News Archives 2008

15th November 2008 - Annual Club Championships Results 2008 – Press Release

The 2008 Daventry Dolphins swimming club age group championships were held at the Daventry Leisure Centre last weekend, one of the highlights of the year.

Swimmers were swimming to win points, 6 points for 1st place down to 1 point for 6th place, with the swimmer who won the most points in each age group being the overall age group winner. In the event of a tie on points, the number of higher placings is considered.

There were some fine performances from the swimmers. 115 Personal best times were recorded out of 156 swims. 1 Club record was broken.

The results were as follows:

8/under boys - all events not contested

8/under girls:

Overall – 1st Emily Smith-Williams 24pts, 2nd Grace Dimmock 15pts

9/10 yrs boys:

Overall – 1st Joseph Iacovides 21 pts, 2nd Jack Bond 18 points, 3rd Harry Dimmock 17 pts

9/10 yrs girls:

Overall – 1st Emma Bond 23 pts, 2nd Rachel Sullivan 16 pts, 3rd Alex Gibbons 16 pts

11/12 yrs boys:

Overall – 1st Joseph Coleman 20 pts, 2nd Mark Tanton 17pts, 3rd James Smith 14pts

11/12 yrs girls:

Overall – 1st Carey Davis 21 pts, 2nd Molly-May Allinson 20 pts, 3rd Sophie Iacovides 19 pts

13/14 yrs boys

Overall – 1st Joshua Sullivan 24 pts, 2nd Jeremy Galiszewski 18 pts, 3rd Harry Ballman 17pts

13/14 yrs girls

Overall – 1st Katie Holman 12 pts, 2nd Sarah Bennett 11 pts, 3rd kizzy Jugon 5 points

15 and over boys:

Overall – 1st Joshua Holman 23 pts, 2nd Jacob Mitchell 20 pts, 3rd Jonathan Partridge 13 pts

15 and over girls:

Open Age boys 200m Individual Medley:

Open Age girls 200m Individual Medley:

We would like to thank the following local businesses for a placing an advertisement in the Championship’s event program:

All championship competitors will receive a certificate of participation and the event winners will receive perpetual stroke trophies. Overall point’s winners will also receive trophies.

The presentation evening is to be advised.

A full round up of other awards will be submitted after the presentation event.

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Swimmers Successes In South Wales & National Swimming League Round 2

Recently six Daventry Dolphin’s swimmers (Emma Bond, Jack Bond, Joseph Iacovides, Sophie Iacovides, Joshua Sullivan and Rachel Sullivan) along with their parents and Coach Mitch Haines, travelled to Pontypool, Wales to take part in the Pontypool Open Meet.

Pontpool 2008 - thumbnailView larger image

There were eight sessions over the two days. 12 club records were broken and 30 Personal Best times were set.

In all events, except the 200 metre races, the six fastest competitors went through to the final.

The results were as follows:

Overall the Daventry Dolphins finished 8th out of 11 clubs – with just six swimmers!!

Coach Mitch Haines said, “To finish 8th out of 11 clubs with only six swimmers was a fantastic achievement. All the children swam hard and pushed themselves to perform at the top of their game. The weekend was a great success, and helped remind them of the reasons they put in the training hours, but also gave them the rewards they deserved. Results like this provide great motivation for all members of the club.”


On Saturday 8th November a team of Daventry Dolphin's Swimmers travelled to Market Harborough to swim in the second round of the National Speedo League.

15 Personal best times were achieved.

1st places went to 11 year old Carey Davies in the 50m 9-11 year old girls backstroke and 13 year old Zoe Gidden of Northampton in the Open age 100m freestyle, individual medley and breast stroke.

The team came 6th overall out of 6 teams.

However, they hope to achieve a higher finishing place when they swim in the final round on the 13th December.

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Press report from the Daventry Dolphins / Soll swimming Development Gala

Daventry Dolphins had many of its younger and inexperienced swimmers competing at the inaugural Soll Daventry Leisure Centre Swimming Development Gala which also involved swimmers from the Soll Swim School and Northampton Swimming Club. The purpose of the Gala was to introduce the younger and inexperienced swimmers to the world of competitive swimming and to try and replicate the conditions of major competitions. The Gala was overseen by Nationally qualified Referee Mr Gerald Battams from Northampton swimming Club and technical officials (starter / time-keepers and judges) were from both Daventry Dolphins SC and Northampton SC. There were of course some more experienced swimmers from Daventry Dolphins competing who used the event to attain qualifying times for the 2009 NASA County Championships which are to be held at the Daventry Leisure Centre in March 2009.

It is hoped that Soll and the Daventry Dolphins will have future collaborations in hosting Development Gala Competitions. The standard of the swimmers performances were of a very high standard which resulted in very few technical disqualifications. The spectator gallery was packed and the audience was extremely vocal in the support of the swimmers giving them plenty of encouragement. Ultimately it is hoped that the Soll swimmers will want to swim competitively and that is where the club can offer expertise.

