Mini League - Colchester October 2008

Braintree swimmers travelled to Colchester for their final round Gala in the Mini League. Isabella Salthouse opened the evening with a fine win and PB in her Backstroke event, this was a result repeated by the under 10 Girls breaststroke team of Lauren Jolliffe, Jessica Bulleid, Lucy Merrell and Abigail Hart. The Boys team led of by Craig Chambers with a six second PB, Dan Mclagan, Elliott Birks and Ole Mills gained a fine second place.

Two wins followed from Matthew Banner and Emma Bennett in their back and free swims respectively, while Lewis Birks and Megan Thomas both had second places in their Free and Fly events. Adam Shambrook and Ben Lane added to the winners on the night with Ben picking up a fine PB. Megan Halfacre and Dayna Williams both had superb new Pb and second place finishes in their Breaststroke events.

The Boys free style relay team of Lewis Birks, Phillip Hart, Adam Shambrook and Tom Mclagan picked up second place. Tom Crerar picked up a pair of second place finishes in his Breast and Free swims, whilst David Zuo was second in his breaststroke. The Girls squadron Fly team of Abigail Hart, Amy Lazell, Sophie Howard, Emma Bennett, Emma Wilde and Megan Thomas were second while the boys squadron relay Dan Mclagan, Ole Mills, Ben Shambrook, Phillip Hart, Lewis Birks, Adam Shambrook finished one better to take victory. Alex White and Tom Dagley both swam impressive Pb's in their Backstroke events with both taking second, while Emily Bulleid smashed her previous best in her 100m Freestyle.

Adam Shambrook had another victory to saviour in his Freestyle; further wins came once again from the boys under 10-relay team this time in their freestyle. Both the clubs squadron Breaststroke teams of Girls Jessica Bulleid, Megan Halfacre, Louise Lazell, Sian Chambers, Emily Bulleid and Amy Shambrook and boy's team of Ole Mills, Elliott Birks, Ben Shambrook, David Zuo, Tom Dagley, and Adam Shambrook took victories. Emma Wilde swam to a more than 5 second pb in her fly event and took second whilst Phillip Hart went one better picking up a win in his corresponding event.

The final relays were to yield 2 wins in the under 14 freestyle for both the Girls, Emma Bennett, Emma Wilde, Sian Chambers and Emily Bulleid and Boys, David Zuo, Tom Dagley, Lewis Birks and Phillip Hart. The Girls under eleven freestyle team of Lauren Hughes, Megan Halfacre, Abigail Hart and Amy Lazell took second place. Although only three teams competed on the night it was a close swum evening throughout, a fine 29 best times being achieved by the swimmers.

Final Score: Chelmsford 178 - Braintree 176 - Colchester 170

Essex Swim League -October 2008-10-15

Having won Division 3 and gained promotion last Season Braintree took to the pool at Rochford for this first round Gala of the new season. A solid if unspectacular start was made with the Boy's 11 and under Freestyle team of Orin Mann, Ben Shambrook, David Fryatt and Dan Mclagan swimming to a second place finish. Hannah Travell picked up the first win of the night in a new PB time in her backstroke swim, Ben Shambrook picked up a second place in his freestyle.

The Girls 13 and under Freestyle relay of Becky Booty, Emily Bulleid, Hannah Travell and Alice Hickmott team picked up a win, whilst the Boys Medley team of Orin Mann, Lewis Birks, Luke Durban and Philip Hart competing in the same age bracket had a second place. Relays proved a good source of points as the Girls under 15 Medley team of Alice Hickmott, Helen Mitchell, Lucy Hall and Grace Bauckham were to pick up a win, while the eleven and under Boys repeated their second place from earlier in the evening this time in their Medley event.

As the competition moved into the second half of the evening the Braintree swimmers started to excel with Hannah Travell picking up her second individual win with a PB this time in her freestyle, Luke Durban picked up a second place in his Freestyle, while David Fryatt had a win in his backstroke. The Girls under 13 relay team (Becky Booty, Emily Bulleid, Hannah Travell and Alice Hickmott) picked up another win this time in the freestyle whilst the boys under 13 Medley team of Tom Mclagan, David Zuo, Luke Durban and Philip Hart swam to second.

