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National Inter-County Championships 2015

December 3, 2015 By Dorset ASA

October saw all the Counties from England, Wales and Scotland converge on Ponds Forge in Sheffield to compete in the prestigious National Inter-County Championships, a competition with archived results back to 1974. Dorset had finished fourth in Division 2 in 2014, joining Worcester, Suffolk and Devon in gaining promotion to Division 1, so the aim of coaches Barry Alldrick (Poole) and Adam Parfitt (Bournemouth Collegiate) was for Dorset to stay in Division 1 and break Dorset’s habit of yo-yo’ing between divisions on an annual basis.

After the first six events with swimmers stepping up in rankings in every event so far, Dorset had started strongly and were at a gala highest of eighth in Division 1. Swims from Poole’s Jacob Peters, who won the 14/15years 100m Butterfly in a Dorset Junior Record of 56.58, and BCS’s Finn Trehane finishing second in the 12/13 years 100m Breaststroke with a PB of 1:09.86 contributed to these high points. Kayla Van Der Merwe (BCS) also made the top ten in the 12/13 years 100m Breaststroke with a PB of 1:17.71.

The Dorset team impressively racked up many personal bests, but had to wait a further ten events before making the top ten again, and this came in the Boys 14/15 Medley Relay team of Poole’s Jacob Peters, Swim Bournemouth’s Kelvin Wong and Bournemouth Collegiate’s Christian Tai and Ben Samuels. Jacob’s back stroke leg of 26.95 was enough to break his own Dorset Junior Record. At this point the team was now down to 19th place and in need of some more top ten finishes.
Over the next ten events, many more personal bests were gained along with a further three Dorset Records being lowered. Top ten finishes were earned by Finn Trehane gaining sixth place in the 12/13 years 100m Backstroke with another PB of 1:04.38, club mate Ben Samuels touched ninth in the 14/ 100m Freestyle in a PB of 54.94, with Zak Aitchison racing well to break the Dorset Senior Record to touch fifth in the 16/17 years 100m Breaststroke in a time of 1:04.88. Poole’s Harriet Perfect finished ninth to break her PB and the Dorset Junior 100m Backstroke record in the 14/15 years with a time of 1:03.56. Club mate Jacob Peters took his second win of the day and third Dorset Record in the 100m Backstroke in a time of 57.91. With just four events to go the team lay in 18th place.

The last four relays again saw some impressive times and step ups but no top ten finishes, meaning that Dorset finished 19th with 240 points. Fellow promoted counties from last year Worcestershire and Devon finished 18th and 20th respectively, along with 17th placed Scotland West to start the 2016 competition with Dorset in Division 2.

First time selection badges were awarded to: BCS – Ella Chown, Honor Davies, Zoe Gannaway, Lottie James, Kayla Van Der Merwe (BCS); Poole – Morgan Hiles, Jessica Kelleway, Jasmine McCrea, Alex Price, Guy Selwood; Seagulls – Bethan O’Hara, Max Weeks.

Poole’s Madison Kemp and Bournemouth Collegiate’s Zak Aitchison were selected as team Dorset Captains. One of the captain’s roles is to parade on poolside with all the other Counties. As Zak was in the second race requiring time to prepare, Swim Bournemouth’s Henry Stanbrook stepped in for Zak for this role to make a grand entrance to poolside with Madison to some impressive cheering by the rest of the team.

Special thanks go to Nadine Honeybun, Dorset County ASA President, Chris Mills and Mandy Thomas for representing Dorset as Technical Officials, and Team Captain’s Madison Kemp (Poole) and Zak Aichitson (BCS).

Cross Channel Challenge

October 23, 2015 By Dorset ASA

A record breaking Channel Relay Swim has been achieved by Dorset coaches Barry Alldrick and Glenn Bailey, together with Poole SC’s Danni Callahan. Initially scheduled for mid-September, the challenge was put on hold due to unfavourable weather conditions until 3 October, when the three-person team were eventually able to take to the water at 3am on Shakespeare Beach, Dover.

