South Yorkshire Masters Championships – 14.05.11

EMUALTING the achievements this year of the younger Gainsborough Dolphins swimmers the Masters members shone with great success at the recent South Yorkshire Masters Championships at Scarborough. Other commitments to some members meant only a squad of eleven swimmers competing over 42 events in an action packed day with 23 medals gained and a total of 38 top six finishes. With the standard of competition at its highest against swimmers from the North East, North West, the Midlands and Yorkshire at this event for many years this proved to be a phenomenal accomplishment. The first gold of the day was secured by 21 year old Emily Wright in the Ladies 18/24 age group with a personal best time in the 50m breaststroke. Emily later followed up with another victory in the 100m breaststroke whilst she also placed third in the 50m butterfly, fourth and sixth in the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle respectively. In the Mens 60/64 age group Mike Keeble also tasted double success as he won both the 50m and 100m backstroke whilst he had to settle for silver in the 50m freestyle. Alongside Mike Sloan, Godfrey Green and Jari Goddard Mike achieved further success as this quartet won both their freestyle and individual medley (I/M) relays in the 220+ years combined age group. Dolphins eldest competitor Godfrey (62) won two silver medals in the 50m and 100m breaststroke events in the 60/64 age group whilst he also achieved bronze in the 50m butterfly and 100m I/M. Just missing out on gold was 38 year old Chris Webster in the 35/39 age group as he was beaten by two tenths of a second in a thrilling 50m butterfly. Chris also placed fifth in the 50m breaststroke whilst 37 year old Nic Clover also missed the medals in this event with a fourth place as 38 year old Steve Morris also made it into the top six behind his team mates. Steve was unlucky again later to miss out on the top three in the 100m breaststroke finishing fourth whilst Nic went one better in securing bronze in the 200m freestyle. In the same age group 38 year old Rachel Haldenby swam superbly well to win silver in the 100m breaststroke, bronze in the 50m breaststroke with fourth in the 50m freestyle. The Mens 45/49 age group saw a very competitive category resulting in 46 year old Mark Smith missing out on the podium with fourth place finishes in the 200m I/M and 50m butterfly whilst 47 Jari Goddard placed sixth and tenth in the 50m freestyle and butterfly respectively. A mixed day for 30 year old James Lugg in the Mens 30/34 age group saw him claim bronze in the 200m freestyle and seventh in the 100m freestyle whilst illegal movement on the starting block resulted in him being disqualified in the 50m freestyle after a third place finish. Double silver was recorded in the Mens 50/54 age group as 52 year old Mike Sloan narrowly missed the gold in the 50m butterfly and 100m I/M. Top six finishes were secured by all the relay teams with a controversial disqualification robbing the quartet of Mark, Emily, Chris and Rachel of gold in the 140+ years combined I/M mixed relay. Having won the very close race just before the session interval they returned to collect their medals only to find out that they had been unfortunate. With Mark and Chris having to depart early Mike Sloan and Mike Keeble replaced them in the 140+ mixed freestyle relay to secure an impressive second place. Bronze medals were won by the quartet of Mike Keeble, Steve, Chris and Mark in the 140+ Mens I/M relay with Jari, Mike Sloan, Steve and James gaining the same honour in the freestyle equivalent. The mixed 100+ combined freestyle relay of Jari, Emily, Rachel and James held on to be rewarded with another bronze whilst Nic replaced Jari in the I/M relay as they finished fourth. Also just missing the medals in both their freestyle and I/M relays in the 180+ years combined age group were Mark, Jari, Mike Sloan and Mike Keeble with two fourth place finishes whilst the quartet of Nic, Chris, James and Steve had to settle for fifth place in both their 100+ years relay events. More fantastic news for the Club is the selection of six Gainsborough Dolphin swimmers to represent Lincolnshire this Sunday at Derby in the East Midland Inter-County gala. The Club extend their congratulations to Chris Webster, Nic Clover, Pete Trickett, James Lugg and newly wed Ruth Howitt whilst Mark Smith has had to decline his selection due to being on holiday. The Club are open to new members and any ex-swimmers who wish to improve their fitness and maybe compete are more than welcome. For more information please visit www.gainsboroughdolphins.co.uk.