Lucy Hall picked up a second place in her Open age group freestyle, Becky Booty had a second place in her Fly and Alice Hickmott was another second place finisher in her Backstroke, whilst two more wins came from Louise Lazell and Orin Mann both in their respective 11 and under Breaststroke events. The Girls Open relay team (Helen Mitchell, Lucy Hall, Amy Shambrook and Grace Bauckham) picked up a second place from their freestyle event.

The final race of the night was the Squadron relay and the Braintree team of Orin Mann, Harriet Bartram-Baird, Luke Durban, Emily Bulleid, Adam Shambrook, Helen Mitchell, Max Palmer-Everson and Adam Shambrook took a fine victory to round out the night. A very encouraging nights swimming saw Braintree to a fine second place, this sets them up nicely for the coming rounds.

Result Rochford 184 Braintree 157 Romford 152 Canvey Island 141 Harwich 101

The last competition for Braintree Swimmers this season was the Bishop Stortford Sprint Open meet held at the Braintree Swimming Centre, this event offer swimmers 5 events with 50 metres of each stroke plus the 4 x 25 Individual Medley.

Braintree had 24 swimmers across the morning and afternoon sessions. The Girls 9 years age group saw Abigail Hart collect 4 medals in the Free, Back, Fly and 4x 25 Medley along with 5 Pb's, while Jessica Bulleid collected 1 medal in her Breaststroke event whilst also picking up 4 Pb's through the day.

In the Boys 9 year age group Elliot Birks collected 3 medals in his Fly, Breast and Medley, Ben Durban swam to 4 medals with 2 Gold and a Silver in the Back, Breast, Fly, and Medley along with 4 Pb's. Ole Mills had 2 swims 2 medals and 2 Pb's in his Free and Breast, while Daniel Mclagan had a Silver and 2 Bronze medals in his Medley, Fly and Back along with 4 Pb's.

The 11-year-old Girls had 4 swimmers, Sophie Howard collecting 3 medals in her Free, Fly and Medley along with 3 Pb's, both Millie Bauckham and Harriet Bartram- Baird missed medal finishes by the smallest of margins, with Millie collecting 1 Pb and Harriet 2 Pb's, Emma Wilde had a good days swimming picking up 4 Pb's with her Back and Breaststroke in particular looking good.

David Fryatt in the Boys 11 year age group had a fine day picking up 2 Gold and 2 Silver in his Medley, Free, Back and Fly. The 12-year Girls age bracket was keenly contested with Hannah Travell swimming 4 Pb's and collecting 5 medals including a Silver and Bronze from her 5 swims in the Free, Fly, Medley, Back and Breaststroke events. Becky Booty collected 4 medals in the Fly, Free, Back and Medley along with 4 Pb's. Emily Bulleid collected a medal in her Freestyle swim whist also gathering 5 impressive new Pb's, Sian Chambers also had a good meet collecting 3 new Pb's throughout her day's swimming.

In the Boys twelve year age group Luke Durban picked up a set of 5 Gold medals form his 5 swims along with 1 Pb, Tom Mclagan had a Silver in the Medley and a bronze in the Back amongst his 4 medals whilst also picking up 2 Pb's. Lewis Birks had a consistent day collecting 3 medals and 3 Pb's in his Baack, Fly and Medley; rounding out the swimmers in this category was Philip Hart who picked up a fine new Pb in his Breaststroke event.

The thirteen-year-old Girls age bracket had 3 swimmers; Grace Bauckham had 3 swims and collected 3 medals along with 2 Pb's her best swim being a bronze in the Free, Helen Mitchell was another to prosper with 4 medals on the day from the Back, Breast and Medley her best finish being Silver form the Fly. Alex White had 2 swims and swam to 2 new Pb's in her Fly and Medley events.

Matthew Horne had just 2 swims but picked up a Silver medal in his Breaststroke event whilst also collecting a Pb in his Back. Max Palmer- Everson competed in the Boys 15 and over age group collecting 2 new Pb's in his Back and Breaststroke.

Braintree Swimming Club in conjunction with the Essex County Swimming Association hosted the first all day competition at the new Braintree Swimming Centre to determine if the pool will be suitable for holding County events in the future.

