News Archive 2000-2005

Year 2006

The diversity of talent within the Dover Lifeguard squad was demonstrated at the weekend when the team found themselves spread across 4 different swim meets, with swimmers racing at all levels of competition.

The young stars of Dover Lifeguard’s development squad trekked to the Black Lion Leisure centre in Gillingham on Saturday to take part in the 2nd of the season’s development gala’s. The gala got off to a good start for the ‘guards with a second place finish in the squadron breaststroke relay with the team just being beaten on the touch coming into the finish.

The first series of individual swims saw first place finishes for Alice Latham (11/u breaststroke + 10/u 100IM), Shannon Smith (9/u Freestyle) and Tom Latham(10/u backstroke). There were speeding tickets for Jamie Woodard and Katie Latham after they both swam faster than the time restrictions that applies to this series of gala’s. With second place finishes for Oliver Latham(12/u fly) and Tasha Hyde (15/u Breaststroke) the team were sitting in a strong position after the first quarter of the gala. Ladies captain, Laura Basford who is still recovering from an ongoing injury then stepped up and opened the next series of races with a gritty determined swim  to finish 1st in the 18/u butterfly. Her team mates followed her example with first place finishes  for Katie Latham(10/u butterfly), Hannah Delo(12/u IM), and Oliver Latham (12/u IM) .There were 2nd places for Ellie Weymouth(9/u breast) and Ashley Higgins(12/u Freestyle)  and with good results coming from the relay teams in all age groups the team were  now lying in 2nd place at the half time mark.

Over the next set of races the team dug deep to cement their position and further first places for Megan Curtis (11/u fly), Steph Jordan(15/u fly) and Charlotte Hyde in the 18/u IM  saw the team maintaining their forward momentum with a fight between 3 teams for the first place finish at the end of the gala. 2nd places from Ellie Weymouth (9/u Back) Grace Beer(10/u freestyle) and Iain Hunter (18/u IM) added to the teams points total.

Going into the last set of individual races it was anyone’s gala with only a handful of points separating the top 3 teams. Emily Naylor, swimming for the first time in the series swam a superb race to finish 1st in the 11/u freestyle, quickly followed by a first place for Evan Waters in the 11/u freestyle. Jamie Woodard then produced a great swim in the 9/u butterfly to storm home in first place. These results were moving the team closer to their goal of a first place finish and 2nd places from Shannon Smith(9/u fly), Tasha Hyde (12/u Back) and Oliver Latham (12/u Back) nudged the team in the right direction.

As the gala entered the last 4 relays it could be won by anyone .There were some great performances from the relay teams, fighting for placings across the legs of the races and coming from last to grab valuable points. There was a stunning finish in the last relay with the noise from the supporters reaching a deafening crescendo but the Dover team were just pushed into 2nd place.

There was then a tense wait as the point totals were calculated. The Dover team had performed superbly considering they had been weakened by illness and injury but had to settle for 3rd place , they had just missed the first place position by a handful of points. Awards on the night were-best boy, Sacha Wild, Best Girl-Ellie Weymouth and best overall performance was for Gemma Prosser the star of the night.

On Sunday a large contingent of swimmers made their way to the Hartsdown pool in Margate for the Thanet 200 meet. This meet has been given designation  to allow any times achieved to count as qualifying times for regional and national championships.

The guards team swam well with personal bests for Katie Latham(200 back, 50 free,50 back), Tasha Hyde (200 Back,50 breast), Katie Brown (200 back,50 fly, 50 free), Megan Basford (200 back, 200 free, 200 breast),Evan Waters( 200 breast, 200 back), Sacha Wild (200 breast,50 free), Callum Basford (200 breast), Amy Gibbs (50 breast, 50 free), Jamie Woodard(50 free, 50 back, 200 IM,200 free),Ben Evans(50 free, 50 back, 200 back, 50 fly), Sam Gibbs (50 free, 50 breast, 50 fly), Bradley Harvey(50 free) , Sam Woodard(50 free,50 back, 200 back, 50 fly), Megan Curtis (200 IM, 200 free), Matt Austin(50 back), Dan Latham (50 Back), Alice Latham (50 fly, 200 breast). This was a total of 40 personal bests from a team which had been swimming all of the previous day which is an indication of their fitness levels thanks to the hard work put in at training.

