News Archives 2009

15th December 2009 - Daventry Dolphins News - Press Release

Daventry Dolphins swimmers have had a busy few weeks in the lead-up to Christmas, with galas both at Daventry and further afield.

Boldmere Level 2 Open Meet - 21st / 22nd November

Joseph Iacovides, Sophie Iacovides, Daniel Osborn, Joshua Sullivan and Rachel Sullivan, all of Daventry Dolphins, travelled to Boldmere to compete in a Level 2 Open Meet.

A number of personal best times were achieved as detailed below and the event was all the more memorable for 10 year-old Joseph Iacovides, who was delighted to have achieved his first ever regional qualifying time. He achieved this for his 200m freestyle, with a time of 02.42.78, knocking more than 6 seconds off his own 10/under Club Record, set in April of this year. Joseph will now be eligible to compete at the Midland Swimming Age Group Championships 2010 in the 10/under category.

Joshua Sullivan broke two Club Records: his 200m backstroke time of 02.23.47, took the Club Record from Adam Kiziak, held since 2000 with a time of 2.23.94. His 400m f/style time of 04.28.25 beat the Club Record time of 04.28.62 set by Luke Pearson in 2003. Joshua also gained 1st place in the 200m f/style; 2nd place in the 400m f/style, 200m backstroke and 100m backstroke and 3rd place in the 100m f/style, 200m Individual Medley and 50m f/style.

The following personal best times were also achieved by the swimmers:

Coventry Open Meet - 28th November

following weekend, the same group of swimmers travelled to Coventry in order to compete at the City of Coventry Open Meet. This was an exciting and valuable opportunity for those swimmers who had limited or no experience of competing in a 50m pool.

The following personal best times were achieved:

In addition, Sophie Iacovides was awarded a trophy for achieving 3rd place in the 12/under 100m fly event and Rachel Sullivan was awarded a 2nd place trophy in her 50m backstroke event and a 3rd place trophy for her 100m backstroke event in the 11/under age category.

City of Leicester Distance Meet - 5th/6th December

The following weekend, Joseph Iacovides, Sophie Iacovides, Daniel Osborn, Joshua Sullivan and Rachel Sullivan were accompanied by Daventry Dolphins Head Coach, Rob Sharp at the City of Leicester Distance Open Meet.

All swimmers achieved an impressive number of personal bests and Joseph Iacovides and Joshua Sullivan also celebrated having achieved regional qualifying times.

Joseph improved on his 200m freestyle time which he had achieved just a fortnight earlier, with a new time of 02.42.43 and gained qualifying times in the 200m backstroke event (03.02.35) and 200m Individual Medley event (03.05.83). He also took Club Records in three events, smashing Saffa Dehghani's 200m Individual Medley record time of 03.13.90, held since 1993).

Joshua gained two Midland Youth Championships qualifying times for the 16 year old category: the 200m freestyle, in a time of 2.04.02 and the 400m freestyle, in a time of 4.22.56. He also took nearly 6 seconds off his own 400m f/style Club Record, which he had held for just two weeks.

Daniel Osborn also had reason to celebrate, achieving a new Club Record for his 200m fly with a time of 03.01.73. The record was previously held by Lawrence Kidd since 1999, with a time of 03.04.55.

The following personal best times were achieved:

Daventry Dolphins 400m Freestyle Championships - Monday 7th December

A record number of swimmers competed in the annual 400m Championships on Monday 7th December, with tremendous swims not only from the more experienced swimmers, but also from some of the younger or novice competitors.

The results, by age category were as follows:

12/Under Male (Age Group A)

13/14/15 Years Male (Age Group B)

16/Over Male (Age Group C)

12 Under Female (Age Group A)

13/14/15 Year Old Female (Age Group B)

16/Over Female (Age Group C)

Congratulations to all swimmers who participated in this gala, it was particularly encouraging to see the achievements of some of the novice swimmers, who gained their first ever times for this distance.

