On Saturday night the team boarded the coach to Horsham. With little traffic, our swimmers arrived early and keen to get in the pool. As this was the final round of the league the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement and nervous energy.
With 50 events on the programme and 10 swum we were in 4th place after the first set of relays. The swimmers watching, cheering and working out the points race by race telling each other which teams they had to beat. Race by race the points began to build.
The last set of relays everyone knew what needed to be done. Age by age group we raced with the volume at the pool increasing with each take over. By the last two races, the ladies and mens open 6x50 freestyle, the excitement was intense and the volume incredible.
Both of the races were tight, with positions changing numerous times through out. Our swimmers in both events came through and managed to finish in first place.
It was a great evening with great team spirit and excellent individual swims from our younger swimmers to our masters which resulted in us finishing the evening in 2nd place!
Final results
1st - Croydon - 214 points
2nd - Orpington Ojays - 201 points
3rd - Ashford & East Grinstead - 179 points
5th - Shepway - 168 points
6th - Dover - 108 points
Thanks to all the helpers, coach Damien, parents and swimmers.
Billy makes history at INAS World Champs
Monday 11th December 2017
Massive congratulations to Billy Birchmore who earlier in the month had an outstanding INAS World Championships. Billy started the meet on top form by setting a new World Record during the heats of the 50m Freestyle DS Class in 30.56 seconds. He also made history by being the first ever Great Britain Gold medallist at an INAS Sport Championships, Down syndrome class. He was crowned World Champion in the 200m backstroke in 3:04.21. He took the same title for the 200m, 400m and 1500m Freestyle as well! For the 50 Freestyle and Backstroke Billy won Silver and in the 100m Freestyle he won Bronze.
An amazing set of the results Billy! Simply outstanding.
Billy to compete in the 2017 Inas World Swimming C
Tuesday 28th November 2017
The UK Sports Association for People with Learning Disability (UKSA) and Downs Syndrome Swimming GB (DSS-GB) are pleased to announce their new collaboration resulting in two swimmers being selected to represent Great Britain at the Inas World Swimming Championships in Mexico, 27th November to 4th December 2017.
Preparing for tough competition at one of Inas’s top World events and making their international debut for Great Britain at an Inas Championships are Billy Birchmore (Bickley, Kent), and Mark Holmes (Colchester, Essex). Birchmore and Holmes are members of Orpington Ojays and Colchester Phoenix Clubs respectively.
The GB Team will be led by Keith Holmes, Team Manager (Colchester, Essex), supported by Head Coach, Steve Birchmore (Bickley, Kent).
Tracey McCillen, Chief Executive, UKSA said “It’s been quite a while since Great Britain has entered a GB Team to Inas swimming. I am delighted that we are back and have been able to achieve this through our new partnership with Downs Syndrome Swimming GB. With UKSA and DSS-GB working together, I hope that this is just the beginning of a fruitful relationship for both organisations, but most importantly the athletes.”
“Both Billy and Mark have had incredible success already through International Downs Syndrome pathway, and now there is a chance for them to make their mark on the Inas programme too.”
John Reed, Chairman, DSS-GB said “The new partnership we have created with UKSA is the start of what we hope will be a very exciting time for our swimmers. Since our inception our goal has been to enable our swimmers to compete at the highest possible level. This partnership will extend our swimmers experiences and lead to more DSS-GB success in the pool. Billy and Mark have just returned from a very successful Down Syndrome European Championships and we wish them all the best at this Championships “
Team Manager, Keith Holmes said “Although our team will be quite small on this occasion, the swimmers, thorough this new partnership, will hopefully be leading the way for further DSS-GB swimmers to attend future Inas events”
DSISO World Champion Billy Birchmore said “This is a great opportunity to swim at a world level and will hopefully pave the way for Down Syndrome Swimming getting to the Paralympics”
Great Britain is one of 20 countries competing at the 2017 Inas World Swimming Championships.
Earlier in 2017, Inas introduced two new pilot classes at this Championships, one of which is for swimmers with down syndrome, which has made it possible for this GB Team entry.
The event will take place 27th November to 4th December 2017, in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
This is the first time that UKSA and DSSGB have collaborated to secure an entry at an Inas Championship event. The Great Britain Team is selected by DSSGB and managed in collaboration with UKSA.
Billy Birchmore, current WR holder (DS) 100m, 200m backstroke; 100m Freestyle; 200m IM is in the following events: Backstroke, 200m, 100m and 50m; Freestyle 1500m, 400m, 200m, 100m, 50m Freestyle; Butterfly 100m)
November Jack Petchey Winner
Monday 27th November 2017
Congratulation to Sam Ryan who was nominated for his commitment to swimming. Sam is relatively new to swimming and he is enthusiastic, always trains hard, and is very keen to correct his technique.
October Jack Petchey Winner
Monday 27th November 2017
Congratulations to Ellie Brown who was nominated for her constant hard work and dedication to training. Ellie is listening to all the feedback given and taking it on board.
Kent Junior League
Monday 27th November 2017
Saturday night saw us host the Kent Junior League in Lewisham with a team of young swimmers. This was a great opportunity for our swimmers to gain valuable race experience whilst showing off their skills. Everyone gave it their all and raced brilliantly with many amazing pbs all round! We finished the night in 4th place out of six clubs; a great result! A big thanks to all officials, helpers, coaches and swimmers for attending and assisting the smooth running of the gala!
September Jack Petchey Winner
Monday 27th November 2017
Congratulation to Eve Peel who was nominated for her hard work and enthusiasm she puts into her training, Her hard work has paid off with the visible improvements at competitions.
200m Club Champs
Thursday 16th November 2017
Well done to all our swimmers competing at Club Championships on Sunday. We saw many more swimmers challenging the 200 meters events which is a good indication of improvements as a club and as individuals, achieving pbs as well as Kent consideration and qualifying times.
The next one includes the boys 1500m Freestyle and the girls 400 Individual Medley. Good luck everyone.
Arena League Round Two
Monday 13th November 2017
On Saturday 11th November we travelled to Crawley K2 for the second round of the Arena League. All our swimmers were all in high spirits, racing friends from local clubs and the winter training campers meeting their new friends again from Hastings Seagull. We had some great results and PBs and a special mention to Michael who smashed the minute for the first time on 100m free. Great to see the winter training camp paying dividends again for the second weekend in a row.
Final results placed us 4th which is a two place improvement on last year.
Crawley 245
Hastings 213
South Croydon 163
Orpington Ojays 148
Bromley B 145
Ashford 133
We swam hard, cheered loud and thanks as always to officials, team managers, Sergio, parents and friends.
Winter Regionals
Monday 6th November 2017
Normally a short course competition, this year the two day Winter Regionals was held at the London Aquatic Centre, making it a long course meet.
Just two months into the season this is a tough meet against the best in London.