SOLL DDSC Gala - thumbnailView larger image

All gold / silver and bronze medal results reported are Dolphins Swimmers unless indicated (Soll).

The competing age categories were: A: 9yrs and under / B: 10 to 11yrs / C: 12 to 13yrs / D: 14+ years

For the Dolphins there were 86 personal best times recorded.

There were also 7 club records broken and a ‘bench mark’ time set

Events 1 & 2 / 25m free

Boys Girls
A: Rhys Hopkins (Soll) /Silver A: Ellie Davies / Gold
B: Billy Davidson / Bronze A: Grace Cadd(Soll) /Silver
B: Ellie Scullion / Gold

Events 3 & 4 / 25m breast

Boys Girls
A: Rhys Hopkins (Soll) / silver A: Emily Smith –Williams / gold
B: Callum Ballantyne (Soll) / Gold A:Kate Other / Silver
B: Jason Wilson (Soll) / Silver A: Ellie Davies / bronze
B: Ellie Scullion / gold

Events 5 & 6 / 25m butterfly

Boys Girls
A: Rhys Hopkins (Soll) / Gold A: Grace Cadd (Soll) / Gold
B:Alex Shurety / Silver A: Kate Other / Bronze
B: Callum Ballantyne (Soll) / Bronze B: Ellie Scullion / gold

Events 7 & 8 / 25m backstroke

Boys Girls
A: Rhys Hopkins (Soll) / silver A: Ellie Davies / Gold
A: Grace Cadd (Soll) / bronze
B: Callum Ballantyne (Soll) / silver B: Ellie Scullion / gold

Events 9 & 10 50m freestyle

Boys Girls
A: Joseph Iacovides / Gold A: Annabel Smith / Gold
B: Jack Bond /silver B: Carey Davis / Silver
D: Joshua Sullivan / Gold C: Sophie Iacovides / Bronze
D: Luke Hickman / Silver D: Katie Holman / Silver

Events 11 & 12 / 200m butterfly

Boys Girls
B: Rachel Sullivan / gold

Events 13 & 14 / 50m backstroke

Boys Girls
B: Jack Bond / Gold A: Annabel Smith bronze
B: Sophie Iacovides Gold
B: Emma Bond bronze
C: Katie Holman Gold
D: Kizzy Jugon Gold

Events 15 & 16 200m breaststroke

Boys Girls
B: James Smith Gold B: Carey Davis gold
B: Josh Wilson Silver B: Megan Gunter (Soll) silver
C: Molly-May Allinson gold

Events 17 & 18 / 100m Individual medley

Boys Girls
A: Joseph Iacovides / gold B: Carey Davis / Gold
B: James Smith / Silver B: Sophie Iacovides / bronze
C: Molly-May Allinson /silver
D: Anna Bennett / silver

Events 19 & 20 / 200m freestyle

Boys Girls
D: Joshua Sullivan / Gold B: Carey Davis / Gold
C:Sarah Bennett / Bronze
D: Anna Bennett / Bronze

Events 21 & 22 / 50m breaststroke

Boys Girls
B: James Smith / Gold B: Frances Other / Silver
D: Luke Hickman / Gold B: Sarah Cliffe / bronze
C: Sarah Bennett /silver
C: Katie Holman / Bronze

Events 23 & 24 / 200m backstroke

Boys Girls
B: Jack Bond / silver B: Carey Davis / gold
D: Joshua Sullivan / Gold B: Sophie Iacovides / silver
D: Anna Bennett / gold

Events 25 & 26 / 50m butterfly

Boys Girls
B: James Smith / silver B: Carey Davis / gold
D: Joshua Holman / gold B: Emma Bond / bronze
D: Luke Hickman / silver C: Molly-May Allinson silver
D: Anna Bennett / silver

Events 27 & 28 / 200m individual medley

Boys Girls
A: Joseph Iacovides / Gold B: Carey Davis / gold
B: Jack Bond / silver B: Sophie Iacovides / silver
D: Joshua Holman / gold

Hopefully I have got the information correct and apologies if I have inadvertently omitted anyone.

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18th October 2008- Swimming news with the Daventry Dolphins

On Saturday 11th October 2008 the Dolphins travelled to Gainsborough, Lincolnshire for round 1 of 3 in the newly named National Swimming League (East Midlands) formerly known as the ‘Speedo League’. This is the main team competition for Clubs throughout England and Wales. The Dolphins compete in East Midlands Division 2.

This is a welcome return to this competition following the clubs decision a few years back to withdraw due to a lack of older girls. This year the team fielded 3 girl swimmers from Northampton SC (NSC) who have dual membership of both Clubs.

Result:

BONDS are good investments!

Jack Bond set a new pb & broke his own 10/u 50m backstroke record whilst twin sister Emma set a new pb and broke her own 10/u 100m butterfly record when swimming the 13/u event.

There was much to be pleased about, the 2 Club records (CR) broken and 17 individual personal best (pb) times recorded. Disappointingly there were 5 disqualifications for technical discrepancies but hopefully after more practice these problems will be rectified for the next round on Saturday 8th November.

