NEWS AND NOTICE BOARD

2010 - 2011 Season Competition Calendar (Posted by Lawrie on 06/09/2010)

The 2010 - 2011 Competition Calendar is now available on the notice board. Download your own copy by clicking the following link - Competition Calendar.

Upcoming dates: -

11th September - Junior Cup Round 1 (Godalming)

9th October - NASLS Round 1 (Haslemere)

10th October - HSC Club Championships (Haslemere)

16th October - Junior Cup Final (TBC)

24th October - HSC Autumn Meet (Haslemere)

30th October - HSC Club Championships (Haslemere)

 

July Open Meet Report (Posted by Andy Dowson on 26/08/2010)

Haslemere swimmers enjoyed an excellant July Open Meet - Read the full article here - July Open Meet Report

SER Youth Report (Posted by Ian on 07/07/2010)

With the 2010 South East Regional Youth & Senior Championships being split between the 50m Portsmouth and Crawley pools this year Team Haslemere knew they would have to go the extra mile for success and as always they did not disappoint.

Read the Full Report

SER Age Group Report (Posted by Ian on 29/06/2010)

Haslemere swimmers have again taken to the water in the British Gas sponsored South East Regional Age Group Championships at K2 Crawley, putting in some fantastic individual and team performances reflecting the teams hard work and effort in the pool this year.

Read the full Report

Personal Best Times (Posted by Ian on 07/06/2010)

The updated files can be found in the Gala's page, then results and they are located at the bottom of the page

National Squad Training Camp (Posted by Ian on 29/04/2010)

A swimmers view of the training camp in Majorca (they will not revel their identity)

Read the report

See the pictures

Picture 1          Picture 2         Picture 3

Picture 4          Picture 5         Picture 6

British Championships Report (Posted by Ian on 05/04/2010)

Tom and Sasha Rise to the Challenge at the British Championships
 
Last week saw the 2010 British Gas Swimming championships at Sheffield’s ponds forge.  These championships were also the first chance for British swimmers to book their place on the team for the 2010 Commonwealth games in Delhi, India in early October.
 
HSC had 2 swimmers competing, although an impressive 7 achieved qualifying times in HSC colours last season, but unfortunately some moved on to university or pastures new.
 
Tom Kennedy was first up in the 200 Fly were he finished in 2:07.  This time was a (none suited) lifetime best and finished him 22 in the Men’s open category.
 
Sasha Stalker was up next in the 100 Backstroke.  In her first senior meet, Sasha clocked an impressive 1:08.5 which was a personal best (regardless of body suit technology) and ahead of her 2 main rivals from local clubs.
 
Finally Tom was up again in the 100 Fly.  Tom managed to shake off some disappointment from earlier in the week and scrapped through to the semi finals.  In the semi finals Tom really came alive, bettering his heat time by almost a second in a personal best of 56.65 and climbing from 20th to 15th position, narrowly missing the men’s senior final by less than half a second.
 
Head coach Lawrie Thomson said, "Overall I was very pleased with the week.  It was great to see Tom rise to the challenge in his first senior semi final, and Sasha beat her rivals with a personal best time.  This is a good step forward toward the summer nationals where they both aim to win medals for another year in a row"

A swimmers view of the counties (Posted by Ian on 24/03/2010)

Saturday 13th March 2010, which was the day I had been nervous about for ages, was the Counties. Walking into Crystal Palace just made me feel like jelly, but despite being shaky I was excited! It didn't look like the description of what people had told me; I thought it would be a bit more grand.
 
When I got in the pool for warm-up it felt different for I was in my new Gala costume! After the warm up it was soon to be my race, which was 50m freestyle, and I was trembling with fear. I walked down to the whipping area slowly, giving me time to re-assure myself that I just had to swim my best and my fastest.
The next heat was mine and I felt a little calmer but still felt worried. Getting onto the blocks was horrible for I thought that I would get disqualified for going too early or wobbling on the blocks! As I dived in a heard Penny and Lawrie cheering so I wanted to make them proud. At the end I looked at my time and realised that I had improved and that I had done Haslemere and my family proud. I knew there was some way I could improve; Penny told me that my dive was too deep and I needed to come out faster from it. After everyone had raced I knew I was in the final. I was very pleased and in my race I improved my dive and my time by just under a second, coming 5th overall. Later on I did my second race, which was 50m backstroke, and I wasn't as nervous! Jumping in and pushing off I knew it wasn't going to be my best because I was so tired from putting all my energy into my first race!. When I finished I looked at my time and knew that I didn't do my best but it was still a fast time. On the way home I was pleased with my races and knew that Sunday would be a better day!
 
