National Junior and Youth Disability Swimming Championships 2012

Warriors swimmers Coral Farrell and Adele Maguire travelled to Ponds Forge in Sheffield last weekend to represent the North West in this year’s National Event for disabled swimmers aged 10-18. Over 200 competitors came from all over the UK to showcase their talent. At just 10 years old the girls were competing in the Girls 10-13 year age group. Standards as always were very high with 2012 Paralympic qualifiers such as Ellie Simmonds competing for their Regions. There were British, European and even one World Record was broken. Coral, who was recently accepted onto the GB Talent Programme, managed to improve on her already outstanding times and secured herself 7 Medals (5 Bronze and 2 Silver) and despite coming in with GB Talent times she missed out on 3 Silver Medals because of the -1 rule. Adele, who is currently on the North West Talent Programme, is now a GB Hopeful as she managed to secure GB Talent times for 100M Breaststroke & Backstroke. Adele also came home with a medal haul of 3 Bronze, 3 Silver and a Gold, missing out on 2 Silver medals due to the -1 rule. Both girls took part in the North West Region Relay Teams with the 400m Freestyle Team coming in 3^rd and the 400m Medley Team for the first time in recent history came in 1^st earning Adele a Gold and pushing Ellie Simmonds and Wales into 2^nd!

A massive well done goes to both girls for such a superb performance!

Cheshire Championships - a Memorable Final Weekend

Warriors of Warrington Swimming club had an amazing final weekend at the Cheshire County Age Group and Senior Championships 2012.

Over the two days swimmers picked up another mammoth tally of credits, including 6 new Cheshire records, 11 top 3 Junior Championship titles, 12 top 3 Senior Championship titles and 13 swimmers competing in finals for the 100m events. With another 25 Gold, 16 Silver and 14 Bronze medals and also 20 Top 3 placed BAGCAT winners it was a wonder the swimmers could carry everything home.

Saturday started off with Kathleen Dawson setting the first new Cheshire Record of the weekend for Warriors, and along with Catherine Parker made the final for the 100m Backstroke with Catherine winning the first Junior and Senior Championship trophies of the day.

Over the weekend Kathleen went on to set another new record and George Hill set two new records too. Will Camden and the boys 13/14 Medley Team also set new Cheshire records as well.

David Richardson took home a trophy for Junior Champion in the 400IM as did Brendan Spencer, winning a trophy for Senior Champion in the same event. Other swimmers gaining a top 3 place for the championship title included Michael Ross, Kathleen Dawson, Caitlin McNicholas, Bethany Young, all gaining 23 positions between them.

The 100m finals saw Catherine, Kathleen, David, Brendan and Michael securing positions along with Leah Evans, Oliver Houghton, Aaron Kirchin Brown and Ewan Miller.

Sunday brought about relay team events but not before the top 8 swimmers in two age categories from the 200m IM competed in the Cheshire County Skins Challenge. In the Boys 14yrs/under, David Richardson, James Ross, Aaron Kirchin Brown and Aaron Hill battled it out for the chance to win some money! Dominated by Warriors they didn’t disappoint. James came 5^th and Aaron Hill came 4^th but it was David and Aaron KB who battled it out in an exciting fight to the end with Aaron coming 2^nd and David coming out the winner, all earning themselves a nice little sum of money for their hard work. The girls 14yrs/under saw not quite as many Warriors but Bethany Young and Kathleen Dawson made it just as exciting and thrilling for the spectators. Race after race they kept on winning until it was, once again, just the two left. With a backstroke swim ahead Kathleen swam a fantastic 50m to take the top prize with Bethany coming in an amazing 2^nd.

The boys 15yrs/over saw Brendan Spencer and Michael Ross take part, with Michael coming 8^th and Brendan a brilliant 4^th whilst Catherine Parker represented Warriors in the Girls 15yrs/over mirroring Brendan’s success and coming 4^th.

