Newsfile:

19 August: For a full report on age-group nationals, click here.

5-12 August: Age-group and youth nationals in Sheffield. Evening Post/RSC profiles plus excellent photo of the squad here (but please note Team Manager Chris Thomas is not a he!); results via ASA site here. Stop press: Chris Robinson wins the BAGCATS award for 13- year-olds, repeating his success last year, Holly Tanner seventh in her year, a couple of big PBs for Bruno Bamberger.

25 July: Welcome news of RSC member Louis Mech, 13, who swam at nationals last year and now lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Louis won four relay golds in the state short-course championships as part of a record-breaking team, won bronze in the 200 back and made finals in everything except fly and breaststroke, and made several events at the Georgia State Games. And congrats to Swimmer of the Month Chris Robinson.

18 July: A fun gala for the season's last club night. Normal training ends for all but nationals qualifiers on Saturday the 20th, and the new season starts Monday 2nd September. However, for those who want to hit the ground running then (and who wouldn't?), tickover training begins on Monday 5th August. Details via link at top of this page.

13 July: The last home meet of 2002 - club sprints at Central Pool, with the biggest fields and the best atmosphere for years. Medals in youngest age groups go to a wide cross-section of swimmers. Dani Mason and Chris Robinson make clean sweeps in their years, Chris setting several records - and a couple of times both Ryan Woodward and Bruno Bamberger are also inside the previous best for the year. Alex Perrin breaks a record he already holds, and one new record by Matt Sandell beats a 1990 record set by Graeme Thomas, now head coach. Louisa Downs beats the 50 fly record set in 1990 by the formidable Bryony Fox. Report here and full results here. (Quite a big file, so it takes a little while to load.)

6-7: Conclusion of Southern Counties. Chris Robinson is a clear winner of the BAGCATS award for his year, with Bruno Bamberger eighth. Holly Tanner third in hers, with good placings also for Louisa Downs in the same year (14th) and Amy Wicks one year up (19th). Report here

4-5 July: Reading have a national age-group champion - Holly Tanner wins the 12s 400 free at the Welsh championships in Swansea and makes five further trips to the rostrum in the first two days of the meet for two silvers and three bronze. And Pam Clement, coached by Reading old boy Tony Woodward at Windsor, wins gold in both her 50 and 200 free. 

29 June: Reading successes at the latest Wycombe meet include Taryn Brunette and Matt Sandell, and Joe Korting gets within a whisker of a national in the 400 IM. Report here.

27 June: Congratulations to Elliott Packham of Link Squad, the latest Evening Post RSC Swimmer of the Month.

22-23 June: After a blank weekend, we are back in action on two fronts. The biggest Reading away contingent for some years - over 60 swimmers - makes the short hop to the Newbury open graded meet, collecting a number of speeding tickets and third club overall. James Golding, Charlotte Haas and coach Harry Wild are interviewed by Meridian TV. Emily Preston wins Top Girl, and individual wins include Rachael Hunter-Lara taking the 10/U 50 fly from an outside lane on the last stroke. Report here. Meanwhile, our top 12 and 13-year-olds are at Southern Counties. Saturday's swims bring gold for Chris Robinson in the 200 free and an IM gold and silver, 100 and 200 freestyle and 200 IM finals for Bruno Bamberger and an 800 bronze for Holly Tanner, repeated in the 400 free in an early swim on Sunday. Report here.

8 June: The annual Berks & S.Bucks "no frills" meet moves to Guildford. A number of NQTs include Craig Woodward adding the 200 free to his 400 earlier in the year. Report here.

6 June: Congratulations to Kristina Paige, coached by Bridget Tobin and Emma Tarrant, the latest RSC Swimmer of the Month. And belatedly to Mark Chevassut, who I neglected to mention won last month's award.

1 June: Another Top Club performance, this time at the Coventry long-course B-grade meet. Stars include Jess Tyrrell, Charlotte Thompson, Laura Bromley, Ruby Paxton and Jonathan and Rachael Hunter-Lara. Report here.