Also on Sunday a small band of Lifeguards went back to the Black Lion pool to swim in the Dartford `B` gala. This was to prove a rewarding gala as the Dover swimmers brought home a fine haul of medals and trophies for such a small group of swimmers.

There were PB’s from Ashley Higgins (back, breast and freestyle -1st place in all 3!), Steph Jordan (Fly, Free, Back, IM 1st place in all 4), Emily Naylor (Back, Breast, IM), Amy Bacmeister (freestyle -4th place and Back), Luke Menniss (free, back-both first places, and breast-2nd place), Tom Russell (Fly, IM-6th, Free, Back-6th).

This fine set of results was also joined by Saskia Seagrove Castle who finished 2nd in the back,4t in the freestyle, and 6th in the breast and IM.A great showing from such a small contingent of Dover’s swimmers.

Three members of the Dover squad had travelled further to the 50 metre pool at Guilford to try out their skills in the longer pool having had to train in only 25metre pools due to the lack of investment in international sized pools in the Kent area. With the 2012 olympics just over the horizon the swimmers were hoping to record some fast times and see if they were able to adapt their swims to the different environment.

The small band were justly rewarded with all three recording pb’s over their entry times.  The swimmers pb’s were-Dominika Scucsoua (100breast,400 free,100 IM), Dan Seagrove Castle (400 free, 100 fly, 100 back, 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 50 fly, 200 IM), Sophie Weymouth( 200 free, 100 breast, 200 IM, 400 free, 200 fly, 100 back, 200 breast,200 back)

Coach Lyndon Dunsbee was quick to praise his squad,” all of our swimmers have had a hectic 3 months, most swimming at gala’s every weekend since August,. It is a true testament to their determination ,guts and levels of fitness that they can maintain such a high personal best rate at the end of such a gruelling part of the season.

The final days of competition in the 2006 East Invicta Championships were held at the Kingsmead pool in Canterbury at the weekend.  The Dover Lifeguard team had huge expectations following the successes over the previous stages of the competition and these expectations were to be surpassed as the weekend unfolded.

The boys opened the weekend in the open 200m freestyle; this event produced personal bests from almost all the ‘Guards swimmers, Callum Basford 2.36.67(2nd 11yrs), Matthew Farran 2.28.91(4th 11/12 yrs), Sam Woodard 2.31.60, and Dan Seagrove Castle 2.16.20 (2nd 11/12 yrs) and Matt Basford 2.12.39.

The next event saw the 9/10 yrs boys 50m f/s. There were fine swims from all and personal bests for Alexander Wild (39.40), Dan Latham (40.24), and Ben Evans (38.19).  It was then the turn of the 9/10 yrs girls to show their talents in the 50m fly. This produced more excellent swims and personal bests for Hannah Delo (43.66), and finalists Katie Latham (42.36, 1st 9 yr old) and Megan Curtis 40.26-4th overall.  The girls in the 13/14 100m fly event were next up, and again the ‘Guards long hours of training paid dividends with Pb’s for Steph Jordan 1.20.96 and Tessa Dunford 1.18.38, Tessa was 6th overall and Stephanie 8th.

In the 15/16 yr 100m back Corriene Miller stormed into the final in 1.12.94 and finished in 2nd position overall and 1st in the 15 yr age group.  The boys 15/16 yr 100m back saw a superb demonstration of the stroke from Dover’s Matt Basford to reach the final and finish in 1.02.17 to cement 1st place by a 4 second margin.  The final event of the session was the ladies open 100m breaststroke and Dover’s Charlotte Hyde finished 7th overall.

