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We started the year at the National Age Groups and British Championships which were held in Gloucester in December 2007. It was the first time that foreign entries had been allowed in this competition and we were delighted that duets from Israel and Spain attended. We were treated to spectacular displays from the Spanish duet who in July this year took silver in the Beijing Olympics. For Bristol Central it was also a huge success with fantastic results:
Figures
13/14 years-Anya Tarasuik 3rd, Alex O’Mahony 5th and Charlotte Frost 11th.
15/17 years -Lisa Marsh 3rd.
Senior Technical solo
Katie Dawkins 5th
Lisa Marsh 11th
Senior Technical & Free Duet
Katie Dawkins & Becci MacEnri 3rd
Duet
13/14 - Anya Tarasiuk & Alex O’Mahony 2nd
Recreational Teams
12 & Under A Team 1st
12&under B Team 8th
13/ 14 A Team 1st
13/14 B Team 3rd
15/17 Team 2nd
Senior Technical Team 2nd
Trials for the Junior Great Britain Squad were held initially at the National Age Groups and then at a training camp at Aldershot. From the Trials Anya Tarasiuk was selected to join the Junior Great Britain Team, and took part in the Junior Europeans in France in May. She also joined the Squad for a training camp in Scilly before competing at the Junior Worlds in Russia in July. Anya was also chosen to attend a training camp in Canada this autumn, where she was able to train with one of Canada’s top coaches. Well Done Anya!
Louisa Chadwick who coached our winning 12 & Under A Team at the Nationals was appointed as the Junior Great Britain Assistant Coach and Team Manager and accompanied Anya and the rest of the squad during the year.
Katie Dawkins, one of our senior swimmers who is now centralised at Aldershot with the Senior Great Britain Team was one of four swimmers who were selected by British Swimming to travel to Macau and Beijing to experience the Olympic Games in preparation of the 2012 Olympics.
On the15th December 2007 Trials for the National Development Squad took place at Oxford. 40 Swimmers attended and 19 girls were chosen for the 2008 Squad. Those from Bristol Central were: Emma Holloway, Samantha Wilson, Leanne Summerbee, Laveena Chana, Anastasia Bates, and Phoebe Falconer. The Squad attended two training camps this year, one at Easter the second during the School Summer break and both were held at Cobham. Alex Marchant was appointed as Head Coach for the Squad for their summer camp.
The 2008 Academy, Elite and Talent ID Squads for the South West were once again dominated by swimmers from Bristol Central, The swimmers have attended regular training camps throughout the year, where they were able to try different aspects of the sport such as Pilates, gym, dance and psychology which they all seemed to enjoy. Lynne Sissons was the Head Coach for all 3 Squads and Alex Marchant assistant. Selection for the 2009 squads has taken place and once again Bristol Central’s swimmers make up a large part of the squads.
The Multi-Regional Squad which takes swimmers from the South East, South West and London Regions attended two training camps this year. Once again Alex Marchant was there to Coach the Squad taking them to Aldershot for one training camp where the girls had the opportunity to train with the Senior Great Britain Squad. Those selected from Bristol were: Laveena Chana, Phoebe Falconer, Charlotte Frost, Alex O’Mahony, Leanne Summerbee, and Sam Wilson.
We had our first Multi-Regional Figures Competition this year, which was held in Bristol in July. Our swimmers did really well particularly as for some this was the first time they had ever competed in a figures competition.
Our Club Championships were held on the 27th September and all teams swam the routines they will be swimming at this years National Age Groups in December. It was a thoroughly enjoyable event and it enabled our Novice Team to swim the routine they had been practising since January. Hopefully this made up for the disappointment they felt when the competition they were due to swim at earlier that month was cancelled at short notice.
Our last event to date was the Multi-Regional Age Groups which were held in Haslemere in Surrey in October. Despite an eventful journey to Haslemere our teams arrived safely, albeit a little late, and won every routine event we had entered. We are therefore extremely optimistic for the National Age Groups which are to be held in December.
As you can see our coaches are involved with squads of all levels up to and including the Junior Great Britain Squad. These coaches together with all our helpers, scorers, judges and assessors give up their time all year to help our swimmers gain success at competitions and do this voluntarily. They all work and have their own families but continue to give their time willingly. So I would like to say a big thank you to all of them for without them the synchro section could not exist.
Christine Marsh.
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