Beckenham SC Newsletters "Our Club"

On Sunday 7th February I was invited along with Lucy Grant to attend the Kent Development Camp in Gillingham.

The day started really early as we had to be there at 10.00am.  I was quite nervous as there were about 20 girls and boys of all ages from lots of different clubs and I did not recognise any of them – that was until Lucy arrived!

We started by all introducing ourselves and we had a true/false question session which was fun and a bit of an ice breaker.

Julian Metcalf who is the Assistant County Coach oversaw the day.  We did lots of land training which included lots of tips on how to keep fit and healthy.  After lunch we had another talk about fitness and then it was time to get into the pool!!  Julian based the pool session on our technique.

The afternoon swimming session went really quick and it wasn’t long before it had all come to an end.

I had a really great day and learnt lots of new things and tips, as well as making lots of new friends.

Orla Ingram

Beckenham Swimmers put in a good performance at the Geneva International Open Meet.

19th January 2009

Congratulations and well done to the three Beckenham swimmers that have just returned home from Geneva competing in the International Open Meet selected by London Swimming.

Michael Gunning, Steph Denny and Steffi King, competed in a series of events that took place from Friday 15th until Sunday 17th January. The team departed from Heathrow Airport on Thursday 14th heading for Switzerland to compete in one of the biggest International Swim Meet where over 34 Clubs from different nationalities including, Germany, France, Dutch, Gibraltar, Italy took part. Swimming the heats at 7.00 a.m. and finals in the afternoon they soon adjusted to the time difference, and achieved some fantastic results.

All three managed to make the finals. International medals were awarded to Steph Denny who came 3rd in the 50M Freestyle and Michael Gunning who came 2nd in the 200M Butterfly, 2nd in the 400M Freestyle and 3rd in the 200M Freestyle.

Also see the report from the London Swimming Organisation.

Club Championships Trophy Presentation.

11th January 2009

Well done to the swimmers who made it to the Beckenham SC Club Championships Trophy Presentation. Our president Andrew Forryan will be presented the Trophies to the winners. Here are some of the photos:

Welcome back to the New Year 2010. We anticipate a normal swimming schedule this week, but in light of the Met Office forecast of heavy snow over the next few days, please watch your emails for updates in case there is any impact on the Beckenham Swimming Club training schedule:

It could be worse, see 'enthusiasts' in a swimming competition in Vladivostock, Russia, where the temperature is around minus 13 degrees celcius, brrrrgh:

Michael Phelps is competing at the British Gas Duel in the Pool, in Manchester, UK, 18 – 19th December 2009 and you could be there to watch the event and meet the most decorated swimmer of all time.

The winner will also receive a new Generation Speedo LZR Racer suit.

All you have to do is go to the Speedo website and tell them in no more than 20 words why you want to meet Michael Phelps. Enter at http://www.speedo.com/en/

Regulation valid for swimwear to be used from January 1st 2010

These rules include the rules applicable to swimwear in accordance with FINA Rule GR 5.

Please see attached, click here

From January 1st 2010 Swimware for men shall not extend above the naval nor below the knee and for women shall not cover the neck extend past the shoulder nor shall extend beyond the knee. All swimsuits shall be made from textile materials. Please bear this in mind before you invest in some expensive new costume/attire that will be illegal for to use in competitions in the new year.

From 1st January 2010 all competitions in England, Scotland and Wales will be applying the FINA rules below in relation to Swimsuits for swimming (excluding Masters and Open Water) competitions. Current FINA rules state:

GR 5 SWIMWEAR

GR 5.1 The swimwear (swimsuit, cap and goggles) of all competitors shall be in good moral taste and suitable for the individual sports disciplines and not to carry any symbol which may be considered offensive.

GR 5.2 All swimsuits shall be non transparent.

GR 5.3 The referee of a competition has the authority to exclude any competitor whose swimsuit or body symbols do not comply with this Rule.

BL 8.2 In swimming competitions the competitor must wear only one swimsuit in one or two pieces. No additional items, like arm bands or leg bands shall be regarded as parts of a swimsuit.

BL 8.3 From January 1, 2010 swimwear for men shall not extend above the navel nor below the knee, and for women, shall not cover the neck, extend past the shoulder, nor shall extend below knee. All swimsuits shall be made from textile materials.

Click here for Beckenham Swimming Club Committee guidelines which are intended to assist swimmers and their parents in making their decisions as to what they do if they have the opportunity of participating in the Beacon programme.

Beckenham SC Swimming Trials

26th October 2009

Thank you to the 51 swimmers who attended the trial on Saturday the 24th October 2009. Many of the swimmers had been waiting patiently since the last trial in January 2009. It took 3 Coaches 1½ hours to assess all the swimmers, from those who had just turned 4, to the oldest at 12 years old. 39 swimmers were offered places in 7 squads, Tadpoles, Development 1 and 2, Blue, White 1 and 2 and Club. The swimmers who chose to take up their places will be starting with the Club in the first week in November.

Well done to the successful swimmers and welcome to the club.

Jackie Elliott

Membership secretary

Danny Casey has been nominated as the Kent County ASA Water Polo Player of the Year in recognition of his excellent performances throughout the year. Congratulations and well done to Danny.

Also the members of the Beckenham Swimming Club took first place in the Kent County Ladies and Men’s Points at the County Swimming Championships in 2009. Congratulations and well done to all the Beckenham SC swimmers who took part in the Kent County Championships

The trophies will be presented at the Annual Council Meeting of Kent County ASA which is to be held on Saturday 5 December at Hayes Sports Club – Metropolitan Police, The Warren, Bromley BR2 7AL commencing at 12 noon. The club will make arrangements for representative to be there at the meeting to accept the trophies.

Also Jackie Bedford, Past President of Beckenham Swimming Club and Executive Committee member, will be inaugurated as the President of Kent ASA.

Dear Members,

I trust you all had a very good Summer break and that those of you who took their holidays outside the UK in Ireland were looking forward to reacquainting yourselves with water after the August break.

I thought it would be helpful if I provided a quick update on a couple of matters at the start of the new swimming season:

1. As some of you may know, Mark Brown resigned from the post of secretary in July and Richard Collins has recently announced his resignation as Chairman. In Richard's case, he is staying on as a member of the Executive until the plans for his impending move to Australia are finalised. On behalf of the Club, I would like to thank both Mark and Richard for their considerable contribution to the Club over the years and, in particular, in Richard's case, for his energy and commitment and the way in which he has fostered improvements in communications within the Club. We wish both Mark and Richard all the best for the future. You will still see Mark around and he intends to stay involved in Club activities, albeit not in an official capacity.

There was a meeting last week of the Club Management Committee (CMC) and the Club Executive Committee at which the successors to Richard's and Mark's roles were discussed. As a result, I was appointed Chairman of the CMC but, more importantly, I am pleased to announce that Kathy Hook agreed to return to the Club to take over the vacant role of Honorary Secretary. Kathy has an immense amount of experience in the role and, in addition, is a qualified ASA official and is soon to take up roles with the Kent ASA and the National Swimming League (previously Speedo).

2. Another item which came up for discussion at that meeting was the impact of the Beacon programme at Crystal Palace, which is now up and running. The Club needs to make certain decisions with respect to its relationship with the Beacon programme and the Club swimmers who decide to participate in it. The discussion at that meeting was just the first in a number of discussions which will need to take place. The Beacon is not a club in itself and the issues are not entirely straightforward. We will be providing more information and clarity on this subject as the discussions develop but an initial interim decision was taken that Beacon swimmers would remain BSC members. Decisions on how they will continue to train with the Club (where that training is split) and fees have yet to be considered in detail.

3. Notwithstanding their own personal views on Beacon (and Tony Beckley articulated his own quite clearly in a meeting for swimmers and parents in top squad in July), the coaching team have responded in the best way possible to the Beacon programme, namely, to start to implement some ideas both to maintain and raise standards within the Club coaching structure. Tony is encouraging the coaches to think about ways in which they can improve and challenge their squads to promote excellence all the way through the training spectrum. Again, the specific details of the changes are still under discussion by the coaching team and will become clearer as their session planning develops.

4. I know many of you found the weekly news letter which Richard provided very useful. I will be discussing with Kathy Hook the format for continuing communication with you but you will continue to receive information about the Club in one form or another on a regular basis.

5. From my own perspective as President for this swimming year, I have a few thoughts about how the Club has operated during my tenure as deputy president, as a result of which there are some elements of the Club's operations which I would like to develop with the assistance of the other office holders. In particular:

(a) the Club is now a £250,000 business and requires, as well as a strong coaching team, a strong management and executive team. Only the Club coaches are paid. Everyone else is a volunteer and some of the offices of the Club can be quite demanding on an individual's time. In some cases (eg the treasury function, training secretary), the demands are fairly constant whereas in other cases (galas, meets etc) the demands have a seasonality to them. Recently, in the case of the treasury function, we have sought to spread the burden of the role by creating a Treasury Committee (of three members, made up of the Treasurer, Jenny Knight, assisted by Steve Shelts and Shaun Gunning). Whilst not all the roles easily lend themselves to sharing, what is absolutely vital to the Club is proper succession planning. There are two aspects to succession planning with which I am particularly concerned, namely:

(i) to capture in writing some of the expertise which the current office holders have in relation to various aspects of the running of the Club. One of the things which successors to offices find difficult is working out a route map for their particular area and the lack of a "how to" manual often means that successors are left trying to reinvent the wheel. One of the objectives I have during this year is to create a set of guidelines and procedures for various aspects of the running of the Club which will enable a seamless transition when an office holder moves but, hopefully, will enable us to bring successors into those roles in a way which works well both for the Club and the relevant successor;

(ii) to encourage parents of younger swimmers to participate in the day to day activities of the Club. A significant number of the current office holders have children who are already in senior squads and, inevitably, both as a result of their children moving on and the fact that they have, in many cases, already given a lot of commitment to the Club, we cannot guarantee that they will remain in those roles in the longer term. We need to identify the next generation of individuals, who are likely to be with the Club for some considerable time, to assist in taking the Club forward. I will be writing to you further as to how best to achieve this particular objective;

(b) I would like to ensure that the strengths of the Club inure for the benefit of all swimmers in a fair and equitable way. I have already mentioned the initiatives of the coaching team to improve quality at all levels of the Club but the same considerations should, I believe, also underpin how the Club deploys its financial resources (ie in a way which is of benefit from Tadpoles to Top). Again, I will be communicating with you further on this in due course.

6. With respect to my comments in 5(a)(ii) above, we are currently short of squad reps in White, Bronze and Club and I would be grateful if parents in those squads would consider whether they are able to assist. These roles are not hugely time consuming. The main purpose is to provide a conduit for efficient flow of information (about training, galas etc) between the Club and coaches on the one side and parents/swimmers on the other. Please let me know if you are interested.

Finally, on behalf of the Club, I wish you all a very successful swimming year. If any of you want to discuss any particular aspect of the Club or this memorandum, please do not hesitate to contact me by email or telephone.

Andrew Forryan

President

24 September 2009

Michael Gunning, Steph Denny and Steffie King

UK School Games BSC

17th September 2009

Congratulations to the Beckeham swimmers who competed in the UK School Games 4/5th September 2009. Eight teams from England North, England Central, England South, England East, Wales, Ireland, Scotland N & W and Scotland S & E, competed in the 50m University Pool in Swansea.

Having survived an incredibly wet Welsh Opening Ceremony in the Roald Dahl Plaza in Cardiff, the swimmers had to travel the next morning to Swansea to train and compete. Having a month off training in the summer, the three Beckenham swimmers went to Wales to represent England East with no preparations for the meet, but that didn’t stop them from giving England east the points. Steph Denny achieved Bronze in the 50m freestyle when Steffie King achieved 4th in the 100m backstroke and 6th in the 200m backstroke. Michael Gunning achieved 6th on his 1500m freestyle and 7th on his 200m IM a year out of age. Well done guy’s!

All at Beckenham SC wish to send their condolences to family, friends and to Black Lion SC following the death of Bev Connolly who was known to so many of us through her roles with KSSA, Black Lion SC and Kent ASA. The attached link is to an obituary on Black Lion's web-site.

Nationals

Congratulations this week Marlon Gasparotto (first on the left in the picture), who finished 7th in 200IM at the National Age Group championships in Sheffield.

At the time of writing, Leah Casey and Marlon, still have some more individual swims to go, plus the Beckenham boys 400m medley relay team, so good luck guys…..

Next week sees the second National Swimming championships - the slightly older Youth Championships…

The squad of Michael Gunning, Ricky Outhwaite, Georgia Phillips, Lauren Walton, Rachel Bull, Rebecca Walton, Steffi King and Steph Denny, not forgetting Tony too, will be looking to build on this year’s success in the finale to the 2008/09 season.

Also, next week is the start of the third major national competition with the Welsh Summer Nationals 2009, which will see a squad of around 15 Beckenham swimmers descend on the Wales National Pool in Swansea. Good luck to everyone in Sheffield and Swansea.

13th FINA World Championships

The 13th FINA World Championships began this week in Rome, and Beckenham is represented on two fronts.

The British Gas Synchro team have capped off one of the most successful performances from a British Synchro team at a World Championships. The team of eight swimmers completed a Native American inspired routine, and secured tenth place with a total score of 89.667 in the Free Team final.

The squad was represented by former Beckenham swimmer, Louise Woolley (daughter of our beginners’ Water Polo coach Simon). Louise trained (96–04) in what is now Platinum Squad, and swam in several galas for Beckenham, before becoming a full-time athlete in 2007 at the Synchro High Performance Centre in Aldershot. The 2009 World Championships were the first time that the British Gas team had competed in all parts of the competition. Their performance surpassed expectations of National Performance Director Biz Price. Price said. “Our calculations worked out that the team should have finished between 9th and 15th in all events, this competition hasn’t just been a step towards 2012 but a giant leap for us as we prepare for the home Olympics.” Well done Louise… For more information on the synchro success click here

The competitive swimming begins tomorrow and continues through to the 2nd August, and Ellen Gandy will be aiming for success in the 100m Fly (Sunday) and then the 200m Fly on Wednesday. Ellen secured her place on the team for the World Championships earlier this year by storming to a new British record time of 57.49 in the 100m Fly, and then taking almost a second off the European, Commonwealth and British record time in the women’s 200m Butterfly - just 0.6 off the world record !!! Good luck Ellen!

For more information live from Rome click here

Membership Renewals

A HUGE THANK YOU to all of the 174 swimmers who have renewed their membership with the club over the last week. Also thank you and goodbye to those few swimmers who for, one reason or another, will not be returning in September and have let Jackie know.

There are other swimmers who have contacted Jackie to say that their forms are on their way or are undecided whether to renew membership next year. Once again thank you for contacting Jackie and she’ll be watching her letter box each day with anticipation!

There are still several swimmers from whom Jackie has heard nothing. Please, please, please, can you contact Jackie, so that she too can take a break in August. To all the Country members, Jackie will be contacting you shortly regarding your renewals, thank you to those who have already been in touch.

If you've missed Jackie so far, you can post your renewal forms to:

This is only a couple of minutes from the Spa if you want to post by hand. For any further information please contact Jackie at jackie.elliott@beckenhamswimmingclub.com or on 07887 501434.

Beckenham SC Training

The new Beckenham training schedule, as of 1st September 2009, is now available and please click here to download and view. You can also click here to go to the Beckenham SC training web page for more information on the various squads.

Thank you again to all parents and swimmers, in Gold and Top Squad, who were able to make last Wednesday’s meeting, to update on the Crystal Palace Beacon Programme. Once again if you have any questions please do direct them to Fiona at Fionamgorman@aol.com, who will be collating these for us to answer throughout the summer.

And finally….

This will be the last update for the 2008/09 swimming calendar year from myself, as I’ll be making my way to Sheffield too. For you, still in competition, in Wales, Sheffield, Rome and locally, the very best of luck. For everyone else have a wonderful Summer break in August, and we look forward to seeing you all again in September….

Rich

Nationals

Next week sees the first of three major National Swimming competitions commence, with the National Age Group championships in Sheffield. Good luck to Leah Casey and Marlon Gasparotto, in their individual swims, and not forgetting James Allan, Henry Knight and Robert Deane, who join Marlon in the Beckenham boys 400m medley relay team. You can read more about the boys qualifying by clicking here.

Membership Renewals

Here is a reminder that membership forms need to be returned today Friday 17th July, if you wish to pay your squad fee monthly by Standing order mandate. Jackie Elliott (Membership Secretary) has approximately 70 returned so far which means there are over 200 to go! If you've missed Jackie so far, you can post your renewal forms to: 54 Whitmore Rd, Beckenham, Kent. BR3 3NS

This is only a couple of minutes from the Spa if you want to post by hand. Please note we need a cheque to cover the membership fee and ASA fee and ONLY the squad fee can be paid in 10 monthly instalments. For any further information please contact Jackie at jackie.elliott@beckenhamswimmingclub.com or on 07887 501434.

Squad Reps Needed

With several swimmers changing squads in the autumn, Fiona now finds herself without reps for three squads:

• White (both 1 & 2)
• Club
• Bronze.

We would like to thank Ray, Bing and Justine (who is taking on silver) for a grand job in relaying information backwards and forwards across the club. If any parent in these squads is brave enough to take on the role, be assured it is not too onerous, please contact Fiona at Fionamgorman@aol.com or on 020 8670 4177/ 07885 442258

At the same time congratulations to Miles Lugenbuhl, as he is a real white squad success story. Miles joined White, and progressed to Club, and is now headed for Silver Squad. White Squad, the most recent of the 12 swimming squads, can often find itself a bit removed, out at the Bridge on a Sunday, so well done Miles and of course not forgetting Michael and Susie.

Our club

Well done to editor Hilary Moore for the July Edition of 'Our Club'. This month's sees a review of the London BAGCATS, the White Horse League, the Kent Junior League and the AGM. It also includes ‘Ten things you did not know about…… Rob Spurr (Water Polo Secretary) as well as the Caption Competition. Don’t forget that you too can be a contributor, so please do send in your news about swimming, other sports or just a topic which you feel would be of would be of interest to Beckenham Swimming Club's members. Contact Hilary or 020 8857 4977. She is looking forward to hearing from you…

Water Polo update

Bad luck to the Beckenham Men's Water Polo Team, who weren't at their best in the London League competition at Gurnell last Sunday. Two losses against mid-table opposition Otter (7-5) and then Ealing (9-8) leaves them lying in mid-table.

On a brighter note well done to Danny Casey, who's been selected for the GB under-16 team to compete in the Umit Oguzoglu Tournament inIstanbul in Turkey, from 21st Aug – 23rd Aug 2009. There will be 7 national teams taking part - Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Ukraine, Turkey, & Great Britain.

London Region Sprints

Good luck to the Beckenham squad of around 30 swimmers competing, and everyone involved at Crystal Palace on Sunday for 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. You can find full results by clicking on the results page here.

Newshopper

BECKENHAM Swimming Club’s boys 400m medley relay team has qualified for the national swimming championships in Sheffield for the second year running.

The team, who were competing in the 11 to 14 age category, booked their place at the London region BAGCAT championships at the recently re-opened Crystal Palace swimming pool in last month.

Marlon Gasparotto, James Allan, Henry Knight and Robert Deane finished in a time of 4:34.80s. The team will be aiming to replicate their success on the national stage when they travel to Sheffield later this month.

Good luck to all Beckenham SC swimmers at the ASA National Age Group Championships 2009

Marlon Gasparotto (left), James Allan, Henry Knight and Robert Deane.

Membership Renewals

Membership renewal packs have been being distributed this week. Jackie Elliott (Membership Secretary) still has some to give out and if she doesn’t manage this by Wednesday 8th July, she will be posting them to you. If you have not received your pack by Saturday 11th July, please contact Jackie directly at

jackie.elliott@beckenhamswimmingclub.com or on 07887 501434. It is important your forms get back to Jackie by Friday 17th July 2009, especially if you wish to pay your squad fee by monthly standing order. If you are undecided or do not wish to return to Beckenham Swimming club, please also let Jackie know too, to avoid chasing over the summer break, and so squad numbers can be planned for September.

UK Schools Games 2009 Selection

Congratulations to Steph Denny, Michael Gunning, and Steffi King for being selected to represent England East at the UK Schools Games 2009, in Cardiff in September.

The UK School Games is a unique event in the UK, bringing together 1500 elite young athletes from 10 sports, with the opportunity to participate in a multi-event games. The games will provide the experience, that hopefully will enable them to deal with the pressure of being in the spotlight, and prepare them for greater things to come. Selections were made using the GB Swimming Rankings database, from swims between 1 October 2008 and 4 May 2009, each topped the ‘Rankings’ for the events that they have been selected to swim. Steph, Michael, and Steffi will be based in University, but will compete in Wales’ National pool in Swansea on 4 and 5 September 2009. Well done guys!

Water Polo update

Good luck to the Beckenham Men's Water Polo Team, who play their next round of London League games, in competition at Gurnell this Sunday. Currently lying in 3rd place they have 2 games, against mid-table opposition Otter (KO 6pm) and then Ealing (KO 8pm), and will be looking for maximum points.

Well done to the Beckenham under 16 team for winning the Mike Clark Cup, a Kent County competition, in which two Beckenham teams were competing, at Swanley on the 27th June. The Beckenham first team impressively won 4 out of 4 against competition - Hythe, Folkestone Sevenoaks and the Beckenham "Breams" (Beckenham second team). The younger "Breams" also achieved a creditable 4th place spot too, with a narrow victory over Folkestone, and avoiding the wooden spoon. Congratulations to Simon Woolley, who continues to do a grand job with the junior set up.

Rob Knox

Whilst the film's world premiere was held in Leicester Square on Tuesday, cast and crew from the new Harry Potter film wore white ribbons on their wrists as a mark of respect to murdered actor Rob Knox. Rob, who played Marcus Belby in the forthcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was stabbed in Sidcup, last May. At this time, I'm sure some at Beckenham S.C. will remember, and spare some thoughts for the Knox family.  In particular for mum Sally (maiden name Cooksley see History BSC), a former member of Beckenham Swimming Club and international in the 1970s. Our thoughts are with the Knox family at this time.

Gala Update

Good luck to the Beckenham squad of around 30 swimmers competing, and everyone involved at Crystal Palace on Sunday for the London Region Sprint event. For more information on the full programme click here

Well done to those Beckenham swimmers who took part in the Haslemere Open Meet last weekend.  Full results are available on the results page.

Elementary Gala

Sunday saw the second of June's two elementary galas. Well done again to all the swimmers, especially if it was your first opportunity to experience competitive swimming. You can also view and download full results by clicking here on the results page. Thank you to all the parents, coaches, officials and volunteers who helped run the event for the second week running!

Water Polo

Well done to the Beckenham Men's Water Polo Team, who played their 5th & 6th London League games, in competition at Whitgift last Sunday. Slightly mixed results from our two games at the weekend; 12-10 defeat to Sutton & Cheam, lost from 9-10 up with 3 mins to go, to then be followed by a strong performance in turning over West London Penguin 19-9, including several of their national league squad. The results should leave Beckenham in and around 3rd place for the next tournament next week at Gurnell.

Congratulations to, and all the best for Bill Williams, a BSC polo player, coach and referee of yesteryear, who celebrates his 90th birthday in August.

During Bill's years assisting with Coaching the Juniors, the Beckenham team were ASA champions in 1969 and formed a good proportion of the Kent team which took the ASA Junior County Championship.

Masters update

Congratulations to Robert Farish who competed in the British Masters Championships Cardiff 19-2th June 2009. In the 45-49 year age group, Robert obtained silver in the 400m Free and bronzes in both the 200m and 800m Free. Click here to view the British Masters results from the ASA website.

And good luck to the squad of Beckenham masters swimmers as they compete at the Kent Masters Championships 2009 at Black Lion tomorrow afternoon. They'll be aiming to go better than 4th place last year and for more about masters swimming at Beckenham click here.

White Horse League

Good luck to everyone swimming and venturing over to Crook Log on Saturday night for round 4, and well done Liz Haynes for another grand job organising. Two more rounds after tomorrow so good luck all involved.

