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Buying online through these links will save you money and create funds for the club:
Beckenham SC Newsletters 'Our Club'
May 2008 Beckenham Swim Club Newsletter ISSUE 1 - CLICK HERE
July 2008 Beckenham Swim Club Newsletter ISSUE 2 - CLICK HERE
September 2008 Beckenham Swim Club Newsletter ISSUE 3 - CLICK HERE
November 2008 Beckenham Swim Club Newsletter ISSUE 4 - CLICK HERE
Editor: Hiliary Moore
Beckenham Swimming Club Online News
Spare time on the Poolside! Think you have a creative flair? why not try and write our some of our media reports and send them to the webmaster to publish on this website.
National League - Round 2
Last week you'll remember Beckenham S.C. competed on two fronts in the South of England leagues the main club competition for all swimming clubs up and down the country.
The "A" team faced strong opposition at the Spectrum in Guildford, taking on Guildford City in the second round of last Saturday. Guildford City, who finished 4th Nationally in the competition last year, ran out winners by 22 points in the end. At one stage there were only 2pts between Beckenham's A team and Guildford.
It sets the club up for a very interesting 3rd and final round on the 13th December in Crawley where a good result will hopefully see the Team return to the National Final in Spring 2009.
The "B" team, competing at the Spa in the Division 2 East, ran out strong winners again. Competing against White Oaks (2nd in the league after the first round), the "B" won by strong margin of 40pts, topping the league and looking good for promotion this year.
I'd like to thank "Championship Team Gunning" (Gill and Sean), for all the hard work that went into planning for both galas, especially as the club hosted the gala at The Spa for the second round running.
Well done to everybody involved in both teams and good luck for the 3rd round in December!
Club Championships
4 new club records went in the first 2 sessions; that more than doubled at the third session of the club championships on Monday evening at the Spa, with 5 new records being set.
Congratulations to…
• Rebecca Walton in taking 2 records, the 200m Back and 400m Free, in the 13 year age group,
• Michael Gunning, who also took 2 records in the 100m Fly and 400m Free in the 14/15 age group
• and to Steph King in the 14/15 age group, adding the 200m Back to her 100m record in session one.
Well done and thank you to everyone who supported running the gala so smoothly - Jackie and Justine once again did a grand job. You can click here for full results from session 3.
Session 4 runs on Monday, events included are 100m Breaststroke, 200m IM (10/ov), 100M (9/u) and 200M Butterfly. Please do remember to sign in before 5.45pm.
Look out soon for details of the Trophy & Presentation evening, that will be held in the New Year. Thank you to Sue Curran and Pat Davies, who have jointly volunteered to organise the event.
Christmas Shopping - 6 weeks remaining…
In preparation for Christmas - which I have been informed is now less than 6 weeks is away - here is a quick reminder for the avid internet shopper. Some of you will have been very organized and have done all your xmas shopping already. For those of you like me, who visit the Glades once a year on the 24th Dec, remember you can now do your shopping through our very own website and fundraise for the club at the same time. For example, if you are planning to buy books from Amazon this year, navigating your way to Amazon from the Club's Homepage will see the club receive 10% commission on sales.
Any purchases made by through the website make commission for the club. In the few weeks these offers have been available the club has generated a modest £50. However, that is the equivalent of one year's membership!
These additions will help find what you want in the quickest possible time, from the comfort of your own home, and support the club at the same time. If you have any feedback or requests from the website, please contact Dave at david.grant@talk21.com.
Cyprus Training Camp
Everyone of the 30 manned party landed safe and sound on Monday afternoon having completed the week long training camp in Cyprus. The camp, which aimed to provide access to 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 grand job beginning to end in the organization.
Look out for a full report from Coral Bay in the next edition of 'Our Club'.
National League - Round 2
You'll remember in early October Beckenham S.C. competed successfully on two fronts in the South of England leagues, both the "A" and "B" teams winning by strong margins in the first round. The second round of the League, the main club competition for all swimming clubs up and down the country, takes place tomorrow night.
The "A" team will face strong opposition at the Spectrum in Guildford, taking on Guildford City who are likely to be the strongest of the teams in the league. A good result will hopefully set the club up for the final round and a return to the National Final in Spring 2009. The "B" team will once again compete at the Spa, in the second division, again looking for promotion this year.
Good luck to everyone involved in both teams.
Club Championships
With 4 new club records set so far in the first 2 sessions, the third session of the club championships takes place on Monday evening at the Spa. Events include 200m Back and 400m Free, 25m Fly for 9yrs and under and 100m Fly for the other age groups.
If you have any raffle prizes that you'd like to donate or think that you would be able to support on Monday please feel free to contact Justine at justinepope@yahoo.co.uk
Bromley Borough Championship
Well done to the Beckenham Swimmers who took part in the Borough of Bromley Swimming Championships last Sunday. Some good results were achieved, notably Alex Sandeman won the top girl trophy; and Leila Bernstein (silver) and Thomas Langley (club) won the Endeavour Trophies (that's highest points for a non medal winning swimmer). Thank you to Justine Pope for helping on the poolside and for the parents who volunteered to help with timekeeping.
Full results can be found on the results page of the website.
London Water Polo Winter Championships
The under 16 team are the first of the 7 Beckenham Water Polo team entries to begin their challenge in the London Winter Championships 2008/09. They play their first 3 games of 12 at Whitgft School on Sunday evening. Good luck to everyone involved.
Cyprus Training Camp
Everyone of the 30 manned party landed safe and sound on Monday evening for the commencement of the week long training camp in Cyprus. Training is going well for those in Top Squad in the 50m facility venue in Coral Bay, Paphos. A fuller report will be available in the next edition of 'Our Club'.
Fixtures
Please do continue to look at the Club's Fixtures Page where more details were posted on the website this week. In addition, to the events pre-Christmas (e.g. Club Championships etc), next year's programme including Open Meets, like Canterbury and Brighton, as well as Championships like the Kent County and Nationals (including entry times) are now on the fixtures page.Water Polo
Following on from last month the Beckenham Men's Team finished joint 2nd place in the London League their best result for a while. From November through to March 2009 Beckenham will contest 7 competitions in the London Winter League at different levels from Men's and Women's senior teams down to the under 12yrs competition. Good luck to everyone involved.At a National Level the Beckenham men continue to perform for Invicta Water Polo, accounting for 60% of the players in Invicta's two national League sides. The Invicta Team currently sit 9th place in Division 1, with 8 games to go and you can click here for full results so far of the first team. The Invicta Marlins (second team) sit 5th with 5 games to go click here for full results so far.
For more information on water polo please email Rob Spurr (Water Polo Secretary) at robert.spurr@lgvcapital.com
Eileen Toms
This week started, I am sorry to say, with some very sad news with the death of Eileen Toms a Past President of the club ('73, '92). Although current members may not have met or have known Eileen, parents who have been former swimmers within Beckenham S.C. will know how instrumental Eileen was in transforming and operating the club for over 40 years.
