Welsh Capital Open Meet - 25th to 27th November 2011
Day 1 & 2
The Cardiff November Open Meet has become our traditional end of cycle 1 Open meet. Interestingly our accepted entries have increased year on year, and so we travelled to Cardiff this year with more swimmers than ever.
The standard of swims was also interesting to gauge as this year the work load during this cycle has increased. I have to say, the standard of performance over Friday and Saturday have been superb. Added to the performance at previous competitions during this early season phase, the club really is showing signs of moving on at a rapid pace.
Before the last two days, we had 4 National Qualifiers, in 4 events. That number has now increased considerably, and our representation at various National competitions now will be strong. Added to that the numbers of Western County Qualifiers just continues to increase.
Notes on swims - Day 1 and 2.
Friday night saw the distance events. Gloucester was represented by Aimee Carter (800 free) and Alex Chantler-Mayne (1500 free). Aimee has just returned from a back injury, and so her swim just a few seconds off her pb, was a great confidence booster. Alex has recently just gone through great changes in his life which is always hard to manage, whilst continuing to develop training. He managed a 6 second Pb, which was great in itself, but even better when Alex admitted he was having trouble with his trunks at every turn, with them filling with water! Alex won a silver medal for his efforts.
Saturday, was a much busier day. Events started with the 400 I.M, and first up was Alex Seymour. This was Alex's 12th birthday. What a present, a 400 IM Long course! Alex finished 8th at Nationals at the end of last season, so a Pb again was a great result from Alex. Will Carter also competed, also gaining a Long Course Pb.
The 50 free followed, and there were Pbs all round ranging from Ben Hall through to Jake Michaels, however Matt Munden and Jakes times were of real note. Similar swims followed in the 50 back for girls.
The 200 back saw our first National Time of the day when Matt Munden bettered his Pb swimming 2:28.43, and this was swiftly followed by our second when Sophie Hall swam 1:01.71 for her 100 free. This was her second National time of the season.
Session 2 started with the 200 free for males, where again every swimmer either swam a Pb, or right on their Pb. Sam Gaskins came of age in this event, knocking a huge 6 seconds off his Pb, and in the final heat, Dan Woodward swam 1:55.51, which gained Dan, his first National time of the year.
The 200 was then followed by the 400 free for females. Sophie Hall had already qualified for Nationals in this event. However her sights were set somewhat higher even than Nationals, as she was aiming for the giddy heights of Olympic trials qualification. This competition is for the very best swimmers in various age-bands, but Sophie was aiming to qualify as one of the very youngest swimmers there. Obviously when talking about Olympic qualification, the times are very tough. 4:34.44 was the qualification time. Remember Sophie is just 13, and will still be 13 at this year’s National Championships. Sophie swam the event at Bath last weekend as a bit of a tester. She swam 4:35 last weekend, just missing out, but today she knew she was swimming well having already swam her 100 free time. Armed with her target splits, she attacked the race from start to finish, touching the wall in 4:33.99, half a second inside the qualifying time. To say her team mates (and coaches) were ecstatic was an understatement. I think Gloucester raised the Cardiff roof! Many congratulations to Sophie who will now be competing with all the Olympians at the Olympic pool in March.
The 100 Fly for males followed. Again we showed great strength in depth, with Pb's being swam all through the event. Swims of note: Craig Munden 1:05.82 and Alex Seymour, 1:11.88, again quicker than he swam winning a bronze medal at National Championships.
The girls 50 fly, again showed Gloucester's strength in depth in Fly, with all swimmers finishing in the top 10, and Holly Whitton swimming a big Pb of 31:76. The guys 50 Breaststroke followed and yet again strength in depth was evident. This event added yet another National Time with Dan Broady getting in on the act. He gained a Senior National Qualifying time swimming 29:65. This swim will rank him highly in the all comers list for 50 Breaststroke.
Two sessions down, and one to go...
It’s very easy for the final session of the day to be an anti-climax as swimmers are obviously tired from the races already swam, however this was not the case tonight. We weren't yet finished with National Qualifying times! Dan Broady capped a tremendous day for him swimming 2:28.97 for the 200 Breast. Congratulations Dan. Two times in a day was tremendous, and the 100 is still to come tomorrow.
Following the boys 200, was the girls 100. These swims were in the main strong, but mention must go to Becky Johnstone who swam a massive Pb, only missing her 100 Breast National time by 0.05, swimming 1:16.82
The final event of the day was the boys 100 back. This was a really difficult event, where once again swimmers swam pretty much at their very best. No mean feat at the end of a very long day.
