Press 2009

Competition Results

In December every year Tenby Dolphin’s stage the eagerly anticipated Club Championships. This year it was held over three days of normal training sessions from Sunday 13th to Tuesday 15th December.

We constantly suffer from reduced entries at competitions of every sort, so this year the committee made the decision to pre-enter all our club members in the gala to try to encourage a better attendance. We are pleased to say that there was an improvement on previous years, with 79 swimmers taking part in races on at least one of the days of the competition. Nevertheless there were a surprising number of no-shows. More on this later.

There were numerous exciting races over the three sessions and some very good swims from swimmers at various levels within the club. As is usual in a situation like this, the details of each individual success are too numerous to mention, but suffice to say a great number of swimmers went away with medals as a reward for their efforts.

As well as medals for individual race wins, we also award trophies for the winners of various categories over the three days of competition. To give everyone a good chance of winning, this year, the club introduced two grades of competition aimed to spread the spoils between swimmers who have different aims and ambitions within the sport. We have members who train with us and enter galas all over South Wales, and others who train a little less often and just like to compete in local competitions. For the purposes of the gala we will call them the A & B groups. All our 8 & under swimmers fall into the B group for now, so the B group trophy winners who raced over 25m and 50m distances were: 7&Under, Madison Neye, Morgan Grieve; 8yrs, Megan Cook, Kieran Johnson; 9yrs Charlotte O’Neill, Jevon Thomas; 10yrs, Jade Rowell, Myles Johnson, 11yrs, Madison Vickery, Harry Vickery; 12/13yrs, Jodie Jenkins, Lewis Bridle; 14&Over, Sydney Vickery, Daniel Bridle. In the A group, who raced over 100m distances, the winners were: 9yrs, Jemma Hurds, Ben Rees; 10yrs, Ffion Davies, Luke Dedoncker; 11yrs, Hannah Saunders, Daniel Davies; 12/13yrs, Casie Paxton; 14&Over, Bethan Davie, Johnnie Delahunty. Very well done to all of you who took part, and a big thanks to the volunteers who helped out with the running of the competition.

Christmas Party

This year the annual Christmas party and awards evening was held at a new venue, when we all descended on the Ex Serviceman’s Club in Tenby on the evening of Sunday 20th December.

Party Time for Tenby Dolphins!

We are very pleased to report that this seemed to be a good decision and all the swimmers had a great time, so a big thanks to those who organised the party and to the management of the club for making the Dolphins so welcome. A big thanks also to everyone who donated raffle prizes.

Head Coach John Amos with award winners Myles Thompstone, Gemma Hurds and Lauren Watkins. Behan Davie’s trophy was collected by her brother Gareth and Amy Morgan and was unable to attend.

As well as the usual fun and games, Head Coach John Amos announced the winners of the following annual awards for 2009: Most Improved Girl: Amy Morgan; Most Improved Boy: Myles Thompstone; Most Improved Overall: Gemma Hurds; Coaches Choice Award: Lauren Watkins; Outstanding Achievement Award: Bethan Davie. Hearty congratulations to all of you. Well deserved.

Forthcoming Events

8th-10th Jan New Year Dragon Meet. WNP Swansea. Top LC competition in Wales. Very tough entry times. Closed.

16th Jan Swansea Valley Sprint Meet. Pontardawe.

6th-14th Feb West Wales Regional Championships, Haverfordwest. Closing Date 4th January.

Annual Round Up

As we mentioned earlier, 2009 has been a very good year for the club once again. We have seen a large number of our swimmers progress steadily through the club as their skills continue to develop. We also have lots of enthusiastic new members feeding into the club from the learn-to-swim programs at Tenby Leisure Centre and the fun sessions held at the pool on Saturday mornings. Encouragingly we also have an increase in the number of volunteer helpers both in and around the pool.

The upshot of the strong club environment are the continued good results achieved by our swimmers when they participate in competitions in the county and beyond.

In 2009 we have seen the club once again come second in the relay competition at the West Wales Championships in Feb 2009, which is a great achievement for such a small club with so few older swimmers.

Also, at the West Wales Championships our club members won no fewer that 21 individual gold medals, and at the West Wales Regional Development meet in June and the Sub-Regional meet in December our young guns won a further 7 and 3 gold medals respectively.

The growing band of swimmers who travel regularly to open meets around south and west Wales have also enjoyed much success picking up medals all over the place as they continue to hone their skills and improve their times.

Several of our swimmers play an active part in the County Performance Program and do the bulk of their training in Haverfordwest. Two of these swimmers Niamh Slack and Hannah Saunders were selected for the South West Wales Skills program and now attend tough training camps with other swimmers from across the region. Other younger members of the club have been selected for the County Skills program to further their development.

Over the course of 2009 several of our more experienced club members have enjoyed success in long course (50m pool) events in Wales and beyond. Andrew James swam for the Swansea Performance relay team at The National Youth Championships in Sheffield in the summer, and recently competed at the “Christmas Cracker” in Leeds. He also set a National Qualifying time at the Pembrokeshire Age Group Championships in October.

Welsh National Youth Squad swimmer Bethan Davie has had another excellent year with double gold at the Welsh Age Groups in Swansea in March, and a silver behind the 2008 Olympic Bronze medallist in Oslo in May. She followed this with another medal at the National Age Groups in Sheffield in August and topped her season off with double gold and a Welsh Junior Record at the UK School Games in September. She was delighted to be awarded with the Pembrokeshire Under 16 Girls Sporting Achievement Award in November and is hard in training for 2010 having already set 6 National Qualifying times for the main event in Sheffield next summer.

Since the advent of our club record board which is proudly displayed in the foyer of Tenby Leisure Centre, we have all been given a heightened awareness of the progress of the swimmers within the club. Here are a few amazing statistics. In 2009 alone our swimmers have set 78 new short course club records and 60 new long course club records. That’s right, in one year 138 new records have been set and re set within the club. This is a real indication that standards are improving fast throughout the club with records previously set by our current top guns already being beaten by our up and coming youngsters. Fantastic, and a real testament to hard work and dedication of swimmers and coaches alike.

The club was recently awarded the Swim Wales Dragon Mark accreditation which is an indicator that we are running the club and delivering a program in accordance with the wishes of the governing body. Consequently, we are confident that the training being delivered to the young swimmers is improving all the time as more of the coaching team develop their skills. We now have three Level 2 coaches with another 2 working to their Level 1 award within the club. We are also supported by a large number of qualified teachers and enthusiastic volunteers as the club continues to go from strength to strength.

Club News

We hate to mention this at the end of such an up-beat report, but we once again have to remind everyone that actively taking part in competitive swimming is a pre-requisite of membership of Tenby Dolphins. It is simply not acceptable to attend training but not enter competitions, or withdraw from team events if selected. We have repeatedly mentioned this in these reports throughout the year, but unfortunately a number of members are still failing to take note. Regrettably this will now result in several of you being excluded from the club in the coming months.

The 2010 West Wales Regional Championships takes place in Haverfordwest in February. It’s on your doorstep this year, so absolutely no reason not to attend. However, the closing date is 4th January, so please contact John or Steph Amos this weekend if you want to enter.

We hope you all had a great Christmas break and look forward to welcoming you back at the pool when Club training resumes as normal next week.

2009 was fantastic. Now lets see what we can achieve in 2010!

Dolphins’ Good Form Continues.. 08/12/2009

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This week we have a some information on two competitions held in South Wales in the past couple of weeks.

Firstly, the Welsh Capital Open Meet was hosted by City of Cardiff swimming club at the Cardiff International Pool over the weekend of 27th to 29th November 2009.

Hazel Fox, from the Tenby Dolphins Junior Squad was our sole club representative at this gala.

