Swimming is back to normal again. Bottisham Pool has been fixed and is fully functional. See you on Wednesday!

There will be no swimming sessions tonight, 16th April, since Bottisham Swimming Pool is closed due to a leak.

This term is very long! It runs from Wednesday 2nd April through to Sunday 20th July (inclusive). This is a 16 week term and the fees are £5 per week.

If you pay by Sunday 4th May there is an early payment reduction of £5 making £75 per swimmer.

As you probably already know, the club is run by volunteers and does not make any profit.  Its continuing survival is dependent upon us collecting fees from all of our swimmers. Payment is best made by cheque to - Bottisham Swimming Club - please put your swimmer(s) name on the reverse and put it in an envelope with your email address on the front. Payment can be given to me - or any of the poolside helpers. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me - Christof cjs30@cam.ac.uk

Dear All,

Well done to all those who took part in the Sports Relief swim this Wednesday!

We would like to send in a single big cheque to Sports Relief 2008. It would be best if the money came in as a cheque made payable to Bottisham Swimming Club *stapled* to the completed sponsorship form. Cash can be placed in an envelope with the form - please write the amount and your name on the envelope.

Forms and monies can be given to me (Christof) or one of the poolside helpers.

I will put a list of the monies on the members area of the website with a running total as it comes in.

Well done everyone!

Greetings,

Christof

6.30pm - 7.00pm is a normal swim session for our younger swimmers
7.00pm - 9pm for older swimmers and parents and coaches wanting to swim.

Turn up when you want to, announce yourselves to the lane coach and start swimming. There will be a prize for each age group for the swimmer who swims the furthest and one for who raises the most money. Please download the sponsor form and get fundraising! There will also be paper copies available to collect at training sessions. We will also need as many parents as possible on the night to help count!

Dear All,

We are in the process of planning a face-lift for the notice boards at Bottisham and Impington. Several suggestions have been made for items to be included:

Gala dates, list of items for sale/swap, Swimming times (from the website database), Gala results, Advice to new swimmers and advice for those competing, training schedules.

If you have anything you would like to see on the notice board - or if you want to help then please, please email me!

Christof - cjs30@cam.ac.uk - and I will pass it on to the Notice board rennovation team!   

 Dear All,

Here are the results of the time trial in the 3rd Session on Sunday 3rd February, 2008. Well done everyone - especially those who managed the full set!

The timings are not terribly accurate - and certainly cannot go into our database (sorry if we have made any mistakes). You should be able to knock a good few seconds off these times under race conditions. One reason for doing these races was to get you thinking about what you need to improve. Take a look at the 50m splits. Was your first length too slow? Was your second length a lot slower than your first? A marked (>5s) slowing on the second 50m may indicate that your fitness level is not yet as good as it could be. Working hard over the next month can change that - it is an easy way to knock many seconds off a 100m race! Another thing worth considering is your turns. Were they all smooth and fast? Were you worried about them before the race? Did you wonder whether you should tumble or not? If you have any concerns about your turns then practice them! If you can't turn confidently in your swim sessions, then they are almost certainly going to cause you problems in a race. Banish those demons - swim and tumble 100% - your body and brain will love you for it!

Well done!

Christof

The Bottisham Swimming Club Fees for Spring Term 2008 are £85 minus an early payment reduction of £5 (i.e. £80 per swimmer if payment is received by Sunday 3rd February). We prefer payment by cheque, made payable to Bottisham Swimming Club. Please write the name(s) of the swimmer(s) on the reverse of the cheque and put it in an envelope addressed to Christof (Membership Secretary). Could you also put your email address on the envelope so that we can acknowledge receipt of your money. I will be at most of the swim sessions (except the earliest one) to collect the money - if you can't find me, you can give the envelope to a poolside helper or a coach and they will pass it on to me.

Please try and pay promptly - not only does it save you money, it also saves us having to pester you!

The fee comprises of £25 Club Membership Fee (which includes either Cat 1 or 2 ASA Registration) and the training fee, which is set at £5 per week ( 6th January to 31st March - 12 weeks x £5 = £60).

For dates please see the club website: www.bottishamswimclub.org.uk

All parents (and swimmers) are encouraged to make an account on the website. This gives you access to the database of swim times. In the next few months we will be adding additional functionality including the ability to see the fees paid in.

Greetings and all the best for the New Year,

Christof

For those swimmers and parents who didn't make the AGM, the Annual Achievement Certificates are available for collection at the swim sessions.

The certificates are slightly different from previous years. The most obvious difference is that they are yellow! But, more importantly as well as showing the swimmer's Personal Best times they also show any improvement (seconds faster) since the end of 2006 (i.e. the calendar year). Of course if this was the first year they swam a particular distance and stroke no improvement is shown - but next year there will be one!

Well done to all our swimmers - you are all great! Swimming quickly takes a lot of work and we are impressed by your performance.

Keep it up and the sky is the limit - you can be as fast as you want to be! Set yourself a target and go for it!

The AGM starts at 4.45pm this Sunday in one of the classrooms at Impington - directions at the Swimming Pool Reception.

After the AGM ( which will finish at around 5pm) the Achievement Award Certificates will be handed out (to every swimmer who has ever competed with the club). Then the age group trophies will be distributed. The fun gala will therefore start at around 5.30pm and finish at 7.30 pm.

Swimming sessions start again for the new term this Sunday 6th January.

For all those who have made the - I must be more organized! - New Year's resolution (or had it made for you).

