Results can be found on the British Swimming website. Congratulations to the swimmers on their terrific performances on the first two days of completion. In the 13 Years 100m Backstroke Archie Mitchell finished 11th (and was first reserve for the final) and Kunmi Ogunfeibo was a very creditable 15th. Luke Gunning (12) made the finals in both the events he has so far swum finishing an excellent 4th in the 200m Butterfly and 9= in the 100m Freestyle. The 4 X 100m Boys relay team finished 25th out of the 30 entrants.

Donwnload or view printable versions of the results: Session 1; Session 2; Session 3; Session 4; Session 5; Session 6; Session 7; Session 8; Session 9.

A big thank you to Di Manley for looking after all the swimmers at the Bagcats at Pond's Forge this week.

Well done to all the swimmers at what is usually (and was no doubt again this year) a well run and fun meet for many swimmers to finish their competitive season. Click here to download or view the results.

Many congratulations to all our swimmers at the London Region Sprints at Crystal Palace last Sunday. Swimmers training with the Club won 10 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze medals, together with a further 29 top 8 places all of which won awards.

Click here to view the results on the London swimming website, or here to download a .pdf copy of the results.

Congratulations to the “B” team who won the latest gala in the White Horse League swam at the Spa last Saturday. The tone was set by the girls and boys 11 and under relay teams who won the first two events. Beckenham were never headed and with the many excellent swims including no doubt many PBs ran out comfortable winners.

Beckenham Swimming Club swimmers performed well at the Saxon Crown Future Champions open meet in Downham. This well run event, for swimmers age 9 to 13 years, was opening by Lewisham Mayor Sir Steve Bullock and saw Beckenham Swimmers competing against swimmers from Saxon Crown, Leander, Greenwich, Southwark, Bexley and all clubs from over the South East.

This was the first time that I had competed in the Saxon Crown Gala and I really enjoyed the day! I was really well looked after by Saxon Crown. I have only started doing open events and found the experience very beneficial. Hopefully I will be competing in many more to come.

Duyen

Click here for a copy of the individual results (.PDF), individaul results (.XLS) and relay results (.PDF).

A small contigent of Beckenham SC swimmers attended the Margate Open

Click here for a copy of the results.

Click here for a copy of the results from the London Regions website

Or click here for a .PDF copy of the results from all sessions.

A small number of Beckenham Swimmers competed in the 4th Annual Black Lion Open Meet that took place at the Medway Park Leisure Centre on the 22nd/23rd May 2010.

Click here for a copy of the results.

London Swimming held their third long distance event on Saturday 15 May, at Crystal Palace. The specialist 1500m and 800m freestyle is an open event and the Region welcomed swimmers from rural Kent, Essex, Surrey and also Sussex as well as swimmers from London clubs. The event gives swimmers another opportunity to gain national qualifying times in a 50m pool over these two distances.

Click here for results of Session 1 Boys/Girls 800m; and Session 2 Boys/Girls 1500m.

The London Region Swimming Championships splashed off last weekend with the Youth Championships at Crystal Palace, on Saturday and Sunday. We had some fabulous swimming and congratulations to Steffi King, Rachel Bull, Rebecca Walton, Steph Denny, Georgia Phillips, Fearn Cook, Sophie Simpson, Michael Gunning, Gabriel Dada and Adam Strawford who all made finals. Michael got two firsts and Adam one first. So well done to Tony, Di and the team. Thanks to Gill Gunning, Angela Phillips and Jackie Walton who helped to man the door.

Click here for the results

We came, we saw and we swum our hearts out. Last Sunday morning saw the Beckenham A team and their band of militant supporters descend on Ponds Forge in Sheffield. We were there to battle for glory in the Arena League B Final. It was noisy, it was hot, it was a great atmosphere and a wonderful experience for all involved. We finished in 7th place, a great achievement. Congratulations to Michael Gunning who picked up the male 15 year-old swimmer of the meet award and well done to all of the swimmers, Tony, Di and Sarah the coaches, Tony, Kathy and Catherine our officials, the Gunnings for organising us and the barmy army in the stands.

Click here for printable version of the results, or go to website for more details.

Some great photos from the National League B final:

Kent Primary Schools Finals Saturday 24th April 2010.

The Kent primary schools final took place on Saturday 24th April at Gillingham. Lucy Grant (Gold squad) and Henry Maxwell (Silver squad) , both swimming for Balgowan Primary school reached the final for their event, with Lucy coming 2nd and Henry coming 5th in the 50m freestyle. Clodagh Kelsh (Silver squad) reached the 50 m Breaststroke final coming 5th for Bromley High School. Clodagh, along with Tamara Elliott ( Silver squad) managed a great win in the Medley relay for Bromley High and Francesca Conroy ( Silver squad) helped Oak lodge to a 2nd place in the freestyle relay ahead of the Bromley High girls in 3rd. Natasha Hainsworth (Gold squad) swam in the 50m fly, gaining 11th place overall. Those swimmers in the top 3 places are selected to swim for the Kent schools against Surrey on Friday 30th April, so good luck Lucy and the girls in the relays. Go Kent Go!

Click here for printable (word) version of the results, or go to the KSSA website for more details.

BEXLEY LONG COURSE OPEN MEET (LICENSE NO. 1LR0192) (Under ASA Laws and ASA Technical Rules) RESULTS from Bexley Swimming Clubs Long Course Open Meet at Crystal Palace on the 10th and 11th April 2010.

The results can be viewed here or from the Bexley SC website.

• EVENT 1 Girls Open 100m Butterfly - here.
• EVENT 2 Boys Open 100m Backstroke - here.
• EVENT 3 Girls Open 200m Breaststroke - here.
• EVENT 4 Boys Open 200m IM - here.
• EVENT 5 Girls Open 50m Freestyle - here.
• EVENT 6 Boys Open 400m Freestyle - here.
• EVENT 7 Girls Open 400m IM - here.
• EVENT 8 Boys Open 50m Freestyle - here.
• EVENT 9 Girls Open 100m Backstroke - here.
• EVENT 10 Boys Open 200m Breaststroke - here.
• EVENT 11 Girls Open 200m Freestyle - here.
• EVENT 12 Boys Open 100m Butterfly - here.
• EVENT 13 Girls Open 200m Butterfly - here.
• EVENT 14 Boys Open 200m Freestyle - here.
• EVENT 15 Girls Open 100m Breaststroke - here.
• EVENT 16 Boys Open 400m IM - here.
• EVENT 17 Girls Open 200m IM - here.
• EVENT 18 Boys Open 200m Backstroke - here.
• EVENT 19 Girls Open 400m Freestyle - here.
• EVENT 20 Boys Open 100m Breaststroke - here.
• EVENT 21 Girls Open 200m Backstroke - here.
• EVENT 22 Boys Open 200m Butterfly - here.
• EVENT 23 Girls Open 100m Freestyle - here.
• EVENT 24 Boys Open 100m Freestyle - here.
• EVENT 25 Time Trials - here.

British Gas Swimming Championships (50m) Sheffield 29/03/10 - 03/04/10 - Results from website.

Copy of results can also be downloaded here:

Session 1; Session 2; Session 3; Session 4; Session 5; Session 6; Session 7; Session 8; Session 9; Session 10; Session 11; and Session 12.

Another great day which ran very smoothly thanks to all the helpers / parents/coaches. We felt everyone was a little more relaxed as they learnt from last week (the recorders table excluded!)

There were some great swims considering Butterfly is rarely an event that most swimmers look forward to!

Well done swimmers!

We also presented Michael Griffin, White squad Coach, with a small gift from the Club as he is Coaching White squad for the last time next week before he leaves the Club.

Good luck and farewell Michael!

We had a report from Past President/ proud Grandma, Doreen Summerville  from session 1 which is on the website.
http://www.beckenhamswimmingclub.com/News.html. There are also some Photos taken from last week.

If anyone would like to write a little report, we would love to put it on the web. Any swimmers want to write about their experience and send in any photos of their winnings?

Any proud Parents? Reports or just photos, please send to this e-mail address or direct to web master:

david.grant@beckenhamswimmingclub.com

This is the 3rd year that  we have both run these galas and we are getting ready to pass over to new organisers. We have decided to try and get another couple of galas organised in the summer term so if anyone would like to learn more about what is involved with view to helping out with the organisation and planning of the Elementary Galas, please contact us.

Thank you and well done swimmers.

Jackie and Justine

Results from the Beckenham SC Elementary Gala 2010 Gala 2 (.pdf)

Well done to all swimmers but especially those who were competing for the first time. It was fantastic to see such a full balcony of spectators, cheering  and clapping the swimmers.

The gala ran smoothly thanks to the many helpers, some were parents of swimmers competing but a lot of officials and parents turned up to help even though their own children were not swimming.

Thanks also to the coaches for helping to organise the swimmers and  the swimmers themselves who all behaved very well on pool side and turned out some great swims.

Linda Deane also gave up her Mothering Sunday afternoon to set up the club shop for anyone who needed last minute kit. Thank you Linda.

Next week are the Breaststroke and Butterfly events. Sign in at the same time as today, 1.45pm ready for 2 pm warm up. Thank you for queuing patiently today but as Trinity School has private members using the pool until 2pm, we are not allowed to be in the balcony or on poolside until 2pm.

