News from Doncaster's Clubs, 2011

The Stories behind the Headlines (from Doncaster's Clubs)

Looking forward at the Pocklington Times League for 2012

8 Dec: Doncaster's clubs will lead the way in the Pocklington League for 2012, just as they have for most of the past 5 years. Here's a look back at 2011.

For those of you who don't know much about the Pocklington league, and we suspect many of you just turn up to galas with little idea of what's going on, here are a few snippets. It is the toughest league Doncaster's club teams are involved in and the most prestigious of them too as anyone is eligible to compete; from the complete novice all the way through to National Champions, no one is barred, not even masters swimmers. The league operates in double year age bands: 11, 13, 15, and open, and in all ages (except for open) swimmers can only swim 2 individual events. Given that these are 100m for all (with the exception of 50m fly for the 11 year olds) it means you need quite a few hardy swimmers to stand a chance of doing well.

At the younger end particularly it can often be the first opportunity swimmers get to compete in a 100m event! So it is great to see that for 2012 Doncaster is leading the way in this Yorkshire-wide league.

In 2012 we will have Adwick, Armthorpe, Spa Askern, Rossington, and South Axholme Sharks representing us - 5 clubs in total. Doesn't seem that special does it?

Well when you consider that there will only be 10 clubs in total, it means that Doncaster clubs and swimmers make up a massive 50% of this league!
WOW!
So a massive well done to our clubs for having the courage to take part and for motivating the kids to step up and try something tougher than a 50m sprint. With two divisions of 5 clubs each 2012 is going to be an exciting year for swim fans in Doncaster.

Looking back at 2011 how did we all do?

Well SAS are joining us for 2012, so they didn't take part in 2011.
However, all our clubs did pretty well.
Adwick won Division 1 with Armthorpe second (but it was so exciting and close that it took a recount to get the order right) and Spa Askern fourth. We didn't have anyone in the old Division 2, but Rossington swam in division 3 and came a credible third. A massive well done to each and every swimmer from all the Doncaster clubs who took part in the league, whether you swam an individual or only took part in the relays, swam in every gala or only 1, your club and Doncaster swimming are proud of you all.

Roll on 2012, let the racing begin and good luck to everyone!

Adwick's Neil Awarded Pride of Doncaster Sporting Hero Award

27 Oct: Adwick, along with most if not all of the feeder clubs around Doncaster, is run on a completely voluntary basis, with coaches, parents and others giving their time up for free. Without such individuals the clubs and therefore Doncaster swimming just wouldn't happen! So it is great to see someone who gives 110% to a club being rewarded for their dedication and effort. The individual in question is Adwick Head Coach, Neil Stephenson.

On Thursday 27th October a group of 10 representatives from the club popped along to the Keepmoat Stadium.
The reason?
Coach Neil had been nominated and shortlisted for the Sporting Hero award in the Pride of Doncaster Awards. There were only 2 shortlisted for each category, so we had our fingers crossed. We turned up at the Keepmoat in our swishy clothes, and had a great meal to kick things off (with a couple of celebs too). Then came the awards. The judges recognised Neil for his hard work, his passion for the club, and his commitment to encouraging every child to do their best, whether winning medals, getting a personal best time or simply being able to swim a length of the pool.

The noise when it was announced he had won reminded me of the balcony at Adwick - very, very loud (in fact our table was noted for its cheering). A massive well done Neil!

Once again swimming hits the headlines in Doncaster!
Remember to read the Free Press when it comes out on Thursday!

DMasa Championships Weekend 1

2 Oct: One of those meets where feeder clubs insist all their top swimmers must compete as Doncaster against Doncaster swims for top club. It seemed a little quieter than normal and spectators in the gallery were not as sardined in as usual. However there were some top swims and much shouting and cheering, especially from Adwick and Armthorpe supporters!

The atmosphere was buzzing and the medals kept on coming for Dartes swimmers from all our respective feeder clubs. Harry Butterworth (Adw), who Coach Dave calls Phase 4's 'Dark Horse', got himself two Bronze medals in 100m Breaststroke and 100m IM. His club mate Robbie Casson (Adw) got himself Gold in the 100 IM.

From over the other side of town, Leanne Davies (Edl) got herself a Gold medal in 100m Freestyle and business as usual for the 14 year old girls and the tussle between Caitlin Dixon (Arm), Heidi Smith (Arm), Shannon Dodson (Adw), and Jessica Gillatt (SAS). It was Shannon winning Golds, Caitlin and Heidi sharing the Silvers and Bronzes with Jess keeping them honest with two 4th place finishes.

