The young swimmers of Tenby Dolphins have been very busy competing both in and out of the county since our last report, at the Pembrokeshire Age Group Championships and the Neath and Nexus Valleys Open Meet. There has also been another round of the National Swimming League and the Pembrokeshire Senior League gala.

Additionally, a county skills camp was held in Pembroke which was attended by some of our up-and-coming club members.

Local Competition Results

The annual Pembrokeshire Age Group Championships were held in Pembroke on October 25 and 26, and were attended by a big group of Tenby swimmers. This is a closed competition which means it is only open to swimmers registered with one of the five Pembrokeshire swimming clubs. Events are held for a variety of age ranges.

Those who took part were: Nick Allen, Gemma Amos, Lewys Blanc, Morgan Blanc, James Crowney-Richards, Bethan Davie, Gareth Davie, Matt Davie, Carys Davies, Dan Davies, Ffion Davies, Luke Dedoncker, Emily Dilks, Lydia Dilks, Lewis Ensor, Hazel Fox, Carl Gwyther, Rebekah Gwyther, Abigail Hicks, Kaitlyn Hicks, Elliot Hoad, Andrew James, Kieran Johnson, Myles Johnson, Coral Lewis, Sam Lewis, Talia Merriman, Madison Nye, Ben Rees, Safiya Rooney, Jade Rowell, Hannah Saunders, Kiera Slack, Niamh Slack, Alanya Thomas, Josh Thomas, Madison Vickery, Sydney Vickery, Stephen Ward, Lauren Watkins, Ashleigh Willars and Francesco Zeraschi.

There was some good competition throughout the weekend, with swimmers from all of the clubs battling well, which ensured that the medals were well distributed across the county. As is often the case, the younger age groups were well represented, but there was a very disappointing turnout amongst the older swimmers. Hopefully, the new pool in Haverfordwest will encourage a few more to take part next year.

Our Tenby contingent all swam well and have reported that they enjoyed the gala. As with previous reports on this competition, we cannot include the results of all the races. Instead we will list the gold medallists only.

They were: Nick Allen (1), Bethan Davie (9), Matt Davie (2), Carys Davies (2), Dan Davies (4), Ffion Davies (5), Emily Dilks (1), Kaitlyn Hicks (1), Andrew James (7), Coral Lewis (4), Sam Lewis (3), Ben Rees (4) and Hannah Saunders (3). Well done to all of you, and to the other medallists over the weekend.

Despite the reduced numbers of older swimmers, the competition was a good indicator of the continuing increase in the standards of swimming in the county. There were some fiercely competitive races, and over the course of the weekend, 17 new championship records were set, which is an encouraging sign. Club member Bethan Davie set seven of these.

On November 9, what could well be the last Pembrokeshire Senior League gala took place at Pembroke Leisure Centre. Just three of the local teams took part. Tenby, Haverfordwest and Milford Haven. The numbers were depleted following the previous day's long trip to Plymouth for the county swimmers. No results to hand at time of preparation of this report, but well done to Tenby for once again coming out on top.

Other Competition Results

On November 1, the annual Neath and Nexus Valleys Open was held at the Leisure Centre in Neath. Just four of our swimmers took part, which is well below our usual representation. They were Gemma Amos, Bethan Davie, Gareth Davie and Matt Davie. This was a disappointing turnout because this is a very good gala for younger competitors, and is also a licensed meet which means that times recorded here count for qualification for bigger events.

The podium positions achieved by the swimmers were as follows: Gemma Amos, 3rd 14/O 200m IM; Bethan Davie, 1st 12-13 400m IM, 1st 12-13 200m IM; Gareth Davie, 2nd 9yrs 200m IM, 3rd 9yrs 50m Freestyle; Matt Davie, 1st 15/O 400m IM, 1st 15/O 200m Breaststroke, 3rd 15/O 200m Backstroke, 3rd 15/O 200m IM.

Good swimming by all of you, and a good effort by a very tired Bethan, who had only just completed an intensive four-day Welsh National Squad camp prior to swimming her IM events in the last session of the day.

On Saturday, November 8, a Pembrokeshire County team travelled to Plymouth to take part in the second round of this year's National Swimming League competition. Taking on teams from Plymouth Leander, City of Cardiff, Kelly College, Chard and Taunton Deane, our county team once again struggled with the strength of the opposition in the top division. All of the swimmers put in battling performances, but unfortunately the team eventually came home in last place. Nevertheless, a big thanks to all the Tenby swimmers who made the very long journey to the meet.

Forthcoming Events

November 15/16: West Wales Sub Regional Competition, Penlan Leisure Centre, Swansea.

November 21-23: Welsh Schools and Swim Wales Winter Nationals, WNP Swansea.

December 4/5 (6 pm) and December 7 (3 pm): Tenby Club Championships, Tenby Leisure Centre. Closing date for entries December 1.

January 9-11: January Swim Wales New Year Dragon Meet, WNP Swansea. A top-rate LC competition with tough qualifying times. Entered by top swimmers from across the UK.

Club News

As we mentioned in the preamble, the first skills camp of the season was held on November 1. It is reported that the swimmers who attended had a good time and will hopefully have learned a lot. More importantly, make sure that you remember what you have been taught when you get back into regular training!

Another event taking place on November 1 was the Swim Wales Masters and Senior Age Group Sprint Challenge. This was held at Llanellii Leisure Centre and we are pleased to report that club stalwart Sophie Stanford decided to enter this event. It was her first masters competition. Sophie had an excellent day setting two new Welsh Masters records on her way to winning the overall women's 24 and under age group category.

A great result and proof that you don't have to give up competitive swimming as an adult. In fact, if anyone is interested in masters swimming in Tenby, they have regular training sessions on Friday evenings at 7 pm and are always looking for new members, so just come along and introduce yourself if you would like to join in.

The annual club championships are coming up in a few weeks. The competition will split over two evening sessions and a Sunday afternoon, so make sure that you pencil the dates into your diary.

There are races for everyone, and even the little guys who are just starting out will have the opportunity to compete. Please check the notice board for more details.

This is in your own club, during normal training sessions, so there is absolutely no reason not to attend! There are loads of medals up for grabs and trophies to be won. Don't miss out!

If you want to order anything from the club swim shop for Christmas, please remember to pass on your orders to Pam in plenty of time to guarantee delivery.

We are planning to submit names to attend an Assistant Development Coaches Course to be held locally. This is an introduction into the basics of swim coaching and those of us who have already completed it can confirm that it is very useful if you would like to help out pool side. Please talk to one of the club officials for more details.

S.D.