The evening session opened with the ladies open 200m f/s, this was to produce a raft of Pb’s from the lifeguard squad, Dominika Szucsova 2.21.06 4th 11/12 yr, Sophie Weymouth 2.31.28, Katie Brown 2.31.51, Gemma Lawson 3.04.50 2nd 9yrs, Katie Latham 2.58.29(1st 9yrs) and Megan Curtis 2.54.51 (8th 10 yr old).  The girls 9/10 yr 50 f/s was next up and there were more pb’s for Alice Latham, (39.70), Gemma Lawson 35.99(1st 9yrs), Katie Latham 37.73 and Megan Curtis 36.70 (6th Overall).  In the next event, the 9/10 yrs boys 50m fly Dover’s lone competitor, 9yr old Ben Evans had a storming swim to produce a time of 44.97 and earning himself a place in the final, finishing 6th overall with a time of 43.66.

The 15/16 yr 100m breaststroke saw a 3rd place finish for Dover’s Charlotte Hyde with a new Pb of 1.24.71 in the heats.  Dover’s Tessa Dunford then clocked a time of 1.09.18 in the 13/14 yr 100m f/s to finish 8th overall.  The day closed with a fine medal haul and the youngsters heading for home to get some rest before the next and final day of competition.

Sunday’s competition opened with the ladies open 200m back. This again produced Pb’s for Dover’s Tasha Hyde 2.56.18, Megan Basford 2.44.65(2nd 11yrs), Stephanie Jordan 2.44.10(6th 14 yrs), Katie Brown 2.42.00(4th 12 yrs), Sophie Weymouth (1st 11yrs) and Dominika Szucsova 2.45.03. Dover’s Laura Austin was first in the 15yr age group.  Matt Basford again stepped up, this time in the Mens Open 50m f/s and produced a fine swim to reach the final in a time of 24.78 and finished 3rd in the final in 25.09.  The 13/14 girls 100m back saw Pb’s from both of Dover’s representatives, Amy Gibbs 1.20.00 and Stephanie Jordan 1.18.17.

In the Mens open 200 IM, Sam Gibbs rewarded a huge Pb of 14 seconds to finish in a time of 3.00.75, quickly followed by his team mates, Callum Basford 2.52.30(7th), Sam Woodard 2.51.99 (6th) and Dan Seagrove Castle 2.41.05(2nd).  The girls in the 11/12 yr Butterfly all swam well with Pb’s from all of the Dover girls taking part. Sophie Weymouth 1.26.59, Tasha Hyde 1.21.60, Megan Basford 1.26.88 and Dominika Szucsova 1.14.03(2nd overall).

The final session opened with Mens open 200m backstroke. They produced another clean sweep of Pb’s from the lifeguard team. Callum Basford 2.54.87, Sam Woodard 2.45.74(4th), Matt Farran 2.37.94 (1st 11/12 yrs), Dan Seagrove Castle 2.40.86(2nd 11/12yrs) and Matt Basford 2.24.91(4th 15/16 yrs).  The ladies open 50m f/s threw together some of Dover’s young talent. There were fine swims from Amy Gibbs, Nicola Brown, Dominika Szucsova, Laura Austin and Corriene Miller.  Adam Delo produced a fine swim in the 13/14 100m backstroke with a personal best time of 1.16.62.

The ladies open 200 IM then saw Katie Latham storm home with a massive 9 second Personal Best in a time of 3.17.54(1st 9yrs), Natasha Hyde 2.52.51, Megan Basford 2.53.07(3rd 11yrs), Amy Gibbs 2.57.45(6th 13yrs), Sophie Weymouth 2.47.04(1st 11yrs), Tessa Dunford 2.45.12(3rd 13yrs), Charlotte Hyde 2.47.62, Dominika Szucsova 2.40.72(3rd 12yrs), Nicola Brown 2.45.70(5th 16yrs), Kaira Redman 2.38.01 and Corriene Miller 2.39.22(3rd 15yrs).

