was only 1.2 seconds between 1st and 5th place which is a very small margin. Georgina also qualified in the 100m backstroke and came 16th. This was the first time that Georgina has qualified for the Regional’s so making two finals is a great achievement. Well done, Georgie!

Wray Shewell-Cooper, PBSC Head Coach said “I am very pleased with the performances by Ben, Georgina, Phoebe and Andrea as they all rose to the occasion and swam well. Ben did fantastically well, winning so many medals and coming 3rd overall in the BAGCAT’s is a great achievement. It was also great to see Georgina make the finals in her first “regionals” as well seeing Phoebe, who was unlucky in just missing out on the final, and Andrea swim well too. These performances should be an inspiration to our swimmers and I’m hoping to be back next year with a bigger PBSC Squad “

Detailed results here.

Peanuts Round 2

Well swum to all our swimmers in round 2 of the Peanuts League.  Results here for the Blue team in Division 1.  Results here for the Jade team results from division 3.  However here are some pictures from the Jade team gala.

Picture here is from the Blue Team gala at QE Boys School pool.

Top of the World for John at World Masters & 4 Irish National records

John Cunningham won the 100m fly in a time of 58.55 seconds at the World Masters Championship in Gottenberg, Sweden on Tuesday 3rd August 2010. He also broke the championship record for 50m fly (longcourse) on Monday in a time of 25.96 seconds. This took second place by 0.23 seconds. The first event for John on Sunday was the 100m freestyle in the long-course pool where he secured 8th place in a time of 55.78 seconds. On Tuesday morning John swam 25.68 seconds for the 50m free taking 8th place. All four swims beat the Irish National records and one by over 8 seconds. The 50m and 100m fly are also club records in the open age group. There were over 100 competitors in John's age group at Gottenberg.

World Masters website is here.
Congratulations John.  What next?

Thanks also to our sponsors:

Third Eye Installation Systems www.thirdeyeis.co.uk

Lidl UK GmbH www.lidl.co.uk

Buffera Ltd  www.buffwear.co.uk