North west Regional Age Group Championships

Twelve swimmers represented Carlisle Aquatics at the ASA North West Regional Championships in Manchester over the weekends of 2/3 and 9/10 June 2012. They were entered in a total of 53 events.

Two swimmers managed to win Bronze medals: Laura Davison in the 200m Butterfly and 400m IM; and Ben Leighton in the 1500m Freestyle.

On top of this we had a further four representations in the finals: Sian Thompson in the 200m Breaststroke (7th), Lucy Wilson in the 100m Breaststroke (8th), Ben in the 400m Free (7th) and Laura in the 400m Free (8th) and 100m Butterfly (5th)

The swimmers their events and times achieved are shown below:

Laura Davison – 100m fly, 1:10.87 Heats 4; 1:10.67 5th Final; 200m free, 2:23.46 19th; 400m free, 4:54.70 Heats; 200m IM, 2:42.92 19th; 100m free, 1:07.09; 200m fly, 2:32.02 2nd Heats; 2:31.68 3rd (Final); 400M IM 5:34.03 4th (Heats) 5:27.26 3rd (Final).

Sophie Dodd – 200m free,  2:34.68; 400m free, 5:10.80; 200m back, 2:47.66; 100m back  1:21.00.

Amy Heard – 100m fly, 1:19.78; 400m free, 5:00.75; 100m free, 1:08.41; 200m fly, 2:48.97; 400m IM 5:51.07.

Ben Leighton – 400m IM, 5:24.28 10th; 200m IM,  2:36.44 23rd; 100m fly, 1:12.93 19th;  200m back, 2:32.14 10th; 100m free,  1:03.12; 100m back, 1:13.66 12th; 400m free, 4:40.60 9th (Heats), 4:40.43 7th (Final); 200m breast, 3:03.56 15th; 200m free 2:17.97 17th; 1500 Free 18:20.40 3rd.

James McDougall – 100m breast 1:34.34 20th

Zara McKnight – 200m free, 2:30.80; 200m IM, 2:52.64; 200m breast,  3:09.41 17th; 100m free,  1:12.01; 100m breast,  1:31.15; 200m back, 2:46.09; 100m back 1:16.53 19th.

Andrew Mullins – 100m fly,  1:11.54; 100m free,  1:03.30.

Dylan Phipps – 100m breast 1:29.28 13th

Sian Thompson – 100m fly, 1:12.80; 200m free,  2:15.99 12th; 400m free,  4:48.92 13th; 200m IM,  2:37.72 12th; 200m breast,  2:58.19 7th Heats,  2:58.95 7th Final; 100m free, 1:03.05 13th; 400m IM, 5:28.91 11th; 100m breast 1:24.34 13th.

Owen Walker – 200m back, 2:35.98 13th; 100m free 1:05.02; 400m free 4:56.68.

Lucy Jane Wilson – 100m breast, 1:23.66 6th (Heats); 1:25.35 8th (Final); 200m breast 3:00.55 9th.

Phoebe Wilson – 200m IM, DQ; 100m breast, 1:32.26; 100m free 1:10.12.

Well done to all concerned and a special thanks to Ian Scott and Nicki Wilson for being on poolside.

Our aim for next year is fourfold:
• For more swimmers to qualify in more events.
• To get in more finals
• To win more medals

• Most importantly to achieve more NQTs.

ASA North West Regional Championships

Twelve swimmers represented Carlisle Aquatics at the ASA North West Regional Championships in Manchester over the weekends of 2/3 and 9/10 June 2012. They were entered in a total of 53 events.

Two swimmers managed to win Bronze medals: Laura Davison in the 200m Butterfly and 400m IM; and Ben Leighton in the 1500m Freestyle.

On top of this we had a further four representations in the finals: Sian Thompson in the 200m Breaststroke (7th), Lucy Wilson in the 100m Breaststroke (8th), Ben in the 400m Free (7th) and Laura in the 400m Free (8th) and 100m Butterfly (5th).