For more explanation of disqualifying codes, please see the FAQ’s on the website:

http://www.beckenhamswimmingclub.com/FAQ.html

Also see the News page for an article on this event written by Past President Doreen Somerville - please do send in articles, results and photos to be published on the website.

Jackie and Justine

Gala organisers

Results from the Beckenham SC Elementary Gala 2010 Gala 1 (.pdf)

Photos from the Beckenham SC Elementary Gala 2010:

The Kent County Championships 2010

Click here for results from the 2010 Kent County Championships.

486 medals, well done to all Beckenham SC swimmers!

Photos from the Kent County Championships 2010:

First positions were achieved by the following swimmers and teams:

Michael Gunning* (+ County Record 200m Free); Rebecca Walton (100 Fly); Rachel Bull (100m Fly); Harold Pearson (200m Brs); Archie Mitchell (100m Fly); Marlon Gasparotto (100m Fly); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (50m Free); Lauren Walton (400m Free); Michael Gunning (100m Fly); Steffi King (50m Back); Michael Gunning* (200m IM); Rebecca Walton (50m Fly); Kunmi Ogunfeibo* (100m Back); Michael Gunning (50m Free); Steffi king (200m Back); Marlon Gasparotto (400m IM); Lauren Walton* (1500m Free); Michael Gunning* (1500m Free); Archie Mitchell (1500m Free); Lauren Walton* (800m Free); Louis Phillips (800m Free); Marlon Gasparotto (800m Free); Michael Gunning* (+ County Record 800m Free); Michael Gunning (400m IM); Sophie Simpson* (50m Fly); Kunmi Ogunfeibo* (50m Back); Steffi King (100m Back); Michael Gunning (50m Fly); Marlon Gasparotto (200m Fly); Fearn Cook (100m Free); Steffi King (100m Free); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (100m Free); Rebecca Walton (200m IM); Ricky Outhwaite (100m Brs); Rebecca Walton (400m IM); Ricky Outhwaite (200m Brs); Michael Gunning (100m IM); Kunmi Ogunfeibo* (200m Back); Henry Knight (200m Back); Michael Gunning (400m Free); Marlon Gasparotto (400m Free); Michael Gunning (200m Fly); Ricky Othwaite (200m Fly); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (100m IM); Archie Mitchell (100m IM); Lauren Walton (200m Fly); Michael Gunning (100m Free); Fearn Cook (50m Free); Steffi King (50m Free); Steph Denny* (50m Free); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (50m Fly); Archie Mitchell (50m Fly).

Mens 400 IM Team; Boys 16 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 15/16 Yrs 4x50 Freestyle; Boys 12 Yrs/Under 4x50 Medley*; Ladies 15/16 Yrs 4x50 Free; Ladies 16 Yrs/U 4 x 50m Free; Ladies 16 /Under 4x50 Medley*; Girls 13/14 Yrs 4x50 Free*; Girls 13/14 Yrs 4 x 50 Medley*

Second positions were achieved by the following swimmers and teams:

Ricky Outwaite (200m Free); Steffi King (100m Fly); Ricky Outwaite (50m Brs); Heather Travers (200m Brs); Gabriel Dada (100m Back); Lauren Walton (100m IM); Sophie Simpson (200m Fly); Rebecca Walton (400m Free); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (200m Free); Marlon Gasparotto (200m Free); Fearn Cook (50m Back); Rachel Bull (50m Back); Heather Travers (50m Fly); Steffi King (50m Fly); Archie Mitchell (100m Back); Kate Curran (100m Brs); Rebecca Walton (1500m Free); Maisie Mitchell (1500m Free); Maisie Mitchell (800m Free); Lauren Walton (800m Free); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (800m Free); Archie Mitchell (800m Free); Archie Mitchell (50m Back); Fearn Cook (100m Back); Rachel Bull (100m Back); Gabriel Dada (50m fly); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (200m Fly); James Allan (200m Fly); Fearn Cook (100m Free); Gabriel Dada (200m Back); Louis Phillips (100m Free); Lauren Walton (200m IM); Steffi King (200m IM); Lauren Walton (400m IM); Heather Travers (50m Brs); Michael Gunning (100m IM); Harold Pearson (100m Brs); Lucy Grant (200m IM); Sophie Ward (50m Back); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (400m Free); Louis Phillips (400m Free); Gabriel Dada (50m Back); Rebecca Walton (200m Fly); Kunmi Ogunfeibo (200m IM); Marlon Gasparotto (200m IM); Steffi King (50m Free); Marlon Gasparotto (50m Fly); Sophie Lewis Ward (200m Back); Lani Davies (200m Back).

Ladies 400 IM Team; Boys 15/16 Yrs 4x50 Medley; Boys 16 Yrs/Under 4x50 Free;

Third positions were achieved by the following swimmers and teams:

Heather Travers (100m Fly); Marcus Travers (200 Brs); Robert Deane (200m Brs); Lani Davies (400m Free); Michael Gunning (100m Back); Luke Gunning (100m Fly); Steffi King (100m IM); Francesca Hayward (400m Free); Harold Pearson (50m Brs); Sophie Ward (200m Free); Heather Travers (50m Back); Marlon Gasparotto (100m Back); Michael Gunning (50m Free); Joe Casey (400m IM); Harold Pearson (400m IM); Archie Mitchel (400m IM); Kate Curran (1500m Free); Gabriel Dada (1500m Free); Rebecca Walton (800m Free); Jack Brown (400m IM); Jack Brown (50m Fly); Ricky Outwaite (50m fly); Sophie Simpson (100m Free); Harold Pearson (200m Fly); Rebecca Walton (100m Free); Steph Denny (100m Free); Lucy Grant (50m Free); Sophie Simpson (50m Free); Marlon Gasparotto (100m Free); Steffi King (200m IM); Rachel Bull (200m IM); Ricky Outhwaite (100m Brs); Sophie Simpson (400m IM); Ricky Outhwaite (200m Brs); Lucy Grant (100m IM); Lani Davies (100m IM); Lucy Grant (50m Brs); Archie Mitchell (200m Back); Marlon Gasparotto (200m Back); Robert Deane (100m Brs); Lani Davies (200m IM); Harold Pearson (400m Free); Archie Mitchell (400m Free); Jack Brown (200m Fly); Lucy Grant (200m Brs); Lani Davies (200m Brs); Kate Curran (200m Brs); Marlon Gasparotto (100m IM); Rebecca Walton (200m Free); Rachel Bull (200m Free); Sophie Simpson (100m Fly); Heather Travers (200m Fly); Louis Phillips (200m IM); Lauren Walton (50m Free); Luke Gunning (50m Fly);

Denotes *Record/Event Best Performance.

The BAGCAT winners this year are:

Kunmi Ogunfeibo - 12 Yr Old Boys

Click here for an excel copy of the medal winners and results.

Thirty one swimmers from blue, bronze, silver, gold and club squad attended the Orpington Ojays Novice champs on Sunday 7th of Feb and for many of them it was their first taste of representing the club at an open meet.

The Orpington Novices is a perfect first gala because it is aimed at swimmers who have never won medals at any other open meet plus the races are only over 1 length, so there are no turns to worry about.  It is exciting because there are heats and finals, mixed relays and a medal presentation ceremony which I feel is sadly lacking at most other open meets.

Between them the swimmers managed to win 11 golds, 10 silvers and 10 bronze in their individual races medals plus twenty four 4th, 5th or 6th places in the finals.

We entered two teams in the 10&under relays. The ‘A’ team came 3rd in the medley but were disqualified in the freestyle and the ‘B’ team came 4th in the freestyle but were disqualified in the medley, unfortunately both times for take overs.  Our 11&under and 12&under relay teams both won golds in the medley and freestyle relays.

The swimmers behaviour was very good and it was great to see them in their club kit, all supporting and cheering for their team mates, which is one of the reasons why we want them to stay on poolside until the end of each session.  The other reason being that it is impossible to chase up swimmers to go and report for their races on time if they are sitting with their parents in the balcony.

A big thank you to Liz Haynes, Matt Biggs and Heather Travers for coming to my rescue on poolside to help organise the swimmers. It was greatly appreciated.

Susie

Results Session 1 and Session 2.

A small contingent of Beckenham Swimmiing Club swimmers swam in the Burns Open Meet.

The results can be downloaded or viewed here:

Results Session 1 (.pdf)

Results Session 2 (.pdf)

Results Session 3 (.pdf)

Results Session 4 (.pdf)

A number of swimmers from the Club represented their Schools at the Kent Schools ASA Swimming Championships held at Black Lion Gillingham on the last two Saturdays in January. Congratulations to all of them for their excellent performances and in particular Kate Curran (Junior 100 Breaststroke), Mark Handley (Intermediate 100 Butterfly) and Steffi King (Senior 100 Backstroke) who achieved top 3 placings and therefore selection for the annual Kent Schools match against Surrey Schools in March.

Secondary Schools Results 23/01/2010 and 30/01/2010 Sessions 1 to 4

Go to the KSSA website for more information and results on the KSSA championships which are run annually for pupils from affiliated schools within the Kent region in swimming, diving and lifesaving at both Primary and Secondary schools levels.

Well done to Beckenham SC swimmers who competed in Round 1 of the White Horse League 2010 competition, Beckenham SC won the first round to get this year's campaign off to a good start.