The penultimate race of the day was the Boys 11/12 yrs fly. The boys showed determination, shaking off the tiredness to produce more pb’s from Sam Woodard 1.23.51(5th), Sam Gibbs 1.28.77, Matt Farran 1.19.47(4th) and Dan Seagrove Castle 1.13.89(1st).  The last event of the Championships was the girls 13/14 yr Breaststroke. This saw Dover’s Tessa Dunford and Ione Walker both reach the final and a finish 2nd for Tessa (1.26.09) and 4th for Ione (1.27.57).

The team had again produced the results thanks to their determination and training. Another superb display saw 72 personal bests from 98 swims; this again is an indication of the successful training regime introduced by Coach Lyndon Dunsbee.  “I haven’t seen a bad swim from the Dover Team all weekend; they can hold their heads high and be proud of their achievements throughout this years East Invicta’s”. “We now look to the future and building a bigger, better, fitter squad. Well done to all!”

Dover Lifeguard Club’s young stars took part in the final round of the Kent Junior League at the weekend, hoping to maintain their recent good form and hold their mid table position, with the promotion spots just out of reach.

The ‘guards were hosting teams from Sevenoaks, Thanet, Greenwich borough mariners, White Darts and Black Lion meaning this would be a tough night of competition.

The gala opened well with a personal best for Katie Brown in the 100 IM with a time of 1.21.18.This was to prove a good omen for the rest of the night which was to see 27 personal bests across the team from a programme of 48 events. Added to this was the superb set of results from the relays- in 10 of the 12 relays the Dover team finished faster than in previous rounds of the competition, this was an indication of the determination within the squad.

There were many fine performances throughout the night with first place finishes for Mathew Farran (12/u back 1.16.28 and 12/u free 1.06.40-pb), Sophie Weymouth (11/u breast 41.69-pb), Dominika Szucsova (12/u fly1.14.94-pb) and twins Megan Basford(11/u back 36.68-pb) Callum Basford(11/u back 37.35-pb and 11/u free 31.93-pb). These swims were supported by hard fought 2nd places for Evan Waters(10/u free 36.24-pb), Sam Gibbs(11/u Breast 43.14-pb),Sophie Weymouth( 11/u free 32.52-pb), Sam Woodard (12/u Fly 1.23.79 pb), Tessa Dunford(13/u breast 1.24.06) and Dominika Szucsova( 12/u free 1.07.44). There were also personal bests from Tasha Hyde(100m back and 100m Breast), Luke Mennis(100m breast), Daniel Latham( 50m breast), Amy Gibbs(100m Fly),Sacha Wild(50m fly) and Tessa Dunford again in the 100m freestyle ,all of these bringing in much needed points on a night of closely fought races.

All of the relay teams swam well with some notable turn-around in some races by strong and determined swims; Gemma Lawson in the 9/10 year freestyle relay pulled the team right into contention with a superb leg passed onto Katie Latham who held on for 2nd place despite a strong challenge from the other teams in a blanket finish. Callum Basford fought hard to come from behind and pull back several positions in the 11/u free relay. Luke Mennis was a star in the 13/u free relay with a 2 sec Pb over the 2 lengths. In the final relay of the night Daniel Seagrove Castle pulled the team form 4th to first in the anchor leg with a truly awesome display of sprinting to a deafening roar from the home team’s supporters.

When the points were totalled up at the end of the night the home team had cemented their position within the league with a 3rd place finish, only missing the 2nd place spot on the night by 6 points or the equivalent of one race. This was a good performance from a young and developing team.

Dover Lifeguard club hosted the 2nd round of the Speedo league on Saturday hoping to repeat the superb performance in the previous round that saw the team finish 3rd at Woking.  They welcomed teams from Canterbury b, East Grinstead, Woking, Erith and Burgess hill for what was to be a night of hard fought competition within the pool.

Current Club Captain Dima Miller set a fine example when he stormed through in a close fought race in the 100m individual medley to finish in 1st place.  There were also first place finishes for Daniel Pott (11/u back 36.56 and 11/u breast 43.94), Corienne Miller (15/u back 1.12.00, Megan Basford(11/u fly 37.91) and Callum Basford(11/u freestyle 32.19).  This fine set of results was supported by 2nd places for Tessa Dunford (13/u breast 1.23.22), Sam Gibbs (11/u fly 38.16), Matt Farran(13/u back 1.17.17), Matt Basford open back 1.02.38), Sophie Weymouth 11/u breast 43.66), Dominika Szucsova (13/u fly 1.16.27), and Charlotte Hyde in the 15/u breast (1.25.09).  The team were performing well in the individual events but they would need the efforts of all squad members in the relays to maintain the momentum. 

