29th January 2012

Finch Reaches the Finals at the Zonal Meet

Boys Squad Captain George Finch was flying the flag for Thame SC at the annual Zonal meet between the ASA South East and South West regions. The meet was held on the weekend of 28th – 29th January 2012 at Millfield School near Glastonbury.

Millfield has a tradition of developing Team GB Olympians and has both a 50m and 25m pool, the luxury of it!

George was at Club Presentation Night on the 28th Jan, leaving soon after the last award was presented and skipping the disco to get a good night’s sleep before leaving with his Dad for Millfield at 5am on the 29th Jan. George was competing in the Mens 17 years and over 100m Breaststroke event.

He competed in the Heats with a time of 1:13.48, a 50m Long Course PB. This qualified him for the finals where George came 8th again in a time of 1:14.17.

28th January 2012

Awards & Celebrations At Presentation Night

On Saturday evening, 28th January 2012, the club gathered at the Spread Eagle hotel in Thame for Presentation night. The swimmers were there with their parents to receive the awards for first, second and thirds places at Club Champs, all inscribed on a silver plate and to get the coaches awards, the Rob Brooks Development trophy for the most improved swimmer and also the Simon Burnett competition trophy for the most competitive swimmer. In addition, there was a disco so swimmers and their families could dance the night away.

MC Simon Haarburger hosted the awards presentations following a welcome from Club Chairman Ian Goetz. Head Coach Dave Jones wasn’t at the event as he’d already headed off to Millfield in Somerset for the ASA Zonal meet where Boys Squad Captain George Finch is competing on the 29th Jan at regional level at a meet where the ASA South East region faces off against the South West region. George was scared of the early start on Sunday and was at the event to receive his award and dance with friends. Rob Brooks also sent apologies as he had to go to Cornwall as his father was ill, we hope he’s on the mend soon.

Jean Simmonds of UCARE came along to present the Simon Burnett Competition trophy with a message from Simon’s Mum, Mel as she couldn’t make it due to family commitments. Simon is training hard for Team GB London 2012 qualification and will be in the UK in February for training in Sheffield before heading to the London 2012 Aquatics centre at the Olympic park in March for the British Gas Nationals which is the qualifying event for London 2012...hopefully we’ll see him some time in March.

The Coaches awards are for swimmers in their groups who, in the coaches view, have shown consistent dedication and commitment to training and competition throughout the year.

Before the Rob Brooks and Simon Burnett trophies were presented the annual DQ Awards were presented. These joke awards, with sweets and a joke present, this year included “Chatterbox of the Year” which went to William Finch and Ellie Haarburger and the “Worst Face Pulled at a Gala”, this year Conny Gilmore, Jess Russell, Lily Hawkes, Dom “Elisabeth” Holmes, Liam Talbott, Ellie Haarburger and Imogen Newell were brought up in front of the audience and Simon Haarburger judged the cheers for each one in turn. Conny Gilmore was cheered the most and took the prize. “Defender of the club” went to Liam Talbott for taking a Headington lifeguard to task for not turning up and ruining an evening training session, only problem was it was the wrong lifeguard. “Most broken swimmer” went to Harry Cooke and the “What we doin?’ “ award went to Caitlin Woods and James Newton for always not hearing what they are supposed to be doing in a training set. Club Secretary, Ros Hawkes and Emily Malkin won an award in the “Quote of the year” section for an serious attack of Crendonitis. Nacho Mendi won an alarm clock to help him wake up for training in the mornings... and ongoing problem. The “Blind As A Bat” award went to Josh Williams who never swims with goggles and the “Bad Hair Day” award went to Lizzie Smith who always needs help getting her hair sorted and into her swimming hat. The “Best Excuse for Missing Training” award went to Lauren Gibb and Jessica Russell whose costumes had been “eaten by the dog.”

And so the evening moved on the Rob Brooks Development trophy for the most improved swimmer. This award looks at improvement in times throughout the season between September, the start of the season and July at the end. To qualify, swimmers must have a time for each of the 50m events and each of the 100m events including 100m Butterfly and IM. This year the three finalists were very close indeed. The trophy was presented to Marcus Birmingham but with the improvers so close this year it could have been very different. Well done to Marcus.

• 1st - Marcus Birmingham, 6.4%
• 2nd - Tom Goetz, 6.2%
• 3rd - Nacho Mendi, 5.6%

Recognition was then given to all the club volunteers, Coaches, Officials and the Committee without whose support the club simply couldn’t function. A very big thank you for all their work.

Swimmers and parents then danced the night away at the disco. Many thanks to all those volunteers who made the event possible and to those swimmers and parents who turned out to support the club.

Click here for the photos from the Presentation Night. • Slides from Presentation Night

Nacho Mendi took a Silver medal in the 13 year old age group for the 50m Freestyle in a time of 28.39 seconds. Both George Finch and Georgia Cahill re-affirmed heir ASA South East Regional qualification times with Georgia taking Gold in the 50m Freestyle & Backstroke and Silver in the 100m Freestyle and backstroke. George took the Bronze medal in the 100m Breaststroke. Marcus Birmingham achieved an ONB County Qualification time and James Goetz put in a good PB in the 50m Freestyle after a period away from training due to illness.

