Please note that Sunday night training resumes at the University pool on 5th September... and don't forget, now that we have full use of all lanes it presents parents with a great opportunity to boost fitness levels by joining the adult swim lane.

At the last coaches meeting it was decided that in view of the fact that our former Club Captains have either moved on, or now have less involvement with the Club, it is an appropriate time to appoint new Captains.

The roles of Captain and Vice Captain fulfill a number of needs. Firstly, they present some of our older swimmers with a great opportunity for personal development, by giving them the chance to demonstrate their leadership and communication skills. It is hoped that during training, and at galas, they will lead by example and offer their support and encouragement to our younger, less experienced swimmers. Also, the coaching team would like to harness the support of the Captains, and Vice Captains, in communicating specific requests to fellow swimmers on occasions when they are absent from training or galas.

Having interviewed seven candidates for the positions, the final decision was extremely difficult to make as all of the individuals concerned have unique strengths, and as a consequence would bring something different to the roles. However, after much deliberation the appointments were announced at the Summer Gala as follows:

Girls Captain:    Charlotte Underwood

Girls Vice Captain:    Rebecca Phillips

Boys Captain:    Tim Simmons

Boys Vice Captain:    Matt Price

Congratulations to the successful candidates, and good luck in your new roles. For those candidates that were not successful on this occasion, clearly there will be disappointment, but Grant would like to stress once again that this was by far the hardest decision that he has had to make, and he knows that the team can count on you to give your full support to the new Captains as they find their feet in their new roles.

The 2nd Portland SC Summer gala took place on the 19th June and all 54 swimmers who took part rose to the challenge of competing in the longer distances. As with last year the 11 & under age groups swam 200m Freestyle and 100m IM, and the 12 & over age groups swam 100m Breaststroke, 100m Backstroke and 200m Freestyle. Some of our younger, less experienced swimmers in particular showed great fighting spirit and determination to race to the end in these demanding events.

Please click here to view the race results, and for the summary of medal winners click here.

The Summer gala proved to be a great success once again with many fabulous performances on the night, and it was extremely encouraging to see so many of our younger swimmers in particular demonstrating such determination. However, it is worth pointing out that the event could so easily have ended in great disappointment for a number of swimmers, because they should have been disqualified for silly mistakes.

To see a selection of photos taken at the 2009 summer gala click here.

Congratulations to Louise Gallagher and the Swim21 sub-committee for achieving Swim21 re-accreditation for Portland SC. Our bid was highly praised by the approval panel and was hailed as an excellent example of a Swim21 submission, and one that bigger clubs should look to when preparing an application.

The Swim21 audit process has been extremely taxing both in terms of time and commitment and the committee would like to thank Louise once again for all her hard work.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of Grant Robe as Sarah Danvers’ successor as Head coach. Grant brings to the position a passion for the sport and vast experience gained through years of competitive swimming at National standard.