A date and time for the presentation of trophies to the age group winners, is to be confirmed.

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19th November 2009 - National Swimming League, 800M Championships & Midlands Short Course Championships - Press Release

National Swimming League: Round Two

On Saturday 14th November, a team of Daventry Dolphins swimmers travelled to Loughborough for the second round of the National Arena Swimming League – East Midlands Division.

A total of 50 races were swum and Daventry Dolphins achieved a total of 5 first places, 3 second places and 7 third places, with a number of swimmers racing above their age category.

A total of 11 pbs were achieved.

1st Places

2nd Places

3rd Places

Daventry Dolphins finished the evening in fifth place, with a total of 144 points. Round 3 of this competition will take place on Saturday 12th December.

* Denotes Northampton Swimming Club swimmer. Apologies go to Spencer Bovey, whose name was mistakenly given as Simon in the NASL Round 2 report. Also thanks go to Ellie Fox of NSC, who also represented Dolphins on the evening.

800m Club Championships – 15th November

Hot on the heels of the Annual Club Championships and the NASL Round 2, Daventry Dolphins held its 800m Club Championships at Daventry Leisure Centre on Sunday 15th November.

The results were as follows:

12/u Male

13/14/15 yr Male

12/u Female

13/14/15/yr Female

Congratulations to all swimmers who participated: there were many fantastic personal best times achieved.

Winners’ trophies will be presented at a date and time to be confirmed.

5th / 6th November 2009 – Midlands Short Course Championships

Daventry Dolphins Swimming Club was proud to have two of its swimmers competing at the Midlands Short Course Championships on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th November at the Corby East Midlands International Pool.

This was the first major championships to be held at the new pool, with heats being swum in the morning / afternoon sessions and finals in the evening. Awards were made for Senior and Junior competitors (not BagCats / Youth).

Qualifying times have to be achieved to compete at the 'Midlands Championships', which is a joint venture between the ASA West Midlands and ASA East Midlands regions.

Darren Barber, who was swimming for Daventry Dolphins S.C., competed in the 50m breaststroke event, finishing in 7th place in his heat and gaining a place in the final. He achieved a new personal best time of 31.07.

Joshua Sullivan, swimming for Northampton S.C., for whom he has dual membership, achieved 3 personal best times in the following events: 400m freestyle (4.28.82); 100m freestyle (57.94) and 200m freestyle (2.05.71).

This achievement is testament to both swimmers’ hard work and dedication to the sport; this being further demonstrated on Saturday evening, when both swimmers returned to Daventry for their club’s Annual Club Championships and battled hard once again.

As County President, Lesley Sharp was in attendance on both days of the competition, representing the Northamptonshire ASA (NASA). The Corby Mayor, Mary Butcher welcomed everyone including the President of the ASA Mr John Russell; the President of the East Midlands ASA, Mr Barrie May, and the President of the West Midlands ASA, Mrs Jean Childs.

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10th November 2009 - Daventry Dolphins Annual Club Championship Results 2009 – Press Release

On Saturday 6th November, Daventry Dolphins Swimming Club held its Annual Club Championships at Daventry Leisure Centre.

The event, which is the highlight of the year for the club, was well attended, with 53 swimmers competing across five age bands: some making their dιbut in the world of competitive swimming, others making a welcome return.

