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Year 2009 |
See also - News Archives |
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2nd round National Arena League |
Following the first round victory in their home pool, Dover Lifeguards travelled to Horsham on Saturday for the 2nd round knowing that this would be a tough round as they had been drawn against teams who were sitting at the top of the league following their own victories in previous rounds. Katie Latham was the first Dover swimmer into the water and she produced a fine personal best performance to over turn some of the older swimmers in the open 100 IM to touch in 2nd place. Callum Basford also produced a good swim in the mens event, the strength of the field showed as with a time that was right on his PB he came home 5th. This was to indicate just what a tough task lay ahead. In the first series of relays there were 3rd places for the 11/u boys and girl’s freestyle relay teams with every member of the teams giving their all in a fine display of team play. Danika Mote, Mollie Allen, Sara Wain, Sophie Waller, Cameron Cook, Robin Craft, Kyle Kent and Ed smith fought for the lead and showed a fine never give up attitude which belies their young age. There were 2nd places for both 15/u freestyle teams ,Megan Basford, Devon Amos, Pam Flisher, Gemma Lawson, Matt Farran, Lewis Young, Bradley Harvey and Callum Basford fighting hard but just being beaten by a narrow margin over the 4 legs of each relay. The 13/u girls swam a superb medley relay, with Katie Latham grabbing the lead on the backstroke leg, Milly Furneaux’s solid breaststroke swim maintained this lead, Megan Curtis shrugged off her recent injury problems to extend the lead on the fly and Gemma Lawson showed why she is such a good anchor leg, holding off a strong challenge to finish 1st. In the individual races Milly Furneaux swam in 3 age groups for her breaststroke and somehow she recorded consistent time to finish 1st in the 13/u,2nd 15/u nad 4th in the open gaining the club a big haul of points. Megan Basford snatched 2nd in the 15/u back in a very close race and Katie Latham continued her fine run of form with 1st place in the 13/u back and 13/u fly. 2nd places for Devon Amos (open back) and Mollie Allen (11/u free) saw the club amongst 4 clubs vying for 1st place. Sophie Waller produced two 3rd places (11/u breast and fly) and Ione Walker put in a new PB in the freestyle to finish 3rd also. The boys were also on form with Callum Basford gaining a 1st place for the 100 fly and 3rd for the breaststroke. James Cotton demonstrated some fine technique to stroem to 1st place in both the open 100 fs and 100 back. At the younger ages their were wins for Ben Evans (100 fly), he also finished a close 2nd in the 100 back. Ed Smith was 2nd in the freestyle and 3rd in the fly. One of the best performances of the night came form Evan Waters who grabbed 2 new personal best times in the 100 breast and 100 free finishing 3rd in both. Young star Cameron Cook was another swimmer back following a bout of illness and he managed to produce a 3rd place finish in the backstroke. Going into the last set of relays the The 11/u girls medley team swam a strong race to finish 3rd thanks to fine swims from Mollie Allen, Sara Wain, Sophie Waller and Hannah Wain, and the 15/u boys medley team produced the same 3rd place finish in one of the closest races of the night. The girls in the 13/u free relay again led from start to finish with Katie Latham leading the team off, Megan Curtis maintaining the place, Sophie Waller and Pam Flisher finished the job off touching well ahead of the other teams. The girl’s 15/u medley team were not to outdone and they too led from start to finish. Megan Basford demonstrated why she is considered one of the best backstrokers in Kent, gaining the lead. Milly Furneaux delivered yet another solid breaststroke leg to hold the lead. Tasha Hyde shrugged off her recent bout of sickness and produced a near best fly leg and Devon Amos was in fine form as she brought the team home in first place.. The last 2 squadron relays brought the house down with noise levels that could have been measured on the richter scale. The ‘guards teams gave their all but were unable to overcome the older and stronger teams. There was then a nervous wait for the point’s totals. There were just 10 points (less than 2 first places) separating 1st and 4th place. The Dover team had overturned the form book again and finished 2nd by just 4 points. This now means that they sit in the top 3 of the league with promotion to the premier league a real prospect. Coach Tim Hyde was impressed with the team “I would not have believed that we would be in this position at the start of the season. This is thanks to the hard work of the swimmers and coaching team. We will need to win the next round to secure promotion and our swimmers should believe that they can do it. This was a strong team performance and they should feel very proud of themselves” |
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| Dartford Open Report - Results | |||||
| Report last weekend East Invicta Championships 2009 | |||||
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1st Round Arena National League
Success for Lifeguards |
Dover Lifeguards hosted the first round of this year’s newly sponsored Arena National league on Saturday, putting their newly installed electronic timing system to full use against some tough competition from across the south east. The ‘guards quickly set about upsetting the form book thanks to some fine swims from the team in both the individual races and the relays. Veteran Dima Miller gave an indication of the determination of this squad with a great fight in the open 100 IM to finish 3rd in 1.04.64. The first Block of relays was to give the Dover team a huge boost thanks to the superb team effort put into every relay. The 11/u girls freestyle team of Danika Mote, Brook Amos, Sara Wain and Sophie Waller worked hard to finish 3rd . The relays that followed were to see the ‘guards up the pace with 1st places in the 11/u boys freestyle thanks to good swims from Ben evans, Cameron Cook, Kyle Kent and Robin Craft. There were also first places for the 13/u medley teams (both girls and Boys) both teams leading from the first leg thanks to superb backstroke performances from Megan Basford and Matt Farran. They were supported by their team mates Devon Amos, Pam Flisher, Gemma Lawson, Lewis Young, Evan waters and Callum Basford who each extended the lead for their respective teams. The men’s Open medley team of James Cotton, Dima Miller, Rob Dawson and Conor Newlyn Byer were narrowly pipped into 2nd place leaving the ‘guards in the lead at this early stage of the gala .The individual events were to see the young stars spurred on by this and pulling out all the stops to maintain this lead over some tough competition. There were 1st places from Cameron Cook (11/u back), Milly Furneaux (13/u breast),Evan Waters (13/u breast, 13/u free),Sophie Waller (11/u Fly,11/u breast),Katie Latham(13/u back),Ben Evans (13/u Back, 13/u fly),James Cotton (open back, open free), and Pam Flisher (13/u free). These swims had delivered an even greater lead over their nearest opponents and these swims had been backed up with other great swims with 2nd places from Matt Farran (15/u back), Ed Smith (11/u fly,11/u free), Callum Basford (15/u fly),Katie latham 913/u fly) and Dima Miller (open Breast).. Going into the last block of relay swims the lifeguards were still leading but would have to deliver from each relay team to ensure victory at the end of the night . The swimmers found even more resolve as they recorded 2nd in the 11/u girls medley thanks to Danika Mote, Sara Wain, Sophie Waller and Brook Amos. There was also a 2nd place for the 13/u freestyle team when Gemma Lawson, Megan Curtis, Sophie Waller and Katie Latham were just touched out. More was to come as the 11/u boys medley team pushed hard to finish 1st after leading from the start when Cameron Cook led the team off on the backstroke and Chris Clarke, Ed Smith and Kyle Kent extended the lead over each leg. The boys and girls in the 13/u relay team both followed this up with first places with Gemma Lawson gaining the girls a good lead on the first leg, which Megan Curtis, Sophie Waller and Katie Latham stretched to finish 1st by a comfortable margin. The boys were not quite so dominant as the lead changed hands but they too fought hard and Dan Latham, Callum Haywood, Evan Waters and Ben Evans finished well ahead of the field.