Well done to all!

www.thamenews.net

19th January 2012

South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) Young Achievers

Thame Swimming Club Girls Squad Captain Georgia Cahill and Boys Squad Vice Captain James Goetz were recognised at the South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) Young Achievers awards in Benson on the 19th January 2012.

The awards are given annually by SODC to young achievers in the county who volunteer or are talented in sport or the arts. 42 young people were given their awards this year including Georgia and Jamie. In sporting terms, the award is given to those competing at county level or higher and who want to strive to compete at an even higher level. The awards were presented by Councillor Felix Bloomfield, Chairman of the Council.

Both Jamie and Georgia have competed at the Oxfordshire & North Buckinghamshire (ONB) County Championships in both 2010 and 2011 and hope to be competing there again in 2012. Georgia has qualified for ASA South East Regional events in 2010 and 2011. Jamie is also coaching for Thame SC, working with Group 1 and 2 on a Friday evening to help he younger swimmers in the club develop and to work towards his Duke Of Edinburgh Gold Award.

Well done to both and good luck to all Thame Swimmers for the 2012 ONB County Championships.

8th January 2012

Thame Kick Off 2012 With the BBAT Meet

Thirty swimmers from Thame SC kicked off 2012 by competing in the BBAT Last Chance County Qualifier meet at the Stadium Pool, Stoke Mandeville on 8th January. This was the same venue as our club champs and the heating was working this time so the swimmers were able to keep warm as they competed with swimmers from Bourne End SC, Didcot Barramundis SC and Aylesbury District SC.

Many thanks to coaches Rob Briars, Tom Birmingham and Sherri Cozier who with Head Coach Dave Jones, looked after the swimmers and also got some mentoring for their Judge Level 1 (J1) training. Many thanks as well to all the Thame officials who turned out for the meet, without whom we could not have run the meet or been able to use the times gained by the swimmers for Oxon & North Bucks County Qualification Times.

The swimmers did well with some good PBs and some County Consideration times being achieved. In addition, Thame SC was top club at the meet but at this “No Frills” meet, aimed solely at giving the swimmers a chance to gain their county times, there were no trophies or medals.

Well done to all.

Click here for Results

Click here to see the photos.

18th December 2011

Thame Sign Off 2011 At The Aylesbury Christmas Invitation Meet

Thame SC finished the competitive year for 2011 at the Aylesbury & District SC Christmas Invitation meet competing against 2 Aylesbury teams and a team from Bourne End SC, Henley SC and the Crusaders SC from Linslade. Team Manager, Tony Collins put in a stalwart effort to get a squad together with so many swimmers away due to the Christmas festivities. Dave and Tony marshalled our swimmers with Thame Officials, Paul Swart, Emma Riley, Mark Simms and Paul Williams helping the organisers officiate the event.

Many thanks to those swimmers who committed to the event and turned out. We did have some no shows, despite those swimmers committing in advance which caused Tony some headaches on the evening, sorting out replacements to swim for those who decided they wouldn’t come to support the club. Thame’s squad wasn’t strong enough to win but there were some strong swims, notably from Conor Lloyd in the 4 x 50m Freestyle relay and Nacho Mendi who put in several good swims as did Rachel Newton and Maisie McDonald for the girls squad.

Well done to all and have a great Christmas, the Christmas training calendar is on the club website and the next big events are:

• BBAT Meet on 8th Jan, 2012
• Maxwell SC Meet on 21st – 22nd Jan 2012
• Club Presentation Night on 28th January 2012 at 7pm in the Spread Eagle, Thame.

16th December 2011

Thame SC Help Santa Collect for Charity

On Thursday 15th December 2011, parents, older swimmers and committee members from Thame Swimming Club went out with Thame Round Table to collect for charity in Thame.

The team met up at the Six Bells in Thame and headed off around the town, collecting door to door. We collected £485 of which £388 goes to the club and the rest went to charity.

We also collected a number of Euro cents, US coins, a button and a metal nut which we still can’t work out how it got through the collecting box slot!

Many thanks to: Laurene Holmes, Dom Holmes, Greg Smith, Claire Revill, Jeanette Russell, Simon Haarburger, Andrew Newton and Conny Gilmore for coming along.

.....and a BIG THANK YOU TO ALL AT THAME ROUND TABLE!!!!!!!

15th December 2011

Sue Hewett passes her JL1

Thame Swimming Club would like to say Congratulations to Sue Hewett on passing her JL1 assessment. She is now recorded as a Judge Level 1.

Well done Sue!

14th December 2011

Thame Captains Compete In The ASA South East Region – WINTER REGIONALS

On the weekend of 3rd and 4th December 2011, the ASA South East Region (SER) held the Winter Regionals being held at Aldershot Garrison Pool. This year Thame SC had two swimmers, both the girls squad and boys squad captains; George Finch and Georgia Cahill, entered in six events. This was an improvement from one swimmer, Georgia, in one event last year (2010).

George was up first in the Male open 50m Breaststroke, against 46 other swimmers. George was ranked 30th, and finished 14th in a time of 0:33.22. Georgia, competing in the Female 50m Backstroke was up against 54 other swimmers. Georgia finished 32nd in a time of 0:34.52. Georgia followed on, competing in the Female 50m Freestyle and was up against 62 other swimmers. Georgia finished 39th in a time of 0:30.03.

