Haden Hill SC Club News

All newsletters are produced in PDF format. If you do not have Adobe Reader, click on the link to download the version of Adobe Reader best suited to your operating system.

Five members of Haden Hill's poolside helpers team recently completed their ASA UKCC Level 1 Award in Teaching Aquatics. Craig Belmore, Mike Robins, Samantha Sekula, Beth Willetts and Kimberley Yeung undertook the 5-day course at Summer Hill School as part of their training. Well done to you all.

One month to go until nominations for the Kellogg's asa Swimtastic Awards 2011 closes. The awards ceremony will be held at the fantastic Ponds Forge, Sheffield on 5th November 2011. Plus, new to this year's awards list is the brand new 'Parent of the Year' award.

Perhaps the most exciting attraction this year is the opportunity for all national winners to join Britain's top aquatic athletes in the pool before the celebration dinner and disco.

With all these fantastic reasons to attend, take a look at the awards categories which acknowledge people of all ages and abilities, and include:

Ashley Markall was accompanied to the National Age Group Championships by coach Ray Kearsey as a result of Ashley’s quite exceptional achievement of making National event qualifying times on every event available to him. This was a moment of great pride as no other swimmer in the County could match that achievement and equally there were few, if any, from any club in the country that could equal the achievement. That meant Ashley was swimming the 100 & 200 Fly; 100 & 200 Breast; 100 & 200 Back; 200 & 400 Free and 200 & 400 IM. An intense period of competition on successive days which resulted in his withdrawing from the freestyle because of the need for rest as finals as well as heats had to be swum in his other events.

In the events where Ashley did compete he was outstanding finishing in the top 10 of all of them and taking medals in 5 events. This was the type of swimming associated with Michael Phelps or Ian Thorpe in major competitions and either of them would have been proud of Ashley and keen to congratulate him had either of them been there. One person who was there to congratulate him was our regional Swimming Development Officer, Sarah Price and when Ashley won the 100 Fly Sarah described it to Ashley and Ray as, “the swim of the Championships.” Praise indeed from one who knows as a result of her being an ex-national and international swimmer.

Ashley’s achievements were such that he won: 3 gold medals on 100 Fly, 200 Fly and 100 Breast. He took silver in the 200 and 400 IM and a bronze in the 200 Breast. When the medal table by club was made public Haden Hill as a club was ranked 4th Nationally. Ashley finished in the top ten of his other events where he made 6th on the 400 Freestyle and 9th on the 100 and 200 Back.

A truly outstanding piece of swimming, which was the result of his hard work in the pool where his performance can be rated as:

10/10 for application in training
10/10 for mental toughness and physical strength
10/10 for creating with, and listening to, race plans set by his coach
10/10 for achieving national recognition & finishing in 3rd place on FINA points table for his age group

Ashley’s prospects for the future are bright and he will now be looking forward to applying his skills to benefit and inspire the Nuneaton Junior League team in the Division 2 final in September.

Immediately following on the National Age Group Championships came the Youth Championships where Connor Oates joined a select band of Worcester County swimmers who achieved National Qualifying times. Connor swam the 200m Breaststroke. He enjoyed the atmosphere at Ponds Forge, the size of the pool and seeing and meeting some key figures but on this occasion he was unable to meet his submitted time and just missed out on taking a semi final place. As a result of his commitment and work with Ray however it has to be remembered he was appearing with the top 1% of swimmers in the Country and is still ranked within the top 20 of 200m Breaststroke swimmers nationally.

Well done Ashley and Connor who with the help of Ray Kearsey, their coach at Haden Hill, promoted themselves and the Club on the National Stage.

Congratulations to Ashley Markall and Connor Oates who both competed at the National Championships at Ponds Forge, Sheffield the end of July. For Ashley, this was his first year at the Nationals and he returned home victorious with an impressive haul of gold, silver and bronze medals. Well done to you both!

Despite being significantly under strength in the lower age groups, Haden Hill Swimming Club gave a fantastic overall team performance at the 2nd round of the Mercian Summer League at Tamworth Leisure Centre on Saturday 11th June 2011.

The Team were lead out with impressive 1st places in the Girls Open 100 M Individual Medley and 100 M Backstroke by Club Captain Bethany Willetts followed by 1st place in the Boys Open 100 M Backstroke by fellow Club Captain Connor Bennett.