Kent Junior League

Well done to all those swimmers that took part last Saturday 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. You'll find results posted on the results page from round one.

Elementary Gala

From Margate to Trinity school, Sunday then saw the first of June's two elementary galas. Well done to all the swimmers involved, especially if it was your first opportunity to experience competitive swimming. And of course good luck for the 'second leg' this Sunday. You can also view and download full results by clicking here on the results page.

Thank you to all the parents, coaches, officials and volunteers who helped run the well organised event - in particular to the young team of more 'senior' swimmers down on poolside, who were helping out with the logistics - well done guys!

AGM tomorrow….

Tomorrow will see the Beckenham Swimming Club AGM, Awards and Disco from 6pm onwards, at Greystones Scout Hall. There'll also be the opportunity to have a bit of fun too afterwards, with food, drink (a credit crunch paying bar!) and disco in the offering. You can view your invite and annual report for 2009 by clicking here, and see the award winners for 2009.

Many thanks to Club Secretary Mark Brown, and everyone whose helped to organise the event, and we hope to see as many of you as possible tomorrow evening (after the Lions of course…).

Well done Boys…

A big congratulations to the Boys Age Group 4 x 100m Medley relay team who, after achieving a creditable bronze medal London Region Age Group Championships in early June at Crystal Palace, have now qualified for the National Championships in Sheffield in July. They will join the Women's Youth 4x100m Free Team, who also gained qualification back in May.

Water Polo Review - regional and international….

Good luck to the Beckenham Men's Water Polo Team, who play their next round of London League games, in competition at Whitgift on Sunday. 4 of their 12 games having been played so far, the Beckenham are in 3rd place on 7pts, behind Avondale and local opposition Croydon Amphibians. They'll be playing locals rivals Sutton & Cheam first (Kick Off 4pm) and then West London Penguin (Kick Off 7pm) on Sunday, looking to gain some momentum to go one better than last year's runners up spot.  Congratulations to the Senior Women's Team, who have now completed their 9 league games at Whitgift. The ladies, competing in Division 2, finished their season in 2nd place behind Worthing. Well done girls!

At an international the British Men’s Water Polo team, including B.S.C life member Sean King, took part in the Mithat Hantel Memorial Water Polo Tournament in Istanbul, last weekend and won two out their three games on their way to taking the tournament title. The team performed excellently in their first match against Ukraine clocking 14 goals to the Ukrainian’s 10. Their second match saw the squad draw with Turkey 7-7, and set them up for an interesting final match, which saw them beat the French team 7 goals to 6. Good luck to Sean and the squad, as they now put the finishi

A worthy cause….

The club always tries to play its part to support charitable events undertaken by our members.  Last year Club Squad raised nearly £800 by entering the Swimathon during a training session, our resident editor of "Our Club" Hilary Moore raised nearly £400 for the Charity ASPIRE swimming "The Channel" in her local pool. Di Manley is always looking for donations of unwanted swimming kit to support Turney Primary and Secondary Special School, whilst a team of cyclists from club sponsor GAC take part in the Tour Pour la Mer in September, to raise funds for The Mission to Seafarers.

On Saturday 4th July, young Joe Casey (Silver Squad) is going to be climbing Mount Snowdon, with a group of school friends, and in Joe's words "dragging their old Dad's along too!", in aid of the Myasthenia Gravis Association.

Myasthenia Gravis, virtually unheard of as it is usually incurable, is a very rare neurological disease which causes paralysis.  Thanks to the association and a wonderful team of specialists, Myasthenia Gravis can be diagnosed early to avoid such paralysis.  If you would like to support Joe, in climbing to the top of Mount Snowdon, and help research into Myasthenia gravis at the same time please feel free to click here. Good luck Joe and well done!

London Region Age Group Championships (part 2)

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, as well as some great pictures on the results page from weekend one.

Kent Junior League & Elementary Gala

Good luck to all the swimmers competing on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday sees round one of the Kent Junior League, with B.S.C looking to once again retain the title for 2009, as they travel down to Margate. Sunday then sees the first of two elementary galas at Trinity school. For all the latest on all the upcoming fixtures, galas and championships, do visit the fixtures page on the website.

AGM

This week you'll have seen your invite to the Beckenham Swimming Club AGM, Awards and Disco. You can also view your invite and annual report for 2009 (in case its gone-a-wandering in cyberspace!), by clicking here. In the report you'll find reviews of this years ups and downs, as well as the award winners for 2009.

The AGM will be held next Saturday the 27th June, from 6pm onwards, at Greystones Scout Hall. There'll also be the opportunity to have a bit of fun too afterwards, with food, drink and disco in the offering. Many thanks to Club Secretary Mark Brown, whose been busy arranging the logistics, and we hope to see you many of you next Saturday.

Gala Secretary

I am very pleased to announce that Sarah McClymont has very kindly agreed to take on the role of Gala Secretary, to help with the organisation of the open meets the club enters. Sarah takes on the role from Catherine Simpson, whose done a grand job in the last two and a half years. Sarah has been doing a fab job as Gold Squad rep for about 8months or so now, and I'm sure everyone will wish her the very best and support in the new role. A big thank you to both Catherine and Sarah!

Paul Marshall

I'm sorry to say that the end of May 2009, saw the untimely death of one of Beckenham SC Olympians - Paul Marshall. Paul, who was born in Ghana, passed away from cancer at the age of 48. He remains the only black swimmer to represent Great Britain at the Olympic games, and he swam in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow obtaining a bronze medal in the medley relay. You can read more about Paul's achievements in the July edition of the Swimming Times. Our thoughts go to Paul's family at this time.

London Region Age Group Championships

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.

White Horse League

Good luck to all the swimmers competing on Saturday, in the third round of the White Horse League. After two second place finishes in the first and second rounds, and narrowly pipped by Orpington Ojays in round 2, Beckenham go into the third round at Crook Log in a strong position. For all the latest on all the upcoming fixtures, galas and championships, do visit the fixtures page on the website.

AGM

Look out for the distribution of your Beckenham Swimming Club AGM invite and copy of the annual report for 2009 next week. The AGM will be held on Saturday 27th June, from 6pm onwards, at Greystones Scout Hall, Pine Avenue, West Wickham. I'm pleased to say the AGM now avoids the British Lions game in the afternoon, and will include presentations, such as Swimmer of the Year and Jack Petchey Award winners. It'll be the opportunity to have a bit of fun too, with food, drink and disco in the offering. More information will be following, so please keep an eye out for details, and many thanks to Club Secretary Mark Brown, whose been for busy arranging the logistics for the event.

Happy 1st Birthday !!!

Happy birthday to the www.beckenhamswimmingclub.com club website, which tomorrow celebrates its official 1st birthday… Last week I mentioned how the website broke the 500,000 hits-a-month for the first time, and since 13th June 2008 the website has had 2.8million hits all in.

230 new visitors a day can now see the History of BSC from her very early beginnings, right through to the 1970-80s, where you'll certainly see some familiar faces! You can also access useful information, such as the various club documents, the most frequently asked questions, as well as useful links and who to speak to. If so inclined, you can also see what else the club provides for - such as the best deals or Our Masters Section.

Congratulations to Dave Grant, who continues to do a grand job with the website. Please do continue to visit and if you have any feedback or requests from the website, contact Dave at david.grant@beckenhamswimmingclub.com

London Region Age Group Championships

Good luck to the squad of 25-30 swimmers, who will be competing this weekend in the London Region age group competition. Some are very close national qualifying times, so the very best of luck to everyone competing at Crystal Palace. For all the latest on all the upcoming fixtures, galas and championships, do visit the fixtures page on the website.

Website - 700,000 hits a month and going strong !!!

The www.beckenhamswimmingclub.com club website, broke the 500,000 hits-a-month barrier for the first time, with a huge 698,818 hit mark in May 2009. With just one week to its official 1st birthday, and across this time becoming the one best source of information, the website has had 2.8million hits all in, and likely to hit the 3 million mark by 12th June!

Congratulations to Dave Grant, who continues to do a grand job with the website. Please do continue to visit and if you have any feedback or requests from the website, please contact Dave.

GAC cyclists put pedal to the metal for a good cause

Earlier this year the Club secured a 2 year sponsorship deal with GAC, the world's leading provider of shipping, logistics and marine services. GAC is widely involved in sport sponsorships and marketing has been effective at promoting awareness of the GAC brand, as well as bringing GAC closer to local communities.

In September, a team of GAC cyclists, combining with Chevron, will take part in the Tour Pour la Mer 2009, for the third consecutive year, to raise funds for The Mission to Seafarers. The Mission to Seafarers, who cares for the welfare of all seafarers regardless of nationality or faith, operates a network of chaplains, staff and volunteers in 230 ports worldwide, offering a welcome and whatever help may be needed.

The event will see the team of 6 pedal from Antwerp to Rotterdam, and then from Rotterdam to Amsterdam, over a two-day period in September, with their past efforts raising almost £5,500 for The Mission to Seafarers. If you'd like to sponsor the GAC team please click here for a well worthy cause.

London League Water Polo

Good luck to the Beckenham Women's Water Polo Team, who play their third and final round of London League competition on Sunday at Whitgift. Competing in Division 2, the Girls have so far played 6 of 9 league games (4wins, 1draw, 1loss), and sit in 2nd place going into the last round of games, looking for promotion.

And finally…

Congratulations also to Leah Casey, who also achieved her national qualifying time, in the 100m Back at the Guildford City SC Open Meet 2009. Leah's details have also been added to the National Qualifiers page.

Guildford Open Meet

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) and Georgia Phillips (50m Free). Well done to everyone involved at Guildford, and especially to Tony and Di on some impressive performances.

This now means there are more individual national qualifications for the National Championships in July than last year, with many still very close, and with the London Region age group competition still to come.  Please do remember to send your times through to Webmaster Dave Grant, to add to the National Qualifiers page for everyone to share in your success.

You'll find full results from Guildford via results page here.

Congratulations to…

Leading on from further swimming success, congratulations to Tony Beckley, who has been invited to be part of the British Swimming select coaches group, for the 5th year in succession. This is a great achievement for Tony, to once again be part of the programme for Britain's top swimming coaches, with the wealth of experience it brings, both to him and to the club. Well done Tony!

Our Club

Well done to Hilary Moore for the May Edition of 'Our Club', the 7th edition and marking a year of the 'Our Club' newsletter.

This month's sees a first class review of the National League B Final by Kirsty Shelts, the T-Bag/Polo Shirt challenge reaching the border of Switzerland and Italy, ‘Ten things you did not know about…… Doreen Somerville (Past President) and Anna Newell (Women's WP Captain & ASA Membership Officer)', as well as reviews of various Meets and Championships, including our own BSC Open.

Don’t forget that like Kirsty, you too can be a contributor, so please do send in your news about swimming, other sports or just a topic which you feel would be of would be of interest to Beckenham Swimming Club's members. Contact Hilary or 020 8857 4977. She is looking forward to hearing from you…

Membership Renewals and Fees

Last week, we mentioned the Membership Renewal plans for 2009/10. You'll remember that the renewal packs for 2009/10 are being distributed from the 17th June later this year and that the returns will be due back on Friday 17th July, to once again avoid the holiday season of August.

After very careful deliberation and planning, the Club Management Committee and I are delighted to announce that Training, Membership and ASA Fees will remain the same for all swimming squads in 2009/10. This is the 4th year in a row that training fees, which represents the majority of the payment for swimming at Beckenham Swimming Club, will be the same. We have taken into account that this is a time of economic challenge, notwithstanding the difficulties that the club has had with our training schedule this last year and the subsequent disruption that it has posed for you. And even though the operational costs of training have risen for 09/10, we have made every effort to avoid passing this through to you our members. More details of fee payments will be included in the membership renewal pack later in June.

Championship update…

Congratulations to Lauren Walton who achieved 2 more National Qualifying Time last weekend (1500m Freestyle at the London Region Distance Meet and 400m at Hatfield).  Lauren's details have been added to the National Qualifiers page of the website as the 21st and 22nd individual qualifications.  Hopefully a few more will be added after the weekend, after a squad of nearly 50 Beckenham swimmers will descend on the Spectrum Leisure Centre, for the Guildford City SC Open Meet this weekend.  There are quite a few very close, so the very best of luck to all, and do send your qualifying times through to Webmaster Dave Grant, for everyone to share in your success.

Training Update…

This week saw a return, in a limited and short term capacity, of training to Crystal Palace. Whilst the medium to longer terms plans remain in the balance, the short term pool time at the Palace will alleviate some of the training pressures for the time being. Currently, we have only two slots a week; one on Tuesdays for Gold, and the second on Wednesdays for Top squad. The question has been raised this week - "why we have gone in a week later than other clubs and for fewer sessions?". The answer is that we have to secure our position for September, as well as meeting a short term need; we would not abandon pools that we have been using, without ensuring that they are happy to receive us again in the autumn when, at this stage, no pool time will be available at CP to any swimming club from September. This applies, for example, to Dulwich College, where we have withdrawn until September. Other clubs have achieved this earlier, as they operate on fewer sites, with fewer total sessions and a smaller number of members to consider. Please do continue to monitor emails and we'll continue to keep you informed over the coming months on the Crystal Palace plans. For the latest on the training schedule please click here.

Some dates for your diaries…

The Beckenham Swimming Club AGM will be held on Saturday 27th June this year. The AGM will be held on a Saturday this year, as part of a fun day / barbecue event. More information, including the AGM Report, will be following over the next few weeks, so please keep an eye out for details. Many thanks to Club Secretary Mark Brown for organising the event.

The Membership Renewal Packs for 2009/10 will be being distributed from the 17th June later this year. The returns will be due back on Friday 17th July, to again avoid the holiday season of August. More information will follow in next week's update, and many thanks to Membership Secretary Jackie Elliott who will be coordinating the swimming returns and to Water Polo Secretary Rob Spurr, who will be doing the same for the Polo section.

Beckenham Open Meet 2009

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…

More international success…

Congratulations and good luck to Louise Woolley, a former Beckenham Swimmer in Platinum squad. Louise, whose dad Simon coaches the Junior Beckenham Water Polo team, will be representing the Great British Synchronised Swimming Team in Andorra this weekend. The three day event, the European Champions Cup, which takes place between 15th - 17th May 2009, will see the British squad take on some of the best synchro nations in Europe as they aim to continue their impressive start to 2009. For more information visit the ASA Swimming Website.

Training Update

Next week sees a return, in a limited and short term capacity, of training to Crystal Palace. Whilst the medium to longer terms plans remain in the balance, hopefully the short term pool time at the Palace will alleviate some of the training pressures for the time being. For the latest on the training schedule please click here. Please do continue to monitor emails and we'll continue to keep you informed over the coming months on the Crystal Palace plans.

London Region Championships continued…

Good luck to the squad of 10 or so braving the 1500m and 800m freestyle events this weekend at the Distance Events Meet at Crystal Palace. Additionally, congratulations to omitted medal winners at the London Region Youth Championships on 2 & 3 May - Steph King (Silver 200 I.M. & Bronze 100 fly), Katie Irving (Bronze 50 Breast) and Heather Travers (Silver 50 Breast). Apologies guys, well done and please click here for full results.

Water Polo League Regional…

Good luck to the Beckenham Women's Water Polo Team, currently standing top of London League Div 2, who will be looking to consolidate this in the next round of games this Sunday.

Beckenham Open Meet… its finally here…

Whilst many of you will have one eye on the end of the football league season, this weekend will see the long awaited return of the Beckenham Open Meet 2009, the first since 2006. Over 40 clubs will be competing across two day Meet, at the new look Crystal Palace venue, some clubs having traveled as far-a-field as Somerset to compete this weekend.

Our collective aim this year is to put on a competitive Meet that will keep everyone entertained, and take you away from the action at various stadiums across the country… well for 48hrs at the very least!

Historically the Beckenham Open has been popular and this year the Meet was entered to full capacity by the 3rd week of February. Hopefully our Open Meet will be a further opportunity for everyone involved to experience some great swimming. Behind the scenes there will be a dedicated team equivalent to that of 6 football teams organizing the event.

Good luck to everyone at the weekend and I hope you enjoy the Meet to its fullest. Once again a special thank you to event promoter Patricia Ogunfeibo, who I'm sure will be looking forward to putting her feet up on Monday morning !

And remember that if you would like to be a roving reporter this weekend, whether that be as a spectator, swimmer, coach, player, official, organiser, team managers etc, please do send any information to Our Club Editor Hilary Moore. This month will see a first class review of the National League B Final by Kirsty Shelts in Our Club, so if like Kirsty you'd like to put pen (or keyboard!) to paper Hilary is waiting to hear from you.

London Region Championships

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 17minute 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 FC 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 FC. 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.

Water Polo League Regional…

Well done to the Beckenham Women's Water Polo Team, who began their challenge in the first round of competition of the London League competition. Competing in Division 2, the girls won all three of their games Worthing (5 - 4), West London Penguin 3 (10 - 1_ and Oxford (9 - 4). The girls stand top of Div 2 and will be looking to consolidate this in the next round of games on the 17th May.

Squad Rep update…

Following last week's rally cry we now do have a full complement of reps, with Ray Simpson very kindly volunteering to represent White Squads 1 and 2. A huge thank you to Ray for taking on arguably the most important reps' job of all as White Squad swimmers see less of the rest of the club than anyone else. So a summary of recent changes…

Ray Simpson grancan_jamaica@yahoo.co.uk White 1 and White 2

Chris Ellis-Keeler elliskeeler@btinternet.com / Chris.Ellis-Keeler@kbcfp.com Blue Squad

Yvonne Wright yvonne1@ntlworld.com Development 2

Tim Waters waters@biochem.ucl.ac.uk Development 1

Well done to all the squad reps who continue to keep the communication going between the squad swimmers and parents and the rest of the club and the committee, and ensuring that you receive information such as these weekly updates.

Alleyn's closed due to swine flu

Another nine UK cases of swine flu have been confirmed taking the total to 27, the Health Protection Agency has said. Five of the nine diagnosed with the H1N1 virus were year seven pupils from Alleyn's School in Dulwich, London. It is the fourth school to close.

A sixth Alleyn's pupil already had the virus and all 1,200 pupils plus staff are receiving Tamiflu antiviral drugs.

Two other cases were London-based siblings of one of the pupils and two were adults who had visited Mexico.

The two siblings go to a different London school but are related to one of the Alleyn's School pupils, the HPA said. It is understood their small independent school is also set to close as a precaution, which would make it the UK's fifth.

'Play safe'

Alleyn's, also an independent, will be shut for at least seven days.

Dr Ann Marie Connolly, director of public health at Southwark Primary Care Trust, said the symptoms were "relatively mild" and all five pupils were responding well to treatment. She said the source of the outbreak was being investigated and all the contacts of each of the pupils were being offered antiviral treatment. Headmaster Colin Diggory is contacting exam boards to reschedule some exams, he said in a statement on the Alleyn's school website . A Department of Health spokesperson said seven of the nine new cases involved person-to-person contact.

"The arrangements in place across the UK are continuing to ensure that we are well-placed to deal with this new infection," the spokesman added. However, Health Secretary Alan Johnson told the BBC he expects a second, more serious, wave of cases later this year. There are now 23 cases in England and four in Scotland, the DoH said. The tally in London has reached 13, according to NHS London.

Swine flu has closed three other schools - South Hampstead High School in north west London, Downend in South Gloucestershire and Paignton Community and Sports College in Devon.

Classrooms at South Hampstead have been closed until at least Thursday after a 14-year-old girl from Barnet in year nine was diagnosed with the virus. Antiviral drugs have been been offered to her year group and special arrangements are being made for upcoming exams.

For more on this article go the the BBC News website

Swine Flu Advice

Download NHS: Important Information About Swine Flu [118 KB]

National League Final…  A great result and experience for all!

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!

The gallery saw the traveling support donning Military attire, and after their fantastic efforts in the Conga and dancing to our Madness anthem "One Step Beyond", seemingly robbed of the Best Supporters Trophy! Well done every member of the Beckenham Army, you made the atmosphere at Pond's Forge electric…

The pool saw individual 1st place performances, notably Craig Gibbons who won best male in the open category; and Lauren Walton, who won most improved girl in her age with another national qualifying time - the 15th qualification this year! And it was the team ethos again having the huge impact on the final result with former retired swimmers temporarily turning out for the cause in the relays - well done to every swimmer!

Lauren presented with her award with team support from behind the curtain !

The National League rollercoaster began back in the autumn, and every step of the way has been organized by "Championship Team Gunning". Once again thank you Gillian and Shaun on behalf of everyone. Not forgetting team manager Anne Denny and our officials on the day too - Tony King, John Handley, Hilary Moore, Jackie & Chris Bedford (and sorry if I've missed anyone!). Thank you too, to our sponsors GAC Logistics who enabled the experience to Sheffield. Watch out for a fuller report in this month's Our Club too….

In what has been a relentlessly challenging year, with all the pool dramas posed, once again I can't congratulate enough the whole team of coaches on this huge success. On Sunday Tony, ably supported by Sarah, prepared and motivated everyone to their very best yet again. Tony said he was very proud of all the swimmers both performances in the pool as well as the preparation in the hotel, and he would like to thank the whole group of parents and supporters - he too thought we'd won the supporters' award. Well done to you all on such a great achievement!

For full results from Sheffield click here

Water Polo League Regional and more National finals…

(L to R):  Chad Knapman, Danny  Casey, Oliver Longhurst and Rhys Chapman.

And in another set of aquatics finals across the Pennines in Manchester, the ASA Water Polo Championship, 6 Beckenham Water Polo players represented our Sister Club in National Competition - Invicta Water Polo successfully too.  Well done to Danny Casey, Conrad Rhodes and Tom Cart in the junior boy's competition where Invicta beat Dunfermline 10 - 9 to become National Champions - Beckenham first teamer Conrad scoring 3 goals!  In the Youth final, Danny along with Chad Knapman, Oliver Longhurst and Rhys Chapman, were runners-up to a slightly more experienced Lancaster team, who ran out 17 - 6 winners.  

Regionally good luck to the Beckenham Women's Water Polo Team, who begin their challenge in the first round of competition of the London League competition at Whitgift on Sunday.

London Region Championships

More Regional Championships and good luck to the squad of around 25 swimmers competing in the London Region Youth Championships at Crystal Palace. More will follow next week.

Beckenham Open… One week to go…

One final cry… If you can give any further help to the Open meet on the 9th & 10th May please do contact Patricia Ogunfeibo. Patricia is particularly interested in hearing from any members who don't have children competing, aiming to minimise the number of sessions that each helper does - which she can only do if a sufficient number of people volunteer. People who have already volunteered should please see Patricia for their T-Shirts and car park passes.

A reminder that we will take auction bids on the Star Prize up until 8th May - all offers to the Patricia Ogunfeibo please. If none of the bids received reaches our reserve price, the prize will be raffled over the Open Meet weekend at £10 per strip of tickets. Strips of tickets will be recorded with their buyers so even an absent winner still gets the prize.

The prize… An afternoon on 3 June 2009 with the VP of Samsung and lunch in a Marco Pierre White restaurant in Chelsea, followed by a pre match meet and greet with some football legends to be confirmed (last year's event including Matt Le Tissier, Gianluca Vialli and Paul Merson to name a few!).  The prize winner will then have the opportunity to play in a 90 minute game with the football legends at Stamford Bridge, including full Adidas kit and boots, and a video and photos of day. 

For more information on Crystal Palace, the Open Meet and the Auction click here

Squad Rep Changes:

With the movement of some of our junior swimmers, there has also been a change in some of the squad reps. Chris Ellis-Keeler (07803 587930) has kindly agreed to take on Blue Squad and is already making a positive impact; Yvonne Wright (07949 284404) has moved with her daughter up to Development 2. And Tim Waters (07919 983552) has moved with his son to Development 1. They will be trying to provide a point of contact between the squad swimmers and parents and the rest of the club and the committee, and ensuring that you receive information such as these weekly updates.

