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Tritons swim to success at Nationals

Written by Sian Wyn-Jones Saturday, 07 August 2010 22:26

Tritons swim to success at National Championships

The ASA National Championships were held at Ponds Forge Sheffield at the start of the school summer holidays. Six swimmers from local club Severnside Tritons had qualified for the Championships with four Tritons making the journey to compete.

The Age Group Championships (up to Age 13/14) were held first and 12 year old Edward Walsh had a brilliant set of swims. He had qualified for four events this year (after two in 2009), adding the 100m free and the 400m IM to the 100 and 200m breaststroke. He won silver in the 200m breaststroke in a time that would have qualified him for the 13 year old age group. He swam a four second PB to come 5^th in the 100m breaststroke, but perhaps most impressive of all was the 400m IM for which he qualified in 24^th place but ended up in 6^th position in the final having swum a massive ten second PB.

Walsh finished 20^th overall out of 81 12 year olds – a terrific achievement. And as a result he has been awarded a place on the Regional Talent Team following this performance.

13 year old Amy Wilkins pulled out all the stops at the Regional Championships in June to swim a fantastic National Qualifying Time in the 1500m (18.37.36) where she won gold. She found it harder going in Sheffield and couldn’t quite match her previous form, but this is Wilkins’s second year at Nationals having qualified two years ago in the 200m breaststroke showing her strength and versatility across different stokes and distances.

At the Youth Championships (14+) Dan Woodward (18) and Annie Brown (14) took part. Dan was first off the blocks in the 400m free where he recorded a two second PB and finished 27th out of 54 swimmers in 4.09.69. He was delighted with this performance. He was a fraction off his PB in the 100m free finishing in 54.20, but still in the top two thirds in his age group. At the end of the Championships came the 200m free in which he swam a brilliant PB to qualify for the semi finals 11^th fastest. Here he swam yet another PB, finishing 12^th in 1.54.92, just missing out on a Finals’ spot.

14 year old Annie Brown was also in startling form – she had qualified with a short course time for the 50m free but swam a staggering 1.3 sec long course PB to finish well up the field in 28.51. This was all the more remarkable as she had only just turned 14 three weeks previously and was swimming against swimmers who were in some cases nearly two years older.

With four top 20 swims at Nationals from four swimmers Head Coach Malcolm Casey was delighted at the great improvement on last year’s performance when Tritons’ founding clubs Thornbury and Stroud attended as separate entities. Severnside Tritons is definitely moving in the right direction.

Tritons swim at five pools across South Gloucestershire. They will be holding trials in September. Anyone interested in learning to swim or improving their technique and stamina with them should go to their website www.severnsidetritons.org.uk.

8^th August 2010

Edward Walsh proudly wears his National Medal from the 2010 Championships.

Tritons Triumphant

Last Updated on Monday, 02 August 2010 07:34 Written by Sian Wyn-Jones Monday, 02 August 2010 07:12

Triumphant Tritons swim to an outstanding first year!

Severnside Tritons Swimming Club was only formed just under a year ago when Stroud and Thornbury Swimming Clubs merged, but they have had an outstanding first year of competition.

In the County Championships they rounded off three months of competition with a fantastic display in the relay events finishing second in the team medal table only one medal behind Gloucester City and four ahead of Southwold SC. In the individual events they also swam to a very satisfying strong second place in the medal table with 174 medals in total and were also second in the Championship Finals Table with 12 medals. With 19 clubs competing Severnside Tritons’ Head Coach Malcolm Casey was delighted with his swimmers’ performances, in particular the number of Personal Best Times swum. In the final placings in the BAGCAT awards given to the top overall swimmers age 9 to 14, for which swimmers must score points across all strokes and all distances, Tritons took three overall titles: winning top place in their age groups for the Club were 9-year-old Georgia Martin, 12-year-old Edward Walsh and 13-year-old Ben Hampson.

In April they were awarded Swim 21 Accreditation after only eight months as a new club. This is awarded by the ASA to Clubs who can show that they operate in accordance with best practise and follow the principles of the Long Term Athlete Development Plan. They were accredited at Teaching, Masters and Skill Development level, a remarkable achievement in such a short time and in one go.

The South West Long Course Regional Championships in May and June were well attended by Tritons with 15 swimmers attending the Youth Championships (age 14+). Pick of the bunch there were 17 year olds Dan Woodward, Ben Jones and Thomas Hadfield and 16 year old Wylie Ball who all had top eight placings with Woodward’s bronze in the 100m free standing out in particular. The Club’s top Age Group swimmers (under 14) were also well represented in their South West Championships where 11 swimmers travelled to Millfield for four days of intense competition. Once again top eight finishes were par for the course with I2 year olds Iona Baker and Edward Walsh and 13 year olds Cade Gillingham, Annie Brown and Amy Wilkins taking the honours. Particularly impressive here were Edward Walsh who finished second overall among the South West’s 12 year old boys and Amy Wilkins who swam a spectacular National Qualifying Time in the 1500m freestyle.

