9th July 2010

IMPORTANT NOTICE!! CANCELLATION OF GROUP 1: Developer & Training 5:00pm – 6:00pm SESSION Sunday 18th JULY

Thame Leisure Centre have informed us that they have a party booking for that time that was made before we took over the extra pool time. The club will be running its’ summer picnic, on the afternoon of Sunday 18th July, Group 1 swimmers and parents will hopefully still come along and enjoy the fun.

The Group 2: Session, 6:00pm – 7:00pm  on Sunday 18th July and the Group 3 & 4 session between 7:00pm and 8:00pm will run as normal.

5th July 2010

ATTENTION ALL Group 3: Performance and Group 4: County & District Swimmers

Tuesday 13th July 2010 Headington Girls School Pool Session CANCELLED

The Tuesday 6pm – 8pm Group 3: Performance and Group 4: County & District Training session on 13th July 2010 has had to be CANCELLED as the pool is closed for maintenance to replace the filters. The next session at the Headington pool will be on 20th July and then again after our summer shutdown on 10th August.

5th July 2010

PARKING ARRANGEMENTS for Northampton SC Summer Festival Open Meet 10th – 11th July 2010

The Northampton SC Summer Festival Open Meet will be held on 10th – 11th July 2010 at the Corby International Pool. The Pool address is:

Corby East Midlands International Swimming Pool
Parkland Gateway, George Street
Corby, Northants
NN17 1QB

Tel: 01536 464643

We have found out that parking for the event will be at the Tresham Institute, close to the pool, at a cost of £5 for the day, apparently cheaper than the public municipal car park across the road from the swimming pool. The address for the Tresham Institute is:

Tresham Corby Campus , George Street, Corby, Northants, NN17 1QA

• Also, you will have seen several e-mails warning you that it is British Grand Prix weekend, so avoid the M40/A43 route to Corby, via Northampton. Warm Up on Saturday is at 8am and you have to park and get signed in. AA Route planner suggests the route via Milton Keynes which takes approximately 2 Hours!

4th July 2010

Independence Day Medals & PBs at the Abingdon Summer Meet

The Thame Squad were in action at Abingdon pool on Sunday 4th July for the Abingdon SC Summer Meet. The squad were up against competition from Didcot Barramundis, Wantage, 4 Shires, City of Oxford, Banbury, Bicester Bluefins, Witney and of course Abingdon. The 21 strong Thame Squad put in a total of 91 swims and delivered 37 Personal Best times with 1 Gold, 3 Silver and 6 Bronze medals. Liam Talbot won a Gold medal, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze. Boys Vice Captain James Goetz took two of the Silver and 4 of the Bronze medals and Susannah Smith won a Bronze medal. There were some great swims with notable PBs from Rebecca Smith in the girls 200M IM and Rory Price in the boys 100M Backstroke. In the girls 100M Breaststroke, Bronte Cozier and Rebecca Brightling put in two good PBs. Girls Vice Captain Olivia Hawkes and Florence Savage both battled through to good PBs in the girls 100M Butterfly and Kazia Coleman swam a good PB in the 100M Freestyle. Coach Sherri Cozier said, “The swimmers put in a great effort and delivered some great times”.

James Goetz, Boys Vice Captain, was just pipped at the post for the Top Boy trophy. He and Ricky Martin from Didcot Barramundis achieved 38 BAGCAT points each but because Ricky had taken 1 Gold medal, he lifted the trophy. This is the second time this has happened, the last time being at the recent City of Oxford gala at Temple Cowley. We will be swimming against the Barramundis at the B2AT Meet on 19th September and having a top boy and top girl contest. Things could get interesting! Get your entries back to Tony Collins, Team Manager, for the B2ATmeet asap.

In the Senior (Years 10 and 11) events, our old friend Charlie Messenger from WDSC and Boys Captain George Finch got special mention. In George’s case for winning everything and carrying most of Mr Brooks’ medal box home. Boys Vice Captain, Jamie Goetz also got special mention for his performance at the school gala and for the friendly rivalry he and George have in training and competition.

Mr Brooks commented that parents and local community clubs, such as Thame Swimming Club, make the success of Lord Williams’s teams possible, though he think parents must be mad taking their children to swim training before 6am in the morning, several times a week. Now, we all know that if we were awake when we did it, we’d probably agree with him. We heard a lot of comments about the arctic conditions for hockey training this winter, something we swimmers never have to endure – though standing outside the ONB County Championships, waiting for the doors to open when it’s -5°C in the car park comes close. How would the PE staff cope with a weekend at Stantonbury pool on a hot summers day?

