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UK SCHOOLS GAMES 2009 SELECTION

26th June 2009

Our congratulations go to:

Steph Denny

Michael Gunning, and

Steffi King

for being selected to represent England East at the UK Schools Games 2009. Selections were made by using the GB Swimming Rankings database, and only swims between 1 October 2008 and 4 May 2009 were taken into account. Our swimmers clearly topped the ‘Rankings’ for 16/u swimmers in the events that they have been selected to swim. Well done guys!

The UK School Games is a unique event in the UK, and every year it brings together around 1500 elite young athletes from 10 sports, giving the athletes the opportunity to participate in a multi-event games which will provide them with experiences, that hopefully will enable them to deal with the pressure of being in the spotlight, and also which experiences will prepare them for greater things to come. Altogether, there will be eight teams representing England North, England Central, England East, England South, Scotland North & West, Scotland South & East, Ireland and Wales.

As swimmers, Steph, Michael, and Steffi will be based in Cardiff University, but will compete in Wales’ National pool in Swansea on 4 and 5 September 2009.

The Opening ceremony on 3 September, will be presented by Jill Douglas from BBC Sport, and might even be televised!

We are all very proud of you. Good Luck!

Beckenham SC

Beckenham SC do well at the British Masters Championships Cardiff, 2009

19th - 21st June 2009

Congratulations to Robert Farish who competed in the British Masters Championships in the 45-49 year age group, obtaining silver in the 400m Freestyle and bronze in both the 200m and 800m Freestyle.

Click here to view the British Masters results from the ASA website

FORMER BECKENHAM SWIMMER GB SYNCHRO SQUAD SUCCESS

May 2009

Louise Woolley daughter of our beginners’ Water Polo coach was in Andorra last week competing in the LEN European Champions Cup for Synchronised Swimming. She swam in (and was captain of) the Technical Team, Free Team and Free Combination Team events and the GB team came respectively 5th, 6th and 5th. She is now looking forward to the World Championships which will take place in Rome in July.

Louise started her synchro career aged 7 and at the age of 11 joined Beckenham for extra fitness training. This proved to be a great advantage to her synchro age groups career as she was always fitter than most of her contemporaries. Louise trained 1996 – 2004 mainly in Club and what is now Platinum Squad and swam in several galas for Beckenham. She won numerous British age groups titles, had 4 years as a junior international and then went on to win the British Championship Duet title 3 times and the team title 7 years in a row. She became a full-time athlete in September 2007 when the Synchro High Performance Centre was set up in Aldershot. She trains six days a week (40 hours in total).

BECKENHAM OPEN MEET 2009

LONG COURSE MEET AT CRYSTAL PALACE NSC on 9th/10th MAY 2009.

Thank you very much for attending our meet last weekend.  We were all pleased to have you there, and hope that everyone enjoyed the meet.

We are very grateful to all the clubs that provided us with officials - THANK YOU.

The results for each of the sessions can be downloaded here:

Lastly, many congratulations to all the swimmers who achieved the times they were seeking - be they PBs, RQTs, or NQTs. Our special congratulations also go to the following for their achievements at the meet:

• Marlon Gasparotto, Beckenham SC - Top Junior Boy
• Nicholas Osman, Borough of Waltham Forest - Top Senior Boy
• Victoria Ward, Bromley SC - Top Junior Girl
• Kelsey Richards, London Borough of Redbridge - Top Senior Girl
• Millfield School - Top Visiting Club

We all look forward to seeing you again next year!

Do keep a look out on the Open Meets web page for announcements of forthcoming Beckenham Open Meets.

Patricia Ogunfeibo

The Beckenham SC Open Meets Secretary.

A great result and experience for all at ...

...The National League Final!

