NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2004

 

 

Welcome to my first newsletter as RSC Club Secretary, which I hope you will find informative and useful, I will be trying to produce these on a more regular basis in the future; as I believe they are a useful way of communication within the club. If any one wishes to include anything in future newsletters I would be grateful if you let me know.

 

As most of you are now aware there have been some recent changes within the club and hopefully you all received a copy of  Paul Eveleigh’s note announcing the resignations of Kay Goodey and Denise Heldth from the coaching positions and confirming that this will not in any way affect training sessions or coaching. He will be overseeing all training sessions personally whilst endeavoring to recruit suitable successors and will be available to answer any queries you may have.

 

Following the AGM on Friday 19th November we also have a change in some of our Committee Members and a new list of those people elected is detailed below. I would like to say a big thank you at this point to those committee members who are no longer on the committee for all the hard work in the past, in particular Paul Goodey and Dave Robinson. As a result of all these changes, and may I add changes are indeed good and positive for the Club,  I would like to assure all members that all of the new team are very committed to Runnymede S.C. and working to ensure its future success and development. I am also currently arranging for all Committee Members to be issued with White Club T-shirts with their names on as this will make us easily recognizable to all. Please do not hesitate to approach any of them with any queries you may have and they will assist personally or will direct you to someone who can. I will also shortly be trying to organize a Photo Board of all members of our team.

 

NEW COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

 

CHAIRMAN                                                        ANDREW CLARKE

 

SECRETARY                                                       HEATHER DAVIS

 

TREASURER                                                       MALCOLM TURNER

 

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY                            MANDY SMITH

 

OPEN GALA SECRETARY                                HELEN HUNT

 

LEAGUE GALA SECRETARY                           ALISON DELICATA

 

OFFICIALS/MASTERS                                       MARIE KELLY

 

LIFEGUARDS COORDINATOR                        DAVE KNIGHT

 

TROPHY COORDINATOR                                 JO HUDSON

 

CHILD WELFARE OFFICER                              THERESA BEALE

OFFICER                                                                VACANT

OFFICER                                                                VACANT

CO-OPTED MEMBERS                                       LESLEY HARLE (SWIM SCHOOL)

                                                                                CHERYL ELLIS (SOCIAL AND FUND RAISING)

 

As you can see we still have 2 vacant positions on the Committee and we would welcome any volunteers who would be interested in joining us in our work for the club. These positions do not necessarily have to be responsible for any one particular job but simply be just a willingness to get involved in the running of the club. If anyone is interested or would like to discuss this further with either myself of anyone else please do not hesitate to do so, it will be much appreciated.

 

FEES FOR FORTHCOMING YEAR

 

For those who were not at the AGM please note that there has been a slight increase to the fees this year and the list is attached to this Newsletter.

 

SWIMMING

 

Turning now to swimming matters I would like to mention how well all of our swimmers are currently performing and we have been producing some excellent results in all of our Team and Open galas. Last Saturday (20th Nov) our Essex League Team finished in an excellent joint 2nd place, this was an outstanding result considering several of our older swimmers were missing from the team as they were competing in an Open Gala in Haslemere over the weekend. The weekend before we finished in 3rd place in round 2 of the National Speedo League and have now qualified to compete in the final for Division 2 of this league on the 11th December.  If anyone is still confused by all the different types of Galas we are involved in will try to explain in brief:

 

Galas fall in two main categories, team galas or open entry events. Team galas are where a list of selected swimmers is displayed on the notice board and who swims what is set by the team manager or coach; open entry galas are for any swimmer of the required standard and swimmers can enter whichever events they wish providing that any qualifying standard is met.  For both types of gala you will be swimming as a representative of the club, and we will provide poolside management and guidance at the meet.

 

Runnymede is an active member of many Leagues that run at different times throughout the year.  League galas have a combination of individual events, where you may be asked to compete by yourself against swimmers from the other competing clubs, and relay events where you will be swimming with other team members.  These are:

 

National Speedo League

 

This is swimming's equivalent of the Football League, and it is the only major National league competition in the UK.  RSC compete in the London Region of the league in Division 2 at present, and hope to be in Division 1 within 2 years.  The team for the Speedo League is made up from 4 male and female swimmers in the 11-year & under, 13yr/U, 15yr/U and Open age groups, with team selections usually coming from the Club's Red squad.

 

Essex Swimming League

 

This league contains most of the clubs within the Essex County ASA and is divided into five divisions containing 6 clubs each.  RSC are currently in Division 2.  It is a highly competitive league with promotions and relegations every year.  All 6 clubs in each division compete at the 4 rounds of the competition.  The team for the Essex League is made up from at least 4 male and 4 female swimmers in each of the Under/11yr, U/13yr, U/15yr and Open age groups, and are usually selected from the club’s Red and experienced Black squad members. 

