Page 1 Newsletter - Warrender Water Polo · 2015-16 season will resume from 16th August, and you...
Transcript of Page 1 Newsletter - Warrender Water Polo · 2015-16 season will resume from 16th August, and you...
Page 1
Newsletter June 2015
IN THIS ISSUE
Hello Team Warrender!
Our swimmers and coaches have had
a very busy last few months, and it’s
hard to believe we are half way
through the year, already.
At the British Championships in the
Olympic pool, in London - our
swimmers were very successful:
Dan Wallace won Bronze 400
Free, Silver 200 IM and Gold in the
400 IM and has been selected to
represent Great Britain at the World
Championships in Kazan, in Russia
Craig McNally won Bronze in the
100 Back and Gold in the 200 Back
Lewis Smith is an Honorary
Member of Warrender and had a
very successful British too, where
he won Bronze in the 200 Fly and
400 IM
At other top events Warrender
swimmers again excelled:
Scott Quin – Is about to compete
in the IPC World Champs after
becoming British champion and
British record holder in the 100
breaststroke, at the British IPC
Championships in Glasgow.
Keri-anne Payne has been
selected to represent Britain in the
10K Open Water at the World
Championships
I'd like to also congratulate our Head
Coach Laurel Bailey on her selection
to the coaching team for the World
Championships, and Kris Gilchrist for
his selection to the IPC World
Championships team. Please be sure
to read Laurel’s Head Coach Report in
this newsletter for all our recent
swimming achievements and results.
continued on page 2
From the 13-19th July, the IPC World Championships will be taking place at Tollcross International Swim Centre in Glasgow and our very own Scott Quin will be racing! See page 4 for full details.
A Word from the President
@WarrenderBC @WBC_Water_Polo
Scott Quin at IPC World Championships
DIARY DATE!
Warrender Gentlemen’s Dinner
See page 2 for full details
2014 Commonwealth Games
Warrender Water Polo player, Caitlin
McRobbie represented the Senior
Scotland Ladies team at the EU 8 Nations
which were held in Dublin recently. Read
all about the exciting match on page 3.
Club Volunteer Profile
Warrender’s Child Protection Officers
tell you about their important roles on
page 15.
Page 2
continued from page 1
Our Water Polo and Masters teams are
also going from strength to strength
(more about them in this newsletter too).
We congratulate them all on their
amazing swims and team selections
and wish them every success this
summer.
I’d like to thank everyone who attended
or supported our Warrender Spring
Fling Dinner Dance in May @ the
Waldorf Astoria Caledonian Hotel. It
was a fantastic night enjoyed by all and
great to see so many of our swimmers
and coaches also attending. A big thank
you to Jackie Lawrie and Alison Payne
who helped me to deliver this success
fundraiser for the club, with a special
thank you to the Caledonian Hotel and
Dale McPhee for their generous
support.
Our final fundraiser for this first half of
2015 was our Ladies Afternoon Tea on
Sun 7th June @ the Waldorf Astoria
Caledonian Hotel. Where we had a
super array of Raffle prizes and fun
while raising funds for our swimmers
and the club so thank you for joining us,
and a huge thank to Tara Nicolson for
leading this event which was excellent
and a lovely relaxing afternoon.
One last point - please remember to join
our 126 Lotto Club. This is a great
opportunity for you to win some cash
prizes and raise much needed funds to
support our swimmers. There are prizes
every month so please - join the 126
Lotto Club! Form and info is on our
Website.
I wish you a successful summer of
swimming and relaxing holiday time.
Marjory Verth
President
After nearly 20 successful years,
Malcolm Mathieson has decided to step
down, so we have taken on the
responsibility of organising the Dinner
this year.
The format of the Dinner will be slightly
different, but we seek the support of all
gentlemen, whether a swimmer, coach,
father, water polo player, present or
past member.
Please note the date. Put it in your
diary NOW!
Further information will follow in the
September issue of the newsletter.
Grant Cook, Jim Hill, Ken Richards
Warrender Gentlemen’s Dinner
Apex International Hotel, Edinburgh
Friday 20th November
Page 3
We would like to create a Junior Players Panel. The idea is to have a
small group (maybe 4 to 6 people) of our junior players who will engage
with the rest of our juniors and come up with ideas about any possible
improvements that could be made within Warrender Water Polo.
We would like a mixed age group, both boys and girls represented and
also players from Wednesday and Friday training sessions on the panel.
Can anyone interested in joining the Junior Players Panel please let
Duncan MacGregor and Neal Rayner know as soon as possible? We
can then decide on a group that represents as much of the junior section
as possible. This is your opportunity to have a say in how Warrender
Water Polo is run!
New Water Polo Junior Players Panel
Warrender player Caitlin McRobbie represented the Senior Scotland
Ladies team at the EU 8 Nations which were held in Dublin recently. In
their last game - the 5th/6th play off - the Scotland team eventually won
in the most exciting match of the tournament.