The swimmers their events and times achieved are shown below:

Laura Davison – 100m fly, 1:10.87 Heats 4; 1:10.67 5th Final; 200m free, 2:23.46 19th; 400m free, 4:54.70 Heats; 200m IM, 2:42.92 19th; 100m free, 1:07.09; 200m fly, 2:32.02 2nd Heats; 2:31.68 3rd (Final); 400M IM 5:34.03 4th (Heats) 5:27.26 3rd (Final).

Sophie Dodd – 200m free,  2:34.68; 400m free, 5:10.80; 200m back, 2:47.66; 100m back  1:21.00.

Amy Heard – 100m fly, 1:19.78; 400m free, 5:00.75; 100m free, 1:08.41; 200m fly, 2:48.97; 400m IM 5:51.07.

Ben Leighton – 400m IM, 5:24.28 10th; 200m IM,  2:36.44 23rd; 100m fly, 1:12.93 19th;  200m back, 2:32.14 10th; 100m free,  1:03.12; 100m back, 1:13.66 12th; 400m free, 4:40.60 9th (Heats), 4:40.43 7th (Final); 200m breast, 3:03.56 15th; 200m free 2:17.97 17th; 1500 Free 18:20.40 3rd.

James McDougall – 100m breast 1:34.34 20th

Zara McKnight – 200m free, 2:30.80; 200m IM, 2:52.64; 200m breast,  3:09.41 17th; 100m free,  1:12.01; 100m breast,  1:31.15; 200m back, 2:46.09; 100m back 1:16.53 19th.

Andrew Mullins – 100m fly,  1:11.54; 100m free,  1:03.30.

Dylan Phipps – 100m breast 1:29.28 13th

Sian Thompson – 100m fly, 1:12.80; 200m free,  2:15.99 12th; 400m free,  4:48.92 13th; 200m IM,  2:37.72 12th; 200m breast,  2:58.19 7th Heats,  2:58.95 7th Final; 100m free, 1:03.05 13th; 400m IM, 5:28.91 11th; 100m breast 1:24.34 13th.

Owen Walker – 200m back, 2:35.98 13th; 100m free 1:05.02; 400m free 4:56.68.

Lucy Jane Wilson – 100m breast, 1:23.66 6th (Heats); 1:25.35 8th (Final); 200m breast 3:00.55 9th.

Phoebe Wilson – 200m IM, DQ; 100m breast, 1:32.26; 100m free 1:10.12.

Well done to all concerned and a special thanks to Ian Scott and Nicki Wilson for being on poolside.

Our aim for next year is fourfold:
• For more swimmers to qualify in more events.
• To get in more finals
• To win more medals
• Most importantly to achieve more NQTs.

Ullswater Epic

Alan Young

Stephen and Vanessa Foster

Members of Carlisle Aquatics took part in the Epic event at Ullswater at the weekend. Alan Young entered the 3.8k event whereas Stephen and Vanessa Foster were less adventurous and plumbed for the mile event. The weather was surprisingly pleasant considering the summer we are having but the water was cold compared to Derwent water where we train. This was a reminder as to why we initially moved from Ullswater to Derwent Water a couple of years ago. The events were called Jubilee swims and were started by officials in blazers and straw boaters who got each wave to sing the national anthem in the water before starting the event. Very patriotic!

Derwent Water Epic

Ant Rooney

On 17^th June some members of Carlisle Aquatics spent Father’s Day at Keswick taking part in the Derwent Water Epic Event. Alan Young and Ant Rooney took part in the 3.8km swim whilst Stephen and Vanessa Foster swam in the mile event. For us it was a “home game” swimming around Derwent Isle where we train on Thursday evenings. The in the water start was novel and a bit cold on a blustery grey summer’s day but hey, look at the scenery!

British Gas ASA national Youth and Age Group Championships

The Youth and Age Group National Championships were held in Sheffield’s Ponds Forge Pool from the 17 July until the 26 July.  Carlisle Aquatics had two squad members competing.

Laura Davison managed to make the final of the 12 years’ 200m Butterfly where she was placed 7th in a time of 2:29.84. Her morning heat swim was more controlled and consequently slightly faster being 2:28.83. She also competed in the 100m Butterfly being placed 14th in a time of 1:09.57 and the 400m Individual Medley coming 19th in a time of 5:30.84.