Hazel swam in several events over the course of the weekend, gaining valuable experience at swimming in long course races as a result. By all accounts Hazel had a bit of trouble with her new “go fast” goggles during the meet, so unfortunately suffered a couple of DQ’s. Nevertheless, she recorded two good 5th place finishes and set several new PB’s. Long Course swimming is quite different to Short Course, so well done indeed for giving this meet a go Hazel.

The second competition we have to report on is the West Wales Sub Regional Competition 2009. A Level 3 meet which was held over the weekend of 5th to 6th December at the Penlan Leisure Centre in Swansea.

This was the first target meet of the year for our junior squad, and what all their training has been aimed towards since September.

We had quite a good entry comprising of: Harry Cook, James Crowney-Richards, Gareth Davie, Carys Davies, Luke Dedoncker, Hazel Fox, Anna Garvey, Jemma Hurds, Talia Merriman, Amy Morgan, Miles Thompstone, Stephen Ward, Lauren Watkins, Jemma Whalley and Ashleigh Willars.

Head Coach John Amos was in attendance throughout the weekend and was delighted to see how well our team members swam.

Talia Merriman had an interesting weekend. Being too fast for many of the race categories in this Level 3 meet, she entered the 400m IM, 400m Freestyle and 800m Freestyle all in the 9-10 yrs category for the first time and duly won all three, setting two new club records along the way. She also won a bronze medal in the 9-10 yrs 100m butterfly and helped her team to two silver medals in the 9-10 yrs 200m freestyle and medley relays. Great swimming Talia.

There were several other notably strong performances. Luke Dedoncker swam very well in the three events he entered, setting 2 new PB’s and winning a bronze in the 10-11yrs 200m IM. Jemma Hurds, who has been impressing the coaching team in training recently, swam strongly in what is only her third open meet, and set a full house of impressive new times and won a well deserved silver medal in the 9-10 yrs 200m breaststroke.

Hazel Fox, back in her trusty old goggles, was clearly determined to set the record straight after her trip to Cardiff and had an excellent weekend. She set 6 out of 7 new PB’s, some of them huge, and despite being out of age in the 9-10 category, won two bronze medals in the 200m freestyle and 200m IM. She also swam as part of the medal winning girls relay teams with Ashleigh, Talia, Jemma and Carys.

Lauren Watkins set a series of very good new PB’s in all her swims and Ashleigh and Stephen also swam well despite being out of age in their race categories.

Without going into any more detail, very well done to all of you who took part. It was a very strong group performance and we will expect you all to continue to work hard in the build up to the next Junior Squad target meet, which is the West Wales Champs in February.

Good luck to all of you at the Club Championships starting on Sunday!

Forthcoming Events

13th-15th Dec Club Championships. This is a compulsory event. You have all been entered and we expect you all to swim unless you have a very good reason not to! Check notice board for details.

8th-10th Jan New Year Dragon Meet. WNP Swansea. Top LC competition in Wales. Very tough entry times. Closed.

16th Jan Swansea Valley Sprint Meet. Pontardawe.

Club News

Don’t forget, the Club Championships are coming up this weekend. Please make every effort to attend at least one of the sessions over the three days of the competition. This is the easiest gala of the year. Don’t miss it!

If you want to order swim gear for Christmas, please place your orders a.s.a.p. at the club shop to avoid disappointment.

Finally, we need donations of raffle prizes for the Club Christmas Party. Please bring something in and drop it off with the ladies at the club shop.

Dolphins Deliver at Welsh Winter Meet. 24/11/2009

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This report covers the exploits of several of our club members who have just taken on the best in Wales at the recent Welsh Winter Meet.

The Welsh Schools and Winter Meet is one of the “big three” Welsh long course meets that take place annually in the Welsh swimming calendar. Being a long course (50m pool) event, it is generally targeted by most swimmers as the primary Welsh meet of the autumn period.

As regular readers will know, Tenby have club members who train with the club or with the county performance program and even with the national performance group in Swansea. Being a relatively high level event with quite difficult entry qualification times, the club entry was therefore made up of our most proficient swimmers from all three training areas.

The Tenby members who swam were: Bethan Davie, Dan Davies, Ffion Davies, Andrew James, Sam Lewis, Niamh Slack and Hannah Saunders.

As we have come to expect, the swimmers did not disappoint and there were some excellent results over the course of the three days of competition.

Dan Davies competes at the Welsh Winter Meet.

Club swimmers Ffion and Dan, made some good improvements and will be taking the experience on board as they up their training in the coming months. Andrew James has been working through an extremely tough period of training in Swansea in the past few weeks, and was not expected to improve on his times at this meet. His coach was instead looking for consistency in pacing and stroke rates as he builds for bigger events in the New Year.

It’s the date not the placing! They did way better than that! Hannah
Saunders & Niamh Slack wait in marshalling for a heat at the Welsh Winter Meet.

Sam, Niamh and Hannah, who are our county performance squad swimmers, all had a good weekend. They recorded a number of impressive PB’s and despite all being out of age in their respective events, managed to place well in the overall rankings. Niamh also made the final of the Yr 7-9 200m butterfly. Well done all of you.

Despite not targeting this meet in her training plan, Welsh International Bethan Davie had a storming weekend. Over the autumn period, Bethan who is a top level breaststroke swimmer, has at the request of the Welsh National Performance Director, been focussing on a number of “off” events to give more balance to her training in the early part of the season. This seems to have paid dividends. Entering eight events, Bethan won four gold and three silver medals (and was fourth in the eighth event she took part in). She set four new championship records, six new long course PB’s and no less than 6 National Qualifying Times for the big event in Sheffield next summer. This is fantastic early season form and as a result of the times she recorded in the 100m & 200m breaststroke, she has already re-qualified for the Welsh National Youth Squad for September 2010-2011. Wow!

Bethan prepares to put on her goggles at the Welsh Winter Meet.

Bethan will now be getting her head down in training in the build up to the first really big event of the year for her, which is the Welsh Dragon Meet scheduled to take place in Swansea in early January. Her Christmas break will be spent mainly in the pool this year!

The Tenby coaching team were delighted to see how well the group of swimmers from the county swimming performance program did over the course of the weekend. They were having a great time poolside and spurring each other on to some super swims. There were a huge number of PB’s and we are delighted to report that Kelsey Williams of Haverfordwest recorded a National Qualifying time in the 200m breaststroke and was only half a second off in the 100m event. A fantastic result which is sure to motivate the whole squad to bigger and better things. Well done Kelsey and well done coach Paul on recording your first NQT!

Forthcoming Events

27th-29th Nov Welsh Capital Open Meet. At Cardiff Int. Pool. Closed.

5th-6th Dec West Wales Sub-Regional Meet, Penlan. This is a target meet for our Junior Squad swimmers. Closed.

13th-15th Dec Club Championships. This is a compulsory event. You have all been entered and we expect you all to swim unless you have a very good reason not to! Check notice board for details.

8th-10th Jan New Year Dragon Meet. WNP Swansea. Top LC competition in Wales. Very tough entry times. Closing date 5th Dec.

Club News

As well as actually taking part in competitive swimming there are other avenues into involvement in top level sport. There are a very rewarding opportunities for young people who want to become involved in officiating and managing big swimming events. We are very pleased that one of our senior swimmers, Olwen Davies, has just started out on the Millennium Volunteer program, and was helping out for the first time at the Welsh Winter Meet in Swansea. By all accounts she had a really good time, so if anyone else is interested have a chat with Olwen to see what it is all about.

Also, don’t forget that there are now really good career opportunities these days in professional swim teaching and coaching. If anyone would like more details of what is on offer and how to start out on a career path, by all means ask John or Steve poolside.

