Whitchurch Wasps – Junior Squad News
16th October 2006 -Jon Pardoe
Time Trials – Results – Lane Allocation
All the results from the previous time trials are now on the website.
The next time trials are being held on Thursday 16th November at Whitchurch pool from 7pm-9pm. All swimmers are encouraged to attend as these times are utilised as one measure of progress - as well as determining lane promotion and to gala selection.
So please…please…please – attend!!!!!!
The new lane allocations & training times have now been circulated and if you have any issues with any of the times or locations please let me know. There might be some lee way once I know how many swimmers are attending each session.
Any questions let me know.
Wasp 1 & 2
For those of you who have already achieved lane 4 or 3 qualifying times or aiming for such times in the near future you will also need to have completed Wasp 1 and/or Wasp 2 skills which you can find detailed on the website.
anging a dedicated pool session close to the next time trials in order to test swimmers on these skills and will let everyone know the date and time in due course.
If in doubt as to whether you have completed all or part of Wasp 1 and/or 2 double check the spreadsheet on the club website.
Wrexham Junior Sprint Meet
I’m delighted that so many of you will be attending the forthcoming Wrexham Junior Spring gala on Saturday 18th November - 29 of you at the last count.
Remember that if you’ re 11 or 12 years old you will be competing over 50m – so it’s very important that you concentrate on practicing your turns.
We have organised a coach to take us to the gala – complete with the Wasps ghetto blaster! This will be leaving the John Talbot School at 7.45am. Parents and fan clubs are welcome to attend and travel on the coach if they wish (Subject to a contribution to the coach costs of £2.50 per adult for the return journey).
The warm up begins at 8.30am – so make sure you have had a breakfast high in carbohydrates (check the website for nutritional guidance on what to eat).
There is a 1 hour lunch break so all swimmers should bring a packed lunch – again high in Carbs – as well as plenty to drink.
If you have Wasp costumes and hats – great – please wear them. If not don’t worry. Remember to bring a Wasp tea bag shirt or other t-shirt to wear in between races. It’s also a good idea to bring two towels in case one gets very wet.
The gala finishes at 4.30pm and the coach will then be transporting us to Pizza Hut in Wrexham for circa 5pm. We shall be returning by coach to Whitchurch at 7pm. There is no requirement for parents to attend – so if you’d rather have a day off shopping – go for it!!!! However if you are leaving your children in our care can you please provide me with emergency contact details for the day & let me know of any medication they may be taking (best to email me jonpardoe@hotmail.co.uk).
Pizza Hut
If anyone not swimming feels a little bit left out – you are more than welcome to attend as a spectator and/or come to Pizza Hut. I probably wouldn’t recommend turning up for the whole day – unless you’re not easily bored. Instead I’d aim to get to Wrexham pool at circa 3.30pm to watch the last hour of the gala and then come to Pizza Hut. Alternatively you could meet us at Pizza Hut at 5pm.If your parents don’t wish to stay they can drop you off and we can then bring you back on the coach. If you want to do this can you let me know (the cost to cover Pizza Hut will be £5).
Wem, Christleton & Ellesmere Pools – Parent Rotas
You will see from the new lane allocations and training times that the Club has taken more time at Wem pool and is due to start training at Ellesmere from the week beginning 13th November. All of which is very positive. All swimmers in the Club are now being offered a minimum of 3 hours of pool training time per week (+ 1 hour of land training).
Whilst in an ideal world more of this time would be at Whitchurch – unfortunately North Shropshire District Council have currently limited us to just 6 hours. However I am confident that following the next time trials on November 16th more time will be found at Whitchurch Pool for tadpoles, lanes 5 & 4. Personally I’d like to see all stroke clinic (formerly known as tadpoles) swimmers being provided with at least 1 hour per week at Whitchurch, with 2 hours of Whitchurch pool time being found each week for lanes 5 & 4. So please bear with us on this matter because November 16th is only a few weeks away.
I have written to Peter Appleton the deputy Chief Executive of NSDC on numerous occasions regarding their responsibility to provide more Whitchurch pool time to the club but currently to no avail. However the more people who write the better – his email address is pappleton@northshropshiredc.gov.uk – please take 5 minutes of your time to send him an email.
Having said this Wem, Ellesmere and Christleton pools represent excellent facilties in an often less crowded and hectic environment than Whitchurch – so we should dwell on the positives.
If any of you have transport problems getting to these pools please let me know – I will try to link you up with other parents who could share the driving duties.