1st places also went to Lewis Mannion in the Boys 10 years & under 50 M Breaststroke, Kai Totney in the Boys 14 years & under 100 M Freestyle, Shane Hazell in the Boys 14 years & under 100 M Butterfly and Nick Bates-Mudie in the Boys Open 100 M Freestyle.

The Boys 14 years & under relay team made up of Shane Hazell, Michael Sekula, Anoup Sumal and Kai Totney secured 1st places in both their Freestyle and Medley relays with impressive swims.

There were good solid swims from the whole of the team on the night for which they must be praised, which held them together and despite having to relinquish 12 of the events lead them to a creditable 4th place.

Special thanks must go to Junior Team Captain Shannon Roche, Lewis Mannion and Mia Miller who were solitary swimmers in their age groups along with Craig Hazell who gave up his place in the Ross League Final to support the Mercian Team.

The final result and points were 1st Solihull 234, 2nd Perry Beeches 218, 3rd Kingsbury 189, 4th Haden Hill 149, 5th Fox Hollies 125, 6th Ludlow 111.

Congratulations to Ashley Markall and Katie-Mae Boden who both competed in this weekend's Regional Championships at Coventry. First places for Ashley in the 100m Breaststroke, 400 IM, 100m FLy & 200m Breaststroke with a joint 2nd place in the 200m Free Final & 2nd 100m Back. For Katie-Mae, her first time at Regionals, 18th in the 11's 200m Free. Well done to you both.

JUNE4/5TH & JUNE 11/12TH - Over the next two weekends Ashley Markall and Katie-Mae Boden will be representing us at Coventry. That will present both of them with a fresh challenge. They are wished all the very best by the Club and that they make marks which will establish them as swimmers and the representative face of Haden Hill at Regional level. Remember guys to put into practice what you have learned and absorbed in your training. This competition will be amongst the fiercest you have met so total concentration and commitment is what you will need to demonstrate. Work hard for your success so that you are proud of your attainments. All the very best.

To members who are interested to see what goes on, remember Coventry is accessible and a supportive voice from the balcony is invaluable support for swimmers. If you do not want a change of environment and you stay at home remember you can log onto West Midlands Swimming and during the competition the results are logged up as the events take place so you can watch Ashley's and Katie-Mae's progress there. >>>

On Saturday 28th May Connor Oates went to the Beacon Meet at Crystal Palace which offered him the last chance to compete in the 200m Breaststroke and obtain a National Qualifying Time. Congratulations to Connor as he took the opportunity and gained that elusive qualifying tme. He needed to swim a 2.33.4 and swam a 2.32.79. Well done Connor and that means he will feature for the second year running at Sheffield. His swim was so good that he took the gold medal for the 15 year age group and finished 2nd overall.

Nuneaton Junior League Round 2 - Saturday 14th May, Stechford Cascades (15.05.11)

Two rounds, two wins in an exciting and challenging gala where every team had an impact at vital times and never allowed scope for an outright and clear winner. Though Haden Hill were winning at events 14, 28 and 42 the margins were always critical never really secure. At the last quarter of the gala the tension and the excitement mounted and there was a large crescendo of sound from the Haden Hill supporters when the team powered through to win the final cannon handsomely and secure the win.

Final score: Haden Hill 225, Pershore 222, Coalville 183, Northgate 171, Orion 146 and Bromsgrove 117

This means that Haden Hill will go onto the table with twelve points, 6 for each gala and a total of 463 gala points with rounds 1 and 2 combined.

THE FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS
The Club is only as good as its promoters and supporters and these people are essential to its maintenance and well being. What you have at present is a coaching/teaching team that are thoroughly committed to the promotion of swimming and its related activities. The need is that this workforce is supported so that its work is promoted and the swimmers level of participation and success is enhanced.

It is only through and by your involvement that participation levels will be enhanced and swimming horizons broadened. See if this checklist helps decide where you could help:

Are you a person who enjoys working through rules and regulations and the way they inter react? Are you someone who enjoys Committee work and the promotion of a “Club for All”? If so you would be invaluable as a Committee Member.

Are you a person who has had to develop quality systems? If so you could be someone who would be interested in the maintenance and development of Swim21.

Are you a person who says I know nothing but I am willing to learn and do? It s the people like this who are the salvation of the club and can take on anything.

Are you a person who enjoys children and young people? You could decide you are a person who could work regularly on the poolside as a helper.

You enjoy competitive sport and swimming galas? You are the person who could learn and promote swimmer development as a teacher/coach or learn officiating and have regular involvement with the clubs competitive programme.