24-25 May: Guildford City put on an excellent open meet at the Aldershot 50m pool. Reading's highlight is a 1-2-3 in the 13s boys' 100 free, Messrs Robinson, Woodward and Bamberger, and Chris dominates the age group, while Ryan and Bruno also each win another silver and a bronze. Matt Sandell wins his 200 back and Holly Tanner collects three silvers and two bronze. Other medallists are James Golding (two silvers), Craig Woodward (silver and bronze), Amy Wicks and Dani Mason, who gets agonizingly close to a 50 free national, while finalists include Taryn Brunette, Louisa Downs, Becky Alderson and Joseph Korting. Two good swims by Sam Flory in his first ever long-course open. Report here.

18-19 May: A rare blank weekend from competition at all levels in the club. One swimmer in action in another sport is David Murphy, winning his age group and second overall in the Woodley 3k run.

11 May: Reading successes at the Windsor Open, and the club represented in the Berks and South Bucks team at Southern Counties. Report here.

4 May: The annual R.S.C. invitation graded meet. Results via frame on left and full report here. Reading winners in various events and age groups are Lisa Bowman, Laura Bromley, Mark Chevassut, Sarah Creek, Jamie Donaldson, Craig Frankum, Jonathan Hunter-Lara, Aisling Keogh, Amy Kunicki, Lauren Macarthur, David Murphy, Nicola Rogers, Claire Ryman, Kristian Statham, Amy Thomas, David Thomas and Charlotte Thompson. And a late addition to this list after an amendment - Louise Gillatt. Meanwhile, older swimmers are at Southern Counties - brief report here and full results at the Southern Counties site, via our links page.

2 May: A great performance by the water polo team in the London League - a defeat, but by only four goals, to Hammersmith Penguin, one of the country's strongest clubs with an all-international line-up.

27 April: The Thames Valley Junior League concludes with Reading again in the "B" final, at Maidenhead. Twelve-year-olds girls' team of Rebecca Alderson, Louisa Downs, Lily Merrick and Louise Gillatt win both relays and all four individuals. Several other relay teams take maximum points, and other individual winners are Candice Bion, Amy Kunicki and Sam Flory. Numerous second places including two each for Mark Kirwan and Craig Frankum help see the team home to a 15-point win. Full report here.

25 April: Southern Counties now has its own web site - see our links page. An early edition carries results for last weekend's SCASA Masters, where Reading's Carole Eyles set two British records in the 19-24 category in the 100 breast (1.21.01) and 200 IM (2.37.09). Other Reading results included a category 50m fly silver for Louise Sandell. Mostly among younger swimmers, for newly calculated RSC "Top Six" lists, click here. And the water polo team kicks off its London League season with a 17-9 home win over a Watford team including a current GB international.

20-21 April: RSC top visiting club in a great weekend's swimming at Bournemouth. Danielle Mason top girl in her year and far too many medals across the team to list in the newsfile, but full report here. Graeme Thomas and Chris Robinson attend second World-Class Start weekend, this time in Canterbury.

18 April: Report on closing counties relays now here and via the meet calendar at left. Presentation of some £600 raised by the RSC team in the Reading mini-marathon and half-marathon made to the Royal Berks Hospital - report and photo in the Post next Thursday.

16 April: A formality, but congratulations to Becky Cooke on confirmation of her selection for the Commonwealth Games team. And I'm sure everyone at Reading will join me in congratulating Simon Burnett of Wycombe, outstanding at this season's county championships, on making the team.

13/14 April: Three teams are double winners at the counties long-course relays at Wycombe - men's open, boys' and girls' 13/14. A gold and a silver for the 15/16 boys, two silvers for the ladies' open team and the 11/12 girls collect a silver and a bronze. The water polo team kick off their season with a win over Harlow, and in Manchester Becky Cooke, now Glasgow-based, qualifies for the Commonwealth Games over 400 metres free to go with the 800 she won earlier in the week.

