Dumfries ASC - Graded Meet, 26th & 27th April

Last weekend fifteen of our swimmers took part in the above gala, every squad was represented from Diddy through to Regional and Fitness, nine swimmers on the Saturday, joined by 1 regional and 4 Diddy squad swimmers( following their superb win at the Diddy League. Well done to all) on the Sunday.
Frances Nutley was our first swimmer in the pool, setting the pace in the 200back, coming in just outside her PB. Well done Frances.
Lara Cogan from fitness, got a wonderful 8sec PB, in 200 breast. Super swim Lara.
Matthew Whitehead, Nathan Salkeld, Louisa and Joel Sinclair, all achieved further regional qualifying times. Good luck in Manchester.
Erin Middlemass, joined us on Sunday, demolishing her previous time, getting a 22sec PB, in 200 free. Fantastic, all that training and commitment certainly paid off.
John Fraser had two particularly nice swims 200 breast and 100 back. Pb's in both. Nice one John!
Jack Smith got ANOTHER County record 200 breast. An amazing swim!
Jasmine Gresswell gained PB's in every event ranging from 5-10 secs. She just smiled the whole weekend. Well done Jazz.
Our Diddy squad set out to impress and certainly did that.
Elliot Sinclair's PB's ranged from 7-34 secs and no DQ's. "Watch out Jack, here I come!"
Jess Procass got a lovely 3sec PB in 200 breast, competing against 10-13 year olds. Lovely swim Jess.
Sophie Milburn achieved  a 10sec PB in 100 back. Made it look easy.
Hannah Rome got a massive PB in 200 breast. Need a calculator for that one. Amazing swim.
Neve Varah, super 9sec PB in 100 back. Great swim.
Apart from all the mentioned personal bests, there was stacks more.
Lots of medals of every colour came back across the border. Well done everyone.
Thank you to our poolside coaches, Frank, Jason and John, for their coaching, calmness and fun.
A great gala, friendly, organised, great facilities, super parking and only 40mins. from Carlisle.
Watch out Cockermouth, here we come!

Inverclyde Masters Meet - 14 September 2013

Nine Swimmers travelled to Greenock to represent Carlisle Aquatics at this popular annual event.

Meet records were broken by Judy Hattle (6) & Mathew Nicholson (2).
Individual positions for their respective age ranges were - Stephen Foster 3rd, Judy Hattle 2nd and Mathew Nicholson 1st.
The team did well considering the number of 'local' swimming clubs with over 130 competitors participating. Carlisle came 7th out of 33.

Team members also included David Carruthers, Vanessa Foster, Paul Gibson, Paul Nicholson, Mike Scales & Alan Young.

North West Regional Masters Championships - 6th July 2013

Carlisle Aquatics was represented at the meet by 5 swimmers – Vanessa and Steve Foster, Paul Gibson, Graham Pearson and Judy Hattle. This was again a very popular meet with fierce competition between swimmers of all ages.  

There were many North West Regional records broken. Congratulations must go to Vanessa Foster for breaking two of them. The 50m Breaststroke in a time of 48.15 and the 100 IM in a time of 1.40.39. 

Ladies Development League – Water Polo

Background



The current situation in British Water Polo in the North West of England is that once a girl reaches the age of 17yrs she has to stop playing junior water polo or play for a Ladies team that is part of the British Water Polo League.


The situation in the North West of England is that there is no stepping stone to the British Water Polo League
.

The Ladies Development League is supported by the Central Lancashire Swimming and Water Polo associations and Swim North West.


All clubs are affiliated to the Association and are governed by the association’s constitution.
The aim of the league is to provide competition on a regional basis to develop players and support clubs who may wish to join the league in the future. Clubs will be encouraged to have a mixture of Senior, University and Junior players.

Carlisle Aquatics has joined the above league and has played 3 games to date.  Details of the matches are listed below and the reports are taken from the Ladies Development League website.

The first game was at home to Tyldesley Pelicans on Friday 19th July.

