Team Managers’ Report for Nov. 2013- Oct. 2014
The 2013-2014 season saw Ware Swimming Club once again compete in the Arena sponsored National
League, Herts Major League and Herts Peanuts League. Whilst there were individual successes,
collectively the club had a disappointing season and suffered demotions to Major and Peanuts League
Division 3, although discussions are on-going regarding the Peanuts League make up for the 2015 season.
The club also entered several friendly galas: Brock Badger, Goldstone, Isabel, Eric Eady and our own
Christmas Portch Gala. In these there was more success particularly in the Brock gala where Ware
finished a close second to Royston. However the highlight of the year was once again the Ware-Wulfrath
Gala, this year held in Ware, where the club recorded a convincing 203 to 177 victory, winning 26 out of
the 40 events to bring the overall score to 21-19 in Wulfrath’s favour.
The season started with the three National League galas, where following the creation of a premier
division, Ware competed with 22 other teams in Division 2. The first round saw Ware finish 7th out of 7th
but was notable for a new Boys Open Club record (2.45.07) from Charles Sinclair, Rye Grover, Elliott
Benson, Alex Smith, Lewis Elliston, Ant Collier in the 6x50m freestyle relay. Round 2 saw Ware finish 7th
out of 8. These results meant Ware were placed in the ‘bottom’ gala in round 3 and finished 5th out of 7
and 20th out of 23 in the league. This compared to a comparable 13th place finish out of 16 the previous
year. The final gala also saw two more club records go with Charles Sinclair recording a new club best in
the 200m Individual Medley (2.23.74) and Ant Collier, Elliott Benson, Charles Sinclair and Alex Smith
improving the Boys Open 4x50m Medley Relay record to (2.02.90).
December saw Ware hold our annual Christmas gala, this year against Hertford and Hoddesdon. We
once again fielded two teams with team Holly finishing in 2nd place and Team Ivy in 4th. The gala
continues to be a great success for Ware with 61 members taking part, 13 individual and 4 relay race
victories secured and 31 personal best times recorded including a new club record by Beck Grover, in the
100m, U16 backstroke (1.10.48).
The start of 2014 saw Ware compete in the Herts Major League. This year our results of 6 th, 5th and 4th
meant we finished in 11th place out of 12 and means we are demoted to Division 3 for the 2015 season.
Whilst round 3 was a superb effort by all the swimmers, the damage was done in the previous two
rounds when both times Ware swam without their full strength team. As team mangers we would urge
all swimmers to make themselves available when asked to compete for the club as a one place
improvement in either of these galas would have seen us retain our place in division 2. A special
mention does go out to Rye Grover, Charles Sinclair, Emil Berki and Elliott Benson who in round 3 took
the Open boys 4x25m freestyle relay club record down to 50.91 and to Lewis Elliston who in the same
gala in the U16, 100m freestyle swam under 1 minute for the first time to record a new club record
(59.76).
April saw us welcome back our German friends from Wulfrath Swimming Club and complete a
resounding victory. It was a great effort from everyone and gives us great hope if we can get all the
same swimmers, plus a few new younger ones across to Wulfrath next year we will have a great chance
of winning an away leg. Special mention goes to Beck Grover who swam an incredible (1.08.13) in the
U17, 100m backstroke for a new club record.
The summer term saw our younger swimmers compete in Division 2 of the Herts Peanuts League - galas
for 9 to 12 year olds. This year we struggled to field both girls and boys, 9 year old teams and as a result
gave away valuable points in the 4 relay events in all 3 galas. We encourage all parents to continue to
promote the club wherever possible to help us attract new swimmers in this age group. In terms of the
competition our 6th, 6th and 3rd place finishes resulted in an 11th place out of 12 in the League, one place
below our position in 2013. This looked like a demotion to Division 3 for 2015 but following a league re-
organisation now appears we may retain our Division 2 status. A special mention goes out to Joshua
Trapp, Alex Murphy, Matt Lloyd-Jones and Aidan Thorne whose outstanding performance in round 3 in
the U13, 4x25m freestyle relay (1.04.10) was a new club record.
The year closed with the 2014 club championships where once again we saw numerous PB’s together
with one new Championship record from Beck Grover in the U17 100m backstroke (1.09.38). September
was also memorable for Faye Berry who twice broke the Girls’ U14, 50m backstroke record with her
fastest time (35.06) recorded at the Isabel Gala.
In conclusion we would like to thank Head Coach Claire Matthews for all her effort and continued
dedication to the Club, together with Graham Huggett for his help with later sessions and all the older
swimmers who have provided pool side help. Thanks also to Charles, Emma, Rye and Isabelle, the Team
Captains and Vice Captains for all their efforts, and not forgetting the swimmers and their parents/
guardians who make Ware Swimming Club what it is.
Will Osterburg and Julie Brindley