The last relay of the night saw all clubs wheel out their
fastest Male freestyle swimmers and this was to prove a tightly fought race
with the lead changing hands and any of 3 teams being in with a chance of
winning as the race progressed. Over the last 2 legs there race became
between The “This team can feel very proud of their achievements this evening. This is by far our best performance in this competition for a long time and we look forward to the next round in November at Horsham with relish” |
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| Report First Weekend of East Invicta Championships | |||||
| Report Club Championships 2009 | |||||
| Development Gala |
Dover Lifeguards hosted the first of the new season’s development galas in their home pool on Saturday. The guards went into the gala with a considerably
weakened team following an outbreak of the sickness bug. However, this squad
showed its determination and “never say die” attitude with some stunning
swims. They opened proceedings with a win in the squadron breaststroke relay
with fine swims from Hannah Wain, Kira Tranter, Brooke Amos, Grace Beer,
Gemma Lawson, Tasha Hyde, Lee Shepherd, Ben Crosland, Josh Morgan, Dan
Latham, Callum Haywood and Luke Menniss. This was a catalyst to produce some top quality swims
from the young team with wins for Tasha Hyde (18/u breast), Hannah Wain (9/u
free/breast/fly/back), Kyle Kent (12/u fly), Sara Wain (11/u back), Josh
Morgan (11/u back), Lee Shepherd (9/u breast), Danika Mote (12/u 100 IM),
Ebony Wright (18/u free), India Ribbans (12/u back/breast), Dan Latham (12/u
breast), Grace Beer (15/u fly), Robert Keen (9/u fly),
& Callum Haywood (18/u IM). In addition to their individual first
places the team also saw first places in the relays with fighting
performances from the 11/u fs team of Leah Meadows, Max Pettifer, Cameron
Cook and Sara Wain, the 12/u fs team of James Smith, Matt Austin, Danika
Mote and India Ribbans, the 9/u medley team of Patrick Abbott, Lee Shepherd,
Hannah Wain and Robert Keen, and the 11/u medley team of Cameron Cook, Sara
Wain, Josh Morgan and Brooke Amos. Second places in the individual races from Dan Latham
(15/u fly), Devon Amos (18/u breast), Matt Austin (12/u back), Lee Shepherd
(10/u breast), Ben Fidock (12/u IM), Danika Mote (12/u fs) and Luke Menniss
(18/u back) also helped the club amass a good points total. The final event
of the night was the squadron fs relay and the
When the points were totalled the lifeguards had finished
a creditable second (by only 6 points) which was a remarkable performance
considering they were missing 12 first choice swimmers. The best
achievements of the night belonged to these swimmers who achieved speeding
tickets (the goal of these galas). The
There were awards for:
Coach Tim Hyde was impressed with the team “To swim so
many races to such a high standard is impressive. This team responded well
to the difficult situation and delivered good performances across all events
and age groups.” |
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| Kent Junior League |
It was the second round of the Kent Junior League last Saturday and Dover
Life Guard Club took a team of 30 young swimmers aged between 8 and 13 to
Trinity School in Croydon. Some of the younger swimmers were competing in
their first competitive competition at this level. It was the first week of a new term not only of competitive training but also school for the majority of them so it proved a good marker as to how they were all progressing. Age Group Coach, Mike Hughes, was not disappointed and there were a raft of personal best times across the board. Individual wins were achieved by Sophie Waller, Katie Latham (3), Ben Evans (2) and Cameron Cook. The 7 relay wins shows how the depth of talent in the club is increasing in these age groups. The 11 and under girls medley and freestyle teams of Danika Mote, Mollie Allen, Sophie Waller and Hannah Wain won both their relays as did the 11 and under boys teams of Cameron Cook, Christopher Clarke, Ed Smith, Kyle Kent and Robin Craft. The 13 and under boys team of Dan Latham, Tom Latham, Callum Haywood and Ben Evans also won their medley and freestyle team events. The final event of the evening, the mixed 8 x 25m Freestyle Squadron consisting of Hannah Wain, Ben Crosland, Sophie Waller, Ed Smith, Katie Latham, Ben Evans, Pam Flisher and Callum Haywood was an exciting race and Dover led from start to finish beating their closest rival by almost three seconds a tremendous effort at the end of a very competitive gala. When the points were added up the final result showed Dover firmly in second place. 1st Orpington OJAYS 243 2nd Dover LGC 208 3rd Greenwich Borough Mariners 191 4th Erith 147 5th Dartford 131 6th Bexley 85 Dover are now looking forward and planning for the third round in this competition which will be held at Dover on 21 November when the recently installed electronic timing at Dover Leisure Centre will be put to good use. |
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| Tom Russell's Channel Swim | |||||
| Ben at Nationals | |||||
| Herne Bay Open Report | |||||
| Lifeguards Dominate in Season Finale |