A total of 26 events were swum, with points being awarded to the first 6 places: 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. Results were as follows:

8/Under Female (Age Band A)

Overall - 1st Rachel Coates (24 pts), 2nd Caitlin Hanna (17 pts), 3rd Annabel Murphy (15 pts)

8/Under Male (Age Band A)

Overall - 1st Austin Evans (24 pts), 2nd George Iacovides (15 pts), 3rd Tom Other (8 pts)

10/Under Female (Age Band B)

Overall - 1st Anya Bennett (22 pts), 2nd Annabel Smith (18 pts), 3rd Ally Marshall (12 pts)

10/Under Male (Age Band B)

Overall - 1st Joseph Iacovides (24 pts), 2nd Jim Warren (12 pts), 3rd Chris Coelho (10 pts)

12/Under Female (Age Band C)

Overall - 1st Carey Davis (24 pts), 2nd Sophie Iacovides (20 pts), 3rd Frances Other (12 pts)

12/Under Male (Age Band C)

Overall - 1st Jack Bond (21 pts), 2nd Daniel Osborn (19 pts), 3rd James Smith (18 pts)

14/Under Female (Age Band D)

Overall - 1st Molly-May Allinson (23 pts), 2nd Adele Jolley (18 pts), 3rd Sarah Bennett (15 pts)

14/Under Male (Age Band D)

Overall - 1st Harry Ballmann (12 pts)

15/Over Female (Age Band E)

Overall - 1st Anna Bennett (18 pts), 2nd Louise Balloch (11 pts)

15/Over Male (Age Band E)

Overall - 1st Darren Barber (22 pts), 2nd Joshua Sullivan (21 pts), 3rd Jacob Mitchell (17 pts)

Following the individual stroke events, two open age group 200m Individual Medley events were swum. Results were as follows:

Joseph Iacovides, aged 9, who came 4th in the Male event, took another long-standing 10/under Club Record, with a time of 3.08.09. This record, previously set at 3.13.90, had been held since 2003, by Saffa Dehghani.

Throughout the evening, there were some fantastic races, not least the 100m freestyle battle between Darren Barber and Joshua Sullivan, both of whom had competed earlier in the day at the Midland Short Course Championships in Corby before returning to Daventry to compete in the Club Championships. 15 year old Joshua broke the 16 year old backstroke Club Record in a time of 1.05.68, taking the record from Luke Pearson, which he had held since 2003.

In total, an incredible 135 pbs (personal best times) were recorded.

Head Coach, Rob Sharp, was delighted with the swimmers’ performances, saying “it was a fantastic night for the swimmers and the club as a whole. Particularly as the club pushes forward towards the County Championships in March, it was extremely encouraging to see many swimmers gaining their first County Qualifying time of the season and a high number coming very close. This shows how well the swimmers have developed in a short space of time, which, as a coach, is always very pleasing”.

All championship competitors will receive a certificate of participation and the event winners will receive perpetual stroke trophies. Overall points’ winners will also receive trophies. The presentation will take place at a time and date to be announced.

During the proceedings, Daventry Dolphins also had occasion to celebrate its recent Swim 21 accreditation, as well as its nomination for the Community Club of the Year Award at the recent Daventry District Sports Awards. Dolphins President, Lesley Sharp, announced that the club had achieved 2nd place in the competition and presented a certificate to Dieter Sullivan, Chairman and Helen Osborn, Treasurer of Daventry Dolphins. She thanked all helpers, coaches and people ‘behind the scenes’ for giving up their time to support the development of the club and its swimmers.

For full details of the final results and times, please visit the results page of the website

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31st October 2009 - Swimming news for October

Saturday 24th/Sunday 25th October - Dolphins Duo's Welsh Success - Press Release.

On Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th October, Sophie and Joseph Iacovides of Daventry Dolphins Swimming Club, competed at the 3rd Annual Greater Gwent Fastwater Open Meet in Wales.

They swam a total of 9 races between them and achieved 8 personal best times (pbs).

Joseph, aged 9, also won the Best Overall Boy trophy in his age group for the second year running, having achieved first position in all 5 races that he entered.

In addition, Joseph claimed two Daventry Dolphins Club Records in the 10/under age category. The first, for his 50m front crawl, with a time of 34.18 seconds and the second, for his 100m Individual Medley, with a time of 1.25.17, taking more than 4 seconds off the previous record which had been held by Daniel Smith since 1999.

