The last round of the Arena League took place for Orpington Ojays at Dover Leisure Centre on Saturday 14 December, where our team of parents made a loud effort in supporting our team of swimmers, determined as ever not to disappoint. In fact, despite illness going around the squads forcing swimmers to miss training, our swimmers were close to pbs in most races and gave a good show of their potential.
The gala was tough with some good teams apparently stronger than in previous rounds, our swimmers could only manage fifth place in the gala and finished 11th overall in the 1st division. Well done to all the swimmers who participated:
Rachel Langdown, Ellie Harden, Lilli Cutajar, Lilli Jones, Alice Bennett, Clio Bacon, Emily Smith, Kate Ridley, Daniella Shipley, Fay Gibson, Issie Minter-Paye, Holly Baronti, Alexandra Sandeman, Lizzie Bennett, Rebecca Shipley, Callum Baronti, Max Peel, Justin Strover, Connor Martin, Thomas Bennett, Josh Martin, Ben Strover, Max Leeves, Oliver Randall, Jake McDonnell, James May, Matt Steere, Sam Harvey, Chris Miles and James Lawrence
A big thank you to officials and poolside helpers without whom the gala wouldn’t have taken place and wouldn’t be as cheerful!
Results can be obtained at the following address:
http://www.nationalswimmingleague.org.uk/south/results
Well done Ojays!
London Winter Championships 2013 - 7th & 8th Dece
Tuesday 10th December 2013
Good performance from our bravest swimmers who attended the Winter Regional Competitions last weekend in the Gurnell Sport Centre, Ealing. Our swimmers didn't disappoint in this high standard event and entered the pool with a positive attitude ready to take up the challenge and show the results of the last four weeks of training which show good improvements compared to some of the recent performances.
Well done to all the swimmers:
Alice Bennett, Elizabeth Bennett, Isabelle Minte_Paye, Molly Haynes, Kate Ridley, Holly Baronti. Fay Gibson, Rebecca Shipley, Daniela Shipley who competed setting a starting point to work on and improve in time for next Regional Youth competitions in May/June.
Thank you to all passionate parents who cheered loudly and supported our team.
Official results will be posted at: http://www.londonswimming-results1.org/asalondon/LWMeet13/webpages/index.htm
Well done Team OJays!
Sergio
Billy receives a special Jack Petchey award and go
Thursday 28th November 2013
Congratulations to Billy Birchmore who received a Jack Petchey Special Award for his achievements in swimming last week. This award was presented to him at The Chuchill Theatre in Bromley.
Billy was also competing at the DSE Nationals Short Course at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. Having been ill for the last month and missed most training sessions Billy still put in some very impressive performances. This year the DSE Nationals had the strongest possible field which included several Para Olympic Champions and medallists with over 150 qualifiers in most events.
Billy started sluggishly in the 100m free well off his best time, but he improved as the meet went on finishing with a PB in the 100m fly and equalling his PB in 50 Free.
In the end he finished with reasonable finishes. He was 22nd in the S14 100 FS; 10th in the 100IM; 11th in the 100m fly. 20th in the 200IM and 18th in the 50m Free.
Congratulations Billy for a great achievement in such a strong field of the very best in British disability swimming.
November Jack Petchey
Wednesday 27th November 2013
Congratulations to Chloe Waller for being awarded the November award for maximum effort and her positive and friendly attitude both at training and at galas.
October Jack Petchey
Wednesday 27th November 2013
Congratulations to Jessica Seller for being awarded the October award for always giving 100% in training and at galas and for her positive friendly attitude.
Kent Development Meet 2013
Sunday 17th November 2013
13 OOSC swimmers were accepted for this heavily oversubscribed meet, one of the highlights of the ASA swimming calendar for up and coming young swimmers. 13 may be unlucky for some but not for Orpington Ojays - every single swimmer got at least one pb so 100% pbs all round.
Well done to: Justin Strover, Max Peel, Ellie Harden, Ella Norwood, Beth Marsch, Alicia Foreman, Sacha Kazic, Emily Smith, Jamie Van Rooyden, Niamh Laker, Abigail Leeves, Abigail Stanton and Quinn Cleary.
Congratulations to Justin Strover who also got a Kent County time in 50m backstroke, with several others very close and with club champs coming up, we expect to see many more! It was encouraging to see more of our younger swimmers being able to enter a Kent County meet. Swimmers really enjoyed themselves and represented the club very well - definitely contenders for noisiest club, great team spirit!!!
Clare
Sergio Catania
Tuesday 12th November 2013
Orpington Ojays SC would like to extend a warm welcome to Sergio Catania who started alongside Richard Smith as joint Head Coach of Orpington Ojays yesterday.
Sergio brings with him a wealth of experience. As a competitive swimmer and former county, regional and national qualifier he understands what motivates and drives swimmers to compete. As an ASA Level 3 coach and former head coach of Black Lion he is well placed to help our swimmers achieve their potential.
Richard as many of you know has coached Platinum and Silver for a number of years and has been instrumental in the training of a number of our high performing swimmers.
Sergio’s and Richard’s combined experience and knowledge of the sport and the club will make them a formidable head coaching team and behalf of all our members we welcome them both into this leadership position and look forward to exciting times ahead.
National Arena League
Sunday 10th November 2013
Well done to all those who swam last night and a big thank you to our coaches, team managers, officials and supporters. We came a respectable 3rd with some great swims and fantastic teamwork. A huge thank you goes out to our older boys, especially those that came back from Uni to swim, in the Mens Open category -the 6x 50m squadron race, the lads came 1st and it was phenomenal to watch!
A DATE FOR THE DIARY!!!!!!!!!!!!