Adam Whitehead, former Team GB 100M and 200M Breaststroker, was the guest speaker. Adam showed a video of his European (200M Breast Stroke) and Commonwealth (100M Breast Stroke) events where he took gold and spoke of the challenges he faced through school and training to reach his dream of swimming at the Olympics. He brought his medals with him and unfortunately, Liam got hold of the Commonwealth medal so if we’re lucky he’ll stop talking about it by September……..2012 that is!

The swimmers posed for photos with Adam and discussed their swimming. Adam’s advice – have a dream, take hold of your opportunities and choose success!

30th June 2010

ATTENTION GROUP 3: PERFORMANCE & GROUP 4: COUNTY & DISTRICT SWIMMERS: DIRECTIONS FOR HEADINGTON SCHOOL POOL & PARKING.

The Tuesday Headington School sessions start on Tuesday 6th July 2010. These sessions run from 6pm to 8pm. Please arrive in plenty of time to change and be poolside to swim at 6pm. For Directions please go to the following link, for the map:  www.headington.org/facilities  (click here for different map) and / or see below:

Headington School have asked us to:

• Come onto site via the Headley Way entrance at C.
• Turn left and go around the front of the school on our internal road and park at G in the West end car park, by the all weather hockey pitch.
• Walk around the all weather pitch , on the hockey pitch there is a large wooden “shed” in the far RH corner from the main School. From the back of this shed take the diagonal footpath to a couple of picnic benches and the Swimming pool entrance is directly behind these at I.

Remember, there is a sheet on the notice board for those trying to organise lift shares. If you need a lift, please take a look at the notice board to see who can help you and who you can help.

This is a 2 hour session so please ensure you have enough drink with you.

27th June 2010

Thank You to All Who Attended the AGM 2010.

Thame Swimming Club’s AGM was held on Sunday 27th June at 5:30pm with a big turn out. Although some parents were still at home crying into their beer following England’s rout by Germany we had a good turn out and some good points were raised.

The slides and coaches’ report used are attached (click here) for your information.The financial details are available on request from the Treasurer via communications@thameswimmingclub.co.uk .

An appeal was made by Wendy Randall, Officials Secretary for more parents to come forward for Time Keeper and Judge training. 4 people signed up on the day but more are needed. If you are interested, please contact, officials@thameswimmingclub.co.uk.

You will have heard that Lord Williams’s School have changed their insurance rules and will no longer allow a naked flame on site for events, hence we cannot do a BBQ on 18th July. In addition, they will not allow the sale of alcohol. We are now examining alternative venues and will communicate with parents and swimmers in the near future about the summer BBQ.

Please make a note of the forthcoming events like the Club Championships (28/11/2010), the Presentation Night (15/1/2011) and the BAT meet on 19/9/2010.

We have noted the request for more practice on block starts. Dave has been asked to ensure the portable block is used at all sessions and that the training plans are updated to reflect using the block. We have also asked him to ensure the swimmers understand the rules around starts and where they could be DQ’d following several DQs from fidgeting on the blocks after the starter has said “take your marks”. Feel free to question Dave and the coaches about these rules and issues and also to point out that the blocks should be out and used as the committee are not always poolside.

The committee were elected for the 2010-2011 season as follows:

Many thanks again for your support and attendance.

The meeting is in the Dance Studio at Thame Leisure Centre. We need your support to vote in the committee for the next 12 months so we can run your club and to update you on the club’s plans. In addition we need your feedback to make sure the club is meeting your needs.

See you all on Sunday!

23rd June 2010

GROUP 3: PERFORMANCE Morning swim moves to Thursdays!

You will remember the recent announcement about the new pool time and the changes to the Group 3: Performance group schedule. At that time we said we were working with NEXUS at Thame Leisure Centre to move the Monday 6am – 7:30pm session to Thursday, enabling us to spread out the Group 3 training a bit more throughout the week.

Commencing the week of 5th July 2010, Group 3: Performance will swim on a Thursday morning 6am – 7:30am. Their Monday session is being used for the Masters. Group 3’s last Monday session will be on Monday 28th June. Their first Thursday session will be on Thursday 8th July.

16th June 2010

Cancellation of Group 4 County & District Training 8-9pm Sessions Sunday 20th & 27th June.

The Group 4: County & District training session between 8pm and 9pm on Sunday 20th & 27th June have been CANCELLED. YOU WILL STILL be swimming between 7pm and 8pm on those dates.

We are using the 2 lane 8pm – 9pm slot on these two dates to give a taster session to potential masters swimmers. If you know anyone who would like to join Thame SC as a Masters member, please ask them to contact communications@thameswimmingclub.co.uk for details.