Jack Barker competed in the 200m Breaststroke coming 23 in a time of 2:25.13, the 50m freestyle coming 38th in a time of 24.66. His best showing was in the 100m Breaststroke where he swam 1:06.96 in the heats to qualify 16th for the semi-finals. In the evening swim he lowered his PB even further to 1:05.54 to make him 1st reserve for the final.

Carlisle Aquatics’ member Matthew Nicholson was also swimming for City of Glasgow in the 19& over category. He was placed 20th in the 200m Breaststroke in a time of 2:23.69 and 10th in the 100m Breaststroke in a heat time of 1:04.93 reducing this to 1:04.53 in the Final.

Well Done to all three swimmers.

This year swimmers and spectators were given an extra treat in being able to watch some spectacular diving as the USA Olympic Team were using the facility for their pre-Olympic Camp.

Water Polo Newsletter

The Technical Water Polo Committee Newsletter for July 2012 is available to download at http://www.carlisleaquatics.co.uk/docs/WaterPoloNewsletter.doc

North West Regional Masters Championships

A squad of 7 Masters swimmers from Carlisle Aquatics had a very successful Meet at North West Regional Championships at the Palatine Pool, Blackpool on Saturday 30 June 2012.

The majority of swimmers had season’s best times and age group winners were Vanessa Foster (50 Br/s), Ian Scott (200 fly, 200 Br/s) Graham Pearson (50, 100 and 200 Br/s), Judy Hattle (50 and 200 fly) and Steve Foster (100 F/s). Mike Scales had 3rd place in 50 fly and Paul Gibson in 200 back crawl.

County Records were broken by Paul Gibson in the 200 back crawl and Ian Scott in the 200 butterfly. Graham Pearson broke his existing British record for the 200 breaststroke.

Thanks goes to Graeme Muirhead for his coaching of the Masters Squad. This is certainly paying off judging by the Masters results so far this year.

Tri Lakeland Juniors – Cockermouth Junior Triathlon

On Sunday 17 June 2012 eight swimmers from Carlisle Aquatics independently entered the ‘Tri Lakeland Juniors – Cockermouth Junior Triathlon’, which consisted of swimming, cycling and running over different distances depending on their age/event.


This was held at Netherhall Sports Centre, Maryport. Despite a wet Friday and Saturday the weather dried up on Sunday providing excellent conditions. For most this was their first ever triathlon and everyone seemed to enjoy the event and the results were as follows:
Bryony Whitehead (C1 Swimmer) competed in the 15 year Sprint Category and won 1st place with a time of 17.39 minutes.
Natasha Hall (C1 Swimmer) competed in the 14 year Sprint Category and won 1st place with a time of 17.21 minutes.
Samantha Clark (C1 Swimmer) competed in the 9/10 year Tristar1 Category and got 3rd place in a time of 18.59 minutes.
Matthew Whitehead (C1 Swimmer) competed in the 9/10 year Tristar1 Category and came 2nd in a time of 15.30 minutes.
Rory Collins (C2 Swimmer) also competed in the 9/10 year Tristar1 Category and came 6th in a time of 16.58 minutes.
Jack Smith (Diddy Swimmer) competed in the 8 year Tristar Start Category and came 2nd in a time of 9.25 minutes.
Theo Tindall (C1 Swimmer) competed in the 11/12 year Tristar 2 Category and came 14th in a time of 27.21 minutes
John Fraser (C1 Swimmers) also competed in the 11/12 Tristar 2 Category and came 20th in a time of 30.40 minutes.

Well done to all that competed and everyone received a goody bag and medal for their achievements, plus all that came in the top six  received a trophy or a ribbon.

Junior Water Polo at Dunfermline

Carlisle Aquatics sent a mixed junior team to Dunfermline on 27 May to play a friendly water polo match in the newly modernised Carnegie Leisure Centre.

Coaches Andy Little and Paul Armstrong were expecting a tough game as Dunfermline are currently the best junior team in Scotland with a number of representative players including the junior Scottish centre forward and goalkeeper.