We have the Club Championships coming up on 13th, 14th and 15th December during the normal club training times on those days. As we have said before, we expect all club members to take part, and as a result you have been pre-entered for the races we think you are suitable for. There is no charge to take part and loads of medals and trophies up for grabs. Please check the entry details on the notice board to make sure you have not been left out by mistake.

Millennium Volunteer Olwen Davies concentrates on the finish of a race at the Welsh Winter Meet.

If you want to order swim gear for Christmas, please place your orders a.s.a.p. at the club shop to avoid disappointment.

Finally, we need donations of raffle prizes for the Club Christmas Party. Please bring something in and drop it off with the ladies at the club shop.

More Medals for Dolphins at Neath Open Meet. 10/11/2009

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Just one competition to report on this week. The annual Neath and Nexus Valley Open Meet which was held at the Neath leisure centre on Saturday 7th November.

Tenby Dolphins was once again well represented despite the continuing round of autumn ailments that have affected many children across the county. Bad luck to those of you who were ill on the day and unable to travel, but there are lots of other galas coming up where you will have the opportunity to shine.

Our swimmers who were able to go along were: Harry Cooke, Bethan Davie, Carys Davies, Lydia Dilks, Hazel Fox, Sam Lewis, Talia Merriman, Ben Rees, Kiera Slack, Niamh Slack, Mile Thompstone, Stephen Ward, Lauren Watkins and Ashleigh Willars.

Thus far this autumn our team members have produced some top quality swims at the galas they have attended, and this time around we are very pleased to say the trend continued. Despite the majority of the team taking part in several competitions over the past few weeks, many of them still managed to produce more personal best times, and collectively they won loads of medals once again.

Being an open meet, the swimmers were there to represent their own interests as well as the team, and in a similar way to the recent Pembrokeshire Championships, the gala was split into two different levels. Level 1 for the more experienced swimmers and Level 4 for the little guys. This is an increasingly popular format which gives swimmers of different abilities the chance to taste success.

The swimmers who won gold medals on the day were as follows: Bethan Davie, Gold 14-15yrs 200m breaststroke; Miles Thompstone, Gold 10yrs 50m breaststroke; Talia Merriman, Gold 10yrs 50m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 100m IM and Ashleigh Willars, Gold 9yrs 50m butterfly and 100m IM. Congratulations to all of you. There was some really strong competition in many of the races.

There were loads of other medal successes, which we cannot detail, so all in all it was a good day for the club. Very well done to all of you!

There were two notable individual success stories as well as the medal winning and personal best time setting performances we are used to. We are delighted to report that Talia Merriman had an excellent day and won the trophy for the Best Overall Junior Girl. Excellent swimming Talia. Also, whilst battling some of her older training partners from Swansea, Bethan Davie set another National Qualifying Time in the 200m IM. Nice one Beth.

It was a long hard day for those who entered events throughout the three sessions, with most swimmers setting off at 06:30 and not returning home for 14 hours, or so. That alone takes real dedication and commitment, so well done all of you, and mums and dads give yourselves a big pat on the back too! We hope you all enjoyed the day.

Talia Merriman wins Best Junior Girl Trophy at 2009 Neath and Nexus Valleys Open Meet.

Forthcoming Events

20th-22nd Nov British Gas Welsh Schools and Swim Wales Winter Nationals. WNP, Swansea. Closed.

27th-29th Nov Welsh Capital Open Meet. At Cardiff Int. Pool. Closed.

5th-6th Dec West Wales Sub-Regional Meet, Penlan. This is a target meet for our Junior Squad swimmers. Closed.

TBA Dec Club Championships. Keeping checking the notice board for details.

Club News

One correction to make to our previous report. Due a clerical error on your reporter’s behalf we wrongly accredited one of our up and coming young swimmers with a Pembrokeshire Championship record. Sorry Lewys you just missed out this time, but if you keep on improving at you current rate we are sure that there will be loads more opportunities to rewrite the record books in the future.

The annual Club Championships will be coming up in December. This gala is for all our club swimmers. Please note that we will take a very dim view indeed of anyone who does not attend this competition without a very good reason. We appreciate that there may be clashing school activities or holidays planned, but all other swimmers must be there. It is likely to be spread over several club sessions, so even if you miss one part make sure you make every effort to be there for the next!

You may not have heard that there are new regulations coming into force at the beginning of 2010 regarding the swimming kit competitive swimmers are allowed to wear in competition. Please check with the club shop or club officials before you commit to buy any new gear for Christmas. Also, be careful because many of the bargains currently being offered by the online swimwear stores may not be quite as good as they seem!

Dolphins Continue Autumn Program. 27/10/2009

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There have been a few more competitions taking place since our last report, and we are pleased to report that our club and county based swimmers have been enjoying more success in the pool.

Open Competitions

On 17th & 18th October, a number of the swimmers from the Pembrokeshire County program, took part in the Swim Swansea Short Course Open at the Penlan Leisure Centre.

Unfortunately we have been unable to obtain a full set of results at the time of writing, but we understand that there were some very promising results. Well done to those of you who took part. Travelling a little further afield is always beneficial.

Back in Pembrokeshire, the annual County Championships took place at the Haverfordwest pool over the weekend of 24th – 26th October, with swimmers from the five Pembrokeshire clubs taking part.

Tenby Dolphins had a reasonable entry, with the following swimmers competing for honours with their friends from across the county:

Harry Cook, Bethan Davie, Matt Davie, Gareth Davie, Carys Davies, Luke Dedoncker, Lydia Dilks, Kaitlyn Hicks, Jemma Hurds, Myles Johnson, Coral Lewis, Sam Lewis, Talia Merriman, Ben Rees, Hannah Saunders, Stephen Ward, Ashleigh Willars, Lewys Blanc, Morgan Blanc, Megan Cook, Emily Dilks, Kieran Johnson, Amy Morgan, Charlotte O’Neill, Caitlin Rees, Alanya Thomas, Harry Thomas, Olivia Tomp and Lauren Watkins.

A group of Tenby Swimmers who swan in the Level 4 section of the County Championships.

This meet was licensed for the first time and was categorised in both the Level 4 and 2 classifications. In simple terms, the Level 2 standard races are for more experienced swimmers than Level 4, and it gives swimmers of different ability levels the chance to compete on fairly even terms with swimmers of their own standard. This is very good news because it means that everyone has a genuine chance of winning some medals.

Stephen, Harry, Ben, Luke and Gareth with some of their medals at the County Championships.

A number of the up and coming swimmers who had previously recorded times for some of events were able to compete in the Level 2 races, and then also take part in Level 4 races in strokes they were not as proficient at. Quite a few of the Tenby swimmers were able to do this.

As is usual with events where the swimmers have won a multitude of medals we cannot list all the individual successes, however, in the Level 4 races the Tenby swimmers won no less than 31 gold medals and there were heaps of new personal best times. In the Level 2 category races we won a further 51 gold medals with yet more impressive PB’s. Quite a weekend for everyone. Very well done to all of you. The coaches were delighted with the performances.

Full details of all the results can be found on the club notice board.

As well as winning a pile of medals and setting new personal best times, a number of swimmers actually set new championship records and club records. The format of the championships was different this year, so in many cases because the events were swum for the first time the winners became the record holders by default. Those team members who actually improved on the existing county championship records were: Lewys Blanc (1), Talia Merriman (1), Hannah Saunders (2), Andrew James (8) and Bethan Davie (9). Several club records were also set by Sam Lewis (1), Hannah (1), Andrew (5) and Bethan (8) during the course of the weekend. Well done guys.

