Where to start? Perhaps with the broken hose - and, obviously, in an inaccessible location - requiring a hour's wait at a services for a replacement coach. No problem, just an opportunity for team building and coffee. With no further incident, the Otters arrive and colonise the hotel just in time for the buffet dinner. Thereafter a staggered migration of the swimmers upstairs for a good night's rest. A quick chaperone pass to sort out room allocations amongst the senior swimmers and the adults settle down to some serious strategising in the lounge. Must have been fairly complex as some were still observed debating into the wee hours!
A bright eyed team descended for breakfast and then boarded the coach for Ponds Forge.
For many of the team - and most of the younger ones - this was the first time at Ponds Forge. The atmosphere was brilliant with all the teams brightly dressed and barking-mad suporters in abundance. The Otters looked dashing in their dark blue polo's - courtesy of Forshaw Developments - and their camoflauge shorts - courtesy of Horizon Honda. Otters may have been in camoflauge but there was no hiding their intent once the Gala began. With some outstanding swims across the age spectrum it was clear Ferndown was once again boxing well above its weight! If swimming is an individual sport, this was not apparent from our lot!. With the older ones encouraging the younger ones and the younger ones rising to the occasion like seasoned professionals Ferndown clawed their way into the top half of the points tables. They intermittently popped in second position but our lack of numbers made it a temporary sojourn.
50 Events after the first starting signal and Ferndown was placed 4th in the points table. Cardiff had surged in the final relays to take first and Ealing were tied in second with Salford. A mere 6 points separated these two from Ferndown!
Ferndown's 9 first places were second only to Ealing's 10 and a good indicator of our future potential. With many of our recent - and talented - joiners ineligible for the final, the prognosis for next year is healthy
Place
Team
Points
1
City of Cardiff
320
2
Ealing SC
297
2
City of Salford SC
297
4
Ferndown SC
291
5
Nottingham Leander SC
264
6
Bournemouth Dolphins SC
261
7
Taunton Deane SC
260
8
Bracknell & Wokingham SC
259
9
City of Derby Swimming Club
255
10
Leatherhead SC
249
The table below list all of our swims. First, seconds and thirds are highlighted. It's clear from a quick perusal of this table just how well our swimmers performed and how well distributed our top places are across the age groups.
Well done to all the team. You all did the club proud in the pool and on the trip! It's not always easy to put a smile on Tony's face but you guys did!
Jane Burry did an exemplary job in organising all the associated logistics of the trip. Thanks to Tony, Emma, Mark T and Mandy for taking the team up. Thanks to Malcolm, the driver, for his cheerful smile in the face of breakdowns, rest breaks and sugar highs. Mel, Michelle, Chris and Alistair all cut fine figures in their pristine whites as Ferndown's 4 judges. A very big thank-you also to Phil Forshaw of Forshaw Developments for sponsoring the team shirts and to Steve Roberts and Horizon Honda for sponsoring the team shorts.
Western County Youth Champs:
May Bank Holiday saw Otter's youths trekking across the bucolic sculpture gardens bridging the gap twixt furthermost car-parks and Millfield's sweeping 50m pool complex. With 24 entrants and a few more qualifyers for the ASASWR Youth Championships the emerging strength of our growing club is readily apparent.
Tony, MarkT and Mandy were rewarded with impressive swims across the board.
Zoe Watson swam a blistering 100 Free to record her first sub-minute long course time of 59.90 which was the fastest in the 14/15 age group. Though she slipped to 7th in the Finals, her heat time would have comfortably won 1st in the Junior Final and 3rd in the Senior final.
Fiona ensured a trip to Sheffield for the Hardie mini-fridge with a National QT in the 50 Free. This is Fiona's first NQT and came shortly after a significant pb in the her 400 Free. Nice one, Finona!