Dunfermline dominated the first quarter to take a 4-0 lead but Carlisle were helped by the heroic defending of goalkeeper Rebecca Harby and her defenders Rebecca Lightowler and Bryony Whitehead.

In the second quarter, Carlisle adjusted to the pace of the game and began to test the Dunfermline goalkeeper on a regular basis, forcing him to make some top class saves. However after a long period of sustained pressure and good build up play between Sarah Lightowler and Callum Evans, Alex Armstrong was able to finish off the move with a ripping shot into the top corner. Almost immediately afterwards Carlisle scored again, this time after a passing move involving all the team that ended with Sarah Campbell scoring into the bottom corner to make it 4-2.

Dunfermline then scored 4 consecutive goals from their powerful centre forward to go into half time leading 8-2.

In the third quarter, Carlisle tightened their defence and scored a further 4 goals to 3 from Dunfermline. A new defensive formation of Sam Abba, Natasha Hall and Oliver Bellingham began to dominate their opponents and this freed up the midfield duo of Dan Tait and Callum Evans who began to supply chance to the forwards, Lucy Wright and Emily Wardough. Carlisle’s goals came from Rebecca Lightowler, Natasha Hall and two from Emily Wardough.

In the final quarter, both teams started to tire and chances were missed at both ends but Dunfermline managed to score a further 2 goals to run out eventual winners by 13-6.

Despite the defeat, coaches Andy Little and Paul Armstrong were pleased with the commitment and effort of all the players and work has already began on improving game awareness and tactics in training.

A big thank you to everyone who played especially after the long journey. We hope your McDonalds was worth it on the way home.

Warrender 5’s 2012

On the May 19th several members of Carlisle Aquatic men’s water polo squad travelled to Edinburgh to take part in the annual 5-a-side tournament, hosted be Warrender Water Polo Club. Whilst it’s only a friendly tournament (you know that’s the case when the hosts stress that the night out is just as important as the water polo!), it’s a good measure of fitness and as runners up in 2011, Carlisle were hoping to go one better this year and come home with the crown.

Having arrived a good couple of hours before the first game, Carlisle were looking to shake off any cobwebs in their first match against Burnley B. This proved to be a comfortable 9-1 victory, and Carlisle would almost certainly have had a clean sheet if they had a goalkeeper in their squad! (The outfield players took turns in goals as not one of the three keepers available to Carlisle could make it).

Next up were an ageing Inverness team, who again were beaten 10-1 by Carlisle, with the victors rarely getting out of first gear. A special mention must go to Coach/Super-sub Dave Barker, whose superb positional play and missile-like shooting meant he walked away from the game with two goals.

After breezing through the first two games, Carlisle knew they would have to step it up if they were to win the second two. Edinburgh University (last year’s victors) were Carlisle’s third opponents of the weekend, and were beaten 4-2 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score line would suggest, with Carlisle playing some good polo on their way to a straight forward win.

The final opponents of the group stage were Leeds. This game was especially interesting, not only because the winner would progress to the final, but because Leeds are now in Carlisle’s division in the British Water Polo League, after Carlisle were promoted to Division 3 last year. After a close match and some poor refereeing, the game finished tied at 2-2. Unfortunately however, Leeds progressed over Carlisle on the Goals Scored Rule (They’d scored 5 more goals than us). A mention in this game must go to Matt Little, who performed superbly in goal and made some crucial stops.

Carlisle’s top scorers for the tournament were Dan Barker and Scott Sharpe, both tied on 7 goals.

Despite a disappointing end to the tournament, the Carlisle squad enjoyed both the tournament and the get together/night out afterwards, and hope to be invited back up next year!

Carlisle Squad: Daniel Barker, Dave Barker (Coach/Beast), Matthew Little, Myles Little, Brett Sharpe, Scott Sharpe and Jamie Warwick.