Scotland lined up against Denmark, and after full time the game was
level. Scotland eventually won after a tense penalty shoot out, slotting
in two more penalties than the Danes. The only downside to this great
result was a dislocated knee suffered by the Scotland captain Gael
Logan, an ex Warrender player. We wish her a speedy recovery.
Waterpolo News Eva Wins First Cap A huge congratulations to Eva Sigurdardottir
who has been selected to play for the Scotland
Academy team (2002+) in the BWMF Cup
which is being held in Lloret de Mar from 29
August to 2 September 2015. Eva is a player
who has come on massively since she started
training with our Seniors. This first cap is
thoroughly deserved.
GB Training Camp
GB Training Camp, Croatia with Jonathon Roberts third from left
Jonathon Roberts has just returned from a
week long training camp with the rest of the
GB Junior Team in Croatia.
BWMF Cup - Lloret De Mar
Congratulations to the following Warrender
players who have been selected for the
Scotland Junior (2000+) team who will be
competing in the BWMF Cup which is being
held in Lloret de Mar from 2nd to 6th
September: Lewis Barrow, Lewis Pritchett,
Jonathon Roberts, Rhuari Stuart & Adam
Heywood. Manager: Nick Barrow
Scotland Boys Training Camp
Well done to the following Warrender players
who have been selected for a training camp in
Eger, Hungary from 25th - 30th June: Jamie
Heywood, Lewis Pritchett, Lewis Barrow
&Adam Heywood
Coaches Pass Test!
Congratulations to Kerr Young & Greig Young
on passing their UKCC Level 1 Water Polo
Coaching Course.
Caitlin pictured (furthest left)
Caitlin Plays for Scotland in EU 8 Nations
Page 4
Elite Squad
Update
From the 13-19th July, the IPC
World Championships will be taking
place at Tollcross International
Swim Centre in Glasgow. Our very
own Scott Quin will be racing in his
favoured event, the S14 100m
Breaststroke which takes place on
the first day of the competition, the
13th July.
He would love your support, and
tickets can be purchased from
Ticketmaster for the event
(ticketmaster.co.uk).
Quin will also compete in the S14
200 Individual Medley.
IPC World Championships
2015 British
Championships
Nine Warrender swimmers took part in the
2015 British Championships at the London
Aquatic Centre in April. The meet was a
selection meet for the World Championships
which take place this summer in Kazan,
Russia.
Dan Wallace, who trains at the University of
Florida, cemented his place on the World
Championship team when he won the 400
Individual Medley. He also finished second in
the 200 Individual Medley and third in the
400 Freestyle.
Elite Squad swimmer Craig McNally was
crowned British Champion in his main event,
the 200 Backstroke, unfortunately outside
the qualifying team he needed to make the
National team. He took bronze in his
secondary event, the 100 Backstroke.
15 year old George Clough had a mixed
week, with an outstanding 200 Breaststroke
final on Day 1 unfortunately resulting in a
disqualification after a starting infringement.
Despite the disappointment, Clough rallied
and was able to make it through to the Junior
final in the 200 Individual Medley, 400
Individual Medley and 100 Breaststroke
events, where he finished with personal best
times in all swims.
Taylor Finlayson (National Girls) swam a
superb 200 Butterfly on Day 1 of the
Championships, dropping her best time by
three seconds in her first time swimming at
this level.
Swimmers who took part in the meet:
Craig McNally, George Clough, Megan
Briggs, Katie Stark, Emma Chittleburgh,
Niamh Ritchie, Taylor Finlayson, Dan
Wallace (University of Florida) and Life
Member Lewis Smith (University of Stirling).
Chasing a place on yet another
World Championship team, Olympic
silver medallist Keri-anne Payne
travelled to Mexico at the start of
May to take part in the FINA 10km
World Cup event at Cozumel. This
was the final qualification event for
British swimmers vying for a place
on this summer’s World
Championship team, and Payne did
not disappoint, finishing as the
highest placed Brit in a field of over
70 swimmers to cement her place
on the team. It was an incredibly
tough race, with Payne finishing
19th overall.
The 10km event at the World
Championships will take place on
the 28th July in Kazan, Russia. This
will be the first opportunity for
Payne to qualify for next year’s
Olympic Games in Rio; with the Top
10 finishes in Kazan being given
automatic qualification to compete
in Rio!
FINA World Cup – Mexico
Congratulations to National Elite
Squad swimmer Katie Stark who
achieved two consideration times
for the 2015 Commonwealth Youth
Games.
Stark was inside the consideration
times on the 100m and 200m
Freestyle events, an achievement
that only 12 swimmers in Scotland
managed!
2015 Commonwealth
Youth Games
Page 5
This year we have seen the
introduction of a new competitive
structure within British Swimming,
resulting in the inaugural British
Summer Championships taking
place from 28 July – 2 August.
Swimmers have had to achieve a
minimum top 24 ranking in the age
group within the qualification period
(13 March – 30 June).