Tyldesley beat a young Carlisle team who were playing their first game in the league. It was the first competitive Ladies Match for the Carlisle team. In the first quarter Tyldesley went into a 4 goals to 2 lead, goals by Grace Morley (2),Toni Farley and Sam Grundy. Carlisle goals were by Rebecca Lightowler and Emma Little. In the second quarter Tyldesley played a strong defence and scored 3 goals without a response from Carlisle. Goals by Jo Costello (2) and Natasha Grundy. 7 : 2 to Tyldesley at Half time. In the third quarter Tyldesley again pressed hard and scored 3 goals by Toni Farley, Sam Grundy and Grace Morley. Tyldesley went into the last quarter leading 10 goals to 2. Chloe Arthur scored for Carlisle but Tyldesley responded with goals from Grace Morley (2), Natasha Grundy and a goal from 13year old Stephanie Whittaker The final score was Carlisle Aquatic 3 Tyldesley Pelican 14.

On Sunday 21st July the Carlisle team travelled to Liverpool Aquatics Centre to play the Liver Birds. In the first quarter Liverpool went into a close 3 :2 lead Liverpool scorers, Lucy Shaw, Beth Bolton, and Alice Byrne, Carlisle scored through Jess Arthur and Emma Little. At Half time Liverpool had scored 4 more goals without a response from Carlisle, goals for Liverpool by Lucy Shaw 2 and Beth Bolton 2. At the start of the third quarter Liverpool were leading 7 goals to 2. Liverpool further advanced their lead by scoring 5 goals to Carlisle’s 1 Liverpool goals Beth Bolton 2,Scarlet Head, Abbey Septon and Verity McCoy. A Carlisle goal was scored by Emma Little. At the end of the quarter Liverpool lead 12 :3. Carlisle won the last quarter 3 goals to 2 . Carlisle scorers Izzy Howe, 2 and Emma Little, Liverpool scorers were Lucy Shaw and Abbey Septon . Final score - Liverpool Liver Birds 14 Carlisle Aquatics 6.

Carlisle then travelled to Tyldesley Pelicans for the away match.  This was a much closer fought match with the young Carlisle players bonding as a team and learning from the previous 2 matches. In the first quarter Tyldesley were losing by 4 goals to 3 but in the second quarter Tyldesley rallied and scored 5 goals without a response from Carlisle to lead at Half time 8 :4. In th third quarter Carlisle came strongly back and won the quarter 5:3 . Tyldesley were still leading entering the final quarter by 11 goals to 9. In the final quarter Tyldesley scored 5 goals to Carlisle’s 2.

The final result was Tyldesley 16, Carlisle 11. Tyldesley goal scorers were Jo Costello 6, Toni Farley 4, Grace Morley 2, Nicola Veitch, Sam Grundy, Steph Whittaker and Amy Spence. Carlisle Goal scorers were Izzy Howe 4, Natasha Hall 2, Jess Arthur 2, Emma Little 2 and Lucy Wilson 1.

EFDS British National Junior and Youth Disability Swimming Championships

12 year old Ella Cooper-Holmes, a member of Carlisle Aquatics and The North West Disability Swim Squad travelled to Ponds Forge, Sheffield to take part in the EFDS British National Junior and Youth Disability Swimming Championships on the 2^nd/3^rd March 2013.

There were 175 competitors aged between 10-18 years of age including British Paralympians Josef Craig and Jessica-Jane Applegate all competing for their home regions. Standards as usual were high and during the weekend young disabled swimmers scooped five World Records and three National Records.

Ella has only been back in the pool training for one month as she had major orthopaedic surgery at the end of September, spent three weeks in hospital in December re learning how to stand and walk, and the entry form for this National event had to be handed in before she was even back in the pool.

Ella entered five events in the 10-13 years age group. Ella swims freestyle and backstroke in the S7 classification and competed in the 50m free, 100m free and 50m backstroke. In the breaststroke Ella swims in the SB6 classification and competed in the 50m and 100m events.