Clio Bacon, Ellie Harden, Jess Herbert and Ben Strover were in all 4 sessions and they were joined by Callum Baronti, Lilli Cutajar, Anna Cvjetan, Amie Lawrence, Rachel Langdown, Katie Napier and Nam Nguyen all ready to race.
Over the two long days they gave each other advice on swimming and maths GCSE homework, ate snacks, giggled, gave massages, chatted to friends from other clubs, chatted to Michael Jamieson who was there with some swimmers (2012 Olympic Silver 200 Breaststroke winner) and cheered encouragement.
Most races were on or around their personal bests with Jess, Ben, Clio, Callum and Rachel achieving those precious new PB'S. Jess had an incredible meet achieving four PB's and Ben made the 200 back final and achieved 4th in the 1500m. Clio ensured her place in Edinburgh. Callum blasted a very strong 100m breaststroke and Rachel relished her place in the golden lane. When it didn’t go quite as they wanted or expected they all analysed it and moved on, showing great team work.
Thanks goes to Sergio, parents and family members, but most of all to the swimmers who conducted themselves brilliantly in and out of the pool.
Billy is European Champion
Saturday 4th November 2017
Congratulations to Billy Birchmore who recently competed in the DSISO European Championships. Billy was once again on top form and on the first day made the 200m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke finals and won both easily. On the second day, he won the 200m Individual Medley and the 100m Backstroke. Following a well-earned rest day, Billy returned to the pool and once again made the finals in the 50m Freestyle and the 100m Individual Medley and once again won them both. He also won the 200m Backstroke and the 100m Freestyle bring his total number of gold medals to 8. With his two Silver medals adding to his points total, Billy was crowned the European Champion.
An amazing meet Billy, fantastic swimming.
Kent Development Meet
Monday 30th October 2017
Congratulations to all our swimmers who competed at the weekend at the Kent Development Meet at Medway Park. Over two days and four sessions our swimmers put their training into their racing to come away with a fantastic haul of medals and PBs.
In the 10 years age group Thomas Barrett won Gold in the 100m Backstroke, Silver in the 50m Breaststroke and Bronze in the 100m Individual Medley, the 100m Freestyle and the 100m Breastroke. Also in the 10 years age group Emily Serafini won Gold in the 50m Butterfly, the 100m Butterfly and the 50m Freestyle, Silver in the 100m Individual Medley and Bronze in the 100m Freestyle.
In the 11 years age group Sophia O'Neill won Gold in the 200m Breaststroke, the 100m Breaststroke, the 100m Butterfly and the 200m Individual Medley and Silver in the 200m Butterfly. Hugo Tonks, also in the 11 years age group, won Bronze in the 50m Breaststroke.
In the 12 years age group Eve Peel Gold in the 200m Backstroke, the 200m Freestyle and the 100m Individual Medley and won Silver in the 200m Breaststroke. Also in the 12 years age group Ellie Blaney won Gold in the 100m Breaststroke, Niccolo Cavasino won Bronze in the 100m Freestyle and Ellie Brown won Silver in the 100m Freestyle and the 100m Butterfly and Bronze in the 50m Butterfly.
In the 13 years age group Christy Barker won Gold in the 50m Butterfly and Katie Gough won Bronze in the 200m Breaststroke.
In the 14 years age group Milly Whitehead won Gold in the 200m Individual Medley and the 50m Backstroke and Silver in the 100m Backstroke. Max Peel won Gold in the 100m Individual Medley, the 50m Butterfly and the 100m Breaststroke and Silver in the 50m Breaststroke. Radha Gollapudy won Gold in the 50m Butterfly and the 100m Individual Medley. Sheena Akende won Silver in the 100m Individual Medley and Bronze in the 50m Breaststroke.
The girls 10/11 years 200m Freestyle relay team won Silver and the boys 10/11 years 200m Medley relay team won Gold and the 200m Medley Team won Silver. The girls 12/14 years 200m Freestyle relay team won Bronze and the 200m Medley Team won Silver. The mixed 10/11 years 200m Freestyle relay team won Bronze. The mixed 12/14 years 200m Medley relay team won Silver and the 200m Freestyle Team won Gold.
An amazing weekend of swimming!
Barcelona Training Camp
Sunday 29th October 2017
For the October half term, seventeen of our swimmers attended an intense training camp in Calella Barcelona. They stayed in a 4-star hotel which was a two-minute walk away from the 50m 10 lane outdoor pool in the Crol Centre. The Crol Centre is one of the best training facilities in Europe and also includes a fully equipped weights gym and spa. Our swimmers had eleven 2 hour sessions in the pool along with two gym sessions and a spin class. Each swim session was preceded with a 10-15 minute stretch and land-based warm-up which was led by the captains.
Whilst not training the swimmers enjoyed the beach and sea, which was also a two-minute walk away, bowling, crazy golf, standup boarding, a banana boat ride, a quiz, a spa evening, some shopping and a very diverse talent show.
We finished the week with no serious injuries or issues having trained extremely hard and behaved and conducted ourselves at the high standard we all expect. A great camp that they can be proud of. There are numerous photos in the gallery and I'll put some more up later today.
Thank you very much to Karen and all those involved for the last 14 months to plan, coordinate and make this fantastic week possible.
Arena League - Round one
Sunday 15th October 2017
On Saturday night our team headed to Cook Log for the first round of the Arena League. Six tough teams arrived to race hard in what was a very hot pool, especially for the spectators.
The races started with 200IM for our open men and women then lots of individual events sandwiched between age group relays. Our team arrived ready to race, with enthusiasm and determination from our youngest swimmer to our oldest. It was fantastic to welcome new and returning members to the team. It is not often that a coach races and Platinum enjoyed seeing their coach race; that is what being part of a team is all about.
We finished in 5th place which is a one place improvement on last year. The evening ended hot, happy and with no voices, with all the swimmers and spectators screaming support for the exciting last two relays and the traditional Ojays Cheer.
Thanks as always to all the swimmers, parents, coaches, officials and volunteers.
Round two is on 11th November
Gold and Silvers for Tracy
Sunday 8th October 2017
Congratulations to Tracy van Rooyen who was racing at the South East Masters Short Course competition in Guildford this weekend. Tracy won Gold in the 100IM but was beaten into Silver by the current World Champion in the 50 Fly and the 50m and 100m Back.
Great swims and results.
Season Starter
Sunday 8th October 2017
On Sunday 2nd October Orpington Ojays held our annual Open Meet. We had a fantastic turn out in Gillingham from swimmers throughout the club swimming many, many races. The coaches programs were turned green and orange with the amount of highlighter pen used to mark our team. From the start of racing, the personal bests started rolling in and that’s how the day continued. We had swimmer after swimmer getting out of the pool with a big smile.
As the results were processed the jangle of medals and county qualifying times spread through the team. As well as the individual achievements the points were stacking up in the top club competition which we won! Orpington Ojays scored 196 followed by Erith with 129 and then Maidstone and Black Lion both on 115. It was also great to see swimmers from Beachfield, Sevenoaks and a lone member of Bromley.