26th April 2009

Sunday morning saw the Beckenham 'A' Team perform to great success, in arguably one of the greatest all round team performances by the club, in the 9th National swimming league ‘B’ cup final in Sheffield. Beckenham S.C. managed 3rd Place position behind the "City of Cardiff" and the "City of Salford". In fact, the result now gives Beckenham the rights of being the TOP LONDON CLUB after successfully fending off 4th placed Camden Swiss Cottage, as well as other South League opponents Leatherhead S.C. and Haslemere S.C. To put this achievement in context, Camden has a base of 1000 members compared to Beckenham's 350. And when you compare the catchment of Beckenham to the "city" clubs competing, who are often the only swimming club in their respective cities, the achievement on Sunday is all the more outstanding. The return was long awaited - 6 years - and the collective performance of everyone from Coach, Swimmer, Supporter and Official never failed to disappoint. This was highlighted none more, than in the strength and depth of the team relays, where in the combined Relay Challenge Trophy, Beckenham were runners up to eventual winners City of Cardiff, by the narrow margin of just 1.4 secs!

To read more about this event go to the News section and look out for the roving reporter report from Kirsty Shelts in the next edition of the "Our Club" Beckenham SC Newsletter.

Ellen Gandy makes new British record

16th March 2009

Beckenham’s Ellen Gandy started the record breaking evening with an excellent performance in the women’s 100m Butterfly final. Gandy, who has been training in Australia, turned just ahead of her closest rival Fran Halsall (Loughborough ITC) but fought to extend her lead with an impressive final 50m.

The Olympian, Gandy, touched home in a new British record time of 57.49 almost a second ahead of Halsall who took the silver with a new personal best time of 58.11. Gandy has now sealed her place on the team for the Rome World Championships.

“I'm so happy with my training at the moment, my life and everything and it’s translated well into the pool,” Gandy said. “I'm delighted with that. It sets me up well for a good 200m fly later in the week.

“I've been working a lot on my back end speed and that came through. I tried to go out fast to keep with Fran and my late speed came through.”

Ellen Gandy also won the 200m butterfly in a new European record at the British Gas Swimming Championships in Sheffield, but her time of 2mins 04.83secs has yet to be ratified because of a faulty timing system. British Swimming were last night investigating the back-up data.

Gandy was just 0.65secs off the world record set by China's Zige Liu at last year's Olympics to lower Otylia Jedrejczak's European record from 2005. It also eclipsed Jessicah Schipper's Commonwealth standard by almost a second.

Ellen was a length ahead at the halfway point and produced a phenomenal final length to slice almost two seconds off Jemma Lowe's British record set in the same pool last year. Gandy said: "I can't believe it. I had no idea I was that fast, I didn't even feel that fast. I'm in shock right now."

Well done Ellen from all at Beckenham SC, for full story see SwimNews.com

Beckenham swimmers savour record county success

15th March 2009

If one word summed up Beckenham Swimming Club’s experience of the Kent County Championships this year, it would have to be “records”. A record number of BSC members – 65 - took part in the championships, held over four weekends, and an unprecedented number of records were broken, 21 individual and 8 team events.

Indeed one swimmer, Michael Gunning, 14, broke 15 event performance records single-handedly, as well as setting a county record in the 800m. He finished the championships with 16 individual gold medals and four silvers, and was presented with the coveted top boy award in his age group.

The BSC swimmers, aged 9 to 19, won a record 153 gold medals, 92 silvers, 71 bronzes and countless fourth, fifth and sixth place awards. Last year, itself regarded as a glorious moment in the club’s history, BSC swimmers came home with 130 golds, 93 silvers and 75 bronzes. The club also broke eight relay records on the final day of this year’s championships.

Most of the BSC swimmers achieved personal best times in their events and several won double-figure gold medals. As well as the 15 event records achieved by Michael, four of his club-mates set new event records: Steffi King, 15, and Lauren Walton, 13, each broke two, while Lauren’s twin sister, Rebecca, and Kunmi Ogunfeibo, 11, broke one record each. Steffi also took home an impressive 18 individual golds and set two county records.

“The whole of the Kents were great,” said Michael, “but when I broke a county record on my 800m freestyle and everybody was clapping, that was something to remember!”