Having trained in every stretch of water from Steamer Point to Sandbanks, and along with members of local associations including Poole Lifesaving Open Water Swimmers and East Dorset Open Water SC, the team clocked up an impressive 7.2 miles on the first round of swims. The main focus on the second leg was to minimise the tidal pull to the east so that the team could hit the midpoint and then return west, keeping the ‘arc’ to a minimum. After the second round of swims the team had passed the half way point and the third leg provided clear water, allowing some big distances to be achieved as the three swimmers were pulled west towards Cap Gris Nez. Finishing in 10 hours and 32 minutes, the team was finally rewarded with the fastest time ever achieved by a British three-person relay.

Barry and Danni are now old hands at Channel swimming, having previously participated in a successful relay swim in 2008, but it’s a first (and hopefully memorable experience) for Glenn.

Thanks to the generosity of family, friends and well-wishers, the charity swim raised £800 for Boscombe Lifeguards and £740 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The team also expressed their gratitude to Stuart Gleeson, pilot of the Sea Leopard support boat, and to Swans Goggles, Dry Robe and Reckless Clothing for provision of kit.

Para-Swimming Pathway

September 18, 2015 By Dorset ASA

There is plenty of advice available about Para-swimming but if you only know where to find it, and tracking down relevant information has been a long-standing headache for disability swimmers and their families. However, help is now available on a wide range of issues from basic information for parents and links to Disability Associations to guidance for clubs and pool operators via a ‘help desk’ of useful links compiled by the ASASW’s Para-Swimming Pathway Officer, Dave White. For Para-Swimming newsletters and help desk visit Disability in the Sports section on the DCASA website.

Weyport Masters

August 3, 2015 By Dorset ASA

Weyport Masters Linda Ashmore has completed her first ever IronMan competition at the age of 68, finishing in first place in the 65-69 age group and earning a place in this year’s World Championships in Kona, Hawaii in October.

Held in Bolton on 17 July, Linda finished in a time of 15 hours and 19 minutes, completing a 3.8km swim, 180km hilly bike ride and 42km run. She was the oldest person in the race and ranked 1438 out of a total of 2157 competitors, many of whom did not make it to the finish line.

Linda has only been training in earnest for a little over a year, and this was the first time she had completed a marathon-length run or attempted the whole course at once. Already an accomplished swimmer, Linda became the oldest woman in the world to swim the English Channel in 2007 at the age of 61.

Linda’s focus is now on competing at IronMan Wales in September to qualify for the 2016 World Championships when she will be in the 70-74 age group.

ASA National Summer Championships 2015

August 3, 2015 By Dorset ASA

The ASA National Summer Championships 2015 ended with Dorset swimmers bringing home a total of 16 English Nationals medals – five gold, two silver and nine bronze. The six days of competition for swimmers ranked nationally 25-44 in their age group and event began on 4 August and Dorset clubs with swimmer competing were Bournemouth Collegiate SC, Christchurch Seagulls SC, Poole SC, Swim Bournemouth and Tornadoes of South Dorset.

Day 6:

The sixth and last day the ASA National Summer Championships 2015 produced three medals, all bronze, for Dorset swimmers. The first came in the 18/over 400m Freestyle with Emily Clarke (Poole) finishing in third place in both heats and final with times of 4:30.78 and 4:28.41 respectively. In the 50m Freestyle events, Max Weeks (Christchurch Seagulls) also placed third in both heats and final of the 12/13 age group with times of 26.79 and 26.58, while Jenny Scott (Tornadoes) in the 18/overs finished in fourth with a heat time of 27.55 and then third in the final with a time of 27.11. Other finalists were Finn Trehane (BCS) who finished in ninth place in the heats of the 12/13 400m Freestyle with a time of 4:33.48, and seventh in the final on 4:33.91, while Izzy Pryce (Swim Bournemouth) finished ninth with a heat time of 1:19.02 and eighth in the final on 1:19.33. Poole’s 17/over 400m Medley team of Emily Clarke, Naomi Vides, Madison Kemp and Inez Griffin placed fourth in the heats and sixth in the final with times of 4:34.20 and 4:34.70.