The final events of the championship were the relay events and for our Warriors of Warrington they couldn’t have swum any harder. We finished within the top three positions in every relay event that we took part in. The 10/12 yr old girls team, including Anya Richardson, Shannon Campbell, Siobhan Harrison and Emily Anderson came 3^rd in the Freestyle relay and also in the Medley relay. The 10/12 yr old boys team, Ryan McGhee, Hugh Takemoto, Jack Ravenscroft and Liam Roscoe, came 3^rd in the freestyle relay and 1^st in the Medley relay.

Catherine Parker, Caitlin McNicholas, Leah Evans and Rachel Heesom made up the girls 15/16yr old girls team and came 1^st in the Medley relay and 3^rd in the freestyle relay. With the 13/14yr old girls team doing exactly the same, Kathleen Dawson, Bethany Young, Alicia Pierce and Ashleigh Wrench carried on the success. The boys 13/14yr old freestyle team of David Richardson, Oliver Houghton, James Ross and Aaron Hill came 1^st whilst the boys 13/14 yr old Medley Team of Oliver Houghton, James Ross, Aaron Kirchin Brown and David Richardson won the clubs final gold of the championships and set the last of the new Cheshire records.

Finally, with BAGCAT awards given out to the top 6 swimmers in each age group, Warriors swimmers picked up 20 more pieces of silverware. 9yr olds George Hill, Lewis McGhee and James Forrest picked up 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd. 10yr olds William Camden and Baylie Coates came 1^st and 2^nd. 12yr old Hugh Takemoto and Ryan McGhee came 2^nd and 5^th, 13yr olds Oliver Houghton and Aaron Hill came 1^st and 3^rd whilst 14yr olds David Richardson, Aaron Kirchin Brown and James Ross came 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd. The girls came out on top too with 9yr old Jess Sholl, 12 yr old Anya Richardson and 13 yr old Alicia Pierce all coming 4^th in their age groups. 14 yr olds Kathleen Dawson and Bethany Young came 1^st and 2^nd with 15 yr old Leah Evans coming 1^st. Finally, 16yr olds Catherine Parker and Rachel Heesom came 1^st and 6^th.

A huge well done to all of the swimmers who took part and made Warriors of Warrington a club to watch out for over the coming months in the swimming arena.

Cheshire Championships - Long Distance Glory!

Warriors of Warrington saw a massive 29 swimmers taking part in the long distance events in the Cheshire County Age Groups and Senior Championships 2012 last Friday.

The girls competed in the 800m Freestyle, whilst the boys had the 1500m Freestyle to take on. The evening was a great success as we saw our youngest competitors of the night, 11yr old Emily Bowater and Kaitlin Foulkes, start in the first heat of the 800m. With hard work and determination they ploughed through the water and finished 12^th and 13^th in their age group. All of the girls swam brilliantly and in the last heat 14yr old Kathleen Dawson swam, not only winning the heat but also winning the Junior Champion trophy, the Senior Champion trophy and also made a new junior and Youth Championship record.

Individual medal winners for the girls included, 13 yr olds Alicia Pierce and Sophie Bell, 14 yr old Bethany Young, 15yr olds Lauren Smith and Hannah Wallis and 16 yr olds Aimee Harvey and Rachel Heesom between them winning 4 bronze and 3 silver medals.

Next up were the boys, with Liam Roscoe and Matthew Sullivan starting in the first heat. 12yr old Liam swam his first 1500m long course swim and didn’t let himself or his club down finishing 5^th in his age group, whilst 14yr old Matthew swam a huge pb winning his heat. In the final heat we once again saw 14yr old David Richardson swim the only way he knows how - FAST! He swam an impressive 16.36.85 winning him the Junior Champion title and coming 2^nd in the Senior category, and again made a new Cheshire Junior Record.

Individual medal winners for the boys included, 12 yr old Ryan McGhee, 13 yr old Aaron Hill, 14yr old Aaron Kirchin Brown and 15 yr old Ewan Miller, collecting 1 bronze, 2 silver and 1 gold medal.

Once again, a huge well done to all those swimmers that took part.

Warriors Success at Cheshire Championships!