The lifeguard’s youngsters travelled to the Faversham open air pool on Saturday for the last team gala of the season. This was to prove an extra challenge as the weather deteriorated and the evening turned cold, the swimmers had to cope in an environment that was totally alien to them. To their credit they showed a great deal of character as they took to the pool with a determination that was to see them lead from the first event to the last. The gala opened with the breaststroke squadron relay, The ‘guards team of Hannah Wain, Isobella Beardsmore, Brook Amos, Grace Beer, Pam Flisher, Tasha Hyde, Lee Sheppard, Cameron Cook, Kyle Kent, Kieron Menniss, Callum Meadows and Callum Bowers got the evening off to a winning start and this was to prove a trigger to some of the best results of the development series this year. There were 1st places for Brook Amos (11/u breast), Kira Tranter (9/u Freestyle), James Smith (12.u Fly), Connie Willett (10/u back, 9/u back), Lewis Young (18/u fly), Danika Mote (11/u back), Hannah Wain (9/u breast), Lee Sheppard (9/u breast), India Ribbans (12/u freestyle), Marysia Abbott (10/u fly), Milly Furneaux (15/u back), Ebony Wright (18/u freestyle), Patrick Abbott (9/u back), Gemma Lawson (12/u breast), Sara Wain (11/u freestyle), Amelia Beardsmore (12/u back), Matt Austin (12/u back), and Grace Beer (15/u freestyle). In Addition to these fine swims there were also winning performances on their debut’s from Lee Sheppard (9/u breast) and Max Pettifer (11/u freestyle), both of these youngsters showing much promise for the future with the determined fashion in which they won their races. This set of superb results was supported by 2nd places from Kyle Kent (11/u breast), Grace Beer( 12/u Fly), Pam Flisher (15/u breast), Megan Curtis (18/u fly), Robin Craft (11/u back), Chris Clarke (10/u fly), Hannah Wain (11/u fly), Ashley Baldwin(11/u fly), Leah Meadows (10/u freestyle), Luca De-Felice (10/u freestyle), Alice Latham (15/u fly), Callum Bowers (18/u breast) and Connie Willett (9/u Fly). Another of the clubs debutantes was Alfie Herrington who fought hard to finish 2nd in the 9/u freestyle only narrowly missing out on 1st place. Alfie was a last minute call up due to illness to others and coped with his first time nerves well, this is another star of the future in the making.
The team had totally dominated the gala throughout and finished a massive 52 points ahead of their nearest rivals. “This was a fantastic way to end the season, the team were awesome with everyone performing to their best. They now have a well earned 7 week break from competition, but the hard work in training goes on in preparation for the next season which starts in September” said head coach Tim Hyde. There were individual prizes for Best Boy-Max Pettifer, Best Girl-Grace Beer and best overall performance for Lee Sheppard. |
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| Kent Junior League |
Dover Life Guard Club took a team of twenty eight young
swimmers aged between 9 and 13 to Bexley on Saturday to compete in the first
round of the Kent Junior League.
It was a nail biting competition with A number of Club Records were broken and many personal
best times were set. There were
individual wins for Sophie Waller in the Girls 11 and under 50m Freestyle
and 50m Butterfly, Ed Smith in the Boys 50m Freestyle, Mollie Allen in the
11 and under 50m Breaststroke, Alice Latham in the 12 and under 100m
Breaststroke, Ben Evans in both the Boys 12 and under and 13 and under 100m
Butterfly and Katie Latham in the Girls 12 and under 100m Freestyle.
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| South East Region BAGCAT Championships | |||||
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Busy weekend for Lifeguard Stars |
When the points were totalled the Dover team had won by the proverbial Mile and earned the town points in the challenge against the French town. The Dover lifeguard Waterpolo team were also in action and they were in fantastic form as they dominated the match against their French counterparts. The French team barely had a shot on goal, reminiscent of the England Andorra game . the score line reflected this dominance when the final whistle blew it was 8-1 to the Dover team. Sunday morning had an early start for a large number of the squad as they travelled to the Hartsdown pool in Margate to take part in the 25th Margate annual open gala. Connie Willet showed no signs of tiredness from the previous days exertions as she reached the finals of the 50 butterfly and 50 fs to finish 6th and 2nd in the 50 backstroke, Cameron Cook stormed to the final in the 50 bk and took gold with Kyle Kent snatching silver in an exciting final. Luca de Felice was 9th overall. Josh Morgan was impressive in his first ever open gala as he finished 10th in the 50fs,recorded a 4 second personal best in the 50 breaststroke (50.97 finalist) and a 5 second personal best in the 50 bk with a time of 46.82. Robin Craft finished 7th in the 50 fs and 50 fly. Grace Beer and Pam Flisher both reached the final of the 50 br with Grace finishing 3rd and Pam 6th , India Ribbans came 7th. The boys 12 yrs breaststroke was to prove a great event for Dover with 4 boys making the final. Dan Latham, Tom Latham, James Smith and Evan Waters all swam well with a close finish and Evan touching in first place. Mathew Austin was placed just outside the final but still finished 7th overall. Callum Haywood was 7th in the butterfly and Devon Amos was another finalist in the backstroke and Freestyle to finish 3rd overall. The 10yr boys 50 fs produced yet more finalists for Dover with Ed Smith, Kyle Kent and Cameron Cook all looking impressive to produce good times and taking home medals.In the 11yr boys fly Kieron Menniss was 8th with team mate Robin Craft 7th. Grace Beer and Pam Flisher made another final in the 50 backstroke with Tom Latham and Evan Waters also in the backstroke final for boys. The afternoon session opened with an impressive swim from
Sara Wain who finished 8th in the 50 butterfly. Ed Smith and Kyle Kent displayed
great determination to storm into the butterfly final with Ed 3rd and Kyle 4th.
Pam Flisher then produced a great swim in the fs and fly to reach the final in
both events. Evan Waters came very close to breaking the 30 second mark in the
50 fs to reach the final ,he was joined by twins Dan and Tom Latham. Tasha Hyde
and Devon Amos both made the breaststroke and Fly finals and swam well but were
both just off of their best times, still managing to take home medals. Callum
Haywood improved on his entry time in the backstroke and reached the final.