In addition to setting records, Andrew James, who trains for up to 20 hours per week in Swansea, set an ASA National Qualifying time in the 200m breaststroke. Bethan Davie also recorded three ASA NQT’s in the 200 breaststroke, 400m IM and 100m Freestyle. Excellent swimming by both of you so early in the season.

All in all it was a very enjoyable meet, with some great swims by our club members. There were a great many changes to the program this year, so it was a lot of work. A big thanks to Mrs Ann Adams for organising and running the meet so efficiently.

Forthcoming Events

7th Nov Neath and Nexus Valleys Open Meet. Another good meet. Closed.

20th-22nd Nov British Gas Welsh Schools and Swim Wales Winter Nationals. WNP, Swansea. Closed.

27th-29th Nov Welsh Capital Open Meet. At Cardiff Int. Pool. A better option for you younger guys who don’t have qualifying times for the Welsh Winter Meet.

5th-6th Dec West Wales Sub-Regional Meet, Penlan. This is a target meet for our Junior Squad swimmers. All of you in that squad must make every effort to attend! Check notice board for details.

Club News

We mentioned above that we had a reasonably good entry to the county championships. However, it was well below what we expected. A number of you had withdraw due to illness which is fully understandable, but far too many club swimmers made no effort to enter.

We keep reminding our members of this, but we are a competitive swimming club, and as such you are expected to attend a number of competitions each year, irrespective of what squad you are in. The coaches and committee will shortly be issuing a set of minimum competition attendance requirements which you will have to comply with to remain part of the club.

We are constantly trying to recruit new volunteers to help with the running of the club, so parents of recently joined swimmers please get involved. We have details of a short timekeepers course on the notice board at which you will be given training into the correct protocols of timekeeping at swimming competitions. There is also a Level 1 swim coaching course coming up in Carmarthen in December. No experience necessary to attend either course.

Just a reminder that the details of the club outing to the Christmas pantomime in Swansea is on the notice board. Please pay for your tickets as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Welsh Junior Record for Bethan at UK Schools Games. 15/09/2009

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This is generally the quietest time of year for competitive swimming, with many youngsters ramping up their training after a comparative lull over the summer holidays. Normally September is a competition free month, which allows the various coaching teams across the country to bring their athletes fitness levels up in time for the autumn calendar.

However, since 2006 and the successful London 2012 Olympic bid, the UK Schools Games has been placed in the calendar to allow our sporting stars of the future the opportunity to take part in a multi-sport event. The timing takes advantage of the empty university campuses prior to return of the students later in the month.

UK Schools Games 2009

This year the UKSG were based in Cardiff with the two-day swimming competition being held at the Wales National Pool in Swansea, where swimmers of 16 years and younger were representing 8 regional teams from across the UK. Namely: Wales, Ireland, Scotland S & E, Scotland N & W, England Central, England South, England North and England East.

Bethan Davie was selected for the Welsh swimming team as the result of some strong performances earlier in the year. After taking a week off after the ASA Nationals in Sheffield in July, she has been training hard through the summer holidays. Although she came away from Sheffield as a medallist once again this year, Bethan was not happy with her performances and viewed the UKSG as the ideal opportunity to finish the 2008-2009 season with a flourish.

We are delighted to report that all the hard work over the summer paid dividends and Bethan swam to convincing victories in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke defeating several older swimmers, and her main age group rival on the British swimming scene who had prevailed at the Nationals in July.

Bethan Davie checks the scoreboard after setting a new Welsh Junior Record in the 200m Breaststroke
at the 2009 UK School Games, recently held in Swansea.

On top of the two gold medals, Bethan also swam to an impressive new Welsh Junior Record for 200m breaststroke for long course (50m) swims. Bethan, who was still 13 on the day of the race, swam 2:34.13 to set the new benchmark for Welsh swimmers under 16 years of age. Her new time now places her in the top 10 for women’s 200m breaststroke in the UK rankings. Fantastic swimming Beth!

Forthcoming Events

2nd Oct Senior Team relay gala at Pembroke. Please check notice board for selection. Check notice board for selection. No withdrawals please!

3rd Oct Llanelli Autumn Meet, Llanelli. Closed.

4th Oct RAOB Gala. This is a very important meet for our 7-10 year old swimmers. Please make sure you go along if you are lucky enough to be selected. Check notice board for selection.

24th-25thOct Pembrokeshire Age Groups, Haverfordwest.

7th Nov Neath and Nexus Valleys Open Meet. Another good meet. Recommended.

20th-22nd Nov British Gas Welsh Schools and Swim Wales Winter Nationals. WNP, Swansea. Tough qualifying time. See notice board.

27th-29th Nov Welsh Capital Open Meet. At Cardiff Int. Pool. A better option for you younger guys who don’t have qualifying times for the Welsh Winter Meet.

Club News

Just a couple of things to bring to your attention.

We have made a number of members aware that their Swim Wales affiliation fees and club memberships are not up to date. It is imperative that you rectify this immediately. Without membership you will not be allowed to swim and will be barred access to the sessions. You have been warned!

You will all have realised that the club squad structure has been reorganised this autumn in line with the requirements of the governing body’s long term athlete development plans. It always takes a while to get used to a change, so please be patient. On the same theme, we have noticed that several of our young Junior Squad swimmers are perhaps doing more hours than they really need to at this stage. Please do not exceed the recommended hours for the swimmers age and ability. Over-training just makes the swimmers tired, and they will soon get fed up. Enjoyment is the key!

The first competitions of the year are coming up over the first weekend of October. Our younger swimmers are somewhat starved of competitions these days, so lets make the most of the opportunity and prepare ourselves properly. Pay real attention to what the coaches are telling you in training, try hard and the results will come!

Following on from the announcement that Bethan Davie has re-qualified for the Welsh National Youth Squad, we are very pleased to report that two of our club members who train in the county program are also making steps in the same direction. Niamh Slack has been selected for the Swim Wales South West Skills Squad 1 and Hannah Saunders for the Swim Wales South West Skills Squad 2. Very well done indeed girls. We hope you enjoy the squad training camps over the coming season.

More National’s Success for Dolphin Bethan. 18/08/2009

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Several weeks have passed since our last report, and in the mean time a number of competitions have taken place. In early July the Cardiff International Meet was held, and our younger swimmers took part in the Junior Shield competition in Pembroke shortly after. Next came the two big events of the summer, the ASA Nationals in Sheffield and the Welsh Summer Nationals in Swansea.

ASA National Age Group Championships

We are delighted to report that our Welsh International, Bethan Davie has once again come away with a medal from the biggest stage for age group swimmers in the UK.

As usual, the competition was once again held at Ponds Forge in Sheffield and the top swimmers in the UK, who strive all year just to qualify for the competition, congregated to do battle from 22nd – 26th July.

This year Bethan qualified for five events, and chose to enter her two preferred breaststroke races together with the 100m freestyle and 200m IM, spread over the five days of competition. All in the 13 years age group category.

Bethan is generally a “big race” swimmer, but going into the Nationals she had suffered a last minute dip in form due to illness, so had some doubts about how she would get on.

Starting with the 100m freestyle which is by no means her specialist event, she set a very good new PB, on her way to a mid-field finish.

Over the next two days her attention switched to her specialist breaststroke events. Once again she set two more personal bests and swam to an excellent bronze medal finish in the 200m and 4th in the 100m.

However, the results were muddied by a couple of factors this year. Firstly one of the largest teams entered a very talented South African swimmer in Beth’s age group who last year at the age of 12, narrowly missed qualifying for the South African Olympic Team. Unsurprisingly she finished in front of Bethan in both the 100m & 200m, and her inclusion meant the British girls were racing for just two medals in each race.

