Attending their first meet since the Country Championships members of the West Coast Swimming Club travelled to Whyalla over the weekend 1st and 2nd of March to contest an indoor short course open carnival in conjunction with an open water swim in the Whyalla Marina. Medals began streaming in immediately with Bryce Hammond (7 yrs) beaming from ear to ear with his first ever open carnival medals - gold in both the 8 and under 25m freestyle and backstroke in a time of 22.08 and 24.78 seconds respectively. Also competing in her first open carnival was Tasmin Durdin (10 yrs) who together with Sophie Traeger, Bridie Micken and Kylie Hurrell took out the first 4 places in the 10 and under 50m breastroke. Joseph Perin (9 yrs) has been participating regularly in club time trials and also took the opportunity to refine his race skills at Whyalla in the lead up to the SAPSASA event in Adelaide in March. Joseph competed in 4 events including a 50m butterfly finishing in 4th place in a 1.15.21.
It was great to see Ellie McInerney back in the water after her recent hospital stay. She competed in the 4 x 25m freestyle relay and together with Jamie Ford, Tasmin Durdin and Emma Hamnett missed out on first place in the final by the narrowest of margins. Ellie's brother Kyle is proving to be the one to beat in the 9 year old boys age group with his most competitive results in the 10 and under 50m backstroke (51.22) and breastroke (55.88) Competing in the next age group up was Jarrod Stolz who has gained plenty of race confidence and fitness being a regular attendee at morning and afternoon training sessions. Jarrod's best performance was in his 50m breastroke finishing in 4th place with a time of 58.67. Emma Hamnett made excellent ground on her backstroke and breastroke personal best times with the biggest improvement in her 50m backstroke (52.88). Members of the development squad are continuing to refine their racing skills; particularly their etiquette on the blocks (no muscle movement, goggle adjustments permitted), underwater streamlining and efficiency over the duration of the turn. Pleasing personal best times were recorded by Tommy Ford who continues to show his strength in backstroke. He recorded 13 year old State Short Course Qualifying Times in all three distances - the 50m, 100m and 200m events. Also recording State Qualifying times in 8 out of 10 events was Henry Lambert who also celebrated a recent birthday. He returned from Whyalla with 4 gold medals in the 50m backstroke (32.84), 50m breastroke (35.18) and 100 & 200m backstroke (1.12.03 and 2.46.97). Maxwell Lambert enjoyed his mornings events with National Age prodigy and rival swimmer Simon Geldenhys from Whyalla being unavailable due to a cricket grandfinal. Maxwell also came away with two 14 year old State Age qualifying times in the 50m backstroke (35.46) and 50m breastroke (42.08) and felt the weight of 8 medals around his neck by the end of the meet! Christopher Bawden was recognised at our recent pointscore event as one of our 'Swimmers of the Month' having made some drastic improvements in his performance in recent months. His results in Whyalla were just as impressive finishing with a clean sweep of personal best times. He recorded state qualification standards in the 13 year old age category for 50m and 100m breastroke events (43.78 and 1.34.34) and we look forward to seeing him add a 200m breastroke to his swimming repertoire in coming meets. Breastrokers Brookyln George and Dana Hurrell recorded their best performances in the 200 breastroke finishing in second and third place respectively (3.53.39 and 3.56.94). Madeline McShane who is shortly participating in the World's greatest shave, continued to make ground on her 100m breastroke (1.47.82) and 100m freestyle (1.25.54). She also tackled the 400 Individual Medley which is one of the rockstar events due to its demanding nature across all 4 stokes. She completed the race in 7.54.79. Surprise performance of the meet went to Gerard Meyer who at 16 years of age made significant time improvements across almost all events. His competitiveness in breastroke shone through with 17 year old State Age Qualification in all three distances (50m, 100, and 200m). His 100m freestyle is continuing to edge closer to the 1 minute mark this time recording a 1.03.22. Gerard also participated in the 1600m Open Water Event on the Sunday together with five other members of the club. His younger sister, Mia Meyer swam a great 50m butterfly to take out the gold in the 1 3 - 14 age group (39.77) Rested after her outstanding effort at the State Championships in late January, Brooke Traeger competed in a total of 11 events taking out either gold or silver in every event, whether they be age group categorised or open. She continued to show her versatility between the pool and open ocean events also taking out the title of fastest female competitor in the Open Water Swim on Sunday completing the 1600m in a