Blog 1081: Hoodies

HUG A LESC HOODIE!!

A newcomer to the club's available merchandise is a black hoodie bearing the LESC shark logo on the chest and the back (see accompanying photos).This quality heavyweight hooded sweatshirt is available in both Childs and Adult sizes (small/medium/large and extra large) and is made from 50% cotton and 50% polyester.It is very reasonably priced at £13 for child sizes and £15 for adult sizes.and will be available to purchase at West Park pool this coming Sunday, 4th. December between 5pm and 7pm.



If you have not already ordered your hoodie(s) please email me at : graham@meadows86.freeserve.co.uk or phone me on 0115 973 4620.

Graham Meadows

LESC club shop

Blog 1076: Long Eaton's New President

Those of you who were at the AGM on Thursday will already know that Keith Kelly was elected as our new President.
Keith follows in the footsteps of Bill Camm, who was our first President, and who had been a staunch supporter of competitive swimming in Long Eaton for over thirty years.

Blog 1070: County Sprints

The club had another amazing day in the pool this Sunday at County Sprints. With around 60 swimmers competing we had someone in nearly every race and everyone equalled or bettered their short course PB at least once, proving that the hard work you and the coaching staff are putting in is working. Improve your attendance and improve the details of the races and 3rds will turn into seconds and seconds into firsts.

Blog 1069: Arena League

Sorry for the delay of this post but there is good reason. I have been waiting for the results to come through from all the gala's prior to reporting and I have just received confirmation that the A team are in the top 6 of the league and therefore for the first time in the any Long Eaton club's history we have made the Regional final. This is an amazing achievement and one that is 2 years ahead of my planning. Every swimmer has done the club proud in both the A and B team performances so far with the B team lying 13th in their table and also heading for their highest ever finish. This goes to show the massive improvement the club has made in the pool in such a short space of time and the increase in strength of depth. This is only the beginning and provided that we can keep the club going behind the scenes (please step forward and be part of the committee the more help we get the less work everyone has to do) this club will move forward and continue to progress.

Blog 1067: are you Anybody?

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

There was an important job to do and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it but Nobody did it.

Somebody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done!

Blog 1049: Belper Marlins

Belper Marlins open meet saw 34 swimmers from Long Eaton compete in a fun relaxed meet. Lots of personnel best times were broken over the course of the meet with Chloe Blaydon wining Top Girl and Katie Sloan coming 3rd. Whilst we are achieving personnel best times it is important that we realize what we do in training effects the outcome of every race and the little details will make the biggest improvements, things like knowing your stroke count on backstroke so you don't have to slow down into the walls or even turn to early, every time you get to dive do it properly instead of flopping into the pool. One more area the club can improve on is nutrition in particular the intake of fluids during the day, I was asking swimmers how much they had drank coming into the afternoon and most said a bottle (500ml) on a normal day you need 2 liters of water (water not pop or energy drinks) and when you are sitting around for hours on a hot oppressive pool side you will dehydrate alot quicker than a normal day so the need to get water into the system is more, this is one of the biggest factors in afternoon session swims not matching morning sessions swims.

Blog 1048: National Masters Report

A team of Masters Swimmers from Long Eaton Swimming Club made the short journey up the M1 to Sheffield this weekend to compete at the British Gas ASA National Masters and Senior Age Group Championships. They returned with a haul of 3 Gold, 7 Silver and 3 Bronze medals along with a Record Breaking performance.

The Ladies 120 plus age group team of Rebecca Fox, Elizabeth Simpson, Laura Marinelli and Helen Akers went one better at these short course Championships, by swimming to a British and European short course Record in the four by 200metres freestyle relay, adding it to the British long course Record they achieved in the event earlier in the year. They also won Gold in the same age group in the four by 50m relay and silver in the four by 100m relay in a time inside the old British Record. As lead off swimmer in this event, and therefore able to set an individual time, Rebecca was also able to claim the British Record in the 30-34 years age group for the 100 metres freestyle.

Rebecca and Helen joined Greg Cherry and Colin Prescott to take Silver in two very close finishes, in both the mixed freestyle relay at 400 and 800 metres in the 120 years plus age group. It was also Silver for the 200 years plus team of Maggi Tuck, Mary Holland with Julie Phillips and Fiona Starbuck, neither of whom had swum competitively for many years, in the 200m freestyle relay.

The team entered a total of 15 relay teams across the weekend and in addition to the European record many performances bettered the existing British Records, only to be pipped into second place.

Mary Holland was the only individual Gold medal winner and this came in the 100metres freestyle in the 65/69 years age group. Elizabeth and Colin, swimming in the 35-39 years age groups each took Bronze in the 200metres individual medley and it was another medal for Elizabeth, this time Silver in the 400metres freestyle and in the same event, a Silver for Mary too.

Pete Irving took Silver in the 45/49 years age group in the 200metres backstroke.

Chief Coach Spencer George said he was delighted with the performance of the Masters Squad at this three day event proving that, across the board from the Development Squad to the Masters Squad, the club is improving at a rapid pace and is set to become one of the most successful clubs in the Region. He had a special mention for ladies who achieved the European record and congratulated all the swimmers on their performances and for helping to raise the profile of swimming in Long Eaton.

Masters Coach, Dave Akers, had high expectations of the swimmers after a very successful training cycle and he was not disappointed. As well as record breaking and medal winning performances all of the swimmers rose to the occasion and produced some outstanding swimming with many masters personal best times along with a handful of lifetime best times. ‘I was particularly happy with the way that the group came together as a team and encouraged and promoted great performances. To be able to take fifteen relay teams onto the national stage and come away with a number of medals is an indication that Long Eaton Masters swimming is on the up and will continue to grow and become a major force in UK masters swimming. Indeed, I am looking to take a team to the World Masters Swimming Championships in Riccione in Italy in the summer of 2012.

He added, ‘It is nice to see that the younger swimmers (18-24) have a place to shine as they transition into Masters Age Groups (25 and over) and they had a great competition’ It is good for the Club to be able to offer them the opportunity and to be able to take great club swimmers and turn them into outstanding Masters swimmers when traditionally they may have left the sport for good.’

The team is now focused on the Long Course championships in March 2012, and the following World Championships in June 2012 for which Coach Dave is looking to find sponsorship to enable more swimmers to experience World Class competition.