Thank you to all the swimmers who swam and of course to their friends and family for their support, the committee and volunteers who worked hard to ensure the gala ran smoothly and was another great success and of course the officials who kept an eye on our strokes, turns and recorded those precious times, many of them don’t have children still swimming.
Amanda Raises Over £1000 for Macmillan
Sunday 1st October 2017
Congratulations to Amanda Jackson from Masters Squad who during the last weekend of September swam in the All Out Swim to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Care. Although a sunny day, the swim took place in the unheated Brockwell Lido and Amanda, along with ex-Orpington swimmer Yvette Reader, said it was very cold 2km. The best thing to do in a cold pool of course is to swim fast to generate body heat, which Amanda did and that led her to finish the 2k in 1st place.
Amazing swimming and an amazing total.
Congratulations to Cara Gould and Amie Gould from Silver Squad who competed in the Hever Castle Triathlon at the weekend. Amie finished in a very impressive 5th position, out of 223, in the 8-10 years and Cara finished in 14th, out of 127, in the 11-12 years age group. Amie's race was 100m swim, 4k cycle and 1300m run. She did the swim in 2:08, well under the 5:11 average time, and finished the race in 31:32. Cara's race was a 200m swim, 4k cycle and 1800m run. She did the swim in 5:44 which was also well under the 6:19 average time and finished the race in 35:24.
Well done to you both.
The London Classic Swim Serpentine
Sunday 17th September 2017
Congratulation to Matt and Steve from Masters Squad who swam in the Swim Serpentine 2 mile event at the weekend; one of the three London Classics events. With the temperature at a cold 15C and a land start, so no acclimatisation, the boys raced twice around the London 2012 Olympic course in Hyde Park. Thankfully nice warm hot tubs were laid on for swimmers to warm up afterwards; and as one lady was actually blue coloured in the face, they were a welcome treat.
Matt won his age group from 190 swimmers in 40 minutes 12 seconds. Steve was 2nd in his age group from 278 swimmers in 46 minutes 23 seconds. From the 937 male entries of all ages, Matt was second by just 6 six seconds and Steve was 14th. Steve also caught a Well Done tweet from TeamGB Olympic Silver Medallist and double World Champion Keri-Anne Payne.
On Monday evening our home pool at The Walnuts hosted the annual Captain's Gala. Every swimmer who enters is placed in a team headed by our new Captains. We had Lilli's Leafy Sea Dragons, Langdown's Lobsters, Strover's Stars and Nam's Clams. The races were all non-ASA approved relays with each race featuring all the swimmers. There was the T-Shirt relay which isn't easy swapping the wet T-Shirt between swimmers at the end of each race, the water polo relay among others and ending up with the massive tandem relay at the end with everyone swimming at once. Thanks to our Captain's and Sergio for providing a great night of fun for all.
On Saturday evening, 28 of our best swimmers travelled all the way down to Dover to compete in Round 2 of the Kent Junior League. A great start to the season for our young swimmers who performed really well achieving many personal bests. After a closely fought competition in this very competitive event, Orpington Ojays came 3rd thanks to some excellent swimming which is a fantastic achievement for our younger swimmers who won 12 of the events. The final round is scheduled for November so plenty of time to get some good training in for maximum points.
Thank you to Sergio and Damian for their support and encouragement on poolside and also to the parents and officials who once again made this a great event.
The final points total for Round 2
1 Greenwich 261
2 Dover Life 228
3 Orpington Ojays 202
4 RTW Monson 124.5
5 Co Cant'bury 116.5
6 Shepway SC 10
Two 4ths for the Goulds Sisters in Chantilly
Thursday 31st August 2017
Congratulations to Cara and Amie from Silver Squad who on the Bank Holiday weekend competed in the Chantilly Triathlon in the stunning setting of Château de Chantilly along with over 3000 other athletes.
Amie finished the 8-10 years 100m swim, 4k cycle and 1.3k run in 23:36 completing the swim in 2:33 way ahead of the average 3:46 time.
Cara finished the 11-12 years 200m swim, 4k cycle and 1.8k run in 29:57 completing the swim in 4:32, also way ahead of the average 5:07 time.
Matt Sets a 303 Lengths Training Distance Club Rec
Tuesday 15th August 2017
Whilst not an official record it's such a feat that it deserves mention. On the first session back after the two week training break, Matt Steere swam first with Top Squad and then carried on for his normal Masters training session. Both squads were having a go at the Olympic Set where you swim every pool based event at the Olympics.
800 FS / 400 IM / 200 Fly / 200 BC / 200 BS / 200 FS
400 FS / 200 IM / 100 Fly / 100 BC / 100 BS / 100 FS
66 FS (should be 50 of course)
1500 FS
The 1500m swim (45 lengths) at the end is shoulder aching. The set is 4.566km long so twice through is 9.133km. In order to make this up to 10k Matt put in a bonus 26 lengths (866m) between the sets. Also, as Top Squad start at the deep end and Masters the shallow end he then put in another 100m to get to the other end totalling out his distance at 10.1k. The first time through the Olympic set he completed it in 1 hour 10 minutes. The second time was 1 hour 20 minutes.
A Trio of Races for Billy at The Nationals
Wednesday 9th August 2017
Our third national qualifier was Billy Birchmore who swam three events in the last two days of he championship. First event of the day was the 200m Freestyle. Even though Billy was still recovering from a bug he managed to swim the first half of the race at a good pace but sadly faded in the second half. Under the circumstances though still a good race which brought Billy a 21st place overall. The next event of the day was the 100m fly where after a super first 50 the flu kicked in again. Billy finished the race 14th. After a good nights sleep Billy came back for the last event of the season the following day determined to give it his best. After a well paced race Billy finished 14th and sadly just missed the final by 0.2.
Well done Billy for making us proud again.
Clio sets New Club Record at The Nationals
Sunday 6th August 2017
Congratulations to Clio Bacon from Top Squad who on Thursday swam at the ASA National Championships. Clio qualified for the 50 Freestyle and put in a great time of 27.89 which qualified her 5th fastest for the afternoons final. After some rest Clio was announced to the pool and the audience watching the live stream on the internet along with the other competitors for the final. Clio held her seeded place and finished in 5th place improving on her time in 27.73 which is a new PB and a new club record!
A great swim Clio. We have the videos from the live feed which will be up shortly.
Congratulations to Amie and Cara Gould of Silver Squad who competed in the third and final race of Phoenix Aquathlon series on Friday at Guildford Lido. Amie had to swim 150 metres followed by a 1.5km run and Cara had to swim 200 metres followed by a 2km run. Amie finished 3rd from 26 and Cara also finished 3rd from 11.
Well done girls and good luck for the Chantilly Castle Triathlon in France later this month
Ben races in the 5k at The Nationals
Tuesday 1st August 2017
Congratulations to Ben Strover of Top Squad who on Monday raced in the Open Water Nationals. Ben was in the very long distance race at Rother Valley Country Park in Sheffield. With the water temperature dropping wetsuits were compulsory. The advantage to a wetsuit is you swim faster, the disadvantage is that it rubs the back of the neck, especially on a 5k race.
