national ARENA swimming league SOUTH Arena League Round II (nov 2011) On Saturday 12th November, Bromley's Arena League team arrived at Crook Log to compete in the second of the three rounds of the league. Having come second in the first round Bromley was in with a fighting chance of making the A final in the third round should they come second or higher in the second round. However, with tough competition from Chelmsford who beat Bromley's team last year by a long way and Crawley who were only demoted from the premier league last year, as well as Elmbridge Phoenix, Dartford and Maidstone, it was always going to be a battle. It was a very close run and exciting gala, with the teams regularly changing positions. But Bromley soon took a firm hold of first position and held on to it with both hands throughout the gala, managing to win overall by just one point. Final scores were as follows: Well done to the whole team for a brilliant result. Coming first will guarantee Bromley a place in the A-final for the last round. Congratulations to those swimmers who achieved a top 3 finish: Ben Kelleher, Theo Haslam, Gabby Conroy, Louisa Knight, Matthew Rogers, Oliver Lister, Holly Wylie, Joe Erb, Vicky Ward, Tanglin Ireland, Sean Perfect, Felix Haslam and Alex Cheeseman. Well done to those swimmers who achieved a personal best time: Tanglin Ireland, Ben Kelleher, Chloe Dobb, Matthew Rogers and Gabby Conroy. Special congratulations to the Girls 9-11 Medley Relay for breaking their relay club record: Alex Cheeseman, Emma Wade, Lilly Dabin, Francesca Powell. As well as the 13/u girls who broke their own medley relay club record by a mighty 0.07 seconds: Louisa Knight, Taylor McCarthy, Chloe Dobb and Natalie French. Thank you to all of our helpers and supporters for being there, you really make a difference. Special thanks to Henri Shorter, Heather Perfect, Nicola Kleist, Georgi Ward and Lily Wylie for coming along to cheer on the team and thank you to our Uni swimmers Oliver Lister and Sean Perfect for coming back from university to be part of the team. David Court -- Arena league (OCt 2011) On Saturday 9th October Bromley competed in the first of three rounds of the National Arena Swimming League. Having been promoted to division one after winning the title of undefeated champions of division two last year, we were facing much tougher competition with two of the top 10 in Kent teams and one of the best teams from Essex, and we were unsure what to expect. It was a very close-run gala with some exciting races but we managed to maintain a second place position from start to finish. The team performed brilliantly with 11 first place finishes, five second place finishes and 10 third place finishes out of 50 events. We also had 17 personal best performances, one new club record and four new relay club records. Well done to everyone who competed and to those who put so much effort into supporting their team mates. Special congratulations to those who achieved individual first place finishes: Theo Haslam, Tanglin Ireland, Ben Kelleher and James Brinkley. Congratulations also go to our relay teams- it just goes to show how important every member of a relay team is as 6 of our 11 first places came from relays. Our new relay club records go to: Boys' 15/u Medley team and Freestyle team (Ben Kelleher, Ethan Reeves, Matthew Brown, Richard Knight), Girls' 13/u Medley team (VIcky Ward, Ellen Scholes, Chloe Dobb, Isobel Vowles), and the Men's Squadron (James Brinkley, Oliver Lister, John Furness, Sean Perfect, Oliver Reynolds, Richard Knight). Well done to those of you who achieved pbs: Oliver Reynolds, Phoebe Hampson, Tanglin Ireland, Ellen Scholes, Nicola Kleist, Natalie French, Vicky Ward, Heather Perfect, Robert Shorter, Chloe Dobb, Henrietta Shorter, Ben Kelleher, Oliver Lister (+ Club record), Gabby Eastment and Ethan Reeves. Thank you to everyone who came along to support. We look forward to seeing you all at round 2 in November. David Court -- Arena League: Round III (DEC 2010) On 11th December Bromley’s Arena league team travelled to Medway Park to compete in the final round of the league. Having made the top-six gala Bromley faced very tough competition from some big teams: Epsom District, Thanet, Croydon Amphibians, Chelmsford and Atlantis. Despite this Bromley managed some excellent performances, with 13 1st-3rd places and five personal best swims. Although the other teams proved too strong for us on the night, it was an excellent chance to see what we’re up against and what we need to aim for to improve our position next year. And