time of 23 minutes and 20 seconds. Also braving the open water event was first timer Kellie Dennis who was rewarded with a third placed visitor trophy. Sharing the water with a very friendly mother dolphin and her calf Kellie completed the race in 29 minutes and 54 seconds. Kellie had plenty of medal winning swims in the pool on Saturday with her backstroke rewarding her with a gold (200m backstroke - 3.22.47) and silver (100m backstroke - 1.33.80) medallion. India Copland finished in second place in the 50m 11 - 12 yrs breastroke in a time of 44.89 also medalling in the 50m freestyle (33.88). Jamie Ford (11 years) continues to mentally work through mastering 100m distance events recording personal best performances in her 100m breastroke (1.52.05), 100m butterfly (1.50.21) and 100m backstroke (1.36.75). Joining the team were West Coast's 'swimming cousins' from the Ceduna Branch who bought a large contingent across to enjoy the carnival. The club has the administrative capacity to cater for a geographically dispersed membership base and provides financial services, nomination officer services, equipment supplies and team uniform requirements to swimmers from Ceduna, Lock, Cummins, Tumby Bay and Port Lincoln. You can learn more about the operations of the West Coast Swimming Club via the club's website www.westcoastswimmingclub.com
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After being invited to attend the South Australian Long Course Age Championships following their outstanding performances at the SA Country Championships in Murray Bridge, West Coast Swimmers Brooke Traeger and India Copland returned to the SA Aquatic and Leisure in Marion to contest the South Australian Age Championships from the 21st - 24th of January. This swimming meet brings together South Australia's finest age group athletes all vying for the honour of being named South Australian 'State Champion'. Also invited to the event were Luke Andrews and Levi Proude, however due to other commitments they declined the invitation. Both Brooke and India proved that they have the ability to continue to produce personal best times under the pressure of championship racing. Incredibly in the first schedule of event heats, Brooke managed a personal best time of 2.43.81 to secure a place in the final of the 14yrs 200m butterfly. Lining up for the final that evening she managed what many believed to be impossible - improve her time again by a massive 9 seconds to win the gold medal in a time of 2.34.65. This time was just two seconds shy of the National Age Qualifying time which stands at 2.32.20. India Copland - 12 yrs recorded her best performance in the 50m breastroke finishing the race in a PB of 43.51. Brooke's butterfly performances in shorter distances - namely the 50m and 100m butterfly also resulted in her appearance on the winner's podium. Brooke received a bronze in both events in a time of 31.10 and 1.11.00 respectively. To complete her medal haul Brooke found yet another reserve of energy to again secure the bronze medal in the 50m freestyle (28.60) in a time that was just .3 of a second shy of the Australian Age Qualifying of 28.30. Swimming Australia have a tiered structure of goal times with Brooke now achieving times against a Youth Performance Squad 'blue' level and India being one of a number of our younger athletes that has made the Junior Excellence 'silver' standard. Just for the record Brooke then travelled overnight with her family back to Port Lincoln to jump in the water at the Tunarama Swim thru event to exit the water 'fastest female' with a $100 prize in her pocket. What an exciting year ahead for these talented swimmers. The 2014 Tunarama Swim-Thru was a huge success for the West Coast Swimming Club, with 15 swimmers from the club completing the 1 kilometre swim. Brooke Traeger finished first in the Junior and Open female division in a time of 13 minutes 55 seconds, crossing the line in second position overall and earning herself $100 for her efforts. Henry Lambert swam a great time of 14 minutes and 9 seconds, winning the Junior Male division, and placing second in the Open Male division finishing just ahead of Levi Proude (14.31), who took second in the Junior male division. Swimmers including James Andrews, Gerard Meyer and Nik Constantinopoulos finished in the top 15, with young Max Lambert and Tommy Ford nipping at their heels . Kellie Dennis completed the swim in 17.36 and was recognised with a silver medal in the Junior Female category. The young swimmers all swam well, and the club has some great talent coming through. Special mention should go to Sonia Ford who swam very well showing all of the West Coast Juniors how it’s done swimming a time of 17:16. Immediately after the swim-through presentations were completed, the swimmers changed into their West Coast jumpers and psyched up for the Tug-of-war. The club entered two teams, one in the Mixed Division and one in the Open. The Mixed