A huge thank you to Chris, Yvonne and Tim, and to Mike Kibblewhite who has done a great job as Development 2 rep. We do not yet have a full complement of reps - Fiona's secret dream - as we need volunteers to represent White Squads 1 and 2. Actually, this could be done by one person, but it is arguably the most important reps' job of all as White Squad swimmers see less of the rest of the club than anyone else.

If you feel that you could lend a hand for a job that is not too onerous, please contact Fiona Pearson (07885 442258 or at fionamgorman@aol.com) to find out more. At least if you take on this role, we can't ask you to do something much more challenging!!!

CRYSTAL PALACE: £17m spent after asbestos discovery

Revamped centre ready to reopen

Report from the Newshopper April 29th 2009

by DAVID MILLS
dmills@london.newsquest.co.uk

The refurbished swimming and diving pool at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre and (bottom right) the bird cage scaffolding and (top left) Martin Powell from the London Development Agency.

A "DERELICT" asbestos-ridden sports building has been made safe to use again following a £17m refurbishment. Closed after potentially lethal asbestos was found throughout the building in September 2007, the National Sports Centre in Crystal Palace Park reopens tomorrow.

The Grade II* listed building had what the London Development Agency claimed to be the largest bird cage scaffolding in Europe in place to remove the asbestos, a mineral which can cause serious illness if its fibres are inhaled.

Olympic standard starting blocks have been added to the eight-lane swimming pool, as well as electronic touch pads to monitor swimmers' times. The 6ft gin deep diving pool has been refurbished with repairs to cracks in its Grade I listed diving board.

Lighting was so bad it was unsafe for divers at the Crystal Palace Diving Institute to use the higher boards, but now it is six times brighter. The club was given 48 hours' notice to move out of the sports centre after asbestos was discovered.

Chris Snode runs the club's professional training programme. The former World and European diving champion says the club lost 300 divers and £200,000 because of the sports centre's closure. The remaining members have spent the past 20 months practising dry diving in a gym. He said: "I'm really pleased at the extent of the repairs to the diving pool.

"The agency has thrown hundreds of thousands of pounds at getting it up to scratch.

"There's been a real investment to help us win medals in 2012 with our London talent."

As well as refurbishments to the pool, the majority of the centre's 46m x 30m arena has been replaced, including the entire floor which had asbestos underneath.

There is now a retractable 1,760 seating area and motorised glare blinds have been installed.

The agency's director of development, Martin Powell, says the renovation of the centre has been a big battle.

He said: "We have brought a derelict building back into use, and made it safe for users at the centre.

"We have brought the swimming pool and diving pool back to elite standards, which was one of the main aims of our refurbishment."

Go to the video newsclips on the Newsshopper website for more information on the refurbished centre.

National League Final…  Its here!

On Sunday morning the Beckenham 'A' Team will finally get their chance to compete in this year's National League Final at Pond's Forge in Sheffield, a return for the first time in 6 years. You might remember it was a rollercoaster of an evening back in December, in the third round of regional competition, that resulted in automatic qualification for the finals. The finals will see Beckenham 'A' present a fuller and healthier team than December, with some of our absent swimmers back, and our not so well swimmers then, fighting fit.  It will also see the traveling support donning Military attire, in support of the "A Team". In all rounds in the autumn, our supporters really helped us to edge a few gala points here and there, and they will be vital again on Sunday. The atmosphere at Pond's Forge, I'm sure will be electric, especially with our Madness anthem for the weekend being "One Step Beyond" !

Best wishes and good luck messages have come in throughout the week for the team for the final, the furthest coming all the way from Melbourne from the Gandy family, and wishing they we were in Sheffield for Sunday's extravaganza. Here's wishing the team a fantastic day and the very best of luck.

The full line up for the final is: Beckenham A, Camden Swiss Cottage, City of Cardiff, City of Salford, Haslemere, Leatherhead, Leicester Penguins, Lincoln Vulcans, Preston, Warriers of Warrington.

Beckenham Open Auction… Once in a lifetime prize…

It really was too good a prize!  Last week's spectacular donation, a food and football supporters' delight, is now in the offering to all!  We will take auction bids on the prize up until 8th May - all offers to the Patricia Ogunfeibo please.  If none of the bids received reaches our reserve price, the prize will be raffled over the Open Meet weekend on the 9th & 10th May at £10 per strip of tickets. Strips of tickets will be recorded with their buyers so even an absent winner still gets the prize. The prize…

An afternoon on 3 June 2009 with the VP of Samsung and lunch in a Marco Pierre White restaurant in Chelsea, followed by a pre match meet and greet with some football legends to be confirmed (last year's event including Matt Le Tissier, Gianluca Vialli and Paul Merson to name a few!). The prize winner will then have the opportunity to play in a 90 minute game with the football legends at Stamford Bridge, including full Adidas kit and boots, and a video and photos of day. 

For more information on Crystal Palace, the Open Meet and the Auction click here

White Horse League

Well done to all the swimmers that competed on Saturday in the second round of the White Horse League at Crook Log.  Some great swims led to a second place for the Beckenham team, narrowly pipped by Orpington Ojays who finished just 7 points ahead.  Both teams very much competed head-to-head, as they both finished 100 points ahead of third placed Saxon Crown. Added to the second place finish in the first round, Beckenham will now go into the third round at Crook Log on the 13th June in a strong position.

Water Polo League Regional and more National finals…

The first round of competition for the Beckenham Men's Water Polo Team at Whitgift last Sunday, proved to be competitive with a 10-10 with Croydon Amphibians and narrow defeat 13-10 to West London Penguin. The team, still recovering from a mumps outbreak, will now travel to Putney for their 3rd game on Monday, looking for a win against Avondale.  In addition, this Sunday evening at Whitgift sees the second round for the Ladies under-21 team who will be joining up with Croydon to compete against Sutton & Hailsham.

Whilst one set of aquatics finals will be taking place at Sheffield on Sunday, tomorrow sees another set taking place across the Pennines in Manchester. 4 finals altogether, the Youth and Junior ASA Water Polo Championship Finals, for both Girls' and Boys' teams. In both Boys' finals, 6 Beckenham Water Polo players will be representing our Sister Club in National Competition - Invicta Water Polo. Good luck to Chad Knapman, Danny Casey, Conrad Rhodes, Tom Cart, Oliver Longhurst and Rhys Chapman, who will be involved in the games against Manchester and Dunfermline respectively.

Roving Reporters

On your travels to any of the events mentioned, or indeed any upcoming events, if you would like to be a roving reporter, whether that be as a spectator, swimmer, coach, player, official, organiser, team managers etc, please do send any information to Our Club Editor Hilary Moore and David Grant to publish on the website. If you're attending the National B Final, why not send your experiences through? If you're shortly going to attend your first Beckenham Open - how about putting pen (or keyboard!) to paper? Whether its a few sound bites, some good photos or indeed a longer article, Hilary is waiting to hear from you.

And finally…

Congratulations to Lauren Walton who achieved a National Qualifying Time last weekend at Crawley (800m  Freestyle).  Lauren's details have been added to the National Qualifiers page of the website as the 14th individual qualification.

Good luck to all this weekend whether you're in Sheffield, Manchester or Whitgift !

From the Swimming Times May 2009.

Crystal Palace - pictured in the final stages of refurbishment - will host an ASA Beacon programme that is set to transform south London's approach to aquatics

The ASA is at the centre of a radical restructuring at Crystal Palace which will change the face of aquatics in London.

Nick Sellwood, ASA head of talent development, says the Crystal Palace Aquatics Beacon Programme will provide Londoners with resources and opportunities that are already available in other parts of the country.

The programme to be launched on April 27 in conjunction with GLL, Sport England and the ASA London Region, will revolutionise the way swimming, waterpolo and diving are organised on the south side of London.

Like other centres in the England-wide network of Beacon programmes which the ASA talent development team is setting up, Crystal Palace will serve as a 'one stop shop' to plug the gaps in training, education, sports science, physiotherapy and other support services for teachers, coaches and aquatic athletes at every level.

The launch coincides with the re-opening of the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre following a two-year refurbishment.

Sellwood said: 'The refurbished Crystal Palace is a world class centre and we now want to create a world class teaching and coaching programme.'

He said the programme would address the absence at Crystal Palace of a clear pathway enabling athletes to progress from swimming lessons to success at the highest level.

'The lack of a fully­resourced pathway that gave athletes everything they needed for international success is reflected by the performances of London­based athletes over the last 10 years,' he said.

'In an audit of results at national level, London is significantly under­represented. The few London athletes who have gone on to be successful have had to relocate to other parts of the UK or abroad.

'If we are to meet our target at the London Olympics, we need London to punch its weight. We have now put together a programme that will address the needs of athletes to allow them to be successful on the international stage.

'This is a radical departure. This really is a chance for London to step up to the plate.'

The plans for water polo are particularly radical.

'The Beacon Programme is going to host an ASA national water polo academy in partnership with Invicta, the National League club, who are relocating all their activities from Kent to Crystal Palace,' said Sellwood.

'They will be a London rather than a South East club. A full-time water polo head coach will be appointed to run the academy and head the Invicta programme. We are building on a strong club structure in Invicta which we are now aiming to develop towards becoming a European super-club.'

The swimming programme will see a move away from the previous fragmented set-up in which no less than 53 clubs used the pool for long-course training. But unlike Beacon programmes in other parts of England, it will not have a performance club at the centre.

'All athletes who swim in the programme will be members of the Crystal Palace Aquatics Coaching Scheme but will race for their existing clubs,' said Sellwood. 'There will also be a diving coaching scheme under the Beacon remit.'

The ASA have advertised for a top coach to head the Beacon programme, which will also give students over 16 the chance to pursue academic qualifications without leaving the site.

Beckenham Open Meet Support

Thank you all for your responses and support to last week's update on the return of the Beckenham Open Long Course meet on the  9th / 10th May 2009.  We have had a few Sponsors for Individual Events come forward for the meet, to be held at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, for the first time since 2006.  You (or your company) might like to sponsor a particular race, at £30 per event or indeed £50 for two.  If so please do send your request to meet organiser Patricia Ogunfeibo. 

This week too saw a fantastic raffle prize secured courtesy of Paul Phillips.  The prize, an afternoon with the VP of Samsung and lunch in a Marco Pierre White restaurant in Chelsea, followed by a pre match meet and greet with some football legends (last year's event including Matt Le Tissier, Gianluca Vialli and Paul Merson to name a few!).  The prize winner will then have the opportunity to play in a 90 minute game with the football legends at Stamford Bridge, including full Adidas kit and boots, and a video and photos of day.  Well done Paul and more details on the draw will follow;  if you'd like to donate Raffle and Tombola Prizes for the event, all will gratefully be received by Linda Deane (Gold / Top) or Sue Stevens (Gold).  Any help, no matter how big or small certainly plays its part, so to support with the logistics for the event please contact Candida Moriarty or Patricia Ogunfeibo, or to support as an Official please contact John Handley.

Welsh Nationals 2009… Details now available

Please click here for the Welsh Summer Nationals Entry Pack. The Championships are 'Open', so you don't have to be Welsh / be of Welsh ancestry to attend.  Last year a squad attended and gave non-national swimmers the opportunity to attend an end of year meet, very similar to the ASA nationals.

Entries will need to be returned by Wednesday 17th June 2009, further details as to whom to send them will follow.

London Water Polo League regional level

Good luck to the Beckenham Men's Water Polo Team, one of the 3 Beckenham teams entered in the London League, who begin the first round of competition at Whitgift this Sunday.  The team, looking to go one better than last year's joint 2nd place in the premier division, play two games in this round against Croydon and West London Penguins.

Website additions !!!

A few additions went on to the website this week….

Congratulations to Rebecca Walton in achieving 2 National Qualifying Times (1500m & 200m Freestyle) over the Easter weekend. Rebecca's details have been added to the National Qualifiers page of the website.

In addition, SwimShop is now live on the website, a good place to purchase costumes, goggles, water polo balls etc, etc. ... You can purchase from SwimShop by clicking on the Swimshop logo from the B.S.C Homepage, with 10% of all sales going to Beckenham S.C. to assist in funding.

March saw the 9 month anniversary of the www.beckenhamswimmingclub.com website and saw the highest number of hits in a month so far - over 450,000 hits !!!  Dave Grant continues to do a grand job with the website, please do continue to visit it, and if you have any information (photos/articles), feedback or requests from the website, please contact Dave at david.grant@beckenhamswimmingclub.com.

Beckenham Open Meet Progress

The long awaited return of the Beckenham Open Long Course meet will be held on the  9th / 10th May 2009, the first time since 2006, and after successful advertising earlier this year, the event was entered to capacity by the 3rd week in February.  The event, at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, will have similar logistic arrangements to the London Region event held the weekend before.  Historically the event has been popular, and the atmosphere at Crystal Palace can be and has been impressive.  To ensure the same this year and maybe go one better we would like to ask your support to make it so.

First up, and for the swimmers, music throughout the event.  Whether you would like a bit of Kati Perry or Flo Rida, send your favorite songs through to be included on the play list.  To avoid music from the 80s, The Jam has already been mentioned; please send your requests through to Shaun Gunning or Richard Collins to be included. 

We are also looking for Sponsors of Individual Races across the Open Meet.  You (or your company) might like to sponsor a particular race, if so please send your request to meet organiser Patricia Ogunfeibo.  Alternatively, you may like to donate some Raffle and Tombola Prizes for the event.  Any unwanted Christmas presents that still haven't been offloaded, or indeed the odd electronic gift, all will gratefully be received by Linda Deane (Gold / Top) or Sue Stevens (Gold).

You might prefer to support for the event by helping with the logistics.  Being the second weekend in May, and no doubt with one eye on the end of the football league season, of the two days, Saturday is a bit lighter in support so if you think you may be able to support, Candida Moriarty or Patricia Ogunfeibo would certainly like to hear from you.

If you can Officiate, again with Saturday being a bit lighter, John Handley is keen to hear form you.  On Sunday, and for those of you qualifying to become officials, there is the opportunity to shadow Judges for evidence for your log books.  Again please do contact John.

The Club will be using its affiliate scheme with Digital Event Photography - the UK's largest Sports and Event Photography Company - to give the opportunity to purchase photographs, key rings, mugs, T-shirts with pictures of swimmers too.  For further information or to purchase after the event click on the link right…

The event generates funds the club, which it uses to keep training fees down, so any help, no matter how big or small certainly plays its part.  Once again a big thank you to Patricia Ogunfeibo (Meet Secretary), who continues to do a grand job organizing the club's meets.

GAC Sponsorship - Press Coverage

This week you may have seen in the local press coverage, details of the club's 2 yr sponsorship deal with GAC, click here for the sponsorship story. The story was released in the Kentish Times and News Shopper this week, and in part the sponsorship from GAC will be supporting the Beckenham team competing in the National Swimming League Final at the end of the month.

Training Disruption

There have been a few ongoing headaches with training this week, which have again caused some frustrations for some of you.  Poor Fiona, having escaped the country to regain some sanity, still couldn't avoid a phone call on the ski slopes in Switzerland!  The Spa has unfortunately had to temporarily close on Friday and Saturday this week due to a small fire damaging fuse boxes in its plant room.  The Spa have been working to address this throughout Thursday night and today, at the point of writing this with no success.  The nature of the problem has meant that both pools can not be heated resulting in training cancellations at the Spa.  It is expected the problem will be addressed over the weekend.  Once again apologies for any inconvenience caused and a big thank you to your squad reps who have supported immensely in getting updates through quickly and efficiently.

London Water Polo League

At a regional level, this weekend sees the first round of competition, for one of the 3 Beckenham teams entered in the London Water Polo League. The Ladies under-21 team are joining up with Croydon to compete against Sutton & Hailsham at Whitgift  School on Sunday evening.  Later on this month the Beckenham Men's Team will begin their competition, looking to go one better than last year's joint 2nd place in the premier division.  Meanwhile, the Ladies Seniors will compete independently again for the first time for a few of years in the 2nd Division.  Good luck to all involved over the coming months.

Presentation Evening

Congratulations to all the winners of the Club Championship trophies, as well as the all Top Boy & Girl Winners for each age group.  The 200 (or so!) Trophies all looked pretty impressive laid out together.  Liz Haynes did grand job at getting all the trophies in great condition and even managed to enjoy a well earned drink and giggle with Jackie Elliott (right), after their combined efforts this year.

Sports Aid Award Winner

Congratulations to Marlon Gasparotto who has won an ASA Sports Aid award, the initiative entitled Champions for the future, a new athlete support programme aimed at up and coming talent aged between 12 and 18 years old. Marlon has received funding towards swimming and training, and will be required to attend SportsAid events, charity fund raising lunches, dinners and participate in sporting activities to promote swimming.

Marlon is now a member of the SportsAid Alumni, SportsAid has been committed to financially supporting young emerging talent for more than 30 years, their prestigious Alumni includes names like Sir Steve Redgrave, Kelly Holmes, Amir Khan, Chris Hoy, Paula Radcliff, Rebecca Adlington, Ben Ainsile and Monty Panesar and well done Marlon, who is now part of that family!

Click here for more on Sports Aid

Management Committee Changes - farewell and welcomes

In early February, after three years as Treasurer, and a significant contribution stabilizing the finances of the Club, Jenny Knight resigned from the club management committee to devote more time to her family commitments.

However as one door closes, another opens and I'm delighted to say that Steve Shelts, who did a great job organising last year's training camp in Cyprus, has agreed to take on the Treasurer role.  Steve, dad to Megan (Gold) & Kirsty (Platinum), will begin on Monday.  Equally too, Anna Newell (Ladies Water Polo Captain) has taken on the role of ASA Membership Officer from Jenny, and has industriously been carrying out the membership return this month.

I would like to thank Steve and Anna for their efforts and Jenny for her contribution during this time.

And finally…..

Looking forward to see you all tonight at the Beckenham Swimming Club Presentation Disco being held at  Beckenham Rugby Club from 7 -11pm.  During the evening the presentation of all Club Championship trophies will be made and if you have won a few please remember to bring boxes.

Photo from the Right: Steph Denny, Tony Beckley, Steffi King and Michael Gunning this week, after returning from Sheffield at the British Swimming Championships.

British Championship Review

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.

Kent County Championship Review

A massive congratulations to everyone involved - swimmers, coaches and team managers - in this year's Kent County Championships in February and March.  Last years performance, itself a glorious moment in the club’s history, was this year eclipsed as records tumbled during the championships in all shapes and form:

• A record number of competitors 65
• 21 individual and 8 team event best performances
• And a record 153 gold medals, 92 silvers, 71 bronzes.

Most of the BSC swimmers achieved personal best times in their events and several won double-figure gold medals. 15 event records were achieved by Michael Gunning (as well as 16 individual golds and a county record), four of his club-mates set new event records: Steffi King and Lauren Walton each broke two, while Lauren’s twin sister, Rebecca, and Kunmi Ogunfeibo, broke one record each. Steffi also took home an impressive 18 individual golds and set two county records.

The achievements were all the more remarkable, given the months of disruption and frustration the swimmers and coaches alike have faced, that have been well documented since the “temporary closure” of the Crystal Palace pool in September 2007.  Great credit must go to all swimmers for the achievements, as well as the coaching team who have continued to manage the challenges head on.

For more on the winners and stories and Swimmer's Quotes click here for reports on the website.

Presentation Evening

Next Friday the 27th March, the Beckenham Swimming Club Presentation Disco is being held at  Beckenham Rugby Club from 7 -11pm.  Such is the nature of training on 12 sites, 7 days a week, across different times in the evenings and mornings, it is not often that all parts of the club get the opportunity to be in one venue to share in its successes. The evening is free of charge with a paying bar, so I hope to see as many of you as possible and share in a drink or two.

During the evening the presentation of all Club Championship trophies will be made and Liz Haynes (Trophy Secretary) has done a grand job at getting all the trophies in great condition this year.  Liz  has asked that those who have won a number of trophies please bring boxes to transport them and unlike previous years, Liz's attic can no longer store any trophies on your behalf, so please can you make every effort to take them.

For anyone still without a ticket, you can contact your squad representative or see Pat Davies on Monday night at the Spa.  Many thanks to Pat and Sue Curran, who have done a grand job organising the event in and amongst a very hectic calendar.

Website - 1 Million Hits and going strong !!!

And finally, March sees the 9 month anniversary from the launch of the www.beckenhamswimmingclub.com club website. Across this time, the website has evolved into the one best source of information, and during February saw its 1 millionth hit !!! Dave Grant continues to do a grand job with the website, please do continue to visit it and if you have any feedback or requests from the website, please contact Dave at david.grant@beckenhamswimmingclub.com

From the Newshopper

FOR 14-year-old Petts Wood swimmer Michael Gunning, there’s no time to reflect on his record-breaking swims at the Kent county championships because this week he’s off to compete against top British swimmers in national finals at Sheffield.

Gunning’s performance over four weekends of individual and relay races at the Kent championships resulted in an outstanding medal haul of 16 golds, four silvers and the top boy award for his age group.

In addition, he broke 15 event performance records and set a new county record in the 800m freestyle.

Gunning said: “The whole championships were great but when I broke the county record and everybody was clapping, that was something to remember, especially as I did not even know that I broke the county record.”

The youngster swims at Beckenham Swimming Club, where coach Tony Beckley has watched his remarkable progress. He said: “We have many good swimmers and Michael is one of them.

“It’s a testament to his hard work he was able to put in such good performances on such a consistent basis and it stands him in good stead for the British championships.

The Beckenham swimmers, aged nine to 19, won a record 153 gold medals, 92 silver, 71 bronze and countless other fourth, fifth and sixth place awards.

They also set 21 new individual records, and eight relay records. 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.

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 Gunning, 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.

King also took home an impressive 18 individual golds.

Beckley will be in Sheffield with Gunning, King and Steph Denny at this week’s British long course championships.

With extremely hard qualifying times, this event is limited to the best swimmers in Britain and acts as the basis for selection for national and international events.

For Gunning, taking part is like a dream come true.

He added: “I am so proud to get this far and I really want to swim my best in the 200m butterfly"

Congratulations to Marlon Gasparotto who has won an ASA Sports Aid award, the initiative entitled Champions for the future is a new athlete support programme aimed at up and coming talent aged between 12 and 18 years old. Marlon has received funding towards swimming and training, and will be required to attend SportsAid events, charity fund raising lunches, dinners and participate in sporting activities to promote swimming.

Marlon is now a member of the SportsAid Alumni, SportsAid has been committed to financially supporting young emerging talent for more than 30 years, their prestigious Alumni includes names like Sir Steve Redgrave, Kelly Holmes, Amir Khan, Chris Hoy, Paula Radcliff, Rebecca Adlington, Ben Ainsile and Monty Panesar and Marlon is now part of that family!

Sports Aid is the charity for sports people, helping the next generation of young British sportsmen and women to succeed.

Sports Aid Case Study Booklet

A record number of Beckenham SC swimmers, 65, participated in the Kents this year, achieving a staggering 21 individual records and eight relay records. The team also won a record-breaking 153 golds, 92 silvers and 71 bronzes.

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.”

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.”

Click here for printable copy of this report.

My 1st Kent swimming experience

by Sophie Lewis Ward

My first Kents were a brilliant experience. Beckenham swimmers got some really fast times and amazing P.B’s. It was so good being part of such a fantastic winning team with great team spirit.

There were four boys; Joe Casey, Freddie Pearson, Henry Simpson and Omari Obeng-patterson and myself, the only girl representing Silver squad. We all had some great swims. Jo did a brilliant 200 Back and got a gold.

I started the first week with 100 IM and came away with a massive PB and a Silver medal. This set me up for the following weeks ahead and I got a further 3 Silver medals in 200 free, 200 back and 50 back all with PB’s. Unfortunately I was disqualified in 200 breast on my turn but swam a good time.

At the end of the Championships I found out that I came second overall in the bagcat results for 9 yr old girls and I am so pleased, I can’t wait to hopefully qualify again for next year!

Thank you to Di and Tony for their support on poolside and a huge thank you to Cilla for all the hours she spends training us in Silver. It has definitely been worth it. I hope I have made her proud of my achievements.