The results for the Icebreaker competition Kingsmead Leisure Centre, Canterbury January 8th, 9th & 10th 2010 can be viewed or downloaded here:

Results .pdf format

The results for the Tom Handley Open Meet 2009 in Brighton can be viewed or downloaded here:

Results .pdf format

Session 5 Report (14th December 2009)

What another great night of swimming with a little festive cheer!

The night went well after a technical hitch with the microphone caused a short delay in the start. Thank you to the Spa staff and Ned (Gold squad swimmer) for helping to get the alternative sound system working.

This delay didn’t affect the swimming  as 5 new Event Best Performances were swum, taking the total of records broken in 2009 to 16 which is even better than the 9 records broken last year. Michael Gunning took another 2 in the 50m fly, breaking his own record and the 400IM. This took his total this year to 6 records. Steph King also broke another 2 records in both the 50m fly and 50m back. This took her total this year to 4 records. Kunmi Ogunfeibo took the 12/13 50m back record even though he is only 12 yrs old and can therefore have another go next year. This took his 2009 record tally to 4. The other 2 records this year went to Edward Langley and Lauren Walton in earlier sessions. WELL DONE TO YOU ALL!  You are a great attribute to the club.

Just to remind swimmers who have come first in any event, the Trophy Presentation will take place next Monday, 21st December at the Spa. Thank you to Liz Haynes for organising  the engraving of the Trophies ( a mammoth task) and Pat Davies who has kindly offered to organise next week’s Presentation. This will enable all the Trophy winners to have their Trophies at home for Christmas. The Presentation will take place from 7pm for swimmers not  swimming at this time. Swimmers in Gold and Top squad will be presented from 8pm as they finish training. We have to be out of the Spa at 9pm. Our president Andrew Forryan will be presenting the Trophies to the winners. Even if you have not won a trophy, I encourage anybody who has the time to come and congratulate the winners and see all the Trophies laid out together, they look magnificent!

If anyone is at the Spa at 5.30pm on the night, help would be appreciated carrying the boxes of Trophies into the Spa.

Lost Property

I have 4 named shirts at home ( I will e mail swimmers separately) and a pair of ladies Floral shorts.

For the last time, thank you to all the parents and officials for their help in all the sessions this year. Justine and I panic for weeks over the organising of these championships, but we need not as it all comes together on the night, thanks to all the help. Roll on 2010!

May we wish you all a Happy Christmas and a successful 2010.........

Jackie and Justine

Click here to view or download the results of Session 5 (14th December 2009).

	Is it Santa? No its Laurie (Silver Squad) with his bag of rubbish - thank-you Laurie.

Beckenham Swimming Club have made it to the B final again!

Well done Beckenham A team!.

Click here for a provisional copy of the results.

Photo: Some of the notorious Beckenham SC A team and top coach Tony Beckley in the B final earlier this year.

Premier Division Round Three Results (K2 Crawley).

Division One East Round Three Results (Beckenham Spa).

Click here for the results of the Thanet SC Winter Open Meet.

NSC Winter Festival Level 1 Open Meet - 4th, 5th, 6th December 2009, Corby

RESULTS - EVENTS 1 TO 16 .pdf Download

RESULTS - EVENTS 17 TO 30 .pdf Download

TOP BOY AWARD

TOP GIRL AWARD

TOP CLUB AWARD

Session 4 Report (23rd November 2009)

Click here to view or download the results of Session 4 (23rd November 2009).

A small contigent of Beckenham SC swimmers entered the Bexley Long Distance Open Meet, the results can be viewed here or from the Bexley SC website.

• Session 1 Event 1 - 1500 Freestyle 13 & Under Mixed here.
• Session 1 Event 2 - 200 Backstroke Boys here.
• Session 1 Event 3 - 200 Breaststroke Girls here.
• Session 1 Event 4 - 400 Individual Medley Boys here.
• Session 1 Event 5 - 200 Freestyle Girls here.
• Session 2 Event 6 - 800 Freestyle 14+ Mixed here.
• Session 2 Event 7 - 200 Butterfly Boys here.
• Session 2 Event 8 - 200 Individual Medley Girls here.
• Session 2 Event 9 - 400 Freestyle Boys here.
• Session 3 Event 10 - 1500 Freestyle 14+ here.
• Session 3 Event 11 - 200 Backstroke Girls here.
• Session 3 Event 12 - 200 Breaststroke Boys here.
• Session 3 Event 13 - 400 Individual Medley Girls here.
• Session 3 Event 14 - 200 Freestyle Boys here.
• Session 4 Event 15 - 800 Freestyle Under 13 Mixed here.
• Session 4 Event 16 - 200 Butterfly Girls here.
• Session 4 Event 17 - 200 Individual Medley Boys here.
• Session 4 Event 18 - 400 Freestyle Girls here.

Beckenham Swimming Club were winners of the Kent Junior League in 2009.

The Junior Kent League is for swimmers aged 9-13 years and there are three rounds. The majority of swimming clubs in Kent compete in this competition and there are currently five divisions. Teams are awarded league points in each round with the top team in division two to five being promoted and the bottom teams in division one to four being relegated each year. Beckenham Swimming Club currently swim in Division One.

Click here for Results of the Kent County ASA Development Meet.

Beckenhan A was victorious in the second round of the National Arena Swimming League

Premier Division Round Two Results (Bracknell Sports and LC).

Beckenham B did extremely well considering there was a number of swimmers that stepped in at the very last minute and swam their socks off.

Division One East Round Two Results (Pavillions In Park).

Another session of the Club Championships went well on 9th November at The Spa in  Beckenham.

Five more club championship records were broken with Michael Gunning securing another 2 to add to his list. He took the 14/15 yrs 100m butterfly and 400m freestyle, Stephanie King added the 16/ov 200m backstroke to her records this year, Lauren Walton  broke the 400m freestyle record  in the 14/15 age group and Kunmi Ogunfeibo added the 12/13yrs 200m Backstroke to his record tally this year.

WELL DONE to all of you!

A lot of 8 and 9 year olds had their first taste of butterfly in the 25m race whereas the older swimmers swam 100m fly. The evening finished with the 200m backstroke and 400m freestyle.

Once again a big thank you for all the officials who help even though they have no children swimming and all the parents who make the night run smoothly. Thanks also to the coaches who are there on hand to watch and speak to after your race, especially if younger swimmers are DQ’d and want to discuss this with their coach.

A few parents stay late clearing up the poolside area of various drinks bottles that are left and on leaving, it was noticed that a member of the Spa staff was busy clearing up several cups from the spectator gallery. Please take your own rubbish home or put it in the bin!

The next championship is on 23rd November and the events are 100m Breaststroke, 200m IM (10/ov), 100m IM ( 9/un) and 200m butterfly. Be prepared that the younger swimmers have a later night for this session as their 100m IM is the 3rd event. This is because the older swimmers need a break between the 200m Im and 200mfly.

Prizes for the raffle will still be gratefully received on the night or before to Sue Stevens, Chloe who swim in Gold squads’ mum.

Look forward to seeing you all on the 23rd!

Jackie and Justine

Club Championship organisers.

Click here to view or download the results of Session 3 (9th November 2009).

Click here for results of the London Regional Winter Championships 2009.

Click here to download the results of The London Borough of Bromley Individual Swimming Championships held at the Beckenham Spa on 1st November 2009.

Well done to Orla Ingram of Beckenham SC for winning the Top Girl overall award.

Session 2 Report (12th October 2009)

Please find attached the results from Last night’s Club Championships.

We had another great evening of swimming with 2 new records coming from Edward Langley in the 9 years and under 50 m breaststroke, breaking the 2002 record and yet another from Michael Gunning in the 14/15yrs 100m Freestyle who broke the 21 year record held by Peter Chick. Well done boys!

Thank you again to all those who helped on the night to make the event possible, especially those officials who return year after year even though they have no children competing.

Liz Haynes managed to give out the wonderful new style medals and pin badges which just arrived in time for yesterday. Thank you Liz.

The evening ran smoothly with only a small delay in results being printed. This was in part due to swimmers not signing in on time so please can I reiterate the importance of getting to the Spa in time for this. We try to accommodate late swimmers if possible but it can then hold up the proceedings.

I had one small, un named  T bag  and a black British Championship hat left at the end if anyone has lost them?

Session 3 of the Club Championships is  after half term on the 9th November so we hope the swimmers  have a great break from school but not from training! Top squad will be away at a training camp over half term, so we expect great results on the 9th! The events are 25m Fly ( 9/u only), 100m Fly ( 10/ov only), 200m Back and 400 Free.

Thank you,

Jackie and Justine

Club Championship organisers

Click here to view or download the results of Session 2 (12th October 2009).

The first round of the newly sponsored league kicked off with Beckenham A and B setting off in different directions for what proved to be a tough first round.

Premier Division Round One Results (Gala 2: Herons Centre, Haslemere).

Beckenham A team gained a highly creditable 4th place overall, only 1.5 points off third place.

Division One East Round One Results (Gala 2: Braintree Swimming Centre).

The Beckenham B team mostly travelled by coach and arrived in good time at a leisure centre in Braintree...unfortunately this was the one without a pool. After some consternation, the coach arrived at the correct venue and met up with those who had travelled by car....

