Not a great deal to report this time. September is traditionally a largely competition free month, and our swimmers have primarily been focused on training for the past few weeks.
However, we can update you on the results from a few diverse events that our swimmers have taken part in.
Team Competition Results
On Sunday, September 19, the Pembrokeshire Senior Skills Challenge took place at Pembroke Leisure Centre. This event, which allows a wide age range of club members to compete for team honours, was attended by swimmers from three of the county clubs; namely Tenby, Pembroke and Milford Haven.
Swimmers who are part of a performance programme were excluded, so this was very much a club swimmers gala. This was reflected in the team selection, with Tenby picking swimmers from our Junior, Senior and Masters squads with an age range spanning about 43 years!
First-hand reports indicate that it was a really fun event, close fought to the end, with the Tenby team emerging victorious by just a point or two. Well done guys.
Open Water
Wow, that's a headline you don't see too often in our reports!
Most people have been following what was going on with the Long Course Weekend, which will have no doubt been reported in full elsewhere. However, just a couple of mentions from a club perspective.
Andrew James entered the 1500m swim with some of his former training partners from Swansea and finished in seventh place. Well done Andrew, and well done indeed to former club swimmer Oliver Simon who won the combined swimming, cycling and running event over the full weekend.
UKSG
We are a little bit late reporting this, but Bethan Davie finished off her swimming season in style whilst representing Wales at the UK School Games in Sunderland at the beginning of September.
Bethan successfully defended her 100m breaststroke title and narrowly missed out on a double when she was overhauled in the final few metres of the 200m.
Nevertheless, after a difficult season, she was really pleased with gold and silver in her individual swims, especially as she beat a number of competitors who had finished in front of her at the Nationals in Sheffield a few weeks ago. She was also delighted to pick up a team bronze in the hard fought medley relay.
Forthcoming Events
October 2: Llanelli Autumn Open Meet, Llanelli.
October 3: RAOB Gala, Pembroke Leisure Centre.
October 17: Llandarcy Junior Dev Meet, Neath.
October 23-24: Pembrokeshire County Champs, Haverfordwest.
November 6: Neath Open, Neath
November 19-21: Welsh Winter Open and Schools Meet, Swansea.
November 27: Welsh Capital Open, Cardiff Int Pool.
Club News
The various squad coaches report that the September training has seemingly gone well. Things are always a little chaotic when the schools go back, but everything is settling down and there have been some really good training efforts from a large number of the team members.
We can't wait to see how everyone gets along when the open meet and gala season starts once again this weekend.
Congratulations to Dan and Ffion Davies who have moved over to the county training programme in Haverfordwest, and also to Carys Davies, Hazel Fox, Kaitlyn Hicks, Jemma Hurds, Talia Merriman and Ashleigh Willars who have been selected for the County Potential Squad. These swimmers are joined by Kieran Johnson, Ben Rees and Luke Dedoncker in the County Skills Squad.
At the time of writing we do not have full details of which county-based Tenby members have made the Welsh squads for the 2010-2011 season, but we will bring news of this when we have it.
We can, however, pass our congratulations to Bethan Davie who has qualified for the Welsh National Youth Squad for the third year running. Quite an achievement as only about 12 Welsh swimmers make the grade every year.
We are starting to see a couple of new volunteers coming forward to help out. Thanks very much indeed. Everyone please take note. We need a constant replenishment of volunteers to keep the club going, so don't just sit and watch, get involved!
Regular attendees at club training sessions will have noticed that we have welcomed several older swimmers into the club in the past few weeks. Tesni and Rhiana Galvin and Patrick Bunker have joined us from the county programme. We are delighted that we are able to offer opportunities for swimmers who are refocusing their priorities, and who wish to continue to compete, but are unable to commit to a full performance programme. Welcome all three of you.
Finally, we have long been fortunate to train in the only leisure centre in Pembrokeshire with a café on site that allows the swimmers to have breakfast before they head off to school each day. Unfortunately, due to a poor uptake on this service, the café's proprietors are on the verge of suspending the facility. Come on swimmers. Use the morning sessions and join us for breakfast before you head off to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays! You will all complain if you can't do it in a few weeks!
S.D.