Latest Press

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

[Top of Page]

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)

[Top of Page]

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+

[Top of Page]

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.

[Top of Page]

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

[Top of Page]

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

[Top of Page]

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.

[Top of Page]

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

[Top of Page]

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

[Top of Page]

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.

[Top of Page]