Beckenham SC should have an extra motto, “never say die” as look out round 2 for both A & B teams with swimmers back from illness/absence and ‘champing at the block’, both teams will be looking to improve. Thanks to coaches, officials, supportive and vocal parents, and most importantly, the swimmers.

See the National Arena Website for futher information.

Orpington Ojays were the winners of the 2009 White Horse League,

Beckenham SC were runners up. Better luck next year.

Click here to download/view the points table (.XLS) of results for Rounds 1 through 6.

Click here to download the results of the final Round 6.

Click here to download the results of Round 5.

Session 1 Report (28th September 2009)

A great start to this years Club Championships took place on Monday 28th September at The Spa. After a short delay caused by everything technical that could go wrong, going wrong, we got the warm up and the races running smoothly with thanks to all the Coaches, Officials and  parent helpers (especially our IT team of David Grant and Shaun Gunning who managed to get the computer to talk to the printer!).

We had a great evening of swimming, from the younger swimmers swimming in their first race, to  3 national squad swimmers breaking  Club records. These were Steph King  who broke  the 1987 100m 16/over 100m Backstroke record, Kunmi Ogunfeibo broke the 1992  12 year 100m Backstroke  record and Michael Gunning broke the 1994 14/15 year 200m Freestyle record. Swimmers who came in the top 6 in each race will be able to pick up their medals / awards at the next Club Championships. Well done to everyone!

Don’t forget the next session is on 12th October and will also require help to run. The events that night will be 50m Breaststroke, 100m Freestyle and 200m Breaststroke. If you can help and have not offered, please contact Justine Pope, justinepope@yahoo.co.uk

If you have any raffle prizes, please bring them along and give to the raffle table on the night.

Thank you,

Jackie and Justine

Club Championship organisers.

Click here to view or download the results of Session 1 (28th September 2009).

A small contigent of Beckenham SC swimmers attended the Maxwell Swim Club - Autumn Open Meet. Attached are the results which can be viewed or downloaded in .pdf format:

Session 1, Session 2, Session 3 and Session 4.

Photos from the event and other information are available from the Maxwell SC website.

Click here to go to the website for the results of the Ken Deely 50m Sprints in Brighton.

Or download/view the results in .xls format here.

Round 2 of the Kent Junior League and Beckenham SC won again.

A goodly contingent of swimmers from a number of BSC’s squads descended upon Swansea for the Welsh Summer Nationals meet. Building on the success of last year’s trip to Wales, once again prepped by Patricia Ogunfeibo, whose unerring attention to detail ensured our entries got in, and help regarding University accommodation from John Handley, enabled us to be part of what turned out to be an extremely successful meet for the Club.

For a full report see the Newsletter for September 2009.

Download or view a copy of the full results here.

Read the September 2009 Newsletter for the reports from some of the Beckenham SC swimmers who swam in this event.

Click here for the results service for this event from the ASA website.

Or download /view the .pdf copies which have been archived here:

Session 1, Session 2, Session 3, Session 4, Session 5, Session 6, Session 7, Session 8, Session 9, Session 10, Session 11, Session 12, Session 13, Session 14, Session 15, Session 16 and Session 17.

Click Here to go to the official website for the 13th FINA world championships in Rome.

Well done to the Beckenham squad of around 30 swimmers competing, and everyone involved at Crystal Palace on Sunday in the London Region Sprint event. There were 10 golds, 6 silvers and 9 bronzes in the individual races.

Well done to the following medallists: Gabriel Dada, Louis Phillips, Dolly Myers, Kunmi Ogunfeibo, Luke Gunning, Regina Chisholm, Maisie Mitchell, Hannah Vigors, Sophie Simpson, Heather Travers, Archie Mitchell, Kirsty Shelts, Fred Pearson, Sophie Lewis Ward, Harold Pearson and George Chan.

Click here for results.

Well done to those Beckenham swimmers who took part in the Haslemere Open Meet at the Herons Leisure Centre, Haslemere Licensed at Level 3.

Results can be downloaded or viewed by clicking here.

For more information about Haslemere Open Meets visit their website.

Last weekend, 4th July, Beckenham swimmers joined with some from Bromley and Orpington to make up the London Borough of Bromley team for this years London Youth Games.

The Bromley Squad won 3 individual medals, Steph Denny - gold 50m Freestyle, Rachel Bull - silver 50m Backstroke and Heather Travers - bronze junior 50m Breaststroke.

Our Junior relay teams won gold in the junior boys medley and silver in the fresstyle. The junior girls won 2 bronze medals for their relays. Our senior girls won their freestyle relay and came 2nd in the medley.

Overall in the swimming the girls team retained their trophy for another year. The boys meanwhile improved on last year and came in a very good 2nd.

Bromley finished 3rd in the overall points. Results can be found on www.londonyouthgames.org.uk

Well done to Beckenham swimmers who took part. Steph Denny, Steffi King, Rachel Bull, Lauren and Rebecca Walton, Heather Travers, Henry Knight, Robert Deane, Michael Gunning.

Anne Denny

Photos show the Junior and Senior Teams and the Senior Girls collecting the trophy.

4 Beckenham Girls, Emily, Ashley, Phoebe and Marie won Bronze Medals between them for their Freestyle and Medley Relays at the London Mini Youth Games held at Crystal Palace on 2nd July. The fifth Team Member was Georgia from Orpington Ojays.

The team including Tom, Thomas, Archie and Luke did brilliantly coming 4th overall

Another hot day at Trinity College this weekend for the second and final session of the annual Beckenham Swimming Club Elementary Galas for the club's up and coming young swimmers.

Well done to all the swimmers involved, especially if it was your first opportunity to experience competitive swimming, the enthusiasm shown by the swimmers was excellent.

Many thanks to all the parents, coaches, officials and volunteers who gave their time to help run both sessions of this well organised event.

You can view or download a copy of the results here:

Results Session 1 - 21st June 2009.

Results Session 2 - 28th June 2009.

Well done to all those swimmers that took part in the first round of the Kent Junior League down in Margate. Looking to once again retain the title for 2009, the team got off to a flying start in round one, with a 50 point victory over their county rivals. Runners up in this round were Black Lion SC, followed by last year's third placed finishers Sevenoaks. This sets the team up nicely for round two later this year.

A big congratulations to the squad of 25-30 swimmers, who returned for the 'second leg' of competition last weekend, in the London Region age group competition at Crystal Palace.

It was the boys chance to shine during the competition, with Marlon Gasparotto adding 2 Golds (200m fly & 400m IM) to his 4 medal haul on the first weekend. Kunmi Ogunfeibo grabbed a silver medal in the 100m Back, and Louis Phillips secured a bronze in the 200m Free. Relay strength displayed again when the boys 10/12 yrs 200m Med Team achieved a very creditable bronze medal.

On the girls side, the Walton twins were once again trading places in podium positions. Stroke for stroke in both long distance freestyle events, the 1500m saw Lauren get the silver with Rebecca the bronze, only for the roles to reverse in the 800m with Rebecca the silver and Lauren the bronze. Lauren then stormed to gold in the 200m freestyle in a very impressive 2:09.21. Well done girls!

There were many other great swims, personal bests, and finalists and check out full results from Crystal Palace.

Marlon Gasparotto adding one of 2 Golds (200m fly & 400m IM) to his 4 medal haul on the first weekend.	Lauren Walton who stormed to gold in the 200m freestyle in a very impressive 2:09.21.
The 1500m freestyle saw Lauren get the silver with Rebecca the bronze.	The Beckenham SC boys 10/12 yrs 200m Med Team who achieved a very creditable bronze medal.

A big congratulations to the squad of 25-30 swimmers, who competed in the first weekend, of two, London Region age group competition at Crystal Palace.

First up were the Walton twins, who always seem to provide a bit of healthy sibling competition; Rebecca narrowly getting the edge on this occasion, picking up silvers in both the 400m & 100m Free, with Lauren picking up both bronze medals. Rebecca went on to scalp silver (200m IM) and bronze (100m Fly), and achieving national qualifying times in the IM and 400 Free. Rebecca 's details have also been added to the National Qualifiers page. Keeping the girls medals tally up too was Kate Curran with a strong performance obtaining silver in the 200m Breaststroke event. Well done girls!

Not to be outdone, the boys too had a successful weekend; Harold Pearson grabbing 3 medals (gold 400m Free; silver 100m Free; bronze 200m IM) and Marlon Gasparotto obtaining 2 silvers (100m fly 2 & 200m IM) as well as 2 bronzes (100m Free & 200m Back). There was another strong breaststroke performance, with Robert Deane gaining bronze in the 200m event. And to really show strength on the boys side, the 400m Med Team also achieved a creditable bronze medal, and we will all look in anticipation over the next few weeks to see if they, like Women's Youth 4x100m Free Team, have qualified for the National Championships in July too.

There were many other great swims, personal bests, and finalists and please click here for full results from Crystal Palace. Good luck to for everyone returning to the Palace for the 'second leg' of competition this weekend.

Rebecca Walton picking up silver in the 400m Freestyle and Lauren picking up bronze.	The 400m Medley Team who achieved a creditable bronze medal.
Harold Pearson picking up the gold medal in the 400m Freestyle

Download or view results for Session 1 and Session 2 of the Margate 2009 Open Age Group Gala.