Evan Waters crowned off a good weekend of swimming by making the final in the 50
fly and was joined by team mate Dan Latham. Evan finished with a huge Personal
best of 34.56. “To produce swims as impressive as this when they are tired is an indication of the fitness levels of these swimmers. I wonder how we would have done if we had been rested?” said coach Tim Hyde Dover and Faversham Water Polo Teams are hosting a Water Polo Tournament at Dover Leisure Centre on Saturday 20th June, from 6.30pm – 10.00pm with local teams from Folkestone, Hythe, Faversham and Dover. Please support this local tournament as we are hoping to make this an annual event in the future. Anyone interested in playing Water Polo for the Dover Lifeguards Water Polo Team please contact us. |
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| Latest Lifesaving Exam Success 2009 | |||||
| South East Regions |
It was the turn of the BAGCAT age group swimmers (boys up to 14yrs and girls up to 13yrs) to take part in this years South East Regional Championships at the weekend and Dover were well represented across all age groups and events. 11 year old Shannon Smith produced a fine swim in the 100m freestyle with a personal best time of 1.11.29 to finish 21st overall in her age group , she also finished in the same place in the 200 IM in a time of 2.59.59. Mollie Allen, swimming in the 10 yr age group was just off of her best with a time of 3.13.61 in the 200 IM and finished 20th. Team mate Sophie Waller had a fantastic weekend. She recorded personal best times on every swim. Her 100 Fs time was 1.11.75 and she finished 5th overall. She recorded an excellent time of 1.20.82 in the 100m butterfly to finish 2nd and she also finished 2nd in the 200 Im with a massive 10 second PB on her entry time in the final of 2.46.10. Sophie was 8th in the 200 bk in 2.56.59 and 14th in the 100 bk in 1.25.31. Gemma Lawson -(12), just recovering from a knee injury put in a gutsy swim in the 100 FS and recorded a time just off of her best of 1.10.67, indicating that she will be going a lot faster as soon as she is able to resume a full training programme. Katie Latham had entries across a large range of events and was to call on her seemingly endless fitness reserves to gain 7th place in the 12yr 200IM , she was also 12th in the 400 IM, 20th in the 100 FS (1.06.70), 22nd (200bk),24th (100bk), and 30th in the 400 FS. Callum Basford (14yrs) also had a large number of swims and swam a superb 100Fs in 59.40 to finish 17th, his first time below the 1 min mark in a long course pool. He was11th in the 200Im ,15th in the 400 IM, 23rd 100 bk,25th 200 bk, and 30th in the 400 Fs.
Evan Waters (12)was another of Dover's swimmers who had a very busy weekend . Evan was 5th in the 200IM (2.40.92), 6th in the 200 back,8th in the 400IM, 13th in the 10fs and 24th in the 400 fs. Coach Tim Hyde praised the young stars "Many of these swimmers are back in 2 weeks for the final weekend of the regional championships and they have given themselves a great start against this very high standard of competitors. This group of youngsters can be very proud of their performances this weekend" |
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| Calais 2009 - “Pirates” Invade Port of Calais | |||||
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Hythe Development Gala |
Although these were excellent results they were also supported by other fine swims throughout the night. There were first places for Tasha Hyde and Luke Menniss (18/u backstroke), Luke with a new PB of 35.09, Grace Beer (50m breast 43.40) and Connie Willet (100m IM 1.46.06), both with personal best times. Other first places went to Luke Menniss (50m fly 33.81 PB), Hannah Wain (50m breast 49.14), India Ribbans (100m IM 1.29.37 PB), Ebony Wright (50m fly 37.62 PB), Dan Latham (50m fly 37.84), and Hannah Wain (50m fly 45.12 PB). All of this young team swam well and there were further personal bests for Robert Keen (50m free 43.20, 50m breast 1.02.40, 50m fly 1.01.92, 50m back 52.62), India Ribbans (50m fly 43.01 and 50m breast 46.32), Ed Smith (50m fly 40.61), Kira Tranter (50m back 52.26), Callum Haywood (50m breast 43.46 and 100m IM 1.20.06), Lily Finklestein (50m fly 37.50), Danica Moat (50m fly 45.39),Katie Fidock (50m back 54.01), Ben Crosland (50m free 43.44), and Sara Wain (50m free 39.01). The gala was to prove a very close run event but when the points were totalled, despite all of the personal bests and speeding tickets, the Dover team had finished fifth. Coach Tim Hyde was still happy with the team’s performance “I am pleased with the results our swimmers achieved here tonight. These development galas are not all about winning and tonight we have seen our swimmers perform beyond expectations on their weaker strokes. This is part of our long term plan to develop the swimmers across all strokes and not have any one trick ponies.”
Whilst this Gala was running 3 of the Lifeguards squad had trekked to Aldershot to take part in an open gala chasing down National and South East Region times:
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South East Region Youth Championships |
On Saturday Megan was just off of her entry time in the 100m despite a strong start, she found it difficult to adjust to the conditions in the 50m pool. On Sunday both girls were in action in the 50m backstroke, Devon was in good form as she led her heat from start to finish, producing a new long course personal best time of 34.25 and 29th overall. Megan was seeded in a faster heat and she started well and was leading for 40m of the race but was just touched into 2nd place over the last few metres. Her time of 33.84 was just outside her personal best but this still gave her a 14th place finish overall. Coach Tim Hyde reflected on the swims-“swimming clubs in Kent are seriously disadvantaged by the lack of 50m pools in the area. To find training space in a long course pool we have to travel a long way .The girls have done well considering their lack of experience of swimming long course and they should be pleased with their performances. If Kent is to produce Olympic Champions we need councils to be prepared to invest in 50m pools.” |
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Littlehampton Open |
A small group of Lifeguard’s swimmers took part in the Littlehampton Open which was held at the Portsmouth Victoria swimming pool for the last time this year before the opening of the new Olympic sized pool in the next few months. The gala was to provide some top 6 finishes across all of the age groups in which they were participating with improvements on entry times from all swimmers. Luke Menniss finished 3rd in the 200 BK, 4th in the 200 FS, and 5th in the 200 IM with a new PB of 2.42.20. Younger brother Kieron produced 2 swims that improved on his entry times in the 50 BK (48.30) and 100 BR (1.47.09). Ebony Wright was in good form over the weekend as she produced improvements on her entry times in the 50 fly(37.36), 50 BR (47.40), 50 fs (33.28), 50 bk(39.59),200 IM (3.01.05), 200 FS (2.37.87) and 100 fs (1.12.18). Ben Evans took 1st place in all 3 of his events with improvements on his entry times in the 400 FS (5.00.67), 100 FS (1.05.80) and 400 IM (5.36.73). Team mate Evan Waters was 2nd in the 50 BK in 36.14, 1st in the 400 IM (5.40.50), 2nd in the 100 FS (1.05.99), and recorded a new PB in the 100 Br (1.29.16).