As well as the pleasure of setting two new county records, Steffi savoured the fantastic atmosphere and “actually managing to beat my 13-year-old times in some events for the first time!”

Tony Beckley, the BSC head coach, said the championship achievements were all the more remarkable, given the months of disruption and frustration the swimmers have faced since the “temporary closure” of the Crystal Palace pool in September 2007.

Despite that setback, the club has enjoyed some of its best results recently: Michael, Steffi and Steph Denny are about to compete in the British Swimming Championships and BSC is sending a large team to the finals of the National Swimming League in Sheffield in April for the first time in six years. This is a gathering of the top 20 clubs in the country.

“What these swimmers have achieved, through hard work, discipline and solid training, is absolutely fantastic,” he said. “I am so pleased with all of them.

Kent County Championships 2009

9th March 2009

Records tumbled, a great haul of medals were won, PBs acheived and a real team spirit prevailed to ensure a successful campaign for Beckenham Swimming Club at the 2009 Kent County Championships.

First positions were achieved by the following swimmers and teams:

Leah Casey (100m Back); Steffi King (100m Fly); Katie Irving (100m Fly); Marlon Gasparotto (200m BRS); Michael Gunning (200m BRS); Rebecca Walton* (400m Free); Francesca Hayward (200m BRS); Marlon Gasparotto (100m Fly); Michael Gunning (100m Fly); Steffi King (100m IM); Rebecca Walton (200m Fly); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (50m Free); Rachel Bull (400m Free); Kate Curran (50m BRS); Heather Travers (50m BRS); Michael Gunning* (200m Free); Steffi King (50m Back); Steph Denny (50m Back); Rebecca Walton (100m IM); Harold Pearson (50m BRS); Katie Irving (50m Fly); Steffi King* (200m Back); Rachel Bull (200m Back); Kate Curran (100m BRS); Heather Travers (100m BRS); Michael Gunning (100m IM); Lauren Walton* (800m Free); Michael Gunning* (800m Free); Lauren Walton* (1500m Free); Michael Gunning (1500m Free); Ricky Outhwaite (400m IM); Kunmi Ogunfeibo* (50m Back); Steffi King* (100m Back); Rachel Bull (100m Back); Jack Regan (50m Fly); Leah Casey (100m Free); Lauren Walton (100m Free); Marlon Gasparotto (200m Fly); Michael Gunning (200m Fly); Steffi King (100m Free); Steph Denny (100m Free); Dolly Myers (50m Free); Michael Gunning (100m Free); Steffi King (200m IM); Katie Irving (200m IM); Ricky Outhwaite (100m BRS); Rebecca Walton (400m IM); Katie Irving (400m IM); Francesca Hayward (400m IM); Ricky Outhwaite (200m BRS); Lauren Walton (200m Free); Rachel Bull (50m BRS); Joe Casey (200m Back); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (200m Back); Marlon Gasparotto (200m Back); Rebecca Walton (200m IM); Leah Casey (50m Back); Marlon Gasparotto (400m Free); Michael Gunning (400m Free); Ricky Outhwaite (200m Fly); Heather Travers (200m BRS); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (400m IM); Marlon Gasparotto (400m IM); Micheal Gunning* (400m IM); Hannah Vigors (200m Free); Rachel Bull (200m Free); Rebecca Walton (100m Fly); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (200m IM); Marlon Gasparotto (200m IM); Michael Gunning* (200m IM); Steffi King (50m Free); Steph Denny (50m Free); and Michael Gunning* (50m Fly).

Boys16 Yrs/Under 4x50 Medley*; Boys 13/14 Yrs 4x50 Freestyle*; Boys 12 Yrs/Under 4 x 50m Free*; Boys 13/14 Yrs 4x50 Medley*; Boys 12 Yrs/Under 4x50 Medley; Girls 13/14 Yrs 4 x 50 Free*; Ladies 15/16 Yrs 4x50 Free*; Girls 12 /Under 4x50 Medley; Ladies 16 Yrs/U 4 x 50m Free*; Ladies 16 /Under 4x50 Medley*; Girls 13/14 Yrs 4x50 Free; Ladies 15/16 Yrs 4x50 Medley; and Girls 12 Yrs/Under 4x50 Free.