Congratulations to the squad of nearly 50 Beckenham swimmers that scooped the Top Visiting Club award at the Guildford City SC Open Meet last weekend. There were many, many great swims, personal bests, and top placed positions. At least 5 more National Qualifying Times were achieved (….and there could well be some that I've missed - apologies if so!)…. Well done to Steph Denny & Rachel Bull (both 100m Back), Rebecca Walton (200m Back), Steph King (200m IM), Georgia Phillips (50m Free) and Leah Casey (100m Back). Well done to everyone involved at Guildford, and especially to Tony and Di on some impressive performances.

Click here for the hytek results for this event.

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Thanks to everyone for swimming & supporting. I thought the gala was really well organised and you all did great. It was really good to see swimmers competing who don’t get the chance to and I hope it encouraged you to all train hard for the next time.

A huge big thanks as well to parents Renu, Diane, Andrew and Arati for helping team manage and officiate and also to our club captain Emma for her help too.

Thanks again

Susie Goold

Click Here to view or download a copy of the Beckenham SC results for this event.

Congratulations to everyone who competed, supported, coached and helped out last weekend at the Beckenham Open Meet 2009. To give some context of the logistical task - over 40 clubs competed (Millfield School winning Top Visiting Club), there were (very roughly!) 2000 individual swims, across 4 sessions in two days, involving up to 50 volunteers at any one time… The two day Meet, the first since 2006, saw many swimmers achieve times they were seeking, be they Personal Bests, Regional or National Qualifying Times. Congratulations to Marlon Gasparotto (Beckenham SC), who won the Top Junior Boy award.

Thank you to everyone who helped over the weekend, collectively it was a great team effort; from the raffle team (right) to the wealth of experienced officials. We are very grateful to all the clubs that provided us with officials, and indeed some using the experience to further qualify. Well done John Handley for organising them all. Once again a special thank you to event promoter Patricia Ogunfeibo, who has received a large volume of congratulation messages this week from the participating clubs, who we all look forward to seeing again next year…

The results for each of the sessions of this licensed (level 2) Long Course Meet can be downloaded here:

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

Had a great time at Haselmere Gala at the weekend; the journey was quicker than expected, about one hour door-to-door. The atmosphere at all three sessions was electric with lots of clapping, cheering and the team spirit and commaradary between our swimmers was a pleasure to see.

Well done to all swimmers who took part, achieving PB's, Ribbons and Medals.

I highly recommend this gala and will be attending next year.

Lastly a big thank you to Justine Pope for organising this event.

Clare Ockwell

Results: Session 1; Session 2 and Session 3.

Well done the squad of around 25 swimmers competing in the London Region Youth Championships at Crystal Palace last weekend. There were many personal bests and more national qualifying time (NQT) to add to the 15 so far this year. An impressive 1500m Freestyle from Michael Gunning saw Gold as well as breaking the 17 minute barrier in an NQT. The 200IM race saw a 1-2 with country member Matt Shead, fresh of the plane from training in the U.S., finish just ahead of Club Captain Ricky Outhwaite. Ricky, whose 2:13.38 was another NQT, then followed up with a pair of bronzes (100 Fly & 100 Breast) and further NQTs. The men's 50 Freestyle saw Matt grab 3rd behind another country member, and senior international, Craig Gibbons - Craig himself also winning 50m Back.

Not to be outdone the girls waded in with some impressive performances too, with Steph Denny's Silver in the 50m Freestyle; Stephanie King taking Silver in the 200m IM and Bronze in the 100 Fly; Katie Irving taking bronze in the 50m Breastroke and Heather Travers gaining a Silver in the 50m Breastroke. And it was the relays where the girls demonstrated their strength and depth with the 'A' Team acquiring a silver in the 4 x 100 FC (a creditable 7th from the 'B' team too) and bronze in the 4 x 100 IM. Well done to everyone and it’s the turn of the younger squads regionally later this month.

For full details of the results for the Youth Championships go to the London Swimming website

For full results and times go the the National Swimming League website. Final positions are:

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. In the words of the TV series " If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The Beckenham A-Team".

Photos by Mark Allen (Club Photographer)

Following the qualifying Gala’s a week earlier it was back to Black Lion Swimming Pool for the “Kent Primary School’s Final’s Gala” on the 28th March, Beckenham SC was represented with four swimmers: Grace Ockwell (50M Fly), Phoebe Goold (50M Breaststroke), Archie Paterson (50M Breaststroke, School Freestyle & Medley Relay) and Jack Forryan (School Freestyle Relay). All four swimmers recorded PB’s and qualified for their respective individual finals.

Grace was first up in the 50M Fly Final and swam a great race finishing 3rd overall for Balgowan School. Next up was Archie in the 50M Breast Final and he swam very strongly finishing 1st for St. David’s College. Next came Phoebe in the 50M Breast Final and in an extremely close race she finished 4th for Pickhurst School. In the relays St. David’s College qualified for both finals and Archie and Jack swam great races just being edged out in both races to 4th Place. Grace and Archie will now represent Kent Primary Schools at the Intercounty Match against Surrey Schools on the 8th May at Sevenoaks School.

Download a copy of the results of the KSSA finals here.

Go to the KSSA website for more information on championships which are run annually for pupils from affiliated schools within the Kent region in swimming, diving and lifesaving at both Primary and Secondary schools levels.

Some members of Beckenham SC took part in the Kent Schools Swimming Association (KSSA) Primary Schools Championships 2009. Individual swimmers and teams placed 1st 2nd or 3rd in the final round will be selected to swim for Kent Schools in the annual intercounty match against Surrey Schools at Sevenoaks Leisure Centre on Friday 8th May, 2009. Teams placed 1st and 2nd in that match will then be invited to swim in the National Swimming Championships for Primary Schools in Sheffield on 20th June.

Primary Schools Results Gala 1 2009, Gala 2 2009 and Gala 3 2009.

Go to the KSSA website for more information on championships which are run annually for pupils from affiliated schools within the Kent region in swimming, diving and lifesaving at both Primary and Secondary schools levels.

Congratulations to Michael Gunning, Steffi King, Steph Denny and Olympian Ellen Gandy, who all competed for Beckenham S.C. this week at the British Swimming Championships in Sheffield.

Well done to Ellen who secured her place on the team for the World Championships in Rome later this year by storming to a new British record time of 57.49 in the women’s 100m Butterfly final on Tuesday.  Not content with this Ellen sealed her second place in the squad by taking almost a second off the European, Commonwealth and British record time in the women’s 200m Butterfly on Thursday evening in a time of 2:04.83 - just 0.6 off the world record !!!

Success spread as Michael (200m Fly; 2:10.80), Steffii (100 Back; 1:06.38 and 200m Back; 2:20.80) and Steph (50m Free; 27.54) all produced personal best times building on their successes from the Kent County Championships in recent weeks. Each, a couple of years younger than Ellen (and for Michael competing a year out of age), just missed out on semi final spots this time, all good experience for the next few years. Congratulations too, to Country Member Jade Barclay who finished 5th in Ellen's race. Jade will be part of the Beckenham team competing in the National Swimming League Final next month.

Download a copy of the results here: Session 1 - 16/03/09 at 09:30 am; Session 2 - 16/03/09 at 06:00 pm; Session 3 - 17/03/09 at 09:30 am; Session 4 - 17/03/09 at 06:00 pm; Session 5 - 18/03/09 at 09:30 am; Session 6 - 18/03/09 at 06:00 pm; Session 7 - 19/03/09 at 09:30 am; Session 8 - 19/03/09 at 06:00 pm; Session 9 - 20/03/09 at 09:30 am; and Session 10 - 20/03/09 at 06:00 pm.

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.”

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.

Down load or view a copy of Beckenham SC results here (.xls format), a full copy of the results from the entire event can be viewed here or visit the Kent ASA website.

Also download BAGCAT 2009 results and KCC Winners in 2009.

A handful of swimmers give us their perspective from the poolside:

Steffi King
“The highlights of the Kents this year for me was setting the new county records in the 100 and 50 back and actually managing to beat my 13-year-old times in some events for the first time!

“I really enjoyed the team atmosphere with Beckenham and especially the parents cheering from the balcony. It was lovely to hear a big cheer when my name was called out and I was standing behind the blocks.”

Kunmi Ogunfeibo
“I am still amazed at how much I achieved – Top Boy award; a ‘record’ and a medal in every race I did, none of which I really expected to get. I really thank God for his favour on me, and I am proof that we can truly do all things through Christ who strengthens us.”

Dolly Myers
”Swimming at the Kents in the U12 team was such a great honour for me. Not only was it great fun, but to win both the relays was even more thrilling. There was so much encouragement and support from the whole team, especially Lauren, Kate, Sophie and Leah, who made me even more determined to win.

“I think it was such an amazing day, with the girls overall winning 7 of the 8 relay events. I enjoyed the day so much, especially the medals! It was such a fantastic day.”

Michael Gunning
“Well, where do I start…the whole of the Kent’s were GREAT, but when I broke a county record on my 800m free and everybody was clapping, that was something to remember! Especially as I did not even know that I broke a county record.

“I swam so well at the Kent’s this year that every event became a highlight, even the relays were fab.”

Rebecca and Lauren Walton
“We both had a great time at the Kents this year. We shared 10 golds 7 silvers and 5 bronzes as well as getting 3 EBPs. Rebecca won the BAGCATs and Lauren came third.