Lincolnshire Swimming League – 21.05.11

FOLLOWING their success in the opening round in the Lincolnshire League the swimmers of Gainsborough Dolphins made the journey to the Humber Estuary for the second round of three at the Scartho Pool at Grimsby. They faced tough competition from host club Cleethorpes and Scunthorpe Aquatics (CASA), Louth and the City of Lincoln Pentaqua (CLP) in a gala full of very competitive races. With the competition between the Clubs not only in the pool there was plenty of vocal support from the supporters and swimmers as each victory was greeted with the chants of ‘oggy oggy oggy’. The first of the night came from the Gainsborough voices as it followed the victory in the opening event as James Smith won the Mens Open 100m freestyle as he gained maximum points for Dolphins with an excellent swim. This was quickly followed by a storming swim from Emily Wright as she shaved over two seconds off her life time best in the Ladies Open 100m breaststroke. The girls 10 year squad proved the most successful on the night as the quartet of Shannon Conway, Grace Tooke, Harriet Webster and Molly Creed won their Individual Medley (I/M) relay whilst Shannon swam superbly to win both her 50m butterfly and backstroke events. Molly was just beaten into second place in her 50m freestyle as she lost her goggles following the turn whilst Grace also came second in the 50m breaststroke. Freya Janney replaced Grace in the freestyle relay to record another second place, again just being beat in the closing metres. In the same age group the boys also achieved success as James Beresford and Ben Ambrose won their 50m backstroke and breaststroke races respectively with James securing second with a fine effort in the 50m butterfly. Along with Ben Crookes, who finished third in the 50m freestyle, and Harry Overton this quartet achieved third in the I/M relay. Double victory came from 11 year old Loveday Beresford in the girls 12/U 50m butterfly and freestyle with Dolphins recording two more victories via the Cawte brothers with Henry in the boys 14/U 100m breaststroke and William in the Mens Open 100m backstroke. The former was joined by Jack Boulton, Aarron Smith and Bradley Janney to place second in the boys 14/U I/M relay and third in the freestyle equivalent. In their individual events Aarron came second in the 100m butterfly as did Jack in the 100m freestyle. In the boys 12/U age group Ewan McKay had to settle for second spot in both his 50m butterfly and breaststroke races as did William Walmsley in the 50m backstroke, with William third in the 50m freestyle. Along with Cammron Bower and Matthew Overton they achieved second in the I/M relay whilst a close finish saw them finish third in the freestyle relay as Aidan Clover replaced Cammron. The remaining individual second place came from David Trickett in the Mens Open 100m breaststroke, who also finished third in the Mens Open 100m butterfly, with the girls 14/U team of Georgia McKay, Chloe Gilmour, Amy Evans and Heather Cooke gaining second and third in their I/M and freestyle events. Heather and Amy both swam fine races to finish third in their respective 100m breaststroke and freestyle races as did Megan Stevenson and Robyn Dand in the Ladies Open 100m freestyle and backstroke. Alongside Tonicha Watson and Emily in both their Ladies Open relay events they finished third as did the Mens with William, James, David and Peter Trickett in the freestyle relay with veteran Chris Webster replacing David in the medley relay. Despite two third place finishes in her individual events Charlotte Smith swam fantastically well in the 50m backstroke and breaststroke. Charlotte was teamed up with Loveday, Lydia Waring and Hollie Watkins in the girls 12/U freestyle relay with Aysha Simpson replacing Hollie as they had to settle for the same result in the medley relay. A huge thank you from the Club to all the swimmers for their magnificent efforts and to all the volunteers in their various capacities on the night. Final result: 1st CASA 150 points; 2nd Louth 130; 3rd Gainsborough Dolphins 125; 4th CLP ‘A’ 74.