Then, George was up again, competing in the Male open 50m Butterfly up against 58 other swimmers. George was ranked 48th on entry, and finished 35th in a time of 0:29.19. George then followed on by competing in the Male open 100m Breaststroke against 56 other swimmers. George was ranked 29th and finished 20th in a time of 1:14.99. Georgia then went on to compete in the Female 100m Backstroke against 61 other swimmers finishing 20th in a time of 1:10.91.

The only real problem of the weekend – No cafe at the Aldershot pool..... so no snacks, coffee or bacon sandwiches.... purgatory!

Well done to both swimmers.

There were a number of events organised as fund games as well as opportunities to race parents .v. kids, usually breaststroke or freestyle though Club Chairman, Ian Goetz did take on Thomas (Group 3) and Jamie Goetz (Group 4) at 50m Butterfly and won!.... ok, the boys were handicapped, Jamie having 30m to catch up but still a time of 41 seconds for Dad was respectable enough. It wasn’t a good night for the County Squad, not one of them beat their parent.... some hard training to come for them!

The other events were:

HUMAN SKITTLES: Team in the water at the shallow end between in the middle 3 lanes and the other opposing team on either side of the pool have to throw a ball to try and hit a member of the opposing team. 5 points for each hit.

• HAWKES in pool with FINCH throwing the FINCH in POOL with HAWKES THROWING
• SMITH (CAHILL) in pool with GOETZ throwing then GOETZ in pool with SMITH (CAHILL) throwing
• Winner of HAWKES .v. FINCH plays winner of GOETZ .v. SMITH (CAHILL)
• Points awarded

ROCKING RUDOLPH RELAY:

• Run an Nx50M Freestyle relay, but when you reach the shallow end, get out of the pool and sing a line from a well know Christmas pop song / Carol to the parent standing there. Once they are satisfied then the swimmer can get back into the water, NO Shallow diving and swim back to the deep end where the next swimmer can go, and so on until one team has won, see below for points.
• Points awarded to the winning team.

RUN THE GUN:

• Each team has 2 large floats, 1 Woggle and a selection of balls, ideally 1 item per member of the team
• In a relay, including their parents – they set off, throw their item, over the first set of flags then swimming on with their item, throwing it over the second set of flags before getting out at the shallow end.
• Once the whole team has arrived, the “Gun” is assembled (two large floats for wheels, woggle is the barrel) and the team shout BANG!
• They can now start the run home doing everything again in reverse
• Team to get back, out of the pool, First gets the points.
• It’s meant to look like this ....but in a pool! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32s4qCCFnmk

RESCUE RAFT: One large float per team, hoops are in place at the midway point of each lane.

• A swimmer or parent gets in and sits on the large float (raft), then once the start whistle has been blown, a second swimmer jumps in and swims the “Raft” down to the shallow end, duck diving through the hoop at the half way point. At the shallow end the swimmer/parent on the “Raft” gets off and swims the raft back with the other swimmer on it, duck diving through the hoop on the way.
• Then the next pair of swimmers in the team go.
• When all swimmer/parent have swum the first team back wins the points.

Not as much cheating this year – well done swimmers! At the end of the event, the team with the most points was Team Hawkes, well done Olivia! They won a tin of sweets to share amongst the team. Once changed, there was squash, mince pies and chocolate mini-rolls for all. Everyone enjoyed themselves with many a tired parent heading home for a rest and a glass on something to recuperate.

The event needed running and organising so a BIG THANK YOU to coaches Darren, Ann, Rob & Karen for helping run the event and keep order and to Club Secretary Ros Hawkes or organising the mince pies and chocolate mini-rolls and Club Membership Secretary for organising the drinks.

Click here to see the photos of Parents v Kids!

Swimmers took part in all the 50m and 100m events and the 200m IM, Breaststroke and Freestyle. We spared them the 200m Butterfly and Backstroke. Medals were awarded for first (Gold), second (Silver) and third (Bronze) in their school year groups (Years 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13) for the school year they were in during July 2011. In addition, points were accrued for their results through all the events to decide who was the top boy & girl for the Juniors (Years 7,8 & 9), the seniors (Years 10 & 11) and the Sixth Form (years 12 & 13), although in the end no swimmers from last years’ year 12 entered, the Year 13’s having already gone to University or jobs.

The event could not have been run without parents volunteers giving of their time to make the event a success. Mr Hooper from the Lord Williams’s School PE Department, an ex-swimmer himself, attended on behalf of Mr Rob Brooks, Director of Sport, who was away on family business. Thame SC Secretary, Ros Hawkes, whose children don’t even go to Lord Williams’s turned out to help by judging. The other judges were Mark Simms, Conny Gilmore and Siobhan Smith with Bob Armstrong (COSC) acting as starter and referee. Time keepers were Steve & Janet Price, Elaine Brightling, Paul Williams and Greg Smith (Club Swim 21 secretary) with the marshalling area in the capable hands of coaches Rob Briars and Darren Talbott. Jeanette Russell and Gill Coleman ran the medal and entry desk with Club Health & Safety officer, Iain Smith and club Vice Chairman, Andrew Newton covering the results desk. Tony Collins, club gala secretary had set up the event on Hytek and entered all the swimmers and their races before the event.

