National Championships, 2014

Rebecca, James, Georgia, Dominic, Emily, Liam, Millie, Tom

Nine swimmers from Exeter have qualified for the national championships, which will be taking place in Sheffield over the coming weeks. Competition will be ferocious against what are probably the best 25 swimmers in Britain for each event.

As the youngest of Exeter’s contingent, these are the first national championships for Emily Eveling (12), who has achieved qualifying times in 6 events: 100m and 200m freestyle, 100m and 200m backstroke, and 200m and 400m individual medley. She will be joined by Millie Price (15), who will be competing in 50m breaststroke, and by Georgia Cotterill (15) and Rebecca Anderson (16) in the 50m backstroke.

Tom Downs (15) set his national qualifying time for 200m butterfly while winning the South West regional championships in May. James Wamsley (15) will be hoping to improve on a brilliant top-10 finish in last year’s 100m breaststroke, while Dominic Wooldridge (18) has qualifying times for 50m, 100m and 200m in his specialist stroke, butterfly. Liam White (15) has qualified for 50m backstroke, and George Fearnley (18) for 100m butterfly.

It is a superb achievement to have so many swimmers competing at national level. Everyone at the club is proud of them and hopeful of some fantastic performances in Sheffield.  The club also has four swimmers who were less than a second off national times as well as some excellent young swimmers coming through. All in all, prospects for the future are very bright.

 

Plymouth Leander Summer Meet, 11-13 July 2014

The Plymouth Leander long course summer meet, marking the end of the racing season for non-national qualifiers, saw Exeter swimmers winning in all strokes and age groups: they made the return journey up the A38 with 25 gold medals between them, and an even bigger haul of silvers and bronzes. Well done to our swimmers: we won the prize for top visiting club!

Lily won medals in 800m free and 200m back

Aliyah laden with medals

Not for the first time this season, Aliyah-Mai Webb (13) led the way, coming first in 800m free, 200m fly, 200m back, 200m breast, and 400m IM, with silvers in 200m IM, 100m breast and 100m fly. Katie Townsend (14), wasn't far behind, dominating her age group with golds in all three backstroke races (50m, 100m, 200m) as well as gold in 100m free and silver in 50m free, 200m free and 50m fly, and bronze in 200m IM. Rebecca Gibbins (12) picked up gold in 100m free, silvers in 200m, 400m and 800m free, and bronze in 200m fly. Tea Jones (12) struck gold in 50m breast, with supporting bronzes in 100m breast and 100m back. Jolie Sellek (9) made her mark on behalf of the club's younger swimmers with gold in 50m fly; while in the 11-year old category Olivia Passmore and Milly Kendall took two golds each, Olivia in 200m back and 400m IM (with silvers in 800m free and 50m breast, and bronze in 100m back), and Milly in 50m and 100m free (with silver in 200m fly and bronze in 800m free).  

Milly sprints to gold

Olivia with a sample of medals --- one of each colour

Among the girls, silvers also went to: Amy Linnington (14) in 400m and 800m free; Anna Czipri (9) in 50m fly, 50m and 100m back, and 200m IM; and Olivia Burrow (12) in 50m back. There were bronzes for: Lily Collins-Board (14) in 800m free and 200m back; Rhiannon Loveman (15+) in 200m free, and 100m and 200m back; Sammy Gray (15+) in 400m free; Olivia Burrow in 400 IM and 200m back; Alisha Singleton (13) in 400m IM; Grace James (11) in 50m fly; Anna Czipri in 200m back and 50m free; and Amelia Ashelford (10) in 200m back.
 

Jack won two golds, a silver and a bronze

The boys also rose to the challenge, and took their share of medals for the club. Jack Pearson (15+) 
came first in 400m IM and 200m back, with silver in 400m and bronze in 200m free. Alec White (12) claimed three golds --- in 100m back, 200m breast and 200m IM --- and he added to his total with silver in 100m fly and bronze in  100m free. Charlie Kendall (14) won in his first ever competitive 1500m free, and came second over 400m free. Matt Ramsay (13) took gold in 200m fly and 200m IM, with bronzes for good measure in 100m and 200m back and 100m free. Tim Western (12) won 100m breast, with silvers in 200m back and 50m breast, and bronze in 200m breast. 

Silver medals went to: Adam Edwards (14) in 400m IM; Liam Jordan (9) in 50m and 200m breast; Elliot Svensson (11) in 200m breast; Guy Wilson (10) in 400m free and 200m IM; and Liam White (15+) in 50m free. There were bronzes for: Guy Wilson in 200m free and Liam White in 200m fly.