Lincolnshire Junior Swimming League – 14.05.11

GAINSBOROUGH Dolphins welcomed teams from Grantham, South Lincs, Lincoln Vulcans and Thorne Tigers to the West Lindsey Leisure Centre for the second round of the Lincolnshire Junior League last weekend. Plenty of excitement and close races were to be witnessed as Dolphins claimed a very impressive second place behind reigning county champions Lincoln Vulcans with 34 top three places from the 49 events. They had to fight all the way as only three points separated second, third and fourth places at the final result as the Gainsborough outfit secured their place in the top six gala for the third round in September. The first victory of the evening came in the third event as the girls 9 years quartet of Harriet Webster, Freya Janney, Sian Saunders and Chloe Huddart won their freestyle relay, a feat they repeated later when winning the individual medley (I/M) relay. Freya also swam superbly to win her individual 25m backstroke whilst the girls capped off a magnificent night in this age group as Chloe (25m freestyle) and Harriet (25m butterfly) finished second whilst Chloe was just touched into third in the 25m breaststroke in a thrilling finish. The boys 10 years were also on fine form as they secured individual wins via James Beresford (50m backstroke and 25m butterfly) and Ben Ambrose (50m breaststroke). Ben Crookes gave one of his best performances to place second in the 50m freestyle whilst this trio teamed up with Alex Berry to finish second in their I/M relay and third in the freestyle event. Further double relay success was achieved in the girls 11/U age group as the quartet of Hollie Watkins, Lydia Waring, Lucy Thornton and Aysha Simpson powered their way to glory in the freestyle and I/M events. Lydia also claimed second place in the 50m breaststroke and third in the 50m freestyle as did Hollie in the 50m backstroke. The final two victories on the night came from Shannon Conway in the girls 10 years 25m butterfly and Ewan McKay in the boys 11/U 50m butterfly. Shannon also finished second in the 50m backstroke with Ewan third in the 50m freestyle. The girls 10 years rounded off a fantastic night for them with Molly Creed claiming a two second personal best to finish second in the 50m freestyle with Grace Tooke third in the 50m breaststroke. Katie Bindon teamed up with Shannon, Molly and Grace to finish second in the freestyle relay but a disqualification stopped them repeating this result in the I/M relay. In the girls 12/U age group both Loveday Beresford (50m freestyle) and Charlotte Smith (50m breaststroke) swam superbly to secure second places whilst they both finished second in their respective 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke races. In the boys 12/U age group Dan Goble swam in his first event for the club and finished in third place with a magnificent effort in the 50m breaststroke. Also on debut was Toby Sutherland in the boys 9 years and he achieved second in the 25m backstroke with a fine swim. The quartet of Ben Gravill, Harry Overton, Elliot Vaselo and Max Marshall-Malone finished third in the boys 9 years freestyle relay whilst Elliot Vaselo claimed the same position in his 25m freestyle race. Will Walmsley finished third in the boys 11/U 50m backstroke as did the relay team of Will, Cammron Bower, Ewan and Lawrence Hepton in the I/M event. Other fine swims on the night came from Zara Thomas, Hannah King, Thomas Humphreys, George Tooke, Aidan Clover and Matthew Overton as their involvement all contributed to the excellent result. The Club would like to thank all the volunteers on the night for making the gala a success and to congratulate all the swimmers and supporters for their resounding efforts. Final result: 1st Lincoln Vulcans 190 points; 2nd Gainsborough Dolphins 156; 3rd Grantham 154; 4th South Lincs 153; 5th Thorne Tigers 40.

