Last weekend marked the first two days in the four day Northumberland and Durham BAGCAT 2010 Swimming Championships, held at the Neptune Centre, Middlesbrough. A strong team of swimmers from the City of Sunderland ASC made the short journey south to compete against other 9 to 14 years from clubs throughout the north east and once again the team excelled in the pool.

The weekend got off to a great start with success throughout the Saturday morning with Thomas Burns winning the gold in his favoured distance event in the boys 10 years 400m freestyle in a time of 5.13.00 winning by 7 seconds. Thomas’s brother James Burns just missed out on a medal by one second in the same event for 12 year olds. Adam Taylor started off to what was going to be a very successful weekend with an impressive win in the 13 year category in a time of 4.25.51 winning by a margin of 9 seconds. Joe Middleton took bronze in a new personal best of 4.18.70. The Sunderland boys also had great results in the 100m Butterfly with Adam Charlton and Adam Taylor both taking silver medals in their respective age groups. Daniel Feather in the 10 year category won his first medal of the weekend taking gold in the 50 Backstroke in a time of 37.52.

Not to be outdone, the Sunderland girls also had an exciting start to their campaign. Jodi Bunker won a Bronze medal in the 10 years 100 medley. Eleven year old Georgina Lamb had an amazing start, winning a Bronze medal in the 200 Breaststroke in 3.02.06 – a club record time for her age group. Georgina also achieved a silver medal in the 100m Freestyle, while Lucy Walton also took home a silver medal in the same event in the 12 year category.

The afternoon’s events saw the clubs up and coming 10 year olds - Jodi Bunker and Daniel Feather - both smashing the three minute barrier to take gold in the 200m butterfly (2.57.61) and the 200m individual medley (2.56.35) respectively. In the 11-14 year old 200m backstroke, Adam Charlton took a silver medal in the 12 years, Joe Middleton won a silver in the 14 year and Adam Taylor, after setting a new personal best in the heat of 2.16.88, went on to win a gold in the 13 year age group. Georgina Lamb continued her success in the afternoon session with an extraordinary 200m Freestyle winning the gold in a race which she led from the start with a winning time of 2.22.70. Lucy Walton produced an amazing swim to take second place in the 12 year category; her time of 2.13.01 was also a National Age Group qualifying time.

Sunday morning’s events started with the tough 400m medley, where the boys showed off their all round skills - Daniel Feather taking gold in 6.08.06, Adam Charlton taking bronze in the 12 years, Adam Taylor winning silver in the 13 years. Jodi Bunker, continued the success by taking silver in the girls 200m individual medley, while Daniel Feather was back in action a short while later to take silver in the closely contested 50m Butterfly. In her first ever County championships Amelia Bateman, coached by Sunderland’s newest coach Brian Shepherdson, had a great result winning a bronze medal in the 9 years 50m Backstroke. Adam Taylor finished the morning off with another personal best and another gold medal in the 200m Freestyle with a winning time of 2.05.94.

The Sunderland swimmer’s wrapped up a successful weekend with Jodi Bunker taking silver in the 10 year 200m freestyle in a personal best time of 2.33.94, with fellow 10 year old Daniel Feather, also winning silver in the 200m Breaststroke. In the girls 100m medley, Lucy Walton added to her collection with a silver medal, while Emma Sinclair won her first medal of the Championships taking a bronze in the 13 year category for the same event.

Coach Paul Woodley said; ‘Well done to all the swimmers who competed and we look forward to another tough but successful weekend again at Middlesbrough.’

City of Sunderland ASC enjoyed another successful days swimming last Saturday at the Derwentside ASC Developmental Meet, at the Louisa Centre, Stanley, where 22 club swimmers aged between 9 and 12 years won a total of 54 medals - 17 Gold, 17 Silver and 20 Bronze.

In the Girl’s 9 years’ age group, Jazmine Moss and Natalya Sharp in their first competitive season, took a total of nine medals for the city. Jazmine took gold in the 200m backstroke and  200m individual medley, silver in the 200m freestyle and 50m backstroke, with a bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke. Her team mate Natalya took silver in the 200m backstroke and 200m breaststroke, with bronze medals in the 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley events.