16th June 2010

Attention all Thame swimmers who are Lord Williams’s Pupils

Lord Williams’s School swimming team, The Bills, will be entering the England School Swimming Association (ESSA) individual championships for Division 10 on 18th Sept 2010. Click here for the link for the age group guide times. Mr Brooks has asked the swimmers to: 

1. Let him have a copy of all their times – For this, please go to their reports cards on the club website, (but ensure they are up to date as we have a lot of galas at the moment).
2. Tell him which events from the ESSA Div 10 Guide Times they qualify for. 

He needs to submit the school entry before the end of this term so please get back to him ASAP with your times and what you qualify for. You should do this even if you are not swimming with the school on a Wednesday afternoon. NOTE: Their age group is their age for the school year 1/9/2010 – 31/8/2011: 

• Juniors (J) are 12, 13 and 14 years old
• Intermediates (I) are 15 and 16 years old
• Seniors (S) are 17 and 18 years old. 

Most of the swimmers took part in the school swimming championships at Thame Leisure Centre on Wednesday 16th June. Medals were awarded for first place only and for Upper Site and Lower site only. You will hear more about the winners at the school sports presentation evening on 29th June 2010, (7:00pm at the Lower School Sports Hall). If you have had an invite from the school go along – you’ll be supporting school swimming and our links with the school and also the speaker this year is another swimmer! Adam Whitehead.

16th June 2010

13th June 2010

Thame Round Table Duck Race – A Big Thank You!!!

Thame Round Table ran their annual Duck Race in the River Thame on Sunday 13th June. Thame SC managed to sell 100 tickets which will generate some money for the swimming club. A big thank you to all of you who bought or helped sell the tickets.

Each duck has a number of its bottom and this corresponds to the ticket number. This year, 3rd place with a £20 prize went to a ticket sold by Thame SC, it went to Harriet Cross’s Grandmother. As you can see from the pictures, the ducks were tipped into the river and then helped along by canoeists when they go stuck in the reeds.

12th June 2010

Thame Swimmers in the Carnival Parade!

On Saturday 12th June 2010, Thame Swimming Club took part in the Thame Carnival for a second time. Our thanks go to Thame SC Webmaster – Claire Revill for organising our entry. 3 Officials, 4 Committee members and 14 swimmers turned out for the club, some other swimmers were in their school parades or with the Scouts and Guides but where were the rest of you? You missed a great time as the swimmers paraded from John Hampden School on Park Street, all the way down the High Street and along Southern road to the Recreation Ground. Jessica Russell and Grace Gilmore had sprayed their hair Green in line with this year’s carnival theme of Green (Recycling and Renewable Energy) and many of the swimmers wore some green and painted their nails green including Dom Holmes!

Treasurer, Simon Haarburger loaned his special mail “swimming” costume to Boys Captain, George Finch which Jamie, Dom and Olivia quickly discovered could be used to keep George under control, much to George’s discomfort!

This type of event raises the profile of the club in the town and stimulates interest from new swimmers and prospective sponsors, supporting it helps the committee to do more for the club and the swimmers have some great fun.

Click here to see the photos.

8th June 2010

Thame Compete in the Milton Keynes League Round 1 at Amersham, Chiltern Pool

Thame were in competition again as a team at the first round of the Milton Keynes League in Amersham at the Chiltern Pool on Saturday 5th June 2010.  The squad were up against Wantage, City of Milton Keynes, Windsor B, Flitwick and Amersham B teams. The weather was hot, humid and oppressive – just the conditions we all needed for sitting in a swimming pool. Dave had to call in sick to many thanks to Natasha for turning out at an hours notice to act as poolside coach and also to Tony for team managing. Thanks also to our two timekeepers; Sara Todd and David Cross.

The team were really up against it, basically we had a full squad of girls but only 4 boys. Oliver Hawken, Elliott Riley-Brown, Connor Mulholland and Thomas Goetz put in a stalwart effort but could only cover a fraction of the boys events. Half term holidays meant that our acute lack of boys in the club was made much worse. We also had some no shows which meant even fewer events could be swum.

The girls put in some fantastic swims to take more than their fair share of the points. Laura Nobes put in a fantastic final leg of the 4 x 1L Freestyle relay and Grace Gilmore did a great job holding off CMK in the Breaststroke. However, with the lack of boys we came last on points and were unable to swim the cannon relay.

The second round of the Milton Keynes League is on Saturday 3rd July. The Team Manager has sent out a mail to all swimmers selected with a team sheet. Please make every effort you can to attend and let the Team Manager know whether you can or cannot attend. If you say you can, please turn up, we need the points and you’ll be letting your team mates down.