The last round is Saturday December 13th and we want to ensure we field the best team possible, so please keep this date free and the coaches will get the team list up asap.
Welcome Home Team Cyprus
Saturday 2nd November 2013
We look forward to welcoming all our swimmers, coaches and chaperones back tonight. For those of you following the twitter feed below you will see there are some great pictures showing what a fabulous place and facilities our swimmers have enjoyed these last 7 days. The pool is light, open and in great surrounding, our swimmers had the all important early morning and late afternoon sun to keep them warm but most of all they had each other (and no parents!).
A big thank you to camp organisers, especially Chris and Neil who kept everything on track, and to all the other parents who helped with fundraising, hoodies etc - it was a great team effort. And of course our coaches, Matt and Clare and chaperones Steve and Kerry - thank you.
Thank you
Monday 28th October 2013
Martha would like to thank everyone for her memorable send-off on Thursday. She particularly enjoyed the reference to her "pink lipstick!
"Thank you for all your generous gifts, flowers and memorable words in cards, which I will treasure. It's been a pleasure, a delight and an honour to coach you and be part of the Club. Here's to our laughter together and a future filled with happiness and success (swimming and otherwise) for you all. See you on deck somewhere soon!" Best wishes Martha.
They're off to Sunny Cyprus - Camp 2013
Saturday 26th October 2013
A bit of rain didn't dampen the spirits of Top Squad today as they headed off to warm weather training camp in Cyprus. Excitement has been building these last few weeks and their smiles say it all! With two swim sessions a day and land training on top our coaches we will be ensuring that swimmers get the very best out of this camp. As we prepare to batten down the hatches swimmers will have the benefit of 27 degrees all day sunshine plus an on-site 50m pool.
John Carter
Monday 14th October 2013
Very sad to report the death of life member John Carter at the age of 84. John was a founder of the original Orpington Swimming Club and was Kent County President in the 1960's. John left the club after it merged with Orpington Juniors and became Orpington Ojays.
Katie Napier - Jack Petchey Winner
Sunday 13th October 2013
Congratulations to Katie Napier who is a well-deserved winner of this months Jack Petchey Award. If you know someone who trains hard, and puts 100% into the swimming why not nominate them? Forms are available from the helpdesk on Monday or from Gina Cutajar. Nominees must be 11years and over.
2014 Season Starter Open Meet - Medway Park
Tuesday 1st October 2013
Building on the previous week's success at the Super Sunday Open hosted by Erith, Orpington Ojays were out in force at this year's Season Starter Open. Despite injury and illness, over 45 of our swimmers joined hundreds of swimmers from 14 other clubs to battle it out to secure a top six position and a medal. And battle it out they did! With a phenomenal 119 top six places, Orpington Ojays achieved 30 first place positions, 33 second, 18 third, 15th fourth, 13 fifth and 10 6th. They were pipped to the post of Top Club by just a few points by Bromley SC - well done Bromley.
Everyone of our 45 swimmers secured at least one PB. Many achieved their Kent County times including lots of our up and coming young swimmers. A few even picked up a speeding ticket or two for swimming too fast!
It was a well run meet enjoyed by all. Thank you to coaches Richard, Clare and Matt for supporting the swimmers, our Promoter Sandra Miles, officials Karen, Mandy Yvonne and Danielle, Ian, Jo Sandra and Steve for technical support, Sarah C our championship sec, all the time-keepers, pool-side helpers, front of house team and the ops team in the officials room; each and everyone of you contributed to the success of this event.
And finally thank you to the clubs, parent and swimmers for supporting this meet.
Erith ‘Super Sunday’ Sprint Meet
Monday 23rd September 2013
It was certainly a super Sunday for Orpington Ojays swimmers when they converged on Crook Log Pool for the early season Sprint Gala. Countless numbers of PB’s were achieved by all our swimmers and the purple hats were consistently appearing in the top three of all the heats.
In total our swimmers achieved 10 Gold’s, 13 Silver’s & 8 Bronze medals! Congratulations to Edward Pauling (2G & 2S) Clio Bacon (2G) Chris Lee (2G & 1B) Lizzie Bennett (2G, 1S,1B) Oliver Randell (1G & 3S) Tamryn van Selm (1G,1S,1B) Rebecca Shipley (2S & 2B) Lilli Cutajar (1S,1B) Katie Napier (1S) Danielle Shipley (1S) Charlotte Gregory (1S) Alice Bennett (1B) Georgina Baxter-Smith (1B)
Special mention must go to Tamryn van Selm (9 yrs girls) Edward Pauling (9 yrs boys) and Lizzie Bennett (16 yrs + girls) for achieving the top swimmer in their age groups for the fastest accumulated overall time for the four events.
Thank you also to all our supporters who were particularly vocal in the viewing gallery throughout the day, to Richard for organising things on poolside and to Sandra and Karen for officiating all day.
Well done everyone – you did the club proud.
White Horse League Round 3
Sunday 22nd September 2013
After 2 very closely fought rounds and with a first position under our belt, Orpington Ojays travelled to Eltham swimming pool with high hopes of delivering another solid performance. So that we could look at what a National Arena team could like, alongside those with the normal injuries and illnesses (giving us 1 swimmer in one of our age groups) and, having to exclude some of our faster swimmers, a slightly different team was chosen. With over half of our swimmers finishing in top 3 places position - 24 in all, including 7 1st places, we have shown that Orpington Ojays is a force to be reckoned with in our upcoming Arena League. Special mention must go to Ben Strover, Josh Martin and Christopher Lee who had a very busy evening having to swim up an age group so that we could field a team.