On Sunday 14th March 2010, which was the day of all the relays, I felt relaxed and ready to be the best B team ever but I was soon informed by Penny that my improved time from Saturday had given me a place in the A team; I was thrilled! Putting me in the A team had made my nerves kick in again but Hannah, Charis and Marianne helped me gain my confidence and re-assured me everything was going to be fine! When it came to the 4x50m freestyle relay I was feeling a little nervous. When it came to my turn to swim I gave 100% and made the team proud. Hannah, Marianne and Charis were amazing in the race and earned us Gold medals!!! Our second relay was 4x50m Medley and I was a bit more nervous as I was going last and didn't want to let anyone down! Again, I gave 100% when I knew that I was getting caught by the 11 year old 50m freestyle silver medalist but I held on and helped the A team get another gold medal. When I looked up and saw we had come FIRST I was really happy and relieved that I had done well!
 
On the podium was amazing and it felt so special. I was pleased with my new PB of 33.27 seconds and proud to be part of such a great team.
  
By Hannah Sherrin

Swim 21 Update (Posted by Ian on 01/12/2009)

Haslemere gains Swim 21 Competitive Development Status

Haslemere Swimming Club has gained Competitive Development level in their recent Swim 21 annual revalidation. Last year Haslemere achieved the Skills Development level but because of Haslemere's competitive training programme instigated by Lawrie Thomson (Head Coach), Haslemere applied for the next level which it has now successfully gained. This means that Haslemere swimming club is able to specialise on one of the steps along the athlete development pathway in our case the competitive route.

Clubs that achieve Swim 21 status are nationally recognised as committed to providing safe, effective and quality services for the benefit of their members. They also work to ensure their athletes, club officials, volunteers, teachers and coaches are able to reach their full potential within the sport.

HSC is now a SWIM 21 accredited club (Posted by Gordon on 07/03/2009)

Swim 21 Accreditation

Some of you may have noticed the certificate on the club noticeboard that Haslemere is a Swim 21 accredited club. All swimming clubs in the UK are undergoing the Swim 21 process which is a planning tool based on the principles of Long Term Athlete Development - encouraging athletes to achieve their optimal potential. It encourages all swimming clubs to adopt the training standards required for swimming skill development and competitive development for children and young people.

There are 4 levels of accreditation: Teaching, Skills Development, Competitive Development and Performance. Teaching and Skills Development is awarded to the less competitive clubs who may or may not wish to move onto competitive programmes. Haslemere was awarded the Skills Development level as the systems were already in place to obtain Swim 21 as quickly as possible. Haslemere is currently applying for Competitive Development Level to match the competitive direction of the Club.

Jo Baker and Hilary Hayward worked hard over the last 12 months compiling the paperwork from diverse sources to fulfil the strict criteria of Swim 21 accreditation. The Club had to follow guidelines in 3 main areas of Compliance, Workforce and Athlete Development. To give a few examples from each area Compliance involved The Herons having the correct operating and emergency procedures in place, Club is run by a Committee; Workforce procedures ensured coaches were Level 1 and 2 qualified, attended regular training courses, CRB checked; Athlete Development required the correct training and competitive schedules for the different squads.

Gaining Competitive Development accreditation will officially position Haslemere in the competitive arena. Main criteria encourages swimmers to participate in quality training and development programmes which already includes many Haslemere swimmers. Jo and Hilary expect the paperwork to take between 3 and 6 months to complete for this accreditation.

Accreditation lasts 4 years and has to be revalidated after this period. Benefits will hopefully include access to special sport funding programmes including the lottery funding from Sport England.

Swim 21 is endorsed by the ASA and Sport England and is equivalent to Clubmark which has been accredited to many sports clubs i.e.football and rugby clubs in the UK.