Top 3 placings:

First places x 8

Second places x5

Third places x 13

Making their representative debuts for the Club were Ben Davis, Joshua Hutchinson, Zoe Giddon (NSC), Francesca Denton (NSC), Eleanor Fox (NSC) and Kizzy Jugon.

The other swimmers representing the club were: Joesph Iacovides / Sarah Bennett / Anna Bennett / Louise Cockroft / Shannon Edwards / Molly-May Allinson / Harry Ballmann / James Smith / Mark Tanton / Amber McMorrin / Jeremy Galiszewski and Michael Batson.

NEW HEAD COACH

This was also the first competition of the new season under the helm of new Coach Mitch Haines. After leaving school, Mitch trained as a lifeguard at Brackley Pool and it was there that he developed an interest in swim teaching. He took his ASA Teacher qualifications and taught there for 3 years before moving to Bournemouth University to study. He went to the local Bournemouth pool and got a job as a Swimming instructor at the Bournemouth Swim Academy. He has come to Northampton SC highly recommended by Mr Graham Bassi the current Head coach at Bournemouth Dolphins and former Coach to current Team GB Olympians Lizzie Simmonds and Kate Haywood when he was Head Coach at Lincoln Vulcans. Bassi, the Southern region swimming development officer and also an instructor / assessor recognised Mitch’s talents and soon enrolled him within the Bournemouth Dolphins Coaching setup where he has been learning his ‘trade’.

Mitch is currently on a work placement year from Bournemouth University where he is studying Sports Development and Coaching Sciences. He will be working for NSC as part of their community programme and will be part of their Teaching and coaching programme as well as coming to Daventry Dolphins to gain Coaching experience. It is anticipated that he will be here at Daventry for a minimum of 12 months. He will be mentored by Jacquie Marshall and Andrew Sharp.

Mitch has settled in well and has said that it has always been his ambition to work with talented athletes and expand his knowledge and establish himself as a Coach. He is very grateful for this opportunity to develop his coaching skills and is very much looking forward to working with the Dolphins current crop of youngsters as well as the Coaching Staff.

ANNUAL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

Swimmers (& parents) are reminded to complete and return the entry forms for the Annual Championships on Saturday 15th November 2008. Closing date is: Monday 10th November and not the 8th as previously advertised.

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4th October 2008- Poolside Helpers course October Half Term 2008

PLACES STILL AVAILABLE ON POOLSIDE HELPERS COURSE

WAENDEL LEISURE CENTRE

27TH OCTOBER

2-8PM

£60 (REGIONAL GRANT AID OF £20 AVAILABLE

BOOK NOW!!!!

Course Details

If you wish to attend please contact our club secretary as the club will help with funding the course costs.

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27th August 2008- Swimming news with the Daventry Dolphins

Club member Michael Batson aged 15 years, has recently attended the ASA Lane Helper Course at Milton Keynes and successfully passed. On this course, he learnt important skills needed to assist the Dolphins Coaching team, about Child Welfare, ethics and protocols of the sport. As soon as he is 16 years old he intends to train to become a Level 1 Teacher / coach.

The Daventry Dolphins Swimming Club encourages all members of the coaching staff to undergo and continue professional development training.

At present Club members are attending a Judge Level 1 course which when successfully completed will allow them to officiate at Regional and National levels of competition.

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2nd August 2008 - 15 New Club Records have been set

Over the past few weeks swimmers from the Daventry Dolphins have been action and have been swimming their way to 15 new Club Records with another 4 new benchmark times also being achieved. The benchmark times are for those events that have not previously had a time recorded for a particular age group.

At the Club Sprint Championships, Joseph Iacovides broke longstanding records in the 25m free 17.04 (previously set by Dan Smith in 1998) and 25m butterfly 19.96 (previously set by Wyndham Trusler in 2001).

Then in July he travelled down to Wales to compete at Torfaen Open Meet where he set 3 new benchmark times in the heats for:

Also at the DDSC sprint Championships 10yrs old Carey Davis broke records in the following events:

The Northampton Summer Swimming Festival was held at the Ken Marriott Centre at Rugby recently. This competition was aimed at swimmers who had not attained National Qualifying times and it attracted hundreds of swimmers from throughout the East Midlands Region as well as teams from further a field such as Borough of Stockton in the North East to Romford, Essex.

Daventry Dolphins were represented by the following swimmers with their results in event order. Top 3 placings in bold lettering.

32 personal best times were achieved,(indicated by (pb)

Age group B 10 yrs Carey Davis / Sophie Iacovides / Emma Bond / Rachel Sullivan / Jack Bond

Age group C 11 yrs Daniel Osborn

Age group F 14 yrs Joshua Sullivan

Age group G 15 yrs Jacob Mitchell

200m free

100m butterfly

50m back

200m Individual medley

100m back

50m butterfly

200m backstroke

100m breast stroke

50m freestyle

400m freestyle

200m butterfly

50m breast stroke

200m breaststroke

100m freestyle

100m individual medley

Club records set at the Summer Festival:

Carey Davis lowered her own 10/ under records in the:

Jack Bond broke the 10/unders 15 year record 50m backstroke record previously held by Adam ‘Beanie’ Kiziak by swimming a very controlled race recording an impressive time of 40.54.

