The year started with the Llanelli Novice Gala in January. This is aimed at the club swimmers who would not always be selected for a team and clubs are deducted points if their swimmers in an age group are too fast. A lot of thought and calculation has to go into this gala and for the second year running Tenby scooped the trophy a clear 50 points ahead of the nearest rival.
During February, the Dyfed Senior League began. Tenby swimmers were concerned about their fitness and had been travelling to Milford Haven to train on Wednesdays and Narberth on Fridays. Tenby fielded a solid team and were the winners in their first round gala. The second round was due to take place in March, but was postponed until April because of the Foot and Mouth outbreak. Tenby were successful in this round and moved on to a final place in Llanelli in June.
At the end of February, Tenby participated in the Pembroke Junior Shield. This gala is against the other Pembrokeshire clubs, Pembroke, Milford Haven and Haverfordwest. Tenby had won this in 2000, but were short of training and team members because of the pool closure. There were some very close races and the Tenby team had to fight hard for every point. They were the eventual winners and team captains Sophie Rees and Jamie Nicholas were very pleased to accept the trophy.
During March, the Pembrokeshire Junior League matches took place with eight to 10 year olds fighting it out in three very exciting galas. With the lack of practice with starting blocks and the no diving rule during training sessions at Narberth Pool, Tenby had some early disqualifications which just added to the excitement of the galas. The swimmers were triumphant in all three galas, much to the delight of new junior team manager Julia Kinsey.
April saw the Pembrokeshire Senior Team Championships in Pembroke Leisure Centre. This is always a close gala, but Tenby took the lead early on in the programme and left it to Milford Haven, Pembroke and Haverfordwest to fight it out for second place.
May is the month for the West Wales Championships and the Pembrokeshire Sprints. Tenby was well represented in both events and took many medals and trophies.
Finally, June arrived and Tenby pool re-opened. Just two weeks to prepare for the Dyfed League final and the Welsh Junior Age Group competition. The Dyfed League final came first on June 30. Several members of the team found that they needed to be in two places at once with the County Primary Schools Music Festival on the same day.
Tenby knew this gala would be hard, but the winners for the previous nine years, Llanelli, had been knocked out of the competition, so Carmarthen and Ammanford had their sights set on the trophy. The competition was of a very high standard and the points were close. At the end it appeared that Tenby had just missed out on glory by one point to Ammanford. However, after the results were verified by the league secretary, there had been a mistake made and Tenby had actually won the league, winning by two points. Tenby had last been successful nine years previously.
During the Welsh Championships in July there were some fantastic results achieved by the Tenby swimmers, but we must mention brilliant performances by Joann Randles, Sophie Stanford and Mike Nicholas. Mike is the first Tenby swimmer for some time to achieve a national qualifying time in order to compete at the British competition in Sheffield. This was Mike's first swim in a 50m pool, and he finished in the top 30 in his age group.
September saw a return to normal for the Dolphins with many members flooding back when they went back to school. The team went straight back into competition with the Pembroke Tudor Shield Relay Gala. The Dolphins were riding high on their recent success and won this trophy for the second year.
In October, the annual RAOB sponsored Pembrokeshire Junior Competition takes place. This is for seven to 10 year old swimmers. Tenby had concerns about this gala as many of the children involved had only recently joined the club or returned after the closure. They performed fantastically against children who were six months ahead of them realistically, and won the boys' trophy, the girls' trophy, the cannon trophy and the overall trophy. If they could achieve this after such a short time with the club, what are they going to do next year?
Perhaps Tenby's finest hour came in the annual fastwater meet. This is a relay competition held between all the Dyfed clubs at Llanelli Leisure Centre. To date, Llanelli have never been beaten outright in this gala for which there are four trophies awarded. Tenby had its concerns as the gala is held at the start of the October half-term holiday, always a popular time for Tenby people involved in tourism to take their own annual holiday. Support for the gala was excellent, but Tenby knew Llanelli would be fielding their strongest possible team after their league defeat in June.
Tenby started very well, as did Llanelli and Carmarthen, and they soon had a lead over the other teams. After an exciting finish, Tenby were victorious, taking three out of four trophies from Llanelli and the first team ever to beat them to the overall trophy since the competition began.
At the end of October, the Pembrokeshire Age Group championships took place over two weekends. Tenby took 47 gold medals out of 94 on offer. They also took 28 silver, 21 bronze, 10 fourth place medals and eight fifth place medals. The largest haul by any of the Pembrokeshire teams. New records were made by Sophie Rees, Mike Nicholas and Saskia Petersen. However, Saskia was unfortunate enough to break her arm immediately after the competition, so is now taking a well-earned rest while in plaster.
The Tenby Dolphins Club Championships have just taken place with the results as follows:
Girls, six years: Freestyle - 1. Dani Gristey; 2. Rachel Hensman. Breaststroke - 1. Rachel Hensman. Backstroke - 1. Dani Gristey; 2. Rachel Hensman.
Girls, seven years: Freestyle - 1. Eleanor Brown; 2. Holly Jones; 3. Lauren Arthur. Breaststroke - 1. Holly Jones and Eleanor Brown. Backstroke - 1. Eleanor Brown; 2. Lauren Arthur; 3. Jessica Davies. Butterfly - 1. Eleanor Brown; 2. Lauren Arthur.
Girls, eight years: Freestyle - 1. Rebecca Bockhard; 2. Haley Lewis. Breaststroke - 1. Rebecca Bockhart. Backstroke - 1. Rebecca Bockhart; 2. Shelby Rossiter. Butterfly - 1. Rebecca Bockhart.