The second issue was that of high tech swim suits. One British swimmer, Jodie Hawksworth from Cheadle, was on scintlating form, setting British Age Group Records in the 100m and 200m breaststroke. However, she like the SA swimmer, was wearing an ultra high tech swim suit such as those worn by the swimmers who recently took apart so many world records at the recent World Championships in Rome. Nevertheless, her swimming was exceptional, and it will be interesting to see where everyone really is when they get back into fabric suits next year.

To close the week, a very tired Bethan set yet another PB on her way to a 9th place finish in 200m IM.

All in all it was a really encouraging week and an excellent result for Bethan. To PB all events and win a medal for the third year running when feeling under the weather was a very gritty performance indeed, and we hope it bodes well for the future.

Bethan Davie with her bronze medal from the 200m Breaststroke at the
2009 ASA National Age Group Championships, recently held in Sheffield.

ASA National Youth Group Championships

This year in the week following the Age Groups, Andrew James swam at the National Youth Championships as a member of the Swansea Performance 4 x 200m relay team.

Unfortunately the team was disqualified due to a dodgy take over, but well done anyway Andrew.

Open Competition Results

The first gala to report is the Cardiff International Open which took place at the 10 lane Cardiff International pool over the weekend of 3-5th July.

Just three Tenby swimmers entered, namely Dan Davies, Ffion Davies and trying a long course event for the first time, Talia Merriman. All three swimmers swam in quite a lot of different races over the weekend, and by all accounts acquitted themselves very well setting excellent new times and battling to some very respectable finishing positions against tough opposition. They won the following medals: Talia, 3rd 9yrs 100m backstroke; 2nd 9yrs 100m breaststroke; Ffion, 3rd 10-11yrs 100m breaststroke.

The Welsh Summer Nationals took place at the Wales National Pool, Swansea over the weekend 30th July-2nd August. The following Tenby club members took part: Ffion Davies, Dan Davies, together with our County Squad swimmers Sam Lewis, Hannah Saunders and Niamh Slack, and Swansea based Andrew James.

Of the 56 separate events these swimmers raced in, they set personal best times in no less than 77% of the swims, which is a very respectable result. Hannah won a sliver medal in the 10-11rys 100m breaststroke and made two other finals. Ffion progressed to three finals and narrowly missed out on a bronze in the 10-11yrs 200m fly. A good effort considering she was out of age for this competition. Well done girls.

Andrew, our Swansea based swimmer, who trains for up to 20 hours per week at the National Pool, enjoyed a very good weekend. Andrew has shown some great improvements over the last year and on this occasion he set 4 more good PB’s on his way to winning no less than four gold and one silver medal. Interestingly enough Andrew’s earliest successes in the pool came in breaststroke events, but since he has immersed himself in an intensive training regime his freestyle has come to the fore. You younger swimmers may enjoy one stroke now, but as you grow you may well find that you start to shine in a different event

Andrew, together with our other high volume trainer Bethan, is a clear illustration that to achieve success in the pool you have to do the hard work first. Younger guys please take note!

Team Competition Results

The Junior Shield competition was held at Pembroke leisure centre on 10th July, and was the first opportunity for our young team to take part in a competition for several months.

As is usual at this competition we were up against swimmers from the other four clubs in the county, and the racing was fast and furious. We don’t have the full team list, but well done to all who took part.

There were some very good swims from the team, and as we have come to expect quite a lot of new PB’s set, however on the day Tenby were well beaten. Our girls team were strong and did well to win the girls competition, but a very much weakened boys team struggled against some very good opposition.

Overall Tenby finished third, so well done to Haverfordwest and Pembroke who were definitely the better teams on the day.

Swimming is a constant learning process for all involved, and the coaches came away with a list of things we need to work on over the coming weeks.

Forthcoming Events

3rd Oct Llanelli Autumn Meet, Llanelli. A very good meet for our club swimmers. Please check notice board for details.

4th Oct RAOB Gala. This is a very important meet for our 7-10 year old swimmers. Please make sure you go along if you are lucky enough to be selected. Check notice board nearer the time.

24th-25thOct Pembrokeshire Age Groups, Haverfordwest.

7th Nov Neath and Nexus Valleys Open Meet. Another good meet. Recommended.

20th-22nd Nov British Gas Welsh Schools and Swim Wales Winter Nationals. WNP, Swansea. Tough qualifying time. See notice board.

27th-29th Nov Welsh Capital Open Meet. At Cardiff Int. Pool. A better option for you younger guys who don’t have qualifying times for the Welsh Winter Meet.

Club News

Anyone who is actively involved in the club will realise that the dynamics of our squads have changed over the past year or so. Many of our older guys have inevitably moved on, and at the moment we have a large number of younger swimmers who are just starting out on the competition swimming pathway.

As a club we are very much aware that we need to be structured to offer every one of our members the swimming program best suited to their needs, and as a result we are working hard to gain the Swim Wales Dragon Mark accreditation standard. This is a recognised measure of quality, and proof that we as a club are striving to follow the guidelines recommended by the governing body.

This will most obvious thing our swimmers will see is a reorganisation of the squads, based on ability and commitment to training and competitions. We ask for your support when this comes into force at the beginning of the swimming season in September. We will shortly be sending all swimmers details of how the changes affect them.

We would like to pass on our thanks to Sally Johnson who has arranged for £100 of sponsorship from Abbey. Their generosity is greatly appreciated and the much needed funds will be used for our ongoing volunteer training program.

Talking of volunteers, we are delighted to see so many new faces starting to help poolside with the training and coaching. Your assistance is always welcome and as you have seen, you can make an immediate contribution.

Club and County swimmer Johnnie Delahunty, is fortunate enough to be carrying on his studies at Millfield School which is in Street in Somerset. Johnnie has shown that all the training was worth while by winning a swimming scholarship, and he will now be training with some of the top swimmers in the UK as well as enjoying the other opportunities the school has to offer. Johnnie will be joined by his brother Lloyd, another Dolphin’s “old boy”, who is transferring from Llandovery College on an academic scholarship. Best of luck guys!

Finally in this edition, we would like to congratulate Bethan Davie on her re-selection for the Welsh National Youth Squad, and wish her the best of luck when she takes part in the UK Schools Games which is to be held in Swansea & Cardiff at the beginning of September. By the way, anyone in Swansea on 4th (14:45-17:45) and 5th (11:15-14:15) September, can go along to watch at the WNP for free if you apply for tickets in advance! (See notice board for details!)

Dolphins in Action at Amman Valley Meet. 30/06/2009

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Our previous report was packed with info from a number of different galas and open meets. This time however things have not been quite so hectic and we are focusing on the annual Amman Valley Sprint Meet.

Open Competition Results

The Amman Valley Sprint Meet, held at the Llanelli Leisure Centre, took place on 13th June 2009, and was attended by a sizeable Tenby contingent of 21 swimmers. Probably our largest entry at a competition outside Pembrokeshire for quite some time, and there was a good team atmosphere poolside.

The Tenby swimmers who went along were: Nick Allen, Gemma Amos, Harry Cook, Gareth Davie, Matt Davie, Luke Dedoncker, Lydia Dilks, Hazel Fox, Abi Hicks, Katie Hicks, Myles Johnson, Talia Merriman, Casie Paxton, Georgia Poole, Ben Rees, Safi Rooney, Stephen Ward, Lauren Watkins, Heather Whittaker, Henry Whittaker and Ashleigh Willars.

As with all sprint meets, the action was fast and furious, but the entries to the competition were a little down because of the restrictions of the upper and lower qualifying times imposed by the organisers in order to meet the criteria of a Level 3 meet.

