News
Aylesbury Relay Gala Results
After a recount, St Alban's Masters and Witney tied in 1st place with 186 points, we came 3rd with 158 points, CMK were 4th with 138, Amersham had 137 points in 5th place, Bicester 116 pooints in 6th and Aylesbury bringing up the rear with 100 points.
As usual it was a very well run gala. Grateful thanks go to Alan Bennett, Mick Elliott and Stuart Hastings for officiating on our behalf.
Well done to all who swam - a great team effort!
Costume rule changes
Geoff Stokes has put together a statement "Permitted Swimwear" explaning the rule change and it's implications for the SE Region LC Championships at Crawley - but this rule will apply to all competitions from now on.
Decatholon Position 2009
The 2009 results are now finalised.
Chris Marshall's swims at the South Yorkshire Masters in December gave him 4 extra qualifying swims and he has shot up the list. Keith's good swims improved his score at that event too, so has also risen up the list.
As a result our Men's team have improved 9 places, and it looks as though JB's target of both teams getting in the top 50 in 2009 has been well and truly achieved!
The challenge for this year is to beat all personal points scores (which may be harder for some of us than others due to the new costume ruling), and for the Ladies team to get into the top 15 and Mens team the top 25!
Jacquie's Relay Channel Swim
A message from Jacquie.
Ever wanted to swim the Channel?
Well it was something I was interested in as a teenager when I spent numerous hours swimming in chlorine infested waters training for galas and life-saving competitions. I never, however, got round to it.
So when I received an email from Diabetes UK last year about swimming the Channel as part of a team of 6 in a relay, it didn't take me long to make up my mind and go for it.
Last September I went down to Dover for the first training/fact finding weekend. We had to do 3 swims in the sheltered harbour area the longest one being about 2.4km. No wetsuits were allowed and they even frowned when I wore my tri-suit for the first dip but I was thinking, the more of my skin I could have covered the better! The water was freezing but the sun was shining and for two of the swims the water was lovely and calm.
Anyway I put my name forward and now I will be attempting this challenge between the 9th and 16th August this year depending on the tides etc.
We all have to swim one hour each and there are very strict rules about not touching the boat if you need a quick bite to eat or drink and then it is 5 hours to rest, eat and throw up although not necessarily in that order! Apparently sea sickness will be harder to bare than the swimming, which will include coping with jelly fish, sand eels and of course some bloody big boats/tankers.
How long will it take I have been asked? Well it is like the preverbial piece of string, it will depend on how fast we swim and how rough the sea is etc. So how many times I will have to enter the water....I reckon at least 2 or 3.
As you can guess, being that this challenge is for a charity, I have to raise some funds. A minimum of £950. I know we have just had Christmas and are still in the realms of a credit crunch but if you are able to sponsor me I would be extremely grateful. You can either pop a cheque in an envelope and leave with John or Chris on poolside ( made payable to Diabetes UK ) or you can go on the following site and complete a payment online.
http://www.diabeteschallenge.org.uk/challenge/jacquiemaycock-channelswim2010
My next training weekends are in May and July so I will let you know how it all goes later in the year.
Many thanks - Jacquie Maycock
New Bletchley 8 lane pool opening January 4th 2010
We will be running training sessions at the new pool on Thursday evenings from 9.00pm -10.00pm starting on 7th January. Watch out for an email from JB with further details - or contact JB if you are not on our email list.