Second positions were achieved by the following swimmers and teams:

Ricky Outhwaite (200m Free); Jodie McMonagle (100m Fly); Rasheed Bailey (50m BRS); Harold Pearson (200m BRS); Lauren Walton (400m Free); Ricky Outhwaite (100m Back); Jack Brown (100m Fly); Steph Denny (100m IM); Leah Casey (200m Fly); Lauren Walton (200m Fly); Michael Gunning (50m Free); Katie Irving (400m Free); Lauren Walton (400m Free); Ricky Outhwaite (100m Fly); Lani Davies (50m BRS); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (200m Free); Sophie Ward (100m IM); Leah Casey (100m IM); Heather Travers (100m IM); Michael Gunning (50m BRS); Steffi King (50m Fly); Steph Denny (50m Fly); Michael Gunning (100m Back); Lani Davies (100m BRS); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (100m IM); Rebecca Walton (800m Free); Jodie McMonagle (800m Free); Lauren Walton (800m Free); Gabriel Dada (800m Free); Kate Curran (1500m Free); Rebecca Walton (1500m Free); Maisie Mitchell (1500m Free); Gabriel Dada (1500m Free); Heather Travers (50m Fly); Joe Casey (50m Back); Steph Denny (100m Back); Ricky Outhwaite (50m Fly); Jack Brown (200m Fly); Rachel Bull (100m Free); Sophie Ward (50m Free); Leah Casey (50m Free); Rachel Bull (200m IM); Leah Casey (400m IM); Lauren Walton (400m IM); Steffi King (400m IM); Sophie Ward (200m Free); Leah Casey (200m Free); Rebecca Walton (200m Free); Michael Gunning (100m BRS); Leah Casey (200m IM); Katie Irving (100m BRS); Francesca Hayward (100m BRS); Katie Irving (100m BRS); Sophie Ward (50m Back); Leah Casey (50m Back); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (400m Free); Kate Curran (200m BRS); Ricky Outhwaite (50m Back); Katie Irving (200m Free); Emma Schofield (200m Free); Jodie McMonagle (200m Fly); Katie Irving (200m Fly); Hannah Vigors (50m Free); Rachel Bull (50m Free); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (50m Fly); Archie Mitchell (50m Fly); Marlon Gasparotto (50m Fly); Sophie Ward (200m Back); Leah Casey (200m Back); Rebecca Walton (200m Back).

Girls 13/14 Yrs 4 x 50 Medley

Third positions were achieved by the following swimmers and teams:

Lani Davies (100m Back); Rachel Bull (100m Fly); Ricky Outhwaite (50m BRS); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (200m BRS); Lani Davies (400m Free); Katie Irving (200m BRS); James Allan (100m Fly); Heather Travers (200m Fly); Maisie Mitchell (400m Free); Steffi King (400m Free); Francesca Hayward (400m Free); Jack Regan (100m Fly); Joe Casey (200m Free); Harold Pearson (200m Free); Gabriel Dada (100m Back); Kate Curran (800m Free); Rebecca Walton (800m Free); Cleo Hamilton (50m Fly); Rebecca Walton (50m Fly); Freddie Pearson (50m Back); Marlon Gasparotto (50m Back); Gabriel Dada (50m Back); Lani Davies (100m Free); Rebecca Walton (100m Free); Joe Casey (200m Fly); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (200m Fly); Katie Irving (100m Free); Rebecca Walton (50m Free); Jodie McMonagle (200m IM); Heather Travers (400m IM); Jodie McMonagle (400m IM); Lani Davies (200m Free); Katie Irving (50m BRS); Francesca Hayward (50m BRS); Ricky Outhwaite (100m IM); Henry Knight (200m Back); Jack Brown (200m Back); Marlon Gasparotto (100m BRS); Lauren Walton (200m IM); Sabrina Travers (100m BRS); Lani Davies (200m BRS); Rebecca Walton (200m BRS); Henry Knight (400m IM); Jack Brown (400m IM); Ricky Outhwaite (100m Free); Georgia Phillips (50m Free); Jack Brown (50m fly); Lani Davies (200m Back).