The GAC Group is the world’s leading independent shipping, logistics and marine services provider with more than 300 offices and 8000 people worldwide. Headquarted in Dubai and with nearly 30 branches in the UK, the Group is local in action and global in attitude. GAC is proud to be associated with Beckenham Swimming Club working towards London 2012.

Training for success

Beckenham Swimming Club, which is based at The Spa, is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in the country. For decades, it has produced some of the country’s leading swimmers who have performed internationally for Great Britain. These include Duncan Goodhew, Zara Long and David Bennett. It has also trained some of the best waterpolo players in the country.

Last year, Beckenham Swimming Club was the only London club to send one of its own to the Olympics in Beijing. Ellen Gandy, 16, reached the semi-finals of the 200M Butterfly, and has high hopes of competing again in London 2012.

But she is not alone. In the past five years, BSC has sent 2 swimmers to World Championships and 2 to the European Senior Championships, where one achieved a bronze medal. The club had one swimmer at the Commonwealth Games and 2 at the World Youth Championships. Five swimmers went to the European Junior Championships, bringing home 3 gold medals, 2 silvers and 1 bronze. Three went to the European Youth Olympics, achieving 9 golds and 2 silvers. Two swimmers won 2 golds at the World Schools Championships, and two were ranked 1st in the world for their age.

In the past five years, Beckenham swimmers have also won 22 golds, 3 silvers and 2 bronzes at national championships. Five swimmers have been involved in British Swimming world class programmes, and 11 have been selected for the ASA London talent programme.

BSC swimmers have always excelled at the Kent County Championships and last year they won more than 100 gold medals, with countless silvers and bronzes. This year a record 65 swimmers are participating in the championships, and they are on target to beat that tally. And the Beckenham Swimming Club team have been North Kent Junior Champions for the past five years.

In April, a BSC team will, for the first time in six years, take part in national championships in Sheffield involving the best 20 clubs in the country. And three swimmers will be participating in the forthcoming British Championships. The excitement is already building!

The club has also had countless members involved in the national water polo teams at different levels over the past 15 years.  Most recently Sean King represented the GB Junior Team in the European Junior Championships in September in Istanbul, the first time the team has qualified for the main junior championships. He then won his first Senior GB team cap in October.

So how has all this success happened?

The swimmers have an outstanding and experienced coaching team who teach swimmers from their earliest strokes to podium performances.  The club’s 350 swimmers work hard, training according to their age and ability at numerous pools in the area and competing at a level appropriate for each of them.

The BSC coaching team is led by Tony Beckley, who has been a world class programme coach for the past five years and is part of the British Swimming select coaches group. Tony has coached swimmers at the US Nationals; World Cup meets; the Mare Nostrum tour; the Chinese Nationals; the World Youth Games; and the European Junior Championships.

If you would like to find out more about membership of the club, please contact Jackie Elliott at jcelliott@btinternet.com

Personally I have never liked Januarys; the post-Christmas blues, the credit card bills, the new year resolutions that are never quite fulfilled, the dark nights and cold mornings and the thought of going back to work or school. These in a good year make Januarys feel like you're an extra on Eastenders; heightened by recession and the heaviest snowfall in 18yrs, it can be a challenge to keep the glass even half empty.  I'm sure this week more than most, some of you will have felt a strain throughout the club. Your club is never isolated and it is important to address its challenges head on.

This week, the well documented situation with pool time provision, has had its inevitable impact on parts of the club, with 4 of the clubs' 16 different aquatic squads having some degree of change to their training schedule. Since the closure of Crystal Palace pool, the club has, like several London clubs, struggled to find pool space elsewhere. Local authorities, repair works to damaged pools and an unrealistic notice period from one leisure provider have added to the challenge. All credit to those 3rd parties who we've been able to work in partnership with, such as the Spa and their management team, on easing the situation where they can.

We understand that the changes will pose obstacles for some of you; car ferries across 9 sites, and for those with siblings in different squads (and in some cases parents too !!!), the journeys could now stretch across 4 boroughs. These changes have been minimized where possible throughout the club and I do apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused you. 

For others, you will have found this situation "par-for-the-course" over the last 18 months and perspective can be a great thing.  Since the situation began in September 2007, there were concerns about the club's ability to adapt and maintain its success.

62 hours of activity still continues each week, whilst B.S.C has qualified in April (the first time since 2003), for the National League Swimming Final, for the top 20 club teams in the country.  The Men's Water Polo team have finished 2nd in London League, their best result for a decade, and shortly this year an increased number of B.S.C competitors from 2008, will compete in the Kent County Championships, where they'll once again be looking to consolidate their position of top club in both the men's and women's competitions.

Like a train on the District Line this week, the reopening of Crystal Palace in April, remains the light at the end of the tunnel. Discussions on pool provision are shortly to be upon us, which will bring stability to the schedule and accommodate an ever increasing need on all of the club's activities. The success in 2003 came 3 years after the conclusion of another long term pool closure - the redevelopment of the Spa and its accompanying disruption at that time. And as challenging a time as this January has been, once the distractions have been removed, how ironic could it be that the reopening of a pool in the Bromley borough, would once again be the catalyst for the club to further develop its success? 

We will continue to keep you informed and appreciate your patience as we progress over the coming months. For now this will be the last update from me until the 20th March as I now take a short break. Rob Spurr (Water Polo Secretary) will be acting Chairman in the interim and I wish the best to Rob, along with your management committee, in continuing to focus on the club's priorities in the short term. Good luck across February and March to all involved in the Kent Championships, the British Championships and the Water Polo teams in London League, and of course not forgetting those of you involved at Orpington this weekend.

Rich

The heaviest snow falls in over 18 years brought chaos to the Beckenham and South East Region causing the closure of many schools, businesses and the cancellation of Beckenham SC swimming sessions. A good time to don your coat, gloves and scarf to go for a nice long walk in the snow, and build a snowman ... as demonstrated by entrants Lauren and Rebecca Walton to the "Our Club" competition for photos of the Beckenham SC T-Bag or Polo shirts, what the well-dressed snowman should be wearing…!

Email your photos to Hiliary Moore and David Grant.

Burns Meet - Sheffield
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 !!!

Please do remember to send your qualifying times through, as and when they're achieved, to Webmaster Dave Grant. These will be displayed on the site for everyone to share in your successes.

Open Meet reminder
The long awaited return of the Beckenham Open Long Course meet will be on the  9th / 10th May 2009 and, although the closing date for entries is the 3 April 2009, this is a reminder to get your entries in.  This meet will be one of the last meets at which London Region BAGCAT championship times can be achieved, and is run on a "first come, first served" entry. With an advert out this month, it is expected entries will increase quickly, so in to not miss out please look at full details on the Open Meets website page.

A big thank you to Patricia Ogunfeibo (Meet Secretary), who has been working away at organizing the meet and as always will be looking for any volunteer support for May. 

Sponsorship - GAC

The club has for a period of time been looking to benefit from awards, grants and sponsorship. You'll remember that just recently Pat Roberts has taken on the role of Investment & Funding Coordinator to support the club in pursuing worthwhile opportunities. Pat has been busy preparing for future events and activities in the last two weeks and more details will follow soon.  In the short term, I'm delighted that this week, after two months of work from Mark Brown (Club Secretary), and a confirmation phone call from Dubai during the Burns Meet last weekend, that the Club has secured a 2 yr sponsorship deal with GAC worth £3k. GAC is the world's leading provider of shipping, logistics and marine services and is an ardent supporter of sport sponsorships and marketing.

GAC is widely involved across football (the main sponsor of Crystal Palace FC), motor-racing and golf and the involvement in sport has been effective at promoting awareness of the GAC brand, as well as bringing GAC closer to local communities.

Presentation Evening

If you have managed to scout the homepage you will see confirmation that the Beckenham Swimming Club Presentation Disco will be on Friday 27th  March  2009 after the upcoming Kent County and British Championships. The evening be held at  Beckenham Rugby Club free of charge with a Paying bar. Many thanks to Pat Davies and Sue Curran, who have done a grand job organising the event in and amongst a very hectic calendar.

Gala & Meet Results

Well done to all the swimmers that competed at Crook Log, in the first round of the White Horse League on Saturday, there were some great swims. Well done to Liz Haynes, in her first gala as Organizer, and to everyone involved. Beckenham finished second, in the first of 6 rounds (see fixtures page for further rounds). You can visit the results page for Saturday's results, plus the rest of January's meet so far, including the Tom Handley Open Meet 2009 in Brighton and the Ice-Breaker Open at Canterbury.

Training & Membership Update

Throughout last year and this, we have discussed the continued situation with regards to pool time provision. Since the “temporary closure” of Crystal Palace pool in September 2007, the club has, like several London clubs, struggled to find pool space elsewhere. This has restricted the club in many ways, for instance squad movements, training provision and a growing waiting list. Most recently, our difficulties  with South Norwood Pool, one of 10 pools contracted, has been well highlighted.

Fiona (Training Secretary) and Jackie (Membership Secretary), in conjunction with all coaches, have done a grand job in trying to ensure that you are members are as disrupted as little as possible.  Across January, Jackie has still ensured that 20 places have been offered to new members (a warm welcome to you all),  whilst operating under such constraints.

With the planned reopening of Crystal Palace around Easter, these pressures will ease, with a greater ability to make squad movements. Until then, please can I encourage you

• To make every effort to attend the training sessions that are made available.

• Keep checking emails for training updates (and please let us know if email addresses change) 

We know that there will be a continued impact as other changes become necessary in the short term. We will ensure that these will be minimized where they can throughout the club. We will continue to keep you informed and appreciate your patience as we progress.

More Volunteer Support… Keeper of the Raffle !!!

Following on from last week, we have another new volunteer to welcome as the club's "Keeper of the Raffle", in Sue Stevens (Gold Squad). With the amount of events that the club runs or hosts each year, the raffles organized always support the club in raising funds. Sue will be collecting any donated raffle prizes from the club shop on Monday nights, so this is a perfect opportunity to clear out any of those unwanted Christmas gifts. Alternatively, they can be passed on to Sue direct (sue.stevens3@ntlworld.com) or to Chloe in gold squad.

Officials' Update

The swimming successes we have as a club are achieved with the volunteer effort put in by our club's officials. Officials ensure that competitions are fair by following the laws and technical rules of swimming bodies, leading to consistency in events in leagues or championship.

On the 21st March there will be an Officials Seminar held in Euston, which will contribute towards the points to continue to be a licensed official. A morning and afternoon session will be run to allow as many officials to attend as possible, click here for full details.

The club is always looking for new timekeepers, judges, referees etc, to ensure that we provide the highest level of competition we can - as licenses of galas are dependent on the number and standard of officials present.  We also want to ensure that the current dedicated team we have also get the opportunity to have a rest every now and then to avoid "burn-out".

It is a progressive system and a vital part of the club operating its galas and championships. John Handley and Justine Pope (the Club's Officials Coordinators) are always looking for the club's next officials and would be keen to hear from you. If you'd like to become an Official please feel free to contact John at john@hamo6055.plus.com or Justine at justinepope@yahoo.co.uk or alternatively see either of them at the Spa on Monday.

More Volunteer Support

A big thank you to…

Liz Haynes (Trophy Secretary) who has joined the Championship Team. Liz  is going to take on the organising of the White Horse League for 2009, ably assisted by Isabel Costello and Championship Team Gunning.  The first gala is this Saturday, good luck to everyone involved and 2009 dates for White Horse League, take a look at the updated fixtures page on the web site.

Pat Roberts has volunteered to become the Investment & Funding Officer. The club is always looking to benefit from awards and grants. Pat will certainly help to look at opportunities worthwhile and maintain those that we already pursue. Pat has recently been offering support to finding training provision and has experience with fundraising through sports at a youth football club.

Pat Davies has been trying to organise the Club Championship Presentation in amongst a very hectic calendar. Pat now 27th March pencilled in at after the Kent County and British Championships. More details will follow.

Our Club

Well done to Hilary Moore for the January Edition of 'Our Club', which is now on the web-site.

It set off from Hilary's PC around Christmas eve, and like an over-the-limit reindeer, encountered a few hiccups on route. Thanks to some technical wizardry from David Grant it has now arrived and was certainly worth the wait. In this month's bumper edition you'll find…

• National League Review;
• Borough Champs;
• Cyprus Trip;
• Club Champs;
• Kent Development Meet;
• Kent Junior League; Rising Stars;
• The T-Bag and Polo Shirt Challenge
• Water Polo success;
• Sports Quiz ....prize awaits !!! (entries to Hilary by 31st Jan)
• Ten things you did not know about....Kym Tamplin, Michael Gunning and Hannah Vigors!

Don’t forget, you can be a contributor - send in your news about swimming, other sports or just a topic which you feel would be of interest to Beckenham Swimming Club's members. Contact Hilary on john@hamo6055.plus.com or 020 8857 4977. She is looking forward to hearing from you!

Water Polo

You may be aware that Water Polo is one of the eight sports that has had its funding cut in the recent announcement by UK Sport.  Sean King, GB International and Beckenham player, prior to Christmas gave an account of what it meant for him to the Daily Mail (News section).

The Friends of Water Polo is a group that have formed to petition 10 Downing Street.  If on reading the links and you feel strongly about this, please feel free to petition accordingly.

Welcome back

And I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.  2009 kicks off with the Icebreaker Open Meet at Canterbury and Tom Handley Open Meet Brighton this weekend and good luck to everyone involved.

National League Final Confirmation

Christmas Day saw confirmation from the Regional National Swimming League Secretary that the Beckenham A team had successfully achieved a place in the 9th National Swimming League B Final National Final at Ponds Forge, Sheffield on 26th April 2009.

You'll remember the "A" team had a rollercoaster of an evening in the South League Final in December, when it went down to the very last race, eventually securing 2nd place. After results from the remaining divisions were finalized, a 'virtual gala' was run amongst teams up and down the country. As a result the A team have successfully qualified for the B final - a return after 6 years. Beckenham A will compete amongst 10 finalists, including both Leatherhead and Haslemere who the team defeated in December at the K2 in Crawley.

Training Update

Throughout last year we discussed the continued situation with regards to pool time provision. Since the “temporary closure” of Crystal Palace pool in September 2007, the club has, like several London clubs, struggled to find pool space elsewhere. To put this in context at the time Crystal Palace closed the club used 4 different sites for training - it is now 10 spread across the Southwark, Lewisham, Bromley and Croydon Boroughs

The Government’s insistence on a “legacy for sport”, with free swimming for over 60s and young children, has forced several local authorities to cut drastically the time available for elite clubs such as Beckenham - ironically, the very swimmers who are supposed to be putting on a good show in 2012.  Back in August, with little notice, space was withdrawn by South Norwood.  The club worked with the management team at South Norwood at that time to free up space supporting the challenge that Croydon Council and Fusion Leisure faced.  Once again before Christmas, the club was given a notice period to remove our Monday night slot and make unrealistic arrangements for this.

After pursuing the right channels, with South Norwood, the Pool Operators Fusion Leisure, then Croydon Council and our Regional governing body - London Swimming, no resolution was available by the beginning of this week. It meant that the club was left with no option but to use a public swimming slot on Monday night, as an interim arrangement elsewhere could not be achieved. 27 swimmers in Top Squad paid for a public swim session.  4 lanes were used with no ropes for an hour and then 3 lanes with ropes for a second hour. There were never more than 5 swimmers in the rest of the pool for the duration.

Credit should go to all the swimmers, for the responsibility shown in the pool during the session. This is fairly unprecedented for the club to have to use public space for its training and it is not an ideal situation. The club advised the Management team at South Norwood in advance on our intention to use the public provision, and credit to them too as they were able to manage the situation accordingly. Once again next Monday, the club has been given no option but to do the same. Additionally, planned repair works to the teaching pool at the Spa during Christmas highlighted a further major problem too, resulting in the closure of the pool this week.

I would like to apologise for the inconvenience that this has caused you and it is not quite the way we had hoped to start the New Year, especially on the end of what became a successful finale to 2008. We are continuing to work with Crystal Palace, the ASA and GLL (The Crystal Palace pool operators) to let us know the pool time they are to make available to us once the pool is back in commission in April 2009. Space and training provision is at a premium and our membership waiting list is growing, so please can I encourage you to make every effort to attend the training sessions that are made available. We know that there will be a continued impact on our training schedule as other changes become necessary in the short term. We will ensure that these will be minimized where they can throughout the club. We will continue to keep you informed and appreciate your patience as we progress. Additionally, I would like to thank all those that have supported both Tony and Fiona in trying to find alternative venues, your support as always is invaluable.

Water Polo Regional Championships

The New Year kicked off too with the Boy's Junior Division of the Winter London League Championships at Whitgift last weekend. Beckenham competed well against Croydon Amphibians, Worthing and West London Penguin (won one and lost two) in the continued round robin games. The Ladies Junior Division saw the team, who have joined up with Croydon to compete, narrowly lose to a combined Hailsham and Sutton & Cheam team in the first of their games.  Good luck to the rest of teams in games this weekend - the season will conclude in March.

For 19-year-old Sean King, it will mean the end of his Olympic dream. For team captain Craig Figes, aged 30, the end of his international career. For performance director Nick Hume and head coach Jerome Read, it may mean looking for new jobs.

A decision by UK Sport's board not to allocate realistic funding to eight Olympic and four Paralympic sports has had an immediate and catastrophic effect on the lives of 32 young water polo players and their coaches.

Even before UKS meet again on January 29 to decide how much of a consolation pot of £12 million each will receive, British Swimming, water polo's governing body, have moved to cancel 90 per cent of its Olympic squad's competitive programme next year.

There are fears that the High Performance Centre at Manchester and the regional centres will be closed after March and Great Britain training sessions curtailed because pool hire will be too expensive under the minimal funding which is likely.

Young players who signed one-year contracts for student homes to next July when they moved to join the squad in Manchester now fear they will not be able to pay their rent if their £600-a-month grants are ended.

Click here to read the full article in the Daily Mail online paper.

Please sign the petition for Olympic Sports that have not received funding

National League - Round 3… Sheffield, here we come!!!

And what an evening of excitement it was on Saturday night too…  You can forget Alex winning the X Factor and Bruce's Ballroom, the K2 and Crook Log were the places to be on what was to prove a very successful end to the competitive year. Beckenham S.C. "A" and "B" teams, both suffering slightly with illnesses, competed in the South Premier Division final and South Division 2 - East final respectively.

The "A" team, 4th going into the gala at the K2, had a rollercoaster of an evening.  The atmosphere electric, with every member of team (as well as gallery supporter !!!) dressed in the Pirate theme.  The team stayed 4th, then moved up to 2nd, then back to 3rd where they remained until the very last race of the evening - the men's squadron relay. Leatherhead who were 2nd at that point, were disqualified in the last race on a takeover.

As a result the team nudged ahead of them by 1 gala point to finish 2nd overall in the league, and qualify automatically for the National Final in Sheffield on 26 April 2009. News quickly spread to Crook Log via text, phone and carrier pigeon! 

The "B" were still in a long wait for the results of their final.  At the halfway mark 15 gala points had separated the top 3 teams, the 'B' team lying in 3rd.  All credit to our more senior swimmers for encouraging the whole team to get up behind blocks which saw the team finish strongly.  ½ a gala point separated winners White Oak from the 'B' Team in second - meaning the 'B' Team had finished second in the league overall and promotion to Division 1.

Congratulations to Captain Tone and the coaching team on a great achievement for both teams, and to all of the swimmers competing - you really gave your all. A special thank you to the Club's Team Managers and Officials across the 3 rounds as you played a big part in the successes. A big well done to the gang of Pirates in the galleries supporting too!!! And of course not forgetting Championship Team Gunning (Gill & Sean) who have done a grand job this year in organising the club's participation throughout the National League competition.

There really is little rest for Gill as she is already planning the details for the final in April, which will be announced after the Christmas & New Year break. The Final, will see the Top 20 swimming club teams from up and down the country competing and will see us present a full and healthy team fighting fit. You can click here for a full report from Saturday night.

Water Polo Regional Championships

It didn't stop on Saturday last weekend as Sunday saw the Beckenham Under-12s and the Ladies Seniors begin their challenge in the London Winter Championships 2008/09 at Whitgift School. The under-12s, in the first of three rounds of games, won two and lost one in a solid start to their competition.

The ladies team, who have joined up with Croydon to compete against West London Penguin and Hythe this year, won one and lost one, in the first of two rounds of games

Good luck to both teams in the next round of games in the new year

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year…

All that is really left for me to say in 2008 is that I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year.

This year has truly been great to have been a part of Beckenham S.C. and I hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I have. This will be the my last update for 2008 - the next update on Friday the 9th January. I couldn't sign off for the year without revisiting the Highlights of 2008, which I would encourage you to visit for some of the club's best moments in 2008. Training continues for some and you can click here for the Christmas Training Schedule details.

I look forward to seeing you all again for what could be a very exciting 2009…

Rich

National League - Round 3

Saturday night will see the X Factor final (my money is on Alex!) put on hold temporarily for the evening, as the Club competes in the 3rd and final round of the National League.  The National League, the main club competition for all swimming clubs up and down the country, also brings the end of the 2008 competitive year. And Beckenham S.C. will be competing on two fronts in the South of England leagues tomorrow night with both the "A" and "B" teams.

The "A" team, who currently lie 4th in the South Premier Division, are potentially in for a great evening at the K2 pool in Crawley.  The top 4 clubs, Guildford City, Leatherhead, Bracknell & Wokingham, and Beckenham are all within 1.5 gala pts of each other, which means anyone of the teams can qualify for the National Final in Spring 2009. The atmosphere at the K2, I'm sure will be electric!

Elsewhere The "B" team, in first place of the South Division 2 - East, will be looking for promotion at Crook Log on Saturday. The "B" Team will face opposition from Dartford & District, White Oak and Hythe Aqua, the latter two incidentally the "B" Team has beaten in each of the first two rounds.

In both rounds to date, our supporters have really helped us to edge a few gala points here and they will be vital tomorrow night.  I look forward to hearing some more stories of T-Shirt swinging from the gallery (Mr Dada!). There is also a "Pirate" theme for tomorrow's competition too, which I've been reliably informed has nothing to do with any Johnny Depp obsessions!

Good luck to everyone at The K2 and Crook Log - let's do Captain Jack proud !!!

Team Bath Grand Prix

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.

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.

Left to Right: Councillor of Sevenoaks, Stuart Brown (Kent President for 2009), Jenny Verhervoot (Outgoing President), Jackie Bedford and Richard Collins

Kent County AGM

Congratulations to Jackie Bedford who last Saturday at the KentCounty AGM was inducted in as the K.C.A.S.A Vice President for 2009.  Jackie, previously a President of Beckenham S.C., has over a number of years sat on the Kent Management Committee and has played a big role in the development of Swimming Officials across this time.  Jackie, who you'll remember continues to support the Club in both developing our Officials and Refereeing when required, is due to become Kent President in 2010.

The Club was also presented with both the Men's and Ladies' Club Winners' Trophies at the AGM for the Kent County Championships back in February / March 2008.

Water Polo Update - County, Regional and National

From left to right Jia Ping Lee, Lauren Spencer-Boyce Sophie Simpson, Emily Grant, Matilda Williams Henry Knight, and Emily Monaghan-Coombs

At a county level well done to the 7 players who represented Kent, in the ASA under 14s Inter County Championships last Saturday. The Kent team finished above Sussex in 2nd place - runners-up to a strong Surrey team in the 4-game round robin competition at Whitgift School.

At a regional level, good luck to the Beckenham Under-12s and the Ladies Seniors, 2 of the 7 Beckenham Water Polo team entries who begin their challenge in the London Winter Championships 2008/09 at Whitgift  School on Sunday evening.  The under-12s are one of six teams competing on Sunday, whilst the ladies join up with Croydon to compete against West London Penguin and Hythe.

At a National Level the Beckenham men's players account for 60% of the players in Invicta's two national League sides. The Invicta Team currently sits in 7th place in Division 1, with one league game to play this weekend at Millfield. You can click here for full results of the 1st team. Congratulations to the Invicta Marlins (second team) who finished 6th after their final weekend tournament in Bath in November (click here for full results). Both teams were promoted only last year, so this is a good result by both teams to consolidate their position in the 1st and 2nd Divisions respectively.