With swimmers physically very close together open water swimmers are likely to face contact, especially at the hectic start with everyone trying to get on the racing line for the first turn. This race was no different, especially with all swimmers being roughly the same top ability,
Ben finished 14 in age group category and 21st overall in 1 hour and 16.96 seconds. Considering the race was about an hour, six swimmers posted times of 1 hour and 0 minutes and either 14, 15 or 16 seconds . An incredibly close race indeed.
An excellent swim Ben.
Medals and Records at Basildon
Monday 24th July 2017
Congratulations to many of our swimmers who competed in the Basildon long course meet this weekend setting records, winning medals and achieving those all important PBs.
Billy Birchmore was once again on top form at the open. Billy beat European Records in 50m and 200m back, 400m free and a world record in the 200m back!
Ellie Harden won Gold in the 14yrs 100m Backstroke in 1.10:57 beating her own long course club record for the event. Jessica Herbert won Gold in the 13yrs 200m Free, Silver in the 100m and 200m Back and Bronze in the 100m Fly. Clio Bacon won the Gold in the 14yrs 50m Free and Sophia O'Neill won the Bronze in the 11yrs 200m Free.
A wonderful finish to the season.
For a change of scenery at the end of the season Platinum and Top squads headed to Charlton Lido on Friday evening for a one off special training session. The 50m pool is heated to 24 degrees which slightly takes your breath away initially but the swimmers soon warmed up after a few hundred metres. It's a great venue and made a nice change to train outdoors. The pool is open all year round so perhaps a November session.
On Tuesday 1th of July a number of our Jack Petchey swimmers attended the awards evening at The Churchill Theatre in Bromley.
Once again congratulations to Hannah Strover (Sept 16), Lucia Tammaro (Oct 16), Nam Nguven (Nov 16), Rebecca Kearney (Jan 17), Amie Lawrence (Feb 17), Kaci Baverstock (Mar 17), Sophia O'Neill (Apr 17), Abby Leeves (May 17) and Leah Collier (Jun 17).
The Festival of Endurance
Monday 10th July 2017
On Sunday Matt Steere and Steve Morris (Silver Thurs Coach) from Masters Squad competed at the picturesque Hever Castle in the Festival of Endurance. With a menu of events on offer Matt entered the aquathlon and Steve entered the long distance swim.
Matt won his event finishing first overall and therefore first in age group. He completed the 1.9km swim in 24:09 and the 10k run in 45:44. With 3:01 spent in transition Matt's overall time was 1:12:55
Steve finished the 3.8km swim in 55:40 which placed him 2nd overall but winning his age group.
Congratulations to our two open waters swimmers on another weekends great results.
Beachfield Top 40
Monday 10th July 2017
On Saturday 8th July a team of over 40 swimmers entered the Beachfield Open at Medway Park. This event has always been very popular amongst our swimmers who this year once again exceeded expectation. Our swimmers represented our club with around 250 races represented swum. The vibe on poolside was competitive and friendly and we performed fantastically well in and out of the pool making the Club proud.
Congratulations to all swimmers who participated in the event swimming well and achieving numerous huge personal bests along with winning many medals and have of course having a good time. Well done to our stars of the day who achieved Top Swimmer: Thomas Herbert, Thomas Barrett, Noah Sauders, Billy Birchmore and Jessica Herbert.
A great team effort shows in the final scores with our Girls team finishing 3rd overall, Boys came 4th and scores combined achieved a superb 3rd place on the day. Last but not least thank you to all parents, officials and coaches and everyone who helped in making this day extremely enjoyable and successful.
The London Youth games run from November through to July and this final weekend covered every sport imaginable. Athletes are selected in their sports to compete for their borough and the finals are held at Crystal Palace. The whole park and its facilities are packed with young athletes. Whilst not a club event there are a number of our swimmers in action.
On Saturday Sophia O’Neill, Aimee Lawrence, Callum Baronti and Ben Strover were selected for swimming. All swam a freestyle relay, a medley relay, and an individual 50M. All our swimmers swam some very exciting races resulting in some lovely medals. The girls in the morning picked up Gold in the Freestyle relay, Bronze in Medley relay and missing out by one place on their individuals, and Gold in the team event. The boys picked up Bronze for the team, Ben got a Gold for the Medley relay, Silver in Freestyle relay and a Bronze in the individual.
Overall Team results were -
Mini Team - Overall Borough Champions
Girls Sr/Jr - Overall Borough Champions
Male Sr/Jr - 3rd Place Borough
We of course had some happy swimmers in the Borough of Bromley.
On Sunday was the Aquathlon and Zoe White and Justin Strover were selected to compete. The swim was 300m, through to transition and then a 2km run. Both performed amazingly well and are predicted high ranking positions but due to an admin error, half of team Bromley, including Zoe and Justin, had to compete as non scoring athletes, so the exact positions aren't yet known. A great event with a great atmosphere.
Congratulations to all our swimmers on some great swims.
White Horse League
Sunday 2nd July 2017
Congratulations to all our swimmers who competed in the fourth round of the White Horse League on Saturday night. It was a great final round with Orpington Ojays finishing in 4th position and 3rd overall in the league. With many PB’s being achieved the team had an exciting and enjoyable evening. We'll done everyone.
Summer Barbecue
Sunday 2nd July 2017
The sun shined, the barbie was lit, the games were played, the eggs were carefully thrown, congratulations were said and the captains for 2017/18 were announced. Once again a wonderful afternoon was had by all at the annual fun 'n' games event. Congratulations to those who finished the egg throwing competition without be covered in egg, and big thank yous to Michelle O'Neill and our cooks for a great afternoon and to Sandra Gaster for the scones jam and cream.
2017-18 Club Captains
Sunday 2nd July 2017
Congratulations to Lilli Cutajar and Ben Strover who were awarded Captains and to Rachel Langdown and Nam Nguyen who were awarded Vice Captains this afternoon at the Summer Barbeque. Lead on.
Ben Qualifies for The Open Water Nationals
Sunday 2nd July 2017
Congratulations to Ben Strover from Top Squad who on Sunday morning headed to Greenland Dock, the oldest of London's riverside wet docks which is located in Rotherhithe just south of The Thames. Ben was entered in the long distance 5k race which was 10 laps of the course. With a pontoon diving start Ben set off well and completed the 5k in 1 hour 13 minutes and 8 seconds. His swim placed him 3rd in the region and won him a gold Kent County medal. Ben is now off the Sheffield to compete in Open Water Nationals at the end of the month.
Well done Ben on an excellent swim and good luck for Sheffield.
