Monday 28 January 2013

Blog 1511: Open Meet

A great day yesterday and firstly I would like to thank all the volunteers that made our open meet once again one of the most successful and well run open meets around. Without volunteers to help run these meets we wouldn't be able to have this source of income and therefore fees would rise significantly. If you can volunteer, courses are run by the club and you will be educated in any role you wish to help with. Bonuses with volunteering include being able to be poolside for free, lunch and in some cases expenses.

On to the swimming and wow, great stuff. Our skill levels through the walls were great, our finishes were loads better and we had the smallest percentage of DQ's for any club there proving our technical skills and the training we do for them is working.

What was even more impressive was the non pool details, bloodflow and being on time i.e 15 minuets prior to warm up start, nutrition and the none use of electrical equipment with cameras were all so much better as was hydration for the most part; on a day like yesterday you should really be drinking around 4-6 liters of squash or water. Sports drinks replace nutrients and therefore should only be used after racing and not as a regular hydration. As we said no sweets the response was great; again, if you are going to have sweets, only a few after each race to help replace carbs and sugar levels, preferably no sweets during the day.

Everyone was a credit to the club yesterday so let's build on this.

Monday 21 January 2013

Blog 1505: Cold Weather spell and Training

During this cold weather all training will remain on unless we hear from the pools that they are closed, or the Highways Agency saying that roads are too dangerous to drive on, at which point we will blog immediately. That being said, our first priority is our members' health and safety, and whilst most of the main roads are still accessible, many back roads and streets are hard to pass, therefore, if you feel it is too dangerous to get to the pool and decide to stay home instead, we will support that decision.

Blog 1503 : Register for fundraising

The club is now registered with Easyfundraising.org.uk, which will enable us to earn a percentage on any online purchases at over 2,000 retailers.

You need to register at our cause page www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/longeatonsc/
 - I have just registered and it took less than a minute!

You then need to remember to use it.......

For example, Amazon is one of the retailers and the club will earn 2.5% on every purchase YOU make.

Every little helps :-)

Helen

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Blog 1499: DX City of Derby Open Meet Report

A number of our Derventio Excel swimmers were in action at the City of Derby Open Meet over the weekend. It was a weekend of mixed success but overall our swimmers still managed to pull off some amazing PB’s.
The most notable successes were as follows:
Matt Cross continued his good form adding the 200IM and 200 Backstroke to his growing number of National Times. Matt also won the BAGCAT Award for the 12yr Boys.
Francesca Muir-Harris may only have competed in one event but she made it count by swimming a 6 sec PB to get her First ever National Time in the 200m Freestyle.
Kevin Wallbank came 3rd in the final of the 15yrs/over 100m Fly and 2nd in the 200IM Heats
Danny Anderson came 4th in the 50m breaststroke and 7th in the final of the 15yrs/over 100m Breaststroke
Hannah Jones having just returned from the Miami Training Camp pushed her jetlag to one side in order to achieve 1st place in the 15yrs/over 200m Fly and 3rd in the 15yrs/ over 100m Fly final.
The following swimmers also swam PB’s in at least one of their events; Jess Cross, Mischa Menzies, Elle Pryce and Krissy Tomlinson.

Monday 14 January 2013

Blog 1496: City Of Derby Level 1

Swimmers from Long Eaton's Home Programme joined their Derventio eXcel counterparts to compete in 2013's first Level 1 Meet. A Level 1 meet is a long course (50m pool) meet of the highest standard with tough cut off times to get into it. Many international swimmers compete at level 1 meets, so to have swimmers there from both programmes is a massive success for the club. Even though this is a high level meet ourselves and Derventio eXcel were using this meet as race practice. As I have said before, nothing can replace actually racing for gaining experience and trying new tactics and skills. Despite the long Christmas break, then being in heavy training and with some swimmer doing a double shift at this meet and Leicester League, our swimmers aquitted themselves well. Most swimmers were slightly off their PB's, as was to be expected, however in some cases swimmers achieved PB's and more, with Katie Sloan getting her first Midland time of the season in the 100 free. It was a great weekend of racing all round. Derventio eXcel report to follow.

Blog 1495: Fundraising Initiatives


In an effort to raise additional funds for the club, allowing us to keep future fee increases to a minimum the club is looking to set up the following: 

100 Club - Although we are calling it the 100 Club, we will begin running the draw as soon as we have 30 members, but we will not exceed the maximum of 100 numbers.

The entry tickets will be £4 per month per number if paying by standing order, or £48 per year/£24 per 6 months by cheque. Anyone can join; friends, family and work colleagues.

The club will pay out depending upon the number of entrants, for example with 30 members it will pay out £30, £20 and £10 per month, with £60 being raised for club funds.

Initially we are looking to gauge interest – please contact treasurer.lesc@hotmail.co.uk to express an interest, this will not be a commitment to join. 

Easyfundraising.co.uk – we are currently in the process of registering the club with easyfundraising.org.uk which helps organisations raise money when their supporters shop online. It works in a similar way to many other loyalty shopping sites, but instead of earning points when you shop, you raise a donation for your cause instead. It's as simple as that! You can shop with over 2,000 well known stores and each will donate up to 15% of what you spend. For example, John Lewis will donate 1%, Amazon 2.5%, The Body Shop 6%, some insurance retailers will even donate up to £30 simply for taking out a policy with them!

Further details will be posted when we have them so watch this space. 

Supermarket bag pack – we will be repeating last year’s event on Saturday 4th of May at ASDA in Long Eaton. Keep the date free; more details to follow nearer the time.

Blog 1494: Leicester League


I was very encouraged by the performances of all the swimmers who swam at Corby in the first round of the Leicester league on Saturday. We were competitive, with swimmers displaying a high level of determination in an effort to gain valuable points in what proved to be a very tight and exciting gala. Particularly pleasing was the fact that there were no disqualifications, and we won the “blue ribbon” race , the final cannon relay. Galas like these provide the opportunity to observe good skills and technique, and hopefully the younger swimmers will have been inspired by the strong performances of the older club members. Well done to the whole team, once again it made me proud to be a coach at Long Eaton !

Final Gala Results:

Leicester Penguins211 Hinckley207 Long Eaton201 Loughborough178 Coalville149 Corby 118

Bob

Monday 7 January 2013

Blog 1483: Annual Membership Fees

A reminder to those of you who opted not to incorporate your annual membership fees in with your monthly standing orders that these amounts were therefore due IN FULL by 1 January 2013.

Swimming membership is £25pa and adult membership is £15pa - in accordance with the club rules, every swimmer under the age of 18 must have at least one parent as a member.

Please pay directly to the club bank account by using the same details as your monthly payment or by posting a cheque in the club post box at West Park - PLEASE ENSURE YOU QUOTE YOUR REFERENCE NUMBER.

(This does not apply to those new members who have already paid in full on joining)

Also a futher reminder that ASA registration fees will shortly be due for those who have not already paid.

Please contact me on treasurer.lesc@hotmail.co.uk with any queries.

Helen Akers
Hon. Treasurer