Kim Rowles swam a curtailed program very shortly after recovery from stomach flu and was rewarded for her fortitude with a near pb in the 200 IM to win gold in the fastest time of the Meet. Emily Freeman and Kim took the top two spots in the 200IM heats in the Senior section. Kim also pb'ed in her 100 Free.
Fran Hughes comfortably won the 100 Breast but was unfortunately DQ'ed. She made good in the 200 Breast to win the Junior finals. She also gained an NQT in her 200IM.
Both Craig and Emily Freeman posted good pb's. Ben Fellows took another 4 seconds off his 100 Back. Tom Tiller had a great 800 and Chris Wignall once again gave a master class in supreme effort. Nicole Scott was en-route to a 100 Fly victory when her dreaded migraine struck again. Dom, too, got an NQT in the 50 Free and may have won the 200 Free had it not been for those last pesky 15 metres!
Tony felt greatly encouraged by the squad's performance, especially considering the number of swimmers recovering from flu and currently writing exams. Well done to all.
(Swimmers: Katie Allen, Fiona Hardie, Anne-Marie Taylor, Marika Rolt, Kimberley Rowles, Zoe Watson, Chris Wignall, Joshua Smith, Craig Freeman, Emily Fellows, Ben Fellows, Dominic Macdonald, Hannah Dicker, Francesca Hughes, Alastair Hardie, Nicole Scott, Georgina Blake, Emily Freeman, Cathy Close, Sean Heppell, Ferndown Sc, Emma Baird, Thomas Tiller, Jacey Mayall)
For more details see the results and the Echo article by Roger Guttridge.
All Stars Weekend
Nine Otters made the pilgrimage up to Leeds on the last weekend of April as part of Dorset's County Development Program. The Otters' contingent comprised of Luke R, Georgie, Fiona, Roseanna, Sam B, Ellie B, Lucy K, Todd and Noah. All 9 Otters worked hard over the two days with a full program of technique training on land and in the pool as well as classroom sessions on conditioning, stretching, nutrition and mental approach. The program was delivered under the auspices of Total Swimming by GB Olympic, Commonwealth and International Swimmers James Hickman, Adrian Turner and Alex Scotcher. The Otters - as expected - were great ambassadors for the club and county with Sam Bates being the only swimmer able to swim a full long course length under water and Luke Raggett getting the "Male Swimmer of the Weekend" award.
Luke with Commonwealth Gold Medalist, Alex Scotcher
Thanks to Dorset ASA and Di Gibbs for their support and to the parents who took the group up to Leeds.
Littlehampton Meet
A short trip down the M27 took a fair contingent of Otters to the Littlehampton “Last Chance Qualifier” in Portsmouth. This was the first time Ferndown has supported this meet and the main aim was to give our swimmers another opportunity to gain qualifying times for the South West Region Age Group Champs. Emma expected a few pb’s in the wake of an extremely successful Dorset County Champs but the following list of stand-out swims came as both a pleasant surprise and a reward for the continuing hardwork and dedication in the water and on poolside!