9th April: Apologies for the lack of recent updates to the newsfile, as the webmaster has been floundering with FTP programmes. To help bring things up to date you can find reports on two of the most recent counties sessions here (16th March) and here (distance events on 23rd March). Reading highlights in the last round of individual swims on 6th April included the senior 200m backstroke championship for Matt Sandell, a thrilling 11s 50m fly win for Louisa Downs and a first-ever counties gold for Charlotte Haas in her 200 fly. Full report here. Full Easter Open results and reports now via the link on the left.

3 April: Age group results for the Reading mini-marathon have now been issued and four RSC swimmers will be collecting awards later in the month - Danielle Mason second and Lisa Bowman third in the U/15s and Holly Tanner third in the U/13s, Emily Preston winner of the U/14 category for entrants using an RBC "passport to leisure". David Murphy, 15, was top Reading runner overall - 10th in a field of 376 across all ages and just outside the medals in his year.

1 April: Prodigious thanks to everyone who helped make the Easter Open such a big success - swimmers, coaches, officials, the staff of Reading Sport and Leisure, our meet sponsors, Jane Griffiths MP, Alan Porton of the Post and Barbara Waldo of Harbour-Sharks Bermuda for helping with presentations, and particularly those RSC members whose roles on the day meant they couldn't necessarily watch members of their own families swim. And to just about the only person your announcer failed to thank at the close of the meet - MC Charlie Ayres, meet manager for the previous two years, whose role covered the whole gamut of proceedings. 

19 March: Report on 9th March counties session here In the two sessions on the 16th, Matt Sandell and Holly Tanner each come home with a gold and two silvers, Chris Robinson and Emma Zadrozny a gold each, Bruno Bamberger a gold, Ruby Paxton, Russel Korting and Louisa Downs silvers, Ryan Woodward two bronze, Rob Wilson one. Junior championships gold for Chris, bronze for Bruno and Joseph Korting.

10th March: Nine hours after Counties end, an intrepid band of RSC parents, helpers, coaches and swimmers starts work uncapping literally thousands of bottles as the club again staffs the first water station in the Reading half-marathon. Meanwhile, sixteen swimmers - many also at Counties the evening before - run in the mini-marathon to raise sponsorship for the Children's Home Support Fund at the Royal Berks, and two fathers run the main event in Reading shirts for the same cause. Huge thanks to everyone involved in either location, you all did the club and town proud. 

9th March: Two more rounds of counties see Emma Zadrozny win the 14s 200 IM and runner up in the junior championship, while Chrissi Manicom is third junior and third in the 15/16 group. Rob Wilson wins silver in his 100 back. Carole Eyles second in the senior 200 breast championship and Dani Mason third in both her 50 free and 200 breast.  In the day's best Reading swim relative to the competitor's experience to date, Shelley Aldworth is a very narrow fourth to Dani Mason in the 200. Louisa Downs third in her 200 breast and Russel Korting in his 200 fly. Chris Robinson wins both his 100 back and 200 fly, records in both, and his first junior championship into the bargain.

2nd-3rd March: A weekend of hard work at Southampton as coach Graeme Thomas and Chris Robinson attend the first training camp under the World Class Start programme - 25 of the top young swimmers from the South train in and out of the pool and attend lectures, while their mentors exchange tips and experiences. 

2nd March: Counties once more, with wins for: Bruno Bamberger 400 free (NQT); Robert Knott 400 free junior champion; Emma Zadrozny 400 IM (runner-up in junior championship).  Seconds: Matt Sandell 400 free (second senior) and 50 breast; Bruno Bamberger 100 free; Charlotte Haas 400 IM; Russel Korting 400 free; Danielle Mason 400 IM (and third junior); Charlotte Thompson 50 breast; Ryan Woodward 50 breast.  Thirds: Bruno Bamberger 50 breast; Taryn Brunette 50 breast; Chrissi Manicom 400 IM; Holly Tanner 100 back (NQT in heat). Plus finalist placings (either in events with finals or HDWs) for many of the above and Becky Alderson, Jamie Day, Louisa Downs, Leanne Haas, Daniel John, Joseph Korting, Ruby Paxton, Nicola Rogers, Robert Wilson, Amy Wicks. Full report here.