Day 5:

A quieter day in the pool for Dorset with Zac Aitchison (BCS) making the finals of the 16/17 years 200m Breaststroke and finishing fourth with a time of 2:26.57 having placed second in the heats in a time of 2:27.32.

Day 4:

Today’s events produced four medal winners from Dorset, three of which came in the 14 years age group. In the 100m Freestyle, Ben Samuels (BCS) took gold in a winning time of 55.21 having also placed first in the heats in a time of 56.55. Izzy Pryce (Swim Bournemouth) collected a silver medal for a time of 34.95 after finishing in first place in the heats with a time of 35.13, while Christian Tai (BCS) won a bronze for a time of 28.00 in the 50m Butterfly having placed fifth in the heats on 28.54. In the 12/13 years age group, Max Weeks (Christchurch Seagulls) also took a bronze in the 50m Butterfly with a time of 28.61 having placed third in the heats on 29.11. In the 15 years 50m Butterfly, Matt Collins (Swim Bournemouth) was also a finalist placing tenth in both heats and finals on a time of 28.03 and 27.98 respectively.

Day 3:

The Male 200m Individual Medley produced two medal winners today for Dorset swimmers. In the 12/13 years age group, Finn Trehane (BCS) finished in silver medal position with an impressive 2:18.80 having placed fourth in the heats in a time of 2:23.24, while Christian Tai’s time of 2:19.15 in the 14 years age group earned him a bronze medal, having finished fourth in the heats on 2:21.71. In the 18/over 200m Breaststroke Inez Griffin (Poole) improved her placing of seventh in the heats with a time of 2:49.58 to finish in fourth place in the final with a time of 2:46.33.

Day 2:

Four Dorset swimmers produced medal-winning performances at today’s events. The first came in the 800m Freestyle with Emily Clarke (Poole) finishing first in the 18/over age group with a gold-winning time of 9:02.87 while in the 50m Breaststroke BCS swimmers Finn Trehane and Zac Aitchison both finished in the top three. In the 12/13 years age group Finn’s time of 32.49 earned him a gold medal after placing fourth in the heats on 34.04, while in the 16/17 years age group Zac’s time of 30.32 earned him a bronze medal. The last, and another gold, medal of the day came in the 14 years 200m Freestyle from Ben Samuels (BCS) with a time of 2:03.51 after finishing fourth in the heats in a time of 2:05.46. Other finalists were Madison Kemp (Poole) who placed tenth in the 16/17 years 100m Butterfly with a time of 1:05.39 and Matt Collins (Swim Bournemouth) who finished in ninth place in the 15 years 200m Freestyle with a time of 2:04.02.

Day 1:

Following on from successes at last week’s British Summer Nationals, Beth Aitchison (BCS) took another gold medal in the 18/over 200m Freestyle with a time of 2:03.83 having finished in second place in the heats in 2:06.10. Two BCS swimmers also featured in the finals of the 100m Butterfly with Finn Trehane winning a bronze medal with a time of 1:02.90 in the 12/13 years age group having placed second in the heats in 1:04.43, and Ben Samuels finishing in fifth place in the 14 years age group with a time of 1:02.72. Madison Kemp (Poole) placed fifth in the finals of the 16/17 years 50m Butterfly with a time of 28.97. A medal for Poole came in the 17/over 400m Freestyle team event with Emily Clarke, Inez Griffin, Katie Mills and Madison Kemp improving a heat time of 4:09.41 placing fifth, to 4:03.23 in the final and a bronze medal. Poole’s 14/16 years 400m Freestyle team of Leonie Wiehle, Thea O’Keefe, Teagan-Mae Graham and Jasmine Holmes placed tenth in both heats and finals with times of 4:05.73 and 4:05.48 respectively.

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