In order of first appearance, the following swimmers produced notable races:-
Dani Burry came 3rd in the 400 IM with a 16 second pb and Western QT. She got a 3.7 second pb in the 200 Back, and a 3 second pb in the 200 IM to finish just one place out of the medals. Daniel Bliss completed the 400 Free in a 36 second pb. Ellis Mayal swam a 2 second pb 100 back to get a Western QT. Obviously inspired, she also got an 11 second pb in the 200IM and a 7 second pb in the 200 Free. Harriet Higgins clearly had a great breakfast. She won 2nd in the 100 Breast. She came 1st in the 200 back in an EBT (Event Best Time), 1st in the 200IM with a 4.5 second pb and EBT, 1st with a 5 second pb and EBT in the 200 Breast, 1st in a 38s pb and EBT in the 400 Free, 2nd with a 4 second pb in the 100 Back, 1st in the 200 Free in an EBT and, with a 3 second pb, 2nd in 100 Free. Not a bad list for a two day meet – well done Higgety! Esther Holtom got a 5 second pb in the 100 Breast, and a 7 second pb in the 200 Breast. Shannon Horton won st with a pb in the 100 Breast and a 3rd in the 50 Free. Harvey (Torpedo) Trehane got a 6.5 second pb in the 100 Back, a 5 second pb in 100 Free and an impressive 11 second pb in the 50 Back. Charlie Roberts won 2nd with a pb in the 100 Back. Ben Hyde swam a 4.5 second pb in 100 back and a 5 second pb in the 200 Free to finish one place out of the medals. Jackson Mullins swam a 4 second pb in the 100 back. Jeff Holtom – not to be outdone by his little sister - pb’ed to finish just out of medals in 100 Back, and won 3rd with a pb in the 100 Free. He then swam a 5 second pb in the 200 Back to take 1st. Both 100 and 200 Backstroke times were new Western Qt's for Jeff. Very well done, Jeff! James Stock delivered a 3 second pb in the 100 back, a 3rd 200 Free and a 1st in a 5 second pb in the 200 Back. Maddie Williams swam a ferocious 50 Free to produce a 7 second pb. Chloe Morris put a smile on Dad’s face with a pb to finish just out of medals in 50 Free, a 6 second pb in the 200 IM, a 3rd with a 10 second pb in the 100 Fly and a 6.5 second pb in the 100 Free. Spencer Wilks’s 3 second pb in the 50 Breast was good enough to take 1st and claim EBT (Event Best Time); his 2.5 second pb in the 200 Free earned him 2nd place. Hollie Shearing swam a 12 second pb in the 200 Back. Paige Chasty got a 5 second pb in the 200 Backand a 3.5 second pb in the 200 IM. Luke Horton took a weekend out of goals to claim 2nd with a 4.5 second pb in the 200 Free, 1st in a pb in the 50 Free, and 1 st with an astonishing 23 s pb in the 200 Fly. Aaron Lee swam a 3 second pb in the 200 Free. Mikey Kingsley swam a 3 second pb in the 200 Free, and a 6 second pb in the100 Free. Thomas Tiller pb’ed to get 1st and EBT in the 200 Free. He also won 1st in a pb and EBT in the 50 Free Esme Horton produced a 24 second pb in the 200 IM and an 8 second pb in the 200 Breast. Victoria Joy produced a 9 second pb in 200IM, A pb in the 50 Free earned her 1st and EBT in the 50 Free. On a roll, she swam a 6.5 second pb in the 100 Back, won 2nd in the 100 Free and pb’ed to get 1st in the 50 Back. Oscar Trehane , inspired by his older brother, swam a 5 second pb in the 50 Back. Hannah Beavis swam a fine 20 second pb in the 200 Breast Deb Cure won 3rd in the 200 Breast Emma Wignall swam a 12 second pb in 400 Free, finishing just out of the medals, She pb’d to get 3rd in the 100 Back Josh Sims won 3rd in a 33 second pb in the 400 IM. Clodagh Dear won 3rd in the 50 Breast. Alan Wong , who joined recently and swam so well in Round 1 of SJL, pb’ed to take 2nd in the 50 Fly. He swam a 6.5 second pb to take 3rd in the 200 Back and a 5 second pb to take 3 rd in the 100 Fly.
Emma was pleased to see more Western QT times and improvements across the board. Well done to the swimmers and thanks to Emma and her helpers.
Sat 19th April 2008. No settling down in front of the fireplace and telly for a cosy afternoon's sport for about 30 young Otters and their dedicated parents; instead, a coach trip through soggy Somerset to Keynsham for Round 1 of the Southern Junior League. Present too, at the 6 team Gala, were Weymouth, Trowbridge, Swindon, Thornbury and hosts, Keynsham. Swindon's Sx3 is now a consolidated team comprising Swindon Dolphin, Tigersharks, Swindon ASC and Wroughton. Both Thornbury and Keynsham have strong junior programs and have beaten our Otters in the past. This was clearly going to be a good test of Emma's burgeoning junior program. Would our increased numbers, increased sessions and Emma's frantic dashing between our 5 training pools yield positive results? This, and whether the chippy would still be open after the Gala, were questions swirling around all our minds.