The team spirit was excellent and there were some exciting finishes with Dover holding onto or gaining the lead on the final legs with 1st places for the boys open medley and freestyle teams, the girls 11/u medley team and the girls 15/u medley team.   The bravest star of the night was 11 year old Oliver Latham who despite only recently progressing from the clubs development training group was asked to swim up to the 15 and under age group for the 100m freestyle. He showed how any race should be tackled, smiling from start to finish and despite facing opposition taller, older and faster he pushed hard throughout the race recording a new personal best of 1.17.08 and gained the club a valuable point.  Just how valuable the point earned by Oliver was became evident when the final scores were totalled up and showed that Dover had edged into 3rd place  by just the one point having been placed 4th for most of the evening.

A fantastic team effort with star performances from all but topped off by Oliver Latham’s supreme efforts.

At the recent Masters National Championships held at Ponds Forge in Sheffield, Dover lifeguard’s Rob Messenger recently became the national Breaststroke champion in the 18-24yrs age group.

Rob, who was unable to produce a PB on the day after missing key parts of his training due to work commitments was happy with the result but knows he can produce better. Rob was the fastest 18-24 yr old and 3rd fastest Breaststroker in the pool on the day across all age groups. His time of 29.85 for 50m breaststroke was good enough to ensure the gold medal, automatic qualification for next years nationals and gains him a place at the upcoming GB trials. 

”I feel I can make more time from my reaction time off the block and more from speeding up my turn, but overall I was happy with the way I swam.”  He also passed his thanks to coach Lyndon Dunsbee for setting an individual training regime to bring about his success.

Following their recent successes in the east Invicta championships relay gala the Dover lifeguard squad took the short trip to the Kingsmead pool in Canterbury for the first gala of individual events.

The first event of the weekend was the Men’s open 200m butterfly, an event which many considered to be one of the hardest events in the swimming arena. The clubs youngsters showed true grip and went all out to give the club a fine haul of points with all recording personal bests by large margins. Sam Gibbs recording a 14 second PB (6th), Sam Woodard 18 sec Pb (4th), Matt Farran 16 sec pb (2nd) and Dan Seagrove Castle 9 sec pb (1st).

The 11/12 yr girls 100m breaststroke was next up, again there were Pb’s for Katie Brown, Sophie Weymouth, Megan Basford, Tasha Hyde and Dominika Szucsova. At this stage the Dover team were showing an impressive display of strength and style with a 100% personal best rate.

There were further fine performances from all members of the team and pb’s from Jamie Woodard, Sacha Wild, Daniel Seagrove-Castle and Mathew Farran.

The 2nd session of the day opened with the Ladies 200m butterfly, again a tough challenge for all competitors .There were pb’s for Megan Curtis (22 sec pb and 1st 10yr old), Tasha Hyde(12 sec pb) and Sophie Weymouth(8 sec pb ,1st 11 yr old). Dominika Szucsova swam well to finish 3rd overall and senior swimmer, Kaira Redman swam superbly to finish 2nd overall. The boys in the 11/12 yr 100m breaststroke then maintained the momentum for the team with Pb’s from Oliver Latham, Sam Gibbs, Sam Woodard, Ashley Higgins and Callum Basford. This high rate of success continued with the 9/10 yr girls 100m IM .This being the youngest competitive age group saw some amazing improvements on previous times including –Saskia Seagrove Castle (22 sec pb), Gemma Lawson (9sec pb ,2nd place 9year old), and Megan Curtis who recorded a time of 1.34.51,again another pb. The 11/12 yr 100m backstroke saw Katie Brown go below 1.20.00 for the first time with 1.19.62 and Dominika Szucsova recorded 1.19.91 in the same event. Megan Basford was the Lifeguard’s fastest girl in this race with a time of 1.17.80. The men’s 400 IM saw Pb’s for Sam Woodard and Daniel Seagrove-Castle to round off a good day for the team with 39 personal bests from 50 swims.