Many of the events were the longer distance's so would give the swimmers the opportunity to swim events they don't usually get to do on a regular basis.

The day proved a success both in and out of the pool for Braintree. The swimmers certainly did their part not only winning 17 medals with 8 Gold, 2 Silver and 7 Bronze, but also putting up 27 personal bests from the 36 swims.

Harriet Bartram- Baird picked up 3 new best times, with both Millie and Grace Bauckham also collecting one new best each with Grace also picking up a bronze medal in the 4x 50-medley event. Lewis Birks had 2 medals and 2 Pb's with a Gold and Bronze in the 4x25 and 4x50 Medley events. Rebekah Booty was another to visit the podium twice collecting Bronze in the 2 medley events both in new best times she also swam a massive new Pb in her 400m Freestyle.

Chloe Grose had two swims and picked up Pb's in both, while Philip Hart made the best of his one swim to record himself a new best time in his 4x25 medley. Abigail Hart picked up Gold in her only swim also in the 4x25 medley smashing her previous best time by nearly 7 seconds. Matthew Horne had a Silver medal form his 4x25 medley to celebrate, whilst also picking up a new Pb in the 4x50 event. Sophie Howard had a busy day with 4 events with her best finish being a Bronze medal swim in her 4x50 medley.

Amy and Louise Lazell both competed in the 4x25 medley and will have picked up some experience from their afternoons swimming that will hold them in good stead for the future. Orin Mann was a Silver medal winner from his only event this coming in the 4zx50 medley. Helen Mitchell had a good day winning 3 Gold medals all in Pb times these coming in the 4x25. 4x50 and 4x100 Medley's. Isabella Salthouse was another to swim 4 events and she can be pleased to return with not only 4 Pb's but also a Gold and Bronze medal form the 4x50 and 4x100 Medley events. Hannah Travell was another to collect Gold winning both the 4x50 and 4x100 in new best times.

The eleven and under boys freestyle team of Ton Crerar, Ben Shambrook, David Fryatt and Orin Mann managed a third place finish. A run of good results followed in the individual events with David Fryatt swimming an impressive Pb (personal best) in his backstroke while Luke Durban had a second place and a Pb in his Fly event. Jessica Bulleid had a near second and a half Pb to celebrate in her Breaststroke race and a good third place finish, while in the corresponding Boys event Ben Durban picked up Braintree's first victory of the afternoon.

Isabella Salthouse had a superb three-second Pb in her Backstroke swim and a fine third place finish, also for the Girl's Hannah Travell took second place in her Fly swim, a position matched by Orin Mann for the Boys in the same event. Alice Hickmott collected the second victory of the afternoon just touching out her opponent in the twelve-year freestyle;

Luke Durban swam a Pb in his freestyle going under the 30-second barrier for the first time. Hannah Travell collected a Pb and a comfortable win seeing of her opponents in her eleven years freestyle race, while David Fryatt had a third place finish and Pb swim in his freestyle.

Abigail Hart picked up a second place in her nine years fly event to continue her good performances during the campaign. Orin Mann swam a Pb in his Breaststroke event and picked up a valuable second place. The twelve years backstroke events saw Alice Hickmott take another individual win, while Tom Mclagan was third. The Girls nine-year relay team of Lauren Hughes, Jessica Bulleid, Abigail Hart and Harriet White picked up a third place.

The race of the afternoon saw the Girls twelve- year freestyle relay team of Sian Chambers, Becky Booty, Hannah Travell and Alice Hickmott take a win with Alice on the last leg touching out the opposition by a fraction of a second. The Boys twelve- year relay team of Tom Mclagan, Lewis Birks Orin Mann and Luke Durban picked up their second runners up finish of the afternoon.

A total of 28 Pbs were claimed from the 49 races, with particularly impressive improvements coming from Megan Halfacre who improved her Breaststroke time by nearly 3 seconds, Lauren Hughes a near 2 second best time in her Backstroke from Millie Bauckham who took more than a second of her Breaststroke, and from Harriet White who took just over 2 seconds off her freestyle time.

Congratulations to all the team who improved on their entry position to finish a creditable fourth on the afternoon.