 

Essex Mini-League

 

The Mini-League also contains many of the clubs within the Essex County ASA.  Every event within the competition has time limits that exclude swimmers who are competing at the upper levels of the sport. There are no divisions in this league with the overall winners being decided on aggregate points from the 5 rounds. 

 

Runnymede uses this league as a first step for some Black squad and Junior Development squad swimmers, especially in the younger age groups. It has at least 4 male and 4 female swimmers in each of the Under/10yr, U/12yr, U/14yr and 14yr+ age groups.  Many swimmers will be rotated through the team during the season; this is to ensure that as many members as possible, have the opportunity to compete for the club at some point.

 

Junior Speedo League (AKA The Diddy League)

 

This is a National league that is divided into regional areas, with the winners of each region going to a National Final.  Runnymede is in the M11 Region in the top division which means we compete against clubs from the South East area for a place at the National Finals.  The league is for swimmers in the 9-12 year ages at the highest standard of competition.  It will usually be the case that the best 4 male and female swimmers in each age group are selected for this team.

 

Trophy Galas

 

These are team galas very similar in format to the league events.  They are usually invitational inter-club challenge meets for a specific Cup or Trophy.  Teams are picked according to the standard and age groups of the event, and all the information for league galas also applies to these meets.

 

Open Competitions

 

These are swimming meets that are open to any swimmer and the organisers will always charge an entry fee for each event entered.  The fastest 3-6 swimmers in each age group usually receive some sort of award, which may be a trophy or medal.  Age groups vary between competitions and may be single year or a combination of years e.g. 12yr & under. 

 

There are Open galas of all standards, and it is important that you enter events at the appropriate level.  Graded galas are usually time limited, which means that swimmers faster than set times are excluded from swimming or do not receive any awards for beating the time.  Some galas have entry standards that may be set at given time or either include or exclude swimmers who have competed at a certain level in that year.

 

You must make the decision yourself if you want to enter an open gala.  Sometimes you will be recommended to swim in an appropriate gala, but because you are responsible for the entry fee, it is always your choice.

 

 

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate any of us, but in particular Helen Hunt (Open galas) and Alison Delicata (League galas)

 

CLUB CHAMPS

 

This will be finishing with the last session this Friday and they have once again been extremely successful with most of our members taking part and enjoying this competition. They have all run very smoothly and I would like to thank everyone who has helped in making this year competition so successful. In particular a big thank you to Chris Wright for all his hard work on the computer entering details, producing entry cards and the actual running of the system on the day. Thanks also to Ian Gale for assisting Chris in this mammoth task and to everyone who helps officiate, whip, sell programmes, run and provide refreshments to helpers on the night, without them this event would not take place.

 

SHOP

 

One more plea for volunteers please, we are in great need for some helpers in the shop on Friday evenings. Wendy Trevillion has now departed from the club (thank you to her for all her help in this) and we have 2 new volunteers but I would like some more so that I can set up a Rota thus making the job easier for all. Our shop has become a very important aspect of the club and raises much needed extra funds since we sell the goods on behalf of “Gogglebox” at their shop prices and they give us 20% of everything we sell. The tuckshop has become extremely popular with the children and they all enjoy their weekly fix of ‘e’ numbers and additives and this also raises extra funds for the club.  This would not necessarily involve being responsible for the actual going to collect the stock or buy goods etc but purely to assist in the shop on Friday evenings, the more volunteers we get the less pressure there is on individuals as we can share the load and therefore people would not have to be there every Friday. This is also a very good way to get know people and to get involved in  helping out at the club so please if you can spare a bit of time to help out it would be much appreciated.

 

 

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

 

 

NICK GILLINGHAM   is visiting our club on Saturday 27th November from 12pm until 3pm. This is a fantastic opportunity for the children to meet the former Olympic Silver medallist from the Barcelona games. He will be giving a talk and helping with the coaching session etc so please come along .

 

RECORD HOLDER- Aaron Eveleigh swam at the recent ISA National schools Championship at Coventry and came away with gold in the boys Intermediate 50m butterfly, in a new National record time of 28.69 seconds. This came three weeks after Aaron swam for Essex in the National Inter-county championships at Sheffield. Well done Aaron.

 

GALAS:     Borough of Waltham Forest S.C.   4th December (Open Gala)

 

                    National Speedo League:                11th December (Team/League Gala)

                                                                                DIVISION 2 FINAL

 

CHRISTMAS

I will shortly be sorting out training sessions for the Christmas Period and putting a notice up on the board regarding this as soon as they have been finalized.

I am also trying to organize a Christmas get together of some sort and hopefully a trip to play 10 Pin bowling in the school holidays. Details of these will follow.

 

PRESENTATION DANCE

This will be held on Friday 7th January 2005 at Rayleigh Mill Hall and I am currently organizing tickets for this event and they will shortly be available from either myself or Malcolm Turner.

 

 

Heather Davis

Club Secretary