On Sunday the gala continued with the Women’s Open 200m breaststroke. Katie Brown recorded a 13 second pb, Megan Basford an 11 second pb, Sophie Weymouth a 4 second pb, Dominika Szucsova a 5 second pb and Charlotte Hyde a 4 second pb.   Charlotte took 1st place in the 15 year age group (4th overall); Tessa took 3rd in the 13/14 year age group and Dominika 3rd in the 11/12 year age group.  In the boys 9/10 50m backstroke Dover’s Latham brothers swam superbly to both record pb’s with Daniel at 45.14 and Thomas at 45.08.

The Women’s Open 100m backstroke saw Dover’s Laura Austin and Nicola Brown reach the final with Laura Basford as first reserve. Nicola won the 16 year age group with Laura also on the podium in third place.

The 11/12 year girl’s freestyle saw a true battle between Dover’s girls with Pb’s for Katie Brown (1.11.90), Megan Basford (1.12.93) and Tasha Hyde (1.11.57). Dominika Szucsova swam well to reach the final and finish third overall.

Nicola Brown then recorded a fine Pb in the 15/16 year 100m freestyle in 1.08.32. Dover’s Matt Basford, a veteran of many finals and national qualifier for 2006, stormed to a 1st place and new pb in the men’s open 100m butterfly leaving clear water between him and the rest of the field from start to finish showing just how talented this youngster is  amongst such a strong line up.

The final session of the weekend saw the Dover team on a high from the previous successes and ready for the challenges ahead. The men’s open 200m breaststroke saw Pb’s from Sacha Wild (10 sec Pb), Callum Basford (11 sec Pb), Sam Woodard (7 sec pb) and Dan Seagrove-Castle (2 sec pb). Next up were the youngest girls in the 9/10 yr 50m backstroke, there was a clean sweep of personal bests from the girls.  Grace Beer and Saskia Seagrove-Castle both improved their times by 2 seconds, Gemma Lawson and Megan Curtis both recorded 1 second personal bests.Gemma and Megan went on into the final with Gemma finishing 4th and Megan 6th overall.  Gemma was also the fastest 9 year old and took home the gold medal.

The 9/10 yr breaststroke for boys brought another Pb for Daniel Latham in a time of 53.82.   Matt Basford recorded a fast time of 55.95 in the 15/16 yr 100m freestyle final, yet another fine swim from the youngster, gunning for national qualifying times for the 4th year in a row at the next designated meet.

The 11/12 year boys 100m freestyle again produced a magnificent display from the Dover squad with pb’s for Sam Gibbs, Oliver Latham, Callum Basford, Mathew Farran, Sam Woodard, Bradley Harvey and Daniel Seagrove-Castle. Mathew and Daniel both reached the final and Daniel again produced yet another Pb to finish in 1.03.20. The final event of the weekend was the women’s open 400m freestyle. The girls finished the weekend on a high with a string of Pb’s for Megan Curtis (8 sec Pb), Megan Basford (9 sec Pb), Sophie Weymouth (3 sec Pb) and Dominika Szucsova (2 sec pb).

At the close of the gala the Dover coach, Lyndon Dunsbee was quick to praise his squad  “considering most of our squad have just completed a highly intensive training camp, clocking up between 30,000 to 60,000 metres and followed straight into competition the results are impressive.”  “Add in the fact that we did not taper our training as is customary when approaching competition, but instead used this weekend as another part of our training regime, it shows just what great potential we have within the squad” “The Personal Best rate speaks for itself- 80 personal bests from 103 swims is staggering and an indication of the enthusiasm and talent we now have-remember the swimmers did not rest for this event, what a great achievement”.