After a dodgy start with the 50m breaststroke and a DQ (disqualified due to an illegal stroke coming out of her first competitive breaststroke dive) the day could only get better for Ella and over the weekend she achieved a Silver medal in the 100m breaststroke and new pb’s in her freestyle and backstroke competitions and earned herself the Gold Medal in all three events, winning the 50m freestyle by only 0.5seconds, and by smashing 12 seconds off her previous time for the 100m freestyle.

Ella is 0.5 seconds off the qualifying time for the 50m freestyle British Disability International event to be held at Ponds Forge in April and will have one more chance to gain this time when she competes with her team mates from Carlisle Aquatics at the Cumbria Age Group event to be held at Copeland in a couple of weeks.

Ella is also looking forward to the Cerebal Palsy Sport National Championships taking place in Nottingham on the 24th March when elite swimmers with CP will compete and also get the chance to meet up with Paralympian swimmers Matt Walker, Nyree and Sascha Kindred and Liz Johnson. 

                                                            

If you would like further information about Disability Sports please contact 0161 228 2868 or for contacts in Cumbria contact Learning to Change Cumbria on 07799298307 or email: kerryanne.l2c.cumbria@gmail.com

Scottish Short Course Championship 2012

On the weekend of 14 to 16^th December whilst the majority of our swimmers were involved in the Club Championships, two of our members headed off to Edinburgh to take part in the Scottish Short Course Championships along with Olympian Kerrie-Anne Payne.  The event was held in the newly refurbished Royal Commonwealth pool; built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games and where the diving for 2014 Games will be held.  This is now a world class facility.

Sophie Dodd took part in the 800m freestyle being placed 33^rd posting a PB of 9:55.67 in the process.  Unfortunately she did not get a swim in the 400m free being reserve, and with no withdrawals she had to withdraw from the event to avoid the fine for not turning up at the start.

Jack Barker had an excellent weekend competing in the 50m Free and all three Breaststrokes, making the “B” Final in all four events. In the 50m Free he was placed 11^th in 23.32s; it is worth noting that 23.20s in the heats did NOT make the final!

In his Breaststroke events he was placed 10^th in the 50m recording a time of 28.72s, 14^th in the 100m in a time of 1:02.84 and 13^th in the 200m coming home in 2:18.69.  Jack rose to the challenge of the high level competition with all three of these swims representing massive PBs and placing him in the top 30 in Britain (Open Age).

Carlisle member Matthew Nicholson was also competing for City of Glasgow in all three Breaststrokes being placed 13^th in the 50m (28.99s), 13^th in the 100m (1:02.61) and 8^th in the 200m (2:16.62).

Northern Zonal Meet 2013

Five Carlisle Aquatics swimmers braved the deep snow over the weekend of 26^th to 27^th January to attend the Northern Area Zonal Championships at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge. Jack Barker and Laura Davison led the way with seven final appearances between them and Matthew Nicholson added two more to the clubs tally. Zara McKnight and Amy Heard made their first ever appearance at this level, gaining long course PB’s in all their races.

Zara was first to feel the water temperature racing the 200m backstroke, producing a long course PB of 2:37.84 to gain 21^st place. Jack’s weekend started with the 50m freestyle heats coming 6th, a placing he repeated in the final with a time of 24.38s.

Not to be outdone Laura followed, producing an excellent fifth in the 200m fly heat, and worked hard to get a sixth place in the final. Amy also made her debut in the same race, but it was the 400m freestyle that was to be her best race of the weekend, leading her heat from the front and getting 15^th place.

Jack and Matthew then competed in the 200m breast, both qualifying for the finals finishing fifth and seventh respectively in the heat. Going head to head the final the race was keenly fought but the positions remained the same.

Laura closed the first day in the 400m IM, with her butterfly giving her a good start to finish in 12^th. Given a call up for the final she didn’t waste the opportunity finishing in 8^th place.

The second day was filled with a similar level of dedication and swimming talent. This time Amy was in first for her 200m freestyle, followed by Laura in the same event who hit a long course PB time of 2:24.15. Zara swam the 100m backstroke, improving her position to 19^th place and another long course PB.