10th October 2009 - Daventry Dolphins National Swimming League: Round One – Press Release

On Saturday 10th October, a team of Daventry Dolphins swimmers travelled to Peterborough for the first round of the National Arena Swimming League – East Midlands Division.

A total of 50 races were swum and Daventry Dolphins achieved a total of 8 first places, 5 second places and 4 third places, with many swimmers racing above their age category.

A total of 15 pbs were achieved.

1st Places

2nd Places

3rd Places

Daventry Dolphins finished the evening in fifth place, with a total of 147 points. Round 2 of this competition will take place on Saturday 14th November.

* Denotes Northampton Swimming Club swimmer

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1st October 2009 - ASA and the governments Vetting and Barring Scheme

View a document on the Governments new Vetting and Barring Scheme

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1st August 2009 - Dolphins in Action & County Presentation Gala – Press Release

Dolphins in Action

Saturday 11th July 2009 saw the Daventry Dolphins host a Development gala. Swimmers from their own club, Spinney Hill Swimming Club, Hinckley Swimming Club and Soll Leisure Swim School all competed.

Swimmers swam 1 event from each stroke, dependent on experience, a 25m, 50m or 200m event in freestyle, butterfly, breast stroke and backstroke. There was also the opportunity to swim either a 100m or 200m individual medley.

This gala was held at short notice and proved to be very successful. Some swimmers were swimming for the first time in a competitive gala and were aged from 6 ½ upwards. 80 personal best times were achieved from Dolphin’s swimmers alone and hopefully some times will be fast enough for next year’s County Championships.

A presentation of Club Records was made by Chairman Dieter Sullivan to: Darren Barber, Carey Davis, Daniel Osborn and Joshua Sullivan. These swimmers all had broken previous records set by past swimmers in different events and age groups.

Thanks go to Steve Bond, Club Secretary, for all the work he put into ensuring this gala was held, along with the Committee members and helpers on the night.

County Presentation Gala

A team of Daventry Dolphin’s swimmers competed in the Annual County Presentation Gala at the Wellingborough Pool on Saturday 18th July 2009.

13 personal best times were achieved.

There were some excellent swims, but with the team being short of swimmers in both the boys and girls 14 year age groups, the Dolphins finished in 6th place.

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8th July 2009 - Mike Smallwood's report on the European Triathlon Championships – Press Release

It was quite a day, it was an afternoon event held in the small Dutch town of Holten (not far from the German border). They have been staging a triathlon for 25 years and the European Championship was their pinnacle. The whole town is involved, the centre is closed off for 3 days for triathlon and there were official flags flying from loads of individual houses all around the town.

Our event was staged in the afternoon on one of the hottest days in northern Europe so far. The swim was in an old quarry about 5km from the town and it was so warm that wet suits were not allowed. The water temperature was quite refreshing. The actual swim was 2 laps which included coming out of the water and re-entering off a pontoon. Each wave was a mixture of age groups but as we all wore the same coloured hat it was impossible to see where your age group opposition was. The swim went well and it turned out that I was 4th onto the bike.

The bike route was 2 laps and found (possibly) the only climb in eastern Holland but it was not as bad as Priors Marston. The route took us over some old style cobbles (4 times – very bouncy) and into town twice where there were lots of paved streets so it was good that there was no water on the roads. It was still difficult to determine which age group people were in so I had no idea what placing I had until I got into the T2 and didn't see any other bikes racked near to me.

I came out of T2 in followed closely by a couple of Dutchmen one of whom overtook me within the first 500m and in that same distance I realised that there was even less zip in the legs than I could normally expect and it was soooo hot!! Well over 30° and no breeze. 4 laps of purgatory, and the heat became progressively oppressive and I gradually got overtaken by the proper runners (scourge of the earth!). A Brit even overtook me on the finish approach putting me into 5th place - (the thing that hurt then was that I had beaten him by over 2 minutes 2 weeks before in Northumberland)

So now I'm going to buy all the latest, lightest and fastest gear possible - and if that doesn't work I'll try some training.