Congratulations to the following
swimmers who have met this
minimum criteria in at least one
event (unofficial as of June 3rd):
Junior National:
Abby Orr
National Boys:
Archie Goodburn, Fraser Allison
National Girls:
Niamh Ritchie, Jess Damen, Katy
Smith, Charlie Cavens, Taylor
Finlayson, Roisin Ramsay, Mhairi
Swanson
National Elite:
Calum Reid, Daniel Lim, Chris Kerr,
Craig McNally, Henry Mackenzie,
George Clough, Scott Quin
Megan Briggs, Emma Chittleburgh,
Katie Stark, Rebecca Smith, Alyshia
McCracken, Kirsty Armstrong
Note from the
Head Coach
With yet another successful season
drawing to a close, I would like to wish
everyone a very happy summer break.
For those of you who are representing
your Club and Country at meets in
Britain and beyond this summer; we
wish you the very best of luck!
The summer schedule will shortly be
circulated, please check your emails
regularly during the summer for any last
minute changes or cancellations.
The normal training schedule for the
2015-16 season will resume from 16th
August, and you will receive any
correspondence during July about
promotions or squad changes (included
confirmation of your coach for the new
season). The final squad reports for this
season will be circulated towards the
end of June.
Laurel Bailey
2015 UK School Games
Congratulations to Mhairi Swanson, Katy Smith,
Kirsty Armstrong, Niamh Ritchie, George
Clough and Jack Harrison, who have all been
selected to represent Scotland East in the 2015 UK
School Games. The Games will take place in
September of this year.
2015 British Summer Championships
2015 Malaysian
Open
National Elite Squad swimmer Daniel
Lim travelled to Kuala Lumpur in April to
race in the 2015 Malaysian Open. After
a long day of travelling and not much
time to recover from the jet lag, Lim was
able to swim personal best times in all
three of the Breaststroke events in which
he took part, cementing himself as the
second fastest breaststroker in the
country!
Page 6
WBC Masters Solid Performance
at Scottish National Masters Six current WBC Masters swimmers
travelled over to Glasgow’s Tollcross
International Swimming Centre to
compete in the Scottish National
Masters event held over 24-25th April
2015 – with a fair success in terms of
medals and also current age group
personal best times.
Alex (“Sandy”) Galletly (WBC Life
Member) led the charge and came back
from a period of illness to compete very
effectively indeed in the 70-74 age
group 200 Free (Gold, 3:22.55 and PB),
200 Back (Gold, 3:53.30 and PB) and
200 Breaststroke (Gold, 4:21.24 and
PB).
Callum McKinlay also won Gold in the
50-54 age group 200m Free on the
Saturday (2:13.74), and came 5th in the
100m Free on the Friday (1:00.12).
Our most prolific commitment was from
Mark Jones (50-54 age group) who saw
an 8th in the 50m Free (28.96), an
8th in the 100m Free (1:04.75), a 4th in
the 200m Free (2:22.51 and PB), a
4th in the 400m Free (5:15.89), a 5th in
the 50m Breaststroke (36.82), and a
7th in the 100m Breaststroke (1:20.95).
Jason Kenney (45-49 age group)
claimed Silver in both his 50m Free
(27:11) and 100m Free events (59:60
and PB).
Phillip Rayson saw the benefit of his
recent training commitment to deliver 35
-39 age group PBs in the 100m IM
(Bronze, 1:10:89 and PB), 100m
Backstroke (Bronze, 1:07:22 and PB)
and 50m Backstroke (Silver, 31.11 and
PB). Phillip also claimed a 7th in the
50m Free (28.12).
Our youngest Master at this event,
Jonathan Borland (25-29yrs), truly
stepped up to claim a Silver in the 50m
Breaststroke (32.68 and PB), Silver in
the 200m Breaststroke (2:54.85 and
PB), a 4th in the 100 IM (1:09.90 and
PB) and a 5th in the 50m Free (26:80
and PB).
Smells Like Team Spirit
There was a sound performance in the
men’s relay events also with Jason,
Jonathan, Phillip and Mark claiming
Silver in the hotly contested X160 age
group Freestyle relay (1:49:56); and
Phillip (Back), Jonathan (Breaststroke),
Mark (Fly) and Jason (Free) narrowly
pushed into Bronze in the X160 age
group IM relay too (2:04:28) despite our
best efforts at sharp takeovers.
Warrender Masters Men’s Relay
Team: L to R: Jonathan
Borland,Jason Kenney, Mark
Jones, Philip Rayson
Page 7
National Girls We are currently at the final stage of
the season with only 8 weeks to go until
the summer meets/holidays! This final
stage is very important as it serves as
the preparation for Scottish Open
Championships at the end of June in
Glasgow and the newly introduced
Scottish and British summer nationals at
the end of July in Edinburgh and
Sheffield respectively.
The good news is that in 4 weeks’ time
we will be training under the sun of
Spain and this will make the hard
training more enjoyable (or less
painful!). Until then, the girls are
required to display their best attitude to
finish off the season successfully.
Finally, we would like to take this
opportunity to thank Niamh Simms for
all her hard work as administrator and
team manager over the past two
seasons. Thanks Niamh, your work is
much appreciated.