One final word on day 1 and 2 from the coach. We've had many swimmers at Cardiff. We had a strong presence and all swimmers did their club proud. From Swim skills swimmers competing in one of their very first Long Course Open meets, through to senior swimmers chasing times to achieve their lifetime goals, I feel almost EVERY swimmer gave their all, behaved brilliantly, and I have to say most reaped the rewards for all the serious efforts they've put in the training pool over this cycle. I hoped before today swimmers would swim well because they've (in the main) deserved to. Usually in life, you get out what you put in, and get what you deserve. Congratulations to everyone today on some superb swims.
Day 3 Sunday
I remember being at the same meet last year, with 3 foot of snow outside! This year I arrived at the pool Sunday morning, hardly being able to focus on the water, due to the low November sunshine coming through the glass walls.
That actually made the day very tiring. If I as coach was tired, then special credit should go to the swimmers who swam really well on day 3. In truth, the swims didn't quite match the standard of the previous days, but a look at the Team Stats print out shows the numbers of swims that were Pb's, and big Pb's at that.
The day started with the boys 200 fly. Nice way to start any day! It was good to see our guys competing though, as we had no girls competing in either the 200 fly, or the 400 I.M. Matt Munden was first up. Matt is aiming to develop all strokes in order to drive his medley's forwards, so it’s good to see him competing at the 200 fly. In true style Matthew swam a very strong Pb in 2:46.62. Alex Seymour stepped up in a later heat, in his specialist event. Alex tried to swim this slightly differently here, pressing the first 100 more. This is something he needs to develop, but here he found the new tactic difficult, and swam just off his Pb, but still swam under the National Qualifying time in 2:34.49. Tom Grime and Tom Howells also competed in the later heats.
Next came the fast and furious 50's. The 50 free for girls and the 50 back for boys which were followed by the blue ribbon event, the 100 free for males. This was a really strong event, with our guys swimming some very strong Pb's and fast times. From Ben Hall in the early heats, through to Dan Woodward in the fastest heat, there were some determined swims, most notable were Sam Gaskins, Craig Munden, Jake Michaels and Dan Woodward.
Session 6 started with the 200 free for girls. First up, Ashling Keeble swam a superb race with a very strong Pb. Next Gloucester swimmer in was Sophie Hall. Sophie was again aiming for the Olympic qualifying time of 2:10. This was 2 seconds quicker than she swam at Nationals in winning her silver medal, so it was always a big ask. As ever Sophie gave it everything, and swam 2:13, only just outside her Pb, and after her efforts the day before, was perhaps always just beyond her. Becky Johnstone also swam in the same heat. She also swam strongly in what was a new event for her, swimming 2:12.59.
The 400 free is becoming a strong event for Gloucester now, and this was proved to be the case here. Adam Hall started superbly with a huge Pb, then Alex Seymour and Matt Munden swam next to each other in heat 3. When these two challenge each other it always produces determined efforts, and hence fast times. This was no exception with both taking chunks off their previous best times, Matt going 4:52, and Alex 4:54. These are seriously quick times for very young 12 year olds. Jordan and Sam, also swam strong 400's (Jordan when not feeling 100%), then Craig and Tom Howells also raced each other with Craig going 4:28, and Tom 4:32; both big Pb's. Finally Jake and Dan Woodward swam in “with the big boys”, although both were just slightly off the Pb's.
The girls 100 fly, boys 50 fly, and the girls 50 breast all saw some strong swims, before we got back into the 200 events where many Pb's were swam in the 200I.M (boys) and the 200 breast for girls. Special note there for Ashling Keeble who knocked 13 seconds off her previous best.
The boys 100 breast followed, the highlight of which was Dan Broady's 1:06.97 which gained him his 3rd National qualifying time of the weekend.
Looking at the Team Stats breakdown for the weekend is really interesting (it’s available to all through Team Stats). The majority of swimmers this weekend had some terrific swims, and some great personal best times. As always, there are some swimmers who didn't achieve quite what they'd hoped, but looking at who those swimmers are, I think they'll know themselves the reasons why. I'll be talking to all those swimmers individually over the coming days.
Congratulations to all.
The first training cycle is now virtually over, and we the Coaching Team believe we're in a strong place now, with many qualifying times now achieved (for various competitions), and able to move on to the next phase. We also believe the atmosphere within the training groups is massively better than previously, and congratulations to many people for developing that, not least Tom Howells and Kirsty Hepburn as Club Captains. We all do believe there is enjoyment and happiness within the groups now, and we always believed “happy swimmers have a chance.
Andy.
28/11/11