Congratulations to Matt Steere and Steve Morris from Masters who late on Friday night swam in the Tri20 Full Moon 1500m lake race in Reading. With glow sticks glowing and the sun set, 69 swimmers set off into the darkness towards the first buoy which was dimly lit by a few glow sticks. Two laps of the course with the occasional blinding from the safety canoe searchlights saw Matt win the event in 19:22.4 and Steve finish 4th in 22:41.5. Thank fully Steve didn't get lost on the course this year, going for clear goggles instead of his tinted polarised ones.
The Morning After the Night Before
Sunday 2nd July 2017
Following the Friday night swim, our two Masters lads, Matt and Steve were back racing in the 2.8km Boulter to Bray Thames River swim. With the alarm set at 05:00 the race was under way just gone 6am. Matt won the mens open event in 31:49 but sadly with 500m to go was overtaken by an outstanding female swimmer from the junior 15-18 years age group who finished in 31:35. Steve finished 6th overall and 4th in the open age group in 36.31.
Well done boys on both swims.
On Sunday Zoe White from Platinum Squad raced in the Thames Turbo Aquathlon which is a London Region Series event at Hurst Pool and Park. Even though Zoe was out of age this year as she has a November birthday she won the 350m swim and also won the 3500m run to take 1st place in the 15/16 age group category.
Congratulations Zoe on a fantastic win in both the disciplines.
9 Golds at Masters Kent Champs
Monday 26th June 2017
Congratulations to Tracy van Rooyen and Kayleigh Knocker who competed in the Master Kent Championships at Medway Park at the weekend.
Kayleigh swam in four races and won four Golds, likewise Tracy swam in five races and won five Golds. Tracy also broke five records, three were event records for the 50 Fly, 100 IM and 100 Back, and two were Kent records for the 100 IM and 100 Back. Tracy. went into the Championships with the goal of breaking the 100 IM and 100 Back records which she achieved. Her first race was the 50 Fly which she won in 33.32, the Kent record is 33.29 so that is her next target.
Amazing weekend ladies, well done from us all.
Schools Aquathlon
Monday 26th June 2017
Congratulations to Silver Squad sisters Cara and Amie Gould who competed in the Schools Aquathlon near Dorking on Monday 26th June. An annual schools event it the race involves swimming 200m followed by a 2km run. Cara finished 4th in her age group with Amie just behind in 7th out of a field of about 50 year 5 and year 6 girls. Well done to you both.
4th for Steve at Leybourne Aquathon
Friday 23rd June 2017
On Wednesday evening, on the hottest day since '76, Steve Morris from Masters squad raced in the 2nd Aquathon of 3 at Leybourne Lakes. This is a 1500m swim followed by a 5k run. In the heat Steve opted for the wetsuit for speed, but sadly 60 seconds before the start it was announced that all swimmers in wetsuits would incur a two minute penalty. Steve won the wetsuit race but was sadly 11 seconds off catching the non wetsuit leader. Recording a time of 23:27 (including the 2 minute penalty) and 24:11 for the run, Steve finished 4th.
Kent Junior League
Monday 19th June 2017
On Saturday 10th of June we headed to a new pool for our club in Larkfield. This round of Kent Junior League was as exciting as ever for both the swimmers and the parents watching. There were some great swims right from the start of the evening and this continued throughout the rest of the evening with Orpington Ojays bringing in a total of 14 first places! It was great to see all swimmers giving 100% and helping the rather hot coaches and team managers cheer on all the swimmers in their races. Overall through the hard work of all the swimmers, we placed 3rd at the end of the evening and this was celebrated in classic Orpington Ojays style; by deafening everyone on poolside with our team chant! We’ll be looking forward to next round where hopefully we’ll have some more speedy swims and be able to get a few more points! Thank you to all coaches, team managers and parents who as always came along to support our swimmers.
Windsor Olypmic Triathlon
Monday 19th June 2017
Early Sunday morning three of our Masters swimmers raced an Olympic Triathlon at Windsor. The race starts with a 1.5km swim followed by a 40km cycle and finishes with a 10km run.
Steve Morris, shop man and Thursday Silver coach, was first in the water with a 06:32 start. Racing straight into a very low sun Steve won his wave in a time of 21:33, then finished the bike couse in 1:18:32 and the run in 51:09 placing him 41st out of 177 in a total time of 2hrs 40mins 50secs. Pretty good for a first attempt.
Matt Steere and James Briggs started their race an hour later at 07:35. Matt won the swim in 18:40 a full three minutes ahead of anyone else in their age group. He was also the 4th fastest swimmer of the day out of the 2500ish entries. The organisers were so shocked by this that they marked him as DNF assuming he had missed part of the swim course. Luckily Matt was wearing a GPS tracker which proves that swimming club swimmers can be that fast and this was accepted and his official position reinstated. James Briggs finished the swim in 4th place in 23:35. James closed the gap slightly on the bike finishing in 1:14:02 compared to 1:15:03 for Matt but Matt steamed ahead on the run putting in an impressive 44:04 with James finishing in 50:10. Matt finished in 2nd place out of 101 in 2hrs 24mins and 13secs and James finished 23rd in 2hrs 35mins and 28secs.
Congratulations to the chaps for some impressive racing on a very hot weekend.
Leah Collier receives Jack Petchey
Thursday 8th June 2017
Congratulations to Leah Collier from Gold squad for receiving the May Jack Petchey award for dedication to training and her friendly and positive attitude as well as helping to keep moral high and her peers smiling when at galas.
Abby Leeves receives Jack Petchey
Thursday 8th June 2017
Congratulations to Abby Leeves from Platinum squad for receiving the May Jack Petchey award for her commitment to training and always making every effort to do her best in training and of course at competitions.
White Horse League Round 3
Monday 5th June 2017
On Saturday 3rd of June we arrived at a busy Eltham Pool for an exciting night of racing. The team consisted of some of our youngest to our oldest swimmers with members of masters there as well.
This was Round 3 and we started the evening fourth in the league table (out of 8). The night started with our youngest girls winning their relay, which set us up for a fast night. All the team swam to their best, battling hard against their rivals. For part of the night we led field on points, which boosted our determination to a continue at that level. The last set of relays were very exciting and we knew we had to win as many races as we could and, importantly, finish in front of Erith and District who had regained their position at the top of the points table for the night. Some we won some and some we didn't, but with the whole team and parents screaming from poolside and the gallery we raced very hard.
At the end of the day we finished in second place to a strong Erith and District squad and we are looking forward to round 4 in July. Thanks as always to Sergio, Damian, Elena, Julie, swimmers and parents.
Amie wins Double Gold
Tuesday 30th May 2017
The Bank Holiday Weekend was another busy one as swimmers headed to the iconic London Aquatic Centre (LAC). This meet used to be called Last Chance meet as it's the last chance for those swimmers trying to achieve national times to compete - it's always very busy with swimmers from all over the country attending - in fact there was even a team from Dubai there!
Swimmers competing were: Ellie Harden, Callum Baronti, Justin Strover, Honor Kingsley-Smith, Amie Lawrence, Nam Nguyen, Sam Ryan, Noah Saunders and Milly Whitehead. All swam superbly and there were some significant PBs achieved showing that the hard work in training pays off.
