• A word from Grant
• Thank you
• Competition reports
• Swimmer Profile
• Social Committee
• Forthcoming Meets

I would like to wish everyone a slightly belated Happy New Year. I have taken over the Presidency at a very exciting time for Inverleith. Numbers continue to grow and swimmers are performing beyond all expectations. We are not resting on our laurels though and the Committee is continuing to work hard to make Inverleith even more successful and to be a club where swimmers are encouraged to develop and attain their goals and aspirations.

Of course we could not do this without the help of many people. Our coaches and poolside helpers, who are all unpaid volunteers, are key to the success of the club. They give up their evenings and weekends to make sure that the swimmers have enjoyable and fulfilling training sessions.

The support of our parents cannot be under-estimated. Many already help during sessions or officiate during internal and external events. We've always got room for more though and I would encourage everyone to consider getting a bit more involved. If nothing else, I can promise it will make the time pass a lot faster!

We're very fortunate to have an enthusiastic committee to ensure the Club runs properly. We are always looking for new blood though so if anyone is interested, please let either myself of Kathy know. You don't need to know much about swimming - just a desire to improve the experience for all the children.

None of this would work if we didn't have the swimmers. We have very healthy membership numbers and also a waiting list at certain levels and there are very few clubs in Edinburgh that can boast that.

And finally, it's fantastic to see so many competing in our Internal Cups and also in external competitions. It's a common occurrence to see Inverleith mentioned in the medals tables at events, from Development Galas right the way through to the East District Championships. I look forward to seeing a lot more of that in 2014.

Grant

Following the recent death of my son in Norway I would like to thank all those who sent me messages by e-mail, text and mail. Those were very much appreciated by myself and the rest of the family and thank you for the flowers.

To those who braved the wintry conditions to attend Warriston on Saturday to bid Brian farewell, please accept my heartfelt thanks.

Kathy

Scottish Gas Short Course Open - Royal Commonwealth Pool (14-16 Dec 2013)

Congratulations to Claire Dow who represented Inverleith at the Royal Commonwealth Pool on the national stage with great swims in the 100 IM and 400 IM. Thank you to everyone who came to support Claire.

East District Age Group Championships, Rd 3 - Royal Commonwealth Pool
(11-12 Jan 2014)

This was a fantastic opportunity for the attending Advanced Squad swimmers to gain experience competing over the long course distance (50m). Following on from the two previous rounds, hopes were high for further success in the last round of the Championships which covered the 100m distance in all 4 strokes as well as the 200 IM.

Places:

Gold:       Fraser Allison - 100 BREAST
                Fraser Allison - 200 IM

Bronze:   Joe Penman - 100 BACK

4th:          Fraser Allison - 100 BACK
                Fraser Allison - 100 FREE

5th:          Sophie Hamilton - 100 FLY
                Sophie Hamilton - 100 BREAST

Congratulations to all swimmers and a special mention to Fraser Allison, who came 3rd overall in the Championships. There were some amazing PBs and for some, more considerations times for the Scottish Nationals in June - well done!

Carnegie Graded Meet - Dunfermline (18-19 Jan 2014)

A large group of experienced and not so experienced swimmers travelled across the Firth of Forth to compete in a great Meet that covered several distances. Well done to those who achieved large PBs over the course of the weekend, especially in the 400 F/C!

Places:

Gold:          Jocelyn Low - 100 BACK
                   Jocelyn Low - 200 IM
                   Stuart Crawford - 100 BACK

Silver:        Jocelyn Low - 100 FREE

4th:             Felix Hale - 100 BACK
                   Joe Penman - 400 FREE

5th              Aurea Crolla - 100 BREAST
                   Joe Penman - 100 FREE
                   Scarlett Donald -100 BREAST

6th              Stuart Crawford - 200 IM
                   Carla Lovell - 100 BREAST
                   Sophie McCorkindale - 100 BACK

Another fantastic weekend with some promising swims!
 

Livingston Development Gala - Deans High School (19 Jan 2014)

We had seven swimmers taking part in this gala, four others were rejected because their times were too fast. All the swimmers who took part swam in four events & achieved 25PBs, 11 of which were brand new times.

This was a competition for swimmers who were complete novices or who had not competed much. Before each stroke there was a demonstration swim from internationalist Mark Szaranek which was great for the swimmers to watch.

There were no individual medals but each swimmer received a memento & a certificate signed by Mark. Swimmers who came in the top six were:

1st             Katie Whitham 50 BREAST
Jessica Shaw 50 FREE

2nd           Jessica Shaw 25 FLY

3rd            Ted O’Connor 50 BREAST
                 Ted O’Connor 50 BACK

4th            Ted O’Connor 50FREE

6th            Ted O’Connor 25FLY

Other swimmers who took part were Holly McCluskey, Grace Edward, Jake Cliff & Daniel Main. Well done everyone!

Club Championships

The 2013 Club Championship results have been uploaded on the IASC website and can be viewed by clicking here

Thanks

Fiona and Lana

Name:  Jonah Walsh

Age:  13

School:  Trinity Academy

Squad:  Advanced

Favourite stroke: Freestyle

Best thing about swimming:
Competing (especially relays)

Worst thing about swimming: 
Some of Lana's sets!

Swimming idol:
Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte

Favourite food/drink:
Crisps and homemade smoothies

Bag Packing - Sainsbury's, Craigleith (Sunday 2 Feb)

A reminder that we have secured a bag packing slot this Sunday 2 February at Sainsbury's, Craigleith Retail Park from 10am - 4pm to raise funds to support Club social events and to help those going to training camp at Crystal Palace in April.

Thank you to those who have already volunteered their services. There are still a couple of checkouts available, so please come along and help out for a couple of hours - we could do with a some more volunteers from 12pm onwards.

Please remember to wear your club colours and see you there!

Thanks

Hilary
(Joe, Daniel and Rose's mum)


Annual Presentation Dance

The Annual Presentation Dance, one of the highlights of the IASC calendar, is almost upon us. As in previous years, the event is being held at Carricknowe Bowling Club, Broomhall Avenue, Edinburgh on Friday 28 February, starting at 7.00pm. Trophies and medals will be presented to the winners of the 2013 Club Championships, followed by a buffet and disco. A cash bar is also available.

To comply with safety rules (there is a capacity limit) and for catering purposes, entrance is by ticket only for everyone attending whether you are a swimmer or non-club member. These will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis, so to avoid disappointment, get your tickets now! In particular, we look forward to seeing some of the new faces who have joined us in the last year.

Tickets are £5 per person (free for under fives), available from David Little (Int 1 and Int 2 coach). You can catch him at one of the training sessions or drop him an email: weedavidlittle@hotmail.com

As usual, donations of prizes for the raffle would be greatly appreciated (please just bring donations along on the night).

We are also looking for volunteers to help organise the buffet. If you are interested in helping out, please let me know: lai.maggie@ymail.com

Thanks in advance and we look forward to seeing you there.

Maggie

Some upcoming competitions for Inverleith swimmers. Please make sure you check your emails regularly for events and other important information from the Club. Any changes in contact details, let Kathy know.

31 Jan - 2 Feb:  East District Open - SASA Grand Prix, RCP

15 - 16 Feb: Bellshill Open, Bellshill

7 Mar:  Scottish Schools Championship Finals, East Kilbride

8 Mar: Lothian Leagues Round 1, Prestonpans

15 - 16 Mar: Portobello Mad March Meet, Prestonpans

Thanks

Grant