Eileen was Gala and Championship Secretary (1956 - 1964) and then Club Secretary for 13 years. This included overseeing the merger of Beckenham Ladies with the club in 1976-77, to create Beckenham Swimming Club as we now know it today.
At a county level Eileen was incredibly dedicated too, elected to the Kent County Executive Committee as Championship Secretary in 1963 and becoming KCASA President in 1970.
Eileen's success at organising Championships that the club and county took part in saw her appointed to the ASA list of "Chaperons" in the 1960s for the GB team. Chaperons are now like Assistant Team Managers for meets and championships. Eileen's most notable achievement was in 1968, when she was selected to be a chaperon for the GB team at the Mexico Olympic Games.
Eileen, who had recently celebrated her 90th birthday, had been in St Christopher's hospice in her last few weeks. The funeral is due to be on October 29th at 2.15pm at Beckenham Crematorium for those who I know will want to pay their respect. Our thoughts are with Eileen's family at this time.
Our Club
If you missed out on the November Edition of Our Club here it is. In this month's edition of the latest BSC news you'll find a reviews of :
• Beijing 2008 from Ellen Gandy;
• White Horse League;
• Kent Junior League;
• Opens;
• Club Champs;
• National League;
• Water Polo;
• Hampshire Invitation;
• and Ten things you didn’t know about......DI MANLEY!
Don’t forget, you can be a contributor – send in your news about swimming, other sports or just a topic which you feel would be of would be of interest to Beckenham Swimming Club's members. Contact Hilary on john@hamo6055.plus.com or 020 8857 4977. She is looking forward to hearing from you!
There will be a SPORTING QUIZ in the next issue in January – look out for that!
Website Review
It seems like an age ago now, however our new look website has just celebrated it's four month old birthday. In this time the site has had around 5,000 hits - 2,500 different visitors. On average each person visiting the site spends about 4 minutes perusing. In its first few months, the site was getting between 20 and 30 visits a day. Across September and October, the site is now getting 60 hits daily on average. The visits seem to peak when new results go onto the website, for instance Club Championships.
In the four months there have been many new additions and features added, for instance the 'Web shop' advancements including Buy At.com and Mailsports bringing better value to you.
In association with Buy At.com you can now get some fantastic online bargains
Beckenham S.C. members are entitled to a 5% reduction on full priced merchandise. with the promotional code BECSC573
The First "Blog" was posted this week - click here for Steph King's experience in Beijing as a torch bearer at the opening of the paralymipcs.
Please do continue to visit the website and look for the most up to date information. Dave Grant continues to do a grand job with the website and if you have any feedback or requests from the website, please contact Dave at david.grant@talk21.com.
Officials
A thank you to the following, who all got their log books reviewed on Monday night: Chris Bedford, John Handley, Errol Allen, Pat Davies, Fiona Pearson, Diane Conroy, Sarah Slater, Peter Pope, and Shaun Gunning.
A thank you to Jackie Bedford, who spent a fair bit of time in the gallery reviewing logbooks and giving feedback and pointers. This will mean that those successful can go onto the next stages of Official qualification, which will continue to ensure that we provide the highest level of competition we can as a club.
John Handley and Justine Pope (the Club's Officials Coordinators) are always looking for the club's next officials and would be keen to hear from you. If you'd like to become an Official please feel free to contact John at john@hamo6055.plus.com or Justine at justinepope@yahoo.co.uk.
National League - didn't they all do well….
The first of the three rounds of the National League, the main club competition for all swimming clubs up and down the country, saw Beckenham S.C. compete on two fronts last Saturday evening in the South of England leagues.
The Beckenham "A" team, in the Premier Division at Reading, ran out winners by a good margin of 46 points after the 50 event competition. To put the performance in context, the teams' total of 244 points was 2 points more than the highest achieved in any round of the premier league last year.
And not to be outdone the Beckenham "B" team competing at the Spa, in the second division, won their gala by 60 points after winning over half of the events.
Tony was extremely pleased with the performances, praising the swimmers, and sounding a slight caution as the next rounds will become more challenging.
I'd like to thank Gill Gunning, Championship Secretary, for all the hard work that went into planning for both galas. Organising travel, the Spa (the club was hosting the "B" team's gala), the volunteer support for both events and much more. Well done to everybody involved in both teams and good luck for the second round on November 8th.
Fuller reports of both galas will be available in this month's edition of Our Club and currently on the club's results page.
Club Championships…
Well done to everyone taking part in the second session of the club championships. 3 new club records were set, Marlon Gasparotto in the 50m & 200m Breaststroke and Francesca Hayward in the 200m Breaststroke. Well done guys!
Click here for the full results of the Club Championships on Monday.
Once again the event ran pretty smoothly - another grand job done Jackie and Justine! A special thanks to our team of Officials who continue to support the club and ensure that the championships are run fairly and impartially for all swimmers.
Next session is on the 10th November, which includes the 25m Fly for 9yrs and under and 100m Fly for the other age groups, 200m Back and 400m Free. If you think that you would be able to support on the 10th November please feel free to contact Justine at justinepope@yahoo.co.uk.
Web Shop and better value for you
Last month I mentioned the club's efforts to make purchases of Swimming Kit from the club simpler, quicker and cheaper. I'm pleased to say that in the current climate of seemingly everything becoming costly, the club has added some new features to our website to provide more choice, greater savings and better value for you, whilst raising for B.S.C at the same time.
You can also find cheaper gas and electricity services, business purchases such as great value broadband or stationery, even holidays and flights!
You pay exactly the same price as on the retailers main sites, often lower than on the high street. The commission earned by Beckenham Swimming Club comes out of the retailers profit margin and provides revenue for the club.
Speedo League….
The first round of the National Speedo League arrives tomorrow night - putting the first live round (and my tip for winning!) of "X Factor" on hold for many in the club.The Speedo League is the main club competition for all Swimming Clubs up and down the country and Beckenham S.C. will competing on two fronts, with the "A" team at Reading and the "B" team at the Spa on Saturday evening.
This is the first of three rounds between now and December, which will hopefully see the club in and amongst the National Finalists in Spring 2009.
Good luck to everyone involved in both teams.Elementary Gala Organisers
Last week you'll remember I mentioned roles in the club and how there were three positions that we were looking to recruit for. I'm pleased to announce that Clare Ockwell and Susie Goold have jointly come forward to organise the Elementary Galas for 2009. Thank you both for agreeing to take this on!
This leaves the Club with two roles from last week's note. Here they are with a brief description:Investment & Funding Officer - The club is always looking to benefit from awards and grants, such as Jack Petchey; however there is no dedicated Officer to look at such opportunities and maintain those that we already pursue. The club would certainly benefit from someone who could assess which grants would be worthwhile and pursue them.