team included Sonia Ford, Soraya Proude, Alleigh Hamnett, Brooke Traeger, Maddi Izzo, Max Lambert, Nik Constantinopoulos and James Andrews. The team put in a great effort against the EFM team but didn’t have the weight to take out the win. Up next was the Open team, of Luke Andrews, Levi Proude, Mick Proude, Rod Patterson, Henry Lambert, Gerard Meyer, Brenton Hammond and Jason Di-Paulo, who put up a great fight but again simply didn’t have the weight needed to win a tug-of-war against rival teams. Everyone had lots of laughs and thoroughly enjoyed the competition, and as Gerard said “If this were in the water we would have won." Swimmers now have their sights set on the Whyalla Open Water swim which offers a range of distances up to 5km,the Lincoln 'Longman' Triathlon which includes a 2km open water event and the Port Pirie Open Water in March. It was also fantastic to see members of the club participate in the Tunarama Triathlon on the Sunday and Tunarama Fun Run on Monday, proving that West Coast Swimmers are multi talented across other sporting fields! Thanks to Luke Andrews for providing this blog post :) Look how our team has grown from the swimmers who participated in the 2012 Country Championships in Port Pirie, 2013 Country Championships in Gawler to our 53 impressive looking team members that represented the West Coast Swimming Club at the 2014 Country Championships in Murray Bridge. "I love teamwork. I love the idea of everyone rallying together to help me win. ” Jarod Kintz "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships" Michael Jordon Returning from an extremely successful 2014 Country Swimming Championships held from the 10th – 13th of January, the West Coast Swimming Club have plenty to celebrate. 53 swimmers and just as many enthusiastic parents travelled to the city of Murray Bridge for the four day championship meet, from as far afield as Ceduna, Cummins, Tumby Bay and Port Lincoln and managed to bring home an impressive tally of 22 bronze, 27 silver and 44 gold medals – 93 medals in total. This was West Coast’s biggest team to ever participate and they proudly finished a close second to Onkaparinga on the overall point score results sheet (1758 to 1606 points). Next year’s championship will be held in Mount Gambier and West Coast have already started plotting out a winning strategy! Friday afternoon saw the colourful team march on, with West Coast being lead onto pool deck by recently announced team captains Luke Andrews and Jade Calverley together with vice-captains Yemaya Coleman-Smith and Nik Constantinopoulos. The competition was then officially opened by Bob Fox – Chairman of Swimming SA with the support of patron His Excellency Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce AC CSC RANR Governor of South Australia. First to hit the water were swimmers participating in the Superfish competition which is conducted in line with Swimming SA’s Ready Set Race protocols. West Coast Swimming Club saw excellent performances from Bridie Micken who recorded her most competitive time in the 8 and under 50m breastroke (1.00.49) and Kyle McInerney (9) who was the fastest 50m breastroke competitor in his age group (55.15). 7 year old Molly Baldwin has quickly adapted to competition swimming and recorded times of 1.14.55 (breastroke) and 54.86 (freestyle). It was great to see Jessica Mesecke (9) complete three races, Seb Henderson (8) make his debut in the pool and William Bawden (8) enthusiastically invest his best efforts into each of his races. Most memorable performance goes to 6 year old Bryce Hammond who despite losing his goggles in the 50m freestyle, returned to the wall to restart the race and still managed to overtake fellow competitors. Other swimmers to enter the superfish competition were Sophie Traeger, Isabella Scott, Jasmine Clark, Stuart Mesecke, Isabella Baldwin, Liana Baldwin, Django Elliot and Emma Hamnett. Saturday saw the commencement of the Country Championships with a large number of outstanding results being recorded over the following three days of intense competition. Numerous changes were made to the program to accommodate the increasing heat and this saw additional challenges presented to the swimmers and team managers alike. New individual Country Championship records were created by Luke Andrews in the open 200m breastroke (2.42.05) beating his own record and in the 50m breastroke 32.98. This is a record he has broken each year since the age of 14. Brooke Traeger established a new 14 year old 50m freestyle record of 29.93 and then went one further breaking it again in her swim in the finals (29.09). Levi Proude added the 17 year old 50m freestyle record to his tally (25.26). Levi now holds this record in every age group since he was 14. Our effort in the teams relays which award double championship points will be long remembered. Teams who broke existing records were the 12U girls 4x50m freestyle team comprising Yemaya Coleman-Smith, India