Overall we finished 5th this round due to some of our swimmers scoring no points for time penalties - ie swimming too fast!! Without time penalties we would have come comfortably 2nd. Well done everybody. All to play for in the final round next month.
Matt
IAN TICKNER
Saturday 21st September 2013
It is with great sadness that the Club reports the death of one of our vice –presidents, Ian Tickner, after a short illness.
Ian had been a staunch supporter of the club and committee member from the mid eighties until he stood down some four years ago. Twenty five years voluntary service for initially Orpington and then after the merger Orpington Ojays. Most of his involvement was as Treasurer, and despite his friendly disposition he was still tough enough to extract payments from sometimes reluctant payers. His accounting was meticulous, some would say pernickety, when his monthly reports to the Committee were presented correct to the nearest penny. His greatest achievement was undoubtedly keeping the club solvent (and therefore in existence) during some rocky periods when membership was low.
He was very proud that when he finally retired as Treasurer he was able to hand over a healthy set of accounts.
A large bearded man with a foreboding appearance which masked the gentle,friendly , mild mannered person inside the body.
He will be missed by all who knew him. Deepest condolensces to his wife and family.
Billy Makes a Splash in Bath!
Monday 9th September 2013
Billy swam at his first special Olympics in the famous spa town of Bath last week. At a meet with 1,000 entrants Billy really pulled out all the stops in the 100 and 200 free. In the 200 free he regained the dsiso senior European record and won the silver medal. He went on to take silver in the 100 free in 1.11.36 which would have won gold at the last DSISO world championships and ranks him first in this year's world rankings - an impressive start to this year's swim season.
He just missed out on a medal in the 100 IM finishing 4th .
This follows on from a great year in which his won 2 European titles and 2 British titles and puts him top of the DSISO world rankings in the 100 free.
Jackie, Billy's proud mum said, 'He would not have achieved this without Richard and Clare and all the coaching staff at Orpington Ojays and also the kind support from swimmers and parents alike - a big thank you from Billy.
Congratulations Billy we are all very proud of your achievements.
Kent Junior League - Round 2
Monday 9th September 2013
On Saturday 7th September our younger swimmers were in Maidstone for the 2nd round of the KJL, and what a round it was!
For much of the gala Orpington Ojays led on points and were only pushed into 2nd place by a few points by Maidstone
at the end of the evening. Considering most swimmers had only been back to full training for a week it was a fantastic achievement
with many swimmers posting some amazing times so early on in the season. The whole team swam their hearts out, many swimmers had to swim up
an age group and several races were very close with Ojays often beating the completion to the wall to maximise points.
After 2 rounds Orpington Ojays are in 3rd position on points just behind Maidstone and Dover. Still all to play for in the last round which will be in early November.
Well done to all the swimmers who competed, a truly memorable occasion.
Those who competed were:- Evie McDonals, Georgina Baxter-Smith, Tamryn Van Selm, Abigail Leeves, Justin Strover, Callam Baronti, Max Peel, Ed Sellar, Connor Martin Lili Jones, Lilli Cutajar, Rachel Langdown, Ellie Harden, Thomas Wilcox, Nicholas Van Selm, Clio Bacon, Alice Bennett, Anna Cvjetan, Christopher Lee
Max Leeves, Alec Gibson, Rory Gibson, Lily Snell, Chloe Waller, Jess Sellar, Ben Strover, Josh Martin and Samuel Gaster.
Billy Makes a Splash in Bath!
Monday 9th September 2013
Billy swam at his first special Olympics in the famous spa town of Bath last week. At a meet with 1,000 entrants Billy really pulled out all the stops in the 100 and 200 free. In the 200 free he regained the dsiso senior European record and won the silver medal. He went on to take silver in the 100 free in 1.11.36 which would have won gold at the last DSISO world championships and ranks him first in this year's world rankings - an impressive start to this year's swim season.
He just missed out on a medal in the 100 IM finishing 4th .
This follows on from a great year in which his won 2 European titles and 2 British titles and puts him top of the DSISO world rankings in the 100 free.
Jackie, Billy's proud mum said, 'He would not have achieved this without Richard and Clare and all the coaching staff at Orpington Ojays and also the kind support from swimmers and parents alike - a big thank you from Billy.
Congratulations Billy we are all very proud Of your achievements.
Captains' Gala 2013
Sunday 8th September 2013
Well done to team captains: Bennett, Ashley, Sandeman and Gaster for leading your teams today and to Team Bennett for being the overall winners. Tandems, Dragon boats and the Old English backstroke made this a great event to watch and, for those that participated, a great experience and 'the best Captains' Gala ever'. A special well done to our very young swimmer who took part for the very first time and to our more experienced swimmers who demonstrated teamwork, leadership and a sense of fun.
Thank you to our coaches Matt and Clare for organising and giving up your time.
Matt Steere takes 2nd place in the 3k Marlow Open
Thursday 29th August 2013
Over 500 swimmers took to the Thames this weekend for the Marlow Swim. Despite the downpour hundreds of participants competed over distances of 750m, 1500m and 3kms.
Matthew Steere from Masters Squad competed in the gruelling 3km swim. Matt completed the course in a swift 43:02 finishing in second place, just 9 seconds behind the winner. Strangely the Human Race website states that Matt won the event!
Well done Matt on an amazing swim!
Siobhan Curtis, from Masters squad, has completed her 1st Olympic distance triathlon on Sunday 25th. She finished in 3hrs 2mins and 22secs placing her 163rd out of 318, 9th female and 6th in category. Siobhan is obviously very pleased with that, especially as the French officials sent the swimmers round the half iron man swim course and that the weather was foul!
Well done Siobhan!