Boys 16 Yrs/Under 4x50 Free;

*Record/Event Best Performance.

The BAGCAT winners this year are:

11 Yrs Boys - Kunmi Ogunfeibo

13 Yrs Girls - Rebecca Walton

14 Yrs Boys - Michael Gunning

There were many other finalists and 4th, 5th and 6th places ...

Well done to all.

For more information and downloads from this event please visit the Beckenham SC Results web page, and also see a report from one of Beckenham's swimmers Sophie Lewis Ward who took part in the Kent County championships for the first time this year.

National League Round 3

13th December 2008 (A Team)

Sheffield, here we come!!!

As soon as we got on to the Coach that took us to K2, Crawley, it was clear that swimmers were looking to forward to the 3rd round of the National League championships.  With every single person on the coach adorning at least one piece of Pirate paraphernalia, the atmosphere was rather jolly.

After lots of jokes going round, some of which are unrepeatable, and amidst often raucous laughter, we arrived at K2 with time to spare. The swimmers prepared themselves physically and mentally.  The parents started on the champagne (the view being that come what may, the swimmers would give their all, and whatever the result, it was worth celebrating in advance!). Then the races started ....

It was a rollercoaster of an evening with a few swimmers very unwell, but still swimming their best; all of the swimmers gave their all.  At one point we were 4th, then we moved up to 2nd, then back to 3rd where we remained until the very last race when Leatherhead who were then 2nd, were disqualified, and we nudged ahead of them by 1 point to finish 2nd overall, and qualify automatically for the finals in Sheffield on 26 April 2009. The finals should see us present a full and healthy team, with our absent swimmers back, and our not so well swimmers, fighting fit.

Well done to Capt Tone and his gang of pirates!

For more information please refer to the Results web page

BSC Club Championships 2008 Session 5

1st December 2008

A great finish to this year’s Club Champs saw eight new records!

Katie Irving, 16/OV and Michael Gunning, 14/15, both broke records in the 50m Fly. Kunmi Ogunfeibo, 10/11, Marlon Gasparotto, 12/13, and Steph King 14/15, all broke records in the 50m Backstroke. Francesca Hayward broke the 16/OV 400m IM record and both Kunmi, 11/U, and Michael,14/15, took their second record of the night, in the 400m IM.

Well done to you all.

A very BIG and FINAL thank you to all those who helped in allowing the Galas to run smoothly. Richard Collins, President, was giving out a thank you from the Committee on Monday night , in the form of a box of chocolates, for all the helpers. If you didn’t receive a box and would like to, please let Richard know.

We are still looking for someone to take over the organisation of the Championships for next year. Anyone interested please contact us. You need to start planning the dates for next year in June 2009 and get the entry forms out and returned over the summer break. There will be lots of help from those with experience to guide you along the way.

Also, keep a look out for the date of the Presentation evening  in the new year, which is currently being organised. This is where the magnificent Club Trophies are presented to the winners of each event and also awards are presented to the top boy and girl in each age group. Details of where and when will follow.

Jackie and Justine

For a report please go to the Results section of this website.

Cyprus Training Camp

30th October 2008.

The week long training camp in Cyprus, was aimed to provide access to a 50m facility Training in the continued absence of Crystal Palace, ran incredibly smoothly for those attending from Top Squad.

Thank you to everyone who made the camp possible from fundraising to chaperoning, in particular to Steve Shelts who has done a great job from beginning to end in the organization of this event. Look out for a full report from Coral Bay in the next edition of 'Our Club' .

Beckenham Swimmers meet the Mayor of Bromley

10th October 2008.

