2009 / 2010 Club News

Well done to our Teletots squad for a fantastic swim off against Bangor and Breifne on Friday night. Head Coach Geraldine Hill was delighted with the performance of every swimmer and we can now look forward to a second year of competition in Teletots Section 1.

Lorraine Hall collected a prestigious Volunteer Star Award from Swim Ulster for her contributions to the Ulster Galas over the season. Swim Ulster celebrated the contribution of their volunteers with a special awards event at Queen’s University’s Physical Education Centre on Thursday, 3rd June. As part of Volunteers’ Week in N Ireland, 30 of the most committed swimming volunteers were presented with awards. The volunteers were presented with a ‘Volunteer Star’ award by Frank Stevens, President of Swim Ulster, and by Sandra Adair of Volunteer Now – the agency which organises Volunteers’ Week in N Ireland.

Congratulations to Banbridge swimmers who all put in a fantastic performance at the Olympia Aquathon on Saturday 28th May. Swimming 25M and running 300M Thomas Hall was 4th in the 8/9 years category and Patrick Doyle had a fantastic race to take second place. Over the same distance Emer Doyle secured first place in the 12/13years category. Swimming 200M and running 1,200M Michael Rafferty had a brilliant swim in the 10/11 years category, as did Jodi Doyle, and Georgia Davies was impressive to clinch second place for the girls. The competitor of the day was without doubt Patrick McNiff who had a fantastic 1st place despite very stiff competition from Templemore. Esmée Hall completed this very successful event for Banbridge competitors in second place in the hotly contested 12/13 years category. Well done to all.

Two apartments have been reserved at Limerick University for the Division 2 swim event. The accommodation is on site where all the swimmers stay and you can walk to the pool in the morning. There are 6 bedrooms per apartment, all with ensuite rooms and a shared living/kitchen area. Each room accommodates one swimmer comfortably although they are small doubles so two per room is feasible if required.. The cost is €30.00 per person per night. Apartments have been reserved for 24th, 25th and 26th June and if anyone is interested in booking a room, can they please contact Lorraine Hall by Wed 26th May to confirm the booking.

The latest swimmers of the month are Patrick McNiff and Olivia Knox.

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve had some fantastic success starting with a host of medals and trophies from the PTL end of season gala with our Group B squad winning Division 2 by a clear margin and Group A finishing as runners up (pic of Group B swimmers with their trophy & Group A with the Runners Up pennant). Last night at the long awaited Banbridge & District Junior Sports Awards Esmée Hall picked up the runner’s up trophy in the Female Youth Category, which was hotly contested by 7 fantastic shortlisted finalists and our brilliant Teletots Squad were named as the Banbridge Junior Team of the Year. Robert, Jenny, Megan, Esmée, Poppy and Jodi were on hand to collect the team award. This is outstanding recognition for our swimmers and their coaches. Well done and congratulations to all and many thanks to Banbridge District Council and event sponsors Shoeflair & Intersport for a truly enjoyable evening.

Congratulations to the 2009 Teletots Squad who have been shortlisted as finalists in the 12 and under Team of the Year category at the Banbridge & District Junior Sports awards and to Esmée Hall who has been shortlisted individually as a finalist in the Female Youth category. 2009 Teletots Team Captains Robert Lyttle and Jenny Wilson with Jodi Doyle and Esmée Hall have been invited to represent the club, at the awards dinner at Belmont Hotel on 5th May, accompanied by one parent each

Well done to our Teletots squad who secured their first, long awaited, Section 1 victory of the season on Saturday night. Team spirit was fantastic throughout with numerous highlights on the night including an outstanding four wins for Olivia Knox and Group B girls. One of the most enjoyable successes of the night went to Group C’s Michael Rafferty, who not only swam up an Age Group, but proceeded to win Group D Boys 25M Butterfly. Congratulations to all our swimmers and keep training for the Teletots final which will take place in a neutral venue on Friday 4th June. .Pictures above Ross Johnston, Below Ross Johnston, Max Lyttle, Matthew Burns, Eunan Quinn, Josh McAdam and Alex Donnelly.

Swimming finishes for a two week period over the Easter Holidays. There will be no session Monday 29th March and we will start back Monday 12th April.