For more information on water polo please email Rob Spurr (Water Polo Secretary) at robert.spurr@lgvcapital.com

Club Championships - Session 5

The 5th and final session on Monday concluded this year's Club Championships and a great evening's swimming saw 8 new records set, bringing the final tally for 2008 to a pretty impressive 18!

First up was the 50 Fly with Katie Irving taking the 16 yrs and over record.  Michael Gunning followed up shortly after with the 14/15 age group record.  The 50m Back saw Steph King (14/15),  Kunmi Ogunfeibo (10/11) and Marlon Gasporotto (12/13) calk up 3 further records.  For Steph (in the Backstroke) and Michael (in the Fly), that completed the set of records for their respective age groups across 2008!

The 400m IM saw the girl's draw level on records in session 5, with Francesca Hayward taking the 16 yrs and over record.  It was the boys who edged out on the evening though, with both Kunmi and Michael adding their second records of the evening.

Well done to everyone competing across the sessions and for making them so competitive.  Thank you too, to all the volunteers (officials / raffle / trophies etc), who have made the whole Championships such a smoothly run event this year;  even though not swimming, you had a big part to play in the 18 records too!

Finally, I'm sure everyone will wish both Jackie and Justine a well earned rest and congratulate them on a great championships - well done ladies yet again!

Look out soon for details of the Trophy & Presentation evening, that will be held in the New Year.

Click here for Session 5 results

Rising Stars

Well done to everyone who competed at The Rising Stars last weekend.

Please do click here for results from Crook Log.  The event was well supported by various clubs including Croydon Amphibians, Leander, 1066 and Maxwell.

Another thank you to our volunteers for the day; Officials, Signing-in desk, Recording desk, Trophy Desk and Raffle….  You all did a grand job!  (I heard the tea maker wasn't bad either!!!).

Well done to Patricia Ogunfeibo (Meet Secretary), in organizing the Rising Stars Championships for the 4th year running and look out for a fuller report in the January edition of "Our Club".

Water Polo Kent County

Congratulations to the following 7 players who have been selected to represent Kent for the first time, in the ASA Inter County Championships this weekend:

Emily Grant, Henry Knight, Jia Ping Lee, Emily Monaghan-Coombs Sophie Simpson, Matilda Williams and Lauren Spencer-Boyce.

The under 14s Championships, being held at Whitgft School on Saturday evening, will see the guys and girls play a 4-game round robin competition against Sussex and Surrey.  Well done all and to Simon Woolley (Junior Coach) for all his hard work in coaching the 7…  Good luck!!!

Welcome to our new Squad Reps
Welcome to the new members of our squad representative team.  Sarah McClymont (Gold), Mike Kibblewhite (Development 2) and Tim Waters (White 1) have all recently joined the Squad Rep team, all of whom continue to do a grand job with distributing information back and forth across the club.

Its an invaluable role to support the running of the club and to keep everyone informed, so a big thank you for joining the team.

Beckenham Open 2009!

I'm pleased to say with Crystal Palace scheduled to re-open in early April 2009, the long awaited return of the Beckenham Open Long Course meet will be in May next year.  You may recall that the Club unfortunately missed out on running the meet in 2007.  And with Crystal Palace's subsequent closure in September that year, we have been without the Long Course meet now for 2yrs.

A big thank you to Patricia Ogunfeibo (Meet Secretary), who's been busy working away at the Rising Stars Championships for this Saturday, and in addition organizing the meet for the 9th / 10th May 2009. This meet will be one of the last meets at which London Region BAGCAT championship times can be achieved so please click here for more details  and look out for full details which will shortly be available on the Open Meets page on the website.

Rising Stars

…  And good luck to everyone competing and involved tomorrow at Crook Log!

You'll also have the opportunity to purchase some early Christmas Presents - photographs, key rings, mugs, T-shirts with pictures of swimmers.  The Club has an affiliate scheme with Digital Event Photography - the UK's largest Sports and Event Photography Company - who will be providing their services tomorrow.

For further information or to purchase after the event click on the following link:

Club Championships - Session 5
10 Club Championships record set so far going into session 5 - equal with the tally of records set in 2007 - good luck to all for the final session on Monday evening in trying to break that mark!.

The 5th and final session includes the 50M Back and Fly and 400M IM. 

There will be a bit of a Christmas theme too!

Welcome Evening
A quick reminder for all recent members that there is a 'Welcome Evening Meeting' on Wednesday 3rd December 6.15pm at the Spa.  If you are interested in attending or for information on this event please contact Sue Irving suefgc@hotmail.com

Training Information

All training dates across the Christmas and New Year holiday period are being confirmed this week and will shortly be available on the Website by clicking here on the training squad timetable.  Please do continue to check the page for a live update.

A quick plea for the different pools we use (especially at The Prep), to please use the shoe covers provided or remove outdoor shoes where you can.  I know the blue covers are not the most endearing of looks and removing shoes can be a drag.  It does however, keep the pool's cleaning costs down, and by default the Club's too.

On Wednesday night there was an incident at The Spa where a few swimmers from Development 2, in the Teaching Pool, developed red blotches / rashes.  All the swimmers were removed from the pool and the following Club Squad session was cancelled.

The Club has been in constant contact this week with The Spa.  The Spa has carried out extensive checks and testing throughout Wednesday evening and Thursday, however no cause has been found.  The Spa have taken reasonable action to ascertain what the problem was,  it seems likely that the cause will remain a mystery.  The pool was opened on Thursday, with the water fine and no further incidents have occurred.

Each family has been contacted by The Spa since Wednesday evening and I would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Kent Development Meet

Well done to everyone at the Kent Development meet last weekend. 
Please click here for the results from Gillingham.

Congratulations

Congratulations to one of the Club's Vice-Presidents - Jan Van der Velde - on winning the London Swimming Aquaforce Award, for "Outstanding contribution at County / Regional level" for 2008.

You may know Jan has for many years been Officiating at events at various levels including Kent and London Championships, as well as many of the Club's own Meets and Championships. Well done Jan!

Kent Junior League

Congratulations to everyone involved last Saturday in the final of the Kent Junior League. The league, for 13yrs and under, saw Beckenham run out winners of the competition again. This is a particularly good result for the club in the competition this year;  the Club has consistently won the League over a period of years, however with other clubs merging such as Thanet, and in doing so making them more competitive, it demonstrates the strength the club has in our younger age groups, not to mention the success of our coaching team - well done guys yet again!

Club Championships

The official tally so far of Club Championships records for 2008 is 10 going into session 5 after another successful session on Monday evening. That is now equal with the tally of records set in 2007, so good luck for the final session in trying to break that mark.

One record fell on Monday, to Michael Gunning in the 14/15 200m Fly, taking 6 seconds off the previous mark set in 1996 a year out of age!  That record was set by Dave Bennett, who went onto swim in the Commonwealth Games final in 2002 and just missed out on the 2000 Olympic Team. Congratulations Michael!

Well done too to all those trying their first 100m IM, thank you to the volunteers who helped to make it another smooth running Gala and please click here for full results from Monday's session.

A few reminders and helpful information:

• 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. Jackie and Justine are too on the hunt for a raffle coordinator too.

• Since Monday, there have been a few questions about Disqualifications and in particular what do the codes mean e.g. "SA". For a full explanation of codes you can now find these by clicking here on the website at Frequently asked questions.

• All lost property is being held in the club shop and will be until Monday 8th December 2008.

• Look out soon for details of the Trophy & Presentation evening, that will be held in the New Year. Thank you to Sue Curran and Pat Davies, who have jointly volunteered to organise the event.

Website Update

If you get the chance this try and take a look at some of the updates and revisions to the website this week. The Club History page now contains a fully uploaded version of the "Club's 100 yr History" as well some archived "membership books" from just after the Second World War!  There is an updated list Club Members that have been Olympians, Junior and Senior internationals dating back to 1936!

The Documents Page has been revamped to find information quicker. On the documents page you'll find here the latest club ASA, National, Regional, County and Club documentation, e.g. Club Rules.

If you have any old club photos or articles that are worth preserving or indeed have any request of the website please contact Dave at david.grant@talk21.com.

Training Update

At the beginning of October, and the last update on the Club's pool provision, I mentioned how the club had been working very closely with The Spa.  This was to both to free up pool space for public provision, whilst the Club was trying to increase its allocation in losing time at other pools, in and amongst the predicament of Crystal Palace's closure.

After another successful meeting on Tuesday with the Management of the Spa, the Club has been able to increase its pool space in its morning sessions.  This will begin to ease the impact on the club highlighted in recent months, for example squad movements.  The Spa, who recently won two Leisure Awards for Customer Service and Membership Sales, has also monitored the seasonal public activity and as a result there will be no further need to free up the Club's pool time at the Spa in the short-term.

I'd like to thank Mary-Rose McMahon (General Manager) and her management team at the Spa who've continued to work collaboratively with Fiona and Tony, recognising the club's current pressures.

Straight after on Tuesday, your club management committee this week met with the ASA.  The aim was for the club to understand the plans and timeline for the Crystal Palace opening and how that will impact on the club.  The re-opening date for Crystal Palace has been confirmed as April.  Between now and then the ASA, Sport England and GLL (Operating Managers), have a lot to do in programming the activity at Crystal Palace - inevitably depending on money!  In January, we will have a better idea what the reopening of Crystal Palace will mean for the Club.  We will continue to keep you informed on the progress.

National League - Round 2

Last week you'll remember Beckenham S.C. competed on two fronts in the South of England leagues the main club competition for all swimming clubs up and down the country.

The "A" team faced strong opposition at the Spectrum in Guildford, taking on Guildford City in the second round of last Saturday. Guildford City, who finished 4th Nationally in the competition last year, ran out winners by 22 points in the end. At one stage there were only 2pts between Beckenham's A team and Guildford.

It sets the club up for a very interesting 3rd and final round on the 13th December in Crawley where a good result will hopefully see the Team return to the National Final in Spring 2009.

The "B" team, competing at the Spa in the Division 2 East, ran out strong winners again. Competing against White Oaks (2nd in the league after the first round), the "B" won by strong margin of 40pts, topping the league and looking good for promotion this year.

I'd like to thank "Championship Team Gunning" (Gill and Sean), for all the hard work that went into planning for both galas, especially as the club hosted the gala at The Spa for the second round running.

Well done to everybody involved in both teams and good luck for the 3rd round in December!

Club Championships

4 new club records went in the first 2 sessions; that more than doubled at the third session of the club championships on Monday evening at the Spa, with 5 new records being set.

Congratulations to…

• Rebecca Walton in taking 2 records, the 200m Back and 400m Free, in the 13 year age group,
• Michael Gunning, who also took 2 records in the 100m Fly and 400m Free in the 14/15 age group
• and to Steph King in the 14/15 age group, adding the 200m Back to her 100m record in session one.

Well done and thank you to everyone who supported running the gala so smoothly - Jackie and Justine once again did a grand job. You can click here for full results from session 3.

Session 4 runs on Monday, events included are 100m Breaststroke, 200m IM (10/ov), 100M (9/u) and 200M Butterfly. Please do remember to sign in before 5.45pm.

Look out soon for details of the Trophy & Presentation evening, that will be held in the New Year. Thank you to Sue Curran and Pat Davies, who have jointly volunteered to organise the event.

Christmas Shopping - 6 weeks remaining…

In preparation for Christmas - which I have been informed is now less than 6 weeks is away - here is a quick reminder for the avid internet shopper. Some of you will have been very organized and have done all your xmas shopping already. For those of you like me, who visit the Glades once a year on the 24th Dec, remember you can now do your shopping through our very own website and fundraise for the club at the same time. For example, if you are planning to buy books from Amazon this year, navigating your way to Amazon from the Club's Homepage will see the club receive 10% commission on sales.

If its other presents such as Dvds or CDs this Christmas, why not try out our Buy At.com (click on left). You pay exactly the same price as on the retailers main sites, often lower than the high street.

Alternatively, if it’s a present for swimming such as goggles, costumes and the like, you can purchase online from MailSports (click on right). As a Beckenham S.C. members you are entitled to a 5% reduction on full priced merchandise using the promotional code BECSC573.

Any purchases made by through the website make commission for the club. In the few weeks these offers have been available the club has generated a modest £50. However, that is the equivalent of one year's membership!

These additions will help find what you want in the quickest possible time, from the comfort of your own home, and support the club at the same time. If you have any feedback or requests from the website, please contact Dave at david.grant@talk21.com.

Cyprus Training Camp

Everyone of the 30 manned party landed safe and sound on Monday afternoon having completed the week long training camp in Cyprus.  The camp, which aimed to provide access to 50m facility Training in the continued absence of Crystal Palace, ran incredibly smoothly for those attending from Top Squad.

Thank you to everyone who made the camp possible from fundraising to chaperoning, in particular to Steve Shelts who has done a grand job beginning to end in the organization.

Look out for a full report from Coral Bay in the next edition of 'Our Club'.

National League - Round 2

You'll remember in early October Beckenham S.C. competed successfully on two fronts in the South of England leagues, both the "A" and "B" teams winning by strong margins in the first round.  The second round of the League, the main club competition for all swimming clubs up and down the country, takes place tomorrow night. 

The "A" team will face strong opposition at the Spectrum in Guildford, taking on Guildford City who are likely to be the strongest of the teams in the league.  A good result will hopefully set the club up for the final round and a return to the National Final in Spring 2009.  The "B" team will once again compete at the Spa, in the second division, again looking for promotion this year.

Good luck to everyone involved in both teams.

Club Championships

With 4 new club records set so far in the first 2 sessions, the third session of the club championships takes place on Monday evening at the Spa.  Events include 200m Back and 400m Free, 25m Fly for 9yrs and under and 100m Fly for the other age groups.

If you have any raffle prizes that you'd like to donate or think that you would be able to support on Monday please feel free to contact Justine at justinepope@yahoo.co.uk

Bromley Borough Championship

Well done to the Beckenham Swimmers who took part in the Borough of Bromley Swimming Championships last Sunday. Some good results were achieved, notably Alex Sandeman won the top girl trophy; and Leila Bernstein (silver) and Thomas Langley (club) won the Endeavour Trophies (that's highest points for a non medal winning swimmer).  Thank you to Justine Pope for helping on the poolside and for the parents who volunteered to help with timekeeping.

Full results can be found on the results page of the website.

London Water Polo Winter Championships

The under 16 team are the first of the 7 Beckenham Water Polo team entries to begin their challenge in the London Winter Championships 2008/09.  They play their first 3 games of 12 at Whitgft  School on Sunday evening.  Good luck to everyone involved.

The 50m Pool, Teaching Pool, Diving Pool, Arena, North Balcony, Rascals and Squash Courts are closed for major refurbishment of the centre's mechanical and electrical services. This work commenced 5th November 2007. The following statement regarding the opening of Crystal Palace National Sports Centre has now been released from the London Development Agency:

"The LDA's refurbishment works at the National Sports Centre have been extended because of the scale and variety of problems we have discovered since the works began -- including the removal of asbestos."

"The works now encompass upgrading all changing rooms, exercise studios and arena; lengthening the main swimming pool to meet current specifications; the total re-plumbing and re-wiring of the building, including the renewal or refurbishment of the entire heating, power and pool filtration plant; replacing thermal and acoustic insulation material throughout the building; repairing roof joints and windows; and renewing the lighting and fire-alarm systems."

"The NSC is a large facility - well over three times the size of most local sports centres - and its listed status also means that it must be treated with particular care."

"These works have pushed back the re-opening of the building. We now plan to re-open the Centre in April 2009, and we look forward to seeing Crystal Palace once again take its place as a major centre for sport in London."

Cyprus Training Camp

Everyone of the 30 manned party landed safe and sound on Monday evening for the commencement of the week long training camp in Cyprus.  Training is going well for those in Top Squad in the 50m facility venue in Coral Bay, Paphos. A fuller report will be available in the next edition of 'Our Club'.

Fixtures
Please do continue to look at the Club's Fixtures Page where more details were posted on the website this week.  In addition, to the events pre-Christmas (e.g. Club Championships etc), next year's programme including Open Meets, like Canterbury and Brighton, as well as Championships like the Kent County and Nationals (including entry times) are now on the fixtures page.

Water Polo
Following on from last month the Beckenham Men's Team finished joint 2nd place in the London League their best result for a while.  From November through to March 2009 Beckenham will contest 7 competitions in the London Winter League at different levels from Men's and Women's senior teams down to the under 12yrs competition. Good luck to everyone involved.

At a National Level the Beckenham men continue to perform for Invicta Water Polo, accounting for 60% of the players in Invicta's two national League sides.  The Invicta Team currently sit 9th place in Division 1, with 8 games to go and you can click here for full results so far of the first team.  The Invicta Marlins (second team) sit 5th with 5 games to go click here for full results so far.

For more information on water polo please email Rob Spurr (Water Polo Secretary) at robert.spurr@lgvcapital.com

The week long training camp in Cyprus, was aimed to provide access to a 50m facility Training in the continued absence of Crystal Palace, ran incredibly smoothly for those attending from Top Squad.

Thank you to everyone who made the camp possible from fundraising to chaperoning, in particular to Steve Shelts who has done a great job from beginning to end in the organization of this event.

Look out for a full report from Coral Bay in the next edition of 'Our Club'

Eileen Toms

This week started, I am sorry to say, with some very sad news with the death of Eileen Toms a Past President of the club ('73, '92).  Although current members may not have met or have known Eileen, parents who have been former swimmers within Beckenham S.C. will know how instrumental Eileen was in transforming and operating the club for over 40 years.

Eileen was Gala and Championship Secretary (1956 - 1964) and then Club Secretary for 13 years. This included overseeing the merger of Beckenham Ladies with the club in 1976-77, to create Beckenham Swimming Club as we now know it today.

At a county level Eileen was incredibly dedicated too, elected to the Kent County Executive Committee as Championship Secretary in 1963 and becoming KCASA President in 1970.

Eileen's success at organising Championships that the club and county took part in saw her appointed to the ASA list of "Chaperons" in the 1960s for the GB team. Chaperons are now like Assistant Team Managers for meets and championships.  Eileen's most notable achievement was in 1968, when she was selected  to be a chaperon for the GB team at the Mexico Olympic Games.

Eileen, who had recently celebrated her 90th birthday, had been in St Christopher's hospice in her last few weeks. The funeral is due to be on October 29th at 2.15pm at Beckenham Crematorium for those who I know will want to pay their respect. Our thoughts are with Eileen's family at this time.

Our Club

If you missed out on the November Edition of Our Club here it is. In this month's edition of the latest BSC news you'll find a reviews of :

• Beijing 2008 from Ellen Gandy;

• White Horse League;

• Kent Junior League;

• Opens;

• Club Champs;

• National League;

• Waterpolo;

• Hampshire Invitation;

• and Ten things you didn't know about .... DI MANLEY!

Don’t forget, you can be a contributor – send in your news about swimming, other sports or just a topic which you feel would be of would be of interest to Beckenham Swimming Club's members. Contact Hilary on john@hamo6055.plus.com or 020 8857 4977. She is looking forward to hearing from you!

There will be a SPORTING QUIZ in the next issue in January – look out for that!

Website Review

It seems like an age ago now, however our new look website has just celebrated it's four month old birthday.  In this time the site has had around 5,000 hits - 2,500 different visitors. On average each person visiting the site spends about 4 minutes perusing. In its first few months, the site was getting between 20 and 30 visits a day. Across September and October, the site is now getting 60 hits daily on average. The visits seem to peak when new results go onto the website, for instance Club Championships.

In the four months there have been many new additions and features added, for instance the 'Web shop' advancements including Buy At.com and Mailsports bringing better value to you.

The First "Blog" was posted this week - click here for Steph King's experience in Beijing as a torch bearer at the opening of the paralymipcs.

And at next month's Rising Stars meet on November 29th, in association with De Photos, all swimmers competing will be able to purchase photos and memorabilia of themselves via the website.

Please do continue to visit the website and look for the most up to date information. Dave Grant continues to do a grand job with the website and if you have any feedback or requests from the website, please contact Dave at david.grant@talk21.com.

Officials

A thank you to the following, who all got their log books reviewed on Monday night: Chris Bedford, John Handley, Errol Allen, Pat Davies, Fiona Pearson, Diane Conroy, Sarah Slater, Peter Pope, and Shaun Gunning.

A thank you to Jackie Bedford, who spent a fair bit of time in the gallery reviewing logbooks and giving feedback and pointers. This will mean that those successful can go onto the next stages of Official qualification, which will continue to ensure that we provide the highest level of competition we can as a club. 

John Handley and Justine Pope (the Club's Officials Coordinators) are always looking for the club's next officials and would be keen to hear from you.  If you'd like to become an Official please feel free to contact John at john@hamo6055.plus.com or Justine at justinepope@yahoo.co.uk.

National League - didn't they all do well….

The first of the three rounds of the National League, the main club competition for all swimming clubs up and down the country, saw Beckenham S.C. compete on two fronts last Saturday evening in the South of England leagues.

The Beckenham "A" team, in the Premier Division at Reading, ran out winners by a good margin of 46 points after the 50 event competition.  To put the performance in context, the teams' total of 244 points was 2 points more than the highest achieved in any round of the premier league last year.

And not to be outdone the Beckenham "B" team competing at the Spa, in the second division, won their gala by 60 points after winning over half of the events.

Tony was extremely pleased with the performances, praising the swimmers, and sounding a slight caution as the next rounds will become more challenging.

I'd like to thank Gill Gunning, Championship Secretary, for all the hard work that went into planning for both galas.  Organising travel, the Spa (the club was hosting the "B" team's gala), the volunteer support for both events and much more.  Well done to everybody involved in both teams and good luck for the second round on November 8th.

Fuller reports of both galas will be available in this month's edition of Our Club and currently on the club's results page.

Club Championships… 

Well done to everyone taking part in the second session of the club championships.  3 new club records were set, Marlon Gasparotto in the 50m & 200m Breaststroke and Francesca Hayward in the 200m Breaststroke.  Well done guys!

Click here for the full results of the Club Championships on Monday.

Once again the event ran pretty smoothly - another grand job done Jackie and Justine!  A special thanks to our team of Officials who continue to support the club and ensure that the championships are run fairly and impartially for all swimmers.

Next session is on the 10th November, which includes the 25m Fly for 9yrs and under and 100m Fly for the other age groups, 200m Back and 400m Free.  If you think that you would be able to support on the 10th November please feel free to contact Justine at justinepope@yahoo.co.uk.

Web Shop and better value for you

Last month I mentioned the club's efforts to make purchases of  Swimming Kit from the club simpler, quicker and cheaper.  I'm pleased to say that in the current climate of seemingly everything becoming costly, the club has added some new features to our website to provide more choice, greater savings and better value for you, whilst raising for B.S.C at the same time.

In association with Buy At.com you can now get some fantastic online bargains on everything from CD/DVD collections, DIY products, clothing and lots more from big high street names.

You can also find cheaper gas and electricity services, business purchases such as great value broadband or stationery, even holidays and flights!

You pay exactly the same price as on the retailers main sites, often lower than on the high street.  The commission earned by Beckenham Swimming Club comes out of the retailers profit margin and provides revenue for the club.

You'll remember that you can also purchase swimming gear bought online from MailSports via the web too.  Beckenham S.C. members are entitled to a 5% reduction on full priced merchandise.  To secure your discount you will need as part of your purchase the promotional code, which is BECSC573. Any purchases made by through the website with "MailSports" make 10% commission for the club.

Speedo League….
The first round of the National Speedo League arrives tomorrow night - putting the first live round (and my tip for winning!) of "X Factor" on hold for many in the club.

The Speedo League is the main club competition for all Swimming Clubs up and down the country and Beckenham S.C. will competing on two fronts, with the "A" team at Reading and the "B" team at the Spa on Saturday evening.

This is the first of three rounds between now and December, which will hopefully see the club in and amongst the National Finalists in Spring 2009.
Good luck to everyone involved in both teams.