Jack and Matthew met once more in a keenly fought breast stroke final, this time the 100m. Laura was again superb in the fly, getting 7^th place in the 100m final. It was left to Jack to finish the day, qualifying for the 50m breast final to finish in 3^rd place.

Overall the swimming was excellent, with deserved congratulations to those who took part. And finally thanks to Graham for taking the coaches role.

Arena League 2012

Sixteen teams make up the North West Premier Division of the Arena National Swimming League. The area competition is held over three Saturdays in the autumn with the level of competition being very high. This was highlighted in a baptism of fire in October where we were drawn between Preston (the eventual runners up) and Ellesmere College. In the men’s open 100m Backstroke Jack Kenwright found himself swimming between Chris Walker-Hebbon (of Olympic fame) and Ryan Bennett (winner of the Scottish short course). The overall performance was excellent, especially when it is considered that the majority of the team were swimming in the lower half of double year age groups. Matthew Whitehead deserves a special mention competing in the 13 & U Butterfly as a 10year old. At the end of the evening we came fifth in our gala, making us thirteenth overall.

November saw Carlisle back at Blackpool for another gruelling heat, this time coming seventh on the night. With an overall position of thirteenth a trip to Macclesfield and the B final waited in the December round.

After the initial round of relays we had a creditable position of fifth in the heat. Then the first individual event set the scene for some excellent performances with Holly Howson winning the 10 & U 50m Backstroke. Laura Davison came second in both the 15 & U and 13 & U 100m butterfly, with the races being only five minutes apart. Matthew Nicholson won the men’s 100m Breaststroke, which was won by Jack Barker in the previous two rounds. These were just some of the highlights of some excellent competing with all of the swimmers fighting to the end of their races to achieve the best possible placing. Special mention must go to Owen Walker for anchoring the 6 x 50m freestyle relay, being a good foot shorter than the rest of the swimmers on the blocks. Our final position on the night was third, making us eleventh in the league, a brilliant result with deserved congratulations to all those who took part.

Derwentside ASC Developmental Meet (level 3) 23/24th February

Seven Carlisle Aquatics swimmers travelled to the Louisa Center Pool for the weekend of the 23/24^th February for the Derwentside ASC Developmental gala (level 3)

A great weekend was had by all with our swimmers collecting 16 gold, 13 silver and 6 bronze medals, not to mention the many new PB’s attained, well done!!

The boys in particular cleaned up in the 200 breast with Jack Smith winning gold in the 9 year old event(3:47:18) Joel Sinclair winning gold in the 10 year old event(3:33:12) and a great swim by Nathan Salkeld also winning gold in the 11/12 year old event(3:22:09). There was also some healthy in house competitiveness being shown when 3 of our boys lined up against each other for the 50 free in lanes 1,2 & 3. The spoils went to Joel Sinclair(34:71) by a whisker, narrowly beating Nathan Salkeld(34:75) and Matthew Whitehead(35:80), Nathan would have his revenge later in the 200 breast!

The girls were represented by Louisa Sinclair, Holly Howson and Jasmine Gresswell and all performed well over the weekend. Special mention should go to Holly who narrowly missed out on regional time by 0.3 sec in the 100 backstroke with a great time of 1:18:70, never mind Holly, I’m sure you’ll bag it at age groups. Jasmine held her own against much older girls in the 11/12 category with a great PB in the 100 back(1:37:61), both Jasmine and Holly have only recently turned 11 and were swimming against girls that were a lot older.

Other swims of note came from Matthew Whitehead in the 10 year old boys 100 fly where he won by a clear 10 seconds in a time of 1:29:77. Joel Sinclair won the 10 year old boys 100 free in 1:15:93. Louisa Sinclair won the 11/12 year old girls 100 IM with a new PB of 1:21:94. Nathan Salkeld won the 11/12 year old boys 50 & 100 breast in times of 44:22 and 1:37:69 respectively, both new PB’s

Thanks should go to Derwentside ASC for running a great gala and making us extremely welcome, they even managed to arrange 6 inches of snow to keep the kids entertained on Saturday evening, by all accounts the boys won the snowball fight!!