After that it's Australia in September for the World Championships.

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30th June 2009 - British Triathlon Age Group Olympic Distance Championship success – Press Release

Last weekend Mike Smallwood travelled to Northumberland for the British Triathlon Age Group Olympic Distance Championship. The weekend weather looked as though it would be a repeat of the Sprint Championship 2 weeks before but on the day cleared to give ideal conditions for racing.

The 1500m swim was done in 22m 52s followed by a 40km bike ride and despite taking a tumble at the end of the first of seven laps completed in 1hr 11m. The 10km run was completed in 40m 52s and resulted in a successful defence of the title won last year.

The next challenge will be in early July when he travels to Holland for the European Championships hoping to improve on last years bronze medal.

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24th June 2009 - Midlands Age Group Championships – Press Release

11 year old Carey Davis of the Daventry Dolphins (but swimming under Northampton Swimming Club) competed in the Midlands Age Group Championships over the first two weekends in June.

Carey swam in 6 events: 200m backstroke, 200m IM, 800m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 100m freestyle.

She achieved personal bests in both the 100m and 200m freestyle events. Carey also broke 12 year old club records in both of these events, records which have been held since 1993.

Once again Daventry Dolphins are proud to have had another one of their swimmers competing in a Midlands championship.

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21st June 2009 - Mike Smallwood – Press Release

Lesley Sharp Aqua Squad Coach is very proud to report to Club members that Mke Smallwood (Aqua Squad) is the GB Sprint Triathlon Champion in the 60-64 yrs age group, winning the event at Milton Keynes recently. The shorter Sprint event involves Swimming a distance of 750m, cycling 20km and running 5km.

Mike practices with the Dolphins every Monday and also with Rugby Triathlon Club

Mike will be soon be competing over the longer Olympic distance event (which is 1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run) to defend his GB title and later in the Year, Mike will be competing at both the European and World Championship events

No wonder he is the current Daventry Sportsman of the Year. What an inspiration!

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16th June 2009 - Swim 21 – Press Release

Swimming news with the Daventry Dolphins Swimming Club by Lesley Sharp, Club President

Daventry Dolphins Swimming Club is very proud to announce that it has just received official confirmation that they have been awarded the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) Swim21 Club accreditation for Swimming at Skill Development level.

The message from Roger Glitheroe the Regional Director of East Midlands Region reads:

This accreditation automatically qualifies the Club to use the Swim 21 logo as well as the Club for Sport England Clubmark, a national award for all sports clubs that can demonstrate the provision of quality service for its members.

Club President Lesley Sharp said “A lot of hard work has gone in to achieving this award, not only on the coaching side but all the unseen background administration. Although an amateur Club, Committee members and Coaching staff have had to attend a variety of courses which effectively means that the Club is professionally organised and run to meet the high standards that are now expected from the Governing body ‘the ASA’. The next challenge has already begun for the Club, as it strives to maintain and improve the high standard of service when seeking revalidation.”

The Daventry Dolphins hope to arrange a special presentation of this Certificate award on a date yet to be arranged.

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28th May 2009 - Tulip Open Meet 4th and 5th May 2009 – Press Release

Four Daventry Dolphins Swimmers travelled to Spalding, Lincolnshire (Emma Bond, Carey Davis, Charlotte Mann and Kimberley Mann) to take part in the Spalding open meet.

17 pbs were achieved.

Carey qualified for the finals in all 4 strokes. She finished in 1st pace in: 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 100m butterfly and 5th place in 100m breast stroke. Carey finished in 1st place overall in the 11 year old girls age group.

Coach Mitch Haines was pleased with the performances of all 4 swimmers with some excellent pbs being achieved.