6th June 2010

URGENT: VOLUNTEER NEEDED FOR CLUB SECRETARY ROLE ON THE COMMITTEE

As you know from recent communications, our current Club Secretary, David Finch, is standing down after carrying out the combined roles of Club & Membership secretary since we started forming the club in late 2008. He’s done a fantastic job and we all owe him our thanks.

We now urgently need a volunteer to take on the role. The role comprises of: 

• Minutes & Actions at the Committee Meetings: Usually every two months
• Operation of the secretary@thameswimmingclub.co.uk contact e-mail and postal address: 

• For ASA Communications
• For Oxfordshire & North Buckinghamshire County Communications
• For New Membership Enquiries 

• Send out and collate new membership packs and ASA forms
• Liaise with the Membership Secretary on new member details
• Liaise with the Membership Secretary on the ASA Annual Return – a list of all club members and their relevant ASA Categories every year in January. 

Without a club secretary we will not be able to run your club for the benefit of the swimmers. We need someone to volunteer in time for the AGM on 27th June when the membership will vote in the committee for the 2010-2011 season.

If you can volunteer to take on this role, please contact communications@thameswimmingclub.co.uk so we can put you in touch with the committee. Many thanks!

5th June 2010

Thame Compete at the LBSC Novice Gala

On 29th May, Thame SC sent a squad to the LBSC Novice Gala at the Tiddenfoot pool in Leighton Buzzard. Despite some great swims the squad came last, swimming against two squads from LBSC, one from Aylesbury and one from the Crusaders SC. The event was governed by Not Faster Than or NFT times which appeared on the programme. Many of our swimmers won their events but went faster than the NFT time. Thanks to our timekeepers for the evening, Ros Hawkes and Elaine Brightling and our judge Gail Cox. As ever, Tony Collins, Team Manger, did a stalwart job in organising the swimmers to be in the right place at the right time.

The next team event is the first round of the Milton Keynes League, held at the Chiltern pool in Amersham on 5th June.

Visit the Gallery to see the photos

Team Thame Swim with the Tigersharks!

Thame SC sent a squad to the Swindon Tigersharks Level 2 meet at the Link Centre in Swindon on Sunday 23rd May. The squad consisted of Ella Simms, May Allen, Grace Gilmore and boys Vice Captain Jamie Goetz. Boys Captain George Finch was supposed to be there but he’s mangled his leg at the Haddenham bike track ….. again!

After the fully clothed sauna experience at Stantonbury the night before, Sunday witnessed even higher temperatures. For those of you who went to spectate at the COSC meet the weekend before and thought the benches at Temple Cowley were hard, the Swindon ones are worse. Dave had a serious case of Gala Bum by the end of the day. Clubs from far and wide came to the meet as this is the Last Chance meet for achieving qualifying times for the nationals. From Southwold in Suffolk to St Ives in Cornwall and from Bournemouth and Poole to Mansfield the country was well represented.

May Allen and Grace Gilmore both PB’s in the 200M IM, Grace taking her time down by 13 seconds. Jamie took a bit off his 100M Freestyle time to set another PB. The Thame swimmers did well and gained experience from swimming with teams from across the country.

Click here to see the photos

25th May 2010

Team Thame Compete at Round 2 of the Chiltern League.

The Thame Squad went to Stantonbury on Saturday 22nd May for the second round of the Chiltern League. This was the hottest day of the year so far, so instead of staying at home and having a BBQ, we all went to Stantonbury for the fully clothed sauna treatment. There were quite a few PBs, the largest from Chris Swart with an 18 second improvement in his 100M Breaststroke time. Alas, despite some good swims we still came last. There were a small number of DQs and a small number of “Too Fasts” but whereas last time we came last because we were too fast, this time we came last because we were too slow. The really is the Goldilocks League, maybe next time it will be just right!

25th May 2010

Thame Swimming Club AGM 27th June 2010 4pm Thame Leisure Centre

Thame Swimming Club will be holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Sunday 27th June 2010, 4pm at Thame Leisure Centre. This is a key meeting to fulfil the clubs constitution and allow the committee to run the club on behalf of you, the swimmers and parents. We ask you to attend to vote in the committee for the 2010-2011 season and to provide your feedback to the committee and coaches.

We are URGENTLY seeking a volunteer for the Club Secretary Role on the committee. Our current Club & Membership Secretary, David Finch, is standing down. He is part of the London 2012 team and as a seasoned Olympics technocrat, and he knows the workload he’ll be under from now until the end of the games. Hence he won’t be able to continue with his club role. We are splitting his role into a membership and a club secretary. Jeanette Russell is standing as the Membership Secretary. We cannot run the club without a Club secretary, so if you are interested to volunteer for this role, please respond to communications@thameswimmingclub.co.uk and we’ll put you in touch with a committee member to explain the role.