Copland, Demi Lynch and Xanthia Clark (2.14.96), 14U boys 4 x 50m freestyle team; Nik Constantinopoulos, James Andrews, Max Lambert and Tyson Lynch (1.59.45) who also claimed the 4 x 50 Medley relay record by improving the existing record by a massive 9 seconds (2.17.63) and the 14U girls 4 x 50m freestyle team who nailed the finish by a fraction of a second. Congratulations Brooke Traeger, Mia Meyers, Natasha Hammond and Kellie Dennis (2.08.17). This competition saw the awarding of numerous perpetual trophies to West Coast swimmers. The 4 x 100 men’s medley relay team (Luke Andrews, Levi Proude, Gerard Meyer and Henry Lambert) bought the “Jewaskiewitz Trophy” home to Port Lincoln (4.38.78). This is the first time this trophy has ever been held by West Coast swimmers. This team was an unstoppable combination also bringing home gold in the 4 x 100 freestyle (3.59.23), 4 x 50 medley (2.03.70), 4 x 50 freestyle (1.46.78) – a new South Australian Country Record, 4 x 200 freestyle (9.09.82) and the 18U 4 x 50m Medley relay (2.01.17) also breaking the existing record. Levi Proude took out the Kassebaum Trophy for the fastest 100m freestyle at the championship (56.64) whilst 11 year old Harrison Adams bought home the Bryant Trophy rewarding the best overall performance by a male 11 and under swimmer at the meet. Previous winners of this trophy at the same age were Kyle Chalmers and Levi Proude. Harrison secured gold in three individual events together with a gold standard Junior Excellence time in the 100m backstroke (1.31.71). Also awarded for her incredible run of personal best times in every event was Brooke Traeger (14) who received the Fairweather Trophy for the most points gained by a 14/15 year old. She was crowned Country Champion in a staggering 7 events. Based upon her exceptional personal performances Brooke, along with India Copland, Luke Andrews and Levi Proude were awarded wild card entries into the South Australian State Age Championships at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Adelaide which is held from the 21st – 25th of January. Swimmers who were awarded Gold medals and recognition as the 2014 ‘Country Champion’ were Kalani Coleman-Smith (11) 100m breastroke 1.44.28 and 50m breastroke 48.43; Levi Proude (17) 100m breastroke 1.14.02, 50m freestyle 25.85, 100m freestyle 56.64 and 50m butterfly 28.14; Jade Calverley (14 – S6) 50 freestyle 45.86, 100m breastroke 2.13.84, 100m backstroke 2.13.77, 50m butterfly 1.03.39, 200m individual medley 4.23.59, 50m breastroke 1.00.82 and 100m freestyle 1.44.47; Ellie McInerney (12 – S7) 50 backstroke 1.00.94; Brooke Traeger (14) 50 freestyle 29.09, 200m individual medley 2.43.75, 200m freestyle 2.21.26, 50m butterfly 32.40, 50m backstroke 35.08, 100m freestyle 1.06.38 and 100m butterfly 1.15.55; Henry Nelligan (11) 50 freestyle 34.45; Harrison Adams (11) 50m butterfly 39.75, 100m freestyle 1.16.53 and 100m butterfly 1.29.87; India Copland (12) 50m breastroke 43.84; Luke Andrews (16) Open 200 men’s breastroke 2.42.05 and 50m breastroke 32.98. It is an honour for all of these swimmers to be awarded the title of 2014 South Australian Country Champion and a testament to their hard work in the pool. In total 386 swimmers competed at these championships including athletes from 6 visiting interstate clubs. The race of the meet was the 11U 50m breastroke with West Coast dominating the race and finishing with a hat trick in first, second and third position. Congratulations to Kalani Coleman-Smith (48.43), Stuart Mesecke (50.06) and Henry Nelligan (50.65) who proudly accepted their championship medals. Many of our swimmers faced stiff competition in their respective age groups and managed to rise to the occasion breaking personal best times. Congratulations to Henry Lambert who set a cracking pace in the 400m freestyle (5.02.05) and James Andrews who broke the 30 second barrier in his 50m freestyle swim to record a 29.65. Chris Bawden has shown enormous improvement in all strokes particularly in his 50 freestyle (33.94) and 100m breastroke (1.35.76). The team would also like to thank all of those swimmers who returned to the water after finishing their studies in Adelaide or taking the time to attend training to support our relay efforts – our success at this year’s championships would not have been possible without your dedication. At the conclusion of the meet each team has the opportunity to acknowledge swimmers who have demonstrated a great sense of team spirit and support of their fellow competitors – this year Nik Constantinopoulos and James Andrews were presented with these awards. The Championships also provide an opportunity for new friendships to be made and old ones revisited. The swimmers would like to express their thanks to all of the pool deck volunteers who filled the essential officiating duties which are essential to the running of a fair and equitable swimming meet. The West Coast Swimming Club would like to show their appreciation towards head coach Carol Veldhuyzen whose ongoing dedication and coaching expertise has prepared swimmers for the competition. She has worked in collaboration with other coaches undertaking their bronze licence training. Matt Hamnett took on the role of team manager and worked through a number of difficult technical issues and reorganisation of the event schedule to successfully marshal all swimmers to their various events. Club nominations officer Nardine McInerney completed the incredible job of creating the team manager file – entering each swimmer in up to 12 events! 