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Launched with great fanfare via their amazing social media video – the Club Captain’s launched an appeal for foodbank donations throughout the month of October. Packages & parcels, on training nights, were dutifully handed in by our great membership and, last week, all the donation’s were delivered to Preen who are a community based company in Biggleswade.

Below is a photo of Joe and Mary who manages Preen taking delivery. On behalf of the captains, Joe stated “ A big thank you to everyone who donated to the food bank, people have been very generous. Preen were very grateful. “

If you would like to know more about Preen then please check them out on their fb page: https://www.facebook.com/PreenCIC

For the 14th year it is time for the Flitwick Open and a big welcome to our visiting clubs – Biggleswade, Bletchley, Harpenden, Northampton, Putteridge & Saffron Waldon to the Saxon Pool, Bigglewade for a weekend of fantastic gala swimming.

Good luck to all the swimmers, whether you win, get a PB or achieve that time you are aiming for or not…. we hope you enjoy the competition. Also – massive thank you to all the Coaches, Team Managers, Officials and Volunteers that go into making these galas and actual thing and enable everyone to have a great time! Have fun, swim fast.

Doors open at 12.30pm with Warm-up starting at 1pm and Racing underway at 2pm. Live results can be found at: http://flitwickresults.atwebpages.com

This year’s National Arena League kicked off on Saturday 14th October at West Bromwich Leisure Centre with a strong 3rd place finish. Our Division 2 (of 3) competitors were Halesowen, Boldmere B, Repton B, Nuneaton & Northgate with Nuneaton (1st) and Repton (2nd) coming ahead of the Dolphins after being promoted from Div 3, last year.

The great thing about league racing is that it is not all down to the individual or winning a race. We had the lowest number of 1st places (well done – Harrison, Lily F and the U11 Female Medley team) but the highest number of 2nd and 3rd places combined. Great strength in breadth and depth. Well done Dolphins – onto Round2 – where we will be hosting at Leamington Spa on the 11th November.

As is custom, Club Captain Guido announced swimmer(s) of the gala in the McDonalds at Watford Gap. Lochy & Molly were the worthy winners for their amazing swimming and the support that they gave to the team.

Flitwick Dolphins has been selected by Swim England East Region as the Regional Swimming Club of the Year winner within the Sport Club of the Year category. This is a fantastic achievement for the club and recognises the work that is put in by the coaches and volunteers of the club to provide coaching for a diverse range of swimmers. Having just held Club Championships it was wonderful to see so many of our members competing, ranging from our newest members who just joined us in August and September, through to our Masters’ swimmers, with many years of experience. With a large number of swimmers achieving county qualifying times as well as PBs it was highly successful. We shall be celebrating the successes achieved at our Presentation Evening in January.

The start of 2023 saw some wonderful swims in the County Championships with swimmers achieving 120 medals overall, including 9 in the relay races. 38 new club records were set and 2 swimmers achieved the Top Swim Award: Daniel De Filippo for 14 year boys and Eva Jackson for 11 year old girls. A number of swimmers also managed to get Regional Qualifying times which is a great achievement and went on to swim at the Regional events in May.
Over the May Bank Holiday weekend Harrison Shaw, Oscar Sherwani, Max Thomas, Lily Farr Ida Corcoran and Abgail Wickens competed at the East Region Championships in Norwich, with Harrison Shaw winning 3 bronze and Abigail Wickens 1 Gold, 2 Sliver and 3 Bronze. The following weekend our younger swimmers got a chance to perform: Niamh Bunker, Daniel De Filippo Sophie Kelly, Eva Jackson, Lucas Moxon-Booth, Yasmine Ollerenshaw, Elise Timms & Hudson Sherwani. It was a great experience for all. Niamh, Lucas and Yasmine have to be commended for getting into the top 8 in their swims, along with Daniel De Filippo for his Bronze Medal as well as his top 8 finishes.
Another regional performer we have to mention is Joe Vesztrocy. Joe has been selected for the Regional Water Polo team and for the Swim England Water Polo talent programme. As a result he has been awarded his County Colours for his exemplary performance in the sport.
We cannot finish without mentioning our Masters’ swimmers. Over the weekend of the first week in June 7 of our Masters competed at the British Masters’ Long Course Championships in Sheffield. Between them they won an impressive 12 National Medals (7 Golds, 2 Silver and 3 Bronze) and 11 Records (1 European, 2 British, 1 East Region & 7 County). Star billing has to go once again to Liz Woolner with her 4 golds and 4 records ( 1 European, 2 British & 1 Regional), Thomas Allen was next with 2 Gold, 1 bronze , then Ian Murray (1 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze, 1 county record). In their first National swims we had Sam Fox (1 Silver, 1 County Record), & Alistair Shaw (PBs, 1 County record), Jaye Western PBs and Megan Jones who had 4 swims gaining 4 County records. Two of these masters now feature in the world and European rankings. Liz Woolner has an amazing 8 World top ten rankings (3 LC & 5 SC) & 13 European top ten rankings (4 LC and 5 SC) and Ian Murray is in the European top 10 for his Long Course 1500. The club is so very proud to have such inspirational swimmers within its midst.