All club swimmers are encouraged to participate in the Marie Curie Swimathon on Saturday 17th April, which will take place across both sessions. Sponsorship forms will be available at the desk on Saturday 27th March. Further details are available from the ^{Swimathon website}

The desk rota for the remainder of the season is as follows. If you are unable to make the session please contact Edith Doyle.

Our Teletots squad put a good effort into the home gala against Templemore on Saturday night but the ability of Belfast’s largest swimming club proved too much and Banbridge had to endure a loss of 214 points to 146. As ever there were many great performances on the night and this week it was Daniel Kilpatrick and the Group A boys who put up most resistance to the visiting side. Daniel had two fantastic wins in Breaststroke and Freestyle and teammate Harry Farson was on hand to pick up first place in Butterfly. Not to be overshadowed by little brother Daniel, Jane Kilpatrick also had a super Breaststroke swim to allow Group D girls to secure maximum points in this event. Our next teletots gala will be home against Breifne on Saturday 26th March.

Conor Morgan and Fionnuala Loy are the new Swimmers of the Month.

Congratulations to all swimmers who participated in the Bangor Open Gala on Sunday. It was great to see Jenny Wilson back in action in open competition, and swimming well, after a period of absence owing to injury. Megan McKenna started the day in silver medal position in 100M Freestyle with a Division 1 qualifying time, and was back on the podium in the afternoon with a bronze in 100m Butterfly. Caolan Quinn, and one of the youngest competitors on the day, Eunan Quinn were both representing the club and swam well, especially Eunan age 9 who achieved 18th place in the Boys 11 and under category, in 100m Breaststroke. Jodi Doyle had a fantastic silver medal in 100M Breaststroke and a very impressive Backstroke swim to achieve a massive PB. Georgia Davies and Jane Kilpatrick were both swimming very well and were just outside the medals in the 11 years Group where Esmée Hall had a great day to secure an impressive 2 silver and three bronze medals. Well done to all.

Banbridge PTL squad made the long journey to Coleraine for the last Division 2 gala of the season. As ever our Group A & B swimmers were in outstanding form with a clean sweep of wins for Jodi Doyle for Group A girls and a fantastic four wins for Group A Boy’s Patrick McNiff, who is achieving his best success of the season to date. For Group B Megan McKenna also achieved a superb five wins on the night. Unfortunately the success of Group’s A & B again was not enough to rescue the squad from defeat and Coleraine won by 590 points to 554 for Banbridge.

Sport in Northern Ireland is facing a difficult period and it is essential that Sport presents a united voice in the face of any future cuts to funding and that we make our voice heard.
The proposed cuts of £2.5million have potentially far reaching consequences for Northern Ireland's athletes and teams and for a wide range of participation intiatives which aim to engage more women, older people and those with a disbaility in sporting activities.
Sport contributes on all levels of society in Northern Ireland and we must protect our funding to enable sport to continue making a vital difference to the lives of many people in Northern Ireland
So please show your support by signing the online petition by ^{clicking here}

Well done to all who participated in the away Gala at Lisburn on Sunday 7th February. In Division 1 we have come to expect the stiffest of competition and neighbouring club Lisburn did not disappoint as they clinched a win of 232 v 168 for Banbridge. We did have a number of exceptional individual performances from Group A with two wins from up and coming 7 year old superstar Lois Lyttle as well as two wins for Harry Farson who was also in great form. Where Group D did not have any 1998 Boys on the night Team Captains Esmée Hall and Poppy Robinson were most ably supported by Group C Boys Michael Rafferty, Adam Bell and William Campbell and Esmée also managed three super individual wins amongst very strong competition. Esmée & Poppy pictured with medals from the Irish Schools Championships.

Banbridge Coach and Swimmer Paul McCambridge was in winning form at the recent City of Derry Masters event as he succeeded in bringing home a host of medals after returning to competitive swimming last year. Paul took bronze in 50M Freestyle, Silver in 100M Freestyle and a fantastic 3 gold medals in 50 & 100M Backcrawl and 100M IM. Hopefully Paul’s success will inspire our younger swimmers competing in the weekend’s Ulster Graded Gala. Good luck to all.