Elementary Gala Organisers
Last week you'll remember I mentioned roles in the club and how there were three positions that we were looking to recruit for.  I'm pleased to announce that Clare Ockwell and Susie Goold have jointly come forward to organise the Elementary Galas for 2009.  Thank you both for agreeing to take this on!
This leaves the Club with two roles from last week's note.  Here they are with a brief description:

Investment & Funding Officer - The club is always looking to benefit from awards and grants, such as Jack Petchey; however there is no dedicated Officer to look at such opportunities and maintain those that we already pursue.  The club would certainly benefit from someone who could assess which grants would be worthwhile and pursue them. 

Club Championship Organiser 2009 - As mentioned last week As you know Jackie Elliott is currently doing a massive role on the Club Management Committee as Membership Secretary and will be looking to pass on the organisation and running of the Championships with Justine to a new volunteer officer for 2009. 

Do any of the above roles look like they might be playing to your strengths and you would like to know more?  If so please contact Richard at Richard.collins@gtuk.com

Water Polo - GB Senior Team Representative
Congratulations to Sean King who represented the Senior GB team for the first time at the beginning of October.  The new men’s squad was unveiled in the Comen Cup, held in Malta from October 1st-5th, where the GB team finished fourth.

Great Britain, together for the  first time as a team in this competition, played out 3 very close games against International and Club teams.  Toughest test was against Italy's Rari Nantes Sori club  (who had four Olympians playing!) - they went onto win the competition.

Sean, who competed in the European Junior Championships in September, scored 2 of GB's 14 goals in the tournament.  The tournament, for a young GB team, is one of the first steps that will hopefully see a GB team in the 2012 Olympics.

For full results CLICK HERE

Code of Conduct Form Returns
The simplified Code of Conduct form was distributed as part of the membership renewal pack during the summer.  These are signed by a parent on behalf of swimmers under 16 or swimmer themselves in order to outline the responsibilities of those involved with Beckenham Swimming Club and the club itself.

Approximately 2/3 of these have been complete and returned - thank you all.  The rest have either "gone-a-wandering" with the summer travel brochures or been chewed up by the dog! In seriousness, the Code of Conduct is an important part of the club's duty to ensure the safety and welfare to you our members.
Jackie Elliott will begin to chase outstanding forms next week.  However, if you feel you may not have completed the Code of Conduct or weren't aware of it needing to be returned, please click here and return to Jackie or contact Jackie at jcelliott@btinternet.com

Kent County Championship Programme 2009
The Kent County Championships will begin very shortly after Christmas and full details of the programme are now available through the Club's fixtures page. 

Any old swimming kit ….

In May you'll remember that Club Squad raised nearly £800 by entering the Swimathon during a training session, and just last month our resident editor of "Our Club" Hilary Moore raised £323 (and counting!) for the Charity ASPIRE by swimming "The Channel" in her local pool in 9 days.
The club always tries to play its part in social responsibility and this week we would like to ask for any donations of unwanted or old pieces of swimming kit. 

As you may know Di Manley works with Turney Primary and Secondary Special School, a special school foundation for boys and girls from the ages of 5 to 16. 

Di is looking for anything that can be donated in order to provide for a better swimming environment for the school whether that be old costumes, trunks, goggles, boards etc all welcome.

10th October 2008

On Friday 10th October 2008 Beckenham Swimmers who were part of the Bromley London Youth Games team were invited to a reception with the Mayor of Bromley, Councillor Denise Reddin, at the Civic Centre in Bromley.

This was to celebrate Bromley being overall London Youth Games Champions for the second year running.

Swimmers and parents listened to speeches from the Mayor and celeberety guest speaker Lesley Owusu, a GB international 400m runner who gave tips for success. Patron of Bromley Mytime, former footballer Paul Elliot also gave a speech.

Highlight of the evening for Beckenham swimmers was to listen to our own Steffi King who was interviewed by the compare about her trip to the Beijing Paralympic opening ceremony, while we were shown pictures of her trip. Steffi won the opportunity to be part of the torch relay for her triple gold medal winning acheivements at the London Youth Games. You can read Steffi's blog of her trip on the Bromley Mytime Web Site.

Click here to read Stephanie's diary of her Beijing experience.

Click here for report on Bromley Mytime Web site.

Whitehorse League

Good luck to everyone involved at Crook Log tomorrow night for the 6th and final round of the Whitehorse League. 

Maxwell Swim Club Autumn Meet
Well done to everyone who competed at last Maxwell Meet last weekend

Click here for the results from Maxwell

Hampshire County ASA Centenary Celebration Gala

At the same time last weekend on Saturday night in Southampton, the Kent County team took part in the Hampshire Centenary Gala in an Inter-County Swimming Competition.  The Hampshire Black team won the Inter-County Swimming competition with the Kent team finishing 2nd and Surrey 3rd.

The Kent Team included the following Beckenham Swimmers:  Katie Irving, Danny Casey, Francesca Hayward, Rasheed Bailey, Leah Casey, Michael Gunning, Michael Cook, Rachel Bull, Marlon Gasporotto and Jack Brown  (…and apologies if I have missed anyone!)

Club Championships… 

Well done to everyone on a successful first session of the BSC club championships. There was one new club record set by Stephanie King in the 14/15 years 100m Backstoke in a time of 1:06.19. You'll remember Steph recently flew out to Beijing to represent Great Britain for the opening of the Paralympic Games.

Click here for the full results from Club Championships on Monday.

Speaking with Tony on Monday, in particular he was very impressed with the strength and depth of the younger age groups, which bodes well for the future.

On a personal note I wanted to say a thank you to every volunteer who supported the event on Monday night.  It was particularly impressive on walking into the gallery to see so many willing volunteers who made the running of the event so slick.  I did try and convince Fiona to 'do-a-number' on the mic - alas we'll have to wait for the second session on the 13th October.

Justine was already talking about the second session.  In particular with fewer entries, potentially it being a challenge to get the same level of volunteer support.  I'm confident as a result of Monday night that the concern of 'peaking too soon' as it were is an unwarranted one.
If you think that you would be able to support on the 13th October please feel free to contact Justine at justinepope@yahoo.co.uk

Training Update

In July and mid-September I mentioned the continued situation with regards to pool time provision and how it has affected the club.  For instance, the impact on movements across the club and how the club can grow in the longer term.

Over the summer months some of the venues that the club contracted for pool hire were under pressure to reduce our allocation. This was to address new legislation or to free up pool space for public provision.  The Spa has been one of the pools. The Spa have worked consultatively with us across this time, for instance delaying their requests recognising both our predicament with other pools and of course the Crystal Palace closure.

Over the last few weeks we've continued to work with the Spa to free up some of our pool space that the club didn't have prior to the Crystal Palace closure in September 2007 (e.g. on a Tuesday night) having acquired more pool space at Dulwich College.  This has as a consequence created some disruption to the training schedule (e.g. Gold Squad), the changes however have been minimized as much as possible. 
At the same time the Spa have increased our pool time allocation where is does not conflict with their agenda on legislation or public provision, for instance in morning training.  This across the club begins to reduce the impact on club in the main, for instance squad movements.  Additionally, the Spa have now provided the opportunity for the club to progress further with land training provision in their studios.
We know that there will be a continued impact on our training schedule as other changes become necessary in the short term, we are confident that across the club they will continue to be minimal.

In the meantime, we are continuing to communicate with Crystal Palace, the ASA and GLL (The Crystal Palace pool operators) to let us know their timetable is for reopening and the pool time they are to make available to us once the pool is back in commission.
We will continue to keep you informed and appreciate your patience as we progress.

Officials Update
For anyone who completed their Judge 1 course back in April, Jackie Bedford will be at the Spa on Monday 20th October to review your logbooks, which if successful will mean that you can go onto the next stage of Official qualification.

John Handley and Justine Pope (the Club's Officials Coordinators) are always looking for the club's next officials and planning courses accordingly and would be keen to hear from you.  If you'd like to become an Official please feel free to contact John at john@hamo6055.plus.com or Justine at justinepope@yahoo.co.uk

For more on being an Official within the club click here and scroll to the bottom

Roles in the Club

Over the last few months it has been great to see so many people come forward and give up some of their valuable time to help to operate the club.  From officiating at galas to keeping notice boards updated – any commitment is a great commitment and is very much valued!  As described earlier, the Club Champs on Monday was a really good example.

There are some specific roles that we are now looking for to support the club going forward:

Investment & Funding Officer - The club is always looking to benefit from awards and grants, such as Jack Petchey; however there is no dedicated Officer to look at such opportunities and maintain those that we already pursue.  Whether it is the form filling or admin that puts people off I’m not quite sure. The club would certainly benefit from someone who could assess which grants would be worthwhile and pursue them. 

Club Championship Organiser - As mentioned last week As you know Jackie Elliott is currently doing a massive role on the Club Management Committee as Membership Secretary and will be looking to pass on the organisation and running of the Championships with Justine to a new volunteer officer for 2009. 

Elementary Gala Organiser - Again Justine and Jackie are currently organising the Elementary Galas for the club and will be looking for someone to take this on for 2009.
Would you be interested in helping out the club more actively?  Do any of the above roles look like they might be playing to your strengths?  If so please feel free to contact Richard at Richard.collins@gtuk.com

The Aspire Channel Swim 2008
Finally congratulations to Hilary Moore, our resident editor of "Our Club" the club's bi-monthly newsletter, who swam the length of the Channel (1416 lengths of her local pool) within her two week target - 9 days in fact!  Hilary raised £323 for the Charity ASPIRE, which provides the practical support needed for people with spinal cord injury.

Ken Deeley 50M Sprints
Well done to everyone last weekend who made it to Brighton for the Ken Deeley 50M Sprints event.
Click here for the results of last week's meet.

Maxwell Swim Club Autumn Meet
And good luck too, to everyone off to Aylesbury over the weekend for the Maxwell Swim Club Meet.

Club Championships…  Monday!
Justine and Jackie will I'm sure have a huge sigh of relief at the end of Monday at the end of the first of this years Club Championships.  Events on Monday are the 50m / 200m freestyle and 100m back.

Thanks to everyone who has submitted raffle prizes for the Championships and Liz wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has returned their trophies.

As you know Jackie is currently doing a massive role on the Club Management Committee as Membership Secretary and will be looking to pass on the running of the Championships with Justine to a new volunteer officer for 2009. Jackie has asked me to scour the balcony on Monday for all support for the Championships, so please forgive me in advance if you are approached!!!

There will also be presentations for the most recent Jack Petchey Award Winners on Monday too - click here for more on Jack Petchey

Welfare Issue
Beckenham Swimming Club recognises that all those directly involved in the club and its activities have a responsibility to provide a safe environment for children and young people to enjoy swimming and water polo whilst in the care of the club.

On Monday night in the changing rooms at the Spa there was an incident where the B.S.C Code of Conduct  and the B.S.C Child Protection Policy was breached by a member of the club. 

This matter has been dealt this week in accordance with ASA guidance and disciplinary action has been taken in respect of the Club Rules.

Please can I encourage you to look at the links to raise awareness of Health, Safety and Welfare across the Club. For any further information on Welfare across the club you can contact Angela Phillips (Welfare Officer) at angelagriffithphillips@yahoo.co.uk

Kent Junior League

Congratulations to everyone involved at Crook Log last Saturday night for the second round of the Kent Junior League. Beckenham ran out winners over Thanet by over 30 points in the end, a great result considering Thanet have recently combined with some neighbouring clubs.  Well done to everyone involved!

For full results click here

Website and Club Shop

Over the last two weeks some new features have been added to the Website to help make purchases of  Swimming Kit from the club simpler, quicker and cheaper…..

On the Homepage of the website there are links to "MailSports" (our kit provider) and "Amazon" (see below)

Any purchases made by Beckenham S.C. members through the website with "MailSports" entitles you to a 5% reduction on full priced merchandise, as well as making 10% commission for the club.  In addition, any purchases made on Amazon having navigated through the Beckenham website will see the club receive 10% commission on sales.

You can also now navigate to specific items you would like to purchase by clicking on them via the BSC Club Shop page.

To take advantage of the discount for swimming gear bought online from MailSports you will need as part of your purchase the promotional code, which is BECSC573

Alternatively, you can buy a variety of swimwear and accessories such as club costumes, hats, tracksuits, sweatshirts, club kit bags and so on through the club shop, which is open on Monday evening 6 - 8 pm at Beckenham Spa.

Hopefully these additions will help to get the products you want in the quickest possible time from the comfort of your own home.  Please do continue to view the website and pass on any questions, feedback or requests for information that might be useful to David at david.grant@talk21.com.

Membership Update and 'Welcome Evening'

Following the Membership renewals this summer and trial night we had 252 swimmers renewed and 30 new  starters.  19 swimmers are waiting for the next trial, a date of which will be confirmed over the next few months.  If you feel you may be able to support Jackie for the next trial please contact Jackie at jcelliott@btinternet.com.

For all new members, Sue Irving is organizing the next "Welcome Evening", which helps orientate yourself around the club.  This is typically held at the Spa on an arranged Wednesday evening.  Please feel free to contact Sue at suefgc@hotmail.com to help her plan for the event, Sue looking forward to hearing from you.

Water Polo - Regional, National and International update

A couple of weeks back I mentioned that Sean King was off to Istanbul for the European Junior Championships, the first time the GB Junior Team have qualified for the main junior championships.  Historically, the GB team playing against the heavyweights in Europe has been similar to Crystal Palace (or better still Millwall!) playing in the Premier League.  So although a little disappointed with a 13th out of 16 finish, it was none the less a respectable result.  Well done Sean!

The Beckenham Men's Team have one final game this season away to Croydon Amphibs in October, which could result in Beckenham becoming London League champions for the first time in the Club's history. Currently Beckenham have 7 wins, 1 Draw and 3 losses, so there is much to play for in what will be a tough the final game against the local rivals.

On a National level Beckenham feeds into Invicta Water Polo, accounting for about 60% of the players in Invicta's two national League sides.  Both teams started their National League season at the start of September, the Invicta Team currently 8th in Division 1 and the Invicta Marlins (second team) lying 3rd in Division 2.  Click here for more information on the National League and how the teams progress over the 3 month season.

Club Championships…  one week to go and a big thank you!

• To everyone who has submitted raffle prizes for the Championships

• To everyone who has returned their trophies both timely and shiny!

• Final date for these to be returned is Wednesday 24th September.These need to be returned to Liz Haynes who is around at the Spa on Mondays (6-7pm) and Wednesday (5-6pm) and can be contacted at lizhaynes123@btinternet.com

From the Newshopper. By David Mills.

Fifteen-year-old Stephanie King went to Beijing to represent Team GB in the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games. DAVID MILLS hears about her unforgettable experience.

SWIMMING champion Stephanie King has already followed in the footsteps of double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington.

The pupil from Bromley High School for Girls, Blackbrook Lane, Bickley, was in Beijing a week later to represent Great Britain for the opening of the Paralympic Games.

Fifteen-year-old Stephanie was one of 120 people to take part in the torch relay, where along with five others she lit the flame for Team GB.

She was chosen to go to the Chinese capital after swimming for Bromley in the London Youth Games where she picked up three gold medals.

Bromley was the overall winner in the games, which take place each year and involve all London boroughs.

Stephanie, who lives in Sevenoaks, walked 50m holding the torch, which she described as a very special moment. She said: "It was amazing to be holding part of the Olympic flame and there was lots of cheering and a film crew following my every move.

"It seemed to be over so quickly I wished I could do it all over again."

When Stephanie landed in Beijing, she was ushered through fast track Olympic passport immigration, where she said she was made to feel like royalty. She was then taken by a special Olympic bus and interviewed by Chinese television.

When the day for the relay came round, Stephanie was taken inside the Summer Palace, Beijing's imperial garden, to her relay position. She said: "We were taken by Pagoda boats across the lake, round to our different areas to stand and wait for the flame to come to us.

"This was quite scary as the people watching all wanted to take photos and touch the torch and get signatures.

"They all came forward at once and the police lining the route had to keep them back."

Stephanie also got the chance to meet Team GB's paralympic team at the British embassy in Beijing, but says the opening ceremony was an unforgettable experience.

She said: "The opening ceremony was a truly amazing spectacle, from the perfect unison of 2,000 small children dancing, through to the light and firework shows, I have never seen anything on such a scale before.

"Even though it was a very long, hot and sticky night, it was just wonderful to be there.

"It was an experience I will never forget."

Stephanie hopes that one day she can emulate her idol Rebecca Adlington, and swim for Team GB.

She said: "I would love to get to the Olympics one day, but it will be quite a lot of work.

"There's a lot of competition.

"I would love to emulate Rebecca Adlington but maybe not for the same distance, I prefer short distance swimming."

Click here to read Stephanie's diary of her Beijing experience.

Whitehorse League and Kent Junior League
Congratulations to everyone involved at Crook Log last Saturday night for the 5th Round of the Whitehorse League. Beckenham came out on top and sets the club up nicely for the 6th and final round on the 4th October.

Good luck to everyone tomorrow, again at Crook Log, for the second round of the Kent Junior League!

Membership Update and 'Welcome Evening'
Last Saturday I'm pleased to say that the club ran a very successful trial night that saw 43 potential new members attend. Of those 40 were offered membership, so far 18 have accepted and we are waiting to hear on a few more, mainly the new Tadpoles who will be starting tonight.

Thanks to Susie and Di, who continue to do a grand job at spotting talent for the future.  A big thank you to Jackie too, who continues to arrange the logistics with ease.  This week didn't stop there for Jackie as almost as soon as Saturday concluded she received a further 10 calls this week from more potential swimmers!!!

If you know of anyone interested in joining the club through a trial or feel you may be able to support Jackie for the next trial please feel free to contact Jackie at jcelliott@btinternet.com

Sue Irving then picks up the baton for all new members with the "Welcome Evening" held at the Spa on an arranged Wednesday evening.  For all new members, and for those of you who have joined the club over the last few months and haven't yet had the opportunity to attend a Welcome evening, please feel free to contact Sue at suefgc@hotmail.com

Sue is planning for the next evening and is looking forward to hearing from you.

Training Capacity Update
Over the summer months I've mentioned the continued situation with regards to pool time provision and how it has affected capacity across the club.  A few of the venues that the club contracts for pool hire have been under pressure to reduce our allocation. This has been either to address new legislation or to free up pool space for public provision. The continued closure of Crystal Palace has of course made this particularly challenging.

Over the last couple of weeks I've picked up a slight nervousness "in the gallery" about pool time and wanted to take the opportunity to explain what has happened most recently and what is ongoing.

As many of you will be aware, South Norwood pool has removed our 2hr pool space on a Friday evening. As a consequence Bromley High has given us pool time on Fridays from 5pm-7pm which will replace our time at South Norwood for Top Squad.

Tony, Fiona and I, as well as other volunteers within the club (my thanks to them), have been pursuing provision at other pools.  We are also working with our neighbouring clubs to accommodate the pressure that we, and they face.  You can imagine liaising with up to 10 different venues at a time, as well as the different clubs, that the pool time provision of what the club could have changes on an almost daily basis.

We are optimistic that over the next three weeks we will have clarified and defined our own position on pool time. In addition, although we know that there will be an impact on our training schedule, we are confident that the change will be minimal. In the meantime, we are continuing to communicate with Crystal Palace and GLL to let us know their timetable is for reopening and the pool time they are to make available to us once the pool is back in commission.

We will continue to keep you informed and appreciate your patience as we progress.

Water Polo Trial Night
In addition to the swimming trial night, this Sunday at Dulwich College from 6.15pm the Water Polo section will have a trial night for new junior members (aged 8 to 14).  If you are interested, please feel free to contact Anne Milstein at pamilstein@googlemail.com

The Aspire Channel Swim 2008
Back in May you might remember that Club Squad raised nearly £800 when they entered the Swimathon. I'm pleased to say that another dedicated volunteer officer has decided to don her costume for a well worthy cause.

Hilary Moore, our resident editor of "Our Club" the club's bi-monthly newsletter, has decided to swim the length of the Channel (1416 lengths of her local pool) within two weeks to raise money for the Charity ASPIRE. Aspire's projects and services have a very simple goal - to provide the practical support needed for people with spinal cord injury, from injury to independence.

Hilary said "…mad caper that it is I am looking forward to the challengefor what is a very good charity and one which does not get that much coverage."

The clock starts on Sunday for Hilary and please feel free to  click here if you would like to support Hilary in her challenge.

Club Championships…  two weeks to go!
A few reminders about the upcoming Club Championships that start later this month

• Can any trophies please be returned (polished please) to Liz Haynes by Wednesday 24th September. This is in preparation for Liz to do the mass engraving task for this year's championships. Liz is around at the Spa on Mondays (6-7pm) and Wednesday (5-6pm) for dropping off trophies and can be contacted at lizhaynes123@btinternet.com

• If you have any spare raffle prizes for the Championships, please can you pass them onto Justine Pope on a Monday night.

Beijing continued…

This week Steph King in Top Squad, who recently made two National Championship finals at the end of July, flew out to Beijing to represent Great Britain for the opening of the Paralympic Games.

Steph was selected after she swam for Bromley in the London Youth Games earlier this year, where she picked up three gold medals.

She will take part in the torch relay, where along with five others she will light the flame for Team GB. Her mum Jo King said: "We are just amazed, we can't believe it's going to happen."

Club Championships

A few reminders about the upcoming Club Championships that start later this month

• All entries need to be in by Monday 8th September (next Monday) to Jackie or Justine who will be collecting last minute entries at the Spa on Monday… click here for entry form

• Can any trophies please be returned to Liz Haynes by Wednesday 24th September. This is in preparation for Liz to do the mass engraving task for this year's championships.

• Can all trophies also be returned with a good dose of "Mr Sheen" too please in order to save Liz's car seats. Liz is around at the Spa on Mondays (6-7pm) and Wednesday (5-6pm) for dropping off trophies and can be contacted at lizhaynes123@btinternet.com

• If you have any spare raffle prizes for the Championships, please can you pass them onto Justine on a Monday night.

Notice Board
A lot of you saw the notice board this week, some even mentioned to me that they had not even known it was there until this week…  Therefore a big thank you to Anne Denny, who got a revamped display up this week with some great pictures, photos and information.

Welcome Back and Olympic Congratulations…
After the highs of the last three weeks (that's the Olympics and not Big Brother!), it is time to welcome everyone back to the club after the August break.  I think you'll agree that the Beijing experience was a great one from the armchair and one can only imagine what it must have been like to be out there.

One such individual was of course Ellen Gandy and on behalf of the club, I'd like to take the opportunity to congratulate Ellen for her success.   Ellen was competing in the 200M fly in Beijing and made the semi-finals.  Although no medal this time, however Ellie was the youngest member of the swimming team in Beijing and is already looking forward to 2012… after a well earned rest for now!

I know that many members of the club, past and present, were watching both heats and the semis, all have asked me to pass on a mass congratulations.  There were some stories of house parties from some of Ellie's closet friends…  One individual, who shall remain nameless, ran around Moorgate trying to find a TV and eventually watched Ellie's heat swim in a fish & chip shop!

Well done Ellie and welcome back everyone - hopefully in 4 yrs time we'll be celebrating further successes in London.
Click here for Bromley Times Article on Ellen's achievements.

Newsletter
Some of you will have seen the September issue of “OUR CLUB”, distributed earlier this week.
"Our Club" is the new name for the 3rd issue of the Beckenham S.C. newsletter - a name devised by George and Oliver Eagle of Club and Platinum squads…  Well done guys for your nomination!

It is a ‘bumper’ issue, including reviews from Mexico and The Nationals as well as much more… And "Ten things you didn’t know about......CILLA DANIELS!"

In case you missed it (there were a few email bounce backs) click here September - Our Club

You can be a contributor too – send in your news about swimming, other sports or just a topic which you feel would be of would be of interest Contact Hilary on john@hamo6055.plus.com or 020 8857 4977.

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Water Polo International Success
Success clearly does breed success and while the summer focus was on Beijing, Sean King was performing well for Great Britain Juniors as they played against the Australian junior men's water polo team in Cardiff in mid-August.  The Aussies, who were on the start of their European tour, unfortunately got the better of the GB team, as GB suffered two defeats in Cardiff 16-5 and 15-10.