Final Result Griffins 216 Halstead 211 Anaconda 164 Braintree 149 Rochford 144 Greenwich 142

Braintree Swimming Club had six swimmers competing over the first two weekends of June at this year’s East Region BAGCAT swimming championships. As befits the title of the competition this is the best swimmer’s coming from across the East Region to compete at the University of East Anglia at Norwich in the 50-metre pool.

To qualify is an achievement in itself, but to make finals and achieve top ten places takes swimming of the highest order, a superb total of nine final places were achieved by the swimmers along with 7 more top eight finishes in the distance events.

Alice Hickmott took a superb second place and a Silver medal, whilst also achieving National Qualification in her 100metres Backstroke for 12 year old; Alice also qualified for the 200m Backstroke final.

The latest round of the Mini League, which is a time-based gala, was swum at Harrow Lodge Pool and Braintree made a storming start winning 4 of the first 5 events.

Sophie Howard and Ben Shambrook both winning their respective under 12 years back stroke events, with Amy Lazell also winning in her under 11 backstroke. The boys relay team of Jordan Rudge, Ole Mills, Elliot Birks and Ben Lane swam to victory in their breaststroke relay.

The girls breaststroke team of Lauren Hughes, Amy Lazell, Abigail Hart and Jessica Bulleid took second, Emma Bennett also took a runners up spot in her freestyle event, this was a place both Adam Shambrook and Louise Lazell matched in their fly and Breaststroke events.

Ben Lane and Gregory Bennett both took wins in their freestyle swims with Hannah Bailey also taking first in her backstroke swim. Adam Shambrook and Sian Chambers both had to settle for runners up finishes in their back and breaststroke events respectively.

The girls fly relay team of Abigail Hart, Isabella Salthouse, Sophie Howard, Emma Bennett, Amy Shambrook and Megan Thomas swam to a victory. This was followed by another win from the under 12 Girls freestyle team of Millie Bauckham, Emma Wilde, Louise Lazell and Sophie Howard.

Emily Bulleid took second place in her under 14-backstroke event, while the under 10 girls team Lauren Hughes, Amy Lazell, Abigail Hart and Jessica Bulleid matched this finish. Another batch of wins came from Isabella Salthouse, Emma Wilde and Ben Shambrook all swimming fly in their various age groups.

More consistent swimming from the breaststroke team of Jessica Bulleid, Megan Halfacre, Louise Lazell, Sian Chambers, Amy Shambrook and Hannah Bailey saw them take second this position was matched by Lewis Birks in his fly swim. The boys relay team of David Zuo Tom Dagley, Lewis Birks and Phillip Hart took another runners up spot. Being a 33-metre pool there were plenty of personal bests swum on the night with 41 coming from the 48 events swum.

Final Score Romford 197 Braintree 157 Rochford 150 Chelmsford 124

A small team of Braintree swimmers travelled to Colchester to compete at their annual open meet held over the Bank holiday weekend they can be pleased with their swims picking up 6 new best times from just 10 swims and 2 medals.

Five Braintree swimmers represented the club on the distance evening of the annual Waltham Forest Olympic Development meet. It was a highly successful evening for them, returning with five medals.

Hannah Travell got proceedings under way when she claimed second spot in the 800m, all the more impressive as this was only her second swim at this distance. Helen Mitchell followed this with fifth position in the 12/13 800m.

It was then the turn of the boys in the 1500m, David Fryatt coming third in his age group, Luke Durban third and Thomas McLagan sixth, both in the 12/13 age group.

The second round of this year’s Junior Speedo was once again hosted by Braintree at the Braintree Swimming Centre. The competition started well with a second place finish for the Girls 12 and under Medley Relay team of Alice Hickmott, Sian Chambers, Becky Booty and Hannah Travell whilst the Girls 9 year freestyle team of Holly Bristow, Abigail Hart, Jessica Bulleid and Amy Lazell went one better picking a fine win.

High points scoring position’s then proved difficult to come by over the next few events against some good opposition. Amy Lazell had a second place finish in her Freestyle event, whilst Ben Shambrook had an impressive 3 and a half second PB and second place finish to celebrate in his backstroke event in his 11year old Boys age group, while Jessica Bulleid also took second place in her 9 years Breaststroke event.