New swimsuit rules now apply to all Teletots, PTL and Swim Ulster Competitions. Please ensure that you bring a suitable swimsuit for all future competitions. Swim Ireland has issued the following statement :
"On 4th January 2010, FINA issued its final list of suits approved for use in competition in 2010. Until such time as we receive further guidance from FINA, Swim Ireland will continue to allow all swimsuits which are either listed on the final FINA list or meet the criteria below:
1. Swimsuits for men may not extend above the navel or below the knee and for women may not cover the neck or extend past the shoulders or below the knee
2. No zippers or other fastening devices are allowed except for a waist tie on a brief or jammer
3. Suits must be of textile material and must not be made of any rubberized type of material such as polyurethane or neoprene. Should you have any questions on this please contact the Swim Ireland office."
See ^{FINA's list of approved swimsuits.}

On a very cold Saturday 9th January Ards were given a warm welcome as Banbridge hosted the first Teletots Gala of 2010. As expected the competition was very strong with the visiting team winning by 236 points v 164. On the night there were some very impressive individual performances from Banbridge swimmers, most notably from Alex Donnelly and the Group B Boys and Jodi Doyle for Group C Girls. Special congratulations to all of the Group A swimmers who managed to get over their first gala nerves and did a great job. The next Teletots gala will be away to Bangor on Saturday 30th January.

Good luck to the Banbridge Teletots squad who will be competing in Section 1 this year for the first time in the history of the club. Congratulations to all new squad members and to the new 2010 Team Captains, Lewis Houston for the boys squad and joint captains Esmée Hall and Poppy Robinson for the girls . Teletots is all about having fun and swimming to your best potential and everyone should enjoy their first home gala of the season against Ards on Saturday 9th January. Good luck to all!

Daniel Battersby and Heather Wilson are the first Swimmers of the Month for 2010.

Banbridge ASC girls had unprecedented success at this year’s Irish Minor Schools Championships on 5th-6th December at the NAC Dublin. Olivia Knox and Elli Robinson qualified in the Girls 10 Years category with Olivia competing in 50M Breaststroke and Freestyle and Elli in Butterfly and Freestyle where she secured an excellent 8th place for Edenderry Primary School. In the Girls 11 Years category Jodie Doyle, Jane Kilpatrick and Poppy Robinson all had qualifying times. Jane competed for Maralin Primary School in 100M IM and 50M breaststroke, as did Jodie Doyle who secured 4th place in Breaststroke and 6th place in IM for Bridge Integrated Primary. Poppy Robinson had a fantastic event claiming 4th place in 50M Butterfly and 3 place and bronze medal in 50M Backcrawl for Edenderry Primary school. Swimming in the 12 years category Esmée Hall competed for Victoria College Belfast in 50M Breaststroke and 100M IM , securing new club records for her times in both events, and then went on to win Irish Minor Schools Championship gold medals in the Medley and Freestyle Team relays. A great performance from all of our Banbridge girls.

Congratulations to all the kids who participated in the Bangor Age Group Open gala at the weekend. Esmée Hall, Poppy Robinson, Emer Doyle, Georgia Davies, Jane Kilpatrick, Jodi Doyle, Elli Robinson and Bethany Wilson-Parry all swam well with a host of PB’s on the day. Esmee, Poppy, Jodi and Elli all made event finals with Poppy having an excellent swim in the finals of 100M Butterfly to clinch the bronze medal and Esmée having an outstanding swim in 100M breaststroke to take the gold medal for Banbridge. Ross Johnston, Patrick McNiff, Caolan Quinn, Michael Rafferty, Alex Donnelly, Max Lyttle, Daniel Kilpatrick and Eunan Quinn were also on form for the Banbridge Boys. Patrick, Alex and Eunan all made event finals and special mention has to go to our two 8 year old boys Eunan Quinn who had an excellent breaststroke swim and Daniel Kilpatrick who successfully competed in 3 100M events. Well done to all!

Banbridge swimmers continue to excel at the Ulster Graded Galas with the Halloween Gala bringing home 9 gold medals, 12 silver and 9 bronze with a further nine swimmers taking very credible fourth place positions. Special congratulations to the golden girl of the event Elli Robinson who won an outstanding 5 gold medals with one silver and one bronze in the 9 & Under Age group.

Elli Robinson and Caolan Quinn and the November Swimmers of the Month.