28 February: Congratulations to Louisa Downs of Harry Wild's squad, Evening Post Swimmer of the Month.

23 February: Just one session of counties this week - Bruno Bamberger and Ryan Woodward NQTs in the 200 IM. Bruno fourth and Ryan fifth, with Chris Robinson winning the year. Russel Korting was fourth in his, Robert Knott fifth, Joseph Korting seventh. Chris won his 50 back with Bruno third and Ryan seventh; Rob Wilson took silver in the back in his year; Joseph Korting fifth and Jonathan Chevassut eighth in theirs. Danielle Mason third in her 100 free, Amy Wicks fourth, Emma Tarrant fourth, Charlotte Haas sixth, Ruby Paxton and Holly Tanner seventh in various years. Full report here.

17 February: Holly Tanner fifth in Year 7 in the national schools biathlon championships (50 swim/800 run) at Rugby - third in pool and 12th on track.

16 February: First two sessions of the Berks and South Bucks counties at Maidenhead. Robert Knott wins the 200 free junior championship, Chris Robinson third; further golds for Chris, Becky Smith, Louisa Downs; other medals for Becky, Louisa, Bruno Bamberger (plus a 200 free NQT), Leanne Haas, Danielle Mason, Holly Tanner (plus 200 IM NQT), Rob Wilson. RSC's James Flett, swimming in the annual Varsity match - at Central Pool, of all places! - wins a coveted full blue, second in the 100 breast in 1.08.99, as Cambridge beat Oxford. Report on counties here.

9-11 February: A highlight of the season, the Wycombe Open. Loads of long course PBs and Matt Sandell and Holly Tanner pick up medals - a gold for Holly and a silver and a bronze for Matt, with Chris Robinson also a multiple finalist in the 13/14s after turning 13 the day before the meet. Danielle Mason makes her first LC final, fifth in the 13/14 50 free, and Robert Knott, youngest in the open 400 free final by two age groups, swims a brilliant fourth after getting in as first reserve. Philippa Carter makes her national time in the 200 IM. Full report here.

9 February: Not swimming, but congratulations to Andrew Flett of Club Squad, Berks U/15 badminton champion.

2 February: Reading finish fifth in their meet in round 2 of the Thames Valley Junior League at Newbury. Full report here.

26 January: Reading retain the "C" top club trophy after the second leg of the Bracknell B/C gala, and the "B" trophy is a real cliffhanger. Reading and Windsor finish level on points and it goes to countback. Both prove to have the same number of wins, and Reading just take it for having more second places. Phew! Full report here.

24 January: Congratulations to Bruno Bamberger of Age Group Squad, the latest RSC Swimmer of the Month. Full report on the Bracknell B/C meet now here.

21 January: Full results of Reading's annual sports award night published. Chris Robinson is the town's junior sports personality of the year. A loyalty award goes to coach Harry Wild, through whose squad all RSC's talented youngsters in almost a generation have passed. Peter Hood receives a master's award for his huge contribution to swimming and water polo, and Amy Kunicki shares the junior schools award with a star gymnast - her sister Hannah, who also swims in the Thames Valley Junior League team. 

19 January: First leg of the Bracknell B/C gala brings a wad of speeding tickets, and medals as follows: Gold: Andrew Chandler, Louisa Herring, David Murphy, Adam Spokes; Silver: Peter Kirwan (2), Harriet Best, Rachel Chevassut, Alex Macarthur, Charlotte Thompson, Jessica Tyrrell; Bronze: David Murphy, David Thomas; county qualifying times for Charlotte Thompson (2), Emily Tyrrell (2), Hannah Lamb, Emily Preston, Jessica Tyrrell.

12-13 January: The eagerly awaited City of Derby meet in Sheffield lives up to all expectations in and out of the water. Reading successes include first ever national times for Bruno Bamberger and Philippa Carter, finals for Bruno, Ryan Woodward and Matt Sandell and an HDW fourth place for Amy Wicks and a seventh for Holly Tanner. Chris Robinson gets two silvers and a bronze and is second under BAGCATS despite no 50m swim. Philippa second under BAGCATS in her year and Amy sixth in hers. Meanwhile, the Thames Valley Junior League kicks off at Maidenhead. Report on Sheffield here and Maidenhead here. Full Sheffield results via Derby site here.