Full results are available here. 

Devon Developments: Final Day, 29 June 2014

There was more glory for Exeter swimmers on the final day of the Devon Development Meet. Guy Wilson (10) took three golds (200m IM, 400m free, 200m fly), while Amy Linnington (14) in the 400m free and Millie Raymond (12) in the 200m fly also claimed victories.

Silver medals went to: Olivia Annunziata (12) in 400m free and 100m back; Sarah Downs (13) in 400m free and 200m fly; Lauren Ramsay (10), Tea Jones (12), and Eleanor Brandon (13) in 200m IM; Gavin Hurley (12) in 400m free; and, in 200m fly, Honey Drury (9) and Emma German (11).

Eleanor Brandon (12) captured bronze in 400m free, as did Keiran Tellem (14) in 100m back.

Full results can be found here and the overall Bagcats totals are here (boys) and here (girls).

Attention now turns to the long course gala to be held at Plymouth Life Centre in mid-July.

Devon Developments: First Weekend, 21-22 June 2014

At the first weekend of the Devon Development Meet, Exeter City Swimming Club claimed a total of 9 golds among 34 top-3 finishes. This was also an excellent opportunity for several younger swimmers to have their first taste of licensed competition, their performances proving that the future for ECSC looks very positive.

Guy Wilson (10) led the way with golds in 200m free, 100m IM and 200m back. Also grabbing multiple golds were Millie Rawles (11) in 200m back and 100m fly, and Olivia Annunziata (12) in 100m free and 200m back. Anna Czipri (9) took a superb gold in 200m back, and Tea Jones (12) dominated in 100m breast to win comfortably. Tea also took silvers in 200m breast and in 100m IM, where she edged Olivia into third by 0.01 seconds. Olivia finished 2nd in 800m and 200m free, while Millie came third in 200m free. 

Silvers  went to Mia Corcoran (14) in 100m free and 200m back, Lily Collins-Board (13) in 800m free, Lauren Ramsay (10) in 200m back, Annabel Courtney (11) in 100m breast, and Sarah Downs (13) and Amy Linnington (14) in 200m free. Amy claimed silver in 800m free.

Among the bronze medallists were Sarah Downs (100m fly and 100m IM), Lauren Ramsay (200m breast and 100m IM), Eleanor Brandon (12) in 800m free and 100m fly, Jessica Courtney (9) in 200m breast and 200m back, Alisha Singleton (13) in 800m free, Rebekah Broadhurst (14) in 200m breast, and Owen Hopwood (12) in 200m back.

All results can be found here.

Western Counties Age Groups: Final Weekend, 14-15 June 2014

The final weekend of the Western Counties Age Groups saw the action move to Hengrove, where the club's finest age-group swimmers continued to test themselves against the very best in the region. As well as our relay teams, ten swimmers competed in individual events: Olivia Passmore, Milly Kendall, Emily Eveling, Aliyah-Mai Webb, Katie Townsend, Ella Farley, Alec White, Sam Criddle, Matt Ramsay and Tim Western. Having met very testing qualifying times, they represented the club with immense credit.

Each day started with relays. The men's 4x100m medley relay team (Alec White, Charlie Kendall, Adam Edwards, Matt Ramsay) finished 16th, as did the women's 4x100m freestyle relay team of Aliyah-Mai Webb, Emily Eveling, Katie Townsend and Ella Farley. The teams had also matched each other's results in the first weekend, so the battle of the sexes came down to the final day, when the men's team (joined by Sam Criddle) came 16th in 4x100m free and the women took the bragging rights with 13th in the 4x100m medley.

Other highlights of the weekend included Emily Eveling's national qualifying time in the heats of the 200m free, and her third-place finish in the 400m IM. Also on the podium, in the next age group of the same event, was Aliyah-Mai Webb, who took bronze with a superb swim. Emily finished 8th in her 200m free final, 7th in 200m backstroke, and 9th in 200m breaststroke.

Having just missed a final the previous weekend, Alec White put matters right with a terrific performance to come 5th in the 100m backstroke, and he narrowly missed another final with 9th in 100m breaststroke.

The results can be viewed in full here.

So the Western Counties Age Group Championships came to a close with fifteen swimmers having represented the club in relays and individual events. Of those, five reached finals, and two (Emily and Aliyah) took medals. Given the size and strength of the Western region, which includes the national club champions and many other exceptional clubs, our swimmers have performed wonders, and everyone at the club congratulates them on their achievements.