Flitwick Dolphins Swimming Club held their annual Presentation Evening to celebrate the successes of their swimmers during 2022. The evening started off with swimmers receiving awards linked to the Club Championships which were held over several sessions in September and November. Awards were given for the fastest times in each of the races, to swimmers who achieved at least 3 Personal Best times and then to the top 3 swimmers in each of the Age Groups, based on the number of FINA or British Disability points scored over 8 events. The top 3 male and female performers were identified using the FINA points, adjusted for age.

Swimmers were also recognised for achieving various records, ranging from club to European! First time county qualifiers received certificates and a swim cap – there were 9 of these, but it is worth noting that in total over 60 swimmers have qualified to swim at the Counties in January/February which is the largest number in the county coming from one club. Well done to all! There were also 9 swimmers from across the age groups who received a Dolphin Award in recognition of their excellent approach to their swimming. The final award, chosen from 8 nominations, for outstanding achievements, went to Liz Woolner for breaking 2 European records in 50 and 100m Butterfly.

The club is so very proud of all of its swimmers. As we look forward to 2023 we hope that all our swimmers will continue to show their Dolphin spirit, and through their positive approach, showing great determination and never giving up trying, will continue to achieve great things.

Flitwick Dolphins’ swimmers have had a fantastic summer season. In early July, on one of the hottest days of the year, 17 swimmers took part in the East Region Open Water Championships in Norwich. Lily Farr, by winning the 13-14 age group in the 3km qualifying distance, won a place in the National Age Group championships in August. Yasmine Ollerenshaw did a sterling swim in the 2km qualifying event, just missing out on a national qualifying place. Other medallists at Regional level were: Francesca Baber (Gold 15-16yr; 2 km), Charlotte Joyce (Bronze -17-19 yr; 3 km) Alistair Shaw (Silver 40-49 yr; 3 km), Niamh Bunker (Silver 11-12 yr; 1 km) Lochlan Shaw (Bronze 11-12 yr; 1 km) and Thomas Allen (Silver 25-29 yr; 5 km).

As the championships also doubled up as the County championships, Dolphins’ swimmers took back an impressive haul of Senior & Junior County medals and Trophies. There were 8 Golds, 7 Silvers and a Bronze. It was great to see the family tussle for the Bedfordshire trophy in the men’s 3 km event, with Harrison Shaw coming first, ahead of dad, Alistair. Younger brother Lochlan also had a strong swim in the 1km event (along with other first-timers, Niamh Bunker, Eva Thomas and Osian Morton), to go on to finish 3rd in the Bedfordshire championships and gaining Silver in the Junior competition.

The Dolphins girls were also in the medals, with Lily Farr taking silver for both the Seniors and Juniors to add to her Regional gold medal, and Elspeth Morton the Junior bronze, with Darcey Hepworth a very creditable 4th.
Francesca Baber won the Bedfordshire women’s Senior trophy and gold medal in the 2 km race, making it a County/Regional double gold for her, with Yasmine Ollerenshaw taking the Senior silver medal and Junior gold.

16th and 17th July saw 40 swimmers from across the squads take part in the City of Cambridge Swimming Club’s Jeanne Baker Open Meet. There were some spectacular performances with many swimmers achieving a number of Personal Best times (PBs), totalling a massive 142 PBs. The star of the competition with regard to this was Roux Cook who managed to achieve 13 PBs. Overall 88 medals were won, with 32 Golds, 28 Silver and 28 Bronze.