Girls, nine years: Freestyle - 1. Tasha Kinsey; 2. Kasha Lanham; 3. Gemma Amos. Breaststroke - 1. Kasha Lanham; 2. Gemma Amos; 3. Tasha Kinsey. Backstroke - 1. Tasha Kinsey; 2. Kasha Lanham; 3. Gemma Amos. Butterfly - 1. Tasha Kinsey; 2. Kasha Lanham; 3. Gemma Amos.
Girls, 10 years: Freestyle - 1. Emily Pellington; 2. Carlie Brown; 3. Sophie Greer. Breaststroke - 1. Emily Pellington;2 Carlie Brown; 3. Sophie Greer. Backstroke - 1. Emily Pellington; 2. Megan Lear. Butterfly - 1. Emily Pellington.
Girls, 11 years: Freestyle - 1. Sophie Rees; 2. Tara Evans; 3. Katie Johnson. Breaststroke - 1. Sophie Rees; 2. Katie Johnson; 3. Tara Evans. Backstroke - 1. Sophie Rees. Butterfly - 1. Sophie Rees.
Girls, 13 years: Freestyle - 1. Angharad Morrison; 2. Joann Randles; 3. Stacey Lanham. Breaststroke - 1. Angharad Morrison. Backstroke - 1. Angharad Morrison. Butterfly - 1. Angharad Morrison.
Girls, 14 years: Freestyle - 1. Sophie Stanford. Breaststroke - 1. Sophie Stanford. Backstroke - 1. Sophie Stanford. Butterfly - 1. Sophie Stanford.
Girls, 15 and over: Freestyle - 1. Debra Davies; 2. Jacki Brown; 3. Sally Beasley. Breaststroke - 1. Debra Davies; 2. Jacki Brown. Backstroke - 1. Debra Davies; 2. Jacki Brown.
Boys, six years: Freestyle - 1. Connor Worrall. Breaststroke - 1. Connor Worrall. Backstroke - 1. Connor Worrall.
Boys, seven years: Freestyle - 1. Elliott Scotcher; 2. Jack Oakley; 3. Henry Whittaker. Breaststroke - 1. Henry Whittaker; 2. Maxwell Randles. Backstroke - 1. Elliott Scotcher; 2. Henry Whittaker; 3. Maxwell Randles. Butterfly - 1. Elliot Scotcher; 2. Henry Whittaker.
Boys, eight years: Freestyle - 1. Dean Pellington; 2. Alex Heesom; 3. Oliver Pellington. Breaststroke - 1. Dean Pellington; 2. Oliver Pellington. Backstroke - 1. Dean Pellington 2. Oliver Pellington; 3. Jack Lear. Butterfly - 1. Dean Pellington; 2. Oliver Pellington.
Boys, nine years: Freestyle - 1. Daniel Brown; 2. Danny Brown; 3. Callum Worrall. Breaststroke - 1. Danny Brown; 2. Daniel Brown; 3. Richard Cope. Backstroke - 1. Daniel Brown; 2. Danny Brown; 3. Adam Hensman. Butterfly - 1. Danny Brown; 2. Daniel Brown; 3. Callum Worrall.
Boys, 10 years: Freestyle - 1. Leon Goddard; 2. Andrew James; 3. Jack Oakley. Breaststroke - 1. Andrew James; 2. Leon Goddard. Backstroke - 1. Leon Goddard. Butterfly - 1. Leon Goddard.
Boys, 11 years: Freestyle - 1. Matthew Brown; 2. Gavin Kinsey; 3. Simon Stanford. Breaststroke - 1. Matthew Brown; 2. Gavin Kinsey; 3. Simon Stanford. Backstroke - 1. Matthew Brown; 2. Gavin Kinsey; 3. Simon Stanford. Butterfly - 1. Matthew Brown; 2. Gavin Kijsney; 3. Alex Hamilton.
Boys, 12 years: Freestyle - 1. Jamie Nicholas; 2. Carl Amos; 3. Scott Davison. Breaststroke - 1. Jamie Nicholas; 2. Carl Amos; 3. Scott Davison. Backstroke - 1. Jamie Nicholas; 2. Carl Amos; 3. Scott Davison. Butterfly - 1. Jamie Nicholas; 2. Carl Amos.
Boys, 13 years: Freestyle - 1. Mike Nicholas; 2. Ashley Evans. Breaststroke - 1. Mike Nicholas; 2. Ashley Evans. Backstroke - 1. Mike Nicholas. Butterfy - 1. Mike Nicholas.
Boys, 15 and over: Freestyle - 1. Richard Kitson; Breaststroke - 1. Richard Kitson.
DISTANCE AWARDS
Members who attend the width classes on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon finished their year last Friday with distance badges. They achieved the following:
Emily Watkins 5m and 10m; Rhys Cadogan 5m and 10m; Mark Davies 5m; Toby Rossiter 10m; Sarah Davies 5m, 10m and 25m; Rebecca Gwyther 10m and 25m; Ewan Izzard 10m and 25m; Jack Murphy 25m; Maxwell Randles 100m, 200m, 400m; Henry Pritchard 100m, 200m; Scott Dedoncker 100m, 200m; Lian Gwyther 200m; Sophie Izzard 100m, 200m; Jake Jenkins 100m; Sam Baxter 100m, 200m; Sidney Vickery 100m; Dani Gristey 100m; Lara Craig 100m; Leeza Craig 100m, 200m.
The Dolphins are now closed until the new year. They will be returning to training on Monday, January 7, at 7 pm. However, members are reminded that the Christmas party is on Friday, December 21, in the RAOB Club in Kilgetty at 7 pm. Tickets are available from Julie (tel: 811494).