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20th May 2009 - Midland Youth Championship – Press Release

Joshua Sullivan, 14 (swimming for Northampton Swimming Club) and Darren Barber, 22 (swimming for Daventry Dolphins) both swam in the Midland championships on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th May at the 50m Olympic pool in Coventry.

Joshua swam in 3 events: 400m freestyle, 200m freestyle and 100m freestyle. He hit his pb in both the 200m and 400m freestyle events and achieved a new pb for the 100m freestyle and also broke his own club record.

Darren swam in the 50m breast stroke gaining a pb, he also won the heats with the fastest time and gained a place in the over 17 years final. In the final Darren achieved another pb and finished in 2nd place overall. He also broke his own club record.

Daventry Dolphins are proud to have had two of their swimmers competing at this championship, for which a lot of time and effort went into achieving the qualifying times.

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29th April 2009 - Leicester Diddy League Round 1 – Press Release

A team of 9, 10, 11 and 12 year olds took part in the 1st round of the Leicester Diddy league on Saturday 25th April 2009, at Wellingborough pool.

Some swimmers swam for the first time in a gala away from the Daventry pool.

18 personal best times were achieved.

There were some impressive swims and good team bonding.

A lack of 9 and 10 year old boys meant that a team didn’t swim in some relays resulting in the Dolphins finishing in 5th place out of 6 teams.

1st places:

2nd Places:

3rd Places:

Coach Mitch Haines was delighted with the swimmers performances and hopes that they will continue to succeed in Round 2 on the 9th May.

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25th April 2009 - Latest news from Daventry Dolphins – Press Release

Peterborough Open Meet

Saturday and Sunday 4th and 5th April, Carey Davis, Joshua Sullivan and Rachel Sullivan competed in the City of Peterborough Open Meet.

Joshua achieved top places in all 6 events winning medals and Carey also achieved top places in 4 of her events again winning medals.

Rugby Open Meet

Saturday and Sunday 18th and 19th April saw 10 Daventry Dolphin’s swimmers compete in the open meet.

27 pbs were achieved over the 2 days:

Joseph Iacovides, 9, broke the 10 year old club record for the 200m freestyle in a time of 2.48.85.

Joshua Sullivan, 14, achieved 1st places in the 400m freestyle (14 years & over) and 100 back stroke (14 years) and 2nd places in both the 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke (14 years & over). He also achieved 3rd places in the 100m freestyle (14 years) and 400m individual medley (14 years & over).

Coach Mitch Haines was delighted with the swimmer’s performances especially as some of the swimmers had never achieved a time in some events and hope that the rest of the season will be as successful.

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20th March 2009 - Daventry Dolphins Succeed in County Championships

The weekends of the 7th and 8th March and 14th and 15th March saw 22 Daventry Dolphins swimmers competing against 6 other regional clubs in the Northamptonshire ASA County Championships, held at Daventry swimming pool.

County Championships 2009 - thumbnail View larger image

Some excellent performances were observed by the spectators and fellow team mates.

The club were delighted to welcome back 22 year old Darren Barber, who used to be a regular competitor of the Dolphins. He swam tremendous races in both the 50m and 100m breast stroke heats and qualified for both finals. Darren finished in 1st place in the 50m breast stroke and 3rd place in the 100m breast stroke. He also broke the senior age group club records in both in times of 30.55 and 1.08.41 respectively.

Joshua Sullivan, 14, finished in top places in the 0 – 16 years age groups: 2nd places in the 200m butterfly and 50m freestyle and 3rd places in 100m freestyle and 200m backstroke.

He broke 4 of his own club records: 400m freestyle (bettering his Midlands entry time 4.30.05), 200m freestyle (bettering his Midlands entry time 2.08.18) and the 100m backstroke and 400m individual medley. Joshua finished in 2nd place overall in the 14 year old boy’s age group with a total of 2761 points.

Joseph Iacovides, 9, finished in 3rd place overall in the 9 year old boy’s age group with a total of 768 points.