Kostas
National Girls having fun… after training hard!
Page 7
Selfie of the Month! National Girls’
Jess Damen and friends
Page 8
Since the previous newsletter that
rounded up the success from Scottish
Age Groups, the squad took a few days
away from the pool to rejuvenate and
get some much needed rest after a long
4 days in Aberdeen. From then, the
competition front has been slightly
quieter, with a small group travelling to
Leeds to experience a new
environment and try to achieve swims
that will put them in the position to
qualify for Summer Nationals.
With an intense schedule that didn’t
allow much time in between swims the
boys produced positive swims coming
away with several top-place finishes.
On the same weekend another small
group took themselves to Bathgate to
swim in the Swim West Lothian Tough
IM meet where again, the swimming on
show was of a high standard with some
setting the benchmark for gaining DRP
times. With the Summer National’s
window approaching quickly, the squad
swam at the East District Grand Prix
where several secured their top place
finishes with some challenging swims,
working on a variety of skills and tactics
that had been developed in training.
Congratulations to all those that have
made qualification for Summer
Nationals.
Looking forward, the squad will have a
quiet June, with competition opportunity
coming at the end of June at the
Scottish Open and then shortly after
travelling to Calella, Spain for our
training camp with the girls. More
information regarding camp
arrangements will be distributed shortly!
As it’s the final newsletter for the
season, can I just take this opportunity
to thank all the swimmers and parents
for their time and effort this season! It’s
been a very welcoming and enjoyable
year with many positives and areas to
keep improving on!
Lana
National Boys Squad with Coach Lana
National Boys
Page 9
Junior Age Group Squad
Well, this has been an incredibly busy,
even hectic few weeks both in and out
of the pool since we started back after
the Easter break. Lots of the Squad
have had a range of other activities from
School and Scout Camps, Dance
Shows, Aqua-thons and a host of
Birthdays to celebrate, including mine –
thanks for the cards and other goodies
by the way! There has of course also
been a load of swimming to deal with as
well, in terms of both Training and
Competition.
Because of the inevitable variation in
attendance over this Cycle, I will not
report in the usual detail on that other
than to say well done to those who have
made all the sessions they could and to
remind everybody that the first and most
important factor in bringing about
improvement is the combination of
Regularity and Frequency of
Attendance. There will be a number of
things which will unavoidably “get in the
way” of that which is why it is so vital to
make sure you are there every time you
possibly can be. That will apply also to
the upcoming Holiday Programme as
well, details of which will be distributed
in the very near future. Please check
this out and let us know when you will
be away so that we can know when to
expect you.
TRAINING & COMPETITION As explained previously, we, the Squad
Coaching Staff decided that because
the Scottish National Age Group
Championships are held every Easter, it
is important that we base our year’s
training Plan starting in May and going
right through until the following March/
April time. We therefore have been
focussing on building more distance into
the training schedules and of course
also in the competitive events we have
been tackling. I know some of you
regard anything over 100 as a
“distance” and are rather reluctant to
“have a go” at these longer swims.
I hope that your recent performances at
the IM Tough and the INCAS Distance
Meets will have helped to change the
way you view these swims. I think you
would all agree that the swims of Finlay
(800 & 1500), Natalie (800 & 400IM)
and Alexandra (800) in particular are
worthy of a special mention in this
regard but really everybody taking part
in these Meets did very well and we
hope you will now take that more
positive attitude back into the next
phase of training. I was quite delighted
when one swimmer came up to me after
one of these weekend Meets and asked
if they could please be entered into the
next available 400 IM event.
At this point, I want to make a very
special mention of Kotryna and Laura
and to thank them both on yours and on
my behalf for their fantastic contribution
to JAG Squad all season of course but
in particular during this latest Cycle
when they have taken on the major
responsibility for setting and delivering
the sessions. In all the many years I
have been involved in coaching, I have
rarely experienced such a positive,
successful and “cooperative”
arrangement. Their joint efforts will
continue throughout the holiday period
and arrangements for the following
Cycle is being finalised by the Club
Head Coach and will be announced
quite soon. Meanwhile Kotryna has
provided the short contribution below to
this Newsletter.
Hammy
‘Many changes have occurred in JAG
since last August and even more after
SNAGS were over. I believe all these
changes proved to be positive after
some very successful swims in SNAGS
in April and the IM Tough Meet in May.
Not to rest on our laurels, our guys
have been working extra hard to further
develop their skills, aerobic capacity
and speed. Lots of hard work continues
in the pool, on the poolside and behind
the scenes with much more to come
during the summer term.
Non-swimming aims
On this occasion, however, I would like
to highlight another important role we
have undertaken in JAG. In other
words, one of our non-swimming aims
is to help all of you to develop socially
and personally by helping to further
enhance your general life and
interpersonal skills. These skills come
through self-reflection; learning the
importance of feedback and analysis;
engaging in effective time
management; coping with setbacks;
planning for performances, to name but
a few.