Within the swimming world you would think all eyes would have been down in London over last weekend watching the British Swimming Championships as the Olympic trials started. However, for Warriors of Warrington Swimming Club most parents had their eyes firmly over at Macclesfield as the Cheshire County Age Group and Senior Championships 2012 got under way. Held over 3 weekends this year the first day got off to a fantastic start.

The girls started the competition with the 400 Freestyle and 14 year old Kathleen Dawson got Warriors their first new Cheshire record, winning a trophy not only for coming first in the age group section but for also coming first in the senior section as well. 16 year old Catherine Parker also got a new Cheshire record in the event, coming 2^nd in both the age group and senior sections.

Next up were the boys with the 50 Backstroke and one of our youngest swimmers in the competition, 9 year old George Hill got another new Cheshire record and they just kept on coming.

Kathleen managed to secure 4 new records, Catherine got 2, 14 yr olds Adam Ravenscroft and David Richardson both got one as did 13 year old Oliver Houghton. Along with George’s new record, fellow 9 year old Lewis McGhee also managed to secure one, bringing the total to 11.

Rounding up the first day, all of the swimmers had brilliant swims with a huge number of PB’s and they all worked extremely hard winning 20 Gold, 13 Silver and 9 Bronze medals. We finished with 9, top 3 Junior Champions and 7, top 3 Senior Champions including 17 year old Brendan Spencer.

Day Two at the championships went just as well with more medals, broken records, junior and senior champs and a few NQT qualifiers too.

Having 100m swims in today’s competition saw our swimmers battling it out to secure a place in finals and Warriors of Warrington swimmers managed to qualify for 11 finalist positions. Adam Ravenscroft and David Richardson both finished 2^nd in the A and B final for 100m Breaststroke. Whilst 15 year old Leah Evans and Kathleen Dawson finished 1^st and 3^rd respectively in the A final for the 100m Butterfly, 16 year old Aimee Harvey, 14 year old Bethany Young and 13 year old Alicia Pierce came 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd in the B final.

When it came to breaking records there were 9 new records set by Warriors swimmers. Aaron Hill started the day off with a new record in the 100m Breaststroke and he then went on to break his own new record in the final of the same event. Leah Evans also managed a double when she not only broke the Junior record for the 100m Butterfly but she also broke the Senior record as well. With amazing swims from 10 year old William Camden, 12 year old Hugh Takemoto, 9 year old Lewis McGhee and 14 year old James Ross they were joined by 12 year old Anya Richardson in setting a new record each.

Warriors finished the day going home with 21 new Cheshire Champions in our midst, with 11 Junior Championship titles and 10 Senior Championship titles. New Champions included Oliver Houghton, Michael Ross, Adam Ravenscroft, Kathleen Dawson, James Ross, Leah Evans, Aaron Kirchin Brown and Catherine Parker. We also gained two new National Qualifiers as David Richardson qualified in the 200m Freestyle and Kathleen Dawson qualified in the 200m Butterfly. They also all added another 25 Gold, 16 Silver and 10 Bronze medals to the collection they won yesterday.

Finally, congratulations to all of the swimmers who took part in the weekend. It was a superb performance by Warriors of Warrington and as always the children represented their town well

Warriors Menai Success!

On a weekend of sporting competition dominated by contests involving English and Welsh teams, it seems only fitting that Warriors of Warrington Swimming Club travelled to Bangor Swimming Pool to compete in the Menai Gala on Saturday.  A team of 39 determined swimmers took to the pool and, cheered on by a large travelling support, performed very strongly despite the usual fierce competition from a total of 11 other teams. 

Warriors achieved 14 gold medals, 22 silver medals and 21 bronze medals, with a total of 9 speeding badges issued to swimmers who swam faster than the allowed time for each event. Whilst all the swimmers performed excellently, the standout performance came from 9 year old Katie Bowater, who picked up 4 gold medals across the day.

With a large number of personal bests also being achieved by the team, the gala can certainly be classed as a very successful day for the club – a big well done to all swimmers who took part!