Club Championship Organiser 2009 - As mentioned last week As you know Jackie Elliott is currently doing a massive role on the Club Management Committee as Membership Secretary and will be looking to pass on the organisation and running of the Championships with Justine to a new volunteer officer for 2009.
Do any of the above roles look like they might be playing to your strengths and you would like to know more? If so please contact Richard at Richard.collins@gtuk.com
Water Polo - GB Senior Team Representative
Congratulations to Sean King who represented the Senior GB team for the first time at the beginning of October. The new men’s squad was unveiled in the Comen Cup, held in Malta from October 1st-5th, where the GB team finished fourth.Great Britain, together for the first time as a team in this competition, played out 3 very close games against International and Club teams. Toughest test was against Italy's Rari Nantes Sori club (who had four Olympians playing!) - they went onto win the competition.
Sean, who competed in the European Junior Championships in September, scored 2 of GB's 14 goals in the tournament. The tournament, for a young GB team, is one of the first steps that will hopefully see a GB team in the 2012 Olympics.
For full results CLICK HERE
Code of Conduct Form Returns
The simplified Code of Conduct form was distributed as part of the membership renewal pack during the summer. These are signed by a parent on behalf of swimmers under 16 or swimmer themselves in order to outline the responsibilities of those involved with Beckenham Swimming Club and the club itself.Approximately 2/3 of these have been complete and returned - thank you all. The rest have either "gone-a-wandering" with the summer travel brochures or been chewed up by the dog! In seriousness, the Code of Conduct is an important part of the club's duty to ensure the safety and welfare to you our members.
Jackie Elliott will begin to chase outstanding forms next week. However, if you feel you may not have completed the Code of Conduct or weren't aware of it needing to be returned, please click here and return to Jackie or contact Jackie at jcelliott@btinternet.comKent County Championship Programme 2009
The Kent County Championships will begin very shortly after Christmas and full details of the programme are now available through the Club's fixtures page.
Any old swimming kit ….In May you'll remember that Club Squad raised nearly £800 by entering the Swimathon during a training session, and just last month our resident editor of "Our Club" Hilary Moore raised £323 (and counting!) for the Charity ASPIRE by swimming "The Channel" in her local pool in 9 days.
The club always tries to play its part in social responsibility and this week we would like to ask for any donations of unwanted or old pieces of swimming kit.As you may know Di Manley works with Turney Primary and Secondary Special School, a special school foundation for boys and girls from the ages of 5 to 16.
Di is looking for anything that can be donated in order to provide for a better swimming environment for the school whether that be old costumes, trunks, goggles, boards etc all welcome.
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 celeberety 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.
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 acheivements 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.
Whitehorse League
Good luck to everyone involved at Crook Log tomorrow night for the 6th and final round of the Whitehorse League.
Maxwell Swim Club Autumn Meet
Well done to everyone who competed at last Maxwell Meet last weekendClick here for the results from Maxwell
Hampshire County ASA Centenary Celebration Gala
At the same time last weekend on Saturday night in Southampton, the Kent County team took part in the Hampshire Centenary Gala in an Inter-County Swimming Competition. The Hampshire Black team won the Inter-County Swimming competition with the Kent team finishing 2nd and Surrey 3rd.
The Kent Team included the following Beckenham Swimmers: Katie Irving, Danny Casey, Francesca Hayward, Rasheed Bailey, Leah Casey, Michael Gunning, Michael Cook, Rachel Bull, Marlon Gasporotto and Jack Brown (…and apologies if I have missed anyone!)
Club Championships…
Well done to everyone on a successful first session of the BSC club championships. There was one new club record set by Stephanie King in the 14/15 years 100m Backstoke in a time of 1:06.19. You'll remember Steph recently flew out to Beijing to represent Great Britain for the opening of the Paralympic Games.
Click here for the full results from Club Championships on Monday.
Speaking with Tony on Monday, in particular he was very impressed with the strength and depth of the younger age groups, which bodes well for the future.
On a personal note I wanted to say a thank you to every volunteer who supported the event on Monday night. It was particularly impressive on walking into the gallery to see so many willing volunteers who made the running of the event so slick. I did try and convince Fiona to 'do-a-number' on the mic - alas we'll have to wait for the second session on the 13th October.
Justine was already talking about the second session. In particular with fewer entries, potentially it being a challenge to get the same level of volunteer support. I'm confident as a result of Monday night that the concern of 'peaking too soon' as it were is an unwarranted one.
If you think that you would be able to support on the 13th October please feel free to contact Justine at justinepope@yahoo.co.uk
Training Update
In July and mid-September I mentioned the continued situation with regards to pool time provision and how it has affected the club. For instance, the impact on movements across the club and how the club can grow in the longer term.
Over the summer months some of the venues that the club contracted for pool hire were under pressure to reduce our allocation. This was to address new legislation or to free up pool space for public provision. The Spa has been one of the pools. The Spa have worked consultatively with us across this time, for instance delaying their requests recognising both our predicament with other pools and of course the Crystal Palace closure.
Over the last few weeks we've continued to work with the Spa to free up some of our pool space that the club didn't have prior to the Crystal Palace closure in September 2007 (e.g. on a Tuesday night) having acquired more pool space at Dulwich College. This has as a consequence created some disruption to the training schedule (e.g. Gold Squad), the changes however have been minimized as much as possible.
At the same time the Spa have increased our pool time allocation where is does not conflict with their agenda on legislation or public provision, for instance in morning training. This across the club begins to reduce the impact on club in the main, for instance squad movements. Additionally, the Spa have now provided the opportunity for the club to progress further with land training provision in their studios.
We know that there will be a continued impact on our training schedule as other changes become necessary in the short term, we are confident that across the club they will continue to be minimal.In the meantime, we are continuing to communicate with Crystal Palace, the ASA and GLL (The Crystal Palace pool operators) to let us know their timetable is for reopening and the pool time they are to make available to us once the pool is back in commission.
We will continue to keep you informed and appreciate your patience as we progress.
Officials Update
For anyone who completed their Judge 1 course back in April, Jackie Bedford will be at the Spa on Monday 20th October to review your logbooks, which if successful will mean that you can go onto the next stage of Official qualification.John Handley and Justine Pope (the Club's Officials Coordinators) are always looking for the club's next officials and planning courses accordingly and would be keen to hear from you. If you'd like to become an Official please feel free to contact John at john@hamo6055.plus.com or Justine at justinepope@yahoo.co.uk
For more on being an Official within the club click here and scroll to the bottom
Roles in the Club
Over the last few months it has been great to see so many people come forward and give up some of their valuable time to help to operate the club. From officiating at galas to keeping notice boards updated – any commitment is a great commitment and is very much valued! As described earlier, the Club Champs on Monday was a really good example.
