As a break from the normal round of training and competition, on October 20 the swimmers of Tenby Dolphins took part in a sponsored swim on behalf of the Nomads. A wide spectrum of age ranges made a contribution, from the youngest Dolphin swimmers, Junior and Senior squad members and also some good representation from the Masters. The event started at 6 pm and the enthusiastic younger members were soon in the pool thrashing out the lengths. To give the children a target, it was decided that distance badges should be awarded during the course of the evening, and many swam prodigious distances to collect their awards. The badge winners were: 100m: Lauren Watkins and Tudor Hurle; 200m: Lowri Griffiths, Chloe Beynon, Ashleigh Willar and Samantha Lee; 600m: Kaitlyn Hicks, Kieran Johnson and Hazel Fox; 800m: Nicole Bridle and Keira Slack; 1000m: Gareth Davie and Luke Dedoncker; one mile Lewis Bridle, Daniel Bridle, Abigail Hicks, Jonathan Mattick, Michael Lloyd, Georgia Poole, Lydia Dilks, Miles Johnson, Emma-June Vaughan and Katryn Warlow; 2000m: Casie Paxton and Jade Thomas; 3000m Niamh Slack and Sydney Vickery. Eleri Canton and Sadie Griffiths completed 7000m each, Mike Nicolas 9000m and Lewys Canton an impressive 10000m (400 lengths of Tenby's 25m pool!). Things wound down by 10 pm, and all in all it was a tremendous effort by the 65 swimmers who took part. As usual, the swimmers were supported by a dedicated group of helpers who logged the number of lengths swum as the evening progressed. In total, an amazing 5,628 lengths were completed. This equates to about 88 miles of swimming in just four hours! Note to members. Please hand in your sponsor money, and we will soon be able to report on how much was raised on the evening.

Competition Results

The day after the sponsored swim, on October 21, a very small band of sleepy swimmers headed up to Penlan in Swansea to take part in the 2006 Swim Swansea Junior Open. Although this was a two-day event, the Tenby contingent opted to take part on only the first day. Niamh Slack, Sam Lewis, Bethan Davie and Gareth Davie made the journey. Bethan Davie collected a silver medal 11/U 50m Breaststroke, and was seventh in the 11/U 50m Freestyle. Sam Lewis finished fifth in the 11/U 100m Freestyle. Gareth Davie, attending his first open meeting, finished 13th in the 8/U 25m Freestyle and 15th in the 8/U 25m Breaststroke, collecting two good PB's along the way. Niamh Slack swam well in the 11/U 100m Freestyle and 11/U 100m Backstroke, and produced a great swim in the 11/U 100m Breaststroke. The club entry for this meet was down from 12 to four this year, possibly due to the proximity of the Pembrokeshire Age Group Championships the following weekend. Hopefully we can have better representation next time.