The structure of the meet was a series of 50m swims in all the strokes followed by an IM final for the top points scorers in each of the various age bands.

Tenby enjoyed considerable success with following podium positions being achieved:

Gemma Amos, 16/O, 1st 50m Breaststroke, 2nd 50m Fly; Matt Davie, 16/O, 1st 50m Backstroke, 2nd 50m Breaststroke, 2nd 50m Fly; Talia Merriman, 9yrs, 1st 50m Breaststroke, 1st 50m Fly; Georgia Poole, 11yrs, 2nd 50m Breaststroke; Heather Whittaker, 16/O, 1st 50m Freestyle, 2nd 50m Backstroke, 2nd 50m Breaststroke, 3rd 50m Butterfly; Henry Whittaker, 14yrs, 1st 50m Freestyle, 1st 50m Breaststroke, 1st 50m Butterfly and 1st 50m Backstroke.

Many others finished in top six points scoring positions and medals were awarded to sixth place in every race. Overall 60% of all the times recorded were improvements on the swimmer’s previous PB’s. Super swimming!

The following scored enough points to make their respective 100m IM finals, and finished in the positions indicated: Gemma Amos (DNS), Harry Cooke (5th), Gareth Davie (6th), Matt Davie (1st), Luke Dedoncker (4th), Talia Merriman (1st), Heather Whittaker (2nd) and Henry Whittaker (2nd).

Well done to all the medallists. There were some super swims across the board, and some great new PB’s by some of our younger team members. Of note, all of Henry’s 50’s were very good, as was Matt’s IM final where his technique and pace were excellent throughout. Henry was justifiably rewarded as best overall swimmers in the boys section. Nice one Henry! Talia, who qualified for the IM finals from just two 50m swims, also demonstrated excellent technique and pacing in very strong swim in her final. There were lots of other great performances, so let’s keep it up.

Head Coach John Amos with part of the Tenby team at the Amman Valley Sprints.

Katie lines up for a photo with Tenby’s IM finalists Matt, Henry, Heather, Luke,
Harry, Talia and Gareth at the Amman Valley Sprint Meet 2009.

The poolside coaching team were impressed by way the swimmers put into practice what they have been working so hard on at club training sessions, and as we mentioned earlier having a good size entry creates a nice team atmosphere poolside. More of the same next time please!

Forthcoming Events

3rd-5th July Cardiff Int. Open Meet. Entries Closed.

10th July Junior Shield, Pembroke.18:45. Please check notice board for selection, and please try to go along if you have made the team.

22nd -27th July ASA National Age Group Championships, Sheffield. (Qualifiers only).

30th Jul – 2nd Aug Swim Wales Summer Nationals, WNP Swansea. Entries closed.

Club News

As we approach the summer holidays, can all club members ensure that all outstanding gala entry fees and club shop accounts are settled in full.

Talking of summer holidays, we say this every year but it is swimming as usual throughout, so keep on training.

This has not been mentioned for a while, so we think you all need reminding. Please take note. When picked for a “Team” gala, such as the one coming up in Pembroke, you must wear your club swim hats. Everyone looks really smart and can be easily identified as part of the club!

Dolphins Success at Welsh Championships. 21/04/2009

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The biggest swimming event in Wales takes place every year over the Easter weekend, when the Welsh Age Group and Youth Championships are staged at the Wales National Pool in Swansea.

Age Group swimmers from all over Wales congregate to battle it out for the honour of being Welsh Champion in their age group for various strokes and distances. Older swimmers competing in the Youth category battle for the same honours, but also have to take on athletes from outside Wales as theirs’ is an open competition.

Welsh Championship Results

Those of you who regularly follow the exploits of Tenby’s young swimmers will realise that many changes have been afoot in Pembrokeshire swimming over the past months. With the opening of the new pool in Haverfordwest, our club members who are part of the county program no longer train in club, but instead focus their efforts at this new training centre. Nevertheless, we will include their results as part of the Tenby contingent because they are still club members.

They are: Johnnie Delahunty, Sam Lewis and Niamh Slack. They were joined by Tenby club swimmers: Matt Davie, Bethan Davie, Dan Davies and Hannah Saunders, who were in turn joined by club member Andrew James who trains in Swansea.

The Championships are spread over four days of intense competition, so if a swimmer enters events on all four days it is a real test of stamina and endurance (for swimmers and parents alike!). We are really impressed with those of you who managed to perform so well at the end of such a tough weekend.

We are pleased to report that despite the varied training backgrounds the swimmers acquitted themselves very well. There were some strong performances throughout the weekend with many new PB’s being set and a number of medals being won.

Dan Davies, who is 10, was swimming well out of age in the 12/U boys category yet still managed to finish well up the order. As did Hannah Saunders who finished in a very creditable 4th place in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke in the 11/U age group. Well done to both of you. We are sure you will be bringing home top honours in future events.

Sam Lewis recorded a couple of PB’s and entertained us all with a truly bizarre 200m fly swim. Nice one Sam!?! Johnnie Delahunty PB’d his 50m freestyle, 100m fly, 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke, making the final in the latter event. Matt Davie recorded new PB’s in all but one of his events, and also made the final of the 200m backstroke. Well done boys!

Niamh Slack enjoyed her best Championships yet, making four finals and recording excellent new PB’s in every event she entered. She showed a real return to form and to put the icing on the cake won bronze medals in the 11/U 100m and 200m butterfly events. Very well done Niamh!

Bethan Davie (together with brother Matt) left the county program a few weeks ago to return to club training which she supplements with twice weekly squad training in Swansea. Andrew James trains there on a daily basis, putting in 20 hours a week in the pool, and we are very pleased to report that all Andrew’s hard work is now starting to pay dividends. Andrew set new personal bests in just about all his events, made several finals and picked up a silver medal in the 17-18yrs 200m butterfly. He is also getting in touching distance of a National Qualifying Time (NQT) in several events. Good work Andrew!

Double 2009 Welsh Champion Bethan Davie with fellow Welsh Championship medallist Niamh Slack.

Two years ago Bethan Davie was crowned Welsh Champion in two events, and this year we are delighted to report that she repeated the performance and the club once again has a reigning Welsh Champion amongst our ranks. As well as winning the 12-13 yrs 100m and 200m breaststroke, Beth also set Championship Records in both. All in all she had a very strong weekend winning a total of six medals from seven events entered, with her worst place finish being 4th in the 100m butterfly. Her other medals were silver in 12-13yrs 400m IM, and bronze in the 200m IM, 200m freestyle and 100m freestyle. To round off a great weekend she also set two more NQT’s in the 400m IM and 100m freestyle. Super swimming Beth!

Forthcoming Events

May 26 Junior Gala at Pembroke. Check notice board for selection. 12:45 Start.

May 9-10: Swansea Valley Junior Open Meet. Neath. A good gala for club swimmers. Always a nice atmosphere. Highly recommended!

May 16-17: Swim Swansea Long Course Open. WNP Swansea. Good LC meet. (Entries closed).

May 23-24: Pembrokeshire Whitsun Weekender. The inaugural meet at the new pool in Haverfordwest. Can’t afford to miss it. No excuses if you have the qualifying or consideration times! Lets see a huge Tenby entry!

June 6: West Wales Region Junior Development Meet. This competition is designed for swimmers who have not qualified for the Welsh Age Groups. It’s a one day event, so make sure you enter!

Club News

Please make sure you return all your membership forms etc. to Paul as soon as possible. Also, those of you who owe outstanding gala entry fees, can you please pay these as soon as possible.

Don’t forget, we have an Assistant Development Coaches course coming up very soon. Currently we have 9 names on the list of those who want to attend and room for a few more. Don’t miss out on this great introduction to swim coaching!