There are some specific roles that we are now looking for to support the club going forward:
Investment & Funding Officer - The club is always looking to benefit from awards and grants, such as Jack Petchey; however there is no dedicated Officer to look at such opportunities and maintain those that we already pursue. Whether it is the form filling or admin that puts people off I’m not quite sure. The club would certainly benefit from someone who could assess which grants would be worthwhile and pursue them.
Club Championship Organiser - As mentioned last week As you know Jackie Elliott is currently doing a massive role on the Club Management Committee as Membership Secretary and will be looking to pass on the organisation and running of the Championships with Justine to a new volunteer officer for 2009.
Elementary Gala Organiser - Again Justine and Jackie are currently organising the Elementary Galas for the club and will be looking for someone to take this on for 2009.
Would you be interested in helping out the club more actively? Do any of the above roles look like they might be playing to your strengths? If so please feel free to contact Richard at Richard.collins@gtuk.comThe Aspire Channel Swim 2008
Finally congratulations to Hilary Moore, our resident editor of "Our Club" the club's bi-monthly newsletter, who swam the length of the Channel (1416 lengths of her local pool) within her two week target - 9 days in fact! Hilary raised £323 for the Charity ASPIRE, which provides the practical support needed for people with spinal cord injury.
Ken Deeley 50M Sprints
Well done to everyone last weekend who made it to Brighton for the Ken Deeley 50M Sprints event.
Click here for the results of last week's meet.
Maxwell Swim Club Autumn Meet
And good luck too, to everyone off to Aylesbury over the weekend for the Maxwell Swim Club Meet.
Club Championships… Monday!
Justine and Jackie will I'm sure have a huge sigh of relief at the end of Monday at the end of the first of this years Club Championships. Events on Monday are the 50m / 200m freestyle and 100m back.Thanks to everyone who has submitted raffle prizes for the Championships and Liz wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has returned their trophies.
As you know Jackie is currently doing a massive role on the Club Management Committee as Membership Secretary and will be looking to pass on the running of the Championships with Justine to a new volunteer officer for 2009. Jackie has asked me to scour the balcony on Monday for all support for the Championships, so please forgive me in advance if you are approached!!!
There will also be presentations for the most recent Jack Petchey Award Winners on Monday too - click here for more on Jack Petchey
Welfare Issue
Beckenham Swimming Club recognises that all those directly involved in the club and its activities have a responsibility to provide a safe environment for children and young people to enjoy swimming and water polo whilst in the care of the club.On Monday night in the changing rooms at the Spa there was an incident where the B.S.C Code of Conduct and the B.S.C Child Protection Policy was breached by a member of the club.
This matter has been dealt this week in accordance with ASA guidance and disciplinary action has been taken in respect of the Club Rules.
Please can I encourage you to look at the links attached to raise awareness of Health, Safety and Welfare across the Club.
For any further information on Welfare across the club you can contact Angela Phillips (Welfare Officer) at angelagriffithphillips@yahoo.co.uk
Kent Junior League
Congratulations to everyone involved at Crook Log last Saturday night for the second round of the Kent Junior League. Beckenham ran out winners over Thanet by over 30 points in the end, a great result considering Thanet have recently combined with some neighbouring clubs. Well done to everyone involved!
For full results click here
Website and Club ShopOver the last two weeks some new features have been added to the Website to help make purchases of Swimming Kit from the club simpler, quicker and cheaper…..
On the Homepage of the website there are links to "MailSports" (our kit provider) and "Amazon" (see below)
Any purchases made by Beckenham S.C. members through the website with "MailSports" entitles you to a 5% reduction on full priced merchandise, as well as making 10% commission for the club. In addition, any purchases made on Amazon having navigated through the Beckenham website will see the club receive 10% commission on sales.
You can also now navigate to specific items you would like to purchase by clicking on them via the BSC Club Shop page.
To take advantage of the discount for swimming gear bought online from MailSports you will need as part of your purchase the promotional code, which is BECSC573
Alternatively, you can buy a variety of swimwear and accessories such as club costumes, hats, tracksuits, sweatshirts, club kit bags and so on through the club shop, which is open on Monday evening 6 - 8 pm at Beckenham Spa.
Hopefully these additions will help to get the products you want in the quickest possible time from the comfort of your own home. Please do continue to view the website and pass on any questions, feedback or requests for information that might be useful to David at david.grant@talk21.com.
Membership Update and 'Welcome Evening'Following the Membership renewals this summer and trial night we had 252 swimmers renewed and 30 new starters. 19 swimmers are waiting for the next trial, a date of which will be confirmed over the next few months. If you feel you may be able to support Jackie for the next trial please contact Jackie at jcelliott@btinternet.com.
For all new members, Sue Irving is organizing the next "Welcome Evening", which helps orientate yourself around the club. This is typically held at the Spa on an arranged Wednesday evening. Please feel free to contact Sue at suefgc@hotmail.com to help her plan for the event, Sue looking forward to hearing from you.
Water Polo - Regional, National and International update
A couple of weeks back I mentioned that Sean King was off to Istanbul for the European Junior Championships, the first time the GB Junior Team have qualified for the main junior championships. Historically, the GB team playing against the heavyweights in Europe has been similar to Crystal Palace (or better still Millwall!) playing in the Premier League. So although a little disappointed with a 13th out of 16 finish, it was none the less a respectable result. Well done Sean!
The Beckenham Men's Team have one final game this season away to Croydon Amphibs in October, which could result in Beckenham becoming London League champions for the first time in the Club's history. Currently Beckenham have 7 wins, 1 Draw and 3 losses, so there is much to play for in what will be a tough the final game against the local rivals.
On a National level Beckenham feeds into Invicta Water Polo, accounting for about 60% of the players in Invicta's two national League sides. Both teams started their National League season at the start of September, the Invicta Team currently 8th in Division 1 and the Invicta Marlins (second team) lying 3rd in Division 2. Click here for more information on the National League and how the teams progress over the 3 month season.
Club Championships… one week to go and a big thank you!
To everyone who has submitted raffle prizes for the Championships
To everyone who has returned their trophies both timely and shiny!
Final date for these to be returned is Wednesday 24th September. These need to be returned to Liz Haynes who is around at the Spa on Mondays (6-7pm) and Wednesday (5-6pm) and can be contacted at lizhaynes123@btinternet.com
From the Newshopper. By David Mills.
Fifteen-year-old Stephanie King went to Beijing to represent Team GB in the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games. DAVID MILLS hears about her unforgettable experience.
SWIMMING champion Stephanie King has already followed in the footsteps of double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington.
The pupil from Bromley High School for Girls, Blackbrook Lane, Bickley, was in Beijing a week later to represent Great Britain for the opening of the Paralympic Games.