“Sometimes it’s hard competing against your sister, but most of the time it's not a problem. We prefer not to be swimming in lanes next to each other, but don't mind being in the same heat. However, as some of our times are so close we do often find ourselves in adjacent lanes. We both like to win but if we have to let someone else, we'd rather it was each other.

“The best thing about the Kents though are the relays. They’re so exciting, and for some reason we always seem to sprint better when we're part of a team. Our team – with Hannah and Heather - came second in the medley relay and joint first in the freestyle relay. We swam our socks off and all swam PBs to finish in an EBP of 1.55.17! We are so proud of this as we went far faster than we could have imagined.

Well done to all the Beckenham SC swimmers that took part in the Orpington Ojays Novice Challenge, you can view or download the results here (.pdf file) and see some great photos from the event:

Confessions of a gala virgin

Ok, I guess it goes something like this. Your kids are good at swimming, you want another activity, you join the swimming club. You may or may not have had conversations with friends who have seen their kids through swimming club and who have spent the best part of their Red Riding-watching years ferrying said fish up and down the country for various galas. You wonder what you have let yourselves in for.

Have no fear. It was with this baggage that I ferried my whole family to the Orpington Ojays Novices Challenge in Orpington back in February and what a joy it was to behold. This is the meet that gives the young ‘uns a chance to garner some glory and feed their ambitions.

The particular plus point for us was that races were available for children who were born in 2000 and who were effectively considered as 9 year-olds – unusual in the gala scheme of things. So that put our eldest in the frame.

An early shout has to go out at this point to Cilla and Susie who did a superb job of marshalling the teams and making parents realise that being part of a swimming club does not negate anything competitive before they reach their teens.

So, I turn up with wife, 8 year-old gala entrant, 5 year-old, 16 month-old and 38 year-old auntie (although she won’t thank me for saying it). And was it hot? No, it was blinking boiling. Think ‘the Spa on a bad day’ and then some. It was steaming. No matter, the joy of cheering on offspring soon took over.

As Katja was only old enough for the 9 and under relays we rolled up for just the afternoon session and pretty quickly appreciated the discomfort of those who had been there all day… and then realised we would face a bun fight for a decent seat. No chance of a slot or four with the bulk of the Beckenham crowd – we were in with the manic screamers from the Saxon Crown club.

But that’s the fun of it. As soon as I realised that we could make our voices heard we made the swimmers know we were there for them at every opportunity. Susie and Cilla were right on everyone’s case making sure all the swimmers knew where they had to be, and when. It must be applauded that they so appreciate the joy and inspiration that competing in galas such as these has on young swimmers.

And there were medals aplenty. Right through the age range up to the 13 year-olds. And what did we get for our family outing? Two golds, not to mention the intense pleasure and reward that came with the award of such alloyed trinkets.

But if you want to bring the whole family to witness your offspring’s prowess then make this meet the only one at which you do so. From now on make it a streamlined, ruthlessly organised affair – and bring lots of water to fend off the heat and practice how to project booming support. And would I do it again? Of course!

Hats off to Cilla and Susie once again.

Matt Biggs

(Katja Biggs / Bronze)

Well done to all the team that ventured up to Ponds Forge in Sheffield last weekend for the Burns Open meet. Swimming at the meet was double Olympic Champion Rebecca Addlington, and she inspired some impressive performances from the team. 3 more national qualifying times were achieved for 2009; Marlon Gasparotto in the 100 Fly and two from Michael Gunning in the 400 Free & 100 Fly - well done guys !!!

Results Session 1

Results Session 2

Results Session 3

Results Session 4

The results for the Tom Handley Open Meet 2009 in Brighton can be viewed or downloaded here:

Session 1, Session 2, Session 3 and Session 4.

Alternately, download them directly from the Brighton Swimming Club Website.

The City of Canterbury Swimming Club & Dover Life Guard Club’s Icebreaker open meet was held on the 9th, 10th & 11th January 2009. Some Beckenham SC swimmers took part and some achieved their personal bests so well done to all. See results here in .pdf format.

Alternately click here to get the results directly from the City of Canterbury website.

National League Round 3: 13 December 2009 (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!

Click here to view or download results (.xls format)

National League Round 3: 13 December 2009 (B Team)

 …  South East Division 1 here we come too!!!

The Pirate theme carried on over at Bexleyheath on Saturday too, in what was to become a great evening for the 'B' team at Crook Log. Suffering slightly with illnesses and swimmers moving on up to support the 'A' team's success at the K2 - the 'B' team was not deterred.

The first two rounds had witnessed an almost 100% win record in the first 10 races, a record that was to be more difficult to achieve, in a solid albeit slightly nervy start. At the halfway mark there were three teams in contention, White Oak, Dartford and Beckenham 'B' - with 15 gala points between the 3!

With the 'B' team lying in 3rd, it took a lot of motivating from our more senior swimmers - Emma, Milly, Hannah, Francesa, Sabrina, Tom and Mark - in getting the whole team up behind both blocks, encouraging everyone to put that extra 1% in. A big well done guys as going into the last set of relay races the team had clawed its way back into contention.

Another rollercoaster finish, with a few dubious decisions and great support from the gallery, saw the team finish strongly. And then it was a long (a really long!) wait for the final result…  Like the 'A' Team, it finished very close - 0.5 gala points separating winners White Oak from the 'B' Team in second - meaning that overall in the league the 'B' Team had finished in second place and a well earned return to Division 1.

Well done to Kym, Brian and all the swimmers - every point made a difference

Report from the Newshopper

Well done to the squad of around 20 swimmers at the Team Bath Grand Prix last weekend. Beckenham S.C. finished 5th in the points tally, a good achievement against other teams with bigger squads competing. Click here to see the full results from Bath. Team Bath Grand Prix (Level 1) was run from 5th - 7th December 2008 at the Sports Training Village, University of Bath.

Individually 8 National Qualifying Times  were also achieved by 3 swimmers in Bath. Congratulations to Steffi King, Marlon Gasporotto and Michael Gunning in achieving these so early in the season. Well done to Michael too in obtaining a British Championship Qualifying Time an exceptional achievement considering Mike will be a year out of age at the time of competition! Click here to see full details of the National Qualifiers from Bath. These will be updated as the club's swimmers achieve National Times across the year.

The Final Session (5) of the Club Championships for 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

Click here for the results of session 5 1st December 2008 in pdf format

Click here for the results of session 5 1st December 2008 in excel format

Well done to all those swimmers that took part in the Beckenham Rising Stars Open Meet this weekend and many thanks to all the officials and volunteers who helped run this event.

Click here to view or download the results.

Beckenham Swimming Club at the Rising Stars Meet in Crook Log

A few of our swimmers took part in the Kent Development Meet on Saturday 22nd November at Gillingham. This meet is aimed at swimmers 10, 11, 12 or 13 years old, who did not Qualify for the Kent Championships earlier in the year. It gives them the opportunity to try and make Kent Qualifying times for the 2009 Championships. The Meet was well run offering 50m in all strokes.

Success went to Alex Sandiman in the Girls 12 year age group, who took a 2nd, two 3rds and a 4th place in her 4 events. Grace Ockwell took 3rd place in the 10yr girls Fly and a 6th place in the Free. Oliver Kent managed a great 2nd place in the boys 10yrs Fly and Omari Obeng Patterson managed a 4th place in the boys 10yrs Breast and a 6th place in the Free. Thomas Langley came 6th in the boys 12 year Breastroke.

Thanks to Susie Goold, Coach for her help on poolside and also a big thank you to one of our older swimmers, Mark Handley who, although not swimming himself, was there helping on poolside, offering advice to the younger swimmers and from what I could see, keeping them all amused!

Overall, it was a great meet for swimmers who do not qualify for the Kents and want a chance of swimming in a well run Meet to gain experience and the chance to achieve next year’s Kent County qualifying times.

Click here for link to the results.

Yet another successful Session 4 of the Club Championships on the 17th November 2008.

One new record went to Michael Gunning in the 14/15 200m Fly, taking a whopping 6 seconds off the previous record set in 1996 even though he is only 14years old!

Well done Michael!

We had many swimmers trying their first 100m IM and the 200m Fly, a really hard one!
Yet again we had lots of help on the night to help with the smooth running of the Gala, Thank you everyone!

Only one more session on the 1st December 2008 which includes the 50M Back and Fly and 400M IM. We are very short of raffle prizes for this last session if anyone wishes to donate. A Christmas theme may be in order, it will be December!!

Jackie and Justine

Click Here for results of Session 4 17th November 2008 in excel format

Click Here for results of Session 4 17th November 2008 in .pdf format.

Beckenham triumphed yet again in the final round of the Kent Junior League. A very gutsy swim from all of our swimmers put us in a very strong position in order to maintain the shield for yet another year. This is a particularly good result for the club as we have consistently won the League over a period of years, it demonstrates the strength which the club has in our younger age groups, not to mention the success of our coaching team - congratulations to everyone involved in our victory.

The results of the final round of the Kent Junior league were as follows

Five new records in the third session of Club Championships

Well done everyone on yet another successful Club Championships.

We had a great evening of swimming from the younger swimmers swimming their first 25m Butterfly, which can be very daunting, to five new club records.