There were some cracking swims and some PBs. Tom Goetz was the only boy to try the 200m Breaststroke – he was reminded that if he lost he’d be walking home! In the end, most swimmers walked away with a medal for something, although we did have a shortage of Gold medals which will be looked into and those without their medals will have them pretty soon we hope.

The trophies were awarded as follows:

• JUNIOR TOP GIRL: Jessica Russell – 166 Points
• JUNIOR TOP BOY: Thomas Goetz – 225 Points
• SENIOR TOP GIRL: Susannah Smith – 125 Points
• SENIOR TOP BOY: Dominic Holmes – 161 Points

The gala ran well and all had a good time. We hope to run a further event in June or July 2012 to close of the school year 2011-2012 and include all those keen swimmers from the current year 7 who couldn’t take part in this event. Listen out in school notices and on club e-mails nearer the time.

Well done to all!

Results (pdf) ~ Individual Rankings (pdf) ~ Click here for photos

28th November 2011

LOST PROPERTY FROM CLUB CHAMPS

The coaches cleared poolside or any property on Sunday at Club Champs and did their best to re-unite it with its’ owners BUT we have 3 items of lost property at Thame Pool in the store room:

• 2 x Club Hoodies with NO NAME in them – if you have lost a hoody, ask a coach next time you are at training, they may be yours.

• One Cream coloured Towel – NO NAME

We have also been asked if anyone has seen a pair of Grey coloured prescription goggles belonging to Tom Birmingham and a Hoody belonging o Marcus Birmingham, it has his name in it.

IF YOU COULD ALL CHECK YOUR BAGS to see if you have inadvertently taken home someone else’s kit, if you have, please bring it o training and hand it to a coach.

Many thanks

27th November 2011

Thame Storm the Stadium For Club Champs 2011

Thame Swimming Club were at the Stadium pool in Stoke Mandeville on Sunday 27th November for the 2011 Club Championships. There were 88 swimmers swimming in 700 races over the course of the day and increase on last year. For the first time the event was held at the Stadium in Stoke Mandeville, home of the para-olympics. The 25m 6 lane pool accommodated us well and the hired electronic timing system was simply installed, plugged into the results computer and it worked...definitely a first given the issues we’ve had at other events. Our Masters swimmers took part with Ian Keys, Tom Birmingham, Carol Kavanagh and Coach Sherri Cozier all competing in events against the rest of the club. Swimmers were also competing from Coaches Rob & Cheryl Briars sessions at Risborough swimming pool.

Thame SC tattoos were available to add to the swimmers fun. Those that swam at Club Champs and their families, automatically gain entry to the club presentation night on Saturday 28th January 2012 7pm – 11pm at the Spread Eagle Hotel in Thame. At the presentation evening the awards from club champs will be presented to those swimmers attaining a first, second or third place in their age group and the coaches will present the Coaches Awards for those swimmers in Groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and Risborough that merit special mention for their dedication and determination in training. In addition, the Rob Brooks Development Award for the most improved swimmer and the Simon Burnett Competition Award will be presented to the most improved and most competitive swimmers respectively. Photography wasn’t easy as the light was pretty dim, of 870 photo taken by Club Chairman, Ian Goetz, on the day only 450 were worth using, the rest being blurred ended up on the cutting room floor.

There were some cracking swims and many PBs were set throughout the day. William Finch from Group 1: Developer & Training put in a 6.45 second PB in the 100m Breaststroke with Zoe Cooke, also from Group 1, putting in a 27.23 second PB in the same event along with Emma Woodin (12.55 second PB), Guilia Fisher (8.43 second PB). Sophia Fisher put in a 15.16 second PB in the 50m backstroke and put in a 13 second PB in the 50m Breaststroke. Freya Cox put in 47.26 second PB in the girls 100m Butterfly. James Newton took 11 second off his time for the 200m Free. In the boys 100m freestyle, the Group 1 boys put in some great PBs, notably Josh Williams, Douglas Birchall, Edward Mathews and Mathew Gate. Sophia Fisher took 24 seconds off of her 100m freestyle time. From the Group 2: Competitor squad, Hallam Cozier took a shade under 25 seconds off of his 200m IM time with Ben Williams putting in a 10 second PB on the same event and a near 20 second PB on the 200m Freestyle. Clemmie Jackson from Group 2 put in a 16 second PB on the 100m Breaststroke. Eliska Holland took shade under 20 seconds off of her 200m Breaststroke PB. Lauren Powell put in a cracking 19.46 sec PB in the 200m freestyle. From Group 3: Performance squad, Ella Simms put in a determined swim in the 200m IM delivering a 12.22 sec PB. Also from Group 3, Rebecca Brightling took nearly 18 seconds off of her 200m Breaststroke PB with Tom Goetz taking 11 seconds off of his 100m Butterfly PB. Emma Briars put in a 21.85 second PB in the 100m Butterfly. The 100m butterfly tends to be the event that swimmers miss out and hence do not qualify for the Rob Brooks Development trophy at presentation night. In Group 4: County & District, the Captains lead the way. Girls Squad Captain Georgia Cahill put in a 15.35 second PB in the 200m IM and Boys Squad Captain, George Finch was the only male swimmer to swim the 200m Butterfly, putting in a great time even with the eyes of every judge at the event on him – NO DQ, PHEW! Hannah Hawken put in 14.52 second PB in the 200m breaststroke with Rachel Newton taking just over 10 seconds of her time for the same event. Hannah then went on to take 25 seconds off her 200m Backstroke time.