in this case sixth place in Division one (out of a total of 18 teams) was something to be proud of, as it’s highest position Bromley Swimming Club has ever achieved. Special congratulations to those of you who achieved a personal best time: Felicity Hamilton-Cox, Phoebe Hampson, Tanglin Ireland, Emma Wade and Matthew Rogers. Thank you to all our supporters and to those swimmers who have attended any or all of the three rounds just to cheer on your teammates. You’re all very much appreciated and the team wouldn’t do as well without you. For this round in particular thank you to Lucy Morgan, Megan Barnes and Louisa Knight. Well done to all our team members, I hope you enjoyed being part of this record breaking team and are set to work hard and do it all again but better in 2011.
David Court -- Arena League: Round II (Nov 2010) Bromley SC took part in the second round of the National Arena league on Saturday 13th November at Tunbridge Wells. Again we faced tough competition including two of the very best teams in Kent (Black Lion and RTW Monson) as well as Epsom (one of the best teams from Surrey), Elmbridge Phoenix, and 1066. There are three rounds to the Arena league. The results of the first two rounds dictate what happens in the third round. In the first two rounds each team acquires not only gala points to decide the rankings of the gala, but league points, i.e. if you win a gala you get six league points, if you come 6th in a gala you win 1 league point. The third round of the league is split into three galas, the promotional gala (where the top two teams are promoted to the above division), the demotion gala (where the bottom two teams are demoted) and the middle gala. The promotional gala consists of the top 6 teams in the division, i.e. the teams who acquire the most league points in the first two rounds. You may remember that, having only just been promoted to division one, Bromley gained an excellent second place in the first round in October, winning 5 league points. We therefore knew we were in with a long shot of getting into the promotional gala, depending on our performance in the second round. Round two got off to an excellent start with two new relay club records for the 15/u Boys Freestyle relay and the Men's Open Medley relay. Natalie French swam excellently and broke two Junior Girls' club records in the 50 'fly and the 50 free'. And to finish it all off the 15/u Boys and Men's Open team broke the Medley relay and Freestyle squadron records respectively. Very well done to Ben Kelleher, Ethan Reeves, Matthew Brown, Richard Knight, James Brinkley, Oliver Lister, John Furness, Sean Perfect, Oliver Reynolds and of course Natalie. There were also 13 personal best performances; well done to Phoebe Hampson, Robert Shorter, Ben Kelleher, Natalie French, Tanglin Ireland, Emma Wade, Chloe Dobb, Theo Haslam, Matthew Knight and Gabby Eastment. It was an extremely close run gala, with the three and sometimes even four middle teams battling it out furiously for 2nd place. At the end of the gala we came 3rd, missing out on 2nd place by just two points. However in coming third after a very respectable performance, we totaled 9 league points overall which was enough to get us through to the promotional gala and makes us one of the top 6 teams in division one. This is the highest position Bromley has achieved in as long as anyone can remember and means we'll be competing against some truly great teams in the final round. Well done to everyone who competed, you all swam admirably, supported your teammates excellently and did your club proud. Thank you also to those who attended purely to cheer, and to our support from the balcony. The more people we have behind us, the further we'll go. David Court -- On Saturday 9th October Bromley competed in the first of three rounds of the National Arena Swimming League. Having been promoted to division one after winning the title of undefeated champions of division two last year, we were facing much tougher competition with two of the top 10 in Kent teams and one of the best teams from Essex, and we were unsure what to expect. It was a very close-run gala with some exciting races but we managed to maintain a second place position from start to finish. The team performed brilliantly with 11 first place finishes, five second place finishes and 10 third place finishes out of 50 events. We also had 17 personal best performances, one new club record and four new relay club records. Well done to everyone who competed and to those who put so much effort into supporting their team