www.dovevalleyasc.co.uk - Home of Dove Valley Swimming Club

Dove Valley Swimming Club

Uttoxeter, Staffordshire

Gala Team | Gala Reports | League Competiton | Gala Programme

Home

National Speedo League Gala Report

John Lewis, Head Coach

Last Saturday evening the swimmers of Dove Valley ASC took part in the third Gala of the National Speedo League West Midlands Division 3 North and finished with their best league position for some years. The final league position will either be 9th or 10th depending on results of other galas out of a league of 23 teams. Last year the club were 12th and there were only 18 teams in the league. This shows a great improvement and bodes well for the future.

Winners of individual events were Adam Peaty (under 13 - 100 Breaststroke in 1minute 27.08 seconds ), Charles Dean ( under 15 - 100 Butterfly in 1.09.33)), and Laura Sims (Open - 100 backstroke in 1.10.65 and 100 breast stroke in 1.19.82 – a Club Record time)).

In the relay events Ryan Molloy, Adam Peaty, Ryan Bagnall and Ashley Payne came first both in the Boys 13 and under Medley relay event in a time of 2 mins 25.73 seconds and in the freestyle relay event in a time of 2mns 12.07 seconds.

Personal best times were achieved by Laura Sims (2 , 1 of which was a Club Record), Lisa Rushton (2), William Johnson, Adam Pegg, Ryan Bagnall, Gabrielle Crooks, Nicholas Clarke, David O’Farrell and Edward Green.

Swimming is a sport giving all round fitness with a lot less strain to the body than other sports as you have support from the water for your body. If you are interested in taking part you are welcome to come along to a Thursday night session at 7.30p.m. at Uttoxeter Leisure Centre to discuss joining with one of our coaches or you can telephone our Head Coach John Lewis on 07725 632420. Swimmers can be accepted from the age of 7 years with no upper age limit as we have a small Masters section for swimmers aged over 25 years. The main criteria is to be able to swim. In the case of 7 and 8 years old children swimming just one or two lengths of 2 or 3 different strokes may be sufficient for them to be able to join the Club. Older swimmers would need to be more capable but please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your situation.

Masters National Championship Swimming 2007

Gordon Selwyn, Masters

Over the weekend of 27th – 28th October, Dove Valley Masters swimmers competed in the National championships. Held in Sheffield, the meet attracts the best senior and Masters swimmers from all over the country. The standard is exceptionally high with a number of British, European and World records broken during the competition.

Lisa Rushton, competing in her first National championships, entered four events, 50m and 100m Backstroke and 100m and 200m Individual Medley. In achieving personal best times in each event she was unlucky to miss a medal by fractions of a second in two events.
Laura Sims competed in the same events and added the 200m Backstroke as well. Again achieving personal best times in each swim, she gained four bronze medals and a silver in her final swim, the 200m Individual Medley.
Ian Stanier entered the 100m and 400m Individual Medley. In gaining a bronze medal in the 400m event, he managed to lower his personal best time by a staggering 15 seconds.

Judith Hancock, competing at this level after a break of four years, competed in the 50m Breaststroke and 50m Freestyle, both highly competitive events. Although she did not win a medal, she achieved her quickest times for two years in each swim.

The highlight of the weekend was the 200m mixed Freestyle relay team. Lining up next to Laura Sims on the first leg was Mark Foster, multiple World, European and Commonwealth champion. This created extra attention in the race and all four swimmers, Laura, Gordon Selwyn, Lisa Rushton and Ian Stanier, swam personal best times. In the event, Foster broke the world record for 50m freestyle as well.

The event was a great success for the swimmers. They all achieved significant improvements in their times and left with heads held high after the competition.

Masters swimming is open to anyone over the age of 25. Swimmers train regularly and compete both for the club and at Open meets throughout the year. For more information, contact Dove Valley Swimming Club at Uttoxeter Leisure Centre on Monday or Thursday evenings.