Chris Hawken, our Marketing Officer, is also standing down. His role will be split between the current Chairman (Ian Goetz) and Treasurer (Simon Haarburger).

I’d like to thank Chris and in particular, David for their work for the committee. The club would not run without the efforts of the volunteers. David has put in a stalwart effort to get the invoicing system up and running, track the membership and work on all the ASA membership issues. If you see him poolside – give him your thanks as he deserves it.

At the 2010 AGM the following are standing: 

• Chairman:                                           Ian Goetz
• Vice Chairman:                                    Andrew Newton
• Treasurer:                                          Simon Haarburger
• Club Secretary:
• Membership Secretary:                         Jeanette Russell
• Team Manager & Gala Secretary:           Tony Collins
• Events Officer:                                   David Cross
• Health & Safety Officer:                       Iain Smith
• Webmaster:                                       Claire Revill
• Child Protection Officer:                       Carol Allen
• Officials Secretary:                             Sara Todd
• Swim 21 & Fundraising Officer:              Greg Smith

If anybody wishes to stand for any of the above roles, please contact the Club Secretary on secretary@thameswimmingclub.co.uk by Friday 11th June 2010.

Many thanks for your support and see you all at the AGM.

25th May 2010

Thame SC Fundraising with Thame Round Table’s Duck Race 2010

Last year Thame SC raised funds for the club and Thame Round Table by selling Duck Race tickets. On Sunday 13th June 2010, Thame Round Table will be releasing thousands of rubber ducks into the river Thame from the old Crendon Road bridge, near the church. Each has a number. If the winning duck’s number matches your ticket number when they fish them out at the finish line, then you win the prize, £50 for first, £30 for second and £20 for third.

We’ll be selling tickets poolside so please dig deep and help us raise money for the club and for the good causes supported by Thame Round Table.

24th May 2010

IMPORTANT CHANGES TO SUNDAY TRAINING – EFFECTIVE FROM SUNDAY 30th MAY 2010

Sunday Training Times will change from Sunday 30th May 

• GROUP 1: Developer & Training will swim 5pm – 6pm 

• GROUP 2: Competitor will swim 6pm – 7pm 

• GROUP 3: Performance will swim 7pm – 8pm 

• GROUP 4: County & District will swim 7pm – 8pm 

Thame Swimming Club has been in discussion with the operators of Thame Leisure Centre, NEXUS and other local pools to gain additional pool time for the club. This is needed to allow additional space for swimmers in Group 2: Competitor and Group 3: Performance which will allow swimmers that have improved and are waiting to progress through the groups to progress. 

The first phase of these changes comes into effect on Sunday 30th May’10 when all the groups will swim 1 hour earlier.  

The second phase of these changes will come into effect on Monday 5th July. Thame SC has secured the whole pool at Thame Leisure Centre on a Monday evening from that date, in exchange for handing back the Wednesday evening Group 3: Performance Session. Group 3: Performance and Group 4: County & District will swim together on a Monday. The club has also secured 2 hours pool time on a Tuesday at Headington Girls school in Oxford. This enables the club to introduce a 2 hour joint Group 3: Performance and Group 4: County & District training session.

With effect from Friday 9th July, the third phase of the changes will see Group 3: Performance will no longer swimming on a Friday night, allowing Group 2: Competitor to use the whole pool.

The coaches are reviewing the swimmers performance ranked against the 100M IM times that have been gathered in recent time trials. The 100M IM gives a good overall view of the swimmers performance. Some swimmers will be moving groups. If this impacts upon you, your coach will be discussing the potential moves soon so that the new groupings can be agreed and in place in time for the next invoicing round. To understand the process used by the coaches when deciding which swimmers will move groups, please see the Swimmer-Group Movement Process document on the Club Policies (http://www.thameswimmingclub.co.uk/clubpolicies.html ) page of the website. You will see that swimming performance and commitment are reflected in how the coaches will rank the swimmers and hence determine the movement of swimmers between the groups.

You will have noticed that Group 3 has changed its name despite recently getting the new name of Junior County. The decision to name this group Junior County was correct as an isolated move, when looking to emphasise the competitive nature and required commitment for swimmers for that group. However, when taken in the context of the additional pool time and new 100M IM rankings, it was the wrong move. We believe that the Performance name is a better reflection on how this group fits with the progression of swimmers through the club.

These changes will remove the current congestion at the Group 2 and 3 level and provide additional training for those swimmers who are moving through the most competitive part of the club.