Western Counties Age Group Championships: First Weekend, 7-8 June 2014

The first weekend of the Western Counties Age Group Championships at Millfield, for competitors aged 14 and under, brought together the strongest swimmers in the region from as far afield as Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Cornwall. As well as taking part in the 4x200m freestyle relays, an elite band of Exeter swimmers who had met very demanding qualifying times went on to complete in individual events. These were Emily Eveling, Ella Farley, Sadia Hallam, Grace James, Charlie Kendall, Milly Kendall, Olivia Passmore, Matt Ramsay, Aliyah-Mai Webb and Alec White. It is a superb achievement to achieve a regional qualifying time, and they all deserve our congratulations.

Both the male and the female relay teams finished 14th, a performance particularly admirable as several of our swimmers are young enough to be eligible for next year's competition. The men's team comprised Alec White, Charlie Kendall, Sam Criddle and Matt Ramsay, with Emily Eveling, Aliyah-Mai Webb, Katie Townsend and Sadia Hallam making up the women's quartet.

It was a hot weekend for racing, and the sun streaming through the roof did not make it easy for the backstroke leg of the IM. Nevertheless, Exeter produced some fine swims in individual races. Best of all, Emily Eveling (12) took silver in the 200m fly, and bronze in the 200m IM. She was also a finalist in the 100m fly, finishing 5th in a close race.

Aliyah-Mai Webb (13) came 4th in 800m free, showing extraordinary endurance despite the conditions. Aliyah was also 6th in 200m fly and 5th in 200m IM, and was unlucky to miss the finals of 100m fly (10th) and 200m breast (9th) by small margins.

Grace James (11) put in an immense performance to finish 5th with a PB in an exhausting 200m fly final ahead of Milly Kendall (7th). Milly also came 9th with a PB in 100m free, and 10th in 100m fly. Alec White can consider himself unlucky, after a superb swim in the 200m IM saw him finish within touching distance of the final in 10th place.

All results, including a handful of impressive time-trials by some of the club's older swimmers, can be found here.

The focus shifts to Hengrove next weekend: best of luck to all our swimmers!

Cobexe Open Meet, 17-18 May 2014

The Cobexe level 1 long course meet, jointly organised by Exeter and City of Bristol swimming clubs, took place at Hengrove over the weekend of 17-18 May. Special thanks to the organisers and the many volunteers from both clubs who made the event possible.

The unseasonably hot weather conspired to make fast swimming more difficult than usual. This, together with the fact that our top squads are currently in a period of intense training for stamina, ensured that personal bests were at a premium. Nevertheless, several swimmers took the last-gasp opportunity to secure regional qualifying times with dominant performances in advance of next month’s Western Counties Age Group Championships. There were gold medals for Exeter swimmers throughout the age categories and in all strokes.

Leading the way were Amelia Ashelford (10) and Aliyah-Mai Webb (13), who chalked up a dozen victories between them. Amelia took gold in 200m IM, 50m breast, 200m back, 400m free, 50m back, 200m breast and 50m fly, while Aliyah won 200m IM, 100m breast, 100m fly, 400m free and 200m breast. Aliyah added silvers in 100m free and 200m back for good measure.

Other race winners were Lucy Peters (10) and Milly Kendall (11), both in 50m free, and Rebecca Gibbins (12) in 50m fly. Among the boys, Alec White took two golds (200m back, 100m breast), as well as a silver (100m back) and a bronze (200m free).

Silvers also went to: Elliot Svensson (11), 400m IM and 50m back; Lucy Peters, 200m IM and 200m free; Lauren Ramsay (10), 50m breast and 400m free; Ella Farley (13), 50m breast, 400m free and 200m fly; Tim Western (12), 50m back, 100m and 200m breast, and 50m free; Charlie Kendall (14), 200m breast; James Wamsley (15+), 100m and 200m breast; Milly Kendall, 100m fly, 200m fly and 100m free; Rebecca Gibbins, 100m fly, 50m free and 50m back; Guy Wilson (10), 200m fly; Katie Townsend (14), 200m back; Joe Crispin (15+), 100m fly; Sarah Downs (13), 50m fly.

There were bronze medals for: Lauren Ramsay, 200m IM, 200m free and 200m breast; Ella Farley, 100m breast; Florence Herbert (12), 50m breast; Sam Criddle (13), 50m back; Elliot Svensson, 200m breast; Matt Ramsay (13), 200m breast and 100m free; Daniel Jones (12), 50m fly; Jack Pearson (15+), 400m free; James Wamsley, 200m IM and 50m breast; Grace James (11), 200m fly; Rebecca Gibbins, 200m fly; Tom Downs (15+), 200m and 100m fly; Katie Townsend, 50m fly.

Congratulations to all our swimmers!