“Mollie had been out of full time training for a number of months now following injury and is now coming back to form in time for this years South east Region BAGCAT championships next month, the coaching team have very high hopes for her, she is a very determined young lady”. |
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Waterpolo Nationals
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The competition was tough and Bradley played well and came home with the runners up prize and a silver medal. |
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Orpington Ojays Open |
The Easter holidays started with the Dover Lifeguard squad in action at the Orpington Ojays Open. The gala was to produce a good set of results for the ‘guards with 28 top six finishes, with the medals to bring home and 37 races where the swimmers improved on their entry times. For the girls from Dover there were top six places for Katie Brown (200 back), Alice Latham (100 breast), Gemma Lawson (100 free), Megan Basford (100 back), Mollie Allen (50 fs/50bk/50br), Milly Furneaux (1st 100 br), and Sophie Waller (1st 50 br and 2nd 50 fs/50 bk/50 fly). The boys were in just good form with top six finishes from Evan Waters (100 breast/100 back), Edward Smith (50 fs and 1st 50 fly), Callum Basford (100 fs/100br/100fly/100 bk), Sam Gibbs (100 fs), Cameron Cook (2nd 50fs and 50 bk), Dan Latham (100 fly), Matt Farran (100 bk/200 bk) and Callum Haywood (100 fs/ 100 bk). Also hidden amongst the results were more good swims where the entry times were improved on , following so closely after this years Kent Championships the Lifeguard swimmers showed that they continue to improve. Those who improved on their entry times were:- Evan Waters (200 bk), Ed Smith (50 bk), James Smith (100 fs), Luke Menniss(200 fs), Kieron Menniss (50br), Sam Gibbs (200 fs), Dan Latham (100 br), Tom Latham (100 Br) , Callum Haywood (50 fs), Ashley Baldwin( 50fs/ 50 br), Katie Brown (100 fs), Ebony Wright( 50fs/100 fs/100fly/100bk), Gemma Lawson (50 fs), Mollie Allen (50 fly), Tasha Hyde (200 IM) and Amelia Beardsmore (50fs/50bk/50fly). These determined performances ensured that the lifeguard team were placed 4th in the “top Club” competition, a very creditable position considering the relatively small number of swimmers taking part. |
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2008 Channel Relay Team |
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Kent Championships ends on a high |
The final weekend of the 2009 championships produced some more fine swims from the Dover team. Sophie Waller was again on form in the 10 yr age group with a 3rd place in the 200 back , she then produced a controlled performance to win the 200 breaststroke and be crowned champion, her 5th title of this years championships. Sophie had been accumulating points over the course of the past few weeks of competition and she was crowned 10yr BagCat champion, which is where the swimmers individual points totals are added together to produce the best swimmer overall in each age group. This is a good measure of a swimmers performance and Sophie had worked very hard to win this accolade.
Sunday saw the relay competition bring the championships to a close. The guards 13-14yr boys team of Sam Gibbs, Lewis Young, Bradley Harvey and Callum Basford swam well in the 4 x 50 freestyle relay to reach the final and finish 6th overall. The 11-12 yr girls team of Katie Latham, Gemma Lawson, Shannon Smith and Milly Furneaux were all on top form as they reached the final of both the freestyle and Medley relay with Milly Furneaux producing personal best times on her leg of all the relays in both heats and finals. The girls finished 4th place in both finals. The 11-12yr boys were on similar form with Tom Latham, Ben Evans, Evan Waters and Callum Haywood showing great team ethic to fight to make the finals in both the medley and Freestyle with 6th place finish in the freestyle and 4th in the medley relay. When the points were totalled up The lifeguard team had finished 9th in the mens and ladies competition a great result from a comparatively small squad. “the team have excelled themselves over this long championships, they have had above an 80% personal best rate and this reflected in the results table with 73 top 6 finishes with the medals to go with them, their hard work in training has paid dividends” |
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Kent's 28th Feb 1st March
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Last weekend saw the latest rounds of the Kent championships held at the Black Lion Leisure Centre in Gillingham. The Dover team were on good form with many new personal bests and great individual performances recorded.
Ben Evans, sometimes called the ‘guards’ Pocket Rocket, swam a fine 400m freestyle to chop a huge 12 seconds off of his entry time to finish in 5.01.73. He also produced an impressive win in the boys 200m fly to become champion again and 3rd place in the 50m backstroke. Callum Haywood swam well in the 50m backstroke and produced a good time in the 200m event of that stroke of 2.47.33, a two second personal best. Shannon Smith also had a very productive weekend. There were consistently good swims in the 50m back (37.93 -2 second PB), 50m free (33.58 3rd) and 200m IM. She went even further producing an impressive 50m fly to knock a huge 3 seconds off, finishing in a time of 35.62, and her 400 IM saw her knock 19 seconds off her entry time to finish in 6.08.18.
Callum Basford was on superb form too. Having only just turned 14, his age
group means that most of the swimmers he is against are older than him.
