Clayesmore Swimmers set records tumbling and achieve National Qualification

It’s been a busy start to the term for Clayesmore’s Prep and Senior Swim Squads. The school’s Director of Swimming, Ali Pickford writes: 

Senior School

The first of the squad’s two galas was away at Sherborne on Saturday 21 April against Sherborne Girls, Sherborne Boys, Marlborough, Kingwood, Blundells and Canford.  The senior team really enjoyed their first gala and even though it was the first Saturday of the term and with only one school training session before, they all swam really well.

U16 Girls Results

Sherbone 1st 54

Kingswood 2nd 43

Clayesmore 3rd 37

Canford 4th 23

Blundells 5th 16

Marlborough 6th 13

Louise C had two good swims in her individual events, 100m Individual Medley & 50m Breaststroke as did Phoebe in the 50m Butterfly & 50m Front crawl. The 4 x 50m Freestyle relay team ( Abi F, Abi E, Phoebe J and Louise Cliff) came first with a strong finish from Louise.

U16 Boys Results

Josh S, Finlay, Ben B and Jacob D had the strongest competition as Marlborough & Kingswood had very good swimmers in both the A & B Strings. Finlay and Josh had great swims individually as well as Jacob in his 50 metres front crawl.

Marlborough 1st 53

Kingswood 2nd 43

Sherborne 3rd 35

Clayesmore 4th 28

Blundells 5th 21

Canford 6th 13

 

U18 Girls Results

All our girls had great swims and came away with second place. This was Lucy W’s first gala for the team and she swam a very strong 50 metres Breaststroke and won her event.

Sherbone 1st 63

Clayesmore 2nd 39

Blundells 3rd 30

Kingswood 4th 28

Canford 5th 25

Marlborough 6th 11

 

U18 Boys Results

As with the U16s the U18 boys were up against strong competition and came 4th. Well done to all the boys for their swims, Zach M (captain), James G, Harvey T, Charles P, Ben F.

Marlborough 1st 53

Kingswood 2nd 43

Sherborne 3rd 35

Clayesmore 4th 28

Blundells 5th 21st

Canford 6th 13

Adding all the age group points together Clayesmore came third overall, a fantastic result for the team. 

The second gala was away at Canford on Saturday 28 April against Canford and Sherborne Boys.

 

Junior Girls Results

Well done to the girls for a huge victory over Canford

Clayesmore 1st 58

Canford 2nd 22

A special well done to both Jo-Jo G and Phoebe J for winning both their individual events. Jo-Jo in the Individual medley & 50 metres Backstroke & Phoebe J in the 50 metres Butterfly and 50 metres Front crawl. After Lucy’s swim at Canford she swum with more confidence. She won her race and improved her time from the previous gala.

 

Junior Boys Results

Unfortunately on the day of the gala two junior boys were unable to swim. So at short notice a Year 8 boy from the prep school, Ruben, stepped in. Ruben certainly added to the strength of the team and won both his races, Individual Medley and 50 metres Butterfly. Ruben is very much looking forward to starting in the Senior School in September and continuing with his swim training at the school.

The boys also won both relays, medley & freestyle. The team certainly deserved their win

Clayesmore 1st 67

Sherborne 2nd 56

Canford 3rd 43

 

Senior Boys

The senior’s had tough competition against Sherborne boys and the competition was very close throughout. Zach M (captain) had a fantastic win in the 50 metres Front crawl, recording a 1 second personal best time! The boys missed a win in the medley relay but won by a clear 3 seconds in the 4 x 50 metres Freestyle Relay.

Sherborne 1st 70

Clayesmore 2nd 64

Canford 3rd 30

Overall Clayesmore Junior Boys & Senior Boys came 1st.

Clayesmore 1st 131

Sherborne 2nd 126

Canford 3rd 73

 

Prep School

2018 IAPS Swimming National Finals

This year a record number of entries competed in regional rounds across the country: 259 schools, 3,142 entries and 1,384 relays. Clayesmore hosted one of the rounds in February with 8 visiting schools in attendance. The regionals lead to the National Finals and with the amount competing at regionals to qualify is an enormous achievement.

This week the the qualifiers for the National Finals have been announced and I am so pleased that four Clayesmore Prep Pupils have qualified in individual events. Many congratulations to:

U10

Georgia K: 25 metres Breaststroke

U11

Lottie H: 50 metres Backstroke

Charlie H: 50 metres front crawl

U13

Evie L-G (swim team captain): 50 metres Breaststroke

The finals for the very first time will take place at the London Aquatic Centre on Saturday, 9th June .

We wish Georgia, Lottie, Charlie and Evie all the best with their training leading up to the finals and especially so on the day. 

 

ESSA Primary Schools’ Relay Championships

On Monday 30th April four Year 6 pupils, Lottie H, Portia H, Jimmy R and Charlie H, competed at the South West ESSA (English Schools Swimming Association) Relay Championships for Primary Schools (years 5 and 6 combined)

The event was held at Millfield School and the team competed in two events, a 4 x 25m freestyle relay and 4 x 25m medley relay.

The team came first in the freestyle relay and second in the medley. As a result of this success they have qualified for the national finals. Clayesmore has not had a team qualify to this level before, so many congratulations to Portia, Lottie, Jimmy and Charlie. The 24th National Swimming finals will be held on16th June at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre. The Clayesmore Team will represent the School and the South West

 

Year 4 North Dorset Gala

Our Year 4 pupils who took part at the North Dorset Regional Gala, hosted at Clayesmore. Nine schools entered with just over 60 pupils swimming. So a huge turnout for this young age group. The regional round leads to the Year 4 Dorset Primary School finals and only the first placed individual and relay team go through. The response from the visiting schools has been fantastic and their pupils really enjoyed the experience of competing at an official gala.

Together with Clayesmore the following North Dorset schools attended:Leweston, Durweston, Knighton House, Wyke, St Gregory’s Marnhull, Motcombe Primary, Stalbridge Primary & Milldown Primary.

Congratulations to the Clayesmore year 4’s who took part: Boys: Rafael, Cody, Ned, Wilf, Matthew. Girls: Elsa, Sophia, Clemmy, Evie.

The Clayesmore team were fantastic and I am really thrilled to announce that our Boys team have qualified for the finals.

Cody 25m Backstroke

Rafael 25m Front crawl

Ned 25m Breaststroke

Year 4 Boys Freestyle and Mixed Stroke Relay

NEW SCHOOL RECORD:

Cody, Ned, Matthew and Rafael broke the 26 year old school record for the Mixed Stroke Relay.