Category: Head Coach

When they put on our now famous black and white cap the feeling of belonging to a team seems to bring out the best in our swimmers. The amazing swims just kept on coming and I was asked twice by two other coaches how we do it on only three sessions a week. Well the key is quality but there is no point in having that unless the swimmers are willing to put in the hard sets. The enthusiasm shown by the team was summed up before the first girls warm up when Darcy was so keen to get in the pool she had forgotten to take her flip flops off and Cambelle still had her t shirt on.

There were several amazing swims starting with Kara breaking the three minute barrier for the first time on her 200 free which was superb. Jasper took a minute of his 200 Free Thomas had a Pb on his 20o free as did Sammy and Alice produced a brilliant time of 3.13 on her 200 free . Credit also to Elise for her 200 free, she battled all the way.

Personal Bests either in individual swims or in relays for:

Elise,Thomas, Aimee, Alice, Darcy, Kirsty, Jessica, Sammy, Cambelle, Kara, Jasper, Vilara and Rachel,

Ellie smashed through the 40 second barrier on her free for the first time with her new freestyle stroke and everyone is improving which is great news.

Swimming is a brutal sport given the thousands of meters needed in every session culminating in sometimes less than 40 seconds in a competition. One slight mistake in a swim can pose a potential disaster so I take my hat or should I say my scorpion black and white cap off to all those who come through the hard times to achieve times they never thought humanly possible.

There was seven club records created from this round of the Leagues Kara ,Alice ,Thomas ,Sammy , and Jasper all for 200 free Jasper 100 Back Sammy 50 Back and these will be update in due course. I noticed a big difference in the turns on Saturday however there is still much to be done on this aspect. I was also pleased about the distance off the blocks however once again this will be worked on in training.

We are so proud of all of you so keep up the hard work and your personal bests will happen if you are patient.

Let’s crack on lol

Commander in Chief Colin Churchill Galbraith
Chief Naval Commander Susan Liddle
Chief Operations Officer Thomas Monty Henderson

Conditions have to be good to launch a naval attack however the aircraft carrier was slightly late due to weather (well… the  taxi) carrying the commander in Chief also had engine or should I say propeller problems
No need to worry as the task force was on target due to Susan and Monty so no need to worry.
The heat was high so a mist formed which meant we could carry out our first wave of attack without being seen.
This was our F5 fighter jet team lead by Darcy, Kirsty, Vilara ,Emma Cambelle and Elise. Laser guided missiles fired down each of the designated targets (25 and 50 metre range) and hit the targets set on each absolutely spot on.
The Second wave was then sent into battle which were our mark 11 Apache attack helicopters capable of speeding low on the surface and as the weather was getting dark they used their night time goggles for assistance. This team was lead by Alice,Ellie, Amie, Jessica and Sammy.
There were still some of the opposition hiding at greater length of 200 metres and 100 metres away and they were polished off by our last wave of attack with our two Mark 5 Nuclear powered hunter killer submarines namely Rachel and Kara. Job Done.
The speech at half time was an easy one “We shall fight them in the air (off the blocks) on the land (warm up at side of pool) and in the sea (all lanes we competed in) and we shall never surrender.
In every campaign there are lessons to be learned . A few came off the end of the aircraft carrier far too high as if they thought they were Harrier Jump Jets with the ability for vertical take off. Some others stayed submerged for too long (no we are not nuclear  submarines) and remember like submarines out of Faslane that are not allowed near fishing vessels we have to be on the surface at periscope depth very quickly and are not allowed to stay submerged after 15 metres.
Before any major battle it is best to be prepared by training hard to combat any situation and it is showing through the various swims that we are doing so . Well done to all in this campaign
We are a force to be reckoned with  and with the backing of excellent parents we are moving swiftly in the right direction.
Medals of honor in my opinion should have gone to all of you however special mention of awards to Alice, Cambelle and Sammy.
We are so proud of how all of you competed in the heat of battle we are a well oiled machine. Kara the “new machine” set a new club record for the 200 IM a brilliant swim.
This is your commander in Chief signing of with “never in the field of battle was so much owed to so few “ we may be a small team but we don’t half pack a punch.
I am away for a well earned rest as is Susan (quite frankly I don’t know how she manages to multi task the way she does it’s just awe inspiring)

See you back at the barracks for more drills and skills and a full debrief. If any other club records were broken please accept my apologies and they will be covered later. It is great that these records are being broken but it’s becoming quite a task keeping track of them all. Finally can I just reiterate that as you set new personal bests please remember the more you get hung up about beating them the less chance you will be able to do so ! Trying too hard with too much pressure you will see PBs slip away. Remember being relaxed and concentrating with speed and technique and of course training hard will get you there.

So so proud of all of you.

V for victory

Colin Churchill Galbraith