Clodagh leading the warmup.
Ben and Charlie
As the first few events unfolded, signaled by a rather ferocious starting pistol, first places went to all of the abovementioned competitors. It was clearly going to be a tough Gala! After 10 events Otters were in first, just ahead of Keynsham with Thornbury not too far behind. After 15 events, Otters and Keynsham were nosing ahead of the rest. After 20 events, Otters had a lead of 6 points over the hosts. A block of strong individual swims took this lead to 20 after 40 events. A strong surge by Keynsham in the last 9 events - all relays - combined with a DQ for our boys in the 12&Under 4x1 Relay saw our hosts clawing back some of our lead. Event 49, the team canon saw Otters take an early lead which they built upon to win the final event and the whole Gala by just 12 points.
Otters won the following events...
Boys 9 4x1 Free
Alex Price, Joe Pearce, Thomas Jacobs and Spencer Wilks
Boys 10 4x1 Medley
Harvey Trehane, Danile Bliss, Alan Wong, Myles Horlock
Girls 11 4x1 Free
Victoria Joy, Chloe Morris, Steph Hughes, Lucy Kirkam
Boys 11 4x1 Free
Luke Horton, Ben Hyde, Noah Vides, Todd Price
Boys 12 4x1 Medley
Charlie Roberts, Noah Vides, Mikey Kingsley, Jackson Mullens
Boys 9 25 Free
Spencer Wilks
Girls 10 50 Breast
Christy Cole
Boys 10 50 Breast
Daniel Bliss
Boys 11 50 Back
Luke Horton
Boys 12 50 Fly
Todd Price
Boys 9 25 Breast
Spencer Wilks
Girls 10 50 Back
Harriet Higgins
Boys 10 50 Back
Harvey Trehane
Boys 11 50 Fly
Todd Price
Boys 9 25 Back
Thomas Jacobs
Girls 10 50 Fly
Christy Cole
Boys 10 50 Fly
Alan Wong
Girls 11 50 Free
Lucy Kirkham
Boys 11 50 Free
Todd Price
Boys 9 25 Fly
Alex Price
Girls 10 50 Free
Harriete Higgins
Boys 10 50 Free
Alan Wong
Boys 11 50 Breast
Noah Vides
Boys 9 4x1 Medley
Thomas Jacobs, Spencer Wilks, Alex Price, Joe Pearce
Boys 10 4x1 Free
Myles Horlock, Daniel Bliss, Harvey Trehane, Alan Wong
Girls 11 4x1 Medley
Chloe Morris, Lucy Kirkham, Steph Hughes, Victoria Joy
Well done to the team for a hard fought victory and especially to our 9's and 10's who did so well. Thanks to Keynsham for hosting a friendly and well run Gala and to our poolside volunteers and somewhat fraught coach-chaperones for their help with the team. With some work on our starts, turns and safety-belts, we'll do even better next time!
Jubilation at the final score!
BDSC Level 2 April 08
Well done to all the Otters who took part in the BDSC Level 2 over the weekend. Daniel Speers was in fine form with some large pb's and a massive haul of 7 Golds and 2 Silvers (equaling the Gold tally of the G.B. team and Kirsty Coventry combined!). Roseanna Bramwell-Reeks translated a good block of training into a slew of impressive pb's too. Results can be found on the BDSC website
British Championships
Well done to Nichole, Chris, Kim, Craig, Fran and Naomi who all competed at the British Championships at Sheffield last week. It was a fantastic achievement to qualify for an event of this standing and an opportunity to share pool space with Great Britain's top swimmers competing at the same event for spots on the GB Team for Beijing. There were a few swimmers quicker in the water than our Otters but no-one outperformed them in the Chinese buffet across the road from Ponds Forge. For more details, please read the following article by Roger Guttridge in the Echo
Ferndown Colours Gala write up
30 March 08:
A 5:15 pm start to Ferndown's second Colours Gala allowed swimmers and parents to take advantage of a glorious spring day before settling down for a few hours of chlorinated competing in the humid battleground that is Ferndown Leisure Centre swimming pool. With Emma and most of her assistant coaches observing from the side, the Gala was run by Michelle Wignall and her team of parent volunteers. Any deviation from the normally strict white dress code was more than made up for by some splendid team management, superb time keeping, sweet announcing and surreal refereeing!