The club AGM will be on Sunday 27th June 2010 at Thame Leisure Centre – please come along to hear more about the changes to the training programme and to vote for the committee members standing for another year to serve the needs of the swimmers and the club. We need to hear your views to ensure the club is serving the needs of competitive swimming in Thame and we need to have you there to communicate all that is currently going on with the club.

24th May 2010

For details of our annual summer shut down, click on the poster.

16th May 2010

Big Medal Hall for Thame Squad at City of Oxford Gala

Having been in action at the WDSC Sprint meet in Wycombe on Saturday, Thame swimmers were back in action again on Sunday 16th May at the City of Oxford gala at Temple Cowley. Temple Cowley is renowned for it’s comfortable spectator seating – so all the parents went home with serious cases of Gala Bum!

There were some great PBs with many swimmers knocking large chunks of time off of their PBs. Thomas Goetz produced a 1 min 3.5 Second PB on his 200M Freestyle. Liam Talbot put in an astounding 100M Butterfly race with a time of 1:19.20 secs, a 23 second PB! Amy Haarburger put in a great PB on the 200M Freestyle and Rachel Newton was taking large chunks off of her times.

Our thanks go to Thame volunteer timekeepers, Wendy Randall, Conny Gilmore, Sara Todd, Mark Simms and Tim Kidd, who was signed off by the referee after completing 10 races and became our latest qualified time keeper.

Maisie Randall, having recently turned 9 years old, was competing for the first time for Thame and went home with some bling, well done Maisie!

The top boy competition witnessed Jamie Goetz, boys Vice Captain, coming second with 46 points to the winners 58.

So, with most Thame swimmers in multiple events, it was a tired squad who left Temple Cowley having put in a fantastic performance.

Thame will be back in action again for Round 2 of the Chiltern League on 22nd May and at the Swindon Tigersharks meet on the 23rd May. Click here to see the Thame Gazette article.

There was definitely some hat swapping going on today, look at the pictures, according to the hat, Oliver Hawken, who wasn’t swimming today, swam the 15 year old girls 50M Butterfly. So, Miss Cahill, the all seeing lens spots these things you know!

So, well done to all and hopefully and early night as most of the squad were in action again the next day at the COSC Meet at Temple Cowley on the 16th May.

Click here for photos

9th May 2010

Imogen Swims for Oxfordshire & North Bucks at Kingerlee Trophy Meet

Imogen McCalman made her county debut for Oxfordshire and North Buckinghamshire on Sunday 9th May at the Kingerlee Trophy competition at Milton Keynes. The Kingerlee gala is an annual inter-county gala. Imogen was selected following her outstanding performance at the ONB County Championships in march 2010. The competition included teams from Bedfordshire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire, for swimmers aged 10 to 13years.  Swimming in the 10 year old Girls category,  Imogen represented ONB in two individual events,  50m Fly and 50m Freestyle, and in three relays - 4 x 50m Medley, 4x 50m Freestyle and, finally the Mixed 8x50m Relay. She was disappointed in her Fly time of 38.64 secs but held her own in the Freestyle, coming second with a time of 33.64. The ONB team put in a creditable performance and achieved second place with a total of 138 points behind a very good team from Leicestershire who collected 156 points, (Warwickshire came third with 112 points). One of the highlights of the afternoon was being presented with her county medal by the ONB President Sally-Ann Clavaud.

8th May 2010

Thame Come Top at Leighton Buzzard SC L4

Thame swimmers were at the Stantonbury Campus pool on Saturday 8th May to compete in the Leighton Buzzard Swimming Club L4 meet. Thame Swimming Club is now 1 year old and this gala was the anniversary of our first gala attendance at the LBSC meet in Stantonbury in May 2009 and Thame Swimmers didn’t disappoint, hauling in many medals and PBs. The newer swimmers all got a chance to swim in this ASA Level 4 event and they put in a stunning performance with Thame SC coming in as top club on the day. The medals were coming in thick and fast as well as a bundle of speeding tickets.

Thame swimming club fielded a 23 strong team.  This gala was licence Level 4, an entry level gala aimed at up and coming, less experienced swimmers.

The first event ( Girls 100 IM), saw a  fantastic performance from Thame with the girls taking 3 Golds 2 Silvers and 2 Bronze medals in this event alone as well as 4 Speeding Tickets for those who have now achieved a time too fast for this level of gala. More impressive in the Girls 15 and over 100M  IM Thame girls took 1-2-3, Lydia Briars taking Gold, Olivia Hawkes in Silver, and Cheryl Briars with the Bronze. There were some massive PBs including some great swims from Jessica Russell, Sophie Smith, Ella Simms, James & Rachel Newton, Olivia Hawkes, Thomas Goetz, Dom Holmes and many many more. Jo Hewett looked like she had left Thame to swim for South Africa – her rainbow hat proving to have more than a passing resemblance for the team hat of the Rainbow Nation. Jo has apparently lost her named hat so it looks like another hat order will have to go in soon.