Tulip Open Meet – 30.04.11 to 01.05.11

THE recent May Bank Holiday weekend saw swimmers from Gainsborough Dolphins descend upon Spalding for the 27th annual Tulip Open Meet hosted by South Lincs Swimming Club. What proved to a hugely successful and enjoyable weekend resulted in the 21 swimmers returning with personal best times galore and 36 top six places, including two firsts, ten seconds and six thirds. To add to this remarkable fete the Club finished seventh overall with ten of the swimmers accumulating enough points to finish in the top six in their age groups. The two victories both came on the second day of competition through 17 year old Megan Stevenson and 12 year old Henry Cawte. Leading a nail biting 50m freestyle sprint from start to finish Megan was immense as she held off the competition whilst Henry, in his less favourable stroke, secured gold with a huge six second life time best in the 100m backstroke. Megan also qualified for three other finals as she took third in the 100m freestyle and backstroke whilst she placed sixth in the 100m butterfly. In the boys 12 years Henry capped off an excellent weekend as he made the final of all his events with fifth in the 100m butterfly but he was twice touched out by the narrowest of margins in the 100m freestyle and breaststroke. Competing in their first Open Meets were a trio of nine year old girls in Harriet Webster, Molly Creed and Katie Bindon whilst it allowed the ten year olds of William Walmsley and James Beresford and 11 year old Cammron Bower the first taste of 100m events. These youngsters did themselves proud as Molly reached two finals, placing second in the 50m backstroke and third in the 50m freestyle. Katie also reached the final of the 50m backstroke to finish in sixth whilst Harriet just missed the final of the 50m butterfly finishing seventh. William and James reached three finals apiece as the former finished second in the 100m butterfly and freestyle, with third in the 100m backstroke. James swam superbly well to claim second in the 100m breaststroke which he followed up with fourth in the 100m freestyle and sixth in the 100m backstroke. They both had to settle for seventh place and first reserve for the final in the 100m breaststroke and butterfly respectively. Also making three finals was Loveday Beresford in the girls 11 years age group as she swam life time bests to claim second in the 100m backstroke and butterfly with a fourth in the 100m freestyle. The 13 year old pairing of Aarron Smith and Jack Boulton had another successful weekend as they both made four finals in their respective 100m events. Aarron finished fourth in the 100m butterfly and backstroke, fifth in the 100m breaststroke and freestyle whilst Jack was just missed the podium in the 100m breaststroke and freestyle with fourth place finishes. In the 100m butterfly Jack finished in fifth whilst he had to settle for sixth in the 100m backstroke. In the girls 14 years 100m breaststroke Tonicha Watson produced a fantastic swim to finish fifth in the final as did 18 year old Pete Trickett in the boys 15/O 100m backstroke. In the same event Will Cawte gained a personal best to finish third whilst he also made the final of the 100m butterfly to finish sixth. Competing only of the second day 21 year old Emily Wright was in fine form to finish second in the girls 15/O 100m breaststroke whilst she placed sixth in the 50m freestyle. The remaining top six finishes both came in the relay events as the quartet of Aidan Clover, Henry, Loveday and Lydia Waring finished sixth in the 12/U Individual Medley (I/M) whilst the 13/O event produced a fantastic effort. Megan anchored the relay on the freestyle leg and she had to dig in deep to hold off the competition to take second place alongside Peter, Will and Emily. Other results by swimmer (key: fc = freestyle, br = breaststroke, bk = backstroke, fly = butterfly): Aidan Clover (12 years) – 11th 100m fc, br and bk, 28th 100m I/M, 58th 50m fc; Loveday (11) – 7th 100m br, 12th 100m I/M, 26th 50m fc; Lydia Waring (11) – 14th 100m br, 51st 100m I/M, 15th 100m fc, 14th 100m bk, 69th 50m fc; Cammron (11) – 13th 100m br, 17th 100m fc; William (10) – 23rd 100m I/M, 41st 50m fc; James (10) – 24th 100m I/M, 50th 50m fc; Molly (9) – 7th 50m br; Katie (9) – 8th 50m br and fc; Harriet (9) – 16th 50m br, 14th 50m bk, 12th 50m fc; Aarron (13) – 17th 100m I/M, 27th 50m fc; Jack (13) – 19th 100m I/M, 20th 50m fc; Tonicha (14) – 11th 100m fc and bk, 26th 100m I/M, 46th 50m fc; Amy Evans (14) – 9th 100m fly, 11th 100m br, 15th 100m fc, 14th 100m bk, 32nd 100m I/M, 41st 50m fc; Lauren Zaitschenko (14) – 14th 100m breaststroke, 17th 100m fc, 39th 100m I/M, 64th 50m fc, 15th 100m bk; Megan (18) – 8th 100m I/M and 100m br; Will (16) – 7th 100m I/M, 8th 100m fc; Pete (18) – 7th 100m fly, 10th 100m I/M, 12th 50m fc and 100m br; Chloe Gilmour (13) – 15th 100m bk, 17th 100m br, 16th 100m fc, 65th 50m fc; Nic Clover (37) – 8th 100m br, 17th 50m fc. Relays results: Freestyle 12/U (William, James, Molly, Katie) 7th; Freestyle 13/O (Jack, Aarron, Amy, Tonicha) 14th. Individual age group awards: boys 10 years – William 2nd, James 3rd; boys 12 years – Henry 2nd; boys 13 years – Aarron 4th, Jack 5th; boys 15/O – Will 6th, Pete 11th; girls 9 years – Molly 4th, Katie 10th; girls 11 years – Loveday 3rd; girls 14 years – Tonicha 7th; girls 15/O – Megan 5th, Emily 8th. The Club would like to express their huge appreciation to all the swimmers for their outstanding performances and good behaviour, to the coaches (Mark Smith, Leanne Clover, Chris Webster and Nic Clover) for their dedication and support. Fully deserving is a massive thank you to all the parents and supporters for their rousing and incredible support over the weekend.