5k in The Peak District
Tuesday 6th August 2013
After a wet and stormy night in The Peak District, Niki Herbert wondered if the open water event at Combe Reservoir would go ahead. Fortunately just before the start at 10am the cloud started to lift the morning gloom away. With the water temperature at 18 degrees Niki opted to not use a wetsuit. The event was over several distances with 16 swimmers in the 500m, 74 swimmers in the 1.5km and 59 swimmers in the 5km. Niki was in the 5k which was 3 laps of the reservoir and finished in 1:36:14. This placed her 33rd overall, the 12th woman and 4th in her age group. Congratulations Niki!
British Gas National Championships in Sheffield
Monday 5th August 2013
Congratulations to Lily Snell from Top Squad who swam in the Girls 11/14 Years 100m Freestyle. After a nerve wracking start with a ripped hat Lily finished 27th in a time of 1:04.45, almost on her long course PB. Lily said it was incredibly daunting and her nerves were very tense for her first nationals. She hopes to be able to compete in many more in the future.
London Triathlon
Monday 29th July 2013
3 of our swimmers entered the London Triathlon this weekend.
Siobhan Curtis did a PB in both the swim and cycle to finish the Sprint in 1:38:09 placing her 802nd out of 2073 entries (134th female ad 23rd in category).
James Briggs entered his first Olympic Triathlon and finished in 2:40:34 placing him 1814 out of 4558 (96th in category).
Matt Steere swam in an Olympic Relay team which finished in 2:36:31 placing them 86th out of 436 teams.
Congratulations to you all!
Tri and tri again!
Friday 26th July 2013
Since Mandy and Siobhan's successes in the Tonbridge triathlon, Siobhan has gone on to compete in a wet and windy super sprint in June and a fair weather sprint in July, both at Hever. Posting times of 1hr 22min 37 sec (2nd female) and 1hr 32min 15sec (4th female). Well done Siobhan and good luck for London on 27th July.
London ASA Sprints - July 2013
Monday 22nd July 2013
With 22 swimmers representing OOSC at last week’s London ASA BAGcats this was a very successful meet for the club.
Swimmers achieved a total of 32 top eight places with 21 ribbons awarded for 4th – 8th positions and total of 11 medals – six gold, three silver and two bronze – plus over 50pbs – as this was the last event of the season for many of our swimmers it was great to finish on such a high and an excellent reward for all their hard work and dedication over the last few months of training.
Well done to all our swimmers: Callum Baronti, Max Leeves, Ben Strover, Christopher Lee, Josh Martin, Ellie Harden, Lilli Cutajar, Alice Bennett, Katie Napier, Chloe Waller, Isabelle Minter-Paye, Charlotte Gregory, Fay Gibson, Chloe Ashley, Elizabeth Bennett, Holly Baronti, Jessica Page and James May, and to our medalists: Kate Ridley (1) Lily Snell (3), Alexander Sandeman (4) and Joseph Gaster (3).
Congratulations to Lily, Alex and Joseph for also achieving the Top boy/Top girl award in each of their age categories. Well done everyone .
This was the penultimate event of the season and the final event is The Nationals where Lily Snell will be swimming the 100m freestyle.
GOOD LUCK LILY FROM ALL YOUR FRIENDS AT ORPINGTON OJAYS.
Hampton Court Open Water
Monday 22nd July 2013
Congratulations to Siobhan Curtis from Masters Squad for coming 34 out of 84 in her age group at the 2.25 mile Thames River open water swim from Hampton Court on Sunday morning. Siobhan completed the course in 1h:11m:34s. Her overall position was 373 of 844 and she finished as the 99th female out of 292 entrants.
Siohan has said it "was great fun" and that she is"certainly going to do more!"
Unfortunately whilst training for the London Triathlon yesterday evening she was knocked off her bike by a horse box. We wish her a quick recovery from the cuts and bruises and good luck in the triathlon.
Beckenham Development Meet 7th July
Saturday 13th July 2013
The hottest day of the year didn’t seem to bother the Orpington Ojays swimmers at this years Beckenham Development meet. With a turnout of 38 swimmers Orpington Ojays were represented in nearly every event. An excellent team atmosphere combined with a fantastic effort from the swimmers proved to be a very successful day. We had lots of pbs and lots of medals and ribbons achieved. There were 34 top 3 placings all receiving medals and 38 4th,5th and 6th positions all picking up ribbons. Four of our swimmers made it to he Skins.
Well done to all of our competing swimmers: Tamryn Van Selm, Lilli Jones, Abigail Stanton, Elizabeth Marsch, Ellie Harden, Abigail Leeves, Megan Waller, Lilli Cutajar, Rachel Langdown, Ella Norwood, Anna Cvjetan, Emily Smith, Katie Napier, Chloe Waller, Issie Minter-Paye, Kate Ridley, Charlotte Gregory, Ben Strover, Max Peel, George Fisher, Max Leeves, Adam Cvjetan, Chris Lee, Tom Bennett, Samuel Gaster, William Magee-Brown, Ben Langdown, Harry Haynes, Louis Goff, Georgina Baxter-Smith, Alexandra Kazic, Clio Bacon, Amy Chick, Fay Gibson, Nathaniel Lobb, Nicholas Van Selm, Callum Baronti and Alice Howe. A big thank you to coaches Clare and Richard, to all of our officials the club provided to help run the gala and of course the supporters in the gallery.
Junior Swimming League
Thursday 11th July 2013
On Sunday the 30th June our younger swimmers were back for round 3 of the Junior Swimming League (M11) at Crook Log.