31 December: As the old year ends, a look back at 2001's events at the club.

21 December: Berks and South Bucks county championships programme published. Details via link in frame to left.

20 December: Congratulations to Joseph Korting of Top Squad, RSC Swimmer of the Month for December.

16 December: Hard graft at Crystal Palace as problems with the timing system mean the Leatherhead one-day open struggles to cope with the number of entries accepted. Reading PBs include Adam Spokes, Charlotte Zadrozny and Nicola Rogers. Results from the Leatherhead site here.

14-15 December: Three medals at the Welsh winter short-course championships in Swansea for Reading's Holly Tanner - second in the 13 and under 200 fly, third in 13/U 400 IM and third in the 15/U 800 free (and fourth overall) in 9.46.10.

8 December: Very tough competition at the Bath GP/age-group meet. Top swimmer is Chris Robinson, with several finals and a best of third in the 12/13 100 back, and a very well planned and executed PB for Joseph Korting to win his 15/16 200 IM heat. Report here and results via Welsh ASA site in our links page.

3 December:  National age-group and youth championships qualifying times published - link to relevant page of the ASFGB's britishswimming.org here.

2 December: Berks and South Bucks water polo team, consisting entirely of Reading players, runners-up in the Southern Counties championships at Crystal Palace.

1 December: Reading A easily avoid the drop from the Speedo Premier South with a comprehensive win in Gala 3 at Central Pool - the third successive round the club's helpers have run a gala, after Round 1 for the B team at Bracknell and Round 2 for the As also at Central. Top performers include Matt Sandell, Martin Booth, Ryan Woodward and Chris Robinson with two individual wins each.  B team seventh out of eight at Guildford, but with nearly everyone improving their times. Daniel John wins the 15/U 100 fly for the third consecutive league meet. Full report on the A team here and the B team here. 

24 November: Top evening out at Tadley for the RSC Awards Night. Report here, and photos in the Evening Post on 29th November strongly recommended.

17-18 November: Three wins out of three for the water polo team over the weekend at Walsall clinch the National Division 3 title.

16-18 November: A productive weekend at a chilly Swansea Grand Prix and age-group meet. Numerous finalists, several medallists including a 13/14 50 free gold for Becky Smith. Full report here. Full meet results via link to the Welsh ASA site in our links page in frame at left.

15 November: Congratulations to Grace Waldron, coached by Bridget Tobin and Emma Tarrant in Bridget's squad, the latest R.S.C. swimmer of the month.

10 November: Portsmouth Northsea A blow the opposition away in the Speedo League at Central Pool. A very young Reading A finish fifth, ahead of Orpington but trailing Windsor, Oxford and Brighton. Highlights are individual wins for Chris Robinson and Becky Smith and by the boys' 13 and under freestyle relay team, the oldest of whom only recently turned 13. Reading B meanwhile finish second of five teams at Guildford, with strongest showings by the 13/U girls and 15/U boys. Full reports on the As here and the Bs here.

3 November:  This season's Club championships conclude with the 400 IM, 200 free, fly and back and 100 breast at Central. Chris Robinson makes it 12 wins in 12 events, with nine records; further records fall to Philippa Carter and Holly Tanner. Excellent winning time for Louisa Downs in her 200 back. Mark Kirwan wins medals in the 10-and-unders from a 1992 birth date, and probably the day's best swim relative to the competitor's level of experience gives Jonathan Hunter-Lara third place in the 12s 100 breaststroke. Report here and full results here.