Pembrokeshire Age Group Championships

We had a great turn-out of 63 swimmers from Tenby who made the trip to Pembroke Leisure Centre over the weekend of October 28/29, for the 2006 Pembrokeshire Age Group Championships. This is the annual competition where the swimmers from the five different swimming clubs in Pembrokeshire come together to compete for individual honours in their various age group categories. Tenby swimmers aged from five to 18 took to the pool to take on their friends from across the county, and overall produced some very inspiring results. Those who swam were: Nicholas Allen, Gemma Amos, Lauren Arthur, Sophie Arthur, Thomas Baker, Daniel Bakewell, Claudia Belli, Millie Belli, Lewis Bridle, Daniel Brown, Eleanor Brown, Matthew Brown, Eleri Canton, Lewys Canton, Dominic Ciccotti, Elena Ciccotti, Nathan Clarke, Bethan Davie, Gareth Davie, Matt Davie, Daniel Davies, Ffion Davies, Luke Dedoncker, Scott Dedoncker, Johnnie Delahunty, Lloyd Delahunty, Millie Dessent, Lydia Dilks, Daniel Evans, Caitryn Griffiths, Ronan Griffiths, Sadie Griffiths, Carl Gwyther, Rebekah Gwyther, Elliot Hoad, Edward Hurle, Henrik Jaakola, Jonas Jaakola, Samu Jaakola, Andrew James, Sophia James, Kieran Johnson, Myles Johnson, Coral Lewis, Sam Lewis, Talia Merriman, Heather Morgan, Adam Muskett, Mike Nicholas, Casie Paxton, Chloe Rees, Paul Rees, Jade Rowell, Hannah Saunders, Kiera Slack, Niamh Slack, Alex Thomas, Jade Thomas, Josh Thomas, Billy Truman, Hari-Llyw Truman, Emma-June Vaughan, Madison Vickery, Sydney Vickery, Heather Whittaker, Henry Whittaker. There were many successes for the Tenby members, and with medals being awarded to all five finalists in each event, the details of the individual races are too numerous to report in full. The Tenby results will be posted on the club website in due course, but here are the swimmers who made it to the top three steps of the podium: Gemma Amos, 2nd 14y 100m Fly, 2nd 14y 200m IM, 3rd 14y 100m Free, 3rd 14y 100m Back; Lauren Arthur, 3rd 12y 100m Fly, 3rd 12y 100m Breast; Sophie Arthur, 2nd 14y 100m Free, 2nd 14y 100m Back; Lewis Bridle, 2nd 9y 50m Breast; Daniel Brown, 3rd Open 200m Back, 1st 14y 100m Fly, 1st 14y 100m Breast, 1st 14y 200m IM, 1st 14y 100m Free, 1st 14y 100m Back; Eleanor Brown, 2nd 12y 100m Back, 1st 12y 100m Breast, 3rd 12y 100m IM, 2nd 12y 100m Free; Matthew Brown, 3rd 15/O 100m Free; Eleri Canton, 2nd 11y 100m Fly, 3rd 11y 100m Breast; Lewys Canton 2nd 14y 100m Fly, 3rd 14y 100m Breast, 2nd 14y 200m IM, 2nd 14y 100m Free, 2nd 14y 100m Back; Elena Ciccotti, 1st 13y 100m Breast, 1st Open 200m Beast, 2nd 13y 100m Fly, 2nd 13 y 100m Back, 1st 13y 200m IM, 2nd 13y 100m Free; Nathan Clarke, 2nd 13y 100m Breast, 3rd 13y 100m Fly, 3 13y 100m Back, 3rd 13y 200m IM, 3rd 13y 100m Free; Bethan Davie, 3rd 11y 100m Fly, 2nd 11y 100m IM, 2nd 11y 100m Free, 2nd 11y 100m Breast; Matt Davie, 1st 13y 100m Breast, 2nd 13y 100m Fly, 2nd 13y 100m Back, 2nd 13y 100m Free; Daniel Davies, 2nd 8y 100m IM, 2nd 8y 25m Free, 3rd 8y 25m Back, 1st 8y 25m Breast; Ffion Davies, 1st 7/U 25m Free, 2nd 7/U 25m Back, 1st 7/U 25m Breast; Luke Dedoncker, 3rd 7/U 25m Free; Scott Dedoncker, 2nd 12y 100m Back, 2nd 12y 100m Breast, 2nd 12y 100m Free; Johnnie Delahunty, 2nd 13y 100m Breast, 1st 13y 100m Fly, 1st 13y 100m Back, 1st 13y 200m IM, 1st 13y 100m Free; Lloyd Delahunty, 1st 11y 100m IM, 1st 11y 100m Free, 1st 11y 100m Back; Rebekah Gwyther, 3rd 10y 50m Free, 3rd 10y 50m Back, 2nd 10y 50m Breast, 3rd 10y 50m Fly; Elliot Hoad, 3rd 10y 50m Breast, 3rd 10y 50m Fly; Henrik Jaakola, 2nd 10y 50m Fly; Samu Jaakola, 11y 100m Free, 2nd 11y 100m Back, 2nd 11y 100m Breast; Andrew James, 3rd 15/O 100m Fly, 1st Open 200m Breast, 1st 15/O 100m Breast, 3rd 15/O 200m IM, 3rd 15/O 100m Free, 2nd Open 200m Free; Coral Lewis, 1st Open 200m Back, 1st 14y 100m Fly, 1st 14y 100m Breast, 1st 14 200m IM, 1st 14y 100m Free, 2nd Open 200m Free, 1st 14y 100m Back; Sam Lewis, 2nd 11y 100m Fly, 3rd 11y 100m IM; Talia Merriman, 3rd 7/U 25m Back; Mike Nicholas, 2nd Open 200m Back, 1st 15/O 100m Fly, 3rd Open 200m Breast, 2nd 15/O 200m IM, 1st 15/O 100m Free, 1st Open 200m Free, 1st 15/O 100m Back; Hannah Saunders, 1st 8y 100m IM, 1st 8y 25m Free, 1st 8/U 25m Fly, 1st 8y 25m Back, 1st 8y 25m Breast; Niamh Slack, 2nd 9y 50m Breast, 2nd 9y 100m IM, 2nd 9y 50m Fly, 2nd 9y 50m Back; Jade Thomas, 2nd 10y 100m IM, 2nd 10y 50m Free, 2nd 10y 50m Fly; Billy Truman, 1st 7/U 25m Free, 1st 7/U 25m Back, 1st 7/U 25m Breast; Hari Truman, 3rd 9y 50m Breast; Madison Vickery, 3rd 8/U 100m IM, 3rd 8/U 25m Fly, 2nd 8y 25m Breast; Sydney Vickery, 3rd 11y 100m Back, Henry Whittaker, 1st 12y 100m Breast, 2nd 12y 100m IM. Congratulations to all the bronze, silver and gold medallists, and indeed to the other finalists and swimmers who performed very well and represented the club admirably at the event. Special congratulations to many of the very youngest competitors who had a lot of fun and coped well with the big occasion for the first time. The standard of competition is increasing every year, and several of the swimmers set new championship records on their way to winning their events. Great swimming guys! Those attending the gala on Sunday, may have noticed that there were a few unfamiliar faces dressed in white around the pool. Several visiting officials from the West Wales region assisted with the running of the event, and thanks go to them for their excellent event management. The usual thanks go to head coach John Amos, and all the other helpers who assisted with the event. Finally, thanks to Anne Adams for organising a very successful competition once again.