Competing against very stiff opposition the children swam extremely well to gain 5th place from 8 clubs. It was a fantastic effort by all who attended and the children enjoyed the excitement of the gala, which proved to be a closely fought contest all the way to the last event.
Well done swimmers, we are very proud of what you have achieved. Sacha Davey, Matilda Barrett, Julie Kinsell, Tamryn Van Selm, Ben Langdown Ed Sellar, Erin Randall, Abigail Stanton, Georgina Baxter-Smith, Ellie Harden, Max Peel, Callum Baronti, Justin Strover, Ryan Mansbridge, Lilli Cutajar, Clio Bacon, Rachel Langdown, Tom Wilcox, Sam Kitchener, Max Leeves, Jess Sellar, Anna Cvjetan, Alice Bennett, Ben Strover, Samuel Gaster and Tom Bennett.
OOSC swimmers selected for London Mini & Youth Gam
Sunday 7th July 2013
Congratulations to Lilli Cutajar, Max Leeves, Alex Sandeman, Lizzie Bennett, Joseph Gaster, Kate Ridley and Fay Gibson for being selected to represent Bromley, and Issie Minter-Paye, Rebecca Shipley and Daniella Shipley selected to represent Bexley, at this week’s London Youth & Mini Games. Bromley finish 2nd and Bexley 8th out of the 32 London boroughs.
Our swimmers swam well with many pbs and were a credit to their boroughs as well as Orpington Ojays.
OOSC swimmers selected for London Mini & Youth Gam
Saturday 6th July 2013
Lilli Cutajar and Max Leeves represented Team Bromley in the London Mini Games at Crystal Palace this week - both did Ojays proud.
Lilli swam the individual 50m Backstroke finishing 12th out of 31 swimmers with a new PB, plus she swam Backstroke in the medley relay with the team finishing 2nd with a silver medal. Max swam Freestyle in the Medley relay finishing in 1st place. It was a great experience for them both to be chosen to swim for the borough and to swim for the first time in a long course pool.
Bromley finished 2nd overall out of 31 London Boroughs.
Good Luck to Ojays swimmers: Alex Sandeman, Rebecca Shipley, Lizzie Bennett, Joseph Gaster, Kate Ridley and Fay Gibson for being selected to represent Bromley, and Issie Minter-Paye and Daniella Shipley selected to represent Bexley, at this this weekend’s London Youth Games.
Double triathlons from Master squad
Saturday 15th June 2013
Congratulations to Gina for completing her first triathlon in a great time of 1 hour and 49.26 minutes. Our Bronze squad coach was 138th overall out of 230, 14th out of 27 in category and 30th of 63 females.
Siobhan Curtis competed in the Hever evening triathlon on the 12th of June as well. She was the 1st woman out of the lake and completed the event in 1 hour 22 minutes finishing 15h overall and the 2nd woman in a very wet super sprint! The bike and run are a shorter distance on the super sprint.
Congratulation ladies and best of luck for your next events!
1st and 2nd places in Windsor Open Water races!
Wednesday 12th June 2013
At 6am last Sunday morning Matt Steer & Niki Herbert from Masters Squad were at The River Thames in Windsor registering to swim! Matt entered the 1.5Km and Niki the 3km in this non age grouped Open Water event.
After a cold & windy safety/route briefing Matt's swam began at 6.45, with Niki's starting at 7.15. Matt led his race from early on and by the half way stage (two large triangular buoys under the motorway bridge) was swimming solo. On the return leg he unfortunately swam into weed and debris before exiting the water and crossing the finish line first in 19.54; over three minutes ahead of the second place swimmer!
Niki was the only non-wetsuit swimmer of the whole event and after tangling arms and legs with other swimmers for the first quarter of the race found herself solo swimming for the remainder and came 2nd in the women's race, 7th overall in 57.08 minutes.
Congratulations to you both on some excellent early morning racing!
Eton Dorney Open Water
Monday 27th May 2013
This bank holiday Monday three swimmers, James Briggs, Matt Steere and Steve Morris competed at the Human Race Open Water event held at Eton Dorney. Matt and Steve competed in the swimming marathon of 10k (300 lengths of The Walnuts) and James Briggs the 1500m event.
James came 28th out of 255 in 24:07, 18th male out of 145 and 2nd of 4 in age group 20-24.
Matt came 12th out of 221 in 2:21:41, 10th male out of 167 and 2nd out of 14 in male age group 25-29.
Steve came 49th out of 221 in 2:43:44, 41st male out of 167 and 7th out of 25 in male age group 40-44.
A fantastic swim from the guys in 15 degrees of choppy waters.
Ojay’s Youngsters Shine in N.J.S.L.
Tuesday 21st May 2013
The team travelled to Braintree for the second round of the National Junior Swimming League on Sunday after a positive third place in round one. Our youngsters were determined to improve but were up against some strong opposition. We performed very consistently as a squad achieving 3 - 1st places, 12 - 2nd places and 18 - 3rd places with many PB’s being recorded. Congratulations to Clio Bacon, Callum Baronti and our boys 10/U Freestyle team who were all winners in their respective races. Overall, Ojays achieved a fantastic 2nd place and congratulations to everyone in the squad for doing the club proud.
Result :
1 - Colchester 354
2 - Orpington Ojays 269
3 - Harlow 233
4 - Dulwich 228
5 - Cheshunt 197
6 - Broomfield Park 192
7 - Southend 159
8 - Dunmow 108
A big thank you to the parents and families for all their valuable vocal support, too our Junior Club captains Shauna and Lewis, to our officials Mandy and Dave, to Steve our Team Manager and last but by no means least to Clare for her fantastic coaching. Well done everyone – bring on round 3 !