Ben Durban then swam to the one and only victory of the competition for the Boy’s in his 9 years Breaststroke swim, his win was followed by one from Hannah Travell who also secured herself a new PB in her 11 year old fly event. Orin Mann took second, also in a new PB time in the Boys corresponding age bracket for his Fly, while Alice Hickmott also had to settle for second in her 12 years freestyle.

Hannah Travell returned for her second individual win of the afternoon in the 11 years freestyle, this maintains her unbeaten run in individual events during this year’s league campaign. Abigail Hart improved her fly time to collect another second place for the team; Orin Mann matched this finish in his Breaststroke event, with Alice Hickmott returning to her usual
position of first in her favoured Backstroke event.

The 9 year olds Girl relay team of Holly Bristow, Abigail Hart, Jessica Bulleid and Amy Lazell took another fine win this time in their Freestyle event to complete an unbeaten afternoon for their quartet while the final win for the team came form the Girl’s 12 year olds of Alice Hickmott, Sian Chambers, Becky Booty and Hannah Travell.

Tom Crerar had an impressive 3 Pb’s during the afternoon with a 2 second Pb in his 10 years 50m and a near 2 second Pb in his Freestyle relay event and a massive 8 second PB in his Breaststroke swim, further Pb’s were achieved by Melissa Deith, Lewis Birks, Ben Shambrook, Sophie Howard, Isabella Salthouse and Becky Booty

Final Result; Griffins 235 Greenwich 207 Erith 181 Braintree 176 Basildon 134 Harlow 62

Braintree Swimming Centre Officially Openedl
Sponge Bob Proves a Hit

The Braintree Swimming Centre was officially opened by ex Braintree swimmer Giles Long MBE. The facility which is amongst the finest in the region and will be home to the Braintree Club.

The club was also presented with its' Swim 21 Certificate by Kevin Wray - East Region, Regional Director

Any questions please contact Steve.
(hall@braintreeswimming.co.uk or mob: (07894 140581))

The final weekend of the Essex County Championships saw several Braintree Swimmers once again make their way to Blackshots Pool at Thurrock in their attempts for more honours amongst the counties finest.

On Saturday Helen Mitchell competed in the Girls 12 years 1500 metres Freestyle event, she can be delighted with a Bronze medal for her efforts over the gruelling 60 lengths. For the Boys it was Luke Durban and Tom Mclagan in the 11years category and David Fryatt in the 10 years band, they were joined by Matthew Horne. The boys morning events saw the 200metre backstroke for the 10 and 11 age groups with David finishing just outside the medals in seventh, Tom finishing ninth while Luke finished in the medal places with a fourth all gaining new Pb times. Matthew Horne qualified for the 100m Breaststroke final.

In the afternoon David and Luke competing in their respective age groups in the 200metre fly, David swimming to a fine Pb and a fifth place whilst Luke again showed his consistent swimming throughout the championships with another top six medal place.

On sunday Helen Mitchell returned and was joined by Alice Hickmott and Hannah Travell. The morning event for the Girls was the 100metre freestyle, Hannah qualified for the Girls 11 year old final in fourth with a three second Pb in her heat, while in the 12 year group Alice can be pleased with a Pb from her swim whilst Helen was first reserve for the final missing out by an agonising 3 hundredths of a second on a final place. In the final Hannah showed her determination by improving her time and place yet again to swim a fine race and pick up a deserved Bronze medal.

The afternoon session started with the heats of the 100m backstroke Helen claimed herself another Pb while Hannah picked up a 3 second Pb and was third fastest going into the final of her 11 year age group, with Alice placing herself second fastest from the heats in the 12 years. The second event of the afternoon was the 200metre backstroke where again all 3 girls swam to Pb's Alice doing enough to gain a sixth place finish overall in her age bracket. And so to the finals of the 100metre back events and at the end of a long day the question was could Alice and Hannah raise their game for the finals. Up first was Hannah she got off to a blistering start and improved her heat time by over a second to earn herself a second Bronze on the day, she was followed up by Alice who also answered the question and swam a determined race to claim a fantastic Gold and improve her Pb by around a second from the heat time. The perfect end to this seasons County championships for the Club and it's swimmers, Gold in the final event.