Do you like running events and promotion a cause? You could just the person to help with social functions and the promotion of the club generally.

Have you a financial head? Do figures challenge you and are you interested in efficiency? You could be one of a team or the core member of the team addressing the financial well being of the club.

'runningports' (managed on behalf of Sport England) is offering e-learning courses for volunteers of clubs seeking Swim21 accreditation or reaccreditation. If you are a volunteer or would like to become one and help us gain Swim21 reaccreditation why not take a look at one of the free taster courses on offer:

The Role of the Volunteer Coordinator and Health and Safety in your Club. Find out more here >>>

We are always looking for volunteers to help with the running of the club, so please come and speak to a member of the Management Committee if you feel you would like to help. It doesn't have to be every week, just a hour here and there would be gratefully accepted. To find out what you could do as a volunteer why not email our Club Secretary, Sue Hazell >>>

A collection of useful information and brief history of the Ross League written by Malcolm Oates for parents of 'new' swimmers. <Click here to read article>

Any pool closures and training cancellations will be notified via the website as early as possible. If the weather has been bad during the day, please check the website before setting off for training.

There wil now be an additional training session between 6.15am - 7am on Wednesday mornings. The centre should be open from 6am onwards

The asa has recently issued a document offering guidelines to swimming clubs and their members on good practice when using Social Networking sites. Details of these guidelines can be viewed on the asa website by clicking here >>> If you regularly use social networking sites you may find these guidelines useful.

Thank you to all members who have purchased swim gear through the SwimRite link. The total commission raised from sales during the current financial year currently stands at £63.87. Monthly figures were as follows: April £33.04, May £6.15, June/July £20.23 and Sept £4.45. To earn commission for your club you will need to access the SwimRite site by clicking on the On-line link on our main notice board.

You can also help to raise further funds by registering with EasyFundraising. Many well-known on-line stores such as Amazon and Play will make donations to your registered cause every time you make a purchase with them. All you have to do is remember to log in to EasyFundraising before you make your on-line purchase. If you would like to know more about either of the above ways of fundraising, please speak to Lynne Willetts, Sue Stroyde or Susan Sekula.

The equipment ordered for Teaching group through the Sainsbury's Active Kids Vouchers 2010 campaign have now arrived. We would like to thank all members, family and friends who supported our club by donating their vouchers. We value your support and hope you will help us again in 2011.

Brian Steatham and Connor Oates both swam at last weekends Midland Winter Championships at Corby. Both came back with a number of PBs. Connor PB'd on both his 200m Breaststroke and 100m IM. Brian, who already holds the 50m Breaststroke club record, has knocked a sizable 2.36 seconds off his previous record. He has also gained the 100m Breaststroke club record with his time of 1:07.57. Well done to both of both swimmers. View results here >>>

An Official hotel provider for asa members (10.10.10)
The swimming governing bodies have announced a sponsorship deal with the hotel chain IHG. Kate Brazier has brokered the deal for the asa. The IHG hotels include InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, holiday Inn Express, hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.

At present no one in the club has checked these hotels against other providers as regards cost. That has to be your responsibiity and judgement. I anyone tries and has experiences that need reporting please contact a member of the Management Committee.

Useful articles on club competition for new swimmers and parents (08.10.10)
'Parental approaches to club competition' >>> and 'Team competition' >>>

Doping Control (08.09.10)
This has been adapted by Malcolm Oates from an article in The Times on Monday 6th September by Matthew Syed >>>

Haden Hill Swimming Club

Newsletters and Updates

Haden Hill celebrate NTPS success (4/11/08)
Read West Midlands Swimming Article >>>

asa national Swimtastic Awards (24/10/08)
Read article by Malcolm Oates >>>

NJL Final Team Photo (19/10/08)

Nuneaton Junior League Team
Division 2 Final 2008

Haden Hill Swimming Club Newsletters and Updates

Haden Hill celebrate NTPS success (4/11/08) Read West Midlands Swimming Article >>>

asa national Swimtastic Awards (24/10/08) Read article by Malcolm Oates >>>

NJL Final Team Photo (19/10/08)

Nuneaton Junior League Team Division 2 Final 2008

Haden Hill Swimming Club

Newsletters and Updates

Haden Hill celebrate NTPS success (4/11/08)
Read West Midlands Swimming Article >>>

asa national Swimtastic Awards (24/10/08)
Read article by Malcolm Oates >>>

Nuneaton Junior League Team
Division 2 Final 2008