Midland Youth Championships – 30.04.11

LAST weekend three swimmers from Gainsborough Dolphins competed at the Midland Youth Championships at the 50m Coventry International Pool. With the qualifications times for this years event as tough as ever the standard of swimmers was of the highest quality from the Midland region. Unfortunately the notoriously slow pool lived up to its reputation with all swimmers times outside life time bests and this was no different for the Dolphins trio. In her only event 14 year old Robyn Dand had a valiant attempt at the 50m backstroke to finish in 14th place in her age group. Qualifying for two events 16 year old James Smith claimed an impressive 11th place in the 15/O age group in the 100m breaststroke, finishing just under a second outside his personal best. In the 400m freestyle James found it tough going as did many of the other competitors to place 27th in the same age category. 15 year old David Trickett qualified inside the required times in all three breaststroke events, the 50m, 100m and 200m. Unfortunately he too found it hard going in the 15/O age group as he recorded 14th, 14th and 18th in the respective events. The experience in the 50m pool will have given these three some invaluable insight before further competitions at both Midland and National level over the next few months. For more information on the Club please visit www.gainsboroughdolphins.co.uk.

Worksop Dolphins Open Meet – 17.04.11

CONTINUING their impressive start to the year the brother and sister duo of James and Loveday Beresford represented Gainsborough Dolphins at the 3rd Annual Worksop Dolphins Open Meet. Competing at the Valley Road Pool in an event dedicated to 10 to 15 year olds they entered seven events between them with James gaining personal best times in three and Loveday just managing one life time best. Finishing fifth overall in the 12 years age group Loveday claimed victory in the 100m butterfly and sixth in the 100m freestyle. In a very tight finish she edged out the third placed swimmer to claim second in the 200m freestyle, reducing her personal best by just over half a second. 10 year old James had a mixed day as he started badly in the 200m Individual Medley pulling up with cramp as he was unable to finish the race. Gratitude goes to the event organisers who were very comforting and supportive. Credit to James as this did not deter him from competing in the 200m breaststroke to claim victory in his age group with a three second personal best. He secured fourth in the 200m backstroke shaving a massive ten seconds off his life time best and also impressed to reduce his personal best by over six seconds to finish seventh in the 200m freestyle. These results rewarded James with a seventh place overall in the 10 year old age group. Many thanks to the coaches at City of Lincoln Pentaqua for taking the Sturton by Stow based pair under their wing for the event and for their encouragement and guidance over the day. For further information on Gainsborough’s sole swimming club please visit www.gainsboroughdolphins.co.uk.