On Friday 10th October 2008 Beckenham Swimmers who were part of the Bromley London Youth Games team were invited to a reception with the Mayor of Bromley, Councillor Denise Reddin, at the Civic Centre in Bromley.

This was to celebrate Bromley being overall London Youth Games Champions for the second year running.

Swimmers and parents listened to speeches from the Mayor and celebrity guest speaker Lesley Owusu, a GB international 400m runner who gave tips for success. Patron of Bromley Mytime, former footballer Paul Elliot also gave a speech.

The highlight of the evening for Beckenham swimmers was to listen to our own Steffi King who was interviewed by the compare about her trip to the Beijing Paralympic opening ceremony, while we were shown pictures of her trip. Steffi won the opportunity to be part of the torch relay for her triple gold medal winning achievements at the London Youth Games. You can read Steffi's blog of her trip on the Bromley Mytime Web Site.

Click here to read Stephanie's diary of her Beijing experience.

Ellen, Congratulations on reaching the Olympic Semifinals!

From all at Beckenham SC

Women’s 200m Butterfly, National Aquatics Centre. Tuesday 12th August 2008. Team GB Ellen Gandy Olympic Profile.

ASA National Youth and Welsh Summer National successes

8th August 2008

Last weekend saw the end of the club's swimming competition year conclude with the National Youth Championships in Sheffield and Welsh Summer Nationals in Swansea.

Last week I mentioned Liesje Van Der Velde hit Gold in an impressive PB of 57.08 in the 16/17yrs 100m Freestyle. Not content with that Liesje then made it a double in the short sprint 50m in a time of 26.52 and also made the final of the 200m Free finishing 8th in a time of 2:06.32.

For Liesje, it capped an impressive year in addition to being selected for the GB team for the World Youth Championships in Mexico last month.

This followed yet another successful sprint freestyle performance from Steph Denny, who in the 14/15yr event secured a bronze in 27.50.  This is a great achievement from Steph who has had to battle a tough year with injury.

Steph King, who recently joined the club, also successfully made two finals in the 14/15 Backstroke events finishing 4th in the 200m in 2:23.08 and 5th in the 100m in 1:06.63.

Overall the girl's team finished 11th (10th if you remove Team Ireland!) and Beckenham finished 23rd.

Well done to Tony and everyone who competed in Sheffield!

(Left: Tony Beckley with Liesje Van der Velde and Steph Denny. Right Liesje with Trophies from both sprint freestyle events)

Click here for the ASA Youth Results

Many then travelled from Sheffield to Swansea for the Welsh Summer Nationals too supported by the club for the first time. There were a number of good swims. Star of the show was Georgia Phillips who won two Golds in the 14/15yrs 100 Free and 50 Free.

Georgia won the 100 in 1:02.40 just pipping Katie Irving who finished in a time of 1:02.69. Katie went on to win further medals, along with Jack Regan, Olivia Handley, Jack Brown and Louis Phillips, as well as numerous other finalists. Well done to everyone in Swansea and click here for all the Welsh Summer Nationals Results.

Some farewells For Liesje, competing in Sheffield was her last swim in Beckenham colours, as next year she will be completing her A-Levels and swimming at Millfield School.  In a personal message to the whole club Liesje said…

"Dear All… Sadly I have now swum my last race for Beckenham and it is time to move on to pastures new. I will miss the club, I will miss Tony Beckley, and I will miss all my friends tremendously. Although I have already told some of you, I just wanted to state for the record, that my reason for leaving is purely because I couldn't continue with the 24 hours a week travelling time given that I had A levels looming. Beckenham is a fantastic club and Tony Beckley is a fantastic coach. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him publicly for all that he has done for me and for helping me to achieve what I have achieved. If I can leave one piece of advice then this would be to put your faith in Tony and if you work hard for him he will bring success for you. I would like to wish all of you, the coaches, the parents, those that do so much for the club behind the scenes and mostly my friends, a very fond farewell and I wish you every success in your swimming careers…" Liesje van der Velde