Carlisle Aquatics - Masters Report

Masters competitions started in January with Judy Hattle and Graham Pearson, who aged up into a new age category, travelling to Blackpool for the Lancashire Meet. In the 60-64 years age group Graham broke the British record for the 200 breaststroke in 2.50.83 narrowly missing the European record – by 0.01 of a second. He then went on to break the 100 breaststroke record in 1.19.26. He followed this later in the month by travelling to Crawley where he broke the 50 and 200 long course records.

In February 4 swimmers Myles Little, Paul Gibson, Graham Pearson and Judy Hattle made the journey to the Silver City Blues Swim Meet in Aberdeen. Myles came first in 4 events and added a second and third. Paul won his 100 back crawl and was second in 3 other events.  In the 50 breaststroke Graham, despite a false start and a lane rope breaking, managed to finish in a time of 35.25 which was a new British record. He also lowered his 100 to 1.17.74. The journey home was interesting due to a rather large fall of snow during the afternoon!

Also in February at the North West Region long distance meet Judy Hattle broke the European record for the 400 Individual Medley and then followed that up with a trip to Swansea in March where she broke the long course European records for 200 butterfly and 400 Individual medley.

A group of 12 Carlisle Aquatics swimmers made the trip to Darlington on the 25th March 2012 to swim in their annual meet. It was good to see a mixture of ages and some competitive swimming amongst the Carlisle swimmers as much as against their opposition!

Making a come back after some time out, following a hip replacement, Pat Johnson competed in eight events winning and making Cumbrian records in all of them! A further 4 Cumbrian records were set by Alan Young (25-29) and Paul Gibson (45-49) in the 200 freestyle and Myles Little (40-44) in the 50 butterfly and 200 freestyle.
The event of the day from a spectator’s point of view was the Men’s 100 free where Carlisle Aquatics had two swimmers in different age groups in the same heat. – Alan Young and Myles Little. Myles came out the winner of the three narrowly missing breaking the minute.
Steve Foster had a very successful meet with 4 gold’s which could have been five if his goggles had not fallen off at the start of the 100 free! It happens to us all! Also competing were Vanessa Foster(3rd 50 F/s), Dave Carruthers (3rd 100 Br/s) and Johnathon Hewitt (3rd 50 and 100 Br/s).

The Scottish Masters Championships were held at Scotstoun this year and as usual the Saturday was finished off by a Ceildh at Glasgow University Student Union. Three swimmers attended -  Amanda Atkinson ( 1st 200 back and 2nd in 400 Individual Medley), Judy Hattle and Graham Pearson.

At the British Masters Long Course Championships in Sheffield 4-6th May 2012 Graham Pearson broke the British record for the 100 Breaststroke in a time of 1.20.43. He competed in 5 events winning 4 of his 5 events. Judy Hattle had a good meet, competing in 6 events she won them all and broke her existing European records for the 100 and 200 butterfly, equalled her British record in the 50 butterfly and broke the British record for the 200 Individual Medley.

Judy Hattle

North West Regional Championships - Manchester 5/6th May 2012

Carlisle Aquatics was represented by Matt Nicholson and Jack Barker and both made finals.

Matt came second in the 50m and 100m breaststroke with times of 30.35 and 1.05.97 and Jack came third with 30.46 and 1.07.25 both personal best times.

Jack also made the final of the 200m breaststroke coming second in a time of 2.30.89 and sixth in the final of the 50m freestyle.

Well done to both.

Carlisle Aquatic swimmer Ella Cooper-Holmes success at the CP Sport National Swimming Championships

Carlisle Aquatic swimmer Ella travelled to Nottingham to take part in CP Sport National Swimming Championships where she joined up with team mates from the North West Swim Disability Squad who also have cerebral palsy. Coral, Megan, Samm (NW Team) and Samantha and Jeannie who are also from Cumbria. There were 41 competitors at this 10 years and over event from all over the UK and it is the first time that Ella had been to this event and an event solely for participants with cerebral palsy.

Ella competed in five events and came home with medals for four and new personal best times too. S7 50m freestyle, SB6 100m breaststroke a new PB (3.10.03) and a Gold medal, SB6 50m breaststroke a new PB (1.26.07) and a Gold medal, S7 100m backstroke (3.04.96) and a Silver medal, S7 100m freestyle (2.26.86) and a Bronze medal.