Doncaster Dartes Minster Meet – 17.04.11

EIGHT Gainsborough Dolphins swimmers recorded many personal best times at the recent Doncaster Dartes Minster Meet at Beverley with four swimmers competing in an open meet for the first time. Lydia Waring (11), a more experienced swimmer, swam four events achieving personal best times in three of them, swimming nearly five seconds faster in her 100m individual medley which was rewarded with 7th place. Other swims included 50m backstroke and 50m breaststroke each with a one second personal best. Amelia Carter (11) and Ella Marsh (12) were two swimmers swimming for the first time. They competed in two and three events respectively and overcame their nerves and both achieving personal best times. Brother and sister Grace and George Tooke (10 and 11) both knocked a massive 10 seconds off their previous times for 100m individual medley which was reward for their hard training in sessions. George achieved 6th place in that event along with 7th place for 50m freestyle. Grace also knocked nearly four seconds off her 50m freestyle time and finishing 7th in the 50m breaststroke. Zaki and Zahrah Thomas (both 11) also had some outstanding swims with Zahrah recording second place in her 50m butterfly along with 5 second PB in her 50m breaststroke and 50m freestyle. Zaki swam 6 seconds faster than he previously in the 100m individual medley finishing in 8th and came 9th in his freestyle race.  Fourteen year old Lauren Zaitschenko also had some good swims coming 3rd place in the 50m breaststroke and also achieving 5th in the 100m IM and 50m backstroke. The gala was successful for all swimmers with many personal bests along with valuable gala experience.

Masters – Darlington Report – 10.04.11

FOLLOWING the recent success of the younger squad swimmers of Gainsborough Dolphins at the Lincolnshire County Age Groups, two of the Masters swimmers claimed nine medals between them as they represented the Club in a North East Masters event hosted by Darlington Dolphins SC. Masters competitive swimming is increasing in popularity as an activity for those over 25 years of age and up to and including 80 years of age. In Category A for 25-29 year olds Damon Butters, 27 competed in six events whilst 37 year old Nic Clover entered three events in Category C for 35-39 year olds. The duo returned with medals from every event as Damon collected five gold’s and one silver whilst Nic claimed two gold’s and one silver. Damon also set a new Army record as he shaved six seconds off the previous mark to claim his first victory of the day in the 200m freestyle. His other first places came in the 50m butterfly, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 100m Individual Medley (I/M) with his solitary second place coming in the 50m breaststroke. Nic also claimed victories in the 100m breaststroke and 100m I/M with second place in the 50m breaststroke. More good news came for the Club as Nic was joined by Rachel Haldenby, 38 and Becky Hunt, 40 as they received their Lincolnshire County Colours for representing Lincolnshire in competition last year. The formation of the new swimming club in the town has allowed the Masters section to have its own identity and water time away from the main competitive squads. With two categories available for competitive and fitness the sessions are organised and friendly with achievable schedules allowing for personal development at each member’s own pace. Any ex-swimmers who fancy getting back in and reliving their youth or anyone who wishes to attend to improve their fitness are more than welcome. For more information please visit the Club website – www.gainsboroughdolphins.co.uk or contact Nic Clover 07519520021 or email skip06@talktalk.net.

Sponsorship Partners

Like any other volunteer based community club and for that matter business, Gainsborough Dolphins Swimming Club need money to survive and grow. As a club we appreciate that it is generally swimmers and parents who contribute most through the fee’s, raffles and club champs etc. and that in the current financial climate with so many other draws on the cash, at times finding the money needed can be difficult.
The club have set the fee’s at a level to cover our yearly pool hire costs and other known regular expenses whilst still aiming to make swimming affordable for you.
As a result of this we are continually looking at ways to generate revenue and sponsorship from local businesses is one area that we are working hard in.

Over the past few months I have worked closely with two businesses and I am please to announce on behalf of the club deals with Kerry Food & Ingredients (Gainsborough) and International Export Packers Ltd (Newark).
Please click on the link to learn more about both deals and the companies who have kindly supported us.If you know of any business or people who would be able to come a ‘partner’ and sponsor the club in someway please pass on their details or ask them to contact me by email – info@gainsboroughdolphins.co.uk

Cheers

Nigel
Chair