Walsh also swam a number of National Qualifying times to book his place alongside Wilkins at the National Age Group Championships at the end of July, as did 12 year old Thomas Shortman at the Sheffield No Frills open Meet at the end of May where he won a bronze and two silvers. Senior swimmers Dan Woodward (18), Grant Sage (18) and Annie Brown (14) also qualified for the National Youth Championships at the start of August.

The South West Regional Short Course 50m sprint day was held at GL1 in July and seven of the Club’s swimmers finished in the top 8 in their age groups: 10 year olds Georgia Martin and Jess Telford, Iona Baker (12), Cara Hodgkinson (14), Zoe Bartholomew (15), Wylie Ball (16), Ben Jones (17) and Oli Frampton (18). Jones and Frampton both took the overall gold medal for the best combined scores from all four stokes and the 100m IM in their respective age groups.

Not content with success in the indoor pool, Tritons also took to the open Water competing at both the South West Regional Open Water Championships off the South coast and the county Championships at Henleaze Lake, Bristol. Zoe Browning (16) finished the day as Open Water Champion with Rebecca Stevens (15) unlucky to miss out on a bronze by the tiniest of margins. But this was good practice for the County Championships where both girls were joined by more team mates and swam to win the title of Open Water Champions for the first time as Severnside Tritons, but following on from three successive years as County Open Water Champions in the name of Stroud Swimming Club. Ben Jones and Zoe Browning were delighted to receive the trophy on behalf of the Club.

31^st July 2010

Tritons Triumph at County Blocks

Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 March 2010 08:09 Written by Sian Wyn-Jones Wednesday, 17 March 2010 07:53

It was another outstanding weekend for Severnside Tritons Swimming Club at the Gloucestershire County Championships at the beginning of March, held this time at Horfield pool, Bristol. The highlights of the weekend were three Senior County Championship Titles going to Dan Woodward (17) in the 400m free, Grant Sage (18) in the 100m free and Oli Frampton (18) in the 50m fly (jointly). Woodward swam a perfectly timed heat to qualify in 8^th place for the final, leaving himself plenty in the tank to leave his rivals behind and win the Final by a healthy margin. Sage again showed his dominance in the shorter freestyle races in 100m free where he fought Woodward for the title in a tight race, wining by a fingertip. Frampton, equally strong in the 50m fly, swam a terrific race to tie for the title of Senior Champion.

Thomas Hadfield finished 3^rd in the 400m free Championship final and 7^th in the 100m free final, Frampton also qualified for the 100m free final where he finished 5^th. Cara Hodgkinson (13) finished 7^th in the 200m back Championships final having won silver in her age group. Kate McGraw-Allen (16) and Tash Johnston (16) also qualified for the Championship finals in the 200m breaststroke and 200m IM respectively. In a busy weekend for Woodward he also finished 5^th in the 200m IM Championship final.

Tritons dominated the mens 100m free events in the mens age group races with gold medals going to Ben Hampson (13), Tomos Wyn-Jones (16) Woodward and Sage and silvers to Thomas Hadfield (17) and Frampton.

Gold medals were also won by Hampson and Natasha Johnston (16) in the 200m IM, Thomas Shortman in the 100m fly and 400m free, Georgia Martin (9) in the 50m back, Frampton and Zoe Bartholomew (15) in the 50m fly, Shortman and Rosie Allen (9) in the 200m fly, Hampson and Amy Wilkins (13) in the 400m free, Edward Walsh in the 100m IM and 100m breaststroke and Cade Gillingham (13) in the 200m back.

With one weekend to go to bring this year’s Championships to an end, Head Coach Malcolm Casey is delighted with his swimmers’ performances. The Club has only been running for six months and the swimmers have quickly pulled together as a team, supporting each other well in training and competition.

Dan Woodward and Thomas Hadfield receive their medals from GCASA President.

7^th March 2010

Tritons Reach Podium at Counties

Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 February 2010 17:52 Written by Sian Wyn-Jones Wednesday, 17 February 2010 10:25

Severnside Tritons reach the podium at County Championships

The 2010 Gloucester County ASA Swimming Championships continued in February with a mixture of events across all age groups. Severnside Tritons were well represented with Ben Hampson (13), Tomos Wyn-Jones (16) and Grant Sage (18) all reaching the podium in their respective 50m backstroke events. Esmae Woods (12), Siobhan Tierney and Megan Roberts (both 17) followed suit in the girls 50m backstroke. 12 year olds Edward Walsh and Thomas Shortman finished in gold and bronze position in their first race of the day, the 50m free. Both boys went on to reach the podium many more times over the weekend, including gold and silver in the 200m IM, gold and bronze in the 50m fly and 200m free and gold and silver in the 400mIM

The 400m IM is one of the most demanding races where swimmers have to swim 100m in each of the four strokes. Amy Wilkins shone in the 13 year old age group taking gold, with team mate Rachel King finishing well to take silver. Both girls reached the Championship Final in that event, a feat matched by 17 year olds Dan Woodward and Thomas Hadfield who finished in silver and bronze position in their age group. Ben Hampson (13) took gold in this event and there were podium places for Iona Baker (12), Wylie Ball (16), Kate McGraw-Allen (16) and Jess Telford (10)

Another endurance event is the 200m fly and 17 year of Thomas Hadfield won a bronze medal in his age group. Iona Baker (12) won a bronze medal too, but Rachel King showed her strength in this event winning gold four seconds ahead of team-mate Amy Wilkins in silver. 15-year-old Zoe Bartholomew finished third in her age group in the 200m fly, which qualified her for the Championship final. Here she went 3.5 seconds faster to finish in third place overall.