Rachel Sullivan set a new benchmark time of 4.12.87 in the 10/under 200m butterfly.

Joshua Sullivan broke his own 14/unders 200m backstroke record when recording a time of 2.31.97 but more impressively lowered the 14 / under 200m freestyle record previously set by Luke Pearson in 2002 to 2.11.82

The Dolphins Coaching team were thrilled by these performances, all the hard work has paid off. During the summer holidays, the Dolphins squads will continue to practice, but the swimmers will not have a heavy distance programme. Rob Sharp will be working with the swimmers to improve their skills (starts / transitions into all strokes / turns & finishes / relay take-overs).

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20th July 2008 - Leicestershire Diddy League

The most recent competition was the Leicestershire Diddy League for swimmers aged 9-12years inclusive, with the Diddy Team travelling up the short distance to Hinckley for the 3rd and final round.

With a squad depleted because of a clash of events, the Dolphins were unable to field swimmers in 5 events thus losing out on precious gala and league points. However, the results were very encouraging for next seasons competition with 15 individual personal best times being recorded since the Club sprint championships the previous week. Well done to all the debutants.

Result

1st places

2nd places

3rd places

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4th July 2008 - Dolphins Annual Sprints & Presentation

The Daventry Dolphins Swimming Club Annual Age Group Sprint Championships were recently held at the Daventry Leisure Centre.

Results: Butterfly:

Backstroke:

Freestyle:

Breast stroke:

Open Age Group 100m Individual Medley

In the 10 and under girls Carey Davis had a clean sweep achieving maximum points

Also in the 14 and under boys Joshua Sullivan had a clean sweep again achieving maximum points.

Overall Age Group Winners:

Presentations took place on Sunday 29th June at the Methodist Church Hall.

President Lesley Sharp was on holiday for this event, but sent her best wishes and congratulations to all swimmers.

Shields were also presented for 400m freestyle event:

Medals were also presented to some swimmers who took part in the Northamptonshire County ASA Championship. Points were awarded for all events in each stroke and totalled:

Head Coach Belinda Smith and Chairman Dieter Sullivan made all of the presentations. All swimmers were presented with a certificate and medal for participating in the championships.

All swimmers were congratulated for their performances and their continued hard work and effort at training.

Picture of Swimmers at Annual Sprints Presentation

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24th June 2008 - Mike comes 4th in World Age group Triathlon Championships

Daventry triathlete Mike Smallwood recently returned from Vancouver the World Age group Triathlon Championships where he came 4th in the 60-64 age group. The event was marred by bad weather which for safety reasons resulted in the swim section being cancelled and being replaced with a 3km run. This was a setback for Mike in that the swim was his strongest discipline and running his weakest. After the first run he was in 5th place and at the end of the 40km bike section had moved into first place. The second 10km run was always going to be the most difficult but he was able to held on for a better than expected 4th place.

Mike is a member of Daventry Dolphins Swimming Club, Rugby Triathlon Club and Daventry Squash Club

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19th June 2008 - Amman Valley Sprint Open Meet press report

Sophie and Joseph Iacovides entered the Amman Valley Sprint Open Meet held at Llanelli, Wales recently.

Joseph at the age of 8 is not allowed to swim in Open competition in England until he has reached the age of 9 years, but in Wales the rules are different allowing children under 9 years to compete alongside older competitors.

Both Joseph and Sophie had very good swims resulting in personal best times being recorded and for Joseph, breaking 3 x 8 / under Daventry Dolphins club records along the way.

Joseph:

Sophie:

*We also need to report that Joseph broke the 400m freestyle record in a best time of 6.52.86 at the Swansea Valley Open meet in May, breaking his own benchmark time.

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8th June 2008 - Sadie Murray Gala press report

Daventry Dolphins Swimmers competed at the ‘C’ grade ‘Sadie Murray Gala’ at Wellingborough recently. This competition was aimed at novice swimmers or for swimmers not swimming their number one events. The events were time-banded and if the swimmer went faster than the optimum time, they scored no points for their team. The team was selected with swimmers closest to the event cut off time, thus if the swimmers were too fast that meant they had swum a personal best time. Coach and Team manager Lesley Sharp was really pleased with the Teams performance, lots of personal and season best times achieved.

Overall result:

Swimmers too fast and thus not scoring points were:

1st Places:

2nd place:

3rd places:

Mrs Sharp the 2008 /2009 Northamptonshire ASA County President, presented the victorious Wellingborough Team with the winners Shield, who then proudly did a lap of honour around the pool in front of the knowledgeable audience.

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16th May 2008 - Tulip Meet press report

Head Coach Belinda Smith led a small group of Daventry Dolphins Swimmers at the South Lincolnshire Swimming Club annual ‘Tulip Meet’ at Spalding. Many of the swimmers made finals and received trophies for their efforts. There were 33 personal best (pb) times set too, as well as 4 new Club records being set.