Banbridge swimmers are currently having great success in sport and on stage with Lewis Houston and Christopher Burns both excelling at Football. Lewis has recently been selected to play at county level for the U12 County Down squad and Christopher is playing midfield for Glenavon in the U 12’s team which competes in the NIBFA league. Many of our swimmers are involved in rehearsals for the Banbridge Choral Musical Societies ‘Pinocchio’ with lead parts for Cameron McDonald and Jordan Wilson with Rory McNiff also taking to the stage. Esmée Hall is also rehearsing to perform in the Victoria College Gala concert at the Waterfront Hall on 12th November. Last but not least good luck to all our P7 swimmers who are participating in transfer tests in November and December.

12 year old Megan McKenna has smashed three club records on her last two competitive outings. On 10th October she beat her own new club record in 50M Butterfly and then went on to set a new record in 50M backcrawl and match Debra Hamill's existing record for 50M Freestyle. Keep up the good work Megan!

Dates Clubs Venues
Sat 9th Jan Ards Banbridge
Sat 30th Jan Bangor Bangor
Sun 7th Feb Lisburn Lisburn
Sat 6th Mar Templemore Banbridge
Sat 27th Mar Breifne Banbridge
Fri 4th June Teletot Finals tba
Please note dates maybe subject to change and Geraldine will let you know of any changes as soon as possible. All home galas have 6pm warm up with 6.30 pm start, notes will be distributed a week before each gala informing swimmers/parents of times and travel arrangements.

Following the success of age Groups 1,2 & 3 at the Ulster Schools Championships, this weekend was the turn of Groups 4 & 5. Jenny Wilson was swimming well despite interrupted training through injury and took 2nd place and the Silver Medal in 50M Backcrawl and 6th in 100M IM. Esmée Hall was on form with first place and Ulster Schools Championship Gold in 100M IM and Bronze in 50M Breaststroke and then went on to win two further gold medals in the Medley and Freestyle Team Relays. The afternoon session saw Megan McKenna and Robert Lyttle in action. Megan had a fantastic swim in 50M Butterfly and just lost out on a medal in 4th place with 6th in 50M Freestyle. Robert Lyttle was 5th in both 50M Breaststroke and 50M Freestyle and secured a silver medal in the Medley Team Relay. Well done to all!

In the first home gala of the season two swimmers broke the female club record for 50M Butterfly, of 36.55 seconds, which has been held by former club swimmer Debra Hamill since 2003. Group D swimmer Fionnuala Loy achieved a very credible 36.34 seconds against Ballymena but it is Group B swimmer Megan McKenna who is the new record holder, at 12 years of age, with a time of 36.15 seconds. Very well done to Megan and with the season just getting underway we look forward to loads more records and achievement times throughout the year

PTL squad newcomers Bethany Wilson-Parry & Olivia Knox were on form on Saturday night for the first home gala of the season against Ballymena. Despite stiff competition from the visiting side Banbridge secured a win with 582 points v 562 with new PB’s and some fantastic performances across all age groups. Thanks to all officials, supporters and the home catering crew who surpassed themselves as always!

^{Group A Newcomers}

^{Adam Bell in action for Group A boys}

Well done to former club swimmer Rory Battersby who has just made it into the NI under 17 football squad. Rory is Daniels older brother and was a key member of the swimming squad before being seduced by the bright lights of football. Rory may be the football hero but Daniel was right on form on Saturday night helping the PTL C Group boys to Relay success.

Well done to all swimmers who participated in the Ulster Minor Schools Championships at the weekend where we had the highest level of entries in recent years. Congratulations to Bethany Wilson-Parry for taking 4th place in 50M Butterfly and 50M Freestyle in 9 & under. Elli Robinson was on form with 4th in 50M Butterfly and 5th in Freestyle in the 10 & under Age Group where Olivia Knox secured 6th in Breaststroke and 8th in Freestyle. In the 11& under category Jodi Doyle had phenomenal success with silver in 50M Breaststroke and 4th in 100M IM, as did Poppy Robinson with Bronze in 50M Butterfly and 4th in 50M Backcrawl and Jane Kilpatrick with 7th place in both 50M Breaststroke and 100M IM. Caolan Quinn also had top 10 positions and all of the swimmers had qualifying times for the Irish Minor Schools Championships in Dublin in December. Congratulations to all including Ross Johnston and Adam Bell who also competed at the event. For full results click ^here

Senior Banbridge swimmer Neil Kilpatrick had a great summer of sporting success as a key member of the Lurgan Tigers U13 team who were overall winners of the NCU Banogue cup for the last two seasons. Neil was fortunate to meet up with fellow Wicketkeeper Matt Prior, a member of the England Squad, on his recent visit to Northern Ireland. Neil will be back in action in the pool on Saturday 26th September at the first PTL gala of the season which is home against Ballymena.