Even though all these qualities follow
most athletes throughout their careers,
we have put a very specific focus on
these qualities to help young swimmers
to learn how to train and strive for
excellence by undertaking small but
important steps. I hope these valuable
lessons will be taken away to enhance
your performance in swimming and
also in any other sport as well as in
school and in life outside.’
Kotryna
Lana
JAG
Warrender’s new tattoo as modelled by Smith White’s Milly Milne at the recent JAGS meet
Page 10
Our new members who came after
Easter have settled in very well: Robert
Wright, Magnus Rowley, Ella Bennett
and Rebecca Ivens. We said goodbye
to Callum O´Donnel and a very warm
welcome to James Stark.
With three weeks ahead to finish the
end of the competition period, Age
Group Warriors face this last period
with enthusiasm to end with a good
update of PBs. This week and for the
last two weeks, we have been building
stamina and volume, after a 4 week
period of technique work and stroke
development.
Since Easter, Age Group has attended
three competitions. Just after Easter
and, as a good test, we had a
Development Meet on 26th April and
with some swimmers still on holiday,
the Age Groupers still did their job very
well with 71% of success out of 31
swims.
The following weekend, we had the
second round of the Lothian League,
which each swimmer took part in to get
as many points as possible to their
corresponding teams. And our last
competition so far was the IM Tough
Meet, a competition distinguished by
the high level and the massive number
of entries to this meet this year.
Age Group showed their courage and
everyone had really good results. In
total, 83% of personal best time out of
49 swims, 8 medals (3, Thomas
McSkimming and 5, Calum Robb).
Actually, this competition was in the
middle of our last training period which
showed Age Groupers are in good
shape to deal with the last competitions
and perform at the highest level.
Please keep training for our last two
competitions on June 20th -
Aquanaughts and 21st – the
Development Meet.
Best of luck for all our guys and
Warrender at the Lothian League and I
can´t wait to see all of you performing
these last few weeks.
I wish everyone a good summer!
Dani Villaverde
We have just completed a busy spell of
competitions with swimmers at all
levels in the Development squads
attending various competitions with
great success. Hopefully the coaches
will be highlighting details of these.
June is also quite busy and culminates
with the Development Meet to end the
season on Sunday 21st June which it is
hoped you will all be at.
Shortly the Summer Holiday
Programme will be issued and we hope
that you will aim to keep “ticking over”
by attending sessions when you are at
home in order to maintain some fitness.
Basket Carriers Again!
We are delighted that Scottish
Swimming has once again asked
Warrender to supply the Basket
Carriers for the evening finals of the
Scottish Summer Meet from 24th to
26th July at RCP. As this is during the
holidays, we may decide to extend the
invitations to help beyond the JN and
JAG squads who have done this
previously.
Frances
On Changing Room Patrol!
Development Squads Report
Age Group
Page 11
2015 Lothian League Results The final round of the Lothian Leagues has just taken place on
Saturday 6th June and was as exciting as ever! The points results are
all below.
Well done to everyone who played a part in the three rounds; all your
points contributed to the outcome below.
Have a good summer.
Frances ....
Girls 8/9 1
st Warrender 190 Holly, Imogen, Lucy, Emily
2nd
Tranent 161 3rd Warrender B 152 Katrina, Megan, Elli, Abbie
Boys 8/9 1
st Tranent 139
2nd
Warrender 136 David, Owen, Jack, Patrick 3
rd Inverleith 134
Girls 10/11 1
st Warrender B 210 Emily, Grace, Annabel, Lia
2nd
Warrender A 188 Keira, Jess M, Jess P, Sophie 3
rd Hearts 180
(A Team lost some points previously on a ‘Too Fast’ swim)
Boys 10/11 1
st Warrender Sachin, Ollie, Finn, Sam
2nd
Warrender B 236 Siaran,Jonathan,Gabriel,Archie 3
rd Hearts 225
Girls 12/13
1st Warrender 175 Sally, Emily, Ellie, Aoife
2nd
Haddington 170 3
rd Inverleith 164
Boys 12/13 1
st Livingston 126
2nd Warrender B 118 Neil, Calum Rennie, Robert 3rd Warrender A 113 Magnus, Mark, Charlie, Calum Robb (A Team lost points on a Too Fast swim)
Girls 14+ 1
st Hearts 138
2nd
Livingston 132 3
rd Warrender Yesim, Eilidh, Gemma,
Rebecca
Boys 14+ 1
st Hearts
2nd
Inverleith 3
rd equal Livingston & Warrender Sam C, Thomas, Luke,
Sam B
Lothian Leagues: Most of the Gold and Silver medal
winning 10/11 girls teams (From left to right: Keira
Rennie, Emily McEwen, Lia McDonald, Sophie Hoole,
Grace Robertson, Jessica Murray)
Lothian Leagues: Most of the Gold and Silver medal
winning 10/11 boys teams. From left to right:
Sachin Dhaliwell, Ollie de Beaux, Sam Glass, Archie
Tomlinson, Jonathan Marshal, Finn Bremner plus some
of the girls trying to get in on the act!