A good atmosphere prevailed and the many new youngsters were warmly encouraged in their first competition by a supportive crowd. It was a colourful event, indeed, but the Red, Yellow and Green teams were left with a distinct case of the blues as Mikey and Hannah were called up to receive the team trophy for Team Blue! The Gala ended with Otter's patented warmdown session - certainly more enjoyable than the normal 10 x 200's!
2008 Dorset County Champs Otters on top
Sat 15th March; 9 hours worth of Sprints at Littledown were scheduled to complete the 2008 County Championships. Trepidation was felt on two counts. Firstly, had we done so well in the distance events that it would cost us in the sprints? Secondly, where was the great weather that had thus far accompanied all the other County days?
Club
Points
Ferndown
2514
Bournemouth Dolphins
1983
Tornadoes of South Dorset
1231
Christchurch & NM Seagulls
940
West Dorset Warriors
829
Poole S.C.
732
Weymouth
122
Wareham and District S.C.
118
Clayesmore
83
Gillingham
62
Bridport Barracudas
31
Blandford
9
Not too many swims were required to see that not only had normal service been resumed by the weather-gods, but that - notwithstanding their success in the 400 IM's in February - the Otters' sprinting abilities remain finely honed.
The 9 hours passed in a blur of warmups and 2 length dashes! For many younger Otters it was the first taste of high level competing and they did the club proud. Once again, there are far too many outstanding results to mention so please refer to the Results, Tables and other links for the breakdowns.
In summary, the Ferndown Otters finished in First Place with an aggregate lead of 531 points - equivalent to over 66 first place finishes - and 33 medals ahead of our closest competitors. This is, by any calculus, a spectacular result and a clear indication of the direction the coaching staff and swimmers are taking the club. Todd Price was the "winning-est" Otter with 16 Medals - 12 of which were Gold - and a personal contribution of 123 points to the club's total. Dom MacDonald swam a breathtaking 50m Free to be pipped to second by Dolphin's Will Harrison. Dom's swim, which won the 15/16 Age Group, was also the only NQT (National Qualifying Time) of the whole day.
The following Age Group swimmers ( Boys 9-14, Girls 9-13) made top 8 places in their Bagcats Groups:-
Esme Horton - 8th 9 Years Harriet Higgins - 2nd 10 Years, Paige Chasty - 5th 10 Years, Christy Cole - 8th 10 Years Zoe Taylor - 4th 11 Years, Lucy Kirkham - 5th 11 Years, Victoria Joy - 8th 11 Years Ellie Beckwith - 1st 12 Years, Danni Burry - 5th 12 Years, Clodagh Dear - 8th 12 Years Naomi Vides - 1st 13 Years, Emma Wignall - 4th 13 Years, Deb Cure - 6th 13 Years, Shannon Horton - 8th 13 Years. Spencer Wilks - 3rd 9 Years, Alex Price - 7th 9 Years Dan Speers - 2nd 10 Years, Daniel Bliss - 6th 10 Years Tod Price - 1st 11 Years, Noah Vides - 3rd 11 Years, Luke Horton - 4th 11 Years Sam Bates - 3rd 13 Years, Elliot Wilks - 7th 13 Years Luke Ragget - 2nd 14 Years.