190 eager primary aged swimmers from schools across the Lower Eyre Peninsula contested the 2013 Lower Eyre Peninsula Primary Swimming Carnival on Friday 1st of November at the Port Lincoln Leisure Centre. Swimmers were encouraged by a large group of vocal spectators comprising their family, friends and team mates. Schools that formed a representative team included St Joseph’s School, Port Lincoln Primary School, Tumby Bay Area School, Navigator College, Lock Area School and Cummins Area School. For some swimmers attending the day this was their first taste of competitive swimming and through the support of Swimming Australia and GOSWIM, promotional caps, posters and DVD’s were made available to students to encourage further involvement in the sport. From this carnival a target squad of SAPSASA swimmers will be developed in preparation for the 2014 Country SAPSASA State final held in March at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Marion. Final qualification onto this team occurs in February with the overall personal best time the swimmer is able to generate between now and February, being the deciding factor. Winning school with the highest number of aggregate points was St Joseph’s School. Yemaya Coleman-Smith and Max Lambert – 2013 SAPSASA squad captains were presented with the perpetual Sarin Group Shield by Mr Tony Perks. Mr Perks also presented the Chris Wareing Memorial Handicap School Shield to Ellie McInerney on behalf of winning school Tumby Bay Area School. The winner of this shield is determined by overall points divided by the number of competing swimmers. In total 12 records were demolished on the day. Our male swimmers have a tough road ahead as many of the existing records are etched into concrete by Australian Age Group Champion Kyle Chalmers who is now competitive at an International level. Congratulations to Max Lambert who managed to walk away with Levi Proude’s backstoke record with a new time set of 36.78 seconds. Max was also a member of the record breaking Open 200m Freestyle Relay team. Together with Jack Waller, Jack Bradford and Isaac Scott they set a new benchmark of 2.36.46. Yemaya Coleman-Smith, a year 7 student from St Jospeh’s School rewrote the record books for the 50m breastroke 43.64, 50m backstoke 41.11 and 50m butterfly 35.62. These were all highly competitive times and if performed at a Swimming SA qualifying meet her breastroke and butterfly would see her compete at state championship level. She was also a member of the Open Girls 200m Medley Relay in addition to Chloe Hall, Georgia Kenny and Kellie Dennis who set a new record completing the race in 2.50.66. Swimming freestyle, the team minus Chloe and Georgia and with the addition of Brooklyn George and Madeline McShane set a new record in 2.27.97. Other teams that set new meet records were the 10 and under girl’s freestyle team from St Joseph’s (3.23.98), comprising Lily Perham, Lily Nicholls, Grace Dubois and Sophie Traeger. Jamie Ford in year 5 at Port Lincoln Primary School set a blistering pace with her unbeatable work under the water. Jamie secured first place in her age group in all of her individual swims and set new Lower Eyre Peninsula Schools Records in the breastroke (50.66), backstroke (44.06) and butterfly (45.03). Based on these fantastic results, Jamie has set herself a goal to secure gold in all of these events at the country state championship SAPSASA meet in March. Also setting new age group records was India Copland – a year 6 student from Tumby Bay Area School. This is the second year in a row that India has rewritten the record books, again breaking the 50m breastroke benchmark in a time of 43.91 With her recent competition experiences in Adelaide fine tuning her racing skills, she is looking ahead to a very successful summer racing season with qualification into a number of State Championship events. There were many close competitions for the presentation ribbons across all age groups. Congratulations to Kyle McInerney (49.06), Tasmin Durdin (42.78), Toby Casanova (44.97), Jamie Ford (37.84), Harrison Adams (34.69), India Copland (35.31), Tommy Ford (34.67) Yemaya Coleman-Smith (32.41), Ellie McInerney (56.76) Max Lambert (30.03)and Georgia Kenny (38.35) who all respectively won their 50m freestyle events. Awesome results were seen in the breastroke with Beau Baldwin (1.05.43), Lily