Bristol Henleaze Swimming Club

The first gala of the new season is the Harding Paddock Memorial Gala for the Bristol Henleaze Shield. This gala is to national league format against some very good opposition. The team sheet is given below and I would ask you to please email me to confirm your availability as soon as you can.

Brian Guy

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Three Bristol Henleaze swimmers entered the Gloucester City Open Meet  back in June, Curtis O’Connor, Courtney O’Connor and Molly Huckle.  The weekend was long and exhausting Courtney obtained 8 PB’s with a 26PB in her 100IM, well done Courtney.  Molly achieved 3 PB’s  and three well deserved medals in her 50 back, 50 free and 100IM, well done Molly.

Curtis entered a staggering 13 events (oops my fault) and managed to walk away with 13 medals, a gold in 50 free,  silver in 50 fly, and  bronzes in 400 free, 100 free and 50 breast.  He also managed to obtain best 14 year old of the weekend and received a trophy for this.

 Congratulations to these swimers from all at BHSC.

Two Bristol Henleaze swimmers qualified for this year’s national championships and represented City of Bristol at Ponds Forge, Sheffield. It is an excellent achievement to get a national qualifying time and both of our swimmers reached the mark in no less than five events which is outstanding.

Abi Bowring (12) swam in the age group championships and her events were 100m and 200m backstroke, 200m breaststroke and 200m and 400m individual medley. Abi did PB’s in three events and made two finals. She was fifth in the 200m IM final and 6^th in the 200m breaststroke final. Abi showed great character in both finals and improved her time and placing from the heats. In the 400m IM she was 11^th so just missed out on a (ten lane) final place. As first reserve for a final the swimmer has to warm up and prepare for the race as normal and report to the call rooms usually to find everyone has turned up and they don’t get a swim – more stressful than swimming the event!.

Rebecca Guy (17) swam in the youth championships and her events were 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle and 200m and 400m individual medley. Rebecca also did PB’s in three events and made the semi final in the 100m freestyle only to be placed 11^th so missed out on a final place. In the heats for the 50m freestyle she swam a PB to be fastest qualifier out of 136 swimmers, this was followed by 2^nd place in the semi finals and in a closely fought final she did another PB (26.36 seconds) and won the gold and was crowned national champion. Bristol Henleaze has never had a national champion and it is indeed a long time since Bristol had a national champion so quite a day!

Congratulations to both swimmers on their magnificent achievements.

The new season starting in September will be here before we know it! We now have the dates for the Arena National league 2010 which are given below. There is also a warm up gala in September to the same format as the national league, the Harding-Paddock memorial gala for the Bristol Henleaze shield. We are also hosting the National League Round 1 gala at Hutton Moor.

Harding-Paddock Memorial Saturday 11^th September Horfield 5.00pm warm up.

National League Round 1 Saturday 9^th October Hutton Moor 5.00pm warm up.

National League Round 2 Saturday 13^th November TBA

National League Round 3 Saturday 11^th December TBA

Please put these dates in your diary and it is important for swimmers selected to swim in all three National League galas if possible. This is because the rules of the Cotswold league mean that anyone swimming in the national team cannot take part in the Cotswold series. So we are not keen on swimmers taking part in just one gala as they potentially miss out on five galas in 2011.

The normal swimming schedule ends on Friday 23^rd July and the summer schedule starts week beginning Monday 26^th July.

There are two sessions a week through the summer holidays at Horfield leisure centre for the A squad. These are on

Tuesday 7.00pm to 9.00pm and Friday 7.15pm to 9.00pm

B squad and juniors are also welcome but must first ask Bob for permission to attend.

The normal swimming schedule restarts on Monday 6^th September.

The annual swim camp runs from 23^rd to 27^th of August and is a great way to have fun and brush up on stroke technique and of course start getting fit for the coming season. Please contact Sandra to book your place.

We are holding our annual swim camp at Clifton High School from 23rd to 27th August 2010. The format is similar to previous years with two groups 'A' and 'B'. The A group has three morning training sessions and is for A squad plus invited B squad. The B session is for B squad plus invited Juniors. If your name is not on the list and you are keen to attend please ask or email Sandra. - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   The lists are given below and please contact Sandra to confirm your place.

The Star of the week is Zoe Baker who will take the Monday afternoon sessions  <click here>.

The Club Championships are a once a year event taking place from September 22nd to October 22nd. The programme contains the same events as the Gloucester County Championships (except the 1500m freestyle) which take place in February and March 2011 with the exception of the 800m and 1500m freestyle which will be in December 2010. Gloucester County are now using qualification times so it is very important for all swimmers to enter the club championships to gain these times. It is also an opportunity to gain individual times to help with gala selection. The chief coach has recommended that all swimmers enter the 200m freestyle and an IM as squad selection and training schedules are based on times in these events. There is no limit to the number of races that can be entered and each entry will cost £2.50 with a maximum of £25 for 10 or more events (cheques made payable to Bristol Henleaze Swimming Club please). Entries without payment will not be accepted. Please note that it should of course say on the lower part of the entry form 'must be at least 9 years old on December 31st 2010 and not 2009.'

Please download a timetable by clicking <here> and entry form from <here>

All events are swum on age as at 31^st December 2010, for example a swimmer with a birthday on November 7^th 1999 would be entered in the 11yr old age group. The youngest age group will be 9 years, although 8 year olds may enter if they are 9 before 31^st March 2010 in line with county qualification. Please note the age restrictions on the 800m freestyle and 400m IM. We are not swimming the 1500m this year as a formal event however time trials for any swimmer who is interested will be arranged at a club session.

It is important to keep a record of events entered on your timetable sheet because on the day of the races it is difficult to deal with individual swimmers queries about races entered.

Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded to both boys and girls in the following age groups 9yrs, 10yrs, 11yrs, 12yrs, 13yrs, 14yrs, 15yrs, 16yrs and Open. A trophy will be awarded to the top boy and girl in each age group. Points will be awarded for each event completed :- 10 for 1^st, 8 for 2^nd, 6 for third then 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 down to eight place. The winner will be the swimmer with most points subject to a minimum number of events. There will also awards for the most improved swimmer in each event.

The closing date for entries is Friday 10^th September. Please return the entry forms with cheque payable to BHSC to Kathryn Wragg. Late entries or entries on the day will only be allowed if there is space available.

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GOOD LUCK and don’t forget the closing date!