Joseph Pomfret performed well in the 10 year old boys’ events taking gold in the 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke, with a bronze in the 50m butterfly, whilst Amy Henshaw took a bronze medal in the 200m freestyle in the same age-group.

In the 11 years’ age group, Hannah Costello won gold in 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke, with silver medals in the respective 100m events, while team mate Gabby Burdess took bronze medals in 100m and 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke events. In the same age group, Jennifer Sharp also won bronze in 200m butterfly.  For the boys, Callum Reveley stormed home to win the 100m butterfly, took bronze in the 100m freestyle and narrowly missed another bronze in the 100m backstroke by a margin of 0.01 sec, whilst team mate Ryan Brewster took the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1.39.35.

In the 12 year-old girls events the Sunderland team took an impressive haul of 18 medals, with the Sunderland swimmers achieving a clean sweep in the 200m backstroke event, where Christina Castledine took gold, Rachel Robinson silver and Ashlyn Liddle bronze. Overall, Abby Carlisle took two gold medals in the 100m and 200m freestyle events, together with a bronze in the 200m butterfly, whilst Christina Castledine took gold in the 200m backstroke, four silver medals in the 100m backstroke, 200m individual medley, 100m breaststroke and 100m freestyle, together with a bronze in the 200m freestyle. Ashlyn Liddle took gold in the 200m breaststroke, silver in the 100m butterfly and four bronze medals in the 100m and 200m backstroke, 100m breaststroke and the 200m individual medley. Rachel Robinson won the 200m butterfly gold and also took the silver medal in the 200m backstroke event.

The boys also chipped in with a total of twelve medals in the 12 year-old age group. Jack Tallentire took two gold medals in the 100m butterfly and 100m backstroke, two silver in the 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke and a bronze in the 100m freestyle event. Joshua Campbell took first in the 200m individual medley, three silver in the 100m breaststroke, 100m freestyle and the 100m butterfly with a bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke. Team mate Mark Robinson also won gold in the 100 metre breaststroke with a time of 1.34.67.

Coach Val Wilson said, ‘The boys and girls really did themselves proud in a highly successful meet. Numerous personal best times were achieved – well done to them all.’

The City of Sunderland ASC junior swimming team commenced their second season in league one of the Durham and District Junior (Diddy) League, in fine form at The Louisa Centre, Stanley, last Sunday.  Strong teams from Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Durham, Chester-le-Street, Tynemouth and Newburn provide the opposition in this year’s top league for club swimmers aged between 9 and 12 years. As last year’s runners up, the City of Sunderland team were aiming to take the title from the City of Newcastle this season and in an action packed series of races the two clubs continued to wrestle for top spot.

Harry Staines swimming in the boys 9 year old breast stroke took first place to put Sunderland into a  strong early position, quickly followed by another first by the 11 year boys freestyle relay team consisting of, Daniel Feather, James Brewerton, Thomas Burns and Will Robinson. More individual first place successes by Alexandra Clements in the girls 11 year backstroke and Jodi Bunker in the girls 11 year breast stroke, followed up by a useful second place from Andrew Markham in the boys 12 year butterfly, helped the Sunderland team to establish an early lead in the days competition.

Sunderland continued to accumulate the points with Lauren Patterson, Jay Whitehead, Jodi Bunker, Alexandra Clements and Jennifer Sharp, gaining second place in the girls 11 year freestyle relay and medley relay races. The boys 11 year team continued their earlier success by winning the medley relay and taking second spot in the free style relay and butterfly relay races, whilst the boys 12 year team – Andrew Markham, Ryan Brewster, Kristian Donaldson, Harry Richardson and Callum Reveley - took second place in the medley relay.

Further individual successes were achieved with winning performances from Georgina Lamb in the girls 12 year freestyle and Joseph Pomfret in the boys 10 year butterfly race, followed by the girls ten year team comprising of Elizabeth Clements, Eve Larson, Beth Nicholson and Amelia Bateman, who were victorious in the medley relay race.

The Sunderland teams nine year old representatives consisting of Natalya Sharp, Stephanie Burdess and Charlotte Jurgens, together with; Max Vardy, Ben Hutchinson and Blake Stevenson, who were all making their ‘Diddy League’ debuts, also performed well for the club.