Rebecca Walton managed to take 2 records, the 200m Backstroke and 400m Freestyle in the 13 year age group, Michael Gunning took another 2 records in the 100m Butterfly and 400m Freestyle in the 14/15 age group even though he is only 14 and Steph King added a record in the 200m Backstroke in the 14/15 age group.

Thank you to the Coaches and Parents for supporting the swimmers and all those on poolside and the table for helping keeping the gala run smoothly. We had some officials running in straight from another Gala to help out.

Session 4 is next Monday, 17th November and the events are 100m Breaststroke, 200m IM (10/ov), 100M (9/u) and 200M Butterfly. Please sign in at 5.45pm.

Thank you,

Jackie and Justine

Click Here for results of Session 3 10th November 2008 in excel format

Click Here for results of Session 3 10th November 2008 in .pdf format.

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 2 points 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!

Well done to those Beckenham Swimmers who took part in the London Borough of Bromley Individual Swimming Championships on sunday 26th October 2008 at Beckenham Spa. Some good results were achieved, notably Alex Sandeman won top girl trophy (they are waiting for it to come back from last year’s winner before they can give it to her); and Leila Bernstein (silver) and Thomas Langley (club) won the Endeavour Trophies (highest points for a non medal winning swimmer).

Also a big thank you to Justine Pope for helping on the poolside and for the parents who volunteered to help with timekeeping.

Click here for Results 1 and Results 2 in .pdf format.

Susie Goold

Another BIG THANKYOU to all the swimmers / Officials last night for another successful Club Champs. We had 3 new Records, Marlon Gasparotto in the 50m Breaststroke  and 200m Breaststroke and Francesca Hayward in the 200m Breaststroke. A very well done to both of you!

We had lots of great swims from the youngest swimmers in their first race to our President, Richard Collins, who just missed out winning the 50m Breast in the 16/OV age group, even though he is considerably older than the rest of the field.

The event ran pretty smoothly thanks to the team of Officials. A special thanks to those who support the club even though they do not have swimmers currently competing.

We have a month now until the next session on the 10th November, which includes the 25m Fly for the 9/U and 100m Fly for the other age groups, 200m Back and 400m Free.

I have a bag of lost property from last night, 2 towels, 2 pairs of goggles, 2 drinks bottles, a pair of long green boys shorts and a Beckenham Hat  with the name Rachel on it. If you think these are yours, please contact me or I will pass them to the shop next week.

Once again well done swimmers and thank you to all the helpers!

Jackie Elliott and Justine Pope

Click here for the results of Session 2 13th October 2008 in excel format

Click here for the results of Session 2 13th October 2008 in .pdf format

The Men Are Back!

Last year, as those at the Speedo A galas will remember, in Round 1, we came 3rd by 1 point, and in the final round, 5th by the same 1 point. Both of those points were literally lost during the last event – the 6 x 50m Men’s Freestyle Open relay, where we had swimmers as young as 13 swimming in it. A year later however, we are experiencing the return of three men, all of whom have represented England and/or Team GB before.

The gala was tense from the outset. A most superb swim in the Ladies’ Open 200 IM saw us start the competition with 5 points on the board to Bracknell’s 6 (Bracknell came 2nd in the South of England Premier league last year, to our 5th). Bracknell then clocked another 6 points in the next race to our 3 points. 1st places from our Girls and Boys 9-11 and 15/u in their respective freestyle relays, and also in our Ladies’ and Men’s Open 4 x 50 Medley relays however, put us ahead of Bracknell by 2 points (despite a DQ) after 10 events.  Our lead then widened to 6 points after 18 events, 21 points after 26 events, 24 points after 34 events, 32 points after 42 events, and 46 points after the last and 50th event, to see us win our first gala by a good margin with a total of 244 points; 2 points more than the highest number of points achieved in the premier league last year (by Guildford City A in Round 2).

Everyone swam brilliantly with many achieving PBs, just 6 weeks back into training. Of the 16 relay events, we won 12, and of the 34 individual races, we won 11, came second in 9, and 3rd in 8.

Tony Beckley, Head Coach, was extremely pleased with the performances, and praised the swimmers for their hard work in training and their determined swims during the gala.  The icing on the cake for him, was being told that our ‘B’ team had also won their gala, and by a staggering margin of 60 points!

Whilst clearly pleased, Tony sounded a slight caution and told the swimmers not to become complacent.  “The next round at the Spectrum will be challenging, and the swimmers shall have to dig deep to come through as they can, and deserve to” he said.

Well done to everybody, and Good Luck in the next round.

RESULTS Gala 2 - Central Pool Reading

Whitehorse League Results (Round 6) - Final Position of the 2008 White Horse League.

Orpington are champions this year.

Well done to all the club swimmers that took part in the Beckenham Swimming Club Championships for a good evening of swimming. Also many thanks to all the officials and helpers that made this a well run event.

Click here for the results of Session 1 29th September 2008.

Click here for the results of this gala PDF.

Well done to all those members of Beckenham Swimming Club who made it to the KEN DEELEY 50M Sprints in Brighton in September.

About 30 swimmers from BSC travelled to Brighton in mid-September for an early season sprints gala at the Prince Regent Pool. Once again, it was a good atmosphere and a great experience, particularly for some of the younger competitors. The BSC team swam well, with several swimmers achieving significant PBs in their events. It was also good to see the older swimmers giving their younger team-mates plenty of support and encouragement.

Among the most impressive performances were top three placings by Henry, Sophie S, Harold, Kunmi, Gabriel, Regina, Freddie, Cleo and Molly. A number of these swimmers managed top three performances several times.

Many thanks to Cilla for guiding the team and to Pat Davies and Fiona Pearson for helping the swimmers to be in the right place at almost the right time!

Click here for Session 1 Results and Session 2 Results.

Kent Junior League for 13 and under (Round 2), Crook Log Leisure Centre, Bexleyheath.

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!

Click Here for results

The first gala of the season began with the penultimate round of the White Horse League held at Crook Log pool Bexleyheath. 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.

The Meet was a huge success not only for the results, in terms of a plethora of PBs, the finals made and medals won, and even a Championship record, but for the camaraderie, support and enthusiasm of not only the swimmers, but also the parents, who helped out as temporary ‘coaches’, as unfortunately Di Manley could not be with us, or marshalled swimmers with aplomb, or officiated – the latter getting used to a very formal protocol in walking to and from the pool-side. We were also joined by Tim Molyneux and mum Sandra from Gravesend and Northfleet SC. Tim did excellent PBs – and was pleased to be part of the “London Squad”!

All swimmers and parents felt that this visit to the Welsh Summer Nationals was really worth the journey, extensive rain and getting used to bi-lingual directions and instructions as well as ‘cyclical seeding’....check that out on Google! We were also treated to a superb unaccompanied solo at the start of some of the final sessions by one of the organisers of the Welsh national anthem – stirring stuff...wonder if that will catch on at the Nationals in Sheffield!!

Day 1 saw Kitan Ogunfeibo and Mark Handley setting the pace with PBs (they did become the ‘PB Kings’ – getting PBs in every race they swam!) then Georgia Phillips, Jack Brown, Jack Regan, Katie Irving, Olivia Handley and Sabrina Travers make the finals in the 14/15 Girls’ 50 free, 13/14 Boys’ 200 Fly, 15/16 Boys’ 200 IM, 14/15 Girls’ 200 IM, 12/13 Girls’ 200 Fly and 14/15 Girls’ 200 Breast respectively.

Georgia had broken the meet record with an impressive PB of 28.77 in the 50M free heats, and went on to clinch Gold in the finals. Both Jacks, Katie (breaking the 200IM record in her swim) and Olivia all won silver in fiercely contested races. Jack Regan and Olivia’s achievements were particularly noteworthy, as they were both in the lower half of their age groups.

Day 2 saw our swimmers continue to battle for times, finals and medals. Lani Davies and Megan Shelts joined the squad and added more PBs in their races at the meet. Again, we saw swimmers swim in the finals: Jack Regan (15/16 Boys’ 200 Back and 100 Free), Jack Brown (13/14 Boys’100 Fly), Hannah Vigors (14/15 Girls’ 400 IM), Georgia Phillips and Katie Irving (14/15 Girls’ 100 Free), Olivia Handley (12/13 Girls’100 Fly), Heather Travers (100 Breast), Kunmi Ogunfeibo (12/u Boys’100 Fly). Georgia continued her winning streak and Katie won silver, making it a Beckenham 1and 2 in the 14/15 Girls’ 100 Free. Olivia broke the meet record in her race, but was 0.15s slower than the winner, who took the new record; Jack Brown took Bronze in his race with a massive PB. For some reason we were confused with the Borough of Kirklees team when being announced as medallists on the podium – but a bit of prompting (aka shouting!) restored us to our London roots!

Day 3 saw our swimmers even more determined to make their mark; they had‘tasted’ success! The finals for this day saw Jack Regan (15/16 Boys’ 200 Free), Georgia Phillips (14/15 Girls’ 100 Breast), Jack Brown (13/14 Boys’ 100 Free), Olivia Handley (12/13 Girls’ 400 IM) and Louis Phillips (12/u Boys’ 100 Free) swim in the finals. Katie Irving qualified for the finals in the same event as Georgia, but left to watch Kylie at the O2 instead – now after 3 intense days of swimming, who wouldn’t do the same? This day also saw Louis claim a bronze medal in a fabulous PB swim, and Jack Brown, another Silver ‘bling’, and so very close to gold in the 100M free!