Dolphins Continue to Impress. 02/03/2009

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Since the last report, the annual West Wales Regional Championships have been held in February. Also, the Celtic Tri Nations meet has taken place in Swansea, where some of the best swimmers in Scotland, Ireland and Wales, including many internationals and Olympians, were battling it out for the their respective countries.

West Wales Results

There are a wide variety of events and age groups of swimmers competing at the West Wales Championships so, as usual the competition was held over two weekends, this year between the 6th and 15th February.

Considering that this has long been considered the premier event for club swimmers in our region, we were a little disappointed that this year only 22 of our swimmers entered one or more races as individuals. However, the numbers were boosted on the club relay day when additional team members travelled to Penlan Leisure Centre to supplement the squad.

Those club members who did enter individual events were as follows: Gemma Amos, Bethan Davie, Gareth Davie, Matt Davie, Daniel Davies, Ffion Davies, Luke Dedoncker, Johnnie Delahunty, Lydia Dilks, Anna Garvey, Olivia Garvey, Andrew James, Jack Lear, Sam Lewis, Talia Merriman, Ben Rees, Safi Rooney, Hannah Saunders, Kiera Slack, Niamh Slack, Sophie Stanford and Ashleigh Willars.

We are delighted to say that many of our swimmers enjoyed some spectacular successes. There were some super swims resulting in numerous podium positions and several new championship records. They deserve recognition, so here is a summary of the individual medals won. In alphabetical order they were:

Bethan Davie (13), 1st 13-14yrs 200m Breaststroke, 1st 13-14yrs 100m Breaststroke, 1st 13-14 yrs 200m Butterfly, 2nd 13-14yrs 100m Butterfly, 2nd 13-14yrs 100m Freestyle, 2nd 13-14yrs 400m IM, 2nd 13-14yrs 200m Freestyle, 3rd 13-14yrs 400m Freestyle, 3rd 13-14yrs 200m IM; Matt Davie (16), 1st 16-17yrs 100m Backstroke, 2nd 16-17yrs 200m Backstroke, 2nd 16-17yr 200m Freestyle, 3rd 16-17yrs 100m Freestyle, 3rd 16-17yrs 100m Breaststroke, 3rd 16-17yrs 400m Freestyle, 3rd 16-17yrs 200m Butterfly; Daniel Davies (10), 3rd 9-11yrs 200m Breaststroke, 3rd 9-11yrs 400m IM, 3rd 9-11yrs 100m Breaststroke; Ffion Davies (9), 1st 9-10yrs 200m Butterfly, 1st 9-10yrs 100m Butterfly, 1st 9-10yrs 200m IM; Johnnie Delahunty (15), 1st 15yrs 50m Freestyle, 2nd 14-15yrs 100m Freestyle, 3rd 14-15yrs 100m Butterfly, 3rd 14-15yrs 200m Freestyle, 3rd 14-15yrs 100m Backstroke; Andrew James (17), 1st 16-17yrs 200m IM, 1st 16-17yrs 200m Breaststroke, 1st 16-17yrs 400m IM, 1st 16-17yrs 200m Freestyle, 1st 16-17yrs 100m Breaststroke, 1st 16-17yrs 400m Freestyle, 2nd 16-17yrs 200m Butterfly, 3rd 16-17yrs 100m Butterfly; Sam Lewis (13), 1st 12-13yrs 100m Freestyle, 3rd 12-13yrs 100m Butterfly, 3rd 12-13yrs 100m Breaststroke; Hannah Saunders (10),1st 9-10yrs 200m Breaststroke, 1st 9-10yrs 100m Backstroke, 1st 9-10yrs 200m Backstroke, 1st 9-10yrs 100m Breaststroke, 2nd 9-10yrs 400m Freestyle, 3rd 9-10yrs 200m IM, 3rd 9-10yrs 100m Freestyle; Niamh Slack (11), 3rd 11-12yrs 200m Backstroke, 3rd 11-12yrs 100m Butterfly; Sophie Stanford, 1st 17& Over 100m Breaststroke, 1st 17&Over 200m Breaststroke, 2nd 17&Over 100m Freestyle and 2nd 15&Over 50m Freestyle.

We are sure you will agree, a splendid set of results. Particularly well done to the swimmers who were out of age, yet still managed to win medals. This is always a good indicator of talent. As is the norm in galas such as these the swimmers are trying their all and once again our team members set a whole host of new PB’s. To top off some excellent individual swims the following set Championship records: Hannah Saunders, Bethan Davie and Andrew James all set records in both the 100m and 200m Breaststroke for their respective ages. Well done indeed!

Andrew James, Johnnie Delahunty, Matt Davie and Danny Brown after winning the
Open 4 x 50m Medley & Freestyle Relays at the West Wales Regional Championships.

The West Wales Championships also include the “Club Relay” Competition which is always eagerly anticipated by the leading clubs in the area. The premier club in the region has for many years been Swim Swansea, and for the past three seasons Tenby have been runners up to them in the competition. For a small club like ours this is a fine achievement, but we were keen to try to go one better this year.

As we mentioned earlier, quite a few additional club members travelled up to take part in the relay competition alone, so the poolside was packed with competitors, and the atmosphere was very exciting.

Without going into too much detail, our relay teams acquitted themselves very well, picking up several gold, silver and bronze medals. A variety of teams won the different races, with some being stronger in certain age group categories than others. It was starting to look as if things were going to be tight when the final points totals were declared, but nobody realised just how close it would be.

In the end Swim Swansea won again, and we are very pleased to report that Tenby were second for the 4th year in succession. However, we so very nearly won! The margin of victory enjoyed by Swim Swansea was just 2 points, and had one of our teams not suffered a disqualification we would have just pipped them to the post. Anyway, another great result for the club, so well done to all our competing team members. Lets see if we can just make that extra step next time!

Celtic Tri Nations

This competition took place at the Welsh National Pool in Swansea over the weekend of 20th-22nd February, and is the first time Wales has hosted the event since it’s inception in 2006. It is one of only two competitions where Welsh swimmers can represent their country against other nations, the other being the Commonwealth Games. Each of the three countries (Ireland, Scotland & Wales) nominate scoring swimmers who actually record points for their respective teams, but this gala was run as an open competition so there were loads of other competitors to add to the opposition and add to the atmosphere as well. There were visiting clubs from Ireland as well as the Irish National Team, and the Scottish team were accompanied by strong representation from the City of Glasgow team. The Welsh were naturally the most numerous as all the Skills and Regional Squad swimmers were entered, together with the non-scoring members of the Senior Elite and National Youth Squads and other individual entrants.

In our last article, we mentioned that Bethan Davie and Johnnie Delahunty had been selected to swim in the Swim Wales Youth Relay teams. Both acquitted themselves very well. In addition they competed in one or more individual events and were joined on the Saturday by club members Dan Davies and Swansea based Andrew James.

Dan set a good PB in the 200m Breaststroke, as did Beth in the 200m Breaststroke and 200m IM. She also won two silver medals in the 12-13yrs 100m & 200m Breaststroke events, behind a very strong swimmer from Ireland. Nice one!

The main competition drew to an exciting conclusion with the Welsh and Scottish teams on a reasonably close points difference. However, as the final session progressed the Scottish team drew away, and despite the Welsh women’s team setting a new Welsh record on the way to winning the final relay event.

It was a treat to watch so many top international swimmers competing in Wales, and all in all it was an excellent championship. Many of the swimmers set their own National records, so it was clearly a seriously contested event. We would recommend anyone interested in competitive swimming to try to watch some of it next time around. Especially as it was free admission!

Forthcoming Events

7th-8th Mar. Llanelli Open

14th-15th Mar. WISE International Gala. WNP Swansea.