Oliver Richardson (Edl) came 1st in 100m Freestyle and 2nd in 100m Backstroke. We had some storming times from our 12 year old girls, with Katie Pendlebury (Ros) winning 2 Gold medals and club mate Caitlin Feirn (Ros) both Silvers. The rapidly improving Alex Pollard (Arm) also got his hand on the wall first to win 2 Golds.

We seemed to have several Dartes families with more than one child competing at Mets this year. The Hardys did particularly well, with Chloe Hardy (Adw), winning 3 Golds, while Angry Amber (Adw) brought home another 2, and Taylor Hardy (Adw) scooped up another 3 Bronze.

The Litchfields of course need no introduction, or maybe this year they do. On the family's usual treasure hunt was Joe Litchfield (Spa) grabbing Gold and 2 Silver medals. But the latest addition to the clan, young Grace Litchfield (Min) also bagged a bronze in 100m Backstroke.

The Smiths also clawed their way on to the podium. Kim Smith (Adw) winning 2 Silver medals and Kelly Smith (Adw) a Bronze.

The Gatus family kept up their awesome tradition too. Joe Gatus (Spa) won a Gold and Silver, and former National Squad member Jonathon Gatus (Spa) made a return to the race pool to win Gold.

And finally the Clarkes. Jamie Clarke (Arm) 3 Gold and Gillian Clarke (Arm) 2 Silvers. Jamie you need to stand proud at your presentations on the podium! You'd run off before your name was called in every event. We think you're awesome so let us cheer for you!

Many other swimmers won medals and did well too. Elliott Trofimowicz (Spa) 2 Gold; Jarvis Parkinson (Arm), 2 Gold and a Silver; Lauren Heywood (Min) a Bronze; Oswald Hood (Adw) Gold and 2 Silvers; his club mates Matthew Jubb (Adw) another 3 Bronze, and Nucharee Kaewsanthia (Adw) silver, and Iona Holdsworth (Adw) another silver; while more Marlins were in the medals too Sam Tinsley (Min) winning Silver and Bronze. Then another two Armthorpe stars keeping the pressure on their Adwick rivals: a Silver for Chantelle Waugh (Arm) and another Silver for Georgia Wright (Arm) raising a few eyebrows as she challenged Chloe H in the 100m Freestyle!

Hopefully the second gala will be just as exciting on October 16th. See you there!

Many thanks to this anonymous contributor for the meet report.

Armthorpe juggernaut rolls on

3 Oct: An absolute scorcher of a day which is very rare for the 1st October and what were we doing? We should have been having a BBQ in the garden, bottle of chilled white wine and great friends around! Where were we in reality? Sweating buckets in what seemed like a million degrees on the balcony of Adwick Leisure centre cheering for our respective feeder clubs in round 3 of the Pocklington league.

Adwick got off to a sizzling start winning 3 out of the first four races, the 13 year old girls Medley team saw a head to head battle between Chloe Hardy's team (Adwick) and Georgia Wright's team (Armthorpe) and on this occasion Adwick just got in first with less than a second between the finishing times.

A similar battle was had in the same race between the 15 year old girls; Shannon Dodson's Adwick team and Caitlin Dixon's Armthorpe team. In this race Adwick were nearly half a length ahead after the Backstroke, but then Armthorpe pulled out their joker. Up popped former Dartes National medalist Sophie Taylor, who, luckily for Armthorpe, still pays her feeder club fees and brought the Kingfishers back into the lead and able to claim the race. As we all know Sophie is an absolute legend in Breaststroke.

The Spa boys claimed victory in the open Medley thanks to Richard, Elliot and Max (three quarters of the team who reached National finals for Dartes 2 years ago) finishing streets ahead of everyone else. In the girls equivalent Armthorpe started strong but Adwick's Shannon Dodson brought them back into the lead on the Butterfly leg and Adwick hung on to finish first.

Armthorpe played their second joker of the day in the boys open 100m Freestyle. Head Coach Dave Holmes went up against Spa's Richard Lee for a head to head battle for 1st place. Dave just pipped Brucey at the post by less than a second, but a great battle and the balcony was buzzing from the cheering fans.

A similar Spa versus Armthorpe tussle in the 13 year boys 100m Butterfly. The scorching hot rivalry between Joe Litchfeld and Jarvis Parkinson will hopefully continue to be a crowd pleaser in next year's Pocklington Times League, but this time round spa just claiming the victory and the cheers from the balcony. Shannon and Caitlin went head to head again in the 15 years 100m Backstroke, Shannon grabbed 1st place with Caitlin a very close second.