Special congratulations to Amie Lawrence who won two gold medals for the 50 fly and the 50 free - well done everyone!
The full results are available under the Competition menu.
Master Tracy smashes the record
Monday 22nd May 2017
Congratulations to Kayleigh and Tracy van Rooyen who competed at the EDSC Masters Meet on Sunday 21st. Kayleigh entered the 50m Back and 50m Freestyle and finished an excellent 2nd in both events. Tracy raced almost every event on the programme. She finished in 1st place in the 200, 100 and 50m Backstroke as well as the 100m IM and finished 2nd in the 50m Fly.
In the 200m Backstroke the Kent record had stood since 2009 but Tracey smashed it yesterday by an incredible 19 seconds! This was her aim for the meet and she absolutely deserves every second of that record. On the 100m back she was just 2/100th of a second off the record and also less than a second off the IM record. She is aiming for those now next time.
Well done ladies!
Tudor League Round 5
Monday 22nd May 2017
On Saturday 20th our team headed to Eltham for round five of the Tudor League. The Tudor league is fast and furious starting and ending with a squadron relay and made up of four set of relays and loads of individual events.
The swimmers were well behaved, cheered as always, and gave their very best which resulted in some great personal best times. The Tudor League once again provided a great evening for our swimmers to enjoy racing whilst picking up valuable experiences and having fun.
We finished 7th with 203 points, congratulations to Dartford District who won this round with 292 points. The Tudor League has speed limits in events so clubs don't enter their fastest swimmers in every event and we lost a few points by picking up five. We had just two disqualifications so more practice back in the training pool.
A great evening for everyone, thank you to our swimmers, coaches and our parents.
For the 20th and 21st of May the competition moved to Crystal Palace. Samantha Jackson swam in the 50m Breaststroke and Fly as well as the 100m Breaststroke and the 200IM. Samantha swam a great PB in the 100 Breaststroke. Callum Baronti also swam over a second PB in the 50 Fly which is superb for such a short event. Jess Herbert swam in the 200 IM and the 400m Freestyle. Jess swam a PB in the 200m Freestyle which got her in the final where she then swam another PB to finish 7th. She also made the final of the 100m Backstroke and finished in a fantastic 3rd place.
Congratulations to our swimmers, great to see you all swimming more personal best times in the big competitions.
March Jack Petchey
Thursday 18th May 2017
Congratulations to Kaci Baverstock from Platinum Squad on being awarded the March Jack Petchey Achievement Award. Kaci was nominated for this commitment to swimming and always making every effort to do his best in training and at competitions,
Well done Kaci.
Race Night
Thursday 18th May 2017
On Sunday evening, over 80 swimmers from Tadpoles through to Chrome squad attended our ever popular Race night. This event was a great opportunity for our younger swimmers to gain experience of swimming in a competitive gala, to get some recognised times, win some medals and most importantly have lots of fun.
The afternoon was very busy with lots of new swimmers and parents in attendance. We managed to finish all the races with time to spare!
Many thanks to the officials, coaches, and parents who volunteered to help at this event, and of course the swimmers for behaving well and giving their best.
Full results are under the Competition menu.
Open Water Season Starter
Thursday 18th May 2017
On Wednesday evening in the pouring rain Matt Steere and Steve Morris, from Masters Squad, headed down to Leybourne Lakes to race in their first open water event of the year in Ocean Lake Triathlon's Aquathon Series. Both our swimmer entered the longer course, a 1.5k swim followed by a 5k run.
Matt was first out of the water with a considerable lead followed by Steve. After a slippery transition, due to the conditions, the guys set out on the puddle covered course which was twice around the lake. Matt won the event with Steve dropping one position during the run and finishing third.
Well done both of you and thanks to Kerry Morris who came down to stand in the rain and support,
On Wednesday evening Billy Birchmore from Top Squad was with paralympic medalist Amy Marren at the London Aquatic Centre collecting their achievement awards from GLL Sports Foundation. Amy supports Downs syndrome swimmers fight to become part of the paralympic movement, these two world champions are a real credit to disability swimming.
The GLL Sport Foundation is an organisation operated by Charitable Social Enterprise GLL to support talented athletes across the UK. The GLL Sport Foundation was born, launched in 2008 with the support of Sally Gunnell OBE who became the Foundation’s Patron. Since its inception the Foundation has provided over 10,600 athlete award bursaries totalling over £6.1 million of support.
(Photo from the Down Syndrome Swimming GB Facebook account)
PB's all round at the Age Group Champs (11, 12, 13
Sunday 14th May 2017
Congratulations to our swimmers racing again at the London Aquatic Centre this weekend. Callum Baronti swam a PB in the 100 Fly, Samantha Jackson swam a PB in the 200m Breaststroke, Ben Langdown swam a PB in the 50 Backstroke and Justin Stover swam a PB in the 200 Backstroke.
Well done to Jess Herbert who made the finals in the 50 and 200 Backstroke finishing 6th and 7th and swam a PB in the 200 Fly and the 400IM.
April Jack Petchey
Tuesday 9th May 2017
Congratulations to Sophia O'Neill on receiving the Jack Petchey Award for April. Sophia was nominated for her continual willingness to train hard in Gold Squad to achieve all her goals. Her investment in training has paid dividends with the results she has recently achieved.
Well done Sophia.
Weekend racing at the Youth Champs (15, 16, 17yrs+
Monday 1st May 2017
The Bank Holiday weekend saw our eight of our older swimmers racing over all three days at the London Aquatic Centre. They were Clio Bacon, Lilli Cutajar, Samuel Gaster, Ellie Harden, William Magee-Brown, Katie Napier, Nam Nguyen and Ben Strover.
From the 28 events entered we had 20 PB's, 11 top ten finishes, 7 finals reached and 1 medal. Ben Strover was off to a great start for the weekend winning the silver medal in the 1500m Freestyle in 17:43.11 and finished the weekend making the 200 Backstroke final and finished 8th. Ellie made two finals finishing 10th in the 100 Backstroke and 9th in the 200. Clio made an impressive four finals over the weekend. She finished 4th in the 50 Freestyle, 5th in the 200 Breaststroke and 6th in the both the 100 Breaststroke and 50 Breaststroke.
All of Ben's swims placed him 6th in the Top Male in age group D(17 and over) and all of Clio's swims placed her 9th in the Top Female age group C(16).
Congratulations to all our swimmers, another great weekend of racing. Full results are under the Competition menu.
Morgan qualifies for European Biathle Championship
Monday 1st May 2017
Congratulations to Morgan Squibb from Platinum squad who was racing at the weekend in Cheltenham at the Sandford Parks Lido for a place on the GB Biathle Team for the European Championships. Morgan qualified in style by winning the event and in doing so has secured her place in Portugal this summer.