The continued improvement by all involved saw a 12th place finish for the club, its highest for many years

The total medal count for the championships was 34 with, 5 Gold 3 Silver 10 Bronze and a further 16 fourth to sixth place finishes. Notable top ten BAGCAT finishes were achieved by; David Fryatt 6th 10 years Boys Luke Durban 2nd 11 years Boys Hannah Travell 5th 11 years Girls Alice Hickmott 4th 12 years Girls While Helen Mitchell, Tom Mclagan and Max Palmer Everson all finished just outside the top ten in their respective age groups.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR SWIMMERS

Nine swimmers from Braintree Swimming Club travelled to Southend on Easter Friday for the annual Open meet hosted by Southend swimming club to compete over 100 metres in the four stroke disciplines.

Elliot Birks can be pleased with his days swimming efforts picking up 4 Pb's from his four events whilst his older brother Lewis can also be pleased with his performance also picking up 4 Pb's, all in medal earning places the best of which were 2 fourth places finishes in his back and fly events.

Abigail Hart swam in 3 events and collected herself a full set of Pb's from her swims the highlight being a twelve second Pb in the freestyle, whilst her brother Philip also had 3 swims, he collected a full set of Pb's and 3 medal finishes with two third places in his free and fly events being the pick.

Sophie Howard competed in all 4 disciplines and had two Pb's with her best result being a sixth place medal finish in her freestyle event.

Isabella Salthouse swam to a fantastic 21 second pb in the fly event to earn herself a medal finish with a sixth place, whilst also achieving a massive pb in her back stroke event to enjoy her day. Emma Wilde was another who had 3 swims and can celebrate with a full house of Pb's.

The Lazell Sisters of Amy and Louise rounded out the Braintree Swimmers with Amy collecting 2 Pb's from her two swims in the back and free while Louise had a Pb in her breaststroke event.

Every swimmer achieved at least one personal best during the day with 24 of the 28 total swims being new best times a fine event from all the swimmers.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR SWIMMERS

The penultimate weekend of the County swimming championships saw more highly competitive swimming take place from Braintree swimmers with medals being won and lost by fractions of a second, in some of the closest swimming seen this championships. Luke Durban in the 11 years 400m Freestyle had himself a ding dong battle over the entire distance and was touched out by 2 hundredths of a second to collect Silver in a massive new PB time a fine effort from Luke, in the 10 years age group David Fryatt also earned himself a new PB and was also a medal winner collecting himself a Bronze and a club record, Tom Mclagan also competed in the 11 years and swam himself to a regional qualifying time, Max Palmer Everson completed the Boys entries gaining a final place in his 100m fly event where he achieved a Pb to finish 5th in the final and another medal place for Max, he also had a solid 200m Medley event and a top ten finish.

Hannah Travell in the 11years, Alice Hickmott and Helen Mitchell both in the 12 years were also in attendance all three girls swam the morning events of 100m Breaststroke and 200m Free, Hannah took nearly 5 seconds off her breaststroke time and improved her entry position, she also took over six seconds of her Freestyle time and missed out on a medal finish by just over a tenth of a second. Alice also swam a PB time in the Breaststroke and was a reserve finalist, she also improved her Freestyle time for a pair of PB's whilst Helen Mitchell had a top ten finish in the freestyle. Both the Girls returned for the afternoon in the 400m Medley both will be satisfied with good Pb's finishing 13th and 14th respectively.

Day two saw Hannah Travell, Alice Hickmott and Helen Mitchell return for their 100m Medley event both Alice and Hannah qualified for their respective age group finals in sixth with Helen again settling for a PB effort from her swim. The finals were again very close, Hannah improved her heat time by a second but was touched out of third into fourth place whilst Alice went one better and took Bronze. Max Palmer Everson had a tremendous swim in his 100m Freestyle going under a minute for the first time but missing the final by an agonising tenth of a second.

The afternoon session saw the boys in the shape of Luke Durban David Fryatt and Tom Mclagan return for their 200m Medley. First up was David who improved his entry position to collect his second Bronze medal of the weekend this was a theme that continued with Luke also improving his entry position and collect his second Silver of the weekend in yet another very close finish that was in the balance until the final 5 metres, Tom Mclagan rounded out the boys swimming with a PB and eighth place finish a good effort to move up the rankings by Tom.