The 4 new club records were set by:

Jack Bond set new standards for the 10/unders 100m freestyle in a new time of 1.21.87, the former record stood at 1.22.45 set by Daniel Smith in March 2000 and smashed the 10/unders 100m backstroke in a new time of 1.26.55, the former record stood at 1.35.26 and was set by Naisan Dehghani in October 2001.

Twin sister Emma Bond, set a new standard for the girls 10/unders 100m butterfly in a new time of 1.42.52, the previous record of 1.47.35 held by Lucy Hammond has stood since 1991.

Carey Davis saw off another of Lucy Hammonds’ records, the girls’ 10/unders 100m backstroke by setting a new standard of 1.28.13, the previous record stood at 1.32.46, also set in 1991.

The former record holders all swam to high regional and National standards, so the new record holders should draw great confidence from their performances as they aspire to the greater challenges ahead of them.

Individual results:

Joshua Sullivan 13yrs 2nd place top 13yrs boy age group

Daniel Osborn 11/under yrs 7th place in Top 11yr old boy age group

Jack Bond 10yrs 10th place in Top 10yrs boy age group

Emma Bond 10yrs =10th place in 10yrs top girl

Carey Davis 10yrs =10th place in 10yrs top girl

Sophie Iacovides 10yrs

Rachel Sullivan

Jacob Mitchell 14yrs age group. 9th place in top 14yrs age group

Picture of Rubgy April 2008 swimmers

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2nd May 2008 - NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

A team of 10 Daventry Dolphins Swimmers entered the Rugby Swimming Club Open Meet held at the Ken Marriott pool at Rugby recently and competed in events of all distances and strokes during the 2 days of competition.

In brief:

14 medals were won, 6 club records were broken and 1 bench mark time set.

The team finished in 3rd place overall (out of 38 clubs) in the Top club competition.

6 Club records were broken and 10yr old Carey Davis also sent a bench mark time for the 10yrs / under 400m Individual medley. Club records in bold lettering.

Swimmers Results and placings:

Carey Davis10 yrs 6 personal best times

Daventry Dolphins Club records 10yrs /under

Joshua Sullivan 13/14 years 8 personal best times

2nd places- x 5

Michael Batson 15/over 2 personal best times

Jack Bond 10 years 6 personal best times

Emma Bond 10years 7 personal best times

Sophie Iacovides 10years 2 personal best times

Daniel Osborn 11years 5pbs

Jonathan Partridge 15yrs / over

2nd places

James Smith 11yrs 4 personal best times

Rachel Sullivan 10 yrs 5 personal best times

Head coach Belinda Smith said “I am very pleased with these performances, it shows that the swimmers are going in the right direction and that all their hard work in training is paying off”

Joseph Iacovides aged 8yrs, entered the City of Bangor ‘Diddy Gala’ and competed in 5 events. (Swimmers as young as 8 years old are allowed to compete in open competition in Wales)

More competitions during the month of May include the Tulip meet at Spalding over the May Day weekend, a Lesicester Diddy League junior gala, a development gala and an all ages Team gala at Wellingborough Pool.

Below: Swimmers of the successful Daventry Dolphins Swim Team that competed at Rugby recently

Picture of Rubgy April 2008 swimmers

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19th April 2008 - Club records from NASA County Championships

Daventry Dolphins Swimming Club have now ratified the times from the Northamptonshire Amateur Swimming Association County Swimming Championships and can confirm that new Club records have been set by the following swimmers.

Carey Davis aged 10yrs broke 4 records

200m Individual medley 3.22.81 / 200m freestyle 2.50.19 / 200m back 3.10.43 / 400m freestyle 5.59.17

Joshua Sullivan 800m freestyle 14yrs/u 10.07.09

Jack Bond aged 10yrs 200m backstroke 3.15.84

Daniel Osborn aged 10yrs broke 2 records 200m freestyle 2.51.48 and 200m backstroke 3.11.00

(Jack Bond broke the 10/u 200m backstroke record in a time of 3.15.84 only for Daniel Osborn to take it from him 5 minutes later in a time of 3.11.00)

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24th Mar 2008 - 2008 Northamptonshire Amateur Swimming Association (NASA) County Age Group Swimming Championships

The NASA County Ages Group Swimming Championships were held at the Daventry Leisure Centre Pool on the 7th / 8th and 15th / 16th March 2008 with more than 275 County Clubs’ swimmers qualifying for this prestigious event.

The swimmers score points for each event they swim correctly, the faster they swim the points they accumulate, and then the best points scored from the following categories (best 50m / best medley / best distance / best form stroke) are calculated to determine an overall winner. All ages are now ‘age on day of competition’.