Carey Davis, 11, broke the club record for the 12 year old girls 800m freestyle in a time of 10.52.30. She bettered her 100m freestyle Midlands entry time in 1.10.81. Carey finished in 4th place overall in the 11 year old girl’s age group with a total of 2388 points.

Daniel Osborn, 11, broke the 12 year old boy’s club record in the 400m individual medley in a time of 6.20.62. He finished in 5th place overall in the 11 year old boy’s age group with a total of 1241 points.

The following swimmers competed in the Championships (numbers: represent the number of personal best times recorded):

Coach Mitch Haines was delighted with the swimmers performances over the two weekends, and hopes that in 2010 more swimmers from the club gain County Qualifying Times.

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13th March 2009 - Level 1 Judge Awards

3 Daventry Dolphins Swimming Club members have recently undertaken the Judge Level 1 course and successfully passed, allowing them to Officiate at County / Regional and National competitions. They are Steve Bond, Brett Batson and Lesley Sharp. The next step will be for them to further their knowledge to qualify at Level 2

The Club will be encouraging more of its members to undertake the Course to try and get as many personal qualified

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10th March 2009 - CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS AWARDS PRESENTATION – 1st March 2009

The presentations from the Daventry Dolphins Annual Club Championships (15th November 2008) took place on Sunday 1st March 2009, at Daventry Methodist church.

Presentations were made by Lesley Sharp – President, Mitch Haines – Head Coach, Dieter Sullivan – Chairman and Ros Davis – Team Manager.

All swimmers who participated in the championships were presented with a certificate.

Plaques and perpetual trophies were presented to all swimmers who came in the top three places in each age group (A list of winners can be viewed in the article dated: 15th November).

Shields were also presented for the following events:

800 metres freestyle:

400 metres freestyle:

200 metres Individual Medley:

Rachel Parkin Award (the swimmer in the 12/under age group with the greatest PB over the shortest distance)

Ken Bloggs Award (swimmer with the most improved effort and determination)

Team Manager’s Award (for effort and determination and encouragement of others for the sake of the team)

Style Award (chosen by an independent official at the championships)

Sportsmanship Award (for showing mercy in a difficult situation)

Club Records were also awarded to the following swimmers (from July 2008 until Present):

Lesley Sharp thanked everyone for attending.

The presentations were rounded off with refreshments.

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20th February 2009 - Latest news from Daventry Dolphins – Press Release

Wilkinson Sword Gala – 31st January 2009

A team of mainly novice swimmers took part in the Wilkinson Sword Gala held at the Wellingborough pool.

This was an opportunity for some of the clubs 12 and under newer swimmers to experience swimming in a competitive environment, along with some of the clubs more experienced swimmers.

This gala is for clubs from Northamptonshire. 14 personal best times were recorded with some excellent swims. However, Daventry Dolphins finished in 6th place.

Long Eaton Open Meet – 1st February 2009

A team of 5 swimmers – Carey Davis, Joseph Iacovides, Sophie Iacovides, Joshua Sullivan and Rachel Sullivan – along with their coach Mitch Haines and their parents travelled to the City Of Derby to take part in this meet.

All swimmers, except for Joseph, could only swim in 4 100m races and Joseph swam in 4 50m races.

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26th January 2009 - Latest news from Daventry Dolphins – Press Release

January has been a busy month for some swimmers:

On 9th and 10th January Joshua and Rachel Sullivan swam in the City Of Derby Long Course Open Meet, held at the fantastic 10 lane, 50 metre International pool at Ponds Forge Sheffield.

Joshua achieved 4 pbs out of 6. He gained a county qualifying time in 200m butterfly. Broke his own Club Record in the 200m freestyle and gained the Club Record in the 100m backstroke in a time of 1.09.80, a record which has been held by Adam Kiziak since 1998.

Rachel achieved 3 pbs out of 4. She achieved County qualifying times in both 100m and 200m backstroke, a brilliant achievement in a 50m pool.