As ever, the event could not have been run without the sterling effort put in by Thame SC’s volunteers – officials, coaches and committee – a BIG THANK YOU to them for all their effort

So, apart from the Aylesbury Christmas Relay Gala on the 17th December and our team captains, George & Georgia competing at the Winter Regional event on 3rd / 4th December, that’s it for competitions in 2011. The first meet of 2012 will be the BBAT No Frills – Last Chance County Qualifier event at the Stadium pool on 8th January 2012.

16th November 2011

Parents v Kids 2011

Thame Swimming Club have always run a fun session before Christmas to allow the swimmers (kids) to take on their parents in the pool.

Parents will be able to compete against their swimmers and also to take part with other parents, in relay events against teams of swimmers.

There should be a team of coaches and a committee team.

Click here to take a look at last year’s event.

So come along and have some fun on Sunday 11th December, 5pm – 8pm Thame Pool.

Time to get in training parents!

RISBOROUGH Swimmers: Please swim as normal – Rob will integrate you with the Thame swimmers on Sunday 13th Nov.

• MASTERS: Your Thame session on Sunday 13/11/11 is CANCELLED, please attend Risborough pool to swim with Group 4.

The reason for the disruption is that after many years of trying to get it sorted, contractors will be on site to install the mounting for..........................DIVING BLOCKS!!!!

Boys Captain George Finch who qualified for this year’s winter regions, in Aldershot in December, in the 50m Breast stroke and the 200m Breast stroke and put in a strong 200m Butterfly being chased by our old friend Chris Harbour, 3 years George’s junior, who finished a mere 3 second behind him but we found out later he’d been swimming with 3 broken toes, which he acquired at school playing rugby. Hope you feeling better Chris.

As we have said, Florence had her 13th birthday at the gala and marked her territory poolside with a Peppa Pig birthday balloon and, much to the delight of the supporting parents, brought in a tin of chocolates and threw them up to the parents, with some epic catches from Thame SC chairman, Ian Goetz. The squad were enjoying themselves with sporadic singing and even something that approximated to dancing from the boys squad captain and vice captains, George and Jamie. We had some lucky escapes – Olivia Hawkes lost her goggles in one freestyle event and Rory Price decided his were meant to cover his mouth during one fly event.

Many thanks to our volunteer’s at the meet, to our officials; Wendy Randall, Siobhan Smith, Ros Hawkes, Mark Simms, Steve Price, Elaine Brightling, Conny Gilmore, Jayne Blair and Jane Moore and to our coaches; Darren Talbott, Sherri Cozier, Rob Briars, Tom Birmingham and Ann Dite who turned out to support the event.

The Top Visiting Club trophy was presented to Squad Captains George Finch and Georgia Cahill by WDSC Chairman, Steve Vine.

Congratulations to the team who all contributed to Thame SC’s success.

Visit the Gallery page to see all the photos. Click here for the Results

TIME TRIAL, SUNDAY 6th NOVEMBER 2011

Sunday 6th November is Time Trial night at Thame pool.

• GROUP 1: Please arrive in plenty of time to register for the time trial, 16:45pm. You will be swimming until 18:30pm

• GROUP 2 AND GROUP 3: Please arrive at 17:45pm to register for the time trial, you will be swimming until 8pm

• GROUP 4: Please go to Risborough – you will be swimming 6pm – 8pm

• RISBOROUGH: Please come to Thame, Rob & Cheryl will advise you whether to arrive at 16:45pm or 17:45pm.

You will need your drinks, hats and goggles and your club shirt to keep you warm whilst waiting for your next event. You will NOT need your wet bags.

Thame swimmers did Thame very proud starting off very well winning 9 of the first 11 events and adding another two wins to the total. Thame were up against some very strong swimmers indeed which made for some very exciting races. Thame came second overall.

Points Were as follows: Leighton Buzzard 142, Thame 115, Putteridge 90, and Letchworth 89.

Thame swimmers took 10 county consideration times in this gala with 17 new personal best times including boys captain George Finch who swam under 27 seconds for the first time in the 50m freestyle.

Well done to everyone who took part!

The girls “senior” team were swimming in a mixed event with boys and were the only girls team and hence automatically Oxfordshire Champions. They decided to swim slowly, having just raced to second place in the intermediate (Years 10-11) girls event and take it nice an easy, much to the amusement of all. I’ve seen them swim faster on their training warm ups.

Liam found himself taking on Guy from COSC, one of their national swimmers and put in a great performance. As ever the school teams were made up of club swimmers from all over the Oxon & North Bucks ASA Region including our friends from COSC, Didcoy Barramundies and Wantage White Horses. Split times were not available.