Winners - Oliver May Trophy Gala 2013
Monday 13th May 2013
A fantastic team performance from all our swimmers ensured the Oliver-May Trophy came back to Orpington after an exciting gala on Saturday night in Maidstone.
Orpington Ojays achieved no less than 56 top three places and in doing so achieved many PB’s.
The team achieved 25 first places, 12 relay’s plus the following individual successes; Erin Randall, Kate Ridley, Charlotte Gregory, Lizzie Bennett, Fay Gibson, Holly Baronti, Tamryn Van-Selm, Oliver Randall, James May, Callum Baronti, Max Leeves (2) and Christopher Lee. The team would like to thank all the parents for their fantastic support, to Steve and John for being team managers, to our officials Yvonne and Steve and finally to Clare for her great support as coach. Other team members were: Antony Wilson, Chloe Ashley, Lewis Groombridge, Josh Kitchener, Alice Bennett, Rory Gibson, Ben Strover, Lili Jones, James Briggs, Matt Steere,
Max Peel, Justin Strover, Connor Martin, Abigail Leeves, Jamie Van-Rooyan, Sam Kitchener, Anna Cvjetan, Rachel Langdown, Joshua Martin, Katie Napier, Amy Chick.
Final Result:
Orpington 131, Maidstone ‘A’ 145, Dartford 201, Hythe Aqua 269, Larkfield 287, Maidstone ‘B’ 317
Medway Works its Magic
Friday 10th May 2013
With the club's older swimmers at the London Regional Youths, over 30 of the club's younger swimmers headed off to the Black Lion Open Meet at Medway Park for a successful weekend of swimming.
There was something for everyone; whether it was swimming for the club for the first time - welcome Ellie Harden and Chloe Waller, a superb 200 free time of 2.58 from 9yr old Tamryn Van Selm or 90% of our swimmers smashing their pbs - a 10sec pb on the 200 fly for Kate Ridley, we saw superb swimming and smiles all round from everyone. The icing on the cake was a magical 24 medals and a further 27 top six finishes.
Congratulation everyone and well done to our medal winners:
Gold: Katie Napier, Issie Minter Paye (2) Connor Martin, Josh Martin, and Chris Lee.
Silver: Anna Cvetjan, Clio Bacon, Tamryn Van Selm, Charlotte Gregory, Daniella Shipley and Kate Ridley.
Bronze: Jessica Sellar, Louis Goff, Daniella Shipley (2) Katie Napier, Anna Cvetjan, Charlotte Gregory, Christopher Lee (2) Josh Martin, Issie Minter Paye.
Thank you to the support team - Jo Gregory team manager, Yvonne Ridley, Danielle Jacobs and Mandy Baronti for officiating, and coaches Dave and Richard - and of course all the parents in the gallery, a superb team effort, well done everyone!
Finally thank you to Black Lion SC for hosting a well run and enjoyable meet
Tonbrige Triathlon
Friday 10th May 2013
Congratulations to Mandy Baronti and Siobhan Curtis from Masters squad for competing in the Tonbridge Sprint triathlon at Tonbrige school on the Bank Holiday Monday. Mandy completed the 400m swim, 25km bike ride and 5km run in 1 hour 52 mins and Siobhan in 1 hour 33 mins. Well done ladies!
Gina completes 100k run!
Tuesday 7th May 2013
Congratulations to Gina from Masters squad for running 100km of the Cornish Coastal path in 4 days to raise money for CASPA. Gina reports battered ankles, shins, right hip and a sore left knee to go with patchy sun burn and a sand blister! She also says she is very happy to have stayed the course and finished! Well done indeed!
The photo is Gina running through St Ives.
National Junior Arena League - Round 1
Sunday 5th May 2013
Orpington Ojays hosted the first gala in the series on Sunday 28th April at Crook Log. This league is aimed at our younger swimmers with the upper age group being 12 year olds and for many in the 9 year age group swimmers were competing in their first team event for Ojays.
We were competing against 7 other teams : Hatfield, Haringey, Redbridge, Dulwich, Hackney, Colchester and Broomfield Park.
Despite some key swimmers missing the team put in a consistently strong performance achieving 29 top 3 places - that's over 60% of the events! Many first places were achieved including the boys 12/u medley relay, girls 10/u medley relay, girls 10/u freestyle relay, Erin Randall, Callum Baronti (2) and Clio Bacon. All this hard work resulted in OJays finishing in 3rd position - only 4 points behind Hatfield SC in 2nd place.
Thanks to Sarah and the team of parent helpers who ensured that things ran smoothly, to our officials and of course to our coach Richard. Thanks also go to Ben and the Club Captains ( Shauna, Lizzie, and Lewis) for their help team managing poolside and guiding the younger ones through the experience. The team atmosphere from our side of the pool was phenominal and although we didn't win the gala overall, we were definitely the loudest of all the clubs! I hope that our NJSL first-timers enjoyed the event and we look forward to round 2 on 19th May
Holly Baronti - Club Captain
White Horse League – Round 1
Monday 29th April 2013
A great evening’s entertainment and a great start to the WHL.