Head Kingfisher Dave Holmes was back in the pool to give an excellent Breaststroke demonstration coming up just past the half way mark from his start and grabbing himself 1st place. Another star from the next generation of Kingfishers, Alex pollard, went head to head with friendly rival Mark Beech (another Spa versus Armthorpe rivalry) in the boys 13 years 100m Backstroke. On this occasion it was Alex who beat the 2011 Yorkshire and NER Champion in to a close 2nd place. Same race for the girls saw an excellent win from Adwick's Chloe Hardy.

Then another crowd pleaser, with two super stars of Doncaster Swimming going head to head in the 100m Butterfly.

In the blue corner we had Max Litchfield.
In the yellow corner, once again, Dave Holmes.

It was a cracking event, the crowd went wild once again, and this time the youngster took the honours for Spa.

In the girls version Caitlin Dixon demonstrated the amazing strength and endurance that saw her swim the 200m version at Nationals last year. She managed to finish well ahead of the other teams.

Overall Armthorpe came in first, followed closely by Adwick, and Doncaster's other division 1 team, Spa Askern, sneaking home third just 2 points ahead of New Earswick. An interesting observation from the balcony was that when the boys swam the battle for 1st place was between Armthorpe and Spa, and when the girls were fighting it out it was between Adwick and Armthorpe!

The final round is on October 15th in York.

Thanks to all parents who supported me with swimmer names, especially Christine. I will get better at report writing as I get to know you all. You Spa boys all look the same in your blue Spa hats and black Jammers; you don't make it easy for me. xx

Jo Wright
Press office Doncaster Dartes.

Swimtastic Top Teacher

27 Sep: Great news for Adwick, Head Coach Neil Stephenson has been shortlisted for the ASA Swimtastic top teacher award for 2011. Neil and his family will attend a presentation evening at Ponds Forge in November to celebrate and see who wins. This is a fantastic achievement and is well deserved. Devoting hours each week to the club, while working full time, Neil inspires all the club's swimmers both young and old, fast and slow (and also the parents too).

On behalf of everyone involved in Doncaster Swimming, well done Neil, we'll all be cheering for you on the day.

Armthorpe Triumphant in Pock Times Season Opener

26 Jun: Saturday 9th July, Armthorpe hosted the 2nd leg of the Pocklington league division 1. The poolside was buzzing with the parents of all swimmers chatting about who they thought would be the winning club that afternoon.

Adwick got off to a good start in the Medley relays winning 4 out of the 8. But the most nail biting medleys were the boys and girls under 13 teams. Boys Spa v Armthorpe and girls Adwick v Armthorpe for 1st place. Boys phase 4 swimmers Mark Beech (Spa) and Jarvis Parkinson (Arm) were on the Backstroke, next up was Breaststroke swum by Joe Litchfield (Spa) and Reece Fielding (Arm). In dived Armthorpe's Alex Pollard challenged by Robert Kirk (Spa) for the Butterfly leg. Robert managed to close the gap leaving it to Liam Cooper (Spa) to do the rest on the Freestyle and final leg managing to touch in first position.

On the first leg of the girls medley was Chloe Hardy (Adw), who managed to take the lead. But Armthorpe clawed their way back and Georgia Wright (Arm). eventually secured the win by finishing approx 5 secs ahead of Adwick.

11 year old Oswald Hood (Adw) managed to seal the win on the under 11 years 100m Breaststroke but his main rival for this event, Spa's Joseph Gatus, was absent. It's a good bet that Joe would have put up a fight against Bourbon eating Os. Staying with the 11 year olds and the girls 100m Backstroke went to Amber Hardy (Adw).

Just like the week before, the under 15 age group 100m Freestyle was battled out by the girls and boys from Phase 5. Caitlin Dixon (Arm) and Shannon Dodson (Adw) finished 1st and 2nd but went right down to the touch once again, still not sure who the race went to. As for the boys it was Jamie Clarke (Arm) against George Scatchard (Spa) for first position. The currently on-fire Jamie managed to pull away from George to win by a couple of metres.

The Men's open 100m Back went to phase 5's Max Litchfield (Spa) and Women's open 100m Backstroke went to 14 year old Heidi Smith (Arm) leaving training partner Shannon in second position.

Two of Adwick's younger swimmers, Matthew Jubb (Adw) and Tyler Dodson (Adw) both put on good shows in the 11 and under 50m Butterfly to leave Doncaster's teams leading the way with half the gala gone. The scores were 4th place New Earswick, 45 points; 3rd Spa, 46 points; 2nd Adwick, 68 points; and Armthorpe in first position with 74 points.

