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The Portland Splash |
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January 2008 HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to the first edition of the Portland Splash for 2008. NEWS The 69th A.G.M. took place at the end of November. This saw Mary O’Reilly taking on the pole position of Chairperson after Jeff Shield’s decision to stand down. Jeff has been Chairman for 2 years and prior to that he had been Publicity Secretary for a number of years. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Jeff for his hard work over the last few years and for all the time and effort that he has put into the club. We are very pleased that he has agreed to remain on the committee. After many years of tireless service to club, Mick Burke stood down as Head Coach and left the committee to take a well earned rest from Portland SC! Mick has been at the heart and soul of Portland since Mark began to swim for the club and he and Carole have always given their support to the members through good and bad times. Portland owes Mick and Carole a debt of gratitude which we’ll no doubt find a way to pay in the future. Meanwhile, our thanks and best wishes to Mick and Carole – we still look forward to seeing them on poolside at the various galas that we attend. We extend a warm welcome to Rod Bowie who has joined the committee. It is important to note that newcomers are welcome to join the committee at any time and not just following the A.G.M. If at any time you feel that you could help or would like to see more of how the club is run then please approach any committee member. The next committee meeting will take place on the 21st January. So… by way of introduction to Mary and her new position within the Club, Mary herself has written an insight into how she came to find herself with this important role. Mary O’Reilly, your new Chairperson: How did that happen? Having been involved with the club since 1999, having been Membership Secretary, Secretary, Swim 21 Co-ordinator and content in the role of Assistant Teacher, with my children now swimming much less often, I did think I might state an intention to hand over Swim 21 responsibilities and gradually decrease my involvement in the club. Jeff then mentioned at poolside one evening had I thought about the Chair and I have to confess I had not. O.K, let’s be honest, while I did not seek the role, I am pleased to take it on, and it is an honour to be placed at the head of our Club. (I don’t want to sound too much like an echo of ‘Yes Minister’…I do not seek the role, however, should the members….) The Club is at an interesting point in its existence. We have always been a ‘family’ club, with an inclusive, encouraging, friendly approach. We aim for all our swimmers to enjoy their swimming and to be the best they can at this sport. This is in contrast to some other Clubs in Nottingham which are clearly much more focused on competitive performance and achievement. In my view there is a place for both in the local swimming community. There is a strong theme within the Swim 21 process for clubs to form working links to the benefit of their swimmers. We shall be working with other clubs to see what mutual benefits there are in terms of training resources, sharing pool time, and further development opportunities for some of our swimmers. After a busy day at work, and the rush to get home, get a meal or not, get out to the swimming session, I am continually surprised at how enjoyable standing with 5-15 young swimmers can be, working hard with them to improve their strokes, and sometimes feeling as if there is a brick wall I am banging my head against! It is well worth it each time one of them ‘gets it’, and every so often there is real talent to work with as well as enthusiasm. It is the enthusiasm and enjoyment of the swimmers that is the best motivator for me. I shall be working with our volunteer team which gives our time to keep the club going. We are seeking more new parents and guardians to join us in whatever role fits their availability. There is plenty to do; the more we each do a little, the better it is. I see a large part of my role of Chair as looking over the team and ensuring we are coordinated, effective and communicate well with each other. Please do not hesitate to make contact with me with any questions or points of view.’ SWIMMERS OF THE MONTH. October Amy Brook and Andrew De Boer November Caroline Cotton and Joss Hollingsworth Well done all of you. NEW MEMBERS Welcome to Jessica Sharp, Hannah Williams and Jessica Kersey who have recently joined Portland. MINI_GALA NEWS. There will be a mini-gala in the near future. Date to follow. INTER-GALA NEWS. JC Dobb Gala 1st December 2007 – 2nd round Overall wins in this gala were in short supply but there were 12 personal bests. Special mention should go to Sarah Britton who won the 10U girls backstroke and Asher Ehlers who won the boys 12U butterfly. Portland came last with 77 points but close to Ilkeston who got 82 points. Notts and District Gala 8th December 2007 – 3rd round. In stark contrast to the gala the previous week, this gala saw an amazing 17, yes 17 wins!! The role of honor goes as follows:- Caroline Cotton (2), Nicola Shields (2), Asher Ehlers (2), Amy Shields, Guy Garton, Sarah Steele, Alistair Britton and Melissa Kenney. Wins for the relay teams were Girls Open Freestyle and Medley, the Girls 15U Freestyle and Medley, the Boys 15U and 13U Medley. There were also 10 personal bests, 2 of which were by Hannah Simmons and Charlotte Underwood managed to knock more than 4 seconds off her 25m butterfly time. Huge congratulations to all the swimmers that took part. The final scores were Bramcote 197, Arnold 193, Portland 183 and Falcons 151. The committee has taken a decision to withdraw from the 2008 Notts ASA Spring Competition League. This series of 3 galas incorporates a far greater number of 100mtr individual races. Based upon the recent lack of swimmer availability for galas and training reports from the coaches which indicates that a number of our teenage swimmers are not training regularly enough to compete at this level, it was felt that withdrawal from the Spring Competition would be appropriate for this year. We therefore have a period of nearly three months to encourage our teenage swimmers back into regular training so that we can put together a quality squad to compete in the J C Dobb Spring League. The next three JC Dobb interclub galas are as follows,
April 5th at Hucknall
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