Daventry Dolphins had swimmers qualify for this event and their overall Age group positions are shown below: TOP SIX HIGHLIGHTED

10yrs GIRLS10yrs BOYS
7TH Carey Davis 1310 points5th Daniel Osborn 916 points
20th Sophie Iacovides 549 points8th Jack Bond 793 points
21st Emma Bond 545 points16th Joseph Coleman 271 points
26th Rachel Sullivan 232 points
12yrs GIRLS13yrs BOYS
21st Amber McMorrin 3664th Joshua Sullivan 2414 points
22nd Katie Holman 349 points
14yrs GIRLS14yrs BOYS
11th Amy Roberts 2282 points12th Jacob Mitchell 855 points
15yrs Boys16yrs BOYS
2nd George Barnes 2538 points12th Joseph Barlow 382 points
5th Joshua Holman 1995 points
17+ yrs Boys
14th Luke Hickman 1972 points
15th Jonathan Partridge 1483 points

Head Coach Belinda Smith was delighted with the performances with all swimmers achieving personal best times. All the hard work that the swimmers have been putting in during training throughout the season so far has paid off with great effect.

George Barnes has achieved the qualifying standard to enter the ASA Midland Regional Youth Championships to be held at the Coventry Sports Centre on 3rd / 4th May 2008.

Swimmers will have another chance to qualify for the 2008 Midlands Regional age group championships in June when they compete at the Rugby Open Meet in April. Qualifying times have to be achieved by 13th May.

Councillor Annette Dunn representing the Daventry District Council and Mrs Rose Sutherland past President of Daventry Dolphins were the Guests of Honour of NASA County President Mrs Lesley Sharp for the final session of competition. Before the final session of competition got under way, the event Officials were presented to the Guests. Sophie Iacovides of Daventry Dolphins SC helped to present the Guests with floral decorations as a memento of their visit. At the end of the Championships, Councillor Dunn and Mrs Sutherland helped to present the Overall Top six Age group category winners with their trophies.

The full set of results from the 2008 Northamptonshire Amateur Swimming Association (NASA) County Age groups swimming Championships can viewed on the NASA website: www.northants-asa.org

DAVENTRY DOLPHINS COUNTY RESULTS 2008 IN EVENT ORDER TOP SIX IN BOLD LETTERING

The competition was for swimmers aged 9yrs and above with the following codes for Age bands:

A=9yrs B=10yrs etc…. through to Age Group I for swimmers age 17yrs+

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16th Mar 2008 - Club changes swimming leagues

Daventry Dolphins have now entered both the Leicester Diddy League and the Speedo League for 2008 and resigned from the Milton Keynes Junior League. Further details will follow in due course.

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16th Mar 2008 - Records broken at Llanelli open meet

Joseph Iacovides has broken the following club records at the Llanelli Open meet for the 8 and under age group

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3rd Mar 2008 - Melton Mowbray Graded Open Meet February 2008

Eleven Daventry Dolphins swimmers entered the Melton Mowbray B /C graded open meet recently and came away with medals and 25 personal best times between them. Head coach Belinda Smith was really pleased with the swimmers performances in this event which was used as a warm up event for next weekends County Championships.

Boys 10/11yrs age group,

Boys 12/13yrs age group:

Boys 14 /15yrs

Girls 10 /11yrs age group

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3rd Mar 2008 - Northamptonshire Amateur Swimming Association (NASA) County Junior Development Day

Swimmers and Coaches from Daventry Dolphins and other Northamptonshire County affiliated Clubs were nominated to attend the Northamptonshire Amateur Swimming Association Junior development day on Saturday 23rd February 2008 at Duston School Pool. The poolside course was led by Northampton SC Director of Swimming & GB International coach, Mark Perry and Northampton Swimming Clubs Head Coach and GB Talent Coach Jacquie Marshall. NSCs Assistant Coach Andrew Sharp led the children through a series of land based warm up exercises, strength conditioning and stretching exercises. Coaches from the County Clubs acted as poolside assistants. Parents were invited to attend this session to watch their children put through their paces.

The syllabus for the swimmers during the development afternoon included learning about:

Representing the Dolphins Coaching staff were;

All the swimmers had to be born in 1997 /1998 / 1999 to take part in this event. Representing the Daventry Dolphins were:

Mrs Sarah Greasley of South Northants Swimming Club was introduced to everyone as the new Northamptonshire Swimming Development coach. She will be based from Northampton Swimming Club and will be visiting all the County affiliated clubs to talent spot and liaise between them and Northampton, which is the County performance club to further develop the swimmers talents. She will take up her post with effect of 17th March 2008, following the NASA County Championships.

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11th Feb 2008 - Wilkinson Sword Diddy Gala

The Daventry Dolphins Diddy Team travelled to Wellingborough Pool for the annual Wilkinson Sword Trophy Gala for swimmers aged 9/unders, 10/unders and 11/unders. This year the County welcomed the South Northants Swimming Club (SNSC) to the competition for the first time. With 7 teams competing in a 6 lane pool, this meant that the organisers had to split the competition into 2 heats of each even (36 events x 2), with the top 3 clubs from last years event seeded in heat 2 and the 4 remaining clubs in heat 1.

7 points were awarded for 1st place down to 1 point for 7th place.

The spectators were shown a glimpse of future stardom by the talented swimmers from all the clubs involved and there was great excitement from the supporters. As expected, Northampton led from the start closely followed by Wellingborough and Kettering, but it was nip and tuck all the way for the Teams vying for 4th place.

