Blog 1186: Leicester League

Long Eaton finished in 5th place in the final of the Leicester League held at Braunstone on Saturday. Once again several swimmers were missing due to injuries, but credit to all swimmers who on the night showed determination and commitment, racing against strong opposition.

A number of races produced very close finishes and when this happens small but important details like not breathing in the final five metres can make a significant difference in the final positioning of the race, and subsequently the final points tally at the end of the gala.

Once again I would like to thank all the officials and Team managers for their help over the three rounds of this competition. Finally also a big thank you to all the swimmers who swam over the three rounds, especially to those who braved the wintery conditions in early February, to attend the second round at Leicester. (also thanks to the parents for getting the swimmers there)!

Bob

Blog 1181: County Wrap up

With counties finally over till Long Course in November, I can report back on what has been another massive step forward for Long Eaton Swimming Club. Last year we totalled 36 golds and this year we increased that to 55. That is almost as impressive as the number of PB's swum this year, with nearly every swimmer equalling or beating their previous personal best in most races. What was also pleasing, was to see those who did enter, trying new events, and actually realizing that there is more to swimming than just 50s, with events from 200m up being really enjoyable and that there is more than one stroke to do. This is a major break through for the club and, hopefully, we, as a club, can continue to develop in this vein. I would like to pass on my thanks to everyone who helped out at these events, as, without your help, this important step for swimmers could not take place. Whilst this improvement is great, we still have work to do; remember, listen to your coach, remember the feedback they give you, and try and do it, in every session you attend.

Blog 1179:Exploring Stress in Sport

If you are 18 and over I am wondering if you can help me.
My name is Rachel Arnold and I am currently studying for a PhD in Sport and Performance Psychology at Loughborough University.
For my PhD, I am exploring the pressures that sport performers have experienced as part of their participation in competitive sport.
To explore this, I have developed a short indicator (which takes around only 10 minutes and is very easy to complete).

(survey click here)

The indicator can be extremely helpful to sport performers, since it can help them to identify the factors that are creating stress for them within their sporting environments, how they typically cope with these pressures, and the impact this might have on their emotions, satisfaction, behaviours and performance.

All that the indicator requires is that you are 18 years / 18 & over and have participated in competitive sport over the past month at a club or university level or higher. Any personally identifiable information that is provided on the indicator will remain confidential. Apart from the researchers, nobody will have access to any responses.

Looking forward to receiving your survey
Kind Regards

Rachel Arnold

Blog 1176: 2nd Weekend of counties

Another weekend of counties are over and only relays to go. Once again Long Eaton swimmers provided us with exceptional performances and lots more Gold to go along with lots of personnel best times. Remember you can only control what you do and not what others do so look at how you swam and what time you did not where you came, fast times will bring golds not the other way around. For a full set of results please see the Derbyshire website, As you know I dont single praise out to anyone swimmer as we are a team and our individual results reflect on the club. If I mention one swimmer and not another it creates issues. We had several swimmers win or place in the BAGCATS competitions so check out those results and pass on your congratulations to those swimmers who are not only a champion in one race but in the multi event categories which show who is the best swimmer not just the best at one event.

Blog 1175: Hannah Jones at Trials

Long Eaton would like to add their congratulations to swimmer Hannah Jones who trains with Derventio Excel who was third in the junior 200 fly at British Trials last week.

Blog 1171: 1 down 2 to go

The first weekend of counties has now been completed and for all those that competed I would pass on my congratulations. Personal best times came crashing down and Midland qualifying times were achieve or brought closer. Such has been the improvement in the club that we now stand on 39 gold medals, which is 3 more than we achieved in the whole of last years counties, with still around another 110 golds to be raced for. As a few have dropped out of relays due to injury or illness please be on stand by to be called up next week after the final round of individual competition, I will be posting final teams a week today. Keep up the great work from this weekend. Despite us wining more golds than before we need to keep working hard, listening to all the coaches and doing the details right. Warm ups are vitally important so that you race well as is approaching your coach before and after the race for advice and feedback. Keep hydrated as these are long days and performance drops with dehydration and eat well to keep the body fueled. Once again well done to all and keep it going.

Blog 1149: Club Shop

BUYING KIT FROM THE CLUB SHOP

Further to Blog No 1145 (Diddy Development Squad) you can order club kit and merchandise from Graham Meadows by phone (0115 973 4620) or email (graham@meadows86.freeserve.co.uk)

Please be aware that the shop sells LESC poolside shirts and tracksuit tops, hoodies and bags as well as snorkels,floats,pullbuoys, fins,hand paddles,drinks bottles,swim caps,goggles etc.All at very competitive prices.