Nicholls (56.42), Zac Kenny (56.57), Jamie Ford (50.66), Kilani Coleman Smith (50.71), India Copland (43.91), Chris Bawden (46.49), Yemaya Coleman-Smith (43.64), Max Lambert (42.87) and Georgia Kenny (48.75) all being age group winners. Next on the program was backstroke with familiar faces returning to the presentation stand. Well done to Joseph Perin (58.73), Sophie Traeger (52.48), Toby Casanova (57.97), Jamie Ford (44.06), Harrison Adams (44.17), India Copland (42.74), Tommy Ford (41.18), Yemaya Coleman-Smith (41.11), Ellie McInerney (1.03.67), Max Lambert (36.78) and Chloe Hall (50.28). The final individual event of the meet was the 50m butterfly and again some fantastic swims were seen from Joseph Perin (1.04.69), Sophie Traeger (55.70), Toby Casanova (1.02.62), Jamie Ford (45.03), Harrison Adams (41.25), India Copland (43.58), Yemaya Coleman-Smith (35.62), Max Lambert (37.26) and Alyssa Kelsey (54.11). The West Coast Swimming Club would like to extend their sincere thanks to the Sarin Group for their support in making the Port Lincoln Pool available to hold the competition in. Members of the club and supportive parents who all took on volunteer organisational roles on the day including starter, marshal, record keeping, time keeping and catering are also acknowledged. A big thanks to the students of Port Lincoln High School who made themselves available for time keeping and other school staff members who coordinated the organisation of their school team and marshalled students in preparation for racing throughout the day. From Friday 11th through to Sunday 13th of October the West Coast Swimming Club with the support of Swimming SA facilitated a bronze licence coaching course, official’s theory session for beginning stroke judges and inspector of turns and support session for parents who are involved in administering our meet manager software.
Over the three days over 20 club members were involved in training sessions to increase the capacity of the club to coach, officiate and administer club activities to a high level. This was the first time since the early 1990’s that the club has been in a position to offer this support to parents. The weekend provided many opportunities for individuals to build their knowledge of swimming stroke technique, fitness training and season planning, technical rules of competitive swimming and innovations in event organisation. State Team Coach, Mr Paul Dennis facilitated many of the practical pool sessions and his wealth of knowledge as to how to improve stroke efficiencies, maintain swimmer engagement with creative session planning and exceptional on land practical demonstrations of stroke technique made for a highly valuable experience. Our own silver licenced coach Mrs Carol Veldhuyzen also lead many of the theory sessions and was able to encourage those parents new to coaching, by clarifying the important teaching points for each stroke. The club was eternally grateful for the support of the Sarin Group in providing lane and pool space as well as meeting rooms to host the event at the Port Lincoln Pool. Staff members from the Swim School were also able to access this expert knowledge which will have obvious flow on effects to the quality of their individual teaching programs. The club also welcomed volunteers from the Roxby Downs Swimming Club, Vitor Renmark Swimming Club and Port Lincoln Triathlon Club. All of those potential coaches and officials now have theory booklets to complete and poolside hours to log over the coming months. All left the course with a much better understanding that 'perfect practice makes for perfect performance’. The club looks forward to the addition of Matt Hamnett, Sonia Ford, Belinda Adams, Bernadette Dale, Levi Proude, Luke Andrews, Gabby Zerk, Nardine McInerney and Kate McShane to our accredited coaching staff. Also showing commencing their officiating journey are trainee officials Todd George, Anne-marie Hammond, Annette Meseke, Simon Clark and Sonia Ford who are now able to participate as Judges of Stroke and Turns after spending a day with presenters Phil Bowen and Janine Molloy from Swimming SA. All of our parents will be working towards gaining their accreditation either as coaches or officials by the commencement of the 2014 Country Championships. Membership for the new 2013 / 2014 swimming season is now due and with membership now surpassing 100 active competitive swimmers it is important that parents review the upcoming competition opportunities that have been presented by our club nominations officer. The 2013 Lower Eyre Peninsula Primary Schools Championships will be hosted by the club on Friday 1st of November at the Port Lincoln Pool and all swimmers are invited to register with www.goswim.orgto be in the running to receive promotional material from Swimming Australia. West Coast Swimming Club members enjoyed their 2012 / 2013 trophy presentation day at Boston Bay Wines on Sunday 22nd of September. Club