After 15 events the points scores were:

After 26 events the points scores were:

Final result:

Position Team Points
1st Northampton 245
2nd Wellingborough 168
3rd Kettering 156
4th Daventry Dolphins 109
5th South Northants 101
Rushden 101
7th Corby 100

Northampton Swimming Club won the competition in convincing fashion and it was close between Wellingborough and Kettering for 2nd place, but it was an incredibly tight finish for the teams at the lower end, with only 9 points separating 4th to 7th place, one of the closest results in the competitions history.

Mrs Lesley Sharp the 2008 County President presented the ‘Wilkinson Sword’ to the victorious Northampton Team and the ‘runners up’ trophy to Wellingborough. Both teams paraded their trophies around the pool to the delight of their supporters.

For the Daventry Dolphins swimmers, out of 24 individual events, 19 personal best times were recorded, which bodes well for those age group swimmers who have qualified for the forthcoming County Swimming Championships to be held at Daventry Leisure Centre pool next month.

Daventry Dolphins swimmers who achieved top 3 placings were:

2nd places:

3rd places:

Representing the Dolphins Team were:

Boys Girls
Joseph Iacovides Alex Gibbons
Jack Bond Carey Davis
Alistair Gardner Amber McMorrin
Alex Shurety Jessica Powell
Josh Wilson Emily Smith-Williams
Tom Jolley Annabel Smith
Daniel Osborn Shannon Edwards
James Smith Georgia Barlow
Joseph Coleman Ellie Scullion
Sophie Iacovides
Poppy Roberts

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3rd Feb 2008 - NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2008

DAVENTRY & DISTRICT SPORTS CLUB OF THE YEAR 2007

In November, the Club were nominated and short listed for the 2007 Daventry and District Club of the Year Award. At the presentation evening held at the Daventry Leisure Centre, it was announced that the Club had received the largest number of public votes to win the award. This was a huge surprise, so thanks go to everyone who voted for us. The Winners trophy is proudly displayed in the poolside trophy cabinet for all to see. We need to use this accolade as a stepping stone to future succes

SQUAD CHANGES

There have been some recent changes, notably the restructuring and name changes of the squads. They are as follows together with the names of the squad coaches:

You have already been informed of the details of session times, but if you have forgotten, you can go to the Training page of the Club website www.daventrydolphins.co.uk where you can access the information.

NO PHOTOGRAPHY POLICY

In December, members of the DDSC committee attended a Safeguarding and Protecting Children course, and as a result, those members made a recommendation to the full committee that there should be a blanket ban on poolside photography (including changing rooms). The Committee debated this subject at length and it was decided that a ban should be imposed with immediate effect. We realise how disappointed you must be that the Club has decided to take drastic action but the Club has acted in the best interests of the Children. In future, ALL presentations will be made away from poolside with a designated photographer being assigned to take photographic mementoes. A notice will be placed on the Club notice board, the website and at the admissions desk at Dolphins home competitions. This policy change reflects the policy of Soll Leisure who already prohibit the use of photography on poolside and changing rooms. The Daventry Dolphins confirm their support of the Daventry Leisure Centre Management in prohibiting photography of any sort. This applies to the Daventry Leisure Centre Pool, other venues that the club may attend may have their own policies on this subject.

The Club from time to time may wish photographs be taken by the press for publicity shoots and will always ask that parents sign a permission form before doing so.

ADMISSION TO GALAS

At a recent home competition there were queries by spectators made to the admissions desk staff about not knowing that they had to pay to gain admission. To explain:

When the Club host a competition, there is an admission charge which helps to cover pool hire and administration costs. Currently the charge for spectators is £2 per adult which includes an events programme and raffle tickets. Concessions are made for OAPs but there is no charge for children under 16 provided they are accompanied by an adult. In future, there will be an admissions notice clearly displayed.

CLUB KIT

The old style T-bag t-shirts are now discontinued from sale as the new style kit is introduced. Please contact committee member Steve Bond if you would like an order form or download an order form from the website. Polo t-shirts, jackets, zipped hoodies, gym sacs and holdalls are also available in both children's and adult sizes. The old style shirts may still be worn at competitions.

FUNDRAISING

Tesco Vouchers: Thank you to everyone who donated Tesco vouchers to the Club. A massive 2362 were collected. The order form together with the vouchers has been sent off and hopefully we will receive the goods in the next few weeks. An order has been placed for the following items;

If anyone has any Tesco vouchers hiding in their kitchen drawers handbags… you can still donate them, as the club can bank them for next years Sports promotion. We need any spare vouchers by the 3rd March 2008 please.

In December, Lesley Sharp hosted a Chocolate Party and with the commission money raised, 2 x 2kg medicine balls have been purchased at a cost of £30. These will be used for land training purposes.