Despite this he finished 2nd in the boys 50m back by a fraction of a second
finishing in 30.22. In addition to this, he finished 5th in the 200m fly,
recorded a 4 second PB in the 200m back (2.25.99), and recorded a 13 second
PB in the 400m free (4.36.32). He also broke the 1 minute barrier for the
100m freestyle for the first time, an impressive achievement likened to the
4 minute mile in running. |
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Opening weekend of 2009 Kent championships
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Valentines Day was the opening day of this years Kent county ASA swimming championships at the Black Lion pool in Gillingham. The coming 4 weeks will prove a tough challenge for the Lifeguards squad but they all come to the championships fully prepared having completed a tailored training regime. The first event was the ladies open 4 x 100 medley relay and the ‘guards team of Laura Austin, Charlotte Hyde, Kaira Redman and Tessa Dunford produced a good team effort to finish 7th overall against some tough competition in which the county record fell. Mathew Farran finished 16th in the 200 freestyle with a top ten finish in his age group in the 100 back with a new PB of 1.06.57.The girls 100 back saw personal bests from Shannon Smith (1.21.90- 5th 11yrs), Megan Curtis (1.20.71-20th 12yrs) and Katie Latham (1.13.67-5th 12yrs). Gemma Lawson also swam well to finish just a fraction of a second outside her PB on 1.21.98. Shannon Smith then produced another fine swim in the 400 freestyle with a 3 second PB of 5.25.03 and 4th place 11yr old. Katie Latham was also on form with a 4 second PB of 5.07.68 (10th 12yrs) and Megan Curtis pushed her time forward to 5.07.01 to finish 9th in the 12yr age group. In the boys 200 breaststroke Callum Haywood finished 8th- 12 yrs, and team mates Ben Evans was 4th in the 11yr age group with a massive 7 second PB of 3.18.54 and Evan waters was 3rd (12yrs) with a 5 second PB to finish in 3.09.08. The last Dover swimmer competing was Callum Basford and he swam a very strong race against a very high class field and produced a PB of 2.48.46 to gain 5th place in the 14yr age group. The Afternoon session produced good swims from Sam Gibbs, Callum Basford and Bradley Harvey in the boys 100 butterfly with Bradley producing a fine personal best time of 1.07.07.The girls 200 butterfly had 3 of the Dover girls smashing their previous best times. Sophie Waller 3.13.28 (6 sec PB), Shannon Smith 3.09.31 (4 sec PB) and Katie Latham 2.53.48 a massive 9 sec PB. The last event of the day was the boys 50 freestyle all of the ‘guards boys swam strongly but Evan Waters was in awesome form, looking comfortable to record a new best time of 30.86. Sunday produced yet more fine swims. Robert Dawson was back near his best despite missing training sessions with a 1.05.66 in the 100 fly. The Girls 50 breast saw good placing and PB’s from almost all of the Dover girls. Shannon Smith 43.90 (PB 8th 11yrs), Megan Curtis 42.82 (PB), Alice Latham 41.54 (PB 16th 12 yrs), Katie Latham 39.02 (PB 5th 12 yrs) and Milly Furneaux 38.42 (PB 3rd 12 yrs). Sophie Waller was just outside of her best time but she still swam strongly to finish 1st in the 10 yr age group to be crowned Kent champion in her age group. The boys 200 freestyle produced personal bests from all of the ‘guards swimmers. Evan waters 2.23.10 (6th 12yrs), Ben Evans 2.23.26 (4th 11yrs) and Callum Basford 2.09.14 (5th 14 yrs). The ladies 50 back saw Katie Brown 13th (15yrs), Devon Amos 8th (14 yrs) and Megan Basford 2nd (14 yrs). The boys 50 breast also had best times from Evan Waters 42.11 ( 3rd 12 yrs) and Callum Basford 36.64 (9th 14 yrs).. In the girls 100 individual medley Shannon smith finished 3rd in 1.21.43 (PB), Megan Curtis 20th , Katie Latham 3rd in 1.13.88 and Sophie Waller became 10 yr old Kent Champion again when she finished 1st in 1.24.03 The ladies 50 fly had both of the lifeguards entrants on fine form with PB's for Megan Basford (33.30) and Tasha Hyde (33.24) in a very close heat. Callum Haywood (1.20.35)produced a new best time in the boys 100 back to finish 11th in the 12 yr age group with Evan Waters 5th in 1.16.96. Callum Basford finished 5th in the 14 yr age group in 1.07.68. Mathew Farran was Dover’s only representative in the mens 50 freestyle and finished 16th in 27.54. Twins Alice and Katie Latham both produced PB’s in the 100 breast their times being 1.30.27 and 1.25.82 respectively. Alice was 14th and Katie 5th in the 12yr age group. Milly Furneaux was 9th in a time of 1.26.68. The final event of the weekend was the boys 100 individual medley, Evan Waters, Ben Evans and Bradley Harvey all produced new best times . Evan 1.18.36, Ben 1.17.02 and Bradley 1.10.83. Head coach Tim Hyde reflected on a long weekend of competition “ the swimmers pulled the swims out of the bag time and time again despite this being a long and tiring weekend, and the level of competition was very high, they must remain focussed over the next 3 weekends to build on this great start” |
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Swimmers in Action at the second Kent Secondary Schools Gala |
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OLYMPIC TRAINING DAY
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The East Invicta Amateur swimming Association which represents swimming clubs across south east Kent arranged for two of the British Olympic swimming team to come along and run an "Olympic Training day" at the Kingsmead pool in Canterbury. Olympic silver medallist Kerri ann Payne (10k open water event) and Olympic finalist and Commonwealth champion David Carry (400 freestyle and 400 Individual medley) ran an intensive one day camp for some of the best swimmers in the area.
Dover Lifeguard club were fortunate enough to have 10 swimmers eligible following a successful championships -Charlotte Hyde, Mathew Farran, Luke Menniss, Tessa Dunford, Shannon Smith, Gemma Lawson, Sophie Waller,Ben Evans, and Twins Callum and Megan Basford. Along with his team mates, Ben Evans , a pupil at St Margaret's primary school was really looking forward to meeting the two swimming stars following his recent feat a achieving national qualifying times in the 200m and 100m butterfly and backstroke and he picked up tips on how to improve and take the next steps over the coming years into the "world class programme" run by the Amateur swimming Association . There was stroke and technical work in the pool during two one and half hour training swimming sessions with land training and also motivational talks and tips from 2 of the best in the world. it was a rare but great opportunity to meet and learn from some of the best. |
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| Latest round of Development Galas |
Folkestone swimming club hosted the latest round of development galas at the Dover pool on Saturday with all clubs hoping to make a winning start to the year.