Fifteen-year-old Stephanie was one of 120 people to take part in the torch relay, where along with five others she lit the flame for Team GB.
She was chosen to go to the Chinese capital after swimming for Bromley in the London Youth Games where she picked up three gold medals.
Bromley was the overall winner in the games, which take place each year and involve all London boroughs.
Stephanie, who lives in Sevenoaks, walked 50m holding the torch, which she described as a very special moment. She said: "It was amazing to be holding part of the Olympic flame and there was lots of cheering and a film crew following my every move.
"It seemed to be over so quickly I wished I could do it all over again."
When Stephanie landed in Beijing, she was ushered through fast track Olympic passport immigration, where she said she was made to feel like royalty. She was then taken by a special Olympic bus and interviewed by Chinese television.
When the day for the relay came round, Stephanie was taken inside the Summer Palace, Beijing's imperial garden, to her relay position. She said: "We were taken by Pagoda boats across the lake, round to our different areas to stand and wait for the flame to come to us.
"This was quite scary as the people watching all wanted to take photos and touch the torch and get signatures.
"They all came forward at once and the police lining the route had to keep them back."
Stephanie also got the chance to meet Team GB's paralympic team at the British embassy in Beijing, but says the opening ceremony was an unforgettable experience.
She said: "The opening ceremony was a truly amazing spectacle, from the perfect unison of 2,000 small children dancing, through to the light and firework shows, I have never seen anything on such a scale before.
"Even though it was a very long, hot and sticky night, it was just wonderful to be there.
"It was an experience I will never forget."
Stephanie hopes that one day she can emulate her idol Rebecca Adlington, and swim for Team GB.
She said: "I would love to get to the Olympics one day, but it will be quite a lot of work.
"There's a lot of competition.
"I would love to emulate Rebecca Adlington but maybe not for the same distance, I prefer short distance swimming."
Whitehorse League and Kent Junior League
Congratulations to everyone involved at Crook Log last Saturday night for the 5th Round of the Whitehorse League. Beckenham came out on top and sets the club up nicely for the 6th and final round on the 4th October.Good luck to everyone tomorrow, again at Crook Log, for the second round of the Kent Junior League!
Membership Update and 'Welcome Evening'
Last Saturday I'm pleased to say that the club ran a very successful trial night that saw 43 potential new members attend. Of those 40 were offered membership, so far 18 have accepted and we are waiting to hear on a few more, mainly the new Tadpoles who will be starting tonight.Thanks to Susie and Di, who continue to do a grand job at spotting talent for the future. A big thank you to Jackie too, who continues to arrange the logistics with ease. This week didn't stop there for Jackie as almost as soon as Saturday concluded she received a further 10 calls this week from more potential swimmers!!!
If you know of anyone interested in joining the club through a trial or feel you may be able to support Jackie for the next trial please feel free to contact Jackie at jcelliott@btinternet.com
Sue Irving then picks up the baton for all new members with the "Welcome Evening" held at the Spa on an arranged Wednesday evening. For all new members, and for those of you who have joined the club over the last few months and haven't yet had the opportunity to attend a Welcome evening, please feel free to contact Sue at suefgc@hotmail.com
Sue is planning for the next evening and is looking forward to hearing from you.
Training Capacity Update
Over the summer months I've mentioned the continued situation with regards to pool time provision and how it has affected capacity across the club. A few of the venues that the club contracts for pool hire have been under pressure to reduce our allocation. This has been either to address new legislation or to free up pool space for public provision. The continued closure of Crystal Palace has of course made this particularly challenging.Over the last couple of weeks I've picked up a slight nervousness "in the gallery" about pool time and wanted to take the opportunity to explain what has happened most recently and what is ongoing.
As many of you will be aware, South Norwood pool has removed our 2hr pool space on a Friday evening. As a consequence Bromley High has given us pool time on Fridays from 5pm-7pm which will replace our time at South Norwood for Top Squad.
Tony, Fiona and I, as well as other volunteers within the club (my thanks to them), have been pursuing provision at other pools. We are also working with our neighbouring clubs to accommodate the pressure that we, and they face. You can imagine liaising with up to 10 different venues at a time, as well as the different clubs, that the pool time provision of what the club could have changes on an almost daily basis.
We are optimistic that over the next three weeks we will have clarified and defined our own position on pool time. In addition, although we know that there will be an impact on our training schedule, we are confident that the change will be minimal. In the meantime, we are continuing to communicate with Crystal Palace and GLL to let us know their timetable is for reopening and the pool time they are to make available to us once the pool is back in commission.
We will continue to keep you informed and appreciate your patience as we progress.
Water Polo Trial Night
In addition to the swimming trial night, this Sunday at Dulwich College from 6.15pm the Water Polo section will have a trial night for new junior members (aged 8 to 14). If you are interested, please feel free to contact Anne Milstein at pamilstein@googlemail.com
The Aspire Channel Swim 2008
Back in May you might remember that Club Squad raised nearly £800 when they entered the Swimathon. I'm pleased to say that another dedicated volunteer officer has decided to don her costume for a well worthy cause.Hilary Moore, our resident editor of "Our Club" the club's bi-monthly newsletter, has decided to swim the length of the Channel (1416 lengths of her local pool) within two weeks to raise money for the Charity ASPIRE. Aspire's projects and services have a very simple goal - to provide the practical support needed for people with spinal cord injury, from injury to independence.
Hilary said "…mad caper that it is I am looking forward to the challengefor what is a very good charity and one which does not get that much coverage."
The clock starts on Sunday for Hilary and please feel free to click here if you would like to support Hilary in her challenge.
Club Championships… two weeks to go!
A few reminders about the upcoming Club Championships that start later this month
Can any trophies please be returned (polished please) to Liz Haynes by Wednesday 24th September. This is in preparation for Liz to do the mass engraving task for this year's championships. Liz is around at the Spa on Mondays (6-7pm) and Wednesday (5-6pm) for dropping off trophies and can be contacted at lizhaynes123@btinternet.com
If you have any spare raffle prizes for the Championships, please can you pass them onto Justine Pope on a Monday night.
Beijing continued…
This week Steph King in Top Squad, who recently made two National Championship finals at the end of July, flew out to Beijing to represent Great Britain for the opening of the Paralympic Games.Steph was selected after she swam for Bromley in the London Youth Games earlier this year, where she picked up three gold medals.
She will take part in the torch relay, where along with five others she will light the flame for Team GB. Her mum Jo King said: "We are just amazed, we can't believe it's going to happen."
Club Championships
A few reminders about the upcoming Club Championships that start later this month
All entries need to be in by Monday 8th September (next Monday) to Jackie or Justine who will be collecting last minute entries at the Spa on Monday… click here for entry form
Can any trophies please be returned to Liz Haynes by Wednesday 24th September. This is in preparation for Liz to do the mass engraving task for this year's championships.