Two second placings by the boys 10 year team –  Joseph Pomfret, Matty Walker Smith Harry Staines, and Callum Dunn - in the freestyle relay and medley relay races and a first place by the girls 12 year team - Laura Taylor, Ashlyn Liddle, Georgina Lamb, Christina Castledene and Jessica Thompson - in the freestyle relay, together with a second pace in the medley relay ensured that a healthy points total was achieved.

After an exciting competition, Sunderland finished second on the day to the City of Newcastle team. The team points totals after this, the first of five league meetings was; Newcastle 234 points, Sunderland 215 points, Tynemouth 188 points, Stockton 150 points, Newburn 137 points and Durham 129 points. Sunderland’s next involvement in this competition is at the Wear Valley Swimming Pool on 11th April.

Coach Paul Woodley said, ‘After the fantastic Diddy League campaign in 2009 it was important to get off to a good start in the first round of 2010 held at Stanley Pool. The league provides the best atmosphere of all the swimming galas during the season and the Sunderland swimmers flourished in this exciting atmosphere. Well done to them all.

Sunderland to welcome
Britain’s elite swimmers

The new Sunderland Aquatic Centre will play host to the country’s top swimmers as it prepares to host the British Gas ASA National Championships 2010 in August.
The competition, which takes place from 18th – 21st August, will be the final qualification event for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and athletes will be looking to put in fast times in order to gain their place on the teams destined for Delhi.

It is the first time the North East will play host to a national swimming championships and alongside local athletes Jessica Dickons and Ian Hulme other top swimmers, including double Olympic Champion Rebecca Adlington and World Champion Liam Tancock, will travel to fight for their place on the Commonwealth Games team.

The ASA Events Manager Lucy Rouse is looking forward to holding the prestigious event in the new facility and giving more people the opportunity to see the sport.
“It is really exciting to be holding the British Gas National Championships 2010 at the Sunderland Aquatic Centre,” Rouse said. “It is the first time that the ASA have held a national championship in Sunderland and it will be great to make use of the impressive new pool. We are looking forward to working alongside Sunderland City Council to produce a top class event and we thank them for their support in producing this competition.
“By holding the competition in a new city we are encouraging more people to see the sport and our swimming heroes will hopefully inspire the people of the North East into the pool.”

Cllr Paul Watson, Leader Sunderland City Council commented: “That the ASA chose to bring such a prestigious and significant event to Sunderland Aquatic Centre demonstrates that we really do have a world-class facility to be proud of. As well as being a community pool for Sunderland people, it was always hoped that our 50m pool would attract high-calibre national and international events such as this to our city.
“I’m sure that our city will be as proud as I am to greet the athletes and spectators and will give them a warm Sunderland welcome.”
The Sunderland Aquatic Centre was opened in 2008 and is located next to the home of Sunderland Football Club. The 50m pool boasts the most hi-tech equipment and facilities and has a total of 10 lanes.
Paul Young, Sunderland Aquatic Centre Manager said: “I’m really excited that this high profile event is coming to the Sunderland Aquatic Centre in August. The Aquatic Centre team and I are looking forward to working with the ASA on the British Gas ASA National Championships and supporting them to ensure the event is a great success.
“Having a national event coming to the pool will really showcase the facility to the nation, and demonstrate its full potential. I’m really pleased to hear that all the top British swimmers will be competing in the event, including some Olympic medallists. These Championships are hugely significant, being the final qualification event for the Commonwealth Games.
“I really hope that the Championships in Sunderland will be inspirational to local swimmers of all abilities and will further raise the profile of swimming.”

Cllr James Blackburn, Member with Portfolio for Attractive and Inclusive City commented: “It’s exciting news that Sunderland is to host such an important event. Sunderland City Council has invested in excellent sport and leisure facilities recently, including the 50m Sunderland Aquatic Centre and two 25m community pools. Attracting high-profile events such as this showcase Sunderland’s many positive attributes and benefit local businesses.
“Encouraging and supporting our residents to improve their health and wellbeing by taking regular exercise is high on the City Council’s agenda. What better way to encourage people to start swimming is there than seeing members of the Olympic Swimming team in their local pool?”

Read the ASA press release here