Forthcoming Events

The busy schedule continues apace: Tomorrow (Saturday) - Neath and Neath Valley Open Meet. Entries now closed. Monday, November 6 - Pembrokeshire Senior League Meet. Tenby Leisure Centre, 6.15 pm start! Check notice board for selection details. Wednesday, November 8 - Urdd Primary Gala - Pembrokeshire. At Pembroke Swimming Pool (selections made by schools). Saturday, November 11 - Speedo League Round Two. Ages 11, 13, 15 (Tiverton, Devon). Check notice board for selection info. Monday, November 13 - Urdd Secondary Gala - Pembrokeshire. At Pembroke Swimming Pool (selections made by schools). Saturday and Sunday, December 2 and 3 - Tenby Club Championships. All swimmers to enter. Saturday, December 9 - Speedo League Round Three. Ages 11, 13, 15. Check notice board for selection info. Saturday and Sunday, December 16 and 17 - Swim Wales Winter Open Meet. WNP Swansea. See notice board for details.

Club News

Please note that as a result of the Pembrokeshire Senior League meet taking place at Tenby on Monday, there is no Junior and Senior squad training. Swimming only for those selected for the team. Please check notice board for details. The annual Tenby and District Swimming Club AGM will be held on November 22 at Tenby Leisure Centre. All are welcome to attend. The club is delighted to report that at the Swim Swansea Junior Open, Niamh Slack achieved the senior squad qualifying time, which means mum and dad can now spend an extra hour at the pool on Mondays and Thursdays! Well done Niamh! It seems that the preoccupation of some of the older swimmers with extreme sports continues. Apparently, the latest craze is 'Human Landscaping', and none other than Carl Amos is the new exponent of the art. By all accounts he recently attempted to modify the skyline of Saundersfoot by raising a prominent building to the ground in a single blow! It was a close run thing, nevertheless the building remained standing. However, Carl is now unfortunately sporting a very discretely coloured plaster-cast on his hand. (If you are planning to continue in this discipline Carl, we suggest you start with a small garden shed or Wendy house and gradually work up to the bigger stuff!) Actually, despite complaining of some discomfort the next day, a rather sheepish Carl still made the journey with the Pembrokeshire Aces team to take part in the Speedo League meeting in Frome where he performed admirably. (What do you mean a sore hand? Get in the pool and swim! Phew...tough coach!).