Page 12
My newest four members of WR
recently took part in The Minnows Meet
at Prestonpans, where already, big
improvements were made and the three
boys were part of the silver medal finish
in the boys 11/12yrs 200m Freestyle
relay. Well done to James Robb,
Gabriel Quinn and Johnathon Cormack
and to Grace Robertson for her great
performances too!
The weekend before The Minnows
Meet was The SWL IM Tough Meet in
Bathgate which attracted a high level of
entries which resulted in some
oversubscribed swims for WR
swimmers but this didn't put my guys off
putting in some fantastic performances
and smashing their personnel best
times! Another big WELL DONE!
This term, in particular, is going really
well with record attendance figures to
all sessions. In particular I would like to
congratulate Grant Smith as, since he
joined WR last August he has a 100%
attendance, missing no sessions!
I'm coming to the end of my first season
coaching at Warrender with Wilkie Red
so would like to thank all my swimmers,
past and present, for your co-operation,
determination and hard work. It's been
a delight and so much fun working with
you all. I look forward to the new
season!
Maxine McLoughlin
Wilkie Red Coach
Myself and Sharon Sorensen (WR
administrator) accompanied the 35
strong Warrender team travelling by
coach to The Duns 500 Meet on
Saturday 6th June. The team was
made up of SW SR & WR swimmers.
James and Andrew, Smith White and
Smith Red coaches, travelled down to
join us for the afternoon session.
Unfortunately we didn't bring The
Trophy back home with us on this
occasion. With a new age group of 14
years & over added to the programme
this year we had a set back from the
start as we had no swimmers, male or
females, entered in to this age group,
which represented a third of the total
points on offer. So to gain a second
place finish to the hosts Duns was a
fantastic result!
We had an extremely high percentage
of personal best times with all
Warrender swimmers fighting hard to
gain a top sixth finish and achieve
points towards our grand total.
Medallists were:
SILVER
Aimee Derighetti 11yr&U 100
Back & 100 Free
Alexander Marasa 12-13yrs 100
Fly
Joshua Rankin 11yr&U 100 IM
James Robb 11yr&U 100 Back,
50 Fly & 100 Free
BRONZE
Archie Sorensen 11yr&U 100
Back & 100 Free
Alexander Marasa 12-13yrs 100
Back
Joshua Rankin 11yr&U 100 Brst
James Robb 11yr&U 100 IM
Thomas Forster 11yr&U 50 Fly
With many more Warrender Swimmers
narrowly missing a podium finish!
Team support was strong with high
spirits. The three squads mixed so well
at the pool and on the coach. It was a
great fun day with all swimmers,
coaches and team manager enjoying
themselves very much, having fun on
the playing field during the lunch
interval and enjoying the BBQ that
Duns put on to finish the day!
Well Done All!
Maxine
DUNS 500 Meet - Sat 6 June
Wilkie Red
‘On changing room patrol’! Maxine with Wilkie Red’s Lachlan White at Forresters.
Page 13
Firstly, apologies from me that there
was no report for April.
Secondly, on Sunday 19th April we
welcomed five new swimmers to the
squad - namely Cenk Akan, Imogen
Bassett, Simon Khan, Phoebe MacKay
and Amy Thorn. We waved goodbye
and best wishes to even better
swimming in Wilkie Red to the following
- Jonathan Cormack, Gabriel Quinn,
James Robb and Grace Robertson.
In the Development Meet of 26/4/15, we
had about 18 out of 23 swimmers
swimming and everybody swam the 100
Fly and all swimmers showed great
effort despite a few who still lack the
dolphin kick to ride on top of the water.
At the same time it was a debut swim
for nearly half the squad. Rebecca
Shulman deserves a wee mention for 3
PBs in her three swims and
her 1:36 was perhaps still her best swim
to date (and she’ll tell you the amount of
a PB it was).
In competition again we were the only
Warrender Squad to compete in
the Midlothian Minnows in which we
entered 16 swimmers of the present
squad and the above 4 promoted to
Wilkie.
In the morning session we had 4
swimmers - Olivia Mason, Katherine
Cockburn, Evie Wright and Adam
Ritchie. Poor Adam was left mainly on
his own whilst the 3 girls were chatting
away like a house on fire whilst
disappearing off to marshalling every 30
minutes or so. But all 3 girls swam well
on Fly and the other 3 swims were more
of a mix. Adam Ritchie had no doubt
saved his breath and swam a very
steady 54 secs in the 50 Breast to get a
Bronze Medal even though it’s a
certainty to me that he would have
preferred to win a medal in Freestyle.
At the afternoon session of the Minnows
meet, the coach - who has already
owned up to Frances – made the
amateur oversight of not having
poolside help whatsoever for our 16
swimmers. This even number seemed
ideal for 2 relay teams - 8 girls and 8
boys – perfect, you would have thought.
