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Welcome to Adam Gillespie – Strength & Conditioning Coach

Adam Gillespie is our new Strength & Conditioning Coach and will start at Abbotsleigh on 10th October.

Here is information about Adam…

Adam has been a strength and conditioning coach for 6 years now working with a number of different sports and teams from the Manly Marlins rugby club to the National Rugby League referees association.

Adam has spent the last 3 years working as the head of strength and conditioning at Trinity Grammar School working with a multitude of sports from swimming, rugby, football and more. He has completed a bachelor’s degree in sports science and is currently completing his master’s degree in exercise science majoring in strength and conditioning. He is also a level 2 Australian strength and conditioning qualified coach and has a number of other qualifications.

We are very fortunate to have Adam on board and Adam is excited to work with our program, full of talented swimmers.

Adam will lead our dry land program and will be assisted on Tuesday and Thursdays by Tonu Liiband. Tonu is an aspiring S&C coach with a background in high performance coming from a professional career in football and has been personal training now for a number of years. I look forward to seeing the improvement in this area in our program.

Get ready for some ripped ABBS!!!!!

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Swimmer of the Month and Swimmer of NSW State Open & Age Meets

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Swimmer of the Month August – Abbey Williamson

Congratulations to Swimmer of the month for August, 2016 – Abbey Williamson. Abbey has showed a commitment to training and learning that has resulted in some fast swimming. Abbey has applied herself to training and working hard every time she is in the water.

We look forward to seeing this attitude continue into the long course season and the great swimming that will follow.

NSW State Age Short Course Championship Swimmer of the meet – Thomas Peregrina

Congratulations to our swimmer of the meet from NSW Age SC State Champs Thomas Peregrina. Throughout the meet he was constantly a positive influence on the team. With his performances in the pool, applying the skills and races strategies that he has been working on in training and in support of his team mates. This came in the form of always cheering on follow team members, providing sage advice to younger swimmers on their racing and preparation and then stepping up for some fast swimming for the team in relays.

Congratulations Tom on a very successful meet and being a true example of what it means to be part of Team ABB.

NSW Open Championships – Swimmer of the meet – Natasha Ramsden

Natasha Ramsden made progress in the competitive racing environment at Open SC Championships. Natasha won the 50m Freestyle at the meet. At this level it is important to get your hand on the wall first. To do this you need to rely on your skills and execute these skills under the pressure of racing.
Natasha was able to do this better than she executed her skills at Age SC. Well done Tash for making improvements to your race and producing them to assist you to victory. Great racing. Well done!

The swimmer of the month will receive an Aqua Shop voucher.

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School Sport Australia Swimming Championships

Good luck to 3 Abbotsleigh swimmers who will compete in Darwin at the School Sport Australia Swimming Championships; Charles Marais, Georgia Peregrina and Becca St. Vincent

The event will be a great opportunity for our swimmers to test themselves in a different environment and experience a different way of life.

I look forward to hearing about the experience and what our swimmers learn about swimming, themselves and life in the Northern Territory.

Happy and Fast Swimming!

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State Team Selection for Shaun & Tash!

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Congratulations Shaun Champion and Natasha Ramsden for their selection on State Teams to compete in Canberra in a couple of weeks.

Shaun and Natasha gained selection with their performances at NSW Age Short Course Championships last weekend.

Shaun won the 100m Butterfly and Natasha was victorious in the 50m and 100m Freestyle and 100m Butterfly.

Amanda Isaac has been selected a team coach and will travel to Canberra also.

Congratulations Shaun, Natasha and Amanda! Go Team Abb!

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State Open SC Summary

Congratulations to our 20 athletes who represented Abbotsleigh at the Open Championships.

It was great to see all swimmers engage in the Open competition. Abbotsleigh have a lot to offer this level of competition. I believe everyone is an Open swimmer, there just happens to be events that declare a 14 year old champion, for example.

I enjoyed watching you take on each race with intent to improve things that you acknowledged from Age Championships. It was very impressive to see this from the group. The scoreboard doesn’t show everything, whilst it is important, it’s not the only reference of a good race. Abbotsleigh swimmers where challenging their skills, underwater swimming, turns and starts better than they had at Age Championships. Well done to all who made adjustments to the way they raced. We continue to show strong race skills and willingness to use these skills under pressure.

You bring excitement to each race and it is very enjoyable to watch.

Special mention to Natasha Ramsden who is the State Champion in 50m Freestyle and to Matt Kelly for making progress at this level of competition.