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS – VERY WELL DONE

Head Coach Belinda Smith is extremely pleased as 24 of the Dolphins have reached the qualifying standard to enter the 2008 Northamptonshire Amateur Swimming Association County Age Groups Swimming Championships which are being held in Daventry at the Daventry Leisure Centre 8th / 9th & 15th /16th March 2008.

Those swimmers are: Sophie Iacovides / Amy Roberts / Carey Davis / Daniel Osborn / Emma Bond / Jack Bond / George Barnes / James Smith / Joe Harris / Jonathan Partridge / Joseph Coleman / Joshua Holman / Joshua Sullivan / Katie Holman / Luke Hickman / Naisan Dehghani / Poppy Roberts / Rawnie Parsons-Lock / Saffa Dehghani / Rachel Sullivan / Joseph Barlow / Jacob Mitchell / Naomi Sutcliffe-Cugini and Scott Martin.

HONOUR

In November 2007, Lesley Sharp, Bronze / Silver Squad coach / Welfare officer and current Daventry Dolphins President was honoured by the Northamptonshire Amateur Swimming Association (NASA) by being invited to be their President. She will hold this term of office for 2 years and will be representing the County in an ambassadorial role.

Melanie Hickman is the County Championships Competition Secretary and sits on the NASA executive committee. Richard Hickman represents the Dolphins at NASA County and competition League Meetings.

EVENTS

The latest Team gala was the Wilkinson Sword Diddy Gala held at the Wellingborough Pool on Sunday 3rd February 2008. This competition is for 9/unders, 10/unders and 11/unders. This year, 7 County Clubs entered. It is one of the most noisiest and exciting competitions to go to. RESULTS AND REPORT TO FOLLOW

ANY QUESTIONS?

Members, swimmers and parents are reminded that if you have any questions regarding the Club, you are welcome to speak to any of the Club officers or committee members who will do their best to help you. If it is a swimming related question that needs to be answered by a squad coach, we respectfully ask that you wait until the end of the session or email the squad coach who will respond to you. Details of squad coaches contact details: Belinda Smith, Melanie Hickman and Lesley Sharp are on the Club website.

SWIMMERS You have 2 swimmers representatives on the Committee, they are Michael Batson and Elizabeth Street and they can be contacted on: swimrep@ddsc.co.uk They represent YOU. Any problems? They can speak and raise issues on your behalf.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE WEBSITE?

Brett Batson who maintains and regularly inputs all the information sent to him, would like to know your views. Please contact him as below: Website - Mr Brett Batson - website@ddsc.co.uk

Hope you have enjoyed this latest update on what’s been happening at the Club, the next few months are going to be busy and exciting for swimmers and Club officials, we’ll keep you informed via emails and the website.

Lesley Sharp / Club President on behalf of the Daventry Dolphins Committee

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21st Jan 2008 - Daventry Dolphins January 2008 Swimming Report

The Daventry Dolphins Swimming Club hosted a junior development competition for all ages at the Daventry Leisure Centre at the weekend. 66 swimmers from Daventry Dolphins, Northampton and Spinney Hill Swimming Clubs took part in this event. The Club were thrilled that senior County officials were on hand to Officiate at this event which was used as a ‘last qualifying’ opportunity for this years county Championships.

Out of 214 swims 79 were personal best times. There were a few disqualifications for breaches of technical rules but the swimmers will learn from their mistakes.

Head Coach Belinda Smith is extremely pleased as 24 of the Dolphins have reached the qualifying standard to enter the 2008 Northamptonshire Amateur Swimming Association County Age Groups Swimming Championships which are being held in Daventry at the Daventry Leisure Centre in March.

Those swimmers are: Sophie Iacovides / Amy Roberts / Carey Davis / Daniel Osborn / Emma Bond / Jack Bond / George Barnes / James Smith / Joe Harris / Jonathan Partridge / Joseph Coleman / Joshua Holman / Joshua Sullivan / Katie Holman / Luke Hickman / Naisan Dehghani / Poppy Roberts / Rawnie Parsons-Lock / Saffa Dehghani / Scott Martin / Jacob Mitchell / Rachel Sullivan / Joseph Barlow & Naomi Sutcliffe-Cugini..

During a break in the proceeding, Certificates were presented to the following swimmers for setting new records for the 400m freestyle in their age groups:

Joshua Sullivan was presented with a certificate to acknowledge his achievement of setting a new Boys 14/under 800m freestyle record of 11mins 03.13

Together with the 2008 / 2009 NASA County President Lesley Sharp, former County President Kathy Timbs presented swimmers with their 400m freestyle results Certificates. The results were as follows:

12 & under boys:

12 & under girls;

13-15 years boys:

13-15yrs girls: not contested

16 & over boys:

The Club would like to thank the following for donating prizes for the fundraising raffle:

Phill Moses of J D Wetherspoon Daventry / Costa Coffee / Soll Leisure Daventry / McDonalds / Virgin Active Northampton / Poppitts Daventry / Cannons Gym Northampton / Ten Pin bowling Northampton

The new style Club kit was also on display for members to buy or to order. The new kit includes holdalls, polo t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, gym sacs and College style jackets, all with the Daventry Dolphins logo.

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