Graham Meadows

LESC Club Shop

Blog 1148: DX Open

This weekend we had the DX open alongside the Leicester League (see previous blog). Many Long Eaton swimmers were there representing both Derventio Excel and Long Eaton and in a high class field these swimmers stood out and performed exceptionally well, with many gaining more regional times and national times, including Hannah Cox who trains at Long Eaton, who got her Senior National time in the 50m Breaststroke. Once again the skill level of Long Eaton swimmers was extremely high especially in the underwater phase and final 5 meters of races.

Blog 1147: Leicester League

Firstly a big thank you to all the parents for battling through appalling driving conditions to get the swimmers to the gala.

Once again I was very pleased with the determination shown by all swimmers as they strived to gain valuable points for the team. This was particularly evident in the last five metres of races, where many swimmers produced a storming finish often pulling back at least one place.

The gala gave an opportunity for swimmers to race in events they would not normally expect to swim in. Also a number of the younger swimmers were representing the club for the first time. You all were a credit to the club, and should gain a lot of confidence from the fact that you swam well in a big gala against strong opposition.

I was very pleased with the final result and left the gala a proud coach.

Final result

Braunstone A 247

Leicester penguins B 217

Long Eaton 170

Coalville 155

Loughborough A138

Braunstone B 106

Bob

Blog 1113:Leicester League

Well done to all the swimmers who swam at the Leicester League gala at Loughborough on Saturday. As Spencer said, this is a very important year for the club, as we strive to build on the success we enjoyed last year. The performance at this gala was very encouraging, I was very impressed with the competitive spirit shown which lead to us winning the gala by a convincing margin. Winning sixteen individual races and twelve of the seventeen relays illustrates the talent we have at the club. Equally important was the way that all swimmers battled to secure points for the team, both in the relays and individual races.

Thanks to all the officials who helped at the gala, and to the team managers who did a great job on a very crowded poolside. Their job was not made any easier by the fact that some swimmers wandered off to either be with parents or talk to other people. Please make certain that team managers are aware of where you are at all times. Swimmers should stay with the team until the last race has finished.

We now need to continue to work hard in training in readiness for the up and coming galas that fall over the next few weeks.

Gala Results:

Loughborough A: 157 Leics Neptune A: 108 Swadlincote: 122 Leics Sharks A: 238

Leics Penguins C: 169 Long Eaton: 267

Bob

Blog 1105: Welcome Back

Happy New year to you all and welcome back,

Its now time to work off those mince pies and get fit for a brand new year of swimming. Whilst 2011 was the most successful year in the clubs history we cannot sit back on our heels. Now is the time to push on and have an even greater year this year. With the first half of the year being dominated by the Championships - County/Regional and National and British masters, along with Diddy league and Leicester league, then there is the small matter of the Olympics World Masters and Club Championships in the middle of the year, finishing up with Arena league (hopefully another trip to the final and maybe more) National Masters and Midland short course.

Goal setting for these events is easy for a coach to do - more more more, but it is down to you the swimmers to achieve these goals. The main focus for any swimmer should be to obtain the qualifying standards for the big three, County, Regional and National in what ever age group you compete at.

Everyone in Development upwards should be looking at county qualification in multiple events so hopefully this year we will have close to 100 entries, please speak to your coach and club rep about entering. This year for the relays I will be entering a maximum of 3 teams per event, the swimmers who have entered will be picked first and teams will be picked initially on the PB database and then adjusted on performances at the Championships.

My goal for Midlands is to get 20 qualifiers who enter excluding our DX swimmers and relays, which means age group 11-14 (2010 2 qualifiers 2011, 3 qualifiers) 2012? Youth/Senior (2010 1 qualifier, 2011 3 qualifiers) 2012 already 5 qualifiers (the previous figures are based on those that entered).

Nationals, as most of our swimmers who are this standard train at DX we have had only 1 national qualifier for the last 2 years, 1 at age group in 2010 and 1 at youth in 2011. This year we have 2 swimmers who have made the standard for the senior nationals albeit in non qualifying meets so lets see if we can get a few more there.

Good luck to all in achieving your goals and remember you can do them so long as you work hard and attend regularly.