1 Gold
2 Silver
2 Bronze

Congratulations to our Medal winners:

Natasha Ramsden
Gold 50 Freestyle
Silver 100 Freestyle
Bronze 100 Individual Medley

Matt Kelly
Silver 200 Backstroke

Relay Medal winners:
Bronze 4×50 Mixed Freestyle relay (Matt Kelly, Harry Trethowan, Emily Ong, Natasha Ramsden)

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State Team Selection

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Congratulations Shaun Champion and Natasha Ramsden for their selection on State Teams to compete in Canberra in a couple of weeks.

Shaun and Natasha gained selection with their performances at NSW Age Short Course Championships last weekend.

Shaun won the 100m Butterfly and Natasha was victorious in the 50m and 100m Freestyle and 100m Butterfly.

Amanda Isaac has been selected a team coach and will travel to Canberra also.

Congratulations Shaun, Natasha and Amanda! Go Team Abb!

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State Age Summary

2016 NSW AGE SC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Congratulations to our 35 athletes who represented Abbotsleigh over the weekend.
Our swimmers competed strongly throughout the 3 day meet. It was great to watch the courage Abbotsleigh swimmers were willing to show in the pressure of competition. The execution of race skills was entertaining in every race. Well done to our team for pushing themselves to be better.

Cam and I would like to complement Team ABB for the support of each other. Whether it was funky socks or cheering or words of encouragement, you all made positive contributions to the Team.

What a fun weekend. A great team to be a part of.

8 Gold
6 Silver
2 Bronze

Congratulations to our Individual medal winners:

Natasha Ramsden
Gold 15yr 100 Butterfly
Gold 15yr 50 Freestyle
Gold 15yr 100 Freestyle

Shaun Champion
Gold 16yr 100 Butterfly
Silver 16yr 200 Butterfly

Cameron Graham
Gold 10/u 100 Breaststroke
Silver 10/u 50 Breaststroke

Holly Nelson
Gold 13yr 50 Freestyle
Silver 13yr 200 Backstroke

Georgia Peregrina
Silver 14yr 100 Butterfly

Tom Peregrina
Silver 17-18 200 Individual Medley

Annabelle Druce
Bronze 17-18 200 Backstroke

Jaimey Yeats
Bronze 17-18 100 Backstroke

Relay Medal winners
Gold 15/u 4×50 Freestyle relay (Natasha Ramsden, Holly Nelson, Keely Allsop, Arizona Staley)
Gold 18/u 4×50 Freestyle relay (Natasha Ramsden, Amy Nelson, Jaimey Yeats, Jacqui Feurtado)
Silver 15/u 4×50 Medley relay (Arizona Staley, Sophie de Salis, Georgia Peregrina, Natasha Ramsden)

Well done Abbotsleigh – 5th place club in NSW!

Looking forward to Camp ABB and Noosa……

Amanda XOXO

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Message from Coach Amanda

What a great day for Swimming on Day 1 of the Olympics.

All Abbotsleigh swimmers will get their chance to compete this week at Club night on Thursday.
Bring your motivation and inspiration as we watch the best in the world show their talent in Rio.
All Gold, Black, White and Junior Challenge swimmers are expected to compete at Club night this Thursday.
This is a last chance qualifying for NSW Age Championships, it is a great opportunity to practice your main events in preparation for State Age in 3 weeks time and it is also a great chance to test your skills in a competitive environment.

Cam and I look forward to seeing your Abb spirit shine in the pool on Thursday.

Go Aussies! Go Abb!

Amanda Isaac
Head Swimming Coach

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The Return of the Golden Flipper

The Return of the Golden Flipper

Congratulations to our Junior swimmers who competed at the Abbotsleigh 12/u Development Meet on Sunday. Abbotsleigh swimmers showed their racing skills and competitiveness throughout the day. It was great to be part of the day, watching the competition and seeing so many smiling faces amongst our swimmers, our volunteers and the broader swimming community.
Thank you to all members who made the day successful. An event like this takes a lot of organisation and assistance, and with everyone playing a role on the day and in the lead up, we delivered an outstanding meet. Well done.

The highlight was definitely the Return of the Golden Flipper. Thank you to Kiera Smith, Marcus Walsh, Cammy Graham, Tane Bidois, Sammy Ramsden and our anchor man Coach Cam, who represented the Club with spirit. It was a great way to finish a fun day, with positive atmosphere, great cheering and a great race.

Abbotsleigh Swimming Club is a great Club to be part of.

Happy Swimming

Amanda Isaac