Sean will now go on to compete in the European Junior Championships in Istanbul between 7 - 14th September, the first time the GB Junior Team have qualified for the main junior championships.  It will be tough as GB face some heavyweights in their first round qualifying group, the full group being Italy, Germany and Croatia.

Good luck Sean.

Over the summer break too, Danny Casey was selected for the next GB Youth training squad (U16) after a successful trial at Millfield School.  Danny will join Conrad Rhodes (U18) and Kitan Ogunfeibo (GB Youth Academy Squad) as GB representatives.

Well done Danny.

For further information on Water Polo please contact Rob Spurr at robert_d_spurr@hotmail.com

Coach Update
After saying farewell to Jo Collins at the end of July from the coaching team, a few coaches are going to be taking on new squads as well as a welcome to a new coach.

From September, Susie Goold will be coaching Blue and Club squads fully, in addition to Development 1 and Tadpoles 1.

Kym Tamplin, who has been coaching Platinum so successfully over the last 8 years or so, will be coaching Development 2.

With Susie taking up more during the week, we also welcome a new member to the coaching team in Michael Griffin, who will be coaching White 1 and White 2.

A warm welcome to Michael and I'm sure you'll wish Susie and Kym well with their new squads.

Trial Night

Finally, on Saturday 6th September a trial night will be run for up to 40 potential members on the waiting list.

For any further information or if you feel you may be able to support please contact Jackie at jcelliott@btinternet.com

Some reminders of dates for the diary

September 8th – Club Championships entries completed and returned

September 29th – Club Championships Session 1 The Spa, 5.45pm

October 13th – Club Championships Session 2, The Spa 5.45pm

November 29th – Beckenham Rising Stars Open Meet click here for more information.

A SWIMMING champion has been chosen to represent Great Britain for the opening of next month's Paralympic Games in Beijing.

Stephanie King, aged 15, who is a pupil at Bromley High School for Girls, Blackbrook Lane, Bickley, was selected after she swam for Bromley in the London Youth Games, picking up three gold medals.

Bromley was the overall winner in the games, which take place each year and involve all London boroughs.

Stephanie, who lives in Sevenoaks, will fly to the Chinese capital with her mother on September 3rd 2008. She will take part in the torch relay, where along with five others she will light the flame for Team GB. Her mother Joanne King said: "We are just amazed, we can't believe it's going to happen."

Hailing from Bromley, Ellen made her Olympic debut in the 200m butterfly in Beijing.

Ellen came seventh in her heat for the 200m butterfly with a time of 2:08:98 which put her into the semifinal where she came eighth with a time of 2:10:60.

Ellen now lives and trains in Melbourne, but first competed for her native country in the summer of 2007. Her first major event was the European Championships in Eindhoven in 2008 where she was part of the 4x200m freestyle relay team, breaking the Commonwealth record.

Her aim is to get an Olympic gold, in London if not in Beijing and will "keep going until I get one".

Women’s 200m Butterfly, National Aquatics Centre. Tuesday 12th August 2008. Team GB Ellen Gandy Olympic Profile.

From Kent Regional News and Media.

SWIMMING: Local girl Liesje van der Velde became the National Youth Champion for 50m and 100m freestyle by winning gold in both events at the ASA National Championships, at Sheffield last week. “Following the semi-finals”, said van der Velde, “I was ranked fourth for the final of the 100m freestyle. For the final my coach told me to go out fast and at the turn I was about a second ahead with a time of 27.21sec.

On the back leg I managed to hold onto the lead to finish in a personal-best time of 57.08sec.

In the 50m freestyle, I did not have a good race, but managed to rank second in the semi-finals which gave me the lane position I needed for the finals. In the final I was careful not to repeat the mistake I made in the heats of rushing my breakout and got the start I needed to dominate the race, finishing in a pb of 26.52sec.'

Her success comes on the back of the World Youth Championships, in Mexico, from which she has just returned.

“I learned so much in Mexico and now understand what I still have to do to be a world class swimmer. The experience has helped me tremendously and I was able to use this for my preparations for the Youth Nationals.

This was her last swim for Beckenham Swimming Club where she has been for the last four years. She now moves to Millfield School, where she has been awarded a sport scholarship.

“Beckenham have been a fantastic club and I will miss my friends and my coach, Tony Beckley. Tony has been great and without him I would not be the swimmer I am today. I would like to say a very public thank you to him for all he has done for me.

“It was also great to see Sevenoaks Swimming Club being represented at the Nationals and one of their swimmers, Xander Alari-Williams, making a national final.

“The head coach, Jo King, has done wonders with the club and it has come a long way in the few years she has been running it. The assistant coach from Sevenoaks, Julian MetCalf, was also there cheering me on. Many years ago he first taught me to swim at the Sevenoaks Leisure Centre.

“I would also like to thank Sevenoaks District Sports Council for their continued interest in my development and their bursary, which is a tremendous help, particularly when racing costumes cost nearly £300.”

ASA National Youth and Welsh Summer National successes
Last weekend saw the end of the club's swimming competition year conclude with the National Youth Championships in Sheffield and Welsh Summer Nationals in Swansea.

Last week I mentioned Liesje Van Der Velde hit Gold in an impressive PB of 57.08 in the 16/17yrs 100m Freestyle. Not content with that Liesje then made it a double in the short sprint 50m in a time of 26.52 and also made the final of the 200m Free finishing 8th in a time of 2:06.32.

For Liesje, it capped an impressive year in addition to being selected for the GB team for the World Youth Championships in Mexico last month.

This followed yet another successful sprint freestyle performance from Steph Denny, who in the 14/15yr event secured a bronze in 27.50.  This is a great achievement from Steph who has had to battle a tough year with injury.

Steph King, who recently joined the club, also successfully made two finals in the 14/15 Backstroke events finishing 4th in the 200m in 2:23.08 and 5th in the 100m in 1:06.63.

Overall the girl's team finished 11th (10th if you remove Team Ireland!) and Beckenham finished 23rd.

Well done to Tony and everyone who competed in Sheffield!

(Left: Tony Beckley with Liesje Van der Velde and Steph Denny.  Right Liesje with Trophies from both sprint freestyle events)
Click here for the ASA Youth Results

Many then travelled from Sheffield to Swansea for the Welsh Summer Nationals too supported by the club for the first time.

There were a number of good swims. Star of the show was Georgia Phillips who won two Golds in the 14/15yrs 100 Free and 50 Free.

Georgia won the 100 in 1:02.40 just pipping Katie Irving who finished in a time of 1:02.69. Katie went on to win further medals, along with Jack Regan, Olivia Handley, Jack Brown and Louis Phillips, as well as numerous other finalists.

Well done to everyone in Swansea and click here for all the Welsh Summer Nationals Results

Apologies too if I have missed any other results!

Some farewells
For Liesje, competing in Sheffield was her last swim in Beckenham colours, as next year she will be completing her A-Levels and swimming at Millfield School .  In a personal message to the whole club Liesje said… 

"Dear All… Sadly I have now swum my last race for Beckenham and it is time to move on to pastures new.  I will miss the club, I will miss Tony Beckley, and I will miss all my friends tremendously.  Although I have already told some of you, I just wanted to state for the record, that my reason for leaving is purely because I couldn't continue with the 24 hours a week travelling time given that I had A levels looming.  Beckenham is a fantastic club and Tony Beckley is a fantastic coach.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank him publicly for all that he has done for me and for helping me to achieve what I have achieved.  If I can leave one piece of advice then this would be to put your faith in Tony and if you work hard for him he will bring success for you.  I would like to wish all of you, the coaches, the parents, those that do so much for the club behind the scenes and mostly my friends, a very fond farewell and I wish you every success in your swimming careers… Liesje van der Velde"

Jo Collins, who finished coaching at Beckenham in July to pursue emigrating to Australia Jo with her husband Stuart, also sent a personal message to the club this week.  Jo said…

"To everyone at Beckenham Swimming Club…  Thank you all for your kind words and gifts that I received from the club.  I'd like to thank everyone that has made my time so special at Beckenham since I joined as a Minnow back as a 5 year old all the way up to coaching over the last few years.  In particular I'd like to thank Tony and the rest of the coaches for all their support, especially whilst we were deciding on moving to Australia.  We have just received our visas and leave later this year in the autumn; hopefully I'll get to see many of you before we go.  I'll keep watching the club, even from the other side of the world, as it is a great club to be a part of and will continue to be so in the future.  Thank you…  Jo Collins"

I'm sure everyone will join me in wishing Liesje and Jo all the best for the future and look forward to seeing either more successes in the pool or stories of the Aussie way of life!

And finally…
…the weekly updates will have a slight rest for the next two weeks.  The next update will be on Friday 29th August just before the start of the new season, to give everyone the chance to enjoy the summer break, refreshed and revived for an exciting year.
Have a great summer all and see you in September!

ASA National Youth and Age Groups Update
This last week has seen 15 swimmers from Top Squad competing at the National Age Group and Youth Championships in Sheffield.  The championships are spread over 10 days and have seen the best swimmers from across the country competing against each other.

In the Age Group Championships, which ran from the 24th to the 27th July, Marlon Gasparotto (12) made three finals in the 200m Breast, 100m Fly and successfully coming 7th in the 400 I.M in 5:16.54.  In addition, Michael Gunning (14) came 7th in the 200m Butterfly in 2:15.00.

Well done to everyone who competed in Sheffield and for further results on the Age Groups please click here
Apologies too if I have missed any other results!

The Youth Championships too began earlier this week and Wednesday saw Liesje Van Der Velde striking Gold in an impressive PB of 57.08 in the 16/17yrs 100m Freestyle.

Congratulations to all so far and a more complete set of results will follow next week after the conclusion of the meet tomorrow.

Not to be finished there, many are following on off to Swansea for the Welsh Summer Nationals too this week, good luck all involved!

A final good luck and best wishes too…

…Ellen Gandy, who on Tuesday 12th August will be competing in Beijing in the Women's 200m Butterfly in the Olympics.

Club Championship Reminder
Club Championship entry forms have been distributed as part of the Membership Renewals over the last month.  Just in case the entry form has been missed or the dog has got hold of it, here is the link on the website where the form can be downloaded and printed (please click here).

The first of the championships is on Monday September 29th.

All entries will need to be completed and returned by Monday September 8th to Jackie Grant or to Justine Pope or they can be posted to Jackie Elliott.

Some help for the club –would you be interested?
Over the last two months it has been great to see so many people come forward and give up some of their valuable time to help to operate the club.  From officiating at galas to keeping notice boards updated – any commitment is a great commitment and is very much valued!  The most recent example of this has been the Squad Reps.

Would you be interested in helping out the club more actively?

The Club Shop will need some additional help from September.  The girls (Carole, Julie, Diane, Catherine and Fiona) do a grand job each week keeping on top of stock ordering and selling kit on Mondays between 6 to 8pm, however with some of their kids moving between squads some will not always be readily around at the Spa to help with the Shop to the same capacity.  There have also been requests to open the shop on a Friday night too.

So if there is anyone with a bit of a passion for retail and you feel you maybe able to free up some time on a Monday or Friday night at the Spa please do contact Fiona at fionamgorman@aol.com and for more information on the club shop click here

Secondly, the Club has benefited in 2007/08 from funding from the Jack Petchey foundation (click here for more information on Jack Petchey).  The club is always looking to benefit from awards and grants, such as Jack Petchey; however there is no dedicated Fundraising Officer to look at such opportunities.  Whether it is the form filling or admin that puts people off I’m not quite sure. The club would certainly benefit from someone who could assess which grants would be worthwhile and pursue them.

If you feel that this might interest you please do not hesitate to contact Richard at Richard.Collins@gtuk.com.

Michael swam five events and successfully achieved a place in the finals of the 200M butterfly in a time of 2.14.56. In the finals he came 7th. He achieved a PB in the 400m IM.

He came 10th in the BAGCATS for the 14 year old age group and he attended a presentation ceremony and was awarded a years’ free subscription to the Swimming Times and a certificate.

Overall in the BAGCATS he came 1st in the Kent County, 1st in the London Region, and 10th in the National Age Group. Well done on a successful year of swimming!

Membership Renewals
Thank you to everyone who has returned their membership renewals by last Friday’s deadline. 

At the last count (beginning of this week) 80% of the club’s membership has returned, which now leaves the majority to enjoy their summer holidays during August.

This is one of the biggest jobs each year undertaken by your committee and I would like to thank Jackie Elliot, Jenny Knight, all coaches and everyone who helped to make this a smoother and timelier process.

Jo Collins
Jo Collins had her last week as a coach at Beckenham S.C. this week and on Monday night a presentation of vouchers and flowers was given to her at the Spa at Beckenham.  Jo asked me to say thank you to the club and everybody who has made her time so special at Beckenham.  Jo and her husband Stuart are later this year pursuing their dream of emigrating to Australia.

Thank you to Justine Pope for organising the presentation, Ita O’brien for photos and Lawrie for making sure I presented on time!

Training Capacity
Back in May I did mention that Training Capacity across the club is quite tight currently due to our current pool time provision.  As a consequence, it has proved tricky to accommodate new members across some squads and has made it quite competitive to join.  This also has an impact on movements across the club and how the club can grow in the longer term.
As a result over the last few months we have had to make some tough but necessary decisions over membership.  An example of this would be a restriction on training for country members.  In the last two weeks, further pressure has been put on the club to relinquish some of its current pool space from September 2008.

For instance, South Norwood has been under pressure to free up pool space for the public and limit pool time to non-borough swimming clubs.  South Norwood currently managed by Parkwood Leisure and changing ownership to Fusion Leisure from September, has asked us to free up our pool space (i.e. 4 hours a week).

The Spa too has been under pressure to reduce our pool time allocation in line with new legislation around free swimming for over 65s and U16s that comes into effect in April 2009.  The Spa very kindly has agreed to delay the request until later this year, recognising both our predicament with South Norwood and of course the Crystal Palace closure.
Both requests would put the club under pressure at the best of times.  At present, with little information to update you on with regards to Crystal Palace, it would be even more significant.

As a consequence, Tony, Fiona and I will be meeting with Fusion Leisure at South Norwood in early August and then Bromley MyTime at the Spa in early September to work through how we can help both providers achieve their needs on pool time and of course minimise the impact across the club.  We will of course keep you updated on South Norwood, the Spa and of course Crystal Palace as and when we know more information.

Water Polo Barbecue
Thank you to everyone who attended the Beckenham Water Polo BBQ at Trinity School.  The day kicked off with a mini-polo exhibition game following with a men’s, women’s and junior’s competition starts.  The event was the first for at least 7yrs to my knowledge and a few teething problems aside was a very successful event, well supported by Croydon Amphibians and Sevenoaks Water Polo.

Fortunately the weather held out to make the day even better, and after possibly the longest raffle announcement ever witnessed, the Water Polo section raised £550 for fundraising.

Thank you to Rob Spurr, the rest of the polo team and everyone who helped organising the event this year.

(Left: Action from Beckenham Ladies 1 v Beckenham Ladies 2.  Right: Thank you Greg for manning the Barbie all afternoon)

Squad Reps
Thank you to all of the Squad Representatives who have taken about their tasks very effectively over the last few weeks since coming into position.  I know that many have taken the opportunity to pass this note on across each squad, highlighted to me on Monday at the Spa by quite a few members.

The club really appreciates this help as good communication is always difficult to achieve in a swimming club such as Beckenham, where the opportunity is often limited to listen to large numbers in a short space of time.  In addition, we appreciate that you all have busy lives too so the support running the club is valued so thank you again.

World Youth Championships – Mexico Travels Success
Congratulations to Tony and Liesje who returned from a very rainy Monterrey – Mexico earlier this week.

Liesje swam an impressive 26.99 coming 18th overall in her individual 50m front crawl event and then 7 minutes later swimming a 57.83 to help the G.B. 4 x 100m Freestyle team get into the final, where they eventually finished 5th.
Overall the GB team finished 4th in the medal tables.

Tony, who coached the women’s 4 x 200m free to a silver medal, said that “…the meet was a great development experience for both himself and Liesje.”

Click here for more information on the World Youth Championships, Monterrey

National Championships
Over the next two weeks, 15 swimmers from Top Squad are going to the National Championships in Sheffield. 
The championships are spread over 10 days and will see the best Age Group and Youth swimmers from across the country competing against each other.

The Age Group Championships run from the 24th to the 27th July and the Beckenham swimmers competing are:
Marlon Gasparotto, Rebecca and Lauren Walton, Michael Gunning, Jack Brown, Gabriel Dada, Heather Travers and Leah Casey.

The National Youth Championships run from the 29th July to the 2nd August and the Beckenham swimmers competing are:
Liesje Van Der Velde, Steph Denny, Ricky Outhwaite, Rachel Bull, Steffi King, Jodie MacGonagal and Michael Cook.
Good luck to all!

Website
Today the website did hit the 1000 mark for the number of visitors.  This week’s feature is the Results page, where you’ll find all the recent results over the last couple of weeks, such as…

• The combined successes of Michael Gunning, Ricky Outhwaite, Katie Irving, and Stephanie Denny in Germany representing Kent County ASA at the Darmstadt 45 (Germany) International Swim Meet.

• A swimmer’s report (well done Emily!) of the Haslemere Open Meet on Sunday 6th July. 

• Thee White Horse League Gala (Round 4) results from the same weekend.

Please do feel free to write reports, swimmers AND / OR parents, about galas you experience and send them through to the communication team below.

Newsletter Editor, Hilary Moore, john@hamo6055.plus.com

Press Officer, Sue Mitchell, sue.mitchell@bbc.co.uk

Website Officer, David Grant, david.grant@talk21.com

Please do continue to view the website as it is updated at www.beckenhamswimmingclub.com and pass on any questions, feedback or requests for information that might be useful to David at david.grant@talk21.com

Kent Masters

… And just to prove that swimming does indeed become a way of life, congratulations to the very merry band of Masters’ swimmers that took a team of 10 to the Kent County Masters Championships at Gillingham on Saturday 5th July.

The Beckenham team came 4th overall, out of 18 teams taking part.

Look out for a fuller report in the next edition of the newsletter from Peter Sutherland on the event and for more information on Masters Swimming at Beckenham click here.

Click here for Kent County Masters Results

A last minute reminder – Water Polo Barbecue

The Beckenham Water Polo BBQ is tomorrow at Trinity School.

The day kicks off from 10.30am starting with a mini-polo exhibition game. The men’s and women’s competition starts at around 11.15. In addition, and weather permitting (fingers crossed!), there will now be a five-a-side football competition and a rounder’s competition. The Barbie will start from 3pm onwards.

Tickets are £5 u16s, £10 adults and £25 for a family ticket (2 Adults / 2 children).

To confirm tickets ARE available on the door tomorrow, so don’t worry if you’ve not got yours yet.

On the 17th July two Beckenham swimmers, Steph Denny and Jack Brown from the national squad, were invited to spend the morning at the Olympic Site and have a photo shoot with Seb Coe, Tessa Jowell and the top executives from Balfour Beatty.

Both were in the winning teams from the London Youth Games. Three swimmers from the Bromley girls team and three from the Sutton boys team were asked to take part in the event in Stratford as the first day of work began on the Aquatic Centre. They spent the morning looking at the plans for the new pool and having their photos taken by lots of photographers and TV crews on the site where the pool is being built.

Retiring Past President – June Piper

After nearly 50 years commitment serving on the Beckenham Swimming Club committee, June Piper has decided to retire from the Executive Committee for 2008/09.

June has carried out many roles across the years notably as Championship Secretary, Fund Raising Secretary and President of the Club twice. June was Championship Secretary during some of the most successful years the club has had in the 70s and 80s, taking teams to America, Canada and various other places in Europe.

After this period June was persuaded to take up fundraising, responsible for organising Open Meets, the shop and finding sponsors for the club.  Over 20 years June, with the help and support of many others, has probably raised about £160k for Beckenham S.C.

In addition, June has dedicated much time and effort to Kent County A.S.A, again representing the county as K.C.A.S.A President.

I’d like to thank June, and her husband Peter who sadly passed away in June this year, for all of their efforts, massively contributing the club’s success from behind the scenes for such a long period of time.

Visit from the University of South Carolina

On Wednesday night this week, we had a visit from Leah Stancil, Assistant Swimming Coach from the University of South Carolina.

Leah wanted to observe Top squad training and learn more about British Swimming, before heading up to Liverpool for the ASA Championships this weekend.

Leah wanted to thank the club for their help. I’d like to thank Jackie Walton (Top Squad Rep) for helping to organise Leah’s visit.

Water Polo Secretary change of email address

Rob Spurr (Water Polo Secretary) has moved on from First Rand and his email address will no longer work from today.

Please can you send all water polo related information and requests to robert_d_spurr@hotmail.com

This includes ticket requests for the Beckenham Water Polo BBQ on the 19th July at Trinity School.

Squad Representative Meeting

On Monday this week, the first Squad Rep meeting was held at Beckenham Spa, led by Fiona Pearson and Andrew Forryan. The main aim of the Squad Rep is to be the main point of contact for swimmers and parents for a squad and is a key role to ensure all relevant information is being passed throughout the club.

Communication and transparency of decision making is always difficult to achieve in a swimming club such as Beckenham, where the opportunity is often limited to listen to large numbers in a short space of time.

The role therefore will continue to build effective communication across the club.

As such, the squad reps will be getting around their squads listening to Coaches, Parents and members in an effort to review what our members think the Club does well and what it does less well. This will then be fedback to your committee to take action.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact your Squad Representative directly (click here for your squad rep) or contact Andrew Forryan by email at andrew.forryan@cliffordchance.com or telephone 07785 700123.

Membership Renewals

A reminder that Membership Renewal packs date for return is Friday the 18th July 2008.  These include membership forms and standing order mandates which need checking and returning. If there are any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Jackie Elliott (Membership Secretary) at jcelliott@btinternet.com and thank you in advance for helping by getting the forms back on time.

Website

As at July 11th, 28 days after go live, the website has had 765 visits.  Hopefully by this time next week it will be over the 1000 mark.  This week’s feature is Beckenham Swimming Club News where you’ll find all the most recent press coverage, news within the club and swimming successes, including the May and July Newsletters and successes at the London Youth Games and Regional Championships.

Many have been bored with me often saying “People don’t know what they don’t know!!!” so if there is any news, no matter how big or small, please do continue to send it through to the following and it will appear in the local press, newsletter or website.

Newsletter Editor, Hilary Moore, john@hamo6055.plus.com

Press Officer, Sue Mitchell, sue.mitchell@bbc.co.uk

Website Manager, David Grant, david.grant@talk21.com

Please do continue to view the website as it is updated at www.beckenhamswimmingclub.com and pass on any questions, feedback or requests for information that might be useful to David at david.grant@talk21.com

A few good luck wishes to…

• Tony Beckley and Liesje Van der Velde, who flew off to Mexico as part of the GB team this week for the World Youth Championships.

• Michael Gunning, Michael Cook, Ricky Outhwaite, Katie Irving, and Stephanie Denny who too have jetted off to Germany to represent Kent County ASA at the Darmstadt 45 (Germany) International Swim Meet.

• Everyone who is competing at the Haslemere Open Meet on Sunday this weekend. 

• Everyone on Saturday night at Crook Log in Bexleyheath who will be competing in the White Horse League Gala (Round 4)

• The Masters swimmers (a team of around 15 I believe!), who will be competing at the Kent County Masters Championships at Gillingham on Saturday afternoon

A few thank-you’s from…

• Ellen Gandy who said that “…she was overwhelmed with the presentation evening back in April this year and wanted to thank the club for nominating her to become a life member of Beckenham S.C.”  Ellie also said preparations are going well for Beijing and to thank everyone again for the support she has received.

• Kay Grimshaw for being invited to the Jack Petchey Foundation presentations at this year’s AGM. Kay said that “…it was an honour to give the awards to the very special swimmers.”