Here is a list of all of our confirmed 'League' galas:

http://www.bottishamswimclub.org.uk/cgi-bin/Calcium310.pl?CalendarName=Default&Op=ShowIt&NavType=Relative&Date=2008/9/20&Amount=Year&Type=Condensed

We are now in three Leagues. The Junior Fenland League is for swimmers aged 9-13 (Mark Nunn is the team manager). The Anglian League and the Senior Fenland League (team management shared between Christof Schwiening and Frances Johnston) are for older swimmers (12/13 and above).

Those swimmers selected by the Team Managers will be contacted directly. If you (or your swimmer) would like to take part, and has not been invited, please speak to the team manager. The selection process is not just based on existing swim times, but also on trying to give promising swimmers an opportunity to compete.

Whilst swimming is mainly an individual sport, these League Galas rely on a good team performance - we are very grateful to all of our swimmers who turn out. Any swimmer who is willing to turn out for the club and try their best, no matter what place they achieve, is greatly appreciated! 

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007

We have just been told that next year we are in the Anglian League. The galas consist of 31 races in age categories 13/U, 15/U and Open. The 13/U and 15/U have 100m races in the four strokes, and a 200m IM. The Open age group have 50m races in the four strokes and a 100m IM. There is only one team relay. The galas are on: 9^th Feb, 19^th April, 28^th June and 27^th September.

The league should be a very good follow on from the Junior Fenland League, and considerably less demanding than the Speedo League.

The club recognizes that as our swimmers progress into their final GCSE years and beyond swimming at the club two or three times a week becomes difficult as work and other sporting committments take up significant amounts of time. In the past this has been the point at which some of our swimmers have decided to leave the club. This has caused problems in finding older swimmers for various galas. Our older swimmers, many of whom have been with us for more than 4 years, are much valued as they set the standards that our younger swimmers can aspire to.

In an attempt to address these issues the club can now offer a reduced fee to those swimmers, if they meet the following criteria:

Any swimmer who has been with the club for at least 4 years, and is only able to attend ONE session per week can apply for a 50% reduction in fees. This offer is only available if the swimmer's nominated session has sufficient space and is under annual review.

Brian organized a relaxing (!) T10 halfway through the last session. A T10 is a 10 minute timed-swim where the aim is complete the longest possible distance. The results below (in metres) are rather coarse since some rounding (to the nearest 50m) was involved. I have posted the results here so that swimmers can see how they improve when we next do it. These swims are a test of stamina and don't correspond tightly with 50m or 100m sprint times. Well done everyone - a great effort!

Dear All,
Just a quick reminder to all of those who have not yet paid their Autumn Fees. The full amount now due is Ł70.50. Those of you who have joined the club after the start of this term have a reduced fee. If you haven't yet paid we would be really happy if you could do so soon (cheques payable to Bottisham Swimming Club - with the name of the swimmer on the reverse). Cheques can be given to any of the poolside helpers who will pass it on to Steve Johnson our treasurer. If you have any questions or concerns please contact me - Christof Schwiening (cjs30@cam.ac.uk).

I was impressed by the effort put in by all the swimmers (there were 18 personal bests) and by how our younger swimmers tackled the longer swims. I was particularily pleased to see most of the squad 'swimming through the wall' at the end of each race.

There was, as always, a great team spirit. Many thanks to Jackie and Den for making sure the swimmers were all in the right place at the right time, Stephen Murphy and Ben Pulford for time keeping, and a very special thank you to Shirley Shipton for acting as our judge.

Here are the times:
Alix Schwiening Breast 100 01:38.1
Alix Schwiening Fly 100 01:39.0
Chloe Gordon Back 100 01:32.2
Chloe Gordon Breast 100 01:39.1
Christopher Haydock Back 100 01:18.1 PB
Christopher Haydock Breast 100 01:31.6 PB
Ciara Pike-Burke Fly 100 01:26.3 PB
Ciara Pike-Burke Freestyle 100 01:14.2
Ciara Pike-Burke IM 100 01:22.3
Daniel Blocksage Breast 50 01:04.0 PB
Deana Dark Back 50 00:49.9 PB
Deana Dark Breast 50 53.12 PB
Deana Dark Free 50 00:45.6
Dominic Pulford Free 50 00:34.2 PB
Dominic Pulford IM 100 01:30.8 PB
Finn Conroy Back 50 43.88
Finn Conroy Fly 50 00:47.0
Flora Bell Back 100 01:35.9 PB
Flora Bell Free 100 01:27.2 PB
Frances Pulford Fly 50 01:06.5 D/Q Arms not clearing water
Harriet Maclennan Back 50 50.6 PB
Harriet Maclennan Freestyle 50 00:46.4 PB
Jack Murphy Fly 100 01:30.7
Jack Murphy Free 100 01:12.7 PB
Jack Murphy IM 100 01:18.6
Jamie Gowlett Breast 100 01:30.4 PB
Joshua Sambrook Breast 50 00:51.9
Louise Gowlett IM 100 01:35.6 Ralf Slaymaker Back 50 00:47.8
Ralf Slaymaker Fly 50 01:03.4 D/Q Arms not clearing water
Ralf Slaymaker Free 50 00:39.4 PB
Sam Palmer Free 100 01:05.9
Tim Shipton Fly 100 01:05.6
Tim Shipton IM 100 01:06.7 PB
Verity Clarke Breast 50 00:53.1 PB
Verity Clarke IM 100 01:42.5 PB