Boys Squad: Ben Williams, Thomas Goetz, Hannes Hafstad (who swims with COSC), Nacho Meni, Liam Talbott, Rory Price, Kieran Evans (from WDSC), Rory House (from WDSC) and James Goetz

Girls Squad: Jessica Russell, Holly Revill, Jessica Devereux (from AVSC), Lauren Collins, Florence Savage, Rebecca Smith and Rachel Newton. Click here for results.

1st October 2011

Many Thanks Natasha!

You won’t have seen Natasha Greenough around the club coaching much this year. That’s because she’s been back at Portsmouth University finishing her degree. She passed and is now working at a local company – well one Natasha! However, due to the additional training courses and work commitments she’s taken on since starting work, Natasha won’t be able to come back and coach. Many thanks for Thame Swimming Club Natasha for all your coaching and we wish you well in your new job.

Many thanks to all the volunteers and officials from all the clubs but particularly from Thame SC who helped to organise run the event. We had two new judges qualified at the event – Siobhan Smith and Club Secretary Ros Hawkes. Jayne Blair, Wendy Randall, Steve Price, John Cahill and Sue Hewett all came along to Time Keep or Judge. Carol Allen and Claire Revill ran the entry desk, Simon Haarburger was announcing whilst Andrew Newton and David Finch kept the control (timing) desk running with ADSC. Chairman Ian Goetz was official photographer, taking 684 pictures on the day for all 4 clubs. Dave Jones was ably assisted by coaches Darren Talbott, Karen Powell, Rob Briars and newly qualified coach, Ann Dite. Trainee coaches Ian Keys and Tom Birmingham, also masters swimmers came along and competed for the club as well as other masters swimmers.

The meet ended with the Cannon Relay – an event where each team fields a relay squad with a boy and girl from each of the age groups 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16+ years old. The Barramundis won this as well but the atmosphere was electric.

We did have some DQs, if that was you, have a chat with your coach to find out what happened and how you can improve to ensure you don’t get DQ’d again at the next competition.

We had some good individual swims and a good share of medals. Some PBs were very large. The swimmers had a great day despite the heat and hopefully next year we’ll be in great shape to win the BBAT Shield!

Well done to all!

Click here to see the BBAT photos

The presentation was on SUNDAY 11th September between the end of the Group 1 Session and the Start of the Group 2 Session. Cara has supported all and the club members brilliantly over the last 3 years as they progressed through Groups 1 & 2 and off up the ladder to the County Squad. She also supported the Thame branch of WDSC before that. She’s been a great coach and dedicated volunteer and will stay on our books, hopefully popping in during the holidays to give the swimmers a classic Cara Hard Set! Cara has also competed at club champs as a Masters swimmer and shown all the fit triathletes in the masters group what competitive swimming is all about.

Have fun at Uni Cara!

21st September 2011

Andrew Newtons runs the Nottingham marathon

Thame SC Vice Chairman Andrew Newton, ran the Nottingham marathon on Sunday 11th September 2011 putting in a time of 3 hours and 48 minutes. Andrew has been raising money to help build a new school in Burkina Faso via Giving Africa.

One of his friends Laura O'Shea spent 6 months out there last year and has been involved in the work first hand; so Andrew is supporting her in this endeavour. He would really appreciate your support, so if you would like to support the cause please see details at http://www.justgiving.com/runningforgivingafrica

21st September 2011

County Times from the ONB County Exec.

2012 County Champs Qual Times Boys (pdf)

2012 County Champs Qual Times Girls (pdf)

8th September 2011

THAME SWIMMERS HEAD OUT INTO OPEN WATER!

On Thursday 8th September, some Thame SC swimmers and a parent went off to Dorchester for an open water swim. The lake course was approximately 1.1km, swimmers had to swim around the buoys to follow the course. The session was organised by trainee coach and Masters swimmer, Ian Keys and attended by Georgia Cahill, Rebecca Smith, George Finch and Susannah Smith. Greg Smith, Committee Swim 21 & Fundraising secretary also took part. Wetsuits were provided and after the wind and rain this week the sun even decided to put in an appearance, though the water was still pretty cold. Thanks to their training the Thame swimmers did several circuits of the course. Swimmers had to be 14 or over. Team GB currently have the Women’s open water World Champion and Olympic Silver medallist – Kerry Anne-Payne, so GB is doing pretty well at this event internationally.

Many thanks to Ian Keys or organising the event.

There was considerable interest in this session so watch out for more open water opportunities..... though probably in the spring!

And also thanks go to Alan at Mailsport for kindly lending us the wetsuits.

Click here to see the photos.

8th September 2011

SUNDAY 18th September 2011: Training Cancellations

Due to the club running and competing in the BBAT meet at Aqua Vale, most swimmers will be competing and not available for training. Furthermore, the coaches will be supporting the swimmers at the BBAT meet. Hence:

• Group 4: County & District training on Sunday AM and the Group 3: Performance & Group 4: County & District session on Sunday PM are cancelled.
• Thame Group 1 and Group 2 swimmers who are NOT at the BBAT meet should attend training at Princes Risborough, Risborough Springs pool, Group 1 6pm – 7pm and Group 2 7pm – 8pm.
• Risborough swimmers who are not at the BBAT meet should attend training as normal.
• Masters is also cancelled

Click here to download pdf

7th September 2011

Download the BBAT meet programmes here ready for Sunday 18th September 2011

Please note that parking at Aqua Vale may be an issue due to their refurbishment, as the builders are using the rear staff car park for their builders yard and the staff are parking in the public car park.