27th-29th Mar. Tiger Bay Open. Cardiff International Pool. A Level 3 Long course event which means you don’t need qualifying times!

10th-13th Apr. Welsh Age Group and Youth Championships. Wales National Pool, Swansea. Entries closed.

9th-10th May. Swansea Valley Junior Open Meet. Neath. – a good gala for club swimmers. Always a nice atmosphere.

16th-17th May. Swim Swansea Long Course Open. WNP Swansea. Good LC meet. Try it if you have the qualifying times.

23rd-24th May. Pembrokeshire Whitsun Weekender. The inaugural meet at the new pool in Haverfordwest. Can’t afford to miss it. No excuses if you have the qualifying or consideration times!

6th June West Wales Region Junior Development Meet. This competition is designed for swimmers who have not qualified for the Welsh Age Groups. It’s a one day event, so make sure you enter!

Club News

Don’t’ forget that we are collecting names of those who are interested to get a bit more involved in the coaching side of things and want to go on the Assistant Development Coaches course. It takes a couple of days and your correspondent can recommend it as a great introduction into swim coaching. Please ask any of the club officials if you need more info.

Good luck to Bethan Davie who has been selected to represent the Welsh Schools team in the WISE International gala which takes place in Swansea next weekend. She is following on from several other club swimmers who have represented us in the past. The Welsh team will be competing against, all of the home countries in this one, hence the WISE acronym (Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England).

The new pool in Haverfordwest is opening imminently. Even if you are not a county squad swimmer, check out the opening times and go along and try it out. We hear that it is a great facility. Don’t forget fee paying club members are entitled to free public swimming in the county.

A sponsored swim has been organised to raise club funds. Sponsor forms are available on the notice board. Please try to take part.

Finally, we have seventeen swimmers entered in the Llanelli Open this weekend. Good luck to all of you.

First Competitions of 2009 for Tenby Dolphins. 12/01/2009

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Straight after the Christmas holidays the swimmers of Tenby Dolphins were once again back in action.

The year kicked off with the annual county 800m and 1500m championships which were held in Pembroke on Sunday 4th January, and last weekend a group of our swimmers were at the Swim Wales New Year Dragon Meet which was held at the National Pool in Swansea.

Competition Results

The thought of taking part in an 800m or 1500m race can be bit of a daunting prospect especially after the seasonal holidays. Nevertheless, on 5th January a dedicated group of young athletes made the trip to Pembroke to try their hand at competing over the longer distances which many don’t attempt throughout the rest of the year.

Even our more experienced swimmers tend to treat this as a one off event, because at the moment we don’t have any dedicated long distance specialists in the club. Nevertheless, there was still a slight increase in the numbers of Tenby swimmers in attendance compared with last year.

The Tenby swimmers who were able to compete on the day, and the results they achieved were:

Bethan Davie, 1st 13/U 1500m, 1st 13-15 800m; Andrew James, 1st 16/O 800m, 1st 14/O 1500m; Niamh Slack, 3rd 13/U 1500m; Hannah Saunders, 4th 13/U 1500m; Gemma Amos, 1st 16/O 800m; Matt Davie, 3rd 14/O 1500m; 3rd 16/0 800m; Ffion Davies, 5th 13/U 1500m; Daniel Davies, 2nd 13/U 1500m Nick Allen, 8th 12/U 800m; Gareth Davie, 10th 8/U 800m; Johnnie Delahunty, 1st 13-15 800m; Henry Whittaker, 3rd 13-15, 800m; Sam Lewis 4th 13-15 800m.

There were PB’s for most of the swimmers. Well done to all, and in particular to Johnnie Delahunty who swimming in the 13-15 800m, improved the record set by Lewys Canton in 2008 by 5.76 seconds. Well done also to Bethan Davie who swimming in the 13-15 800m, improved upon the record set by former Dolphin’s swimmer Sarah White in 1993 by 31 seconds.

For Welsh swimmers, the calendar year for major competitions always starts with the annual Swim Wales New Year Dragon Meet which is held over three days at the National Pool in Swansea. As has been the case in previous years several major teams travelled to Swansea for the event and provided very tough competition for the Welsh contingent.

The Tenby swimmers who did compete were:

Bethan Davie, Matt Davie, Johnnie Delahunty, Andrew James, Jack Lear, Sam Lewis, Hannah Saunders, Daniel Davies and Henry Whittaker.

Dan Davies (centre) starts the 200m breaststroke at the New Year Dragon Meet in Swansea.

The Dragon Meet has strict qualifying entry times and competition sections for Age Group and Senior swimmers. This is major UK competition and attracts top competitors from clubs across the country, so every race is very hard fought affair. Some swimmers of age 13 and under choose to enter both the Age Group and Senior events so can have a very busy schedule over the course of the competition weekend.

Sam Lewis swims in the 13-14yrs 200m breaststroke at the Dragon Meet.

Daniel Davies and Hannah Saunders swam very well and both set excellent new PB’s in their chosen breaststroke events. In fact Hannah set a time in the 200m that is only a couple of seconds slower than Bethan Davie swam at the same time 2 years ago, and places her just outside the top 20 in the UK National Rankings for the Nationals in July. We all know how far Beth has managed to progress over the last couple of years, so lets hope Hannah can follow the same path and achieve the qualifying times needed for the big event. She will have to work really hard, but we all have our fingers crossed.

Hannah Saunders on her way to another good PB at the Dragon Meet.

Steph Amos, in her capacity as Swim Wales Referee, gets a race under way at the Dragon Meet.

Johnnie Delahunty recorded 4 PB’s from 6 events, and Sam Lewis took big chunks off the entry times of the three events he swam in. Well done boys.

Bethan Davie entered both the Age Group and Senior category events and had some fine swims in both. In all she swam in 17 races despite withdrawing from one final, which is a very tough work load indeed. Medal success came in the shape of gold in the 12-13 yrs 100m breaststroke, 12-13 yrs 200m breaststroke and 12-13 yrs 200m IM. She also picked up a bronze in the 12-13 yrs 100m freestyle and reached finals in 3 of the open age group category races. Most pleasingly she swam under her previous 200m breaststroke time 3 times during the course of the weekend and is now 7.5 seconds inside the National Qualifying time and ranked 2 in the UK for the Nationals.

Forthcoming Events

17th Jan. Swansea Valley Sprints, Pontardawe.

24th-25th Jan. National Urdd Swimming Gala. Cardiff International Pool.

25th Jan. Welsh Schools Gala. Brecon. Good luck to those of you selected for the Dyfed team.

6th-16th Feb. West Wales Championships, Penlan, Swansea. Individual and Team Entries. Top Event in our region for club swimmers. (Entries closed).

20th-22nd Feb. Celtic Meet. WNP Swansea. (Entries closed)

7th-8th Mar. Llanelli Open

27th-29th March Tiger Bay Open. Cardiff International Pool. A Level 3 Long course event which means you don’t need qualifying times! A great opportunity to qualify for future events. Check the notice board and get your entries down now! It’s a first come first served gala so we are sending them in soon.

Club News

Good luck to all our swimmers who will be representing their schools at the National Urdd swimming gala couple of weeks at the new 10 lane 50m pool in Cardiff. It’s a super venue, easy to get to and just over the road from a branch of large toy store chain. Older swimmers note this is a (L1) licensed meet so use the pool time effectively, because the times recorded there may qualify you for other big competitions.

You should all have noticed that our new club record board is in place and we are delighted with the level of interest it is generating amongst swimmers, parents and other visitors to the pool. A big thanks to Mr Rob Thomas of Tenby Leisure Centre for his assistance in installing the board for us. Greatly appreciated.