As we alluded to in the last report, it is always difficult to get up and running in the New Year after the holidays, but January still has a week to go and some of our swimmers have already taken part in the first two events of 2007.

The Pembrokeshire 800m and 1500m Championships were held at Pembroke Leisure Centre on January 6, and last weekend the three- day Swim Wales New Year Dragon Meet took place at the National Pool Swansea.

Competition Results

The 800m and 1500m races in Pembroke were all freestyle events, and covered 32 and 60 lengths of the pool, respectively. The full list of Tenby results are as follows:

Gemma Amos, 1st 14/O 1500m; Thomas Baker, 7th 13-15yrs 800m; Eleri Canton, 2nd 13/U 1500m; Lewys Canton, 2nd 13-15yrs 800m, Dominic Ciccotti, 10th 12/U; Elena Ciccotti, 3rd 13-15yrs 800m; Nathan Clarke 2nd 13/U 1500m; Bethan Davie 4th 12/U 800m; Matt Davie 3rd 13-15yrs 800m; Coral Lewis 1st 13-15yrs 800m; Sam Lewis, 9th 12/U 800m, Mike Nicholas 1st 16/O 800m; Niamh Slack, 7th 12/U 800m; Josh Thomas, 3rd 12/U 800m; Hari-Llyw Truman, 8th 12/U 800m. There were some good results from our seasoned campaigners, with several improving their entry times by significant margins. Lewys took two minutes and three seconds off his time and Matt, Dominic and Josh also reduced their PBs by well over a minute.

Our first-time entrants coped very well over the longer distances, and it was noted that the majority managed to pace their races very well, something that is quite difficult to do over multiple lengths of the 25m pool.

Well done to all our swimmers at this event. Don't forget these race distances are available at all the major championships, so if you enjoyed the experience in Pembroke why not have a go on a bigger stage?

Over the weekend of January 12-14 we were represented at the New Year Dragon Meet in Swansea. This is an open competition which attracts a top quality field from across the UK. This year there were several members of the GB and Welsh swimming squads taking part in the senior events, and in the Age Group competition there was some awesome swimming talent on display.

Many of the top Age Group swimmers in the UK took part. As well as good representation from clubs across Wales, there were also very strong teams from Plymouth Leander, Stockport Metro, Guildford, Barnet, Oxford and Swim Ireland, together with many other small, but high quality entries.

For swimmers over the age of 15, it was necessary to enter the open events which have an extremely high standard. Daniel Brown and Holly Watkin-Rees both competed in this category and as always produced some good results. Holly set some good new PBs and Dan, who is a real freestyle sprint specialist, came within seven-hundredths of a second of gaining a UK National Championship qualifying time in the 50m freestyle. A bit more training Dan, and mum and dad can have another summer trip to Sheffield!

In the Age Group category we were represented by Thomas Baker, Eleri Canton, Lewys Canton, Bethan Davie and Matt Davie.

All five swimmers set PBs in one or more events, with Lewys slicing a very impressive 11 seconds off his long course entry time in the 200m backstroke. Thomas, Eleri and Matt made gains in their respective 100m breaststroke events and Matt also improved his 100m butterfly time. Bethan had a good weekend and reduced her 100m freestyle time significantly. She was also on form in her specialist events, reaching the 11/U finals in both the 100m (5th) and 200m (6th) breaststroke with significant PBs.

Well done to all of you, especially Thomas, who was competing in his first long course event at the National Pool. You picked a really tough one and performed admirably!

Although not part of Tenby Dolphins, we feel this week that we should give two Fishguard-based Pembrokeshire county swimmers a special mention. Simon Johns and Jane Clarke both achieved National qualifying standards in their respective 50m freestyle events which is a significant achievement. Jane produced a stunning performance in the 13/U event, winning the final in a time of 29.12 seconds. Made more impressive, because she only had her 12th birthday the weekend before. Fantastic stuff and extremely exciting to watch!

Check the website for more photos of the competition.

Forthcoming Events January 20: Swansea Valley Sprint Meet, Pontadawe (Good luck Elliot!). January 27: Urdd Junior and Senior Finals at WNP Swansea. Good luck to all qualifiers. For those mums and dads who have not yet been to the National Pool, try to go along and support the swimmers. It is a fantastic facility and well worth a visit.

February 3: Dyfed Senior League Round One. For ages nine and over. Please check notice board for selection. February 15-18: West Wales Champs., Penlan, Swansea. February 24-25: West Wales Champs., Penlan, Swansea. Two weekends of exciting individual and relay events where you get the chance to take on swimmers from across the region. Entries closed. March 10-11: Llanelli Open Meet. Good quality event suitable for many of our swimmers. Details on notice board and web site.

Club News The new squad systems have now been in operation for a couple of weeks and everyone is quickly becoming used to the new system. Head coach John Amos reports that he is already seeing improvements, and is confident that the results will improve throughout the team. John also reports that he is very encouraged by the enthusiastic response of the Squad 4 members, who now have the chance to train for two hours on Mondays and Thursdays.

By now you should have received your Swim Wales membership forms for completion. Please return these, together with payment, to Paul Dedoncker as soon as possible.