Click on this link for details on alternative car parking www.eplanning.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/CarParks

Whilst none of us at the club picked up on Simon & Whitney’s nuptials, you can find out more on the web! We found out from a passing comment from Jean Simmonds of UCARE during a phone call.

So, Congratulations to Simon & Whitney, I’m sure those of you who are friends on his on Facebook will add your congratulations directly. Hopefully, we’ll hear from Simon soon and get some of his thoughts about the World Champs in Shanghai and his preparations for London 2012. We can now all cheer for Simon, Team GB and Whitney during London 2012. Whitney’s speciality is the 200M IM, something Dave has been pushing the County Squad through in training a lot during the run up to the summer break and through the holidays.

Simon's reply: “Thanks for your kind wishes! It's been a crazy couple of months - a lot of travel and a lot of ups and downs. The wedding was on a beach in Florida and went really well, it couldn't have worked out any better.

I'll definitely bring Whit by if we are visiting the UK!!! Cheers, Simon B

12th August 2011

Headington Sessions Cancelled Until Further Notice

The Thame SC Group 3: Performance & Group 4: County & District training sessions at Headington Girls School on Tuesday 16th August 2011 and until further notice are CANCELLED. This is due to maintenance work at the pool. Headington girls school is reducing the depth of the deep end to 1.8m and changing the water filtration system to one of a similar type to Thame pool. This means that when the sessions re-start, the water will be using less Chlorine and hence be more pleasant for the swimmers. The work is scheduled to finish by 23rd September. However, the club will let you know when sessions are due to restart.

Many of the events were won by 100th’s of a second with people missing out on podium places and semi final or final paces by fractions of a second. One other clear development from the event is that China is now a major force in swimming. With such small margins in the times, every little piece of technique is needed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/swimming/14360277.stm).

Simon was taking part in the 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle and the 4 x 100m Freestyle relay. His results were: 

You can find out more about the world champs in Shanghai at the following link: http://www.swimming.org/britishswimming/swimming/world-championships-2011/

Hopefully Simon will be back in the UK soon to see us at the club and tell us what Shanghai was like.

20th July 2011

The “BILLS” Compete in the Oxford Schools Sports Partnership Gala.

Lord Williams’s School Swim team, the BILLS were in action again at the Rosenblatt Pool in Oxford on 13th July 2011 for the Oxford Schools Sports Partnership gala. Mr Brooks fielded a strong squad of swimmers mainly from Thame SC which also included Jessica Devereux from Abingdon Vale SC, Kieran Evans & Rory House from Wycombe District SC as well as Hannes Hafsted and Nat Armstrong from City of Oxford SC.

The squad were ably assisted by Team Manager Tony Collins and time keepers Susannah Smith & Jamie Goetz, volunteering to help as they had finished school after their GCSEs, Siobhan SmIth and Thame SC Chairman, Ian Goetz. Swimmers from Years 7 – 10 took part in the event, swimming against swimmers from Cheney and Cherwell Schools.

There were some good swims and some PBs and Mr Brooks declared that Lord Williams’s had won again for the second year in a row.

Results yrs 7-8 (pdf)
Results yrs 9-10 (pdf)

19th July 2011

Thame Swimmers, Masters, Officials and Committee at the Thame Triathlon

Thame SC had a number of people competing in the Thame Triathlon on Sunday 17th July 2011. The competition started in the pool with a 400m swim, followed by a 20km bike ride and a 5km run. From the committee, Greg Smith (Swim 21 Coordinator) and Andrew Newton (Vice Chairman) were competing. Mark Simms, one of our recently qualified Judge Level 1s was also out to get a good time as was Richard Dunbabin from the Masters, who will be at the World Triathlon Championships in China later this year in his age group.

For the swimmers, Susannah Smith from Group 4: County & District was competing and won her age group in a time of 1hour 27 mins. Mark Simms did 1hour 6 mins, despite getting lost on the first roundabout! Richard came third in the mail 50 – 54 category. Andrew managed 1 hour 17 minutes, (blaming faulty gears on the bike...hmmMMM)  and Greg Smith came in with a time of 1 hour 27 minutes, blaming “only my age”. Apparently only about 1% of the population have ever had a go at triathlons so these guys are in a pretty exclusive group. Susie had a sizeable blister after the event and hasn’t been at training since.... well with a hole in her foot we don’t want her to sink!

Well done to all!

15th July 2011

Support Simon in the World Championships!

The World Swimming Championships are about to start in Shanghai, China and Thame SC’s patron, Simon Burnett is in action for Team GB. Simon’s events are shown below and you can follow his progress and leave him messages of support at: http://www.swimming.org/britishswimming/swimming/world-championships-2011/

The event closed with the parents thanking Cara Evans for all her work for the club. Cara will be going to University in  September so this was the last AGM where we would have the chance to thank her --- although we will certainly ensure we mark her last evening with the club in style, watch this space!

The slides from the evening are available (click here) and the treasurers report is available on request.