Ella, Samantha and Jeannie also took part in the Swimathon weekend at Morton Pool, Carlisle on Saturday and invited other children and young people with disabilities and additional needs to join them. All the swimmers did amazingly well, Jeannie completed 5k, Samantha and Ella completed 2k each and Olivia swam a mile, whilst the youngest swimmer Connor amazed his Mum by swimming 120metres (his Mum thought he would swim 20m!).

Well done to all swimmers!

Click here to see photograph from the Cumberland News.

Tindall family fundraising

At the recent Cumbrian Age Groups, held in Carlisle, Theo Tindall raised an astounding £90 for the club funds with his "Pick A Number" card. His parents, Alison and Geoff Tindall, then went on to raise a further £40 from the sale of books at this event.

The committee, on behalf of the club, would like to thank the Tindalls for all their hard work in raising funds, which in essence will help drive our club forward.

Scottish National Age Groups 2012

This year the Scottish National Age Groups were held at Sunderland as their normal venue Tolcross is being extended to include a second spectator area and a 50m warm up pool in readiness for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Carlisle Aquatics was represented by five swimmers Jack Barker, Laura Davison, Sophie Dodd, Ben Leighton and Lucy Wilson.

The most successful was Laura, who in the 200m Butterfly, was one of a trio that pulled away from the rest of the field at the half way mark to finish in third place in a time of 2:33.26. In the 100m Butterfly Laura’s trademark fast second half to a race saw her again a Bronze Medal in a time of 1:10.03.

Jack swam in the 100m & 200m Breaststroke and 50m Freestyle, reaching the final in all three events. In the 50m Free he was placed in Bronze medal position in a time of 24.49s.  In the 100m Breaststroke he was placed 6th in a time of 1:07.28 a new PB. This event was won by Ross Murdoch (1:02.65), who is placed in the fastest 16 in the world, but did not reach the final of the Olympic Trials as he was disqualified in the heats. In the 200m Breaststroke, Jack was placed 7th in a time of 2:28.58. The winning time being 2:19.45.

Ben, in his first National event, swam the 200m Butterfly in a time of 2:42.27 being placed 16th.

Lucy, again in her first National event, swam the 200m Breaststroke in a time of 3:02.55, being placed 15th.

Sophie was the only Scot in the group swimming the 400m freestyle. She not only managed a 400m PB of 5:02.57 (14th), but also managed long course PBs for the 100m (1:11.18) and 200m (2:28.72) on the way through her swim.

All of the above should be congratulated on their performance and I hope that the experience of competing at a high level meet has enthused them to strive for greater success in the future.

Ella at the EFDS National Junior and Youth Disability Swimming Championships

Carlisle Aquatic Swimmer Ella Cooper-Holmes travelled to Ponds Forge, Sheffield to join up with the North West Disability Swim Squad who were taking part in the EFDS National Junior and Youth Disability Swimming Championships for disabled swimmers aged 10-18 years.

Over 200 competitors came from all over the UK to showcase their talent. At just 11 years, this was the second time competing in the Girls 10-13 years age group. Standards as always were very high with 2012 Paralympic qualifiers such as Ellie Simmonds competing for their Regions. There were British, European and even one world record was broken.

Ella achieved three personal bests in her 50m freestyle(S7), 50m backstroke(S7) and 50m breaststroke(SB6) and won a bronze medal for her 50m breaststroke. In her age group there was only one or two other competitors, so due to the -1 rule she sadly didn't receive medals for her other races but sits in third position in the country for her times at this National Event.

Well done to Ella and all her other Cumbrian team mates who form part of the North West Disability Squad - you did Cumbria proud!