The final event of the weekend was the Girls 400m Freestyle with Hannah Travell improving her lifetime best by 6 seconds and gain regional qualification, Grace Bauckham had her only swim of the weekend and improved her Pb whilst finishing one place out of the medals in seventh, Helen Mitchell swimming in the same heat also gained regional qualification and took home a 5th place finish to finish of another fine weekend for the swimmers and club.

Several of the clubs swimmers hold high ranking positions in their respective age groups and with one weekend left will look to consolidate or indeed improve their position they are David Fryatt 4th Boys 10 years, Hannah Travell 5th Girls 11years and Luke Durban 3rd Boys 11years.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR SWIMMERS

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR SWIMMERS

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR SWIMMERS

Achievement Awards:
Best Young Swimmer Girls- Verity Foster, Georgia Harrod
Best Young Swimmer Boys- Ben Durban
Sean Eveleigh Achievement Award - David fryatt

Saturday 12th January saw the annual Presentation Evening for Braintree & Bocking Swimming Club.

It has been a very successful year for the club & the competition for the awards reflected this.

Club Championship Awards:
Girls 8 & Under - Abigail Hart
Boys 8 & Under - Daniel McLagen
Girls 9-10 - Sophie Howard
Boys 9-10 - David Fryatt
Girls 11-12 - Helen Mitchell
Boys 11-12 - Luke Durban
Girls 13-14 _ Paige Dutton
Boys 13-14 - Max Palmer Everson
Girls 15-16 - Rachel Firth
Girls 16-17 - Rachel Farley

Stroke Trophies :
Girls 100m IM - Rachel Firth
Boys 100m IM - Adam Byford
Girls 100m Breaststroke- Rachel Firth
Boys 100m Breaststroke- Dan Messenger
Girls 100m Fly- Rachel Firth
Boys 100m Fly- Adam Byford
Girls 100m Back - Alice Hickmott
Boys 100m Back- Adam Byford
Girls 100m Free- Georgia Manning
Boys 100m free - Adam Byford

Braintree clinched promotion to division 1 after an exciting night of swimming at Bexleyheath.

It was a tremendous effort from the squad, with many swimmers having to swim in older age groups, notably Luke Durban and Alice Hickmott.

It was the younger swimmers who again caught the eye, with Hannah Travell, Roz Smith, Harriett Bartram-Baird & Helen Mitchell leading the way. Becky Booty had a memorable evening winning both her individual events in addition to both relays.

Thanks to to the senior swimmers who earned many valuable points..

Final positions:
Redhill & Reigate 314
Braintree & Bocking 238
Elmbridge Phoenix 236
Dorking 227
Bekenham 222
City of Canterbutry 198
Eltham Stingrays 184
Maidstone 174

The afternoon session produced more of the same, with the highlight being the girls 4x50 medley relay. Braintree went into the final in fifth place more than 2 seconds away from a medal. Alice Hickmott was first away setting a new PB for her 50m backstroke, Helen Mitchell took over and took a second off her breastroke time (which she had set in the heats) Grace Bauckham was magnificant on the fly leg putting the team in 4th position, it was down to Hannah Travell who also set a new PB as she claimed third place for the team.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR SWIMMERS

Funding For Braintree swimmer
Support from local businesses for David

Through the Braintree Supporting Sport Partnership local businesses have made a contribution to funding atheletes in the area who have the potential to reach national and possibly international level.

Braintree swimmer David Fryatt was one five local athletes who received their Braintree Supporting Sports Partnership Awards at the Sports Essex Awards Evening..

The improving Braintree swimmers recorded their first Speedo League win for a number of years when they triumphed at Beckenham. It is the depth of talent available that is making the difference and in this event it showed with a total of 11 1st places and 15 seconds.

Good swims from many, but the 11&U girls team of Roz Smith, Hannah Travell, Becky Booty and Sophie Howard deserve special mention, not just for winning both relay events, but the manner in which they did it.

Thanks to all at Rochester for hosting and to all those Braintree parents who helped.