This weekend the Lifeguards’ squad went to Canterbury for the opening gala of the East Invicta Championships. Saturday saw the whole gala dedicated to the relays and the club were well represented in all age groups.

The first session was opened by the youngest girls of the team with good performances from Katie Latham, Saskia Seagrove-Castle, Gemma Lawson and Megan Curtis to reach the final in the freestyle relay and finish second overall. Alice Latham, Courtney Tranter and Grace Beer all swam well in the same event but were unable to qualify for the final.  The 11/12 year girls freestyle team who made the finals and Dominika Szucsova, Megan Basford, Sophie Weymouth and Katie Brown finished 4th overall.

The senior male relay team of Ally Walker, Rob Messenger, Matt Basford and Stirling Mason swam a strong race to finish third in the final.

The youngest girls then swam superbly to storm home in first place in both the heats and the final in the medley relay with Katie Latham, Alice Latham, Megan Curtis and Gemma Lawson all gaining or stretching the lead over each length, winning by a comfortable margin.

The 11/12 medley team of Dominika Szucsova, Tasha Hyde, Megan Basford and Katie Brown were the last of the Dover teams to make the finals in the first session, just missing out on medals with a fourth place finish.

The afternoon session was opened by the 9/10 year boys in the freestyle relay with good swims from both of Dover’s teams. Tom Latham, Callum Austen, Matt Austin and Sacha Wild finished 8th overall.  Evan Waters, Ben Evans, Dan Latham and Jamie Woodard swam strongly and finished 4th in the final.

The 15/16 girls medley team of Nicola Brown, Charlotte Hyde, Corriene Miller and Laura Austin finished 2nd in the final with some superb performances pulling together to produce a fine team effort. In the 11/12 year boys event Dover’s Dan Seagrove-Castle, Dan Pott, Callum Basford and Sam Woodard swept all before them with first place in heats and finals of both freestyle and medley events.  Oliver Latham, Lewis Young, Ashley Higgins and Sam Gibbs also swam strongly, narrowly missing out on a final place.

The girls 13/14 team swam solidly to make the finals in both the freestyle and medley races and Abi Cox, Ione Walker, Steph Jordan and Amy Gibbs finished fourth in both finals.

The 9/10 year boys medley team of Dan Latham, Sacha Wild, Ben Evans and Evan Waters stormed through to the finals and finished fourth overall a result that was quickly followed with a 3rd place final finish for Corriene Miller, Laura Austin, Nicola Brown and Laura Basford in the 15/16 freestyle relay.

The Dover Lifeguards club squad were in action in the first round of the seasons Speedo league last weekend at the pool in the park at Woking.  The ‘guards squad was the youngest team the club has fielded in this competition for many years but the swimmers were ready for the challenge of swimming up age groups against some of the best teams in the south.  The relay performances from all teams showed a steely resolve with many of the teams snatching much needed points over the last 5m of each race.

Individual performances of the night saw many PBs and some superb swims to grab points for the team. Daniel Pott, recently returning to the squad after his first spell at the Duke of York School, swam strongly to finish first in the 11/u 50m back and 2nd in the 11/u 50m breast. Callum Basford and twin sister Megan both won their individual races, Megan in the 11/u 50m fly and 50m free and Callum with the 11/u 50m free. Older brother Matthew kept the family standard flying with a fine swim in the boys open 100m back to finish first.

Dominika Szucsova, swimming to her usual high standard, finished first in the 13/u 100m fly and second in the 13/u 100m free to bring in a good haul of points.

Sophie Weymouth, having just recovered from a knee injury, stormed home in the 11/u 50m breast to finish a fine second place. The senior boys also swam well with a hard fight with second place for Adam Patterson in the Open 100m fly and second placing for Dima Miller in the Open 100m breast.

When the final series of relays finished the points totals showed just how well the young team had done with the guidance of Coach Lyndon Dunsbee.  The team finished in third place which was a great start to the season and look forward to hosting the next round at their home pool in November.