Can all trophies also be returned with a good dose of "Mr Sheen" too please in order to save Liz's car seats. Liz is around at the Spa on Mondays (6-7pm) and Wednesday (5-6pm) for dropping off trophies and can be contacted at lizhaynes123@btinternet.com
If you have any spare raffle prizes for the Championships, please can you pass them onto Justine on a Monday night.
Notice Board
A lot of you saw the notice board this week, some even mentioned to me that they had not even known it was there until this week…Therefore a big thank you to Anne Denny, who got a revamped display up this week with some great pictures, photos and information.
Welcome Back and Olympic Congratulations…
After the highs of the last three weeks (that's the Olympics and not Big Brother!), it is time to welcome everyone back to the club after the August break. I think you'll agree that the Beijing experience was a great one from the armchair and one can only imagine what it must have been like to be out there.One such individual was of course Ellen Gandy and on behalf of the club, I'd like to take the opportunity to congratulate Ellen for her success. Ellen was competing in the 200M fly in Beijing and made the semi-finals. Although no medal this time, however Ellie was the youngest member of the swimming team in Beijing and is already looking forward to 2012… after a well earned rest for now!
I know that many members of the club, past and present, were watching both heats and the semis, all have asked me to pass on a mass congratulations. There were some stories of house parties from some of Ellie's closet friends… One individual, who shall remain nameless, ran around Moorgate trying to find a TV and eventually watched Ellie's heat swim in a fish & chip shop!
Well done Ellie and welcome back everyone - hopefully in 4 yrs time we'll be celebrating further successes in London.
Click here for Bromley Times Article on Ellen's achievements.
Newsletter
Some of you will have seen the September issue of “OUR CLUB”, distributed earlier this week.
"Our Club" is the new name for the 3rd issue of the Beckenham S.C. newsletter - a name devised by George and Oliver Eagle of Club and Platinum squads… Well done guys for your nomination!It is a ‘bumper’ issue, including reviews from Mexico and The Nationals as well as much more… And "Ten things you didn’t know about......CILLA DANIELS!"
In case you missed it (there were a few email bounce backs) click here September - Our Club
You can be a contributor too – send in your news about swimming, other sports or just a topic which you feel would be of would be of interest Contact Hilary on john@hamo6055.plus.com or 020 8857 4977.
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Water Polo International Success
Success clearly does breed success and while the summer focus was on Beijing, Sean King was performing well for Great Britain Juniors as they played against the Australian junior men's water polo team in Cardiff in mid-August. The Aussies, who were on the start of their European tour, unfortunately got the better of the GB team, as GB suffered two defeats in Cardiff 16-5 and 15-10.Sean will now go on to compete in the European Junior Championships in Istanbul between 7 - 14th September, the first time the GB Junior Team have qualified for the main junior championships. It will be tough as GB face some heavyweights in their first round qualifying group, the full group being Italy, Germany and Croatia.
Good luck Sean.
Over the summer break too, Danny Casey was selected for the next GB Youth training squad (U16) after a successful trial at Millfield School. Danny will join Conrad Rhodes (U18) and Kitan Ogunfeibo (GB Youth Academy Squad) as GB representatives.
Well done Danny.
For further information on Water Polo please contact Rob Spurr at robert_d_spurr@hotmail.com
Coach Update
After saying farewell to Jo Collins at the end of July from the coaching team, a few coaches are going to be taking on new squads as well as a welcome to a new coach.From September, Susie Goold will be coaching Blue and Club squads fully, in addition to Development 1 and Tadpoles 1.
Kym Tamplin, who has been coaching Platinum so successfully over the last 8 years or so, will be coaching Development 2.
With Susie taking up more during the week, we also welcome a new member to the coaching team in Michael Griffin, who will be coaching White 1 and White 2.
A warm welcome to Michael and I'm sure you'll wish Susie and Kym well with their new squads.
Trial Night
Finally, on Saturday 6th September a trial night will be run for up to 40 potential members on the waiting list.For any further information or if you feel you may be able to support please contact Jackie at jcelliott@btinternet.com
Some reminders of dates for the diary
September 8th – Club Championships entries completed and returned
September 29th – Club Championships Session 1 The Spa, 5.45pm
October 13th – Club Championships Session 2, The Spa 5.45pm
November 29th – Beckenham Rising Stars Open Meet click here for more information.
A SWIMMING champion has been chosen to represent Great Britain for the opening of next month's Paralympic Games in Beijing.
Stephanie King, aged 15, who is a pupil at Bromley High School for Girls, Blackbrook Lane, Bickley, was selected after she swam for Bromley in the London Youth Games, picking up three gold medals.
Bromley was the overall winner in the games, which take place each year and involve all London boroughs.
Stephanie, who lives in Sevenoaks, will fly to the Chinese capital with her mother on September 3rd 2008.
She will take part in the torch relay, where along with five others she will light the flame for Team GB. Her mother Joanne King said: "We are just amazed, we can't believe it's going to happen."
Hailing from Bromley, Ellen made her Olympic debut in the 200m butterfly in Beijing.
Ellen came seventh in her heat for the 200m butterfly with a time of 2:08:98 which put her into the semifinal where she came eighth with a time of 2:10:60.
Ellen now lives and trains in Melbourne, but first competed for her native country in the summer of 2007. Her first major event was the European Championships in Eindhoven in 2008 where she was part of the 4x200m freestyle relay team, breaking the Commonwealth record.
Her aim is to get an Olympic gold, in London if not in Beijing and will "keep going until I get one".
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 Olympic Profile
ASA National Youth and Welsh Summer National successes
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 ResultsMany 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
Apologies too if I have missed any other 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"
Jo Collins, who finished coaching at Beckenham in July to pursue emigrating to Australia Jo with her husband Stuart, also sent a personal message to the club this week. Jo said…
"To everyone at Beckenham Swimming Club… Thank you all for your kind words and gifts that I received from the club. I'd like to thank everyone that has made my time so special at Beckenham since I joined as a Minnow back as a 5 year old all the way up to coaching over the last few years. In particular I'd like to thank Tony and the rest of the coaches for all their support, especially whilst we were deciding on moving to Australia. We have just received our visas and leave later this year in the autumn; hopefully I'll get to see many of you before we go. I'll keep watching the club, even from the other side of the world, as it is a great club to be a part of and will continue to be so in the future. Thank you… Jo Collins"
I'm sure everyone will join me in wishing Liesje and Jo all the best for the future and look forward to seeing either more successes in the pool or stories of the Aussie way of life!
And finally…
…the weekly updates will have a slight rest for the next two weeks. The next update will be on Friday 29th August just before the start of the new season, to give everyone the chance to enjoy the summer break, refreshed and revived for an exciting year.