The first round saw Orpington Ojays secure a well deserved win pipping Sevenoaks SC into second place. From individuals to relays and with a shortage of competitors due to the Easter holidays, swimmers made concerted efforts to turn up, some from other events, training camps and holidays. Many of whom literally finished one event got out and joined the team for the next relay event! It would be wrong to name individual efforts because it was a genuine team effort, with all our swimmers cheering each other on and everyone giving 100%. Orpington Ojays competed admirably against a tough 7Oaks squad, moving from 1st to 2nd and vice versa throughout. With 6 events to go we had dropped back to 2nd place but a concerted set of relays from all age groups with several 1st places, led to the final results being awaited with high anticipation, before 1st place was announced - to OOSC. Jubilation! Big thanks should go Coach Clare and team manager Simon and of course to all the parents who came, supported, cheered and shouted throughout. A highly enjoyable event, very competitive and very close, with a wonderful atmosphere created by all the teams and all the supporters. Well done Ojays, the pressure will be on, so roll on round two!! – We are ready – Come and cheer us on
Wendy Westphel Memorial Trophy
Sunday 24th March 2013
Congratulation to Helen Morris for winning the Wendy Westphel Memorial trophy for taking Orpington Ojays into Open Water competitions. Helen swam her first open water race in The River Thames at Marlow where she came 2nd in her age groups, was 21st out of the women and 98th overall. Helen then followed it up with a very cold swim in The River Thames again in October at Hampton Court.
Super Sunday - Kent County Championships - Week 3
Friday 15th March 2013
Another successful weekend of fantastic results for Orpington Ojays SC. ‘Super Sunday’ produced two more County Champions, a club record broken and, for one of our swimmers, the achievement of a National Time.
24 Orpington Ojays swimmers made the trip to Medway Park to take part in the third week of one of the most important and competitive fixtures in the swimming calendar, The Kent County Championships. Our youngest swimmers this weekend were 9 year olds Connor Martin - experiencing the ‘Kents’ for the first time, and Georgina Baxter Smith. Our most experienced swimmer (with seven County Championships under his belt!) and Club Captain, was James May. To see such achievement across the squads is an excellent demonstration of the enduring talent we have in the upper squads and the emerging talent from the lower squads.
Congratulations to this weeks’ qualifiers: Connor Martin, Charlotte Gregory, Lewis Groombridge, Louis Goff, Jessica Page, Anna Cvetjan, Clio Bacon, Oliver Randall, Joshua Martin, Christopher Lee, Max Leeves, Kate Ridley, Isabelle Minter-Paye, Joseph Gaster, James May, Rebecca Shipley, Alexander Sandeman, Elizabeth Bennett, Holly Andrews, Sam Harvey, Chloe Ashley, Antony Wilson, Holly Baronti, Lily Snell and Daniella Shipley.
Swimmers continued to produce a consistently high number of pbs and secured 18 top ten positions. A further 17 medals were achieved by James May, Christopher Lee, (4) Oliver Randall, Kate Ridley, Daniella Shipley, Lily Snell(3) Louis Goff, Georgina Baxter-Smith, Fay Gibson, Rebecca Shipleyand Joseph Gaster(2).
Last week Christopher Lee achieved the club’s first gold medal in the 50 freestyle; ‘Super Sunday’ saw the making of two more County Champions - Joseph Gaster and Lily Snell.
Joseph secured two gold medals in the 50m free and 50m fly. He is now half a second off his national time. Lily secured a gold medal in the 50m free. She was nudged into second place on the 50 fly by a couple of hundredths of a second. In the 100m freestyle Lily secured a silver medal with a 3 sec pb and a record breaking time of 102.01 and, in doing so reserved her place at the Nationals in July - fantastic news.
Well done to our County Champions - Lily, Christopher and Joseph, and to all our swimmers for a brilliant weekend of swimming – a Mother’s Day to remember!
Our coaches are to be congratulated on their skills in developing and motivating all our swimmers and helping them achieve their goals.
A special mention also to our club captains Holly Baronti, Elizabeth Bennett, Joseph Gaster, James May and Lewis Groombridge for the excellent work you are doing poolside supporting swimmers and coaches.
Kent Count Championships 2013 - Week 2 – 23/24th
Tuesday 5th March 2013
Another successful weekend at the Kents saw 24 of our swimmers battling it out with other local clubs Bromley and Beckenham and from further afield, Canterbury, Dover and Folkestone amongst others.
15 medals in total went to Jessica Page, Sam Harvey (2), Kate Ridley, Joseph Gaster (2) Fay Gibson, Alex Sandeman, Holly Baronti (2), Christopher Lee (2), Rebecca Shipley, Clio Bacon and Georgina Baxter Smith.
Nearly all our swimmers achieved pbs and the following swimmers earned top ten position as well: Charlotte Gregory, Lily Snell, David Johansen, Daniella Shipley, Isabelle Minter-Paye, Holly Baronti, Alex Sandeman, Louis Goff, Lewis Groombridge, Rebecca Shipley, Josh Martin, Kate Ridley, Sam Harvey, Joseph Gaster, Clio Bacon, Fay Gibson, Christopher Lee, Jessica Page and Jake Potter.
Congratulations to Clio Bacon, Josh Martin, Ben Strover on qualifying for your first Kents also, to the clubs' other qualifiers: Antony Wilson, Oliver Randall, Elizabeth Bennett and Jessica Sellar.
Swimming for the first time in the nine year age group our two youngest swimmers Geoegina Baxter Smith and Callum Baronti swam extremely well with Georgina securing a 4th position and Callum pipped to a medal position by 100th of a second! It is good to see our young swimmers taking part in such an important competition and showing off the breadth as well the depth of the club.
Well done everyone, we are very proud of your achievements.
KENT COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS 2013 - 800/1500m round u
Monday 18th February 2013
What better way to start the championships than 3 medals and four pbs with the girls swimming 800m and, representing the boys in the 1500m, Joe Gaster.
Congratulations go to Rebecca Shipley and Joe Gaster for 4th positions, Daniella Shipley 6th who also achieved a very strong 12 second pb, and Lily Snell who knocked a massive 17 seconds of her time and was pipped to a medal position by 0.8 of a second in an extremely competitive 12yrs old category,
Distance swimming in a long course pool is very different to swimming it in a short-course pool, less rest for one thing so our swimmers did amazingly - well done to you all, you have set the benchmark for the forthcoming weeks.