Ella’s Dad, Mark became our newest qualified Timekeeper at the event, getting signed off after the morning sessions. Our thanks go to our other timekeepers that day, Sue Hewett and Tony Collins. The whole day was an astounding success for Team Thame achieving 16 Speeding Tickets, 10 Gold Medals, 10 Silver Medals and 15 Bronze Medals.  Team Thame competed in 89 individual events which produced 70 new PB’s (Personal Best) and after 8 events Team Thame was Top Club.

Thame competed against 9 other clubs from across the region, including Berkhampsted, Bletchley, Modernians and of course the host, Leighton Buzzard, Many of our swimmers competing for the first time. This was and incredible performance by our swimmers.

It was Catherine Jacobs first gala for Thame and what a way to start your competitive career. Catherine went home with two GOLD medals, well done Catherine! See Catherine in action.

Well done to all!

Team Thame will be back in action on their old battle ground of Handy Cross Pool, High Wycombe on Saturday 15th May for the WDSC Sprint meet and then the squad is off to Temple Cowley pool in Oxford on Sunday 16th May for the City of Oxford SC meet.

Click here for photos

7th May 2010

Coach Cara Turns 18!!

Congratulation to Coach Cara who turned 18 this week. The club presented Cara with a card and some bubbly to celebrate with. Cara has been coaching for Thame since we started a year ago, as a volunteer.

All the swimmers have signed Cara’s card and she was treated in the traditional way for a coach attending training on their birthday – Group 1,2 & 3 pushed her in! Well done squad.

Judge Gail brought a cake down for Cara and Dave who is celebrating is XXth birthday today. All the best Cara and we hope you enjoyed your birthday celebrations!

Happy Birthday Cara!

24th April 2010

Thame Squad Competes in Aylesbury Relay Gala

On Saturday 24th April the Thame Squad competed in the Aylesbury Relay Gala. Many of the younger swimmers had a chance to compete on a weekend when virtually all the 14 year old boys in the club were away in the Peak District on the Duke of Edinburgh Silver practice expedition. You will also notice two additions to the squad, coaches Cara Evans and Lorna Whitehead swam for Thame in some of the events. The atmosphere at the Aqua Vale pool was fantastic and the squad had a great evening.

Simon then raced some of the County & District Squad with Imogen McCalman from the Junior County Squad. The first race was meant to be a 50M freestyle. Simon’s PB is around 21.1 Seconds so Jamie Goetz and George Finch, with PBs in the 28 Second region, had some catching up to do. Simon chose to race fly to their freestyle. The next race was against the same swimmers but a 50M fly race. This time Simon did underwater fly kick for 50M and still won, though I’m pretty sure that’s bending the ASA rules a tad. Coach Cara, who loves to race Fly, couldn’t resist the opportunity to get in the pool and race Simon, so after a quick change into borrowed kit, Cara joined the fly race.

Simon then raced some of the Junior County and Competitor squads with the final race as a relay against as many swimmers as we could get in the pool. Simon is hoping to get back to the states on Tuesday 20th April to get back into training. However, the Icelandic Volcanic ash cloud may have something to say about that. In any case we wish him well in his training and his competitions at the European Championships in August and the Commonwealth Games in October.

Thanks again to Simon for his time and we hope to see him again soon.

So, that was Thame Swimming Club’s 1st Birthday and some of you may be wondering what happened with a cake on Friday 16th, well Head Coach, Dave Jones bought a cake (see picture) on Friday, but it would not have lasted until Sunday for so, alas we had to eat it, so I hope those of you who were at training on Friday 16th enjoyed a slice of cake.

Click here for photos of Simon Burnett swimming with Thame swimmers

There were many high placed positions in a numerous number of events. However, Thame accumulated a considerable amount of penalty points for being ‘Too fast’ which resulted in point’s being subtracted. There are fastest times set for each event. So when the points had been added together Thame moved from a position of being placed 1st, to being relegated to 5th Place.

In total Thame swimmers delivered 15 PB’s, including 17 first Places and 12 second Places.

Well done to all. Round 2 of the Chiltern League is on Saturday 22nd May, see Fixtures List

They all put in tremendous effort swimming 59 swims in total between them, many of them swimming long course for the first time, over two very long days.  This resulted in an incredible 56 new PB’s, as well Gold and Bronze medals.