Have a great summer all and see you in September!
ASA National Youth and Age Groups Update
This last week has seen 15 swimmers from Top Squad competing at the National Age Group and Youth Championships in Sheffield. The championships are spread over 10 days and have seen the best swimmers from across the country competing against each other.In the Age Group Championships, which ran from the 24th to the 27th July, Marlon Gasparotto (12) made three finals in the 200m Breast, 100m Fly and successfully coming 7th in the 400 I.M in 5:16.54. In addition, Michael Gunning (14) came 7th in the 200m Butterfly in 2:15.00.
Well done to everyone who competed in Sheffield and for further results on the Age Groups please click here
Apologies too if I have missed any other results!The Youth Championships too began earlier this week and Wednesday saw Liesje Van Der Velde striking Gold in an impressive PB of 57.08 in the 16/17yrs 100m Freestyle.
Congratulations to all so far and a more complete set of results will follow next week after the conclusion of the meet tomorrow.
Not to be finished there, many are following on off to Swansea for the Welsh Summer Nationals too this week, good luck all involved!
A final good luck and best wishes too…
…Ellen Gandy, who on Tuesday 12th August will be competing in Beijing in the Women's 200m Butterfly in the Olympics.
Club Championship Reminder
Club Championship entry forms have been distributed as part of the Membership Renewals over the last month. Just in case the entry form has been missed or the dog has got hold of it, here is the link on the website where the form can be downloaded and printed (please click here).The first of the championships is on Monday September 29th.
All entries will need to be completed and returned by Monday September 8th to Jackie Grant or to Justine Pope or they can be posted to Jackie Elliott.
Some help for the club –would you be interested?
Over the last two months it has been great to see so many people come forward and give up some of their valuable time to help to operate the club. From officiating at galas to keeping notice boards updated – any commitment is a great commitment and is very much valued! The most recent example of this has been the Squad Reps.Would you be interested in helping out the club more actively?
The Club Shop will need some additional help from September. The girls (Carole, Julie, Diane, Catherine and Fiona) do a grand job each week keeping on top of stock ordering and selling kit on Mondays between 6 to 8pm, however with some of their kids moving between squads some will not always be readily around at the Spa to help with the Shop to the same capacity. There have also been requests to open the shop on a Friday night too.
So if there is anyone with a bit of a passion for retail and you feel you maybe able to free up some time on a Monday or Friday night at the Spa please do contact Fiona at fionamgorman@aol.com and for more information on the club shop click here
Secondly, the Club has benefited in 2007/08 from funding from the Jack Petchey foundation (click here for more information on Jack Petchey). The club is always looking to benefit from awards and grants, such as Jack Petchey; however there is no dedicated Fundraising Officer to look at such opportunities. Whether it is the form filling or admin that puts people off I’m not quite sure. The club would certainly benefit from someone who could assess which grants would be worthwhile and pursue them.
If you feel that this might interest you please do not hesitate to contact Richard at Richard.Collins@gtuk.com.
Membership Renewals
Thank you to everyone who has returned their membership renewals by last Friday’s deadline.At the last count (beginning of this week) 80% of the club’s membership has returned, which now leaves the majority to enjoy their summer holidays during August.
This is one of the biggest jobs each year undertaken by your committee and I would like to thank Jackie Elliot, Jenny Knight, all coaches and everyone who helped to make this a smoother and timelier process.
Jo Collins
Jo Collins had her last week as a coach at Beckenham S.C. this week and on Monday night a presentation of vouchers and flowers was given to her at the Spa at Beckenham. Jo asked me to say thank you to the club and everybody who has made her time so special at Beckenham. Jo and her husband Stuart are later this year pursuing their dream of emigrating to Australia.Thank you to Justine Pope for organising the presentation, Ita O’brien for photos and Lawrie for making sure I presented on time!
Training Capacity
Back in May I did mention that Training Capacity across the club is quite tight currently due to our current pool time provision. As a consequence, it has proved tricky to accommodate new members across some squads and has made it quite competitive to join. This also has an impact on movements across the club and how the club can grow in the longer term.
As a result over the last few months we have had to make some tough but necessary decisions over membership. An example of this would be a restriction on training for country members. In the last two weeks, further pressure has been put on the club to relinquish some of its current pool space from September 2008.For instance, South Norwood has been under pressure to free up pool space for the public and limit pool time to non-borough swimming clubs. South Norwood currently managed by Parkwood Leisure and changing ownership to Fusion Leisure from September, has asked us to free up our pool space (i.e. 4 hours a week).
The Spa too has been under pressure to reduce our pool time allocation in line with new legislation around free swimming for over 65s and U16s that comes into effect in April 2009. The Spa very kindly has agreed to delay the request until later this year, recognising both our predicament with South Norwood and of course the Crystal Palace closure.
Both requests would put the club under pressure at the best of times. At present, with little information to update you on with regards to Crystal Palace, it would be even more significant.As a consequence, Tony, Fiona and I will be meeting with Fusion Leisure at South Norwood in early August and then Bromley MyTime at the Spa in early September to work through how we can help both providers achieve their needs on pool time and of course minimise the impact across the club. We will of course keep you updated on South Norwood, the Spa and of course Crystal Palace as and when we know more information.
Water Polo Barbecue
Thank you to everyone who attended the Beckenham Water Polo BBQ at Trinity School. The day kicked off with a mini-polo exhibition game following with a men’s, women’s and junior’s competition starts. The event was the first for at least 7yrs to my knowledge and a few teething problems aside was a very successful event, well supported by Croydon Amphibians and Sevenoaks Water Polo.Fortunately the weather held out to make the day even better, and after possibly the longest raffle announcement ever witnessed, the Water Polo section raised £550 for fundraising.
Thank you to Rob Spurr, the rest of the polo team and everyone who helped organising the event this year.
(Left: Action from Beckenham Ladies 1 v Beckenham Ladies 2… Right: Thank you Greg for manning the Barbie all afternoon)
Squad Reps
Thank you to all of the Squad Representatives who have taken about their tasks very effectively over the last few weeks since coming into position. I know that many have taken the opportunity to pass this note on across each squad, highlighted to me on Monday at the Spa by quite a few members.The club really appreciates this help as good communication is always difficult to achieve in a swimming club such as Beckenham, where the opportunity is often limited to listen to large numbers in a short space of time. In addition, we appreciate that you all have busy lives too so the support running the club is valued so thank you again.
World Youth Championships – Mexico Travels Success
Congratulations to Tony and Liesje who returned from a very rainy Monterrey – Mexico earlier this week.Liesje swam an impressive 26.99 coming 18th overall in her individual 50m front crawl event and then 7 minutes later swimming a 57.83 to help the G.B. 4 x 100m Freestyle team get into the final, where they eventually finished 5th.