On 23rd July Abs Wicken, one of our para swimmers, had a fantastic experience at the British Summer Championships held at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. Making the finals with a PB and scoring 497 points in the multi-classification 400m freestyle, she went on to do another 5 second PB, scored 521 points and placed 7th in Britain.

5th -9th August Abs was in action again alongside Ida Corcoran, Francesca Baber and Harrison Shaw at Swim England’s National Meet, again at Pond’s Forge. It was a great experience for all of them to be competing at such a level; they came away with 6 PBs between them and Francesca Baber achieved two silver medals in the 50m and 100m freestyle. For the rest of the club to be able to watch via the live streaming, it showed what can be achieved through hard work and determination.

If you are interested in being part of our club, check us out on our website https://flitwickdolphins.org.uk

Well done to all swimmers who attended the Watford meet over the weekend of 25-26th June.

What an amazing weekend at Watford culminating in winning the best visiting club trophy.
Megan and Cesca qualified for the girls 50 freestyle skins competition and Cesca rounded off a fabulous weekend with a win!
So many amazing PBs – highlight has to be Max and Oscar going sub one minute in the 100 freestyle in the same heat! Expensive heat for Ian!
And so many medals….
200 Backstroke – or Peggy, Hudson and Daniel. for Harry. for Niamh.
100IM -for Neve, Oscar and Ella.
Lochy, Niamh, and Enya. for Harry and Megan.
50 Freestyle – Alena, Neve, Cesca, Daniel, Harrison and Hudson. for Megan.
200 Butterfly – for Oscar and Daniel.
200 Breaststroke- for Enya, Lochy and Oscar. for Molly and Daniel. for Ella and Niamh.
100 Freestyle – for Cesca and Harrison. or Niamh, Megan, Hudson and Oscar.
50 Breaststroke – for Enya, Neve, Megan, Lochy, Daniel and Harrison. for Molly and Hudson.
Well done to all the swimmers they were a real credit to the club over the weekend.

Loads of amazing swims with the results speaking for themselves:

At the 1500m regionals: Francesca Baber winning a Bronze medal

East Region Development Meet:

100 fly: Oscar Sherwani Silver medal and a new personal best time; Anna Rumley achieving a Silver medal.

50 back: Jake Hickmott Silver medal and a new personal best time.

200 free: Oscar Sherwani Silver medal, Niamh Bunker Silver medal and a new personal best time along with a regional qualifying time; Phoebe Thorn Gold medal.

400 free: Phoebe Thorn Bronze medal; Niamh Bunker Silver medal and a new personal best time; Oscar Sherwani achieving a Gold medal and a new personal best time.

100 back: Lucas Moxon-Booth Bronze medal and a new personal best time; Oscar Sherwani Gold medal and a new personal best time.

50 fly: Hudson Sherwani Silver medal, a new personal best time and a regional qualifying time; Guido Belcher Bronze and Anna Rumley both coming away with a Bronze medal and new personal best times.

200 breaststroke: Lucas Moxon-Booth Silver medal, a new personal best b and a regional qualifying time.

100 breaststroke: Max Thomas claiming a Gold medal.

50 free: Neve Jones Bronze medal and a new personal best time; Hudson Sherwani with a new personal best time.

50 breaststroke: Lucas Moxon-Booth Gold medal, a new personal best time
and a regional qualifying time; Niamh Bunker Bronze medal and a new personal best time; Darcey Hepworth Bronze medal; Neve Jones a new personal best time.

Finally, in the 200 backstroke: Oscar Sherwani with a new personal best time.

Well done to all the swimmers who took part at the competitions.

Well Done to Liz Woolner who set an European record in the ladies 55-59 100 fly in a time of 1:09.89 at the Calverton & Bingham Masters meet on March 20th.
Liz also set 2 East Region records – 400 free and 50 free and 4 Beds records – 100 & 200 free on the way to the 400 free at the Essex Masters, Basildon on March 12th.
At the same meet Mike Outtram set Bedfordshire County records for the 50 back, 100 back, 200 free and 100 IM.
Meanwhile, at the Welsh Masters on March 6th Ian Murray set 3 Bedfordshire Long Course Records for 200,400 & 800 Freestyle.