Junior Speedo League (Diddy) 2008

Round Three Gala Report

Round three of the Junior Speedo league was held at Southbury Road on Sunday 29^th June 2oo8. Once again, like all the previous Speedo rounds it was going to be a hard fought competition. Because the Hoddesdon team was in the consolation six they had to achieve no lower than third place to stay in division one next year. Right from the start it was evident that the star performers of the gala were going to be Barnet Copthall and Runneymead. After the first quarter of the gala Hoddesdon, South End and Enfield shared third place equally but by the half way mark Hoddesdon had drawn ahead to take sole third position, only for South End to win it back by the end of third quarter. With so much at stake the final quarter proved to be a nail biting climax to the gala with Hoddesdon team eventually gaining third place with a clear 18 points lead over South End and thus securing their place in division one next year.

The two Hoddesdon 1^st places of the night came from Tomas Stevens in the 10 year old boys 50 metres backstroke and again, swimming up a year to win the boys 11/U 50 meters backstroke, well done to Tomas for this achievement.

New personal best times were achieved by: Roya Keswick in the girls 10 years 50 metres breaststroke and in the girls 10 years 50 metres freestyle, Katherine Wolfe in the girls 9 years 25 metres freestyle, Oliver Perry in the boys 9 years 25 metres freestyle, Kirstin Meikle in the girls 12/U 50 metres butterfly, Tom Scott in the boys 10 years 50 metres freestyle, Harry Burtenshaw in the boys 11/U 50 metres freestyle and Andrew Goodman in the boys 12/U 50 metres backstroke.

Girl Swimmer of the gala went to Annie Clark and boy swimmer of the gala went to Harry Burtenshaw.

Team manager Mark would like to thank all the swimmers for their efforts and especially the parents for getting the children to all the galas. We have done very well again and continue to compete with the big clubs.You can all be very proud to swim for Hoddesdon SC, please keep training hard so that we can be even better next year. Well done you are all fantastic!

Results of the gala:1^st Barnet Copthall 534 points, 2^nd Runneymead 362 points, 3^rd Hoddesdon 320 points, 4th South End 302 points, 5^th Enfield 298 points, 6^th Cheshunt 214 points.

Round Two Gala Report

Round 2 gala was held on May 11^th 2008 at Blackshots Leisure Centre Thurrock. Once again it was a closely contested gala, with all teams striving to gain a top placing. Thurrock, the league winning team from last year were in good form and took a dominant lead from race one, with Hillingdon hard on their heels, closely followed by Hoddesdon. At the half way mark Hoddesdon maintained their hold on third place fending off the challenge from the other three clubs in gala. The second half of the gala comprising individual and relay events saw Hoddesdon strengthen their hold on the third place, but they were unable to make an impact on the two gala leaders. As always the final Squadron relay proved an exciting event and the encouragement from the spectators made it a thrilling finale to what was a well run and thoroughly enjoyable gala. Congratulations to all our swimmers, each and every one gave 110% and the team manager and all the coaches were highly delighted with their efforts.

Gala Statistics:

Girl swimmer of the gala, Sydney Crouch, Boy swimmer of the gala,Thomas Stevens

No Disqualifications.

First places from: Georgina Fisher in the girl’s 9yr old 25m freestyle,Thomas Stevens in the boy’s 10yr old 50m backstroke

Personal Best Times: Georgina Fisher in the girl’s 9yrs 25m freestyle,Sydney Crouch in the girl’s 11/U 50m backstroke

Jordan Icelli in the boy’s 11/U 50m backstroke,Louise Dunning in the 9yrs 25m breastroke

Rebecca Freestone in the girl’s 10yrs 50m backstroke,Kathrine Wolfe in the 9yr old 25m backstroke

Matthew Day in the 9yr old boy’s 25m backstroke/butterfly,Albert Johnston in the 12/U 50m backstroke,Tom Scott in the 10yr old 50m freestyle

Gala Results:

1^st Thurrock 267 points, 2^nd Hillingdon 219 points, 3^rd Hoddesdon 160 points,

4^th Enfield Borough137 points, 5^th Runnymede 134 points, 6^th Cheshunt 103 points

Round One gala report

The first round of the Junior Speedo league was held at Barnet Copthall. As always in the Diddy league the gala was closely contested with all six teams striving for top placings. Our first win came from Georgina Fisher with a fine swim in the girls 9 year old 25m freestyle. This was follwed by two wins from Thomas Stevens in the boys 10 year old 50m backstroke and 50m butterfly. A fourth win came from Shona Costello in the girls 10 years 50m freestyle. The team swam well breaking 10 Pb’s and setting a new club record in the mixed freestyle Squadron relay. Despite the spirited performance of the whole team we were unable to come higher than fifth place.

Swimmers of the gala were awarded to: girls, Shona Costello and boys Chris Smith

Personal Best performances were acheived by:

Katherine Wolfe in the 9 year old 25m backstroke, Rebecca Freestone in the 10 year old 50m backstroke, Shona Costello in the 10 year old 50m freestyle, Sadie Clifton in the 11/U 50m freestyle and Kirstin Meikle 12/U 50m butterfly.

Matthew Day in 9 year old 25m butterfly and the 25m backstroke, Jordan Icelli in the 11/U 50m backstroke, Luke Broughal in the 11/U 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle and Chris Smith in the 12/U 50m breaststroke.

A new club record was set in the mixed freestyle squadron relay by Georgina Fisher, Oliver Perry, Shona Costello, Thomas Stevens, Hayley Warrington, Harry Burtenshaw, Kirstin Meikle and Andrew Goodman.

Junior Speedo League (M11) – Review of 2007 Season

Hoddesdon had won the second division title in 2006 and this was the firstseason of competition in the top division. This league contains several clubs with large catchment areas and very strong junior teams. One or two of the older Hoddesdon swimmers had competed at this level before but it was a new experience for the vast majority of the team and the first time that the 9 year olds had engaged in any sort of serious competition.

The first round gala at Southbury Road, Enfield included two of the top clubs in the league – Kingston Royals and Romford – as well as Runnymede, Bishops Stortford and Southend on Sea. It was fairly clearfrom the outset that Kingston and Romford would top the standings and that Hoddesdon would be battling with Bishops Stortford to decide4^th and 5^th spots. The swimmers from both clubs put everything into the competition and the standings changed throughout the gala. With just the final relay to swim Bishops Stortford were a point ahead butHoddesdon usually do well in the freestyle relays and did so again on this occasion, turning the tables to finish a point ahead of Bishops Stortford.

The second round took place at Blackshots Pool, Grays. Thurrock were hosting with Romford, Barnet Copthall, Southend and Rochford also competing.  Thurrock and Romford were the class acts and stormed ahead in the competition.  A three way battle between Barnet, Southend and Hoddesdon developed for 3^rd spot. Towards the end of the gala Hoddesdon suffered from disqualifications in the relays and this gave the edge to their rivals with Hoddesdon eventually finishing 5^th.

Hoddesdon went into the final round of competition as the top club in the consolation gala at Souhbury Road and it was apparent that, barring adisaster, division 1 status would be secured for another season.The competition for top spot on the night was between Southend and Hoddesdon with Southend eventually pulling away towards the end of the gala to win by 8 points. Hoddesdon finished in seventh position in the league with the samenumber of league points as Southend but with a higher number of gala points.

Thurrock came out top in the winners’ gala and took the league title. They subsequently went on to do well in the regional eliminators and qualified for the national final which will take place in Wolverhampton on November 25^th.

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