The first block of individual swims saw personal best’s from Luke Menniss (18/u back 35.14), Amelia Beardsmore (11/u breast 49.32), Cameron Cook (11/u breast 54.45), Lauren Cunningham (9/u fs 54.84), Ben Crosland (9/u fs 44.18), Tom Latham (12/u fly 38.76 speeding ticket), Brook Amos (10/u back 43.72 speeding ticket), Ashley Baldwin (10/u back 43.65 speeding ticket), Lily Finkelstein (15/u breast 45.27), Alex Harding (10/u IM 1.42.51), and Luca De-Felice (10/u IM 1.53.76) There were also some determined swims from the young relay team with debutantes Lauren Cunningham and Isabella Beardsmore impressing with their efforts. The gala then continued and produced an avalanche of PB’s in the individual swims; Laura Austin (18/u fly 35.36), Lewis Young (18/u fly 35.29), Kate Holt (11/u back 42.82 and 11/u fly 50.67), Isabella Beardsmore (9/u breast 1.04.28 and 9/u fly 1.06.02), Ben Crosland (9/u breast 56.37 and 9/u fly 1.02.20), Eleanor Spence Welch (12/u free 38.65), James Smith (12/u free 36.43), Brooke Amos (10/u fly 50.04), Ed Smith (10/u fly 43.64 speeding ticket and 10/u free 38.26 speeding ticket), Jade Mincher (15/u back 44.96), India Ribbans (12/u IM 1.32.65), Callum Meadows (12/u IM 1.30.96), Cameron Cook (11/u fly 47.37), Marysia Abbott (9/u back 46.58), debutante Robert Keen (9/u back 58.01), Grace Beer (12/u breast 43.67 speeding ticket), Leah Meadows (10/u free 43.07 and 10/u breast 54.84), Lily Finklestein (15/u fly 38.26), Luke Menniss (18/u IM 1.14.48), Callum Bowers (18/u breast 39.29), Chris Clark (11/u free 39.04), and Ben Fidock (12/u back 44.29). The final points tally had Dover placed in 4th , only a handful of points from 2nd place. “this team was very young and inexperienced so we came here tonight not expecting to win, but the the team spirit and determination shows with the high number of personal bests achieved. They can be proud of their efforts, they performed way beyond expectations”. Awards on the night went to- Best Boy Callum Haywood, Best Girl- Isobella Beardsmore and best overall performance-Ben Crosland |
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| Dover Lifeguards Shine at Home gala |
Dover Lifeguard club and city of Canterbury Swimming club jointly hosted their licensed level 1 icebreaker open meet last weekend. This was the first opportunity of the new year for swimmers to chase down county, regional or national qualifying times in open competition and the ‘guards were in good form. The long weekend of competition started on Friday evening with the 800/1500 freestyle events.
Sunday’s competition saw the ‘guard’s take up from where they had left off on Saturday with Milly Furneaux producing a 6 second pb in the 200 breaststroke. The boys were up next with both Evan Waters and Callum Basford improving on their entry times. The girls 100 fly saw personal bests from Shannon Smith and Gemma Lawson with both girls making the final along with team mates Tasha Hyde and Devon Amos.The boys 200 back had more pb’s from Callum Haywood, Cameron Cook, Evan Waters, Luke Menniss and Mathew Farran. Ben Evans also produced a new personal best time as he stormed through to gain a national qualifying time in this event with a time of 2.37.14.. Sophie Waller continued her good weekend with another pb in the 200 freestyle along with Magan Curtis, Megan Basford and Katie Latham to close the morning session. Katie Latham opened the afternoon session with a 5 second personal best in the 400IM, Callum Basford earned himself a place in the skins event with a superb swim in the 200IM .The girls 100 freestyle had an almost complete sweep of personal bests from all of the ‘guards entrants-Grace Beer, Sophie Waller, Shannon Smith, Gemma Lawson and Devon Amos.. The boys 50 freestyle had Callum Haywood break the 32 sec mark for the first time with a time of 31.97, Ben Evans 30.76 (30.17 in final) and Callum Basford 27.89. (27.09 in final). The girls 100 back saw Shannon Smith produce another fine swim with a time of 1.23.78- a 4 sec pb, Ebony Wright 1.22.62- a 2 sec pb , Megan Curtis 1.22.03 a 1 sec pb and Katie Latham a 3 sec pb in a time of 1.15.98.. Megan Basford and Gemma Lawson both reached the finals where they produced personal bests. . The last event of the afternoon was the boys 200 freestyle and Callum Haywood, Evan Waters and Ben Evans all produced personal best swims to end the weekend on a high. The skins event saw Callum Basford produce some stunning sprints up until the last leg when he was just piped into 2nd place to win £10. Coach Tim Hyde was impressed with the weekends performances “ Our swimmers consistently delivered new best performances and they should all feel proud of themselves. Ben Evans now has 4 national qualifying times and will be targeting others over the coming months. There is no reason why his team mates cannot achieve their goals with the brilliant attitude and training ethic they are showing” |
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| News Archive 2008 | |||||
| News Archive 2006 | News Archive 2007 | ||||
The
difference between the teams was demonstrated in the relays. Each of the 
Last
weekend was to prove a hectic one for the youngsters of Dover Lifeguard Club. On
Saturday they took their second trip to Calais in as many weeks when they took
part in the annual Festival of sport. The ‘guards' took a strong team and were
to eventually win the gala by a comfortable margin. There were a host of
personal bests but on this occasion the number of first place finishes was
staggering. There were first places for the following- Connie Willet (fly/Bk),
Mollie Allen (bk), Cameron Cook(bk), Evan waters (br/fly), Megan Basford(fs/bk/fly),
Callum Basford (fs), Callum Haywood (fs/bk), Bradley Harvey (fly), Hannah Wain (br/fs),
Devon Amos(bk), Megan Curtis (fly), Matt Farran (bk), Tessa Dunford(br/fs), Dima
Miller (br), Sophie Waller (fs/fly), Kyle Kent(Fly), Edward smith (fs), Ebony
Wright (bk) and Tasha Hyde (br). The team also put together some impressive
relay swims ,demonstrated by the way they fought back from behind in the final
squadron relay to win by over half a length. 