members had received generous donations from Woolworths, Bakers Delight, Coles and Port Lincoln Gourmet Meats and were able to host a BBQ buffet lunch, raising $1000 which will be channelled towards future club activities. A vibrant committee was elected through the AGM process and we welcome returning President Todd George, Vice President Marianne George, Secretary Sally Izzo and Treasurer Bernie Dale. Tracey Dahliz has also agreed to take on the role of club patron. Also elected were a number of other enthusiastic parents who together look forward to fully supporting our headcoach Carol Veldhuyzen and over 100 members who are registered as competitive swimmers with the club. This year saw the introduction of a new award on behalf of the 2012 / 13 Patron, Mr Rod Patterson. The inaugural winner of the patron's 'Team Spirit' award was Nik Constantinopoulos who Rod noted on many occasions encouraged fellow swimmers as an assistant coach, participated in modified training if injured and was fully compliant with coaching directions. The club's most prestigious award is the overall 'Club Champion' - given to the swimmer who together with exceptional competition results in local, state and national events, has enthusiastically undertaken all training requirements. This years recipient was Jade Calverley who also received the Eagle Boys Coaches Best and Fairest and was winner of the Girls Championship Trophy section.
The club also celebrated the exceptional efforts of parents and committee members who actively coach swimmers, manage event entries, take annual registrations, update websites, social media and publisize events, sell equipment & uniforms and a myriad of other essential jobs. The club made special mention of the strength in president Todd George's leadership and the overall governance improvements that have been implemented over the past swimming season. The improvements in personal best performances over 18 months of point score events were awarded. Congratulations to Jamie Ford (145 points) and Harrison Adams (163 points) who made the most significant leaps in personal best times in both their respective age groups and gained the most points overall. Runners up for these awards were Sophie Traeger (135 points) and Henry Nelligan (144 points). Trophies were also presented to swimmers who accumulated the highest number of open carnival points. Swimmers have travelled as far as Roxby Downs, Port Augusta, Gawler and Marion to compete. The highest open carnival female point scorer was Brooke Traeger with an incredible 409 points and male winner was Tommy Ford who finished the season with 206 points. Club championship trophies were given to swimmers who accumulated the most points at championship level. Female recipients were Jade Calverley (169 points), Brooke Traeger (90 points) and Ellie McInerney (61 points). Male recipients were Levi Proude (166 points), Luke Andrews (102 points) and Henry Lambert (46 points). Full Results, President's Report and Coaches Report are available below. On behalf of the West Coast Swimming Club committee we wish swimmers all the best in their pursuit of personal best swims over the coming 2013 / 2014 season which commences on the 1st of October. The club is looking forward to hosting the Lower Eyre Peninsula Primary Schools Championship on Friday November 1st 2013. Congratulations to Ellie McInerney and Jade Calverley who both represented South Australia at the National School Sport Swimming Championships held at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre from the 8th - 14th of September 2013. Also competing at the event were Kyle Chalmers (Marion) and Bailey Harriden (Bendigo Hawks) both previous club members. Rising to the challenge of competing against multiclass state age champions from across the country, Ellie set new personal best times in both the 50m (52.27) and 100m (1.55.54) freestyle and was excited to be able to spend time with old friends and welcome new swimmers on to the state team. Jade has made some excellent headway on both her 50m freestyle and breastroke personal bests. A relay swim in 45 seconds was a further improvement on her individual swim at 46.34 for the freestyle. These times have her placed in the top 30 internationally, according to the International Paralympic Committee's ranking system. Jade was thrilled with her 50m breastroke race making a significant improvement to record a 58.82 placing her in the top 10 and with continued progress will see her race at the Australian Multiclass Championships in Sydney in April. Jade is currently at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra as part of her selection onto the Paralympic Youth Development Team. The camp takes place over a week long program where Jade is engaged in rigorous fitness testing and daily pool sessions. The swimmers were also given a day off from competition in Adelaide to be able to enjoy the festivities at the Royal Adelaide Show.