Jo Collins

After nearly 4 yrs as a coach of various squads across the club I’m sorry to say that Jo Collins has decided to resign as a coach from Beckenham S.C. from September 2008.  Jo and her husband Stuart, who between them have somewhere in the region of 50yrs worth of membership to Beckenham as swimmers and as water polo players, are later this year pursuing their dream of emigrating to Australia.  I’m sure everyone will wish them both well on their move and thank Jo for all her hard work and dedication to coaching for the club.

Jo’s last coaching session at the Spa will be on Thursday 24th July.  Details on the coaching arrangements for Jo’s squads from September 2008 will follow over the next few weeks.

Membership Renewals

On Monday night this week, Jackie was doing a grand job in frantically handing out the membership renewal packs for 2008/09. They include membership forms and standing order mandates which need checking and returning by the 18th July 2008. If there are any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Jackie Elliott (Membership Secretary) at jcelliott@btinternet.com and thank you in advance for helping by getting the forms back on time.

Website

The website continues to be a hit with more and more information being added to help inform everyone on what is going on across the club.  This week’s feature for reference is the ‘Club History’; back in 1993 when Beckenham S.C. celebrated its centenary the ‘History of Beckenham S.C.’ was written by Prof. Malcolm Cameron, covering the whole 100 yr history.  At present years 1893 to around 1920 are featured on the site, with the rest following over the next few weeks.  Please do feel free to read at leisure (click here for the history of BSC), and look at the fantastic pictures of swimming costumes in the early 1900’s!!!!

Please do continue to view the website as it is updated at www.beckenhamswimmingclub.com and pass on any questions, feedback or requests for information that might be useful to Dave at david.grant@talk21.com

Water Polo Barbecue

This week it was pleasing to see many a flyer being passed across the squads for the Beckenham Water Polo BBQ on the 19th July at Trinity School. There will now be some additional features for the day including a mini-polo exhibition game starting at 10.30am, a five-a-side football competition and a rounder’s competition.

I also want to thank two relatively recent swimmers from the past, Tom Harnett and Alayna Shay. Amazingly the power of Facebook is one not to be reckoned with and on both Tom and Alayna featuring the event on the Facebook website Rob has been inundated with ticket requests from swimmers from the past!

Please do feel free to email Rob at robert.spurr@firstrand.co.uk for tickets.

Some reminders of dates for the diary

Monday 7th July – Squad Representative meeting

Friday 18th July – Return membership renewal forms for more information please email Jackie at jcelliott@btinternet.com

Saturday 19th July – Water Polo Barbecue click here for more information

Date tbc – Members / Parents Meeting regarding Beacon ‘Funding Recovery’

Date tbc – Cyprus Training Camp Auction and Race Night for more information please email Steve at Steve.Shelts@merjs.co.uk

September 7th – Junior Fun Open Meet click here for more information

November 29th – Beckenham Rising Stars Open Meet click here for more information

Well done to Michael Gunning, Michael Cook, Ricky Outhwaite, Katie Irving, and Stephanie Denny who have been selected to represent Kent ASA at the Darmstadt 45 (Germany) International Swim Meet on 3rd July to 7th July 2008.

Beckenham 11 to 14 year old boys win Gold in the 4 by 100m freestyle relay & Silver in the 4 by 100m Medley relay, in the London regional this has resulted in them qualifying for the Nationals at Sheffield in July.

In the photo of the team (below) from left to right Gabriel Dada, Marlon Gasparotto, Jack Brown, Michael Gunning.

On the 21st June some Beckenham swimmers were part of the Bromley team for this year’s London Youth Games. With Crystal Palace being closed we went to Ealing.

Our junior and senior girl’s team won the overall girls trophy with a large points margin and the junior and senior boys came 5th overall. Our swimmers were:

Steph Denny, Steffi King, Rachel Bull, Fay Donovan, Rebecca Walton, Lauren Walton, Heather Travers, Ricky Outhwaite, Jack Regan, George Eagle, Michael Gunning, Henry Knight, Robert Deane.

Individual medals were won by the junior girl’s freestyle and medley relay, Michael, Steph, Steffi, Rachel and the senior girl’s freestyle and medley relays.

The photos are the Bromley Team and the girls receiving their overall team trophy.

This meeting started of with the presentation of Jack Petchey awards to a number of swimmers; this was carried out by Kay Grimshaw, President of London Region and later this year to be President of the ASA itself. Winners were: Tom Cordrey, Marlon Gasparotto, Gabriel Dada, Tom Cart, Rahul Bagga, Jade Donaldson, Barclay Bram-Shoemaker, George Chan and Emily Grant. The Leaders Award went to Cilla Daniel.

the Club Trophies were awarded as follows: Emily McClymont - Junior Endeavour; Steph Denny - Junior Female Swimmer; Michael Gunning - Junior Male Swimmer; Liesje Van de Velde - Senior Female swimmer; Ricky Outhwaite – Senior Male swimmer; Pat Baker - Water Polo player; Tom Cart - Most Improved Water Polo player; Richard Collins - Bedford Trophy for Club Person of the year and Luke Forryan - Jackie Brown Trophy for Club & Platinum Squads.

The Club captains for 2008/9 are:

Senior Male – Ricky Outhwaite & Senior Female – Emma Schofield

Junior Male – Michael Gunning & Junior Female – Hannah Vigors

Congratulations to Club Squad who entered the Swimathon this year instead of one of the normal Thursday training sessions. So far they have raised £760.50 and there are still collections coming in.

Jo (Club Squad Coach) said that “We all had great fun, but also the swimmers worked really hard and there was a real sense of team spirit. They partnered up and swam between 10 & 20 lengths at a time, relay style, to achieve 5K per couple.” Well done to all of Club and to Jo and those involved in organizing the event.

Beckenham Swimming Club was this week celebrating as its first team member gained a place in Britain’s Olympic team - Sixteen year old Ellen Gandy, from Bromley, is now set to compete in Beijing this summer.

Competing at the British Swimming Championships in Sheffield today (April 1st) Beckenham swimmer Ellen Gandy achieved the British Olympic qualifying time in the heat of the 200m butterfly. She then finished in the top two of the final – guaranteeing her place in the Beijing games.

Ellen started training with Beckenham swimming club after one of the coaches there, Di Manley, spotted her potential during a learn to swim session and convinced her mother, Toni, to give the club a try. According to Di the youngster demonstrated not just a love of the water but an instinctive feel for it:

“I knew when I first started coaching her that she had the potential to go all the way. It’s a real combination of things – the desire to do it, parental support, the talent and physical build and the right mindset to compete at the very highest levels. It is just totally fantastic to see her get this far,” said Di.

Over the past few years Ellen has been part of a British programme designed to raise the performance of our swimmers with Olympic potential. She helped promote London’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympics after winning three gold medals in the European Youth Olympic Festival in Italy. She has competed around the world and for the past six months has been training in Australia.

Beckenham swimming coach, Tony Beckley, who has trained Ellen for many years and has travelled to China with her in the past for a British Swimming camp, said he was overjoyed that she has done so well: “This will act as a great boast for other swimmers in the club – it makes them realise what’s achievable and really it is a wonderful achievement. “For many years Ellen has shown real commitment – she trains remarkably hard and has so much natural ability – this makes her a fantastic prospect when it comes to Olympic glory.”

Tony has other swimmers from Beckenham still to compete in the high level swimming event at Ponds Forge swimming complex in Sheffield. To gain an Olympic place they have to finish in the first two of the final and have achieved the qualifying time in the heats.

The final of the 200 m butterfly was a very close race, with four British swimmers achieving the time in the heats. The other girls were Jemma Lowe, Jessica Dickons and Hannah Miley and when it came to the final they were fighting for just two Olympic places.

Jemma Lowe had a superb start and was clearly ahead after the first length although Ellen came back over the second 50m and swam her best on the final length to finish second. Jemma achieved a new British record and won the race in 2mins 07.61secs, 0.08secs ahead of Ellen Gandy. Both girls qualified for the Games.

This success follows hard on the heels of wider success for Beckenham as younger swimmers performed very well in the recent county championships Between them they won 130 golds, 93 silvers and 75 bronzes, as well as countless fourth, fifth and sixth place medals. In last year’s championships, Beckenham brought home 106 golds, 72 silvers and 78 bronze medals.

Among the top medal winners were Leah Casey, who won 15 golds and broke six county records, her brother Danny (six golds), and Michael Gunning (seven golds). Danny and Michael also won a fistful of silvers and bronzes, despite fierce competition.

For coach Tony Beckley, who will be in Sheffield until the end of the week, praised the commitment of all of those in the club: “I think Ellen’s performance was sensational and she still has other races to compete in whilst we’re here. I know this is something that will make local people very proud and we hope it shows what can be done.

From the newshopper

A Sevenoaks youngster who first took up swimming to gain confidence with her dyslexia has been chosen to represent Britain in the World Youth Championships this July.

Leisje van der Velde was selected for the championships, which will be held in Mexico this July after her performance in recent British swimming trials. The sixteen year old achieved a new county record time of 26.81 in the 50 meters freestyle and a personal best in the 100 meters with a time of 57.68.

She swims at Beckenham Swimming Club and according to her coach, Tony Beckley, her performance in the Sheffield qualifying event was remarkable: “to be selected for the British team is a testament to her talent, determination and sheer hard work.

“When she went into the finals we knew she had to come in the first five to get a place in the British team - she not only achieved this but she also swam her best ever time and in the same championships she broke a county record as well. I think it shows what potential she has and it’s inspired a lot of the others who train alongside her.”

Leisje first took up swimming after a specialist advised her parents that she needed to find ways to boast her self esteem. Her dyslexia had been causing problems with other pupils at her primary school and had led to a loss of confidence. She settled on swimming after demonstrating a real love of water and natural talent for the sport.

Today she trains for up to fourteen hours a week with Beckenham Swimming Club and represents her school. Combe Bank, where she was the first child ever to be awarded a sports scholarship. Two years ago she represented England at the WISE School Swimming Championships in Scotland where she competed in 100m freestyle.

According to her mother, Nicky, it is sometimes hard to fit everything into her busy schedule but the input of both her school and her swimming club has been terrific: “It can be a difficult balancing act but we have all worked together to help her. She is so pleased at being given this opportunity to represent her country and we couldn’t be prouder of what she’s achieved.”

The FINA World Youth Championships will take place from July 8th but Leisje and the other swimmers will travel to Mexico on the 3rd to help them prepare for the competition. And before then she will be trying out the new controversial Speedo swim suits which have just been approved by FINA, the governing body:

“She was one of the only swimmers not wearing one in the Sheffield championships because she hadn’t tried it out – but they do seem to improve performance. If anything it can only help as it does seem to have led to a number of record breaking swims so she is keen to give it a go and will be taking it to Mexico with her,” says Mum, Nicky.

If the senior management of Beckenham Swimming Club, one of the oldest in the country, had any fears about the impact on swimmers of the closure of Crystal Palace pool, the recent county championships must have steadied their nerves.

The refurbishment of the 50m pool inevitably caused some disruption for Beckenham’s swimmers, but the club still dominated the recent Kent County Championships held in Gillingham and Bexleyheath.

A total of 59 Beckenham swimmers took part in 458 races, which ranged from 50m events to 1500m. Between them, they won 130 golds, 93 silvers and 75 bronzes, as well as countless fourth, fifth and sixth place medals. In last year’s championships, Beckenham brought home 106 golds, 72 silvers and 78 bronze medals. This year’s outstanding tally helped the club to beat 24 other clubs in both the boys’ and girls’ events.

Among the top medal winners were Croydon swimmers Leah Casey, who won 15 golds and broke six county records and her brother Danny (six golds), and Michael Gunning, from Orpington, (seven golds). Danny and Michael also won a fistful of silvers and bronzes, despite fierce competition.

For coach Tony Beckley, who is looking forward to having a 50m pool again later this year, the championships have shown that hard work and commitment really pay off.

 “Some of these youngsters are putting in up to ten hours a week and working tremendously hard, but when they look at what they have achieved, they can see what it is all for. They are a terrific team, with the older ones encouraging the younger swimmers, and everyone shouting for their team mates in the big races.

Croydon Swimmers Going For Gold

Whatever club they supported, many spectators at the Kent County Championships were mesmerised by the performance of 11-year-old Leah Casey, who won a staggering 15 gold medals during the event.

As well as setting six new county records, the young Croydon swimmer accumulated enough points to make hers the best overall performance for her age group as well as placing her in the top handful of eleven year olds in the country.

Hers is a swimming family and, not to be outshone, her brother Danny also won six gold medals and took second and third place in a number of events – a remarkable performance given the strength of entries in his 15 years and under age group.

For Dad, Mick, who swam as a youngster and who still keeps his hand in at Masters level, it’s a sport that has brought great benefits to the family in terms of health, fitness and experiences: both youngsters will attend a swimming camp in Cyprus this year as well as continuing to compete all over Britain.

Leah and Danny swim for Beckenham Swimming Club, where coach Tony Beckley closely monitors their progress in training sessions. And, despite the temporary closure of the Crystal Palace pool for refurbishment, the club has achieved impressive results in the county championships.

A total of 59 Beckenham swimmers took part in the championships, which were held in Bexleyheath and Gillingham over five weekends. Out of 458 races the club won 130 golds, 93 silvers and 75 bronzes, as well as countless fourth, fifth and sixth place medals. This year’s outstanding tally helped it beat 24 other clubs in both the boys’ and girls’ events.

“What gave our swimmers the edge in many of these events was the combination of talent and sheer commitment to the sport itself,” says Tony. “At this level in swimming the youngsters can be training for more than ten hours a week and we really saw the benefits of that dedication.”

As Leah took to the water many were heard speculating on whether she could indeed be an Olympic hopeful. This summer will see work begin on the new aquatic centre in Stratford and there is no doubt that the improved facilities can only help her achieve her goal of competing at international level.

“When I swim I feel I can achieve anything – I’m still so young so it’s hard to say, but to compete at that level would be a dream come true. I just love the sport, the training, my friends in the club and competing. It’s something I love to do and it’s great to have set so many new records in it.”

Sidcup Twins with Olympic Dreams

Twins Rebecca and Lauren Walton notched up a remarkable medal tally at the Kent County Championships and have their sights set on breaking into the record books as London’s 2012 Olympics approach.

The 12-year-olds from Sidcup won a total of 11 gold medals, three silvers and five bronzes at the championships. The twins, who live in Sidcup and swim for Beckenham Swimming Club, have been earmarked for success in June’s regional championships and plan to compete at national age group championships in August.

If they both make the 2012 squad, it would be a British Olympic first. In 2004 the American gymnasts Paul and Morgan Hamm hit the headlines when they became the first medal-winning twins at the Athens games. Although twins have competed in synchronised swimming, it has yet to happen in British swimming.

A total of 59 Beckenham swimmers took part in the championships, which were held in Bexleyheath and Gillingham over five weekends. Out of 458 races the club won 130 golds, 93 silvers and 75 bronzes, as well as countless fourth, fifth and sixth place medals. This year’s outstanding tally helped it beat 24 other clubs in both the boys’ and girls’ events.

Speaking after the championships, their coach, Tony Beckley, said both girls had tremendous potential: “It’s hard to know how far they push each other and how far they are just similar in terms of dedication, commitment and natural ability. Although we coach other twins here we haven’t seen achievement at such a high level. It’s my belief that they will continue to go from strength to strength.”

In some of the Kent County Championship races there was less than a second separating the twins: in the 400m freestyle they were neck and neck, with Rebecca eventually winning gold and Lauren silver. In the 200m freestyle less than half a second separated them. Rebecca took gold in the butterfly, breaststroke, backstroke and individual medley events and became the top girl in the 12 and under section.

This Easter Rebecca has been selected to take part in a London Regional Development training camp to boost her chances for 2012 and both girls will be going to Cyprus in October for a week with their swimming club.

 For their mother, Jackie, who first took the girls swimming when they were four, it’s sometimes hard to keep pace with their achievements: “They are always so keen to train and don’t want to miss a single session so while they enjoy it I’m happy to be their part-time taxi driver! But,” she adds, “It can be agony watching them when they’re neck and neck in the same race – that’s the main downside of having such competitive twins!”

From the Newshopper.

At just ten years old, Kunmi Ogunfeibo of Croydon is one of the most promising swimmers in Kent – a claim backed up by seven gold, silver and bronze medals in the recent Kent County Championships.

When he started swimming, he says, he shared a private family joke: “My mum (also black) used to think that black people couldn’t really swim competitively. She used to say things like: ‘If you were meant to swim like a fish, God would have made you a fish’! 

“I am happy that my brother insisted on having proper swimming lessons, because swimming is the last sport mum would have put us in. He insisted, and did well, and so I was allowed lessons. I had my first lesson when I was about 5½, and have loved swimming ever since.”

Kunmi’s performance in the pool has been phenomenal. As well as medal wins at county level, he has achieved regional level qualifying times in several events and will take part in the championships in June. He is also through to the forthcoming finals in the Croydon Schools Championships.

“I am often asked what my secret is, and I am too shy to tell.  But before a race, I always pray to God that I do my best. Sometimes I don’t do a best time, but most times I do.  When I don’t and I know I made silly mistakes I am very angry with myself, but I soon get over it because my friends make me forget.“

Kunmi trains at Beckenham Swimming Club, where coach Di Manley has been impressed by his dedication and commitment. “We ask a lot of these youngsters and you find differences in how much effort they’re prepared to put in. For Kunmi, the fact that he is so focused has paid dividends and he’ll continue to go from strength to strength.”

A total of 59 Beckenham swimmers took part in the championships, which were held in Bexleyheath and Gillingham over five weekends. Out of 458 races the club won 130 golds, 93 silvers and 75 bronzes, as well as countless fourth, fifth and sixth place medals. This year’s outstanding tally helped it beat 24 other clubs in both the boys’ and girls’ events.

His love of the sport is evident both when Kunmi trains and when he competes: “I have made some really great friends at swimming, and I love it.  The training is hard; I train for around six hours a week. One thing I struggle with is stamina, but I still race long distances. To all black boys and girls out there – we can swim, and it’s fun!”

From the Newshopper.

A LANGLEY Park swimmer has been selected by Great Britain to take part in this summer's Olympic games in Beijing.

Ellen Gandy, 16, secured her place after an impressive display at the British swimming championships in Sheffield. The Beckenham Swimming Club member achieved the British Olympic qualifying time in the heat of the 200m butterfly. She then finished second in the final to guarantee her place in the Beijing games.

Gandy started training with Beckenham swimming club at the age of five and has dominated events at county and regional level for many years. For the past six months she has been training in Australia and is overjoyed her commitment has finally paid off.

Beckenham coach Tony Beckley, who has coached Ellen for many years and has travelled to China with her in the past for a British swimming camp, said he was overjoyed that she had done so well.

He explained: "This will act as a great boast for other swimmers in the club as it makes them realise what's achievable and really it is a wonderful achievement. "For many years, Ellen has shown real commitment. "She trains remarkably hard and has so much natural ability and this makes her a fantastic prospect when it comes to Olympic glory."

Beckley has other swimmers from Beckenham still to compete in the high level swimming event at Ponds Forge swimming complex in Sheffield. To gain an Olympic place, they have to finish in the first two of the final and have achieved the qualifying time in the heats.

The final of the 200m butterfly was a very close race with four British swimmers achieving the time in the heats. As well as Gandy, the other girls were Jemma Lowe, Jessica Dickons and Hannah Miley and when it came to the final, they were fighting for just two Olympic places.

Lowe had a superb start and was clearly ahead after the first length, although Gandy came back over the second 50m and swam her best on the final length to finish second. A new British record was set by Lowe, who won the race in 2mins 07.61secs, 0.08secs ahead of Gandy.

The result ensures both girls qualified for Beijing.

This success follows hard on the heels of wider success for Beckenham as younger swimmers performed very well in the recent county championships.

Between them they won 130 golds, 93 silvers and 75 bronzes as well as countless fourth, fifth and sixth place medals.

In last year's championships, Beckenham brought home 106 golds, 72 silvers and 78 bronze medals.

Among the top medal winners were Leah Casey, who won 15 golds and broke six county records, her brother Danny with six golds and Michael Gunning with seven golds.

Danny and Gunning also won a fistful of silvers and bronzes, despite fierce competition.

From the Newshopper.

When Petts Wood swimmer, Michael Gunning, was younger he had to be coaxed to the starting block for a race. Now he can hardly be kept away and last weekend he clinched the top award for best 13-year-old boy in the County.

For a boy whose talent was obvious almost from his first swimming lesson when he was four, his progress has been phenomenal. As well as competing at county, regional and national level, he has been identified as having Olympic potential by the London Regional Development Programme, which provides additional sessions to back up the training he does with Beckenham Swimming Club.

His swims at the Kent County Championships over five weekends have yielded him seven gold medals, eight silvers and six bronzes. In Sunday’s 200m butterfly race he set a new county record of 2.16.18 and achieved a national age group qualifying time in the process. It was an outstanding swim in an event he clearly loves:

“I was so nervous before hand. I remember my coach saying: ‘Enjoy it’, but in my heart I knew I should do well. After 20 minutes of waiting I finally swam my race and felt fantastic. To be honest, I didn’t feel like I went super fast but when I hit the wall for my finish I was thrilled with the time.

“When I did finish, all my friends, family and parents cheered and that is the best feeling in the world. A lot of my school friends think I don’t really have much of a social life, but swimming is fantastic – it is really the very best thing in my life.”

A total of 59 Beckenham swimmers took part in the championships, which were held in Bexleyheath and Gillingham. Out of 458 races the club won 130 golds, 93 silvers and 75 bronzes, as well as countless fourth, fifth and sixth place medals. This year’s outstanding tally helped it beat 24 other clubs in both the boys’ and girls’ events.

Michael clearly has his heart set on Olympic selection in either 2012 or 2016: “We to go on training camps and they teach me about nutrition and how to relax before a big event. My dream is that one day I will compete in the Olympics – with my coach Tony Beckley there to cheer me on.”

And according to Tony, it’s a dream that could become a reality: “It’s rare to see this combination of determination, talent and sheer dedication and it’s a winning combination which could clearly take him all the way. Michael never says ‘never’ so in truth his ambition knows no bounds.”

Michael is already spending up to 14 hours a week in the water. But, according to his mum, Gillian, he’d train for longer if he could: “His coach has said to us that sometimes it’s hard to get Michael out of the pool. When he was younger he didn’t like competing in events as he wasn’t confident in himself. As time has gone on, his confidence has grown as he has realised  he has the ability to succeed.”

From the Newshopper.

A WEST Wickham swimmer achieved great success at the Kent County swimming championships, which finished last weekend.

Twelve-year-old Henry Knight started to swim after attending a Hydrotherapy pool session organised for his disabled twin brother, George, who as a toddler could still not walk. George was born with a rare form of cerebral palsy, Worster Drought Syndrome, and was referred to the Phoenix Centre pool in Bromley by his neurologist to help build up his muscle strength.

Eager not to be left out, Henry started to swim and at the county championships his efforts paid off when he swam in the medley relay with other 12-year-olds from his club, Beckenham. They won gold and Henry achieved a personal best time of 34.88s in the 50m backstroke and brother George was asked by county swimming officials to help with the medal presentations.

According to their mum, Jenny, it was a very special moment for both boys. She said: "George is just so proud of Henry and then to be asked to present the medals at such an important occasion was just brilliant.

"George was so excited he couldn't wait for the moment to come.

"We encouraged him to stay calm, but it was something of an uphill struggle." H enry had a number of other impressive swims at the Kent championships, which took place over three weekends at the Black Lion Sports Centre in Gillingham.

He won a bronze medal for his swim in the 100m backstroke and achieved a personal best time of 1m15.11s.

Next on the agenda for the young swimmer are the London regional championships in June.

And George hasn't missed out on the excitement, according to Jenny.

She said: "He loves watching Henry swim, but what he loves most is the social side of the sport and meeting all the other swimmers and their parents. "He talks to all of them and loves coming along to watch as many of Henry's training sessions as he can."

According to Beckenham Club coach Tony Beckley, the experience of the Knight twins shows just how valuable a sport swimming can be. He said: "It operates on so many different levels.

"It isn't always about competitive swimming, although Henry shows just how important that can be, but it's also about water safety, health, friendship and the enjoyment which comes from just getting involved."