mates. Special congratulations to those who achieved individual first place finishes: Theo Haslam, Tanglin Ireland, Ben Kelleher and James Brinkley. Congratulations also go to our relay teams- it just goes to show how important every member of a relay team is as 6 of our 11 first places came from relays. Our new relay club records go to: Boys' 15/u Medley team and Freestyle team (Ben Kelleher, Ethan Reeves, Matthew Brown, Richard Knight), Girls' 13/u Medley team (VIcky Ward, Ellen Scholes, Chloe Dobb, Isobel Vowles), and the Men's Squadron (James Brinkley, Oliver Lister, John Furness, Sean Perfect, Oliver Reynolds, Richard Knight). Well done to those of you who achieved pbs: Oliver Reynolds, Phoebe Hampson, Tanglin Ireland, Ellen Scholes, Nicola Kleist, Natalie French, Vicky Ward, Heather Perfect, Robert Shorter, Chloe Dobb, Henrietta Shorter, Ben Kelleher, Oliver Lister (+ Club record), Gabby Eastment and Ethan Reeves. Thank you to everyone who came along to support. We look forward to seeing you all at round 2 in November. Report by David Court (October 2010) -- WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! Another great team performance in the final play-off round of the National Arena Swimming League South saw us win Division 2 East with maximum points. It was a very exciting and close gala, which saw us in 2nd place after 10 events, but with a string of great individual swims in the middle section of the gala by the end of the individual events we had clawed our way to 1st place. However, RTW Monson closed the gap during the relays and with 2 events to go they were back in front by 1 point. Our ladies open team then bought us back level by winning the 6 x 50 m freestyle relay in a club record time. So it all came down to the final event and our men's open team didn't disappoint. They lead from start to finish, winning us the gala by a single point, fantastic! On the night we had 14 individual & 8 relay winners, 38 top 3 finishes and 14 PBs, of which 3 were new club records, brilliant. Congratulations to the following swimmers for winning their individual events; Gina Deave, Alexander Din, Benedict Kelleher, Hannah Daley, Theo Haslam, Victoria Ward, Jamie Phillips, Oliver Reynolds, Georgina Taylor, Felicity Hamilton-Cox, John Furness and Tommy Scopes. Special congratulations to Felicity Hamilton-Cox for breaking the 100m Breaststroke club record and Hannah Daley for breaking the 100m Butterfly & 100m Freestyle records. Well done also to the following swimmers that achieved an individual PB: Taylor McCarthy, Ellen Scholes, Victoria Ward, Thomas Hamilton-Cox, Oliver Reynolds, Megan Barnes, Natalie French, Tommy Scopes, Lucy Morgan and James Lockwood. Congratulations to everyone that has swum in the National Arena league this year; it has been a great team performance and well done Dave. Thank you to all the coaches, poolside helpers and club officials that have helped in the league this year, particularly Joann Din our gala secretary. Thank you also to all parents and swimmers that came to cheer the team on from the balcony. DIVISION 1 HERE WE COME. Report by Steve Reynolds (December 2009) -- Another great team performance in the second round of the National Arena Swimming League South has maintained our position at the top of Division 2 East with maximum points. We won the gala comfortably, achieving 18 PBs, 2 new club records, 21 individual & 11 relay winners (64%) and 48 top 3 finishes, fantastic. For the full details see the attached result sheet and NASL website www.nationalswimmingleague.org.uk Congratulations to the following swimmers for winning their individual events; Gina Deave, Oliver Reynolds, Alexander Din, Lucy Morgan, Benedict Kelleher, James Brinkley, Theo Haslam, Victoria Ward, Jamie Phillips, Jessica Findlay, Harry Clarke, Georgina Taylor, Isobel Vowles and James Lockwood. Special congratulations to Felicity Hamilton-Cox for breaking the 100m Breaststroke club record and Hannah Daley for breaking the 100m Freestyle record. Well done also to the following swimmers that achieved an individual PB: Taylor McCarthy, Megan Barnes, Cameron Butler, Chloe Dobb, Henrietta Shorter and Tommy Scopes. We have now qualified for the swim-off gala in the final round, where the teams that finish in the top three will win promotion to Division 1 East. Providing we can swim our best team in the final gala we have a very good chance of winning promotion back to Division 1. So please add Saturday 12th Dec to your calendars and why not come and support your club. Report by Steve Reynolds (November 2009) |