Well done Otters for taking Ferndown Swimming to such a stand-out result! Thanks to the coaching staff for their dedication and thanks, too, to our parent-volunteers and to DCASA's Jill Beard, Di Gibbs and their tireless teams.
Chris Campbell swims W.I.S.E.ly
Ferndown Otter's very own Chris Campbell swam for England against Wales, Ireland and Scotland over the weekend in the W.I.S.E. School's International. Chris took home 3 Golds, 1 Bronze and 2 Dorset county records from the Meet at Crawley. Follow the link to the Echo article by Roger Guttridge.
Judith Cooling has been selected to represent Great Britain at the 4th DSISO (Down Syndrome Int. Swimming Organisation) Championships in Portugal alter this year. Well done Judith! We're proud of your achievements and the hard work you put into your training.
Glorious sun bathed the mid-February weekend. Crisp mornings gave way to warm afternoons and golden evenings. All annoyingly academic for Dorset's swimmers and their loyal parents who spent a second weekend at Littledown for the County Championships. Otters started the weekend leading the points and medal tables. With many of our swimmers away or having succumbed to one of the many viruses doing the rounds, there was some concern for our ability to maintain our position. Once again the sight of so many Ferndown parents parading to their official positions in perfect whites provided the needed boost in morale and the Otters set about doing what they do best - swimming fast and finishing first!
With Reuben in full song, and Tony, Emma and MarkT in encouraging form, the Otters performed superbly across the board. With outstanding swims from many other clubs, Ferndown swimmers were still able to stamp their supremacy on the proceedings (in this writer's view).
By the end of Sunday, Ferndown Swimming had stretched its lead to 280 points (the equivalent of 35 1st places swims!) with a good lead in the Heats Medal Tables and a dominant first place in the Finals Medal tables.
Club
Points
Ferndown
1634
Bournemouth Dolphins
1354
Tornadoes of South Dorset
881
Christchurch & NM Seagulls
599
West Dorset Warriors
572
Poole S.C.
375
Clayesmore
50
Wareham and District S.C.
44
Gillingham
34
Weymouth
29
Heats
Club
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
Ferndown
62
47
32
141
Bournemouth Dolphins
57
30
45
132
Tornadoes of South Dorset
24
32
20
76
Christchurch & NM Seagulls
16
13
15
44
West Dorset Warriors
6
17
14
37
Poole S.C.
3
15
13
31
Gillingham
1
1
2
4
Weymouth
0
2
1
3
Clayesmore
0
2
0
2
Wareham and District S.C.
0
0
0
0
Bridport Barracudas
0
0
0
0
Blandford
0
0
0
0
With 182 individual swims that were some combination of Age Group CBT (champ. best time), Jnr CBT, Snr CBT, Jnr Record, Senior Record, WCQT (westerns qual. time) or NQT (national qual. time), it's not possible to fairly list the best swims. The list of impressive pb's is even more extensive. This writer, however, was singularly impressed to see Elliot Wilks achieve a pb in the 400 Free even after stopping at 350 metres for a chat with the timekeeper!
The club is grateful to DCASA for their hard work in running the event and to all the parents who volunteered to help.
With so many Ferndown parents resplendent in their white uniforms and and steady drinks trays, it may have been a little easier to ignore the swimmers for once. This illusion did not last much past the first starting signal. With almost 100% participation rates from our eligible Otters and a good training program under way, the results and acronyms flowed. PB's CBT's CtyRecs, WQT's as well as NQT's abounded (and confused the uninitiated).
Full results will follow but suffice it to say that after the first weekend's swimming, Otters lead both the Points Table and the Medals Table. This accurately reflects the efforts and contributions of all our swimmers. Well done and good luck for next weekend!
Club
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
Ferndown
31
20
16
67
Bournemouth Dolphins
27
15
20
62
Tornadoes of South Dorset
12
14
15
41
Christchurch & NM Seagulls
7
9
8
24
West Dorset Warriors
5
9
4
18
Poole S.C.