Blog 1093: Arena League

GREAT JOB!

A superb final round from both teams last night, The A team finishing 6th in the league the clubs highest ever finish, and going toe to toe with all the big guns and not looking out of place, causing 3 of the other teams coaches to come over to me to pay this club massive compliments, I cannot express how proud I was of all the swimmers last night and their attitude. The B team finished 4th in the gala but only 10 points off second and we are waiting on other results to find the final league position. This season has given the B team a platform to build on and push for promotion next year. The major learning curve from last night for both teams is we as a club need to realize how good we are and stop comparing ourselves to others. Last night our skills were of the highest level. We just have to keep working hard hold the skill level and ensure we attend as many sessions as possible. If we do all of this then we can push for a top 3 finish in league 1 and promotion from league 3. The hard work starts now for next year. Its Poznan time!!!!!

Note: individual results are now posted on left-hand side, under "Results".

Blog 1083: Midland Short Course

This weekend saw the Midland Short Course competition at Corby. For the first time in years we had individual qualifiers and relay teams. Ggiven the standard of qualification for this meet, it is rare for non - DX swimmers to qualify, let alone for a club of our size to be able to put in relay teams with the swimmers who aren't swimming for DX. In the individuals events, the four qualifiers that entered, Hannah Cox ( 3 events) Josephine Parker, Kate Williamson and Ryan Cendrowski (1 Event each), all swam within 0.3 seconds of their personal best times or better, with Hannah just missing the final in the 50m Breast. Given the pool closure and strike action the week before this competition, and that it was the first time at a level with many international swimmers, these were great performances. The relay teams did really well as well; with swimmers with slower times stepping in for quicker swimmers who could not be there, all the teams were within 3 seconds of their respective entry times. There were again lessons to be learned from this competition, the main one being the level of expectation swimmers put on themselves. To swim a PB, or to be close to one, is an amazing achievement and one that should be celebrated,. Yes it is frustrating if you just missed out on a National Time or a final, but be pleased with yourself, as you have never gone faster. Do not compare your times to others around saying I should have got this or that; look at how you swam and areas for improvement. Do not be disappointed because you are not as quick as an international swimmer. Remember, they were once doing the times you are doing now and they work hard and do things right to improve to the standard they are at. Keep hydrated - the top swimmers were going through 3 or 4 litre bottles a day whilst I rarely saw one of our swimmers with a bottle in their hand. Learn these lessons and you will continue to qualify and improve.

Blog 1081: Hoodies

HUG A LESC HOODIE!!

A newcomer to the club's available merchandise is a black hoodie bearing the LESC shark logo on the chest and the back (see accompanying photos).This quality heavyweight hooded sweatshirt is available in both Childs and Adult sizes (small/medium/large and extra large) and is made from 50% cotton and 50% polyester.It is very reasonably priced at £13 for child sizes and £15 for adult sizes.and will be available to purchase at West Park pool this coming Sunday, 4th. December between 5pm and 7pm.



If you have not already ordered your hoodie(s) please email me at : graham@meadows86.freeserve.co.uk or phone me on 0115 973 4620.

Graham Meadows

LESC club shop

Blog 1076: Long Eaton's New President

Those of you who were at the AGM on Thursday will already know that Keith Kelly was elected as our new President.
Keith follows in the footsteps of Bill Camm, who was our first President, and who had been a staunch supporter of competitive swimming in Long Eaton for over thirty years.

Blog 1070: County Sprints

The club had another amazing day in the pool this Sunday at County Sprints. With around 60 swimmers competing we had someone in nearly every race and everyone equalled or bettered their short course PB at least once, proving that the hard work you and the coaching staff are putting in is working. Improve your attendance and improve the details of the races and 3rds will turn into seconds and seconds into firsts.

Blog 1069: Arena League

Sorry for the delay of this post but there is good reason. I have been waiting for the results to come through from all the gala's prior to reporting and I have just received confirmation that the A team are in the top 6 of the league and therefore for the first time in the any Long Eaton club's history we have made the Regional final. This is an amazing achievement and one that is 2 years ahead of my planning. Every swimmer has done the club proud in both the A and B team performances so far with the B team lying 13th in their table and also heading for their highest ever finish. This goes to show the massive improvement the club has made in the pool in such a short space of time and the increase in strength of depth. This is only the beginning and provided that we can keep the club going behind the scenes (please step forward and be part of the committee the more help we get the less work everyone has to do) this club will move forward and continue to progress.