In a nutshell no because Molly
McKernan damaged her shoulder during
the girls warm up and could not
compete. Then Tameem Somalya
arrived just as the warm up began but
with a big strapping on his ankle which
he sprained the day before - so no
Breast and Fly 50 swims for him.
And to cap it all another young swimmer
appeared on poolside during the warm
up to mutter quietly that dad had got a
bit lost getting to the Meet (Mercat
Centre, Prestonpans).
Alas the 50 Free was probably the best
swim of the day for most. Space here is
limited for all names in the relays. But in
the 4x50 Free Relay the
boys swam 2:28 (2nd out of 3
teams) and the girls swam 2:38(5th out
of 6).
More next month on the swimmer of the
month for both May and June. Also a
wee report on the long day out but very
popular trip to the Duns Meet on 6/6/15.
Oh yes and how we are all going to
perform well in the last Development
Meet on 21/6/15 especially with the
coach’s insistence that everybody’s
capable and thus up for a top 200 Free
Swim.
Yours Aye in Best Swimming and in
getting poolside help next time,
Andrew
It is with a mixture of joy, excitement
and sorrow that I will be leaving
Warrender at the end of the month to
take up a teaching post in Bangkok.
Since the inception of Smith White I
have coached a squad with multiple
personalities, each and every swimmer
brought their bit to the squad. I have
fond memories of Friday Swim Songs,
scrap books with unusual images and
elaborate stories within them, hundreds
of nicknames (for this I must apologise
to many parents - especially those
who’ve acquired custom hoodies), the
chatty squad, the silly squad, the
competitive squad and many variations
in-between.
I would like to say a big thank you to all
the parents that have helped with my
squad over the years - we couldn’t do it
without you. I would also like to thank
the swimmers for turning up to as many
sessions as they could and working
their very hardest.
I hope that all the swimmers that I have
worked with remember my simple rule
to life - whatever you do it should be
fun! It is for this very simple reason
that I have coached with Warrender for
so many years and it is also for this
very reason that I must make the move
abroad for a few years to face new
challenges!
I will deeply miss all of the swimmers
that I have coached over the years. I
will be keeping track of results and will
be keeping in touch to hear of
successes. Maybe one day Warrender
can run an excursion to Bangkok to
compete against my future swimmers.
Best wishes and fond memories,
James
Smith White - Farewell from James
Smith Red
Farewell to James from Smith White!
Page 14
Benson Red
Hi All,
Firstly I want to apologise for not having said anything
in the last newsletter as I was finishing up my Honours
project for University. However now that it is
completed I can now finally update you all.
I would like to give a warm welcome to the new
swimmers in Benson Red: Anna McCallum, Anna B,
Finlay, Zoe, Natasha and Rosie. I hope you all enjoy
Benson Red and look forward to seeing some good
results from you all and good sessions.
I am pleased with the majority of the swimmers in the
squad with attendance and want you all to keep up the
good work. However there are a few swimmers that
aren’t at many sessions and I would like you to
increase this slightly (you know who you are!).
Ryan
What a year it has been for Benson White! All
swimmers should be extremely proud of their
achievements! We have seen consistent
improvements from all swimmers at the Development
Meets and success at the Fauldhouse Meet (2014)
and Hearts Meet (2015).
The squad has a great, positive attitude towards
swimming and I look forward to seeing you all back in
August. Remember to attend as many sessions over
the summer break as possible because this will help
you tremendously when normal training resumes
August. Well done and have a great summer!
Lucy
Benson White
Benson Blue
I can't believe that I am fast approaching the end of my
first season as the coach of Benson Blue. It's been a
fantastic year so far, and I've loved seeing the
improvements that can be made from one competition to
the next (sometimes, from one training session to the
next!).
It's great to see how each new intake of swimmers is
welcomed into the group, and it's been lovely having
Ellie, Darcy, Katie, Sarah, Sophie, Poppy, Abbi, Matthew
and Douglas settle into the group since joining at Easter.
As you can see, Benson Blue welcomed a particularly big
intake for the final term, and the progress made by the
group has been amazing! We have a lot of fun at training
(...sometimes too much!), and it is an absolute pleasure
to be the coach.
This term the swimmers have spent a lot of time and
energy focussing on leg kicking in training. The results
have been visible- especially on breaststroke, and I really
think racing performances will benefit as a result. With
the Lothian League final, and the concluding
Development meet of the season at the end of June, I
cannot wait to see the results of all of the swimmers' hard
work.
During the summer term, the swimmers had the
opportunity to compete in the Hearts Novice meet (in
addition to April's Development meet). This was a
fantastic day for Benson Blue, with countless personal
best times, and another great opportunity to obtain race
experience. A huge congratulations to Jenny, Abbie, and
Isaac who all came away with medals for their
performances, and it was great to see some of the old
Benson Blue swimmers swimming fast too (.. that's you
Emily, Nikita, and Lucy!!).
It's been a fantastic year, and it will be exciting to see
what the next season holds for Benson Blue!
Sarah
Assistance from Ryden Warrender is grateful to Ryden for assisting with the
production of the newsletter.