Before this seasons galas have kicked off Banbridge swimmers Lewis Houston and Jenny Wilson hit the headlines in the national press this week with the announcement of our 2010 sponsorship deal with Forest Feast. Please ensure you keep club Public Relations Officer Lorraine Hall well informed of all your achievements throughout the year and catch up with the club news in our local papers who have been very supportive of your swimming achievements to date.

^{Sponsorship Photo}

CLUB SWIMWEAR
- Girls Suit - £30
- Boys Shorts - £20
These suits are in stock and can be purchased in Shoefair Sports.

COMPETITION SWIMWEAR
Girls Swimsuit - £30 Shoefair Special Price - £25
Girls Legging Suit - £50 Shoefair Special Price - £40
Boys Shorts - £30 Shoefair Special Price - £25
Boys Long Leggings - £50 Shoefair Special Price - £40
These suits have to be ordered through Shoefair Sports as they are not kept in stock.

Owing to late arrival of swim accessories the club will give notification of an alternative source of zoomers, hand paddles and net bags.

Recommended items

- Blue Zoomer fins (6-8 female D available to try) Sizes are slightly small

- Speedo Biofuse Power paddle (Medium available to try)

- Mesh Bag

Speedo in Pink, Black or Grey

Other Mesh bags are available on the website

Many thanks to all swimmers who attended Registration at the Bowling Green on Wednesday night. We are all looking forward to an exciting new season with promotion for PTL swimmers to Division 2 and Teletots to Division 1. The new Ulster Graded Galas provide a great opportunity for personal improvement and more swimmers will be encouraged to participate in the coming season. With many Banbridge swimmers now featuring in the Irish Top 20 Rankings swimmers are encouraged to go into the new season with every confidence in their ability to succeed. We were delighted to once again secure sponsorship and ongoing support for the year from Forest Feast.

^{Registration Photo}

The Chairperson Report for 2008 / 2009 can be read below

^{Chairperson Report 2008 - 2009}

To all strong swimmers, a Guinness World Record Attempt is taking place in Camlough Lake starting on the 9th of Sept 2009 to run until the target distance is reached which is 500kilometers. It is thought it will probably take around 9-10 days to complete. The event is a relay swim and is continuous through day and night and will need as many experienced open water swimmers as possible to take part in order to reach the target and break the existing record. An age limit of 14 years and older has been put in place however a younger swimmer who is deemed competent by the event committee may apply to take part and will be assessed prior to the event. A rota of swimmers will be drawn up to cover the time frame. Swimmers who would like to take part must be able to swim 1500 metres under 40 minutes. The event will be launched in Carrickcruppen Football Club on the 1st Sept at 7pm and registration will take place on the night or alternately email ^{camloughworldrecord@yahoo.co.uk for registration and more details}

Banbridge swimmer Esmee Hall represented Ireland at the ESSA National Swimming Championships for Primary Schools at the International Sports Arena in Sheffield as a member of the Victoria College Swimming Team at the end of June. Esmee was joined by team mates Emma Henderson who swims for Bangor and Eve Wilson & Daria Colgan from City of Belfast. The girls had outstanding success in both the Freestyle and Medley Team relays. The team from Victoria College was selected to represent Ireland at the event as a result of their outstanding success at the Ulster & Irish Championships.

All photos from the Awards Night are now available on the Gallery.

^{Click here to view the Gallery}

The End of Season Report for 2008 / 2009 is now available.

^{Coach Report 2008 - 2009}

The following new positions were announced at the AGM. Vice Chair: Sandra Kilpatrick and Nicola Wilson and Deputy Secretary: Jo-Anne McAdam.

Jane Kilpatrick and Christopher Burns are the June Swimmers of the Month. Swimmer of the Month with re-commence in September for the new swimming season.

If you have any club news please let us know at ^{info@banbridgeasc.co.uk}

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