On Saturday 22nd April the team headed to Dagenham for the White Horse League. The team arrived early, gathered round and checked out the schedule and got the Ojays tattoos on.
Once ready, we embarrassed our birthday swimmers by standing them on the wall with a balloon each and sang Happy birthday. Daniella 18, Ben 13 and Sophia 11. The announcer later embarrassed them again, which was really nice and they received a big cheer from the gallery.
With the celebrations done, it was down to business. As always the swimmers cheered and supported each other and we had some great swims; some a little too good, breaking the upper limit and therefore giving us no points. Sadly there were a few DQ’s for technical errors which need to be worked on for future competitions.
We finished 4th in this round with the traditional OJAYS CHEER and with two more rounds to go we have everything to swim for.
Thank you as always to everyone who helps and officiates, the swimmers for behaving well and giving their best and of course to the parents for spending their evening driving swimmers around and cheering loudly.
Co-op customer wins the Raffle.
Tuesday 25th April 2017
On Monday the 24th the single winning ticket was drawn on poolside at The Walnuts for the October Swimming Camp fundraiser. With 1,468 tickets sold, the jackpot was a staggering £734. Tickets have been sold by camp swimmers in the preceding weeks and the lucky winner was Mrs Phillips, a member of the public who was kind enough to buy a ticket at the Co-op.
Mrs Phillips was involved with the original club, Orpington Swimming Club, many years ago as her daughter swam. She remembers fondly taking her daughter to training at the same pools we still use, Eltham College, Crystal Palace and of course our home pool The Walnuts. Her Saturday evenings were spent at pools around the region at galas and her daughter swam in the Kents and made the relay team at Nationals. She would like to wish the swimmers a great camp and says a big thank you to the club.
Thank you to all those who bought a ticket and thanks again to the manager Claire Norton for allowing us to sell tickets that day and of course all those who sold tickets.
Multiple wins for Billy at the DSSF European Open.
Thursday 6th April 2017
Congratulations to Billy Birchmore who was in action again over the weekend. Billy competed at the DSSF European Open in Southampton and won an astounding 9 Gold Medals!
British Schools Modern Biathlon Champs
Tuesday 28th March 2017
On Saturday 25th at Crystal Palace, Morgan Squibb, from Platinum squad, competed in the British Schools Modern Biathlon Championship. In order to compete at this event Morgan had to achieve qualifying times from heats held around the country held in the last quarter of 2016.
The Biathlon is a swim followed by a run and for Morgan's age group the distances were 100m and 1600m. Morgan produced fantastic PBs in both disciplines on the day finishing in 2nd place, beating 85 other athletes!
Congratulations Morgan on a great result and for producing the two PBs on the day!
February Jack Petchey
Friday 24th March 2017
Congratulations to Amie Lawrence on receiving the Jack Petchey Achievement Award for February. Amie was nominated for her excellent achievements in the Kent County Championships this year. Her hard work has paid off with the recent results that she has achieved.
February Swimmer of the Month
Wednesday 22nd March 2017
Congratulations to the following swimmers from each squad to be awarded Swimmer of the Month for February,
Sheena Akende - Silver
Lilli Cutajar - Top
Alice Magee-Brown - Bronze
Sam Ryan - Chrome
Morgan Squibb - Platinum
Hannah Strover - Gold
Samyukta Vinod-Kumar - New Bronze
On 4th March 2017 The Kent Development Camp was held at Medway Park. The team was made up from Kent swimmers and 3 were from Orpington Ojays. Congratulations to Leah Collier, Lucy Glossop and Nam Nguyen who were selected based on the points achieved at the Kent Development meet which was held in October 2016.
ASA 11 year-old Development Pathway
Monday 20th March 2017
Congratulations to Rebecca Kearney and Amie Lawrence who have been selected for the ASA 11 year-old Development Pathway camp. The camps are based across Kent with the first camp on 23rd April followed by the July camp in the early part of July and the final one on 29th October.
Tudor League
Monday 20th March 2017
The Tudor League is a new league for the club aimed at swimmers who have not yet been to the Kent championships. We had 3 days notice to get a team together and join the league after another club was unable to attend. Thank you to Lorraine Harden who worked her charm, phoning around and rallying the team.
Our enthusiastic group of young swimmers, many who have not represented the club before, arrived at Eltham pool on Saturday night. The league made us very welcome announcing our arrival to the gallery. The night had a different feel to other galas with two squadron relays, plus four sets of relays, split with individual events.
Our swimmers did themselves proud, some great results, racing with everything they had, cheering each other on. Despite race day nerves and a few goggle malfunctions we finished in 7th place. There are three more galas in the league to be raced.
A great night for our young swimmers was finished with the Ojay’s cheer, the first time for most, but they were as loud as the senior members of the club.
Thank you to all those who ensured a the smooth running of a wonderful evening. The future is bright.
OOJSC and EDSC Charity Gala
Sunday 19th March 2017
As many of you know, for a while now Orpington Ojays and Erith have run a charity gala at some point through the year. Ben and Sam's choice of Cancer Research had the highest votes so all the money raised from the Gala went to it. This gala was also a great chance for our swimmers to achieve new PB's after the continuous amount of training they do. It was a weekend where we saw new swimmers compete for the first time and plenty of new PB's; we hope to see more of this next time.
Orpington Ojays finished second in the medals table behind Romford Town. We had 30 golds, 18 silvers and 17 bronzes.
Thank you to the parents, officials and coaches.
The second weekend of competitions opened with the boys 100 fly with Callum and Billy proudly representing Orpington Ojays. Great performances from both with Callum beating his 50 meter pb in the first half of the race and finishing just off his personal best which is a great result after being off sick for a long time. Welcome back Callum! A great performance also from Billy who paced his 100 perfectly and finished on pb achieving bronze in his category. Afterwards it was time for the girls 200 free where Samantha Jackson, Alice Bennett, Jess Herbert and Daniella Shipley paced their races well swimming and gaining pbs. Congratulations to Jess Herbert who achieved fourth in her age group.
The Saturday afternoon session continued with the girls 100 free. Well done to our girls Sophia O'Neill, Amie Lawrence, Samantha Jackson, Jess Herbert and Daniella Shipley who gave it all in this difficult and popular event achieving pb's in every race. Congratulations also to Amie Lawrence and Sophia O'Neill and Daniella Shipley who had the chance to better their pb's even more finishing 3rd, 7th and 8th respectively in their age group. Finishing the afternoon session was Noah Saunders who swam his first 200 fly long course pacing it well not far off his short course pb.
On the following day there were many more good swims to entertain the crowd. First on the block for 100 breaststroke were Callum Baronti and Michael Phillips improving their 50 and 100 meters best times. Girls 100 backstroke was next with Sophia O'Neill who just missed her final but happy to have improved by 3 seconds on her converted entry time. Samantha Jackson, Anna Cvjetan, Rachel Langdown and Ellie harden swam the same event improving their long course pbs. Great performance for Jess Herbert to finishing with the third fastest time in her age group but unfortunate to get dq at the turn. Massive pb nonetheless!
