The annual swimming calendar is pretty much aligned with the school year, and Tenby's flourishing swimming club, known to one and all as 'Tenby Dolphins' is now back up to speed with their full training programme ready for the next swimming year.

That is not to say that we were idle over the summer months! Far from it indeed. The majority of our swimmers carried on training on a slightly reduced programme throughout the holiday period, whilst of course finding time for plenty of fun, relaxation and family holidays. In addition, several of our older club swimmers, and those who have progressed to the Pembrokeshire County performance programme, took part in some big events over the summer months.

However, now that everyone is back in school, the hard work in the pool starts again and the coaches will be upping the tempo in the coming weeks as the competition season gets underway once again.

Open Competitions

The first event that was attended by Tenby swimmers over the summer was the Cardiff Bay Sprint Meet which took place at the Cardiff International Pool on July 16. Eight Tenby swimmers took part in the event: Owen Thomas, Lloyd Thomas, Amy Morgan, Harry Thomas, Alanya Thomas, Jemma Whalley, Harrison Cole-Picton and Emily Dilks. The poolside team at the event reported that there were some strong swims from our group, with Alanya and Emily winning medals and Harrison picking up a 'speeding-ticket' for being just too fast! Well done all of you.

As we alluded to in our last report, county swimmers Hannah Saunders and Talia Merriman qualified for the ASA National Age Group Championships which took place at Ponds Forge in Sheffield in July, and once again Bethan Davie was at the Youth Champs a week later representing Swim Swansea.

First time attendees Hannah and Talia both had an excellent week, with some strong swims, and will surely be back for more in 2012.

Immediately after this meet, the Swim Wales Summer Nationals took place in Swansea, and a number of Tenby swimmers took part. Our club swimmers who entered produced a raft of new long course PB's, which was a very pleasing culmination to a year of hard work.

Hannah and Talia, who were back in the pool in Swansea, both won medals to close out two weeks of intensive swimming. Well done to all.

International Competition

Over the summer months, Welsh squad swimmers Hannah and Bethan took part in overseas representative competitions. Hannah travelled to swim at Belinzona in Switzerland and Bethan to Porto in Portugal. By all accounts, both enjoyed the experience.

At the beginning of September,both girls were part of the Welsh team that took part in the UK Schools Games, which this year was held in Sheffield over the weekend of September 3 and 4. This is always a fun event and the girls thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and the support of their team-mates during the competition.

Bethan, who was a gold medallist in 2009 and 2010, continued her medal winning ways with two bronze medals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, giving her a total of seven UKSG medals won over the three years she has been selected.

Well done to both of the girls, and to Carys Thomas from Pembroke, who was also part of the team.

Next year, the competition will be held in London slightly earlier in the year at some of the Olympic venues, so those who qualify are sure to have a good time.

Club News.

We have restructured the club slightly over the past month and we now have a little more room in the Junior and Senior squad sessions. Also, the Development Team are now in the pool at the same time as the Water Dragons, so the numbers across the sessions are more balanced. First impressions are that this is an improvement for all squads.

Our group of volunteer coaches and helpers are working hard to keep the club moving forwards, but we are always looking for more help. Please come forward if you are able to assist, not necessarily with the poolside activities. There are many other areas that need volunteers to keep the club running.

Congratulations to Hazel Fox who has progressed to the County Performance programme. Hazel has joined club-mates Hannah, Talia, Ffion and Dan, who already train in Haverfordwest.

Congratulations also to those within the club who have progressed into the County Skills and Potential squads for this season. We hope you enjoy the additional training you will have the opportunity to receive.

Tenby Dolphins are very keen to keep expanding our fantastic group of competitive swimmers, so we are currently looking for more youngsters to join in the fun at the club. Our swimmers have a great time at loads of different competitions, and over the years we have had success at all levels. If you have the basic swimming skills to swim a length or two and are interested in becoming part of vibrant and fun club, please come and have a look at what we do at one of our training sessions at Tenby Leisure Centre or get in touch with us to arrange a trial. You can contact us on 01834 871941, or via email to [email protected]">[email protected].

S.D.