In the 13 years 100m Freestyle Jarvis Parkinson pulled ahead of Robert Kirk on the 3rd length to take the win. Swimming the 100m Backstroke for the under 15 girls was a repeat of the women's open, but who would win this time between Heidi and Shannon. Sorry Heidi, Shannon wasn't about to let you have it all your own way. It went all the way down to the touch finish but T-Rex earned Adwick full points this time.

Under 11s 100m Freestyle were both won by Adwick. Tyler Matthew reprising their roles from the Butterfly earlier, out in front from the start and never loosing their early lead.

For the final relays of the day the under 13s Boys Freestyle was yet again one not to miss. An evenly matched contest between the Spa and Armthorpe teams, with Mark Beech going up against Alex Pollard (Arm). on the 3rd leg. Neck and neck at the turn, just like the 1500m Freestyle at Yorkshires earlier in the season, it was Alex who managed to pull ahead down the final 25m. This left the fantastic duo, Joe and Jarvis to do battle down the final 50m. With a slight lead to his advantage you'd expect the silky smooth National Bronze medallist Jarvis to hold on for the win, but always happy to have a scrap for the team, Joe may yet pull something magical out of the bag. The crowd were deafening in their support as the two National Squad swimmers sprinted for the wall. Jarvis just got the touch to give Armthorpe 4 wins out of the 8 relays and overall victory for the 2nd Pocklington Times gala of the year.

Joe don't forget: cut your nails after the gala next time.

Final results were 4th Spa 86 points, 3rd New Earswick 92 points, 2nd Armthorpe 136 point and in 1st position Armthorpe with 154 points. Congratulations Armthorpe. Well done to all swimmers.
League Tables ...

Armthorpe Triumphant in Pock Times Season Opener

26 Jun: Hottest day of the year, everyone sat in their gardens having a nice BBQ, wrong!

Lots of Doncaster's swimmers and parents were sat on a horrendously hot poolside ready to cheer on their respective clubs. Today the challenge was between Adwick, Armthorpe, Spa Askern and New Earswick. Dartes JDS must have been quiet for Coach Kevin today as most of the gang were at the Pocklingtons. Phase 4 and 5 were well represented also.

Highlights from the afternoon included Amber Hardy (Adw) dominating the 11yrs 100m Backstroke, Caitlin Dixon (Arm) touching 1st by a long shot on the Girls 15 years 100m Butterfly. Katie Burton (Arm) showed the 11yrs how to swim 100m Breaststroke, again finishing in 1st place.

There was a real bum on the edge of seat kind of race from the Boys 13yrs 100m Butterfly. Spa lead the way with "have a go Joe" Litchfield out in front, Jarvis Parkinson (Arm) stepped it up a gear on the 3rd and 4th lap. There was lots of cheering going on from parents and it was such a tight finish between the NER Gold and Silver medallists. I think it was Joe Litchfield (Spa) who came in first but it was so close I might be wrong.

At the half way mark Adwick were leading the way, followed closely by reigning Champions Armthorpe, in 3rd place Spa and 4th New Earswick. Highlights from the second half included Chloe Hardy (Adw) dominating the 100m Freestyle for the 13 years girls, Armthorpe's Head Coach David Holmes showing everyone how it's done in 100m Breaststroke (open age), Tyler Dodson (Adw) winning the 11yrs 100m freestyle.

Phase 5's Shannon Dodson (Adw) and Heidi Smith (Arm) battled it out in 15yrs 100m Backstroke with NER Champion Shannon finishing 1st and Yorkshire Bronze medallist Heidi taking 2nd place. Again Phase 5 was well represented in the 100m Butterfly open age girls. This time the battle was between Caitlin and Shannon. Shannon took first place for Adwick and Caitlin 3rd for Armthorpe; however Caitlin had already swum the same race winning the under 15's so we will let her off.

Her younger brother Alex Pollard (Arm) swam a strong 100m Backstroke and came in 1st place. Again nail biting stuff from the 13ys and under girls 4x 50m Freestyle relay. Neck and neck between Armthorpe and Adwick, lots of cheering from the balcony for both clubs. It was so tight I'm not sure who touched first. Finally in the open age 4x50m Freestyle relay team there was outstanding swimming from our phase 5 boys Max Litchfield (Spa) and Elliot Trofimowicz (Spa). In the end Armthorpe emerged victorious - by a single point over Adwick. Spa Askern completed the Doncaster rout of Division 1 with another single point win over New Earswick.

Scores on the doors at the end of the day were:

- 1st Armthorpe
- 2nd Adwick
- 3rd Spa Askern
- and 4th New Earswick.

Well done athletes an excellent afternoon's swimming.
League Tables ...