Day 4 (Sunday, 3 August), saw the arrival of a depleted number of our swimmers. They nevertheless, in true Beckenham ‘gutsy’ style did not let their dwindled number affect their individual swims. The day again saw many PBs achieved, and finalists in the 400M free, Olivia Handley and Jack Brown, with Jack Regan gaining silver (very narrowly missing out on gold).

Heather Travers swimming in fine form to reach the 200M breast final, which was the very last event of the meet. The full results are on the Welsh ASA web-site www.nofiocymru.co.uk or click here. Every swimmer who attended swam very well against some formidable competition, with some swimmers from the other clubs attaining their NQTs belatedly at the meet - as did Olivia. Well done to all!

Beckenham Swimmers:- Jack Brown, Lani Davies, Olivia Handley, Mark Handley, Katie Irving, Kitan Ogunfeibo, Kunmi Ogunfeibo, Georgia Phillips, Louis Phillips, Jack Regan, Megan Shelts, Heather Travers, Sabrina Travers and Hannah Vigors.

Jackie Elliott, Masters swimmer, swam in the Brighton Swimming Club Pier to Pier race in July and came 7th in the Veteran competition.

I travelled down to Brighton on Sunday 20th July to swim in the open water Pier to Pier run by Brighton SC. I had done it 2 years previously for the first time and instead of putting me off, it made me want to swim again!  It is the same as any competition in that you sign in, but this time from a clip board on the beach, and instead of marking you off and sending you on your way, you get a coloured hat with your number written on it, and then you get the same number written in black marker pen on both arms!!! I guess this is in case you pass out during the swim so they know who you are, but best not to dwell on this before the race.

Then you stand on the sea shore and wait for the whistle sending you on your way. I wouldn’t call myself particularly fit and the tide, waves and boat engine oil all make it a challenge from pool swimming, but again I enjoyed it, coming 20th  out of 41 overall in the women’s event and 7th out of 21 in the veteran event, yes I am that old!!! The finish is under the new pier by the Helter Skelter where you have to touch a boat to get your time. Then you swim under the pier and walk up some steps to get a cup of tea!

I will hopefully be entering again and may manage more training over the next year but it would be so much better if a few more Beckenham swimmers enter. There is a junior event and it is still the Juniors who win overall but a lot of the swimmers are older. It is perfect training for all you Waterpolo players out there! Lets enter some teams next year!!

Jackie Elliott
Masters swimmer

Ricky Outhwaite, Michael Gunning, Katie Irving and Steph Denny recently selected by Kent County to compete at international; meet in Darmstad competed in a challenging top level 3 day meet with teams from Canada, South Africa, Italy, Germany, Qatar, Egypt and more. A fantastic experience and time was had by all our swimmers who performed well amongst very high level competition. Our medal haul was:

Ricky = Gold 100 Freestyle;

Katie = Gold 100 breastroke, Gold 200 breastroke, Gold 200IM, bronze 100 fly;

Michael = Gold 200 fly, Silver 200 Freestyle, and Bronze 100 Fly; and

Steph = Silver 50m Freestyle, Bronze 200m Freestyle, and Bronze 50m Backstroke.

A special well done to Michael who achieved 8th place in the Men's Open 400IM.

A fantastic achievement. Well done to Ricky, Michael, Katie and Stephanie.

Ned Moriarty (Age 12) was a lone swimmer from Beckenham on Sunday the 6th July at Godalming Swimming Clubs Open at Cranleigh Leisure Centre (which we plummeted for from a email circulated by the club to the Gold Squad before we were advised latterly of the alternative Gala at Haslemere). None the less Ned wore the club colours proudly and did himself and the club proud by gaining Four Silver medals  (200m Free, 100m Free, 100m Breast stroke and 50m Butterfly) and out of the five races he entered he achieved four PB's too.

For future reference the Cranleigh Leisure Centre is very easy to find, just off the high street, and has free parking on Sundays. From Beckenham it takes about 1 and half hours to get to. It was a very friendly event and well executed in organisation but the pool lacked kick boards for turns (ouch!) although their was some sort of an electronic timing system with results projected on to a wall. The PA system was much better than ours at Beckenham because you could hear and understand all that was said pool side and in the spectators area, which I am afraid you can't at Beckenham. Sadly the seating was not sufficient for audience numbers but the Gala was originally oversubscribed and so numbers were at the fullest. The Cafe etc seemed efficient and coped well and the changing rooms were clean.

Photographers were present and some swim wear could be purchased but this was limited.

Report by Candida Moriarty.

.

Report from Haslemere and Aldershot:

My name is Emily and I'm in gold squad. Di Manley is my coach.

On Sunday 6th July I went to my second Haslemere gala of the year.  I like Haslemere because this is where I won my first medal.

I swam in the 200m Freestyle where I finished fourth in a PB time.  I also swam PBs in 100m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke, 100m Backstroke and 100m IM.

There were quite a few swimmers from Beckenham at the gala, and they all did pretty well with a fair few medals, lots of PBs and top eight placings.

On Saturday 12th July I went to the Bracknell & Woking B&C Summer Sprint meet at Aldershot.  I went there because it was a 50m pool and I need experience in the bigger pool.

I swam in the 50m Freestyle where I won the gold medal.  I also won a bronze medal in the 50m Backstroke.  I also swam in the 50m Breaststroke but, although I did not win a medal, I finished in the top ten.

Emily

Emily and most of the other Beckenham swimmers at Haslemere “warm down” after the event!

You can download or view the results for the Haslemere Open Meet here:

Results Session 1

Results Session 2

Results Session 3

Top Club

Best Individual Swim

Or click here to go to the Haslemere web page

This latest round of the competition saw Beckenham hosting the gala, and thanks to all who helped out in so many ways under the co-ordination of Isabel Castello. The team came in second behind Orpington Ojays.

There were some excellent swims and much camaraderie amongst the swimmers, who really did try their best on what was a very hot and sticky evening at Crook Log. Thanks to swimmers, coaches, team managers, officials and supporters; next round 6th September, and then 4th October. It’s all to swim for!

22-June 2008 Saxon Crown Future Champions, Downham Health and Leisure Centre (25m races).

Click here for Beckenham SC Results

Relay Results

Future Championships Results

It was a hot and steamy evening at Sevenoaks pool for the first round of this League. Our well-supported team, both on pool-side and in the even hotter balcony, swam consistently and showed real determination and excellent all-round swimming. As a result, the team ended up with a total of 24 first places, 16 seconds and 7 thirds out of 53 events; very impressive. The final team points were: - BSC 260; Thanet 224; Canterbury 204; Sevenoaks 189; RTW Monson 135 and Bexley 35.

Thanks must go to the coaches, team managers and officials and the balcony support team. But, most importantly, thanks to the swimmers for a fantastic evening of great swimming and team-work.

Here are the results after the 1st, 2nd, and the 3rd rounds of the White Horse League.

We came first in the 3rd round and we can still catch up and win as there are still 3 rounds to go.
The 4th round is on the 5th of July 2008 and we are hosting the Gala.

My sincere thankyous to all the swimmers involved also to Shaun Gunning, John Handley, Hilary Moore, Catherine Simpsons, Helen Schofield and Kym (our coach) for their help and support.

Meanwhile keep swimming and have fun at the same time.

Just to let you know, that Mr Shaun Gunning (Luke & Michael's dad) will be doing the White Horse League next year, 2009.

Thank you,

Isabel Castelo (Rafael's mum Platinum Squad)

Results

Susie’s report on Bognor REGIS Gala - 25/5/08

A small group of 10 swimmers (4 from club squad, 1 from white, 3 from gold, 1 from silver & 1 from bronze) represented Beckenham in the “Vanessa Knight Memorial Open Meet” at Bognor Regis over a hot, sunny bank holiday weekend.

We had to be there really early as warm up was at 8.15am! They had the even number age groups in the morning session and odd number age groups in the afternoon but despite being absolutely boiling on poolside the gala was a very friendly and well organised event and the sessions ran through quickly. They had a really good set up where there were 3 time categories so that virtually every one of our swimmer came away with a medal.

There was a well stocked shop to buy costumes, trunks, goggles etc (they even sold “uglies” which can be hard to get) plus they had the photographers there who sold 5”x7” prints for an affordable £5. The café seemed fine but we couldn't resist fish and chips by the sea. After both sessions we had time on the beach and wished we had stayed down for the whole weekend.

I think this would be a perfect novice gala for many bronze/silver squad swimmers as the lowest age group is 10& under and the events were 50m on all 4 strokes plus 100m IM.

Had we been more organised I would have definitely booked accommodation and stayed over the bank holiday weekend. You could get a reduced rate in Butlins (5 min walk away) and it would be fun for the whole family especially if we all booked into Butlins together as a club or camped as we had considered doing.

We had a really great day and would highly recommend your attendance next year.

Susie Goold

Coach

For the results and times of the Beckenham Club Swimmers at the Bognor Regis Open Meet CLICK HERE.

Results

20th January 2008
27th January 2008
27th April 2008
18th May 2008 .

Session 1 - 29th September 2007
Session 2 - 7th October 2007
Session 3 - 29th October 2007
Session 4 - 12th November 2007
Session 5 - 3rd December 2007 .