The 100m breaststroke saw Edward Walsh take gold, Ben Hampson, Annie Brown (13) and Chris Butterfield (22) take silver medals and Wylie Ball and Cara Froggatt (14) take bronzes. Both Annie Brown and Chris Butterfield made it through to the Championships Finals with Butterfield finishing second overall.

Nine year old Georgia Martin had a great start to her County Championships winning gold in the 50m free, 50m Breaststroke, 200m IM, 200m free. Victoria Price, also nine took bronze in the 200m IM as did Rosie Allen in the 50m fly and 200m free

The boys 50m breaststroke saw Ben Hampson and Tomos Wyn-Jones take bronze with Grant Sage taking silver and reaching the Championship final. Annie Brown and Rachel King took gold and silver in the 50m breaststroke in their age group and both qualified for the Championship final where Annie Brown finished second overall – a great achievement when she is only 13.

Ben Hampson (13), Dan Woodward (17) and Grant Sage (18) were in outstanding form to win gold in their age groups in the boys 50m free and Tomos Wyn-Jones took bronze in the 16 year old boys event. Sage and Woodward both qualified for the Championship final along with 18 year old Oli Frampton. In qualifying, Grant Sage set a National Qualifying Time, a very special achievement which shows that after several years of being the most consistently high achiever in the county, he still has the strength, determination and skill to be at the top. Sage went on to win the Championship final which makes him the fastest sprinter in the county. Esmae Woods and Iona Baker took silver and bronze in the 12 year girls 50m free, Annie Brown and Tash Johnston took silver too in their age groups and Siobhan Tierney and Jo Bartholomew took bronze in theirs.

In the final event of the weekend the 100IM, another gold went to Ben Hampson, silvers to Tomos Wyn-Jones and Grant Sage and a bronze to Thomas Hadfield and in the girls event, silvers to Esmae Woods, Tash Johnston and Jo Bartholomew and bronze to Siobhan Tierney.

There were many other Tritons competing who swam well to set new PBs, some of whom were at the County Championships for the first time. Head coach Malcolm Casey was very pleased with all his swimmers’ performance

Grant Sage, Ben Hampson, Cade Gillingham, Annie Brown, Dan Woodward and Edward Walsh all triumph at County Blocks

16^th February 2010

Tritons Bank Nat West Trophy!

Last Updated on Monday, 15 February 2010 20:25 Written by Sian Wyn-Jones Monday, 15 February 2010 20:18

Severnside Tritons win first Trophy Gala

Severnside Tritons were invited to compete at the Nat West Invitation Trophy Gala in January at Keynsham Pool. They faced strong opposition from the home club Keynsham as well at Southwold Swimming Club. Also competing were Weston Super Mare, Clevedon and a B team from Keynsham.

Southwold took an early lead in the gala and were ahead after the first quarter, but Tritons showed their superior strength and depth and managed to pull back level with Southwold and eventually ahead of them to win the Trophy by a comfortable 29 points with 246 to Southwold’s 217. Keynsham fought hard to keep in touch with the leaders but ended up in third place with 186 ahead of Weston (175) who finished comfortably ahead of Clevedon (145) and Keynsham B (51)

There were first place finishes for Thomas Gabb (11), Ben Hampson (13), Chris Butterfield (open), Will Seaman (11), Wylie Ball (15), Rachel King (13), Edward Walsh (13), Andrew Neudegg (15), Dan Woodward (open), Thomas Shortman (13) and Cara Hodgkinson (13) With maximum points from those events coupled with victories in 11 out of the 17 relays, Severnside Tritons were delighted to be presented with the trophy at the end of the gala. Team representatives Ben Jones and Zoe Bartholomew collected the trophy on the teams’ behalf.

Severnside Tritons train at five locations, including Stratford Park and Archway School, Stroud. It is a competitive swimming club with swimmers competing at county, regional and national levels. And with a Learn to swim programme, Masters and Seniors section and a disability section the Club has a great deal to offer. Anyone interested in joining should go to the Club’s website: www.severnsidetritons.org.uk.

31^st January 2010

Press Releases

Tritons swim to success at Nationals

Tritons Triumphant

Tritons Triumph at County Blocks

Tritons Reach Podium at Counties

Tritons Bank Nat West Trophy!

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