The last session of the weekend continued with the girls 100 breaststroke with many pbs swum by Rebecca Kearney, Abigail Saunders, Samantha Jackson, Anna Hawkins, Katie Napier and Clio bacon. More to come in the final with Abigail Saunders who had the chance to swim her first final in the 10/11 combined age group finishing 8th and improving her pb once again. Tension built up for Clio in her final who unfortunately despite the great swim was disqualified for a false start. The last event of the weekend saw our boys Nam Nguyen and Ben Strover swimming 200 backstroke improving their long course pb.
A great weekend. Well done everyone.
Round one of the White Horse League
Monday 6th March 2017
Our team of swimmers arrived promptly at Eltham Pool on Saturday night to get prepared and stretch for a gala starts with relays, then some individual events and then finishes with some more relays. Orpington was drawn in lane and we produced a fantastic team effort from some of our youngest swimmers to our more senior ones.
The Swimmers were loud, proud and cheered each and every event. The final relays took the roof off and we all left with no hearing or voices left.
We finished the night with our traditional OJAYS cheer and a THIRD place position. Two more rounds to go and hopefully we can build on that.
Well done Team Ojays
January Swimmers of the Month
Wednesday 22nd February 2017
Congratulations to our swimmers of the month for January.
Top - Nam Nguyen
Platinum - Ella Norwood
Gold - Amie Lawrence
Silver - Abigail Saunders
Chrome - Louis Taylor
Bronze - Abbie Moyes
New Bronze - Safiyah Ismail
January Jack Petchey
Tuesday 21st February 2017
Congratulations to Rebecca Kearney on receiving the Jack Petchey Achievement Award for January. Rebecca was nominated for her excellent achievements in the Kent County Championships this year. Her hard work has paid off with the recent results that she has achieved.
Well done Rebecca
Robbie Renwick and Michael Jamieson Inspire All
Saturday 18th February 2017
On Thursday of half term, Robbie Renwick and Michael Jamieson hosted a swimming session for our swimmers. The session consisted of an hour land training, two hours in the pool and an hour of talk and questions. As expected it was a great success with our swimmers picking up loads of tips and insights into what it takes to achieve dreams on the biggest stage. The boys brought their medals from London 2012 and Rio 2016 with them to show everyone, and it's surprising at just how heavy they are.
A big thank you to the chaps and to Helen for sorting out such an amazing day that will be remembered by all those who attended for a very long time.
(There are more photos still to be uploaded)
The Kent County competitions started on 21st January with the first weekend dedicated to the middle distance events. As per schedule we saw many competitors swimming at Crystal Palace in the 400 freestyle and 400 IM on Saturday and 800 and 1500 freestyle on Sunday.
Orpington Ojays made a good impression from the start with several good swims, pbs and some medals. Well done to our swimmers Samantha Jackson, Katie Napier, Daniella Shipey, Billy Birchmore, Justin Strover, Michael Phillips, William Magee-Brown, Samuel Gaster and Ben Strover for the great effort at these competitions .
Congratulations for the medals in this first weekend to Samantha Jackson 4th in 400 IM and 3rd in 400 free and 6th in 800 free in her age group; Billy Birchmore 2nd in 400 free; Ben Strover 8th in 400 and 5th in 1500 free; Daniella Shipley 8th in 400 and 800 free and Justin Strover 8th in 1500 free.
The Girls Keep Their Cool at the Icebreaker
Friday 3rd February 2017
On Saturday 7th of January the girls were in fine form at the Dover Lifeguard and City of Canterbury Icebreaker.
Abigal Saunders and Samantha Jackson both won their age groups 100m and 200m Breastroke! Abigal also won the 50m Breastroke and the 200IM and Samantha won the 100m Butterfly. In the 200m Freestyle Samantha won her age group and Abigail took 3rd and Samantha also won the 100m Freestyle. Ellie Harden won the 100m Backstroke and in the 200m Backstroke Ellie Harden and Rachel Langdown were 2nd and 3rd in their age group. Ellie and Rachel were also 2nd and 3rd in the 100m Freestyle. Sophia O'Neill won the 50m Backstroke, Ellie Harden was 2nd and Samantha Jackson was 3rd place. Lilli Cutajar was 2nd in the 100 Butterfly. Nam Nguyen was 3rd in the 200m Backstroke and Noah Saunders was 3rd in the 100m Butterfly. William Magee-Brown was 6th in the 100m Backstroke and 200m Freestyle, Ben Langdown was 5th in the 50m Backstroke, Samuel Gaster was 7th in the 100m Freestyle and Lucy Glossop was 7th in the 50m Breastroke.
Congratulations to all our swimmers on a fine days of racing to start 2017; the full results are in the competition section.
Jumping for Gold
Sunday 15th January 2017
Gold squad enjoyed a day at Jump Giants, while wearing their fantastic new Ojay’s Polo tops thanks to Hannah Strover and Lucia Tammaro winning the Jack Petchey award.
The squad (although sadly missing a few who were competing at the Kent Schools gala) jumped, bounced, laughed and tumbled for an hour.
The only problem was the fact our purple club colour along with the Jump Giants socks, were an exact match to the trampoline colour scheme, and that made it very hard to see them in the foam pit!
A fun team building day.
(We have a short video which will be up soon.)
The last competition in the Club Championships is always the most fun, with almost the whole club showing up to compete. For the youngest swimmers, this was their first ever experience of competing and the 25 metre races were a great opportunity to practice their sprinting. For the older swimmers, the battle for sprints champion in each age group was fierce, with many swimmers putting in outstanding performances and achieving great times in order to get those all important points! Last of all was the Skins, in which the 6 fastest boys and girls in the 100m Individual Medley race compete in an elimination style event where the stroke is randomly selected for each round. The Skins is a thrilling event to watch (and exhausting to compete in!), and the boys swimmers coming onto poolside in their onesies certainly made it that bit more entertaining! Congratulations goes to the winners Clio Bacon and Ben Strover, who fought off the competition in a very close final round. Thank you to all the parents and swimmers for being such great supporters of those racing, even if the cheering was slightly deafening at some points! Thank you also to the officials, coaches, marshals and helpers who as always allowed the competition to run smoothly. We hope to see all of you at presentation evening on the 25th February to receive your awards for Club Championships!
Vicky is top 5 in the UK for 2016
Tuesday 10th January 2017
Massive congratulations to coach Vicky Panagiotidou who finished top 5 in the ASA Aquatics Teacher of the Year award for 2016.
For those that don't know Vicky, she has competed at an international level for Greece and at the height of her swimming career was the Greek National 200m Breaststroke Champion - 3 years running! She narrowly missed the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 because she missed the start of the selection procedure as she had taken up residence in the UK to start her first degree. At that time she was the No. 1 Breaststroker in her event for the country but because of procedural oversights, Greece finished up taking their No. 3 ranked swimmer to the Olympics.