RESULTS

Gemma Prosser then opened the next series of individual races with a first place finish in the 18/u fly in 35.38. The team were now firing on all cylinders with top three finishes in 11 of the next 14 races. There were first places for Hannah Delo (11/u back 43.84), Joe Bisset (11/u back 44.91), Alice Latham (9/u breast 48.81), Tasha Hyde(12/u freestyle 34.31), Oliver Latham(12/u freestyle 34/38) and Freya Killin (15/u back 37.25).

In the next set of relays the Dover team finished first in the 10/u freestyle relay and 12/u freestyle relay adding to the clubs points totals and pushing them into first place in the gala, a position the team were to fight hard to retain for the rest of the afternoon.
Abigail Cox then started the second half of the gala with a solid performance to finish first in the 18/u freestyle (32.46). One of the team’s youngest stars, Gemma Lawson, then showed a determination beyond her years to fight back from a poor turn to snatch first place in the 9/u backstroke (45.97). This was repeated in the next race by another of the guards’ future stars, Matt Austin, in a time of 49.90 in the 9/u backstroke. With second places for Katie Brown (12/u breast 45.69) and Matt Farran (44.63 12/u breast) the teams were determined to hold onto first place in the gala. The ‘guards Charlotte Hyde then finished in first place in the 100 IM with a great breaststroke and freestyle leg to come from behind. The relay teams then stepped up again with first place for the 9/u medley team (Matt Austin, Dan Latham, Alice Latham and Gemma Lawson) and second place for the 11/u medley team (Hannah Delo, Sacha Wild, Oliver Latham and Katie Latham).

The last set of individual swims produced a series of first places for Stirling Mason (18/u breast 38.50), Katie Latham (11/u f/s 37.38), Amy Gibbs (12/u back 39.50) and Callum Basford(12/u back 41.25). This led into the last series of relays with only a handful of points between the teams vying for the top places, the points on offer were vital. In the 12/u medley relay the Dover teams stormed to a fine first place thanks to determined swims from Matt Farran, Callum Basford, Tasha Hyde and Amy Gibbs. Next up was the 10/u medley relays and Tom Latham, Ethan Harvey, Megan Curtis and Saskia Seagrove-Castle gritted their teeth and swam superbly to finish second.

It was now the turn of the 18/u medley team (Matt Farran, Charlotte Hyde, Laura Basford and Stirling Mason) and they led from start to finish to set up a nail biting finale to the afternoon in the squadron freestyle relay.
The cheering from the spectators and team mates reached a deafening pitch as the Dover team built on the lead given to them by Gemma Lawson and Dan Latham in the early legs of the race and as Abi Cox and Stirling Mason came home in the last two legs the team finished as they had started the day, with a fine first place.

The team received a new “Dover Development Gala Winners” trophy which dwarfed the young members of the team. This impressive piece of silverware along with the second and third place trophies were kindly donated by the Friends of the Dover Lifeguard Club.
Speeding tickets were issued to Evan Waters (10/u freestyle 39.16, 10/u IM 1.36.50) and Hannah Delo (10/u IM 1.38.16).
Coach Lyndon Dunsbee awarded the “Best Boy” trophy to Stirling Mason, the “Best Girl” trophy to Alice Latham and “Best Swimmer” trophy to Katie Latham. “These were difficult awards to present today due to the high standard of swims from across the team, almost anyone could have won them” Lyndon went on to say how impressive the relay performances had been with a superb “never say die” attitude leading to many teams coming from behind to snatch victory.

Results

Dover lifeguards, Emma Dray and Natasha Hyde represented Kent in the inter-county gala held at black lion leisure centre in Gillingham on Friday.

They had both swum superbly to gain county honours. Natasha, swimming in the 50m butterfly was not over awed by the fact that all of the other competitors in her event were taller with some of them ranked nationally. She swam a good race and finished sixth overall. Emma, also swimming against highly ranked swimmers in the 50m freestyle, swam a determined race to finish fourth by the narrowest of margins from the top three swimmers. Both swimmers had done their bit for the county but unfortunately Kent were beaten by Surrey when the points were totalled up. Well done to both girls for their efforts in representing the county.