Final positions:
Braintree & Bocking 313
Dorking 291.5
Olympos Marlins B 255
Hythe Aqua 218
Black Lion B 199
Barracudas 185
Sutton Atlantis 169
City Of Rochester 145

Braintree finished in 4th position(1 point behind 1st) after Round 2 and as such we have made the No1 Gala for round 3 with the possibility of promotion. Full league table here.

Round 3 draw has been made & the details are as follows:

Saturday 8th December - Venue TBA
Redhill & Reigate
Elmbridge Phoenix
Dorking
Braintree & Bocking
Beckenham ‘B’
Maidstone
City of Canterbury ‘B’
Eltham Stingrays

Keep this date free!

THE 2007 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

SPONSORED By BUSHCADE LTD at RIVERSIDE POOL - BRAINTREE

Sunday 11th November 2007 - WARM-UP 4.30pm - FIRST EVENT 5.00 pm

Thursday 15th November 2007 - WARM-UP 6.00pm - FIRST EVENT 6.30 pm

Saturday 17th November 2007 - WARM-UP 6.00pm - FIRST EVENT 6.30 p

Sunday 18th November 2007 - WARM-UP 4.30pm - FIRST EVENT 5.00 pm

Thursday 22nd November 2007m- WARM-UP 6.00pm - FIRST EVENT 6.30 pm

A full programme is available for download here.

IMPORTANT - There will be NO TRAINING on any of the above dates.

The following events are Time Trials only and do not count towards the Club Championships

200 Fly - Wednesday 21st November 2007 - WARM-UP 6.00am - Start 6.30 am
800 FC Saturday 22nd December WARM-UP 7.30am - Start 8.00am
400 IM Sunday 23rd December WARM-UP 4.30pm - Start 5.00 pm

400 FC TBA
1500 FC TBA

Congratulations to all our swimmers on an excellent round 1 at Bexleyheath. In a closely fought event Braintree came 2nd to Dorking. Building on the progress made last season Braintree continued their improvemet. There was some some great swimming and team spirit, plenty of PBs and a well deserved result.

It was the younger swimmers who provided the platform for the evening, winning many of the relay and individual events. The senior girls backed this up, with the highlight being the final relay event, Rachel Firth, Meagan Costin, Hayley Brown, Amy Shambrook and Shelley Wakeling gave Helen Mitchell the opportunity to hold off Dorking in an exciting finnish.

Thanks to all Dorking for hosting and to all those Braintree parents who helped.

Final positions:
Dorking 236
Braintree & Bocking 221
Canterbury B 181
Edenbridge Piranhas 136
Croydon Amphibians B 135
Erith & District B 121

All results & news from YEAR 2007 NATIONAL SPEEDO SWIMMING LEAGUE SOUTH can be found here

Round 2 draw has been made & the details are as follows:

Saturday 10th November - Warm Up 6:00 PM - Start 6:30 PM
Barracudas
Black Lion B
Braintree & Bocking
City of Rochester
Dorking
Hythe Aqua
Olympos Marlins B
Sutton Atlantis

All round 2 draws can be found here.

Congratulations to Alice
misses out on final by narrowest of margins.

Alice Hickmott travelled to Ponds Forge ISC, Sheffield to compete in the 100 & 200m backstroke events at the ASA National Age Group Championships. The best swimmers in the country were there and Alice showed no nerves as she set a new personal best time in the 100m backstroke and was unlucky to miss out by 1 position and 0.01s on a place in the final.

Head Coach Steve Hall summarised it by saying that this was a great experience for the club to see, first hand, just what is required to reach the next level. It serves to remind the us that there is no short cut to training. If you want to compete with the best you have to be thorough in your preparation and maintain focus throughout the season.

Full meet results can be found here.

Runnymede Summer Sprint Gala
Plenty of Medals

Four Braintree swimmers made the trip to Runnymede to compete in their annual Sprint Gala. The effort was well worthwhile, with Matthew Horne setting 3 PBs as he claimed a first and two third places. Philip Hart matched the number of PBs and won the backstroke, was second in the fly and sixth in freestyle. Joseph Parmenter set new PBs in the 100 and 50 freestyle events. Sophie Howard set new PBs and collected two medals in the 100 freestyle and 50 back.

Full meet results can be found here.