There were many notable swims but Imogen Newell had a good weekend, 200m Breaststroke in particular,  taking 22.46 seconds off for a new PB of 3:32.96. Clemmie Jackson, in her first Gala, took 9.15 secs off her 100IM for a new PB of 1:51.97. Ellie Haarbuger had a 10.66 sec PB at 100m Free, a new PB time of 1:41.50.

Two big improvements on 200m IM times came for Jessica  Russell & Lauren Collins, improving their PB’s by 12.55 & 9.59 seconds respectively. Jess went on to produce a big PB in her 200m Free by 25.35 seconds, so the Headington 7 X 200m Free build training on Tuesday nights is paying dividends there. There were also big PB’s for Catherine Jacobs and Bronte Cozier in the 100m Backstroke.

Ella Simms gained ONB County times for a 10yr old at 100 & 200m Freestyle, as well as a County Consideration time in the 50m Breaststroke. County Consideration times were also achieved by Liam Talbott (200 IM & 100 Free), Imogen Newell (100Free, 50 Fly & 100 Breast) and Marcus Birmingham (50 Free, 50 Back). 

Well done to all!

See Simons 100m Freestyle race at: http://www.swimming.org/asa/clubs-and-members/champs-tv/champstv/9636/

See Simon’s poolside interview at: http://www.swimming.org/asa/clubs-and-members/day-four/friday-17-june-asa-nationals-poolside-videos-and-news-bites/9689/

Coach Cara Evans and boys squad captain George Finch along with girls squad captain Georgia Cahill battled to keep the banner up against a strong wind. There was a good turnout despite many swimmers being in action at the Maxwell SC summer meet at Aqua Vale or heads down in GCSE revision and our own Vice Chairman, Andrew Newton – with great timing – taking his 1st Thame Scouts, Rowallen troop and hence several swimmers away to Aqua Camp.

All agreed it was a fun event and raised three cheers to thanks Greg for all his work in getting Thame SC to the carnival. The Mermaid’s Tail is likely to make another appearance next year – possibly with a head next time!

Thanks to all who came along, including the parents who didn’t mind walking with the club and wearing daft wigs as well. Special thanks to Greg for all his work.

Visit the Gallery page for the Carnival photos.

You can see Simon’s race and his poolside interview here:  http://www.swimming.org/asa/clubs-and-members/champs-tv/  & http://www.swimming.org/asa/clubs-and-members/day-three/

Simon will be swimming in the 100m Freestyle next.

Congratulations Simon and good luck for the 100m!

10th June 2011

Thanks From Simon Burnett for Thame SC Fundraising For UCARE.

Simon Burnett contacted the club this week to send a message of thanks to all the swimmers and organisers for making the Swim A Mountain event such a great success. Simon is back in town at present getting ready for the National Championships in Sheffield, 14th – 17th June 2011. Simon will e pushing hard to qualify for the World Championships in Shanghai later in the summers in the 50m & 100m Freestyle events.

Simon will be swimming in the 50m Freestyle on 16th June 2011 and the 100m freestyle on 17th June. Watch out for Simon’s progress on Radio 5 Live and on the BBC Sport website. The very best of luck to Simon!

Simon’s Message:

Congratulations everyone!

I’m so thrilled to hear about all the money you’ve raised for the club and for the UCARE Charity that I’m so passionate about! Two thousand pounds is a massive amount of money and you should all be so proud to think that you were part of it. From this point forward, everyone that is helped by UCARE, or that joins up to the club will be somewhat indebted to each and every one of you, because you, and people like you, have made it possible for these organisations to exist at all.

I know how hard it is to step outside your comfort zone and ask people to give you money, even if it is for charity. And though it may seem like this is simply a huge boost for the club and the charity, it actually does more for you and your future than you might think.

Let me explain. Learning to use your abilities, whatever they may be, is a huge step toward applying yourself in any situation that may present itself in the future, whether it be in your sporting life, home life, school life or even career later down the road. When presented with a challenge, such as; ‘try to raise as much money as you can’, it is not unusual for one to think “How is that even possible???” This overwhelming thought can sometimes end the endeavour before it’s even begun! But by looking past the obvious difficulties and committing yourself to give your best, to figure out how to get to your target and to come out on the other side with a great deal to show for it is what life is all about. If you can master something like this then trying to drop a little time in your 100m backstroke may come a little easier, finishing that geography homework might seem a bit less daunting, and understanding how to run a business suddenly is just another challenge to be conquered!

Many of the younger swimmers had to swim in the higher age groups to enable Thame to compete in as many individual events as possible. 9yr old Elliot Riley Brown swam in the 13&u  50m Free coming 2nd and a new PB of 38.61, which is a 9yr old County Time and just 0.11 outside of the 10yr old County Time. Similarly 10yr old Ella Simms, swimming the Open 50m Free, gained a County Time for a 10yr Old with a time of 36.63 also finishing 2nd. Other notable swims are William Simpkins with a 4.45 second PB in his 50m Free, Zoe Cooke & Josh Williams competing in all the 9yr events and Getting 2 to 4 second PB’s in each event.

Although we finished last through a combination of not being able to do the relays for the younger end of the squad and 7 “too fast” swims, (so no points), the overall standard of swims with only 1 DQ was excellent. Well done to all!