Carnegie Leisure Centre Reopening Gala - Saturday 25 February 2012

The official opening of the refurbished Carnegie Leisure Centre took place over the weekend of 24, 25 and 26 February 2012. As part of the official launch, Fife Council and Fife sport and leisure trust asked the local clubs (Carnegie and Dunfermline Amateurs) to run a gala which would take place on the 25th. The competition included novice & masters’ events with the main core being a team competition – with each team comprising of 4 swimmers, 2 male and 2 female spread across two age groups. The idea was that each swimmer would compete in all 4 strokes, plus IM. This gala was on an invitation only basis and involved clubs from Kinross, Warrender, Dunfermline, Glenrothes, Kelso, Step Rock, Carnegie, Cupar, Dundee City, Durham, Carlisle and even Dunfermline’s Twin Town Wilhelmshaven.

From Carlisle Aquatics, 4 swimmers travelled up – Dan Tait (12-13 year boys category), Sophie Dodd (12-13 year girls category), Zara McKnight (14-17 year girls category) and Andrew Mullins (14-17 year boys category). All four swimmers achieved personal best times on some of their races, and showed great team spirit in supporting each other. Both Zara and Andrew were swimming up their usual age category and we were all extremely proud of their swims. The swimmers had a really good time, and enjoyed the experience. A prize was awarded to best swim for each female and male in the above age categories, and Sophie won a kindle for her determination on her Individual Medley, by pulling the race back from her fly to finishing first in the heat. The best team cup was awarded to our 4 swimmers, and we have been invited back to retain our title.

A warm welcome was extended to our swimmers, poolside helpers and swimmers parents. Each swimmer was awarded a memento for attending the gala which was hosted by Councillor Joe Rosiejak. After the gala, a buffet was provided for all followed by a presentation.

All in all it was a good day had by all, and many thanks to Carnegie & Dunfermline for their hospitality and friendship.

2012 Inter Regional Academy Girls Water Polo Championships

After 3 weekends of training and selection at Manchester, Liverpool and Lancaster, Becky & Sarah Lightowler, Rebecca Harby and Emilie Wardhaugh from Carlisle Aquatics were selected to play Water Polo for the North West in the 2012 Inter Regional Academy Girls Water Polo Championships on 11-12 February at Walsall Gala Baths.

The North West entered two teams into the competition with Sarah and Rebecca in the A Team with Rebecca as keeper and Becky and Emily in team B.

After beating East Midlands 18 – 2, Scotland 12 – 2 and London 9 – 8, North West A went through as the winner of their group.

North West B came second in group A after a good win against Ireland 5 – 0 which included Becky scoring her first regional goal, a close defeat by South East 5 – 7 and a 16 – 1 win over Wales.

These results created a semi-final between North West A and B. It was a close game and Becky scored her 2nd regional goal to help the North West B beat the A team by 8-6.

North West A then came up against London for the third place play off and after a close game the day before, North West A proved they were the better team by winning 9-4 and claiming 3rd place.

The final between North West B and South East was a return match from the day before which was the only game North West B lost. North West B were determined not to lose again and went on to a 10 – 6 victory.

Kendal v Carlisle Aquatics - Sunday 19th February 2012

Sunday 19th February saw the first outing of Carlisle Aquatics Junior Water Polo Squad since the new club’s formation in January 2012. The team travelled away to Kendal for an 8pm ‘kick off’.

After a rather shaky start i.e. Carlisle were down 5 – 0 after the first quarter, the Aquatics team rallied together and the Lightowler sisters produced the first 5 goals between them. Their Dad commented that he wished they would collaborate as well at home! Both teams played well and the scores were evenly matched throughout. Carlisle took the lead in the second quarter and retained it until the final whistle blew at 9pm. Final score was Kendal 7 Carlisle 12. Goal scorers for Carlisle were Becky Lightowler, Sarah Lightowler, Robbie Harris, Sam Abba, Kieran Harrison, Andy Robinson, Callum Evans and Alex Armstong.

The Carlisle team consisted of the following:
Kieran Harrison, Andy Robinson, Sam Routledge, Robbie Harris, Becky Lightowler, Sam Abba, Bryony Whitehead, Natasha Hall, Lucy Wright, Oliver Bellingham, Callum Evans, Alex Armstrong, and Sarah Lightowler.

Anyone interested in having a go at water polo can contact Andy Little at polo@carlisleaquatics.co.uk