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Page 15
CHILD PROTECTION
Catriona writes “I am the parent of two
swimmers, Benjo, who swims in
National Boys, and Hana who swims in
Elite. We joined Warrender in 2009
having moved to Edinburgh. Little did
we know how involved we would
become in the world of swimming!
I began volunteering with the Club
shortly after we came, initially
timekeeping, and occasionally helping
out with the Club shop. I found I was
not very good at timekeeping, both the
maths and the fact I am very right-
handed caused me some stress! I
opted instead to take on the shop full
time, a role I have now carried for 4
years.
As a Social Worker in my day job, when
the role of Child Protection Officer
became vacant two years ago it
seemed a natural thing to take on this
responsibility. At the time legislative
changes were beginning to impact, the
disclosure system was being replaced
by the ‘PVG’, and there was a
considerable amount of work to be
done to transfer all those with
responsibility for children within the club
to the new system.
We are now towards the end of this
transition, and the Club is in a much
better position with all coaches, office
bearers and most volunteers having
undergone the required checks.
Policies and procedures have also been
updated, and this has been a team
effort, with Jenn McLeod who works in
the office playing a key role in keeping
us all to task.”
Adrian writes: “I became involved with
Warrender seven years ago when my
daughter Megan joined the club and
she currently swims with National Girls.
My wife Jackie and I realised very early
on how critical it is for parents to help
the club and we have both volunteered
over the years - occupying a number of
roles ranging from Swimming Technical
Officials, Jackie as Team Manager and
me as Team Driver.
I was a police officer for 37 years and
retired as a Detective Chief Inspector in
March 2014. Most of my service was
spent in the CID and for the last 15
years I specialised in Child and Adult
Protection and was a member of
several local Child Protection
Committees and Scottish Government
groups.”
As Child Protection Officers Adrian and
Catriona have responsibility to provide
advice and assistance when concerns
are raised. We regularly speak with
Scottish Swimming Child Protection
Lead Officers to ensure that the Club is
fully compliant and up-to-date regarding
our policies and procedures. Keeping
children and young people safe is
everyone’s job and it is a team effort we
all have a part in. Catriona and Adrian
both hope that if any swimmer and/or
their parents have any concerns
regarding the safety or wellbeing of any
child or young person they will get in
touch with us so that we can see if
anything needs to be done.
We also sit on the Management
Committee. We could not do our jobs
without the cooperation of all those
involved in supervising children within
the club. From 1 November 2015 it will
be an offence to use volunteers who
have not completed the relevant
checks.
Club Volunteer Profile Warrender Baths Club has over 350 swimmers, many of whom are under 18 years old. Making sure they are all safe and able to swim in a supportive environment is a priority. Warrender’s Child Protection Officers, Adrian Lawrie and Catriona MacKenzie play a key role in ensuring this is the case.
Warrender’s Child Protection Officer, Adrian Lawrie
How you can help Both Adrian and Catriona have
enjoyed volunteering with
Warrender. It has provided many
opportunities to meet people, learn
a lot more about swimming and
make some good friends. The club
needs volunteers; it could not run
without them. So if you feel like
helping out with the children in the
club, coaching, marshalling, acting
as team manager or any other
similar role please get in touch and
we can begin the relevant checks.
Finally if you do want to contact us
our details are on the Club website,
just click on the banner “about us”
and choose “roles” from the drop
down menu.
Page 16
The happy group to the right are
some of the swimmers of the 50s /
60s decades who have joined the
Warrender Association since it was
formed two years ago and who met
recently for an informal lunch at the
Cafe Royal Circle Bar.
Two of those attending were
Frances Smith (nee Johnston) and
Jim Hill who were Scottish
Internationalists together in 1958-
60, Frances being Scottish Ladies
100yds Backstroke Champion and
Jim, Scottish Mens’ 100yds
Freestyle Champion in 1959.
Frances and Jim
From left to right: Dugald McIntyre, Frances Smith, Stuart Strong, Jim Hill, Flora Speirs, Helen Murray, Norma Paterson,
Grant Cook, Ian Martin Front: Ken Richards, Norma Allan
Warrender Association – A Member for Life
Decades 1950 & 1960
We hope that even more will attend our
next get-together, in the Autumn. Also
that we may hear of news from the
later decades, in the next issue of
Warrender News.
The aim of the Warrender Association,
‘WA’, is to bring together Club
members, past and present, supporters
and friends of the Club wherever they
are in the world, through social media,
e mail, a WA page in the Warrender
Newsletter and through social
gatherings, so that contact can be
renewed, maintained and shared.
Many will remember the 125 Gala
Decade event at the Royal
Commonwealth Pool, followed by the
inaugural get-together when Charlie
Raeburn talked of his vision for The
Association.
If you would like to be kept in touch,
you can join by visiting the Club
website www.swimwarrender.com,
where you will find an immediate link to
the online Warrender Association
application form.
Best wishes
Grant Cook [email protected]
Dugald McIntyre [email protected]