Overall the GB team finished 4th in the medal tables.Tony, who coached the women’s 4 x 200m free to a silver medal, said that “…the meet was a great development experience for both himself and Liesje.”
Click here for more information on the World Youth Championships, Monterrey
National Championships
Over the next two weeks, 15 swimmers from Top Squad are going to the National Championships in Sheffield.
The championships are spread over 10 days and will see the best Age Group and Youth swimmers from across the country competing against each other.The Age Group Championships run from the 24th to the 27th July and the Beckenham swimmers competing are:
Marlon Gasparotto, Rebecca and Lauren Walton, Michael Gunning, Jack Brown, Gabriel Dada, Heather Travers and Leah Casey.The National Youth Championships run from the 29th July to the 2nd August and the Beckenham swimmers competing are:
Liesje Van Der Velde, Steph Denny, Ricky Outhwaite, Rachel Bull, Steffi King, Jodie MacGonagal and Michael Cook.
Good luck to all!
Website
Today the website did hit the 1000 mark for the number of visitors. This week’s feature is the Results page, where you’ll find all the recent results over the last couple of weeks, such as…
The combined successes of Michael Gunning, Ricky Outhwaite, Katie Irving, and Stephanie Denny in Germany representing Kent County ASA at the Darmstadt 45 (Germany) International Swim Meet.
A swimmer’s report (well done Emily!) of the Haslemere Open Meet on Sunday 6th July.
Thee White Horse League Gala (Round 4) results from the same weekend.
Please do feel free to write reports, swimmers AND / OR parents, about galas you experience and send them through to the communication team below.
Newsletter Editor, Hilary Moore, john@hamo6055.plus.com
Press Officer, Sue Mitchell, sue.mitchell@bbc.co.uk
Website Officer, David Grant, david.grant@talk21.com
Please do continue to view the website as it is updated at www.beckenhamswimmingclub.com and pass on any questions, feedback or requests for information that might be useful to David at david.grant@talk21.com
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Kent Masters
… And just to prove that swimming does indeed become a way of life, congratulations to the very merry band of Masters’ swimmers that took a team of 10 to the Kent County Masters Championships at Gillingham on Saturday 5th July.The Beckenham team came 4th overall, out of 18 teams taking part.
Look out for a fuller report in the next edition of the newsletter from Peter Sutherland on the event and for more information on Masters Swimming at Beckenham click here.
Click here for Kent County Masters Results
A last minute reminder – Water Polo Barbecue
The Beckenham Water Polo BBQ is tomorrow at Trinity School.
The day kicks off from 10.30am starting with a mini-polo exhibition game. The men’s and women’s competition starts at around 11.15. In addition, and weather permitting (fingers crossed!), there will now be a five-a-side football competition and a rounder’s competition. The Barbie will start from 3pm onwards.Tickets are £5 u16s, £10 adults and £25 for a family ticket (2 Adults / 2 children).
To confirm tickets ARE available on the door tomorrow, so don’t worry if you’ve not got yours yet.
On the 17th July two Beckenham swimmers, Steph Denny and Jack Brown from the national squad, were invited to spend the morning at the Olympic Site and have a photo shoot with Seb Coe, Tessa Jowell and the top executives from Balfour Beatty.
Both were in the winning teams from the London Youth Games. Three swimmers from the Bromley girls team and three from the Sutton boys team were asked to take part in the event in Stratford as the first day of work began on the Aquatic Centre. They spent the morning looking at the plans for the new pool and having their photos taken by lots of photographers and TV crews on the site where the pool is being built.
Retiring Past President – June Piper
After nearly 50 years commitment serving on the Beckenham Swimming Club committee, June Piper has decided to retire from the Executive Committee for 2008/09.June has carried out many roles across the years notably as Championship Secretary, Fund Raising Secretary and President of the Club twice. June was Championship Secretary during some of the most successful years the club has had in the 70s and 80s, taking teams to America, Canada and various other places in Europe.
After this period June was persuaded to take up fundraising, responsible for organising Open Meets, the shop and finding sponsors for the club. Over 20 years June, with the help and support of many others, has probably raised about £160k for Beckenham S.C.
In addition, June has dedicated much time and effort to Kent County A.S.A, again representing the county as K.C.A.S.A President.
I’d like to thank June, and her husband Peter who sadly passed away in June this year, for all of their efforts, massively contributing the club’s success from behind the scenes for such a long period of time.
Visit from the University of South Carolina
On Wednesday night this week, we had a visit from Leah Stancil, Assistant Swimming Coach from the University of South Carolina.Leah wanted to observe Top squad training and learn more about British Swimming, before heading up to Liverpool for the ASA Championships this weekend.
Leah wanted to thank the club for their help. I’d like to thank Jackie Walton (Top Squad Rep) for helping to organise Leah’s visit.
Water Polo Secretary change of email address
Rob Spurr (Water Polo Secretary) has moved on from First Rand and his email address will no longer work from today.Please can you send all water polo related information and requests to robert_d_spurr@hotmail.com
This includes ticket requests for the Beckenham Water Polo BBQ on the 19th July at Trinity School.
Squad Representative Meeting
On Monday this week, the first Squad Rep meeting was held at Beckenham Spa, led by Fiona Pearson and Andrew Forryan. The main aim of the Squad Rep is to be the main point of contact for swimmers and parents for a squad and is a key role to ensure all relevant information is being passed throughout the club.Communication and transparency of decision making is always difficult to achieve in a swimming club such as Beckenham, where the opportunity is often limited to listen to large numbers in a short space of time.
The role therefore will continue to build effective communication across the club.
As such, the squad reps will be getting around their squads listening to Coaches, Parents and members in an effort to review what our members think the Club does well and what it does less well. This will then be fedback to your committee to take action.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact your Squad Representative directly (click here for your squad rep) or contact Andrew Forryan by email at andrew.forryan@cliffordchance.com or telephone 07785 700123.
Membership Renewals
A reminder that Membership Renewal packs date for return is Friday the 18th July 2008. These include membership forms and standing order mandates which need checking and returning. If there are any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Jackie Elliott (Membership Secretary) at jcelliott@btinternet.com and thank you in advance for helping by getting the forms back on time.
Website
As at July 11th, 28 days after go live, the website has had 765 visits. Hopefully by this time next week it will be over the 1000 mark. This week’s feature is Beckenham Swimming Club News where you’ll find all the most recent press coverage, news within the club and swimming successes, including the May and July Newsletters and successes at the London Youth Games and Regional Championships.Many have been bored with me often saying “People don’t know what they don’t know!!!” so if there is any news, no matter how big or small, please do continue to send it through to the following and it will appear in the local press, newsletter or website.
Newsletter Editor, Hilary Moore, john@