17th January - Carey Davis swam in the 50m pool at the City of Liverpool Open Meet. She achieved 2 pbs out of 2 swims. Carey achieved a Midlands time in the 200m freestyle in a time of 2.32.66 – an achievement she can be extremely proud of!!

Joseph Iacovides also swam on 17th January at the Cambridge Open Meet. He achieved 2 pbs out of 3, knocking 35 seconds off of his 400 freestyle.

On the same evening (17th January) Daventry Dolphins held their annual Development Gala which was supported by Northampton, Rushden and Spinney Hill Swimming Clubs.

67 personal best times were recorded and several swimmers gained County qualifying times – A successful evening all round.

The weekend of 24th and 25th January a team of 8 swimmers: Jack Bond, Emma Bond, Carey Davis, Joseph Iacovides, Sophie Iacovides, Daniel Osborn, Joshua Sullivan and Rachel Sullivan swam in the Biggleswade 10th Open Meet – with some fantastic achievements:

Joshua Sullivan Swims 100m Freestyle In Under 1 Minute. 14 year old Joshua achieved a new personal best time of 59.73 seconds – he now needs to take off 13 hundredths to gain a 15 year old Midland time and he also broke the club record held by Luke Pearson since 2002.

Joshua also gained two 15 year old Midlands times in: 200m freestyle in a time of 2.08.63, breaking his own club record and in the 400m freestyle in a time of 4.32.60 again breaking a club record held by Robert Sharp since 2000.

He also gained personal bests in the 400m Individual Medley breaking another of Robert Sharp’s records held since 2000 and the 200m backstroke in a time of 2.26.73 again breaking his own club record.

Carey Davis – 11 year old Carey also gained two more Midlands times in both the 200m backstroke in a time of 2.49.30 and the 100m freestyle in a time of 1.11.05. She swam 4 personal best times out 6.

Emma Bond swam 3 events and achieved 3 personal best times.

Jack Bond achieved 2 pbs out of 3 and broke his own 12 year old 100m freestyle club record in a time of 1.14.54.

Joseph Iacovides swam 2 personal best times, winning several of the 9 year old boys races. He finished with the most points in his age group.

Sophie Iacovides swam 4 personal best times

Daniel Osborn swam in his first Open Meet since July 2008 and gained 7 personal best times out of 9

Rachel Sullivan swam 1 personal best time

Coach Mitch Haines said, “I am delighted with the swimmer’s performances. It was a very fast meet in an 8 lane pool. To have 2 swimmers gaining Midlands qualifying times is an excellent achievement for both the swimmers and the club. I hope more times are gained before the closing dates!!”

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6th January 2009 - Latest news from Daventry Dolphins – Press Release

Coventry Open Meet

On Saturday 29th November Carey Davis, Joshua Sullivan and Rachel Sullivan swam in the 50m Olympic pool at the Coventry Open Meet

Coach Mitch Haines was very pleased with the swimmers achievements as it was also the first time he had taken swimmers to a 50m pool!!

Leicester Distance Open Meet

On Saturday and Sunday 5th and 6th December, once again Carey Davis, Joshua Sullivan and Rachel Sullivan travelled to Leicester to take part in this open meet. This was a very fast meet so the swimmers had some good competition to give them that extra push.

Once again Coach Mitch Haines was very impressed with the swimmers achievements.

Speedo League Round 3

Then on Saturday 13th December the Daventry Dolphins team travelled to Loughborough to take part in the final round of the Speedo League.

The team really pulled together and swam some excellent races. By half-way they were in 2nd place, but unfortunately a couple of disqualifications meant that they finished in fourth place overall.

18 pbs were recorded.

First places went to:

Coach Mitch Haines was delighted with the swimmers and the way in which they pulled together as a team.

The Dolphins once again thanked Francesca Denton and Eleanor Fox from Northampton for swimming for the team.

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