Ben Evans
was in good form over the weekend and became South east
region Champion in the 100 and 200 backstroke with times of
1.15.29 and 2.40.30 respectively. He added to this with 2nd
in th 100 fly (1.12.84) ,3rd in the 100 Fs,(1.07.10) 5th in
the 200 and 400 IM (2.44.61 and 5.42.33). Ben was also 6th
in the 400 FS in 5.03.83. 
Dover
Lifeguard’s swimmers were pleased that the local police speed camera team
were not in attendance at the Dover pool when they took part in the latest
instalment of this year’s development gala season. The young guards’
recorded no less than 9 speeding tickets (which are seen as a medal of
honour when they exceed the permitted entry times). Those who received
speeding tickets were Hannah Wain (11/u breaststroke 47.64), Luca De Felice
(10/u backstroke 44.34 and 10/u 100m IM 1.45.82), Kyle Kent (11/u backstroke
42.81 and 11/u butterfly 41.17), Ben Fidock (12/u free 34.36), Connie Willet
(10/u freestyle 40.76), Ashley Baldwin (11/u free 38.04), and Cameron Cook
(10/u breaststroke 53.02). 
Individual
awards on the night went to:-
The
bank holiday weekend saw the Lifeguards’ Megan Basford and Devon Amos travel
to Aldershot to take part in this years South East Region Youth
Championships. Megan had qualified in the 50m and 100m backstroke and Devon
qualified in the 50m backstroke. 
The
best improvements of the weekend were to come from Mollie Allen. She
produced personal best performances from every swim and finished in the top
six in every event that she had entered. Mollie was 1st in the 50fs (33.99
a 2 sec PB) and the 50 BR (42.92 a 2 sec PB and event best performance). She
was 2nd in the 200 im with a 7 second PB of 3.08.11. 3rd in the 100 BR
(1.35.62) and 200 BR (3.22.72 a 10 sec PB). She was also 4th in the 100 FS
(1.16.24) and 50 bk (41.01) and rounded off a great weekend with a 6th place
in the 100 BK in 1.27.17 another huge personal best of over 7 sec.
Dover
Lifeguard swimmer Bradley Harvey was part of the Kent Invicta Team that
travelled to the international aquatic centre in Manchester for the Finals
of the British Gas ASA national age group water polo championships 2009.
The Kent Invicta team had fought hard at the qualifiers at Pond forge in
Sheffield to earn the place in the finals.
Shannon
Smith was placed 5th 11yr old in the 200 backstroke and team mate Katie
Latham was also 5th in the 12 yr age group for the 200 back and 3rd in the
200 breaststroke. The boys were not to be outdone and Callum Basford
finished 5th in the 400 IM and 6th in the 200 IM, Mathew Farran finished 3rd
in the 50 Back. Dover’s young stars Evan Waters and Ben Evans then produced
fine swims in the 200 IM with both finishing in 3rd place in their age
groups- Evan in the 12 yr age group and Ben in the 11yr. Evan had
produced some fine swims and finished in 2nd place in the 12yr bagcat points
table missing out on first place by just a handful of points.
Sophie
Waller, one of the ‘guards’ upcoming stars, was on fine form. In the 200m
freestyle she became Kent champion when she recorded a massive 8 second PB
to finish 1st in a time of 2.31.85. She also produced great swims in the
200m IM (6 second PB) and 50m free (3rd), with consistent performances in
both the 50m back and 50m fly. Another youngster on superb form was Evan
Waters. Evan recorded a huge 10 second PB in the 400m free to almost dip
under the 5 minute barrier for the first time, finishing in a time of
5.00.19. He also swam well in the boys 200m backstroke (2 second PB
2.37.01), 100m breast and 50m back (35.26 3rd).Team-mate Katie Latham also
had a good weekend recording several personal bests; 200m IM (2.40.27), 400m
IM (5.45.25 5 seconds), and the 100m freestyle (1.06.70 4th). She also
finished 6th in the 50m free.
Swimmers were selected following last year's East Invicta
championships and the top 3 in each age group were invited to attend
with club's allowed to select 3 other swimmers they thought
suitable. 
The
lifeguard team were to have an amazing night for individual performances
with almost every swimmer recording at least 1 personal best time.
Ben
Evans-Dover’s only competitor in the 800 stormed to a 46 second personal
best to take 1st place in the 11yr age group and pushed himself into 3rd
place in his age group in the national rankings for this event. Competition
proper commenced on Saturday morning with the girls 400 freestyle, Shannon
Smith and Tasha Hyde both recorded personal bests, Shannon a 13 second
improvement on her entry time and Tasha a 4 second improvement. The boys
200 butterfly produced a stunning swim from Ben Evans as he won the 11yr age
group and recorded a National Qualifying time of 2.42.77. The girls were up
next in the 100 breaststroke, this again produced personal bests from Megan
Basford, Alice Latham and Sophie Waller who recorded a new club record of
1.32.59 for 10 year age group. The boys 100 backstroke was to provide more
excellent swims from the lifeguards with personal bests from Mathew Austin,
Cameron Cook, Evan Waters, Ben Evans, Callum Basford and Mathew Farran.
Sophie Waller maintained her good form with a 12 second pb in the 200 back.
There were also pb’s in the 200 back from Grace Beer and Katie Latham.
The boys 200 breaststroke Saw Dover’s Evan Waters and Callum Haywood record
new best times to finish the morning’s session on a high. The afternoon
opened with the girls 200 Individual medley (IM). Grace Beer, Sophie Waller,
Gemma Lawson and Megan Curtis all swam new personal best times,
demonstrating strong stroke technique across all 4 strokes. Ebony Wright
looked comfortable with a pb in the 50fs thanks to the hard work she has put
in during training. The boys 100 butterfly saw Callum Basford and Bradley
Harvey both put in new pb’s , Callum 1.09.86 and Bradley 1.08.08.Callum had
done enough to reach the finals and improved his time further to clock up a
time of 1.08.00. Sophie Waller looked determined as she clocked up a 7 sec
pb in the 200 fly in a time of 3.19.09. The last event of the afternoon was
the boys 100 freestyle and Evan Waters and Bradley Harvey both showed a
great focus to produce new best times.