31 October: Club champs results updated to include 800, 1500 and 400 free. See results frame on left. Report on 1500 here and 400 here

30 October: Laura Leonard re-elected ladies' captain, with James Golding to lead the men this year.

29 October: A new era for RSC opens as Graeme Thomas takes his first sessions as head coach.

28 October: Several successes for RSC swimmers with Berks and South Bucks at the Inter-Counties in Sheffield, including a division win for Amy Wicks (100 fly) and 3rd for Matt Sandell in the 16s 100 back, Matt also swimming the back in a winning medley relay team. Becky Smith 6th in her 100 free and Matt 7th in the 200 IM in the preceding ESSA schools championships. Brief report here.

27 October: Relatively low-key 400 free session at the club championships, but new records nonetheless for Philippa Carter, Chris Robinson and Holly Tanner and big PBs all round. Report in the Post Thursday.

25 October: Boys' 1500 at the club champs. Chris Robinson obliterates the 12s record in 17.23.84. Previous holder of that one Craig Woodward lops a couple of seconds off the mark for the top age group. Click here for a report on the earlier girls' 800.

20 October: Excellent swimming at the Open B-grade at Central Pool, with Soundwell of Bristol just beating Guildford City to the top visiting club trophy. Report here and full results via "home results" in frame at left.

14 October: The water polo team continues its outstanding season, winning three out of three at Crystal Palace and now on their own at the top of National Div 3. Details on the league web site, via our links page. Ruby Paxton and Holly Tanner finish 7th and 6th in their respective years in the South of England schools biathlon in Newbury, the latter winning her swim, and both qualify for the national finals.

13 October: First round of the Speedo League. The 12/13 group star for a very young Reading A at Crawley, and the B team swim at Bracknell in a meet RSC stepped in to host at short notice. Full report on the Bs here and a shorter one on the As here.

11 October: Graeme Thomas appointed head coach - press release here.

7 October: The water polo team wins all its games in the third weekend of the National League Div 3 and after nine games are joint top with Grantham.

29 September: Excellent swimming in the first round of the club championships, with many youngsters making their competitive debuts. Chris Robinson in the 12s age group - selected for the national World Class Start programme - breaks three meet records, one dating back 19 years. Near clean-sweeps for Sam Flory, Jamie Day, Philippa Carter and Holly Tanner in their years, each with four wins in five swims, and Ryan Woodward wins all his four. Full report here and full results via the "home results" link in the frame on the left. Dates for your diary - the club AGM will be at the Civic Offices on Tuesday 30 October and the session of the club championships scheduled for 17 November has been moved to the 3rd. Awards Night on 24th November will be at Tadley.

19 September: The City of Glasgow web site, in a four-para report on their new chief coach, manages to duplicate two whole paragraphs of the RSC press release in a quite extraordinary coincidence. (I read somewhere that if you gave an infinite number of chimps a keyboard each and an infinite amount of time, one would eventually knock out the script of "Hamlet".)

18 September: Becky Cooke makes the half-time draw as Reading crush Cambridge United 1-0 at the Madejski Stadium. Now let's get a pool to match it... 

15-16 September: The water polo team wins two of its three fixtures in the first weekend of the season. Click here for a report.

15 September: Strong performances by the three RSC swimmers at the Division 10 schools individual championships in Amersham, all booking tickets to the Sheffield finals. Matt Sandell wins the intermediate 200 IM in 2.15.54, places third in the 100 back and fourth in the 100 free. Craig Woodward’s 54.72 saw him second in the senior category, just overhauled for the lead at the final touch. Rebecca Smith wins the junior 100 free in 1.04.22 and is third in the 100 fly and the 200 IM.

14 September: The local press reports that a firm plan has been drawn up to redevelop the Chatham Street area of Reading town centre, details of which include a new swimming pool. Link to web site illustrating and detailing the project here.

6 September: The club announces that chief coach Stephen Hill is leaving to join City of Glasgow SC. Press release here. 

3 September: The new season gets under way. Here's looking forward to further successes by Reading swimmers. Click here for last season's Newsfile

Chris Robinson with his Boys 12s BAGCATS winner's award at Age Group Nationals in Sheffield, with runner-up Martin Cox (Portsmouth Northsea) and third placed Shohei Koyama (T5 London West). Photo courtesy Aqua Zone magazine.