Charitable Status, Gift Aid & Monthly Subscriptions/Donations
As part and parcel of providing additional pool and land training time we have taken the decision to increase the monthly subscription/donation to a minimum recommended £20. So could all stroke clinic (formerly known as tadpoles) swimmers please arrange for standing orders from November to be increased to this level. Those who have been promoted into Lane 5 will need to increase their standing order to £21.50 and Lane 4 £22.50. If a swimmer is participating in all 4 hours of training per week this represents less than £1.25 per session – a fraction of the cost of swimming elsewhere.
Now that we have obtained Charitable status we will be asking all members to complete a gift aid form. This will allow the Club to reclaim income tax from the Treasury. On a £20 per month subscription/donation this equates to and additional £5.64. This doesn’t cost you any more but does provide the club with additional revenues. If you are fortunate enough to be a higher rate taxpayer you can notify your tax office and they will adjust you tax code so that on the example above you end up paying £4.61 per month less. It is therefore important that the highest earner in the household completes the gift aid form.
Wem Swimmer of the Week Cup
A fabulous new Silver cup filled each week with chocolate will be awarded on Mondays at Wem pool to the swimmer who listens, learns and improves the most. You get to keep the cup for a week and eat all the chocolate!!! Last week this was won by Peter Towers – who has come on leaps and bounds since he joined the Club 6 months ago.
PS: From November only swimmers wearing caps will be eligible to win this trophy.
Water Polo
As promised I’m trying to arrange regular weekly Junior Water Polo sessions. These would be held at Wem Pool on Tuedays from 7pm-8pm.
Can all those swimmers under 14 wishing to take part please let me know asap (jonpardoe@hotmail.co.uk). There would be no additional charge.
Land Training
The Club has now organised a weekly land training session at Whitchurch Leisure Centre every Friday 6.15pm-7.15pm – commencing 10th November.
It’s being run by a fully qualified instructor and will involve use of gym balls and exercises used in Martial Arts and Thai Boxing – all of which help build flexibility and balance. No additional charge is being made for this session. So be there!
Training Gear - Club Shop
Hopefully everyone has now got the right size fins etc. Can you please make sure that you bring your fins, kick board, pull buoy and a water bottle to every session. You wouldn’t dream of turning up for a game of football without the ball – so pleased don’t come to training without these items.
If anyone genuinely can’t afford them – please let me know – I may have some surplus.
If anyone has some surplus pocket money, or can’t think of what presents to ask to be given for Xmas or a forthcoming birthday – front wearing snorkels are excellent for Fly training. These can be ordered from the Club shop.
Swimming Caps
It’s estimated that even with short hair swimming caps reduce resistance in the water by 3% (ie you go 3% faster). Every little bit helps! That’s why all professional swimmers wear them + it’s cool! So please can everyone start wearing caps.
Underwater Camera & Dartfish Software
I’m delighted that the Club has now been able to afford to purchase an underwater camera and all the necessary software to analyse stroke technique. This Dartfish software is used by all the best swimmers in the World – and we are one of the first clubs in the UK to be able to benefit from it. Full details can be found on our website but essentially it compares a swimmers stroke technique to one of the best swimmers in the world.
This cost the club Circa £3500 and was partly funded by a grant from Whitchurch Town Council (to whom we are very greatful) and the generous amount of money raised at our recent Summer Fun Day.
Hopefully over the next few months all Lane 5 swimmers and above will benefit.
Amazon.co.uk
Whilst on the subject of Xmas and birthday presents can I remind everyone that on the shopping part of the Club website you will find a link to Amazon.co.uk. If you follow this link anything you then buy from Amazon will benefit the Club financially to the tune of 5% of your spend.
Swimming Stroke DVDs
I’ve got around 35 swimming DVDs – on all the strokes, starts, turns etc. These feature some of the World’s best Swimmers – such as Michael Phelps & Ian Thorpe.
I know that a number of you have benefited greatly from borrowing one or more of these dvds. I’m more than happy to make these more widely available – so long as you treat them with care (they cost me circa £35 each!). I will therefore bring them every Monday to Wem on the basis that you borrow them for no more than a week, and don’t lose them.
County Championships
The Shropshire County Championships take place in March & April each year. The qualifying times have been posted on our website. Swimmers under 12 can compete over 50m & 200m in each stroke & 400m Freestyle. I’m hoping that as many of you as possible will want and be able to enter. So over the next few months we will be concentrating on training for these Championships and holding qualification trials.
Club Quiz
Every two months we run a quiz on the website (www.whitchurchwasps.co.uk). The prize is usually a £10 voucher to spend in the Club Shop. However because no one won the last quiz the prize has now been rolled over – making a total of £20 to be won. The current quiz expires on the 31st December – so plenty of time to enter.