3
9
3
15
Gillingham
1
1
1
3
Clayesmore
0
1
0
1
Weymouth
0
1
0
1
Wareham and District S.C.
0
0
0
0
Bridport Barracudas
0
0
0
0
Hants & South Coast Invitational Meet, Jan 26 th 2008:
A few parents thought they would prefer a quiet weekend in preference to a trip to Aylesbury for the Maxwell Meet. Not to be, for the families of 14 Otters selected for the H&SC Invitational Meet at Haslemere on Saturday evening.
Hopes were high for good results and indeed the Otters had won the Junior Cup last year in our first outing to this meet. With strong competition the overall Cup remained beyond our reach this time. However, with 35 of our 41 swims being personal bests and only one DQ in a very young and inexperienced team, no-one left disappointed.
Top 3 places went to:-
Christy Cole – 1 st 10 y/o Breaststroke.
Steph Hughes – 2 nd 10 y/o Backstroke, 1 st 10/yo Fly, 1 st 10 y/o Free
Clodagh Dear – 1 st 11 y/o Backstroke, 1 st 11 y/o Fly, 3 rd 11 y/o Free
Ben Hyde – 1 st 11 y/o Backstroke, 2 nd 11 y/o 50 Free
Mikey Kingsley – 3 rd 11 y/o Backstroke, 2 nd 11 y/o Fly
The Girls relay swam outstandingly to win by almost 4 seconds. The boys relay team won too after a ferocious battle in the final leg by Ben Hyde. Harvey Trehane also made a great contribution to the relay for one so young!
Steph Hughes won Top Girl award in the 10 y/o category and Clodagh Dear and Ben Hyde won 2 nd Girl and Boy awards respectively in the 11 y/o category.
Final points overall were :-
Woking 397
Rushmoor Royals 365
Hart 347 Ferndown 314 Epsom District 286
Alton and District 214
Fareham Nomads 211
Godalming 202
Andover 165
Haslemere Blue 164
Havant and Waterlooville 162
Basingstoke Bluefins 126
Gosport Dolphins 85
Haslemere White 66
So well done to all the young Otters and thanks to Lizz, Becky, Reuben and Debbie for managing the team.
Maxwell Level 2 Meet, January 2008:
Kevin Brooks is the head coach of Maxwell Swimming Club. He previously coached with Emma at Ferndown and so the Aylesbury meet has always been a relaxed and enjoyable weekend for the Otters contingent. With just over 40 Otters entered, local hotels did well out of our club.
With some fast times posted at the end of last year, expectations were not high for pb’s but as Session 1 progressed on Saturday morning it became apparent that something special was happening in the pool. By Sunday evening and with 5 sessions completed, Ferndown swimmers had amassed 34 Golds, 21 Silvers and 19 Bronzes. More importantly the vast majority of swims resulted in pb’s.
Harriet (Higgety) Higgins was DQ’ed for moving on the blocks in her 200 Breast which was especially unfortunate as she put in a terrific swim to take a massive 15 seconds off her pb! She made amends by taking 15 seconds off her 200 IM pb to win the 9-10 y/o age group. Jeff Holtom made large inroads into all his freestyle pb’s and was even spotted racing in a swim cap! Emily Fellows swam a gutsy 200 IM to take 5 seconds off her best time and put a large smile on Lizz’s face. Zoe Watson and Kimberly Rowles together took charge of the 100, 200 and 400 Free to take two of the top 3 places in each. Daniel Speers needed a trailer for all his gold medals. Chris Campbell was on top form as was Alastair Hardie.
Most of the swimmers unwound, before the drive home, in the fun pool. This was not necessary for the parents, many of whom had done some serious unwinding on Saturday night at the Holiday Inn.
This was a great start to the year’s competitive calendar. Hopefully all swimmers will stay healthy and work hard in the run up to Dorsets.
Full results can be found on the Maxwell website, but medal places went to:-