Canberra is the place to be with Kyle Chalmers also having been retained after the State Teams Event to participate in the National Youth Camp which concludes on the 28th of September. The talented teenager won three gold and three silver medals at the State Teams Short Course Championships to finish the weekend with the award for the boy’s 14-15 years Swimmer of the Meet. The South Australian sprinter also set two new meet records in the boy’s 14-15 years 100 and 200m freestyle events and will be able to use this week to work closely with a number of coaches and high performance staff to further develop his racing skills and technique. His 100m freestyle time is now down under the 50 second mark - an incredible achievement. Swimming Australia annually recognises the achievements of junior swimmers through the Australian Junior Excellence Program (JX). The program rewards and encourages junior swimmers who, through their development of aquatic skills and fitness, achieve a high standard of swimming excellence. Under the program, swimmers aged from 9 to 13 years, who accomplish times set by Swimming Australia, qualify at Gold, Silver, Bronze or Green standard, depending on their best performance/s during the season.
This year 27 West Coast Swimmers were acknowledged as having reached the standard required to receive one of the incentive prize packs provided by Swimming Australia. The depth of talent being cultivated in the club is evident with this number being 4 more than the previous swimming season. Congratulations to multiclass champion Jade Calverley who was the clubs highest achiever at gold standard. Long hours perfecting their stroke technique paid off for Tommy Ford, Harrison Adams, James Andrews, Natasha Hammond, Max Lambert, Ellie, McInerney and Brooke,Traeger who have all recorded times at silver level. Making the cut off at bronze standard were 8 swimmers. Fantastic effort Cameron Akehurst, Jasmin Clark, Kilani Coleman-Smith, Nik Constantinopoulos, Indiana Copeland, Jamie Ford, Brooklyn George and Zac Kenny. The first tier of achievement is at green standard and the following swimmers posted qualification times at that level; Christopher Bawden, Xanthia Clark, Yemaya Coleman-Smith, Kellie Dennis, Emma, Hamnett, Coen George, Tasha, Jordison, Georgia Kenny, Moet McCathie, Isabella Scott and Kieren, Stephens. All of these swimmers will shortly receive a generous prize pack courtesy of Swimming Australia. Inclusive within are signature swimming caps, certificates of achievement, team merchandise featuring members of the Australian Swim Team and a motivational DVD. Swimmers can utilize these standards to establish new goals and in the process chip away at personal best times. Running parallel to Junior Excellence is the Youth Performance Squad tiered qualification standards which are closely linked to the break times published at National Age Level. For the second year running both Luke Andrews and Levi Proude achieved swim times placing them at the blue standard. Swimmers are now hard at work taking the time to perfect competitive technique across all four stokes and mastering efficient starts, turns and finishes. Building a solid aerobic foundation over winter is an essential component to ensure that swimmers remain competitive over the summer racing season. Competitions on the horizon are the State Age Short Course meet and National School Sports Championships. Both of these meets are staged at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre at Marion and will have representatives from the club competing. The current competitive swimming season concludes on the 30th of September and the club has planned its annual trophy presentation ceremony featuring the announcement of club champion for the 22nd of September at Boston Bay Wines. Following investigations and input from the Community Reference Group who were involved in forums in relation to Aquatic Swimming Facilities for Port Lincoln, a Strategy has been developed. The next step in the process is to seek wider community endorsement of the proposed Indoor Swimming Facility concept, prior to Council endorsing the Strategy as the basis for a feasibility study. The feasibility study, which is budgeted for in the 2013/2014 financial year, will involve engagement of expert consultants in the field of community swimming facilities. As well as looking at initial design and construction costs of a facility, they will report on operational models and financial impacts and viability. An Aquatic Swimming Facility will be one of the biggest projects for the Port Lincoln Community for a number of years and it is imperative that investigations are thorough, broad and inclusive. TO ENSURE THAT THE PORT LINCOLN CITY COUNCIL UNDERSTANDS THE IMPORTANCE OF A POOL TO OUR CLUB AND ALLOCATES $60,000 TO COMPLETE THE FEASIBILITY STUDY IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU COMPLETE THE SURVEY - IT TAKES LESS THAN 5 MINUTES! The survey is live for 28 days until the 21st of July 2013. |
AUTHORSonia Ford is our publicity officer and would love to hear of noteworthy news items from our swimming community! |