Medals went to Grace Gilmore taken Gold in the 200 Butterfly and Nathanial who took Bronze in the 50m Backstroke. This was an incredibly well organised event and our swimmers rose to the challenge. Well done to all and thanks to our timekeepers for volunteering at the event.

Results ~ Thame Gazette article

21st March 2010

Club Patron Simon Burnett Visits TSC

Simon Burnett dropped into Thame Swimming Club to visit the swimmers on the 21st March. He is over from the US to attend the British Gas Championships in Sheffield between the 29th March and the 3rd April. This is a key qualifying competition for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi later this year. On the last day of the championships, Simon took the 50M Freestyle championship with a time of 22.53 Seconds. Jamie and George have a way to go yet to beat that.

Out of 63 swims the squad produced 47 PBs. There was one other fairly major change, the fastest person in the club is now boys Vice Captain, Jamie Goetz with a 50M Freestyle time of 28.56 seconds. The Finchinator can’t wait for a re-match!

Our thanks go to volunteers from Thame who took the poolside drinks around to the officials on the 13th and 14th March. Sara Todd, Sue Hewett, Club Secretary David Finch, Club Treasurer Simon Haarburger, Boys Vice Captain Jamie Goetz, Club Officials & Events Secretary David Cross, Club Child Protection Officer Carol Allen, John Cahill and Girls Vice Captain Olivia Hawkes. Our thanks also go out to all the officials and volunteers from all the clubs of the ONB County without whose effort, the championships could not have been run and those massive smiles on the faces of our swimmers would not have happened.

An excellent performance by all, a brilliant start in our 1st Counties. Well done to everyone!

Click here to see the Thame Gazette article

6th March 2009

George Anderson & Thame Land Training Make the Paper

This weekend’s Thame Gazette had George Anderson and team Thame on one of their Land Training Sessions. Come along to the sessions if you are in Groups 2, 3 and 4 and let George get you fit. Your times will benefit!

5th March 2010

Easter Swimming Arrangements

Please see the Easter swimming arrangements poster here (click the poster to enlarge) and note that there is no Land Training over the Easter holidays.

2nd March 2010

One Sporting Moment In Thame - A Great Party!

On Saturday 30th January, parents and friends gathered at the James Figg barns in Thame for the One Sporting Moment event, an evening of live music to raise money for Thame Town Cricket Club, Thame Swimming Club and Thame Boys Youth and Girls Football Club. Three bands, Acoustic Edge, Swamplands
and 2AM Blue played some great music to an appreciative audience. MC for the evening was our own Treasurer, Simon Haarburger who was subject to some microphone stand abuse as it was always at it's max height whenever Simon stepped up to announce. County & District swimmers Eloise Littler's Dad, Jon
was on lead guitar and singing for 2AM Blue.

As tracks from the Beatles, Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters and David Bowie, to name but a few, rang out through the hall, all agreed it was a great night. A staggering £550 was raised for each of the three clubs and thanks go to Simon, the organisers from the other clubs and to the band members for a great night.

2nd March 2010

BRITISH GAS SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS 29th March – 3rd April 2010

This is one of the qualifying events for Britain’s top swimmers to get into the Commonwealth Games and is a chance for our swimmers to see the best of the best in British Swimming in action. We are NOT arranging a club trip to the event to watch but thought that those of you who are interested might like to know about the event and take your swimmers there to see some great top level swimming. http://www.swimming.org/

22nd February 2010

Thame Opens it's County Account with Big PBs

Thame swimmers Harriet Cross and Imogen McCalman opened Thame’s account at the County Championships with some big PBs in the 400M Freestyle at Stantonbury Pool on Sunday 21st February 2010. Harriet clocked up a PB in the order or 20 seconds with Imogen taking 41 seconds off of her PB and just missing a regional 400M time by 8 seconds. Thame swimmers will be in action again at the 50M, 100M and 200M County events over the first two weekends in March’10 at Aqua Vale in Aylesbury.

Now all we have to do is get Harriet’s Dad – our Officials and Events Secretary!, to get Harriet a club shirt!

22nd February 2010

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS: Accepted & Rejected Swimmers

The links to the PDF documents will let Thame Swimmers who entered for the County Championships on 6th – 7th and 13th – 14th March 2010, know which events they have been accepted for. The championships are at Aqua Vale in Aylesbury. Be aware that just about every club in the Oxfordshire & North Buckinghamshire county will be represented so make your plans to be there in time for warm up and for car parking etc. Also, NOTE: Where you see that you are accepted for an event with the word “prelims” this means that the event goes on to have finals to decide the county champion, so don’t assume that you can leave the pool as soon as you have raced.

Thame Rejections

Thame Accepted Entries