Junior Sprints Challenge 2013
Saturday 16th February 2013
Well done to all our swimmers who swam last weekend at the Orpington Ojays Junior Sprints Challenge at Beckenham Spa, especially those swimming for the first time in a competitive environment. It was a very successful day for both the club and our young swimmers.
Swimming against other local clubs such as Bromley and Beckenham, swimmers Lilli Cutajar, Tamryn Van Selm, Max Leeves, Georgina Baxter-Smith, Jamie Van Rooyan, Abigail Leeves, Callum Baronti, Justin Strover and Edward Pauling amassed 16 highly coveted ‘speeding tickets’. The top honour goes to Callum Baronti who collected four!
A further 26 medals added to this success: GOLD: Ellie Hazell (2), Christopher Lee (2) Joshua Martin, Georgina Baxter-Smith, Clio Bacon.
SILVER: Thomas, Wilcox, Jessica Sellar (2), Anna Cvetjan, Tamryn Van Selm, Josua Martin, Christopher Lee (2), Lilli Cutajar (2), Clio Bacon, Alice Bennett, Sam Kitchener
BRONZE: Anna Cvetjan, Rachel Landown Edward Pauling, Erin Randall, Christopher Lee.
Fielding two teams the day ended on a high with Orpington Ojays dominating the four relay events achieving three 1st postions, four second and one third.
Well done to everyone for swimming and representing your club so well. Full results are available now on the website.
This was a successful event for both the club and swimmers and, apart from a couple of early morning teething problems out of the club’s control (technology and parking!) the event went smoothly. Visiting clubs have thanked us for hosting this event and giving their swimmers an invaluable opportunity to compete in a friendly and supportive environment.
Once again we would like to thank all our officials who without their help we could not host this event, visiting clubs for their support, our amazing coaches for their excellent coaching, Top squad for the professionalism and hard work on the day, and finally parents and swimmers who makes these events all worthwhile.
Junior Sprints
Tuesday 12th February 2013
On behalf of the committee I would like to thank everyone for their hard work on Sunday. The afternoon went really well providing younger swimmers with the opportunity to gain valuable gala experience and also provided a welcome boost for the clubs finances.
Thanks in particular must go to Ian Milne and Steve Bennett for organising the entries, Sarah Cyvetan and Sandra Miles, the officials and helpers. Top Squad- you were fantastic, people commented on your caring nature with the little ones, making their experience more enjoyable. Parents- without you it couldn't have happened.
Thank you all and congratulations also to Yvonne Ridley who passed her J1.
Karen
Kent School Championships - Session 2
Sunday 27th January 2013
Well done to all those that participated in the second session of the Kent Secondary School Championships.
Our swimmers come from across the county - Bickley, Petts Wood, Green Street Green, Orpington and Sevenoaks and therefore Orpington Ojays swimmers have represented many of the local schools in the area such as Bishop Justus, Newstead Wood, Dartford, Bromley High, Bullers Wood, Coombe Bank, The Judd and St Olaves to name a fair few!!
Christopher Lee was chosen to represent his school, The Judd, and swam backstroke and was also part of the medley relay team - the team came 3rd so well done Chris and his school mates for a great swim.
ASA Zonal Meet 2013
Sunday 27th January 2013
It was with pride that Kate Ridley represented Orpington Ojays at the Zonal Meet, K2, Crawley last week-end. Kate had qualified for the 50m Freestyle event and it was great to see the Orpington Ojays purple and black amongst the colours of top clubs such as Guildford City, Millfield and Kelly College to name but a few.
Kate swam a respectable 30.18 for her 50m freestyle event and although not her fastest swim, felt that the experience had been a valuable one in terms of psychological strategy. Areas that were highlighted were pre-race preparation, especially for morning meets and early heats and the importance of dry land work to aid the body’s demands on itself after a night of rest. The speed of the 50m long course race i.e. over in a flash(! – per Kate’s words herself) was also highlighted and the importance of attention to every detail in such a race in order to perform to one’s optimum level. Attention to detail in training is a must and we hope all swimmers will focus on this in the coming few weeks as we prepare for our all important Kent County Championships with a sense of excitement and anticipation.
Well done Kate.
Au Revoir Kat!
Wednesday 23rd January 2013
Katherine Nye has been a member of Orpington Ojays for many years coming through the ranks as a junior swimmer and competing for us at every level. Katherine continued her dedication to the club and became Bronze squad coach earlier last year. After being offered a job in the Alps it was clearly an opportunity not to be missed and regrettable Katherine will be leaving at the end of next week.
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication you have shown to Orpington Ojays over the many years you have been here.
KSSA Secondary School Champions
Sunday 20th January 2013
Congratulations to Amy Chick, Anna Cvetjan, Eliza Prentice, Alice Bennett, Shauna Hancock, Charlotte Gregory, Kate Ridley, Anna Filippelli, Lily Snell and Jessica Sellar all of whom were picked to represented their school in this year’s Kent County Schools’ Championships. Jess and Lily could not swim on the day but the other girls all delivered strong swims with pbs for Eliza, Anna C and Kate. Strong swims from Amy and Kate ensured their school (Newstead Wood) made it to the finals in the freestyle relay. Kate also made the 100 freestyle final achieving a new pb of 1.02.49 and a silver medal.
Well done girls for representing your school and your club so well. Next week it is the turn of the boys and we wish all those swimming good luck and remember, swim fast!