Blog 1067: are you Anybody?

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

There was an important job to do and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it but Nobody did it.

Somebody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done!

Blog 1049: Belper Marlins

Belper Marlins open meet saw 34 swimmers from Long Eaton compete in a fun relaxed meet. Lots of personnel best times were broken over the course of the meet with Chloe Blaydon wining Top Girl and Katie Sloan coming 3rd. Whilst we are achieving personnel best times it is important that we realize what we do in training effects the outcome of every race and the little details will make the biggest improvements, things like knowing your stroke count on backstroke so you don't have to slow down into the walls or even turn to early, every time you get to dive do it properly instead of flopping into the pool. One more area the club can improve on is nutrition in particular the intake of fluids during the day, I was asking swimmers how much they had drank coming into the afternoon and most said a bottle (500ml) on a normal day you need 2 liters of water (water not pop or energy drinks) and when you are sitting around for hours on a hot oppressive pool side you will dehydrate alot quicker than a normal day so the need to get water into the system is more, this is one of the biggest factors in afternoon session swims not matching morning sessions swims.

Blog 1048: National Masters Report

A team of Masters Swimmers from Long Eaton Swimming Club made the short journey up the M1 to Sheffield this weekend to compete at the British Gas ASA National Masters and Senior Age Group Championships. They returned with a haul of 3 Gold, 7 Silver and 3 Bronze medals along with a Record Breaking performance.

The Ladies 120 plus age group team of Rebecca Fox, Elizabeth Simpson, Laura Marinelli and Helen Akers went one better at these short course Championships, by swimming to a British and European short course Record in the four by 200metres freestyle relay, adding it to the British long course Record they achieved in the event earlier in the year. They also won Gold in the same age group in the four by 50m relay and silver in the four by 100m relay in a time inside the old British Record. As lead off swimmer in this event, and therefore able to set an individual time, Rebecca was also able to claim the British Record in the 30-34 years age group for the 100 metres freestyle.

Rebecca and Helen joined Greg Cherry and Colin Prescott to take Silver in two very close finishes, in both the mixed freestyle relay at 400 and 800 metres in the 120 years plus age group. It was also Silver for the 200 years plus team of Maggi Tuck, Mary Holland with Julie Phillips and Fiona Starbuck, neither of whom had swum competitively for many years, in the 200m freestyle relay.

The team entered a total of 15 relay teams across the weekend and in addition to the European record many performances bettered the existing British Records, only to be pipped into second place.

Mary Holland was the only individual Gold medal winner and this came in the 100metres freestyle in the 65/69 years age group. Elizabeth and Colin, swimming in the 35-39 years age groups each took Bronze in the 200metres individual medley and it was another medal for Elizabeth, this time Silver in the 400metres freestyle and in the same event, a Silver for Mary too.

Pete Irving took Silver in the 45/49 years age group in the 200metres backstroke.

Chief Coach Spencer George said he was delighted with the performance of the Masters Squad at this three day event proving that, across the board from the Development Squad to the Masters Squad, the club is improving at a rapid pace and is set to become one of the most successful clubs in the Region. He had a special mention for ladies who achieved the European record and congratulated all the swimmers on their performances and for helping to raise the profile of swimming in Long Eaton.

Masters Coach, Dave Akers, had high expectations of the swimmers after a very successful training cycle and he was not disappointed. As well as record breaking and medal winning performances all of the swimmers rose to the occasion and produced some outstanding swimming with many masters personal best times along with a handful of lifetime best times. ‘I was particularly happy with the way that the group came together as a team and encouraged and promoted great performances. To be able to take fifteen relay teams onto the national stage and come away with a number of medals is an indication that Long Eaton Masters swimming is on the up and will continue to grow and become a major force in UK masters swimming. Indeed, I am looking to take a team to the World Masters Swimming Championships in Riccione in Italy in the summer of 2012.

He added, ‘It is nice to see that the younger swimmers (18-24) have a place to shine as they transition into Masters Age Groups (25 and over) and they had a great competition’ It is good for the Club to be able to offer them the opportunity and to be able to take great club swimmers and turn them into outstanding Masters swimmers when traditionally they may have left the sport for good.’

The team is now focused on the Long Course championships in March 2012, and the following World Championships in June 2012 for which Coach Dave is looking to find sponsorship to enable more swimmers to experience World Class competition.