Since our last press report, the members of Tenby and District Swimming Club have been taking part in a variety of exciting events. As well as competing at several representative galas, we have also been visited by 50m breaststroke specialist Zoe Baker, who held a training clinic for our squads at Tenby Leisure Centre on Saturday. Competition Results On June 23, the second round of the Dyfed Junior League was held in Tenby, and teams from Llanelli, Pembroke and Amman Valley provided the opposition. This is a short format competition, with races over 25m for swimmers aged 12 and under. It was a fun event and our Tenby swimmers were clearly very motivated that afternoon. No less than 83 per cent of the individual results were new personal best times for the Tenby swimmers taking part. Nevertheless, as always, it was a tough battle and the other teams swam well. In the end, however, Tenby recorded a comprehensive victory. The following weekend, on July 1, the 2007 finals of the Dyfed Junior League were held. The four teams who made it to the 'A' final in Llanelli, were Carmarthen, Llanelli, Haverfordwest and Tenby. However, Haverfordwest withdrew from the final, leaving just three teams to compete for the top prize. On the same afternoon, the 'B' final was held in Milford Haven, where teams from Pembroke, Milford Haven and Amman Valley vied for honours. Arriving at the 'A' final as the highest points scoring qualifiers, and with the previous weekend's gala fresh in the memory, Tenby were hopeful of success. However, the competition developed into a titanic struggle between Carmarthen and Tenby, and it remained very close throughout. Unfortunately, our Tenby team failed to reproduce the form of the previous weekend and were just pipped-at-the-post by Carmarthen who are this year's deserved Dyfed Junior League Champions. Well done to all who took part in all phases of the competition. The swimming schedule has been very busy, and on the following weekend, several of our junior swimmers were back in Llanelli as part of the Pembrokeshire team to take part in the annual triangular inter-county gala between Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. This gala was also a very close affair, but in the end, Pembrokeshire claimed first place. Well done to all of you who were selected for the county team! The last event we can report on this time is the Junior Shield event which was held in Pembroke on Sunday. Once again this was a competition for swimmers aged 12 and under, and the opposition was provided by the four other Pembrokeshire clubs; namely Milford Haven, Pembroke, Fishguard and Haverfordwest. This was a fantastic competition and the outcome remained in the balance until the very end of the gala. After 10 of the 50 events, Pembroke were leading, and then at the halfway stage things had changed and Haverfordwest had edged in front in the points. However, the strength in depth of the Tenby squad proved to be the difference between the teams and in the relay events Tenby were unstoppable. We were able to close the deficit and going into the final few races held a narrow lead over Haverfordwest. It looked like it was going to go down to the wire, but an unfortunate disqualification for one of the Haverfordwest swimmers meant that Tenby were able to hold on for an impressive victory. The coaches and supporters of the five clubs were delighted to see that the competition was so close, very exciting, and that all the teams enjoyed some measure of success. Anyway, very well done to all our Tenby team members who were selected. Star Visit As we mentioned in the preamble, we were fortunate enough to have a visit from Zoe Baker, the former GB and now New Zealand international swimming star, who held a coaching clinic in Tenby on Saturday. Zoe is a 50m sprint breaststroke specialist, and is a fourtime world record holder and former Commonwealth and European champion in her chosen event. Wow! Zoe naturally focused the content of her coaching clinic on breaststroke, and all the club's breaststroke specialists hung on her every word as she ran two groups of our swimmers through a series of interesting and taxing training drills. Having someone with such a wealth of experience to hand is invaluable and our swimmers were clearly thrilled to be given the opportunity to have a coaching session from such a high profile champion. Zoe held her young audience in rapt attention as they listened to all she had to say, indeed we haven't seen them as quiet as that for months! Time is always at a premium in an event such as this, but Zoe was able to pass on a lot of tips for the swimmers and coaches to consider in future competitions and training and we are all very grateful to her for the time she spent with us. All in all, the coaching clinic was a great success, and we would like to thank Neil and Delyth Truman for their help in organising the event. Forthcoming Events July 22-26: ASA Age Group National Championships, Sheffield. July 27 - August 1: ASA Youth National Championships, Sheffield. August 2-5: Welsh Summer Nationals, WNP, Swansea. Entries closed. Good luck to those making the trip. Club News With the ultimate aim of achieving the Swim Wales Dragon Mark accreditation, we as a club are encouraging our poolside helpers to gain some more formal swimming teaching and coaching qualifications. With that goal in mind, Steve Davie and Emmet Johnson have just completed a Level 1 Swim Teachers course in Milford Haven. Despite nearly being expelled for bad behaviour on the first weekend of the course, our two 'mature' students eventually knuckled down and will hopefully be receiving their certificates in the post in a few weeks. Joking aside, they actually report that the course was interesting and informative and sure to be of value. Please speak to the club officials if you are interested in attending future courses. We have a newly-designed club polo shirt which is now available to order. Those eagle-eyed amongst you may have spotted John Amos sporting the first of the line at recent galas, so you will realise that it is a splendid garment to be seen in. Place your order with Pam at the club shop or fill in the order form on the notice board. Also, please note that if you have previously ordered a club hat with your name on it, these have now arrived and can be picked up from the club shop. If Pam is not around, please see Steph Amos. Don't forget, nearly all the regular club sessions continue over the school summer holidays - so keep on training! The only change is that the Monday and Thursday sessions between 6 and 7 pm are switched to run between 7 and 8 pm. Swimmers who attend those sessions please take note. Finally, the Age Group and Youth Nationals are almost upon us, so good luck to Andrew, Danny, Lewys and Bethan and also to our fellow county swimmers Jayne and Simon from Fishguard. We will be eagerly following proceedings to see how you get on.