Rio Olympian Matt Abood was guest of honour at our Annual Awards recently. His story of ‘almost making it’ for many years until he made it to Rio aged 30, captivated the audience. Continue reading “Abood at Annual Awards”
Abood at Annual Awards
Swimmer of the Month and Swimmer of NSW State Open & Age Meets
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.
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!
State Team Selection for Shaun & Tash!
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!
State Team Selection
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!
Abbotsleigh Meet 31st July 2016
Thanks so much for coming! More photos to follow soon.
Results by Event on a page (HTML)
Results by Event (PDF)
Results by Swimmer (PDF)
Meet Records Broken (PDF)
TM Results File (zip download)
Winter Metro Coaches Report
METRO CHAMPIONSHIPS
July 15-17, 2016
30 swimmers attended the Metro Championships last week. All swimmers applied their best skills throughout the competition. Our new Assistant Coach, Cameron Gledhill, was impressed throughout the weekend with the high level of skill and the resilience our swimmers showed in all races, distances and strokes.
It is very pleasing to see swimmers focus on their underwater swimming throughout the race. Short Course swimming is great for conditioning this, but it takes concentration in training and then during the race. Our Abb Team did a great job of executing this.
Congratulations to our 6 medallists:
Tane Bidois – Gold 100 back; Gold 100 free;
Samantha Cox – Silver 100 back;
Claudia Fydler – Bronze 100 back;
Holly Nelson – Bronze 200 back; Bronze 100 free;
Emily Ong – Bronze 100 fly;
Becca St Vincent – Silver 100 free
Coaches look forward to building towards Abb Invitational, Club nights, NSW Age and Open SC Championships. I can see our improvement from SMNE Championships and I look forward to watching our swimmers extended themselves in the 6 weeks.
Happy Swimming
Amanda Isaac
Head Coach
Abbotsleigh at Oceania – Tash Ramsden
Bare chested men in grass skirts parading onto the pool deck for a medal presentation? Clearly we weren’t at Sopac! Bula from Damodar National Aquatic Centre in Suva, Fiji and the 11th Oceania Championships.
Australia’s 20 strong swimming team, including Abbotsleigh’s Natasha (Tash) Ramsden, was competing against the Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, Hawaii, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga.
Australian Team Leader and dual Olympian Martin Roberts explained that “this event was an outstanding opportunity for our young pool and open water athletes to develop their international performance skills”. Competition was particularly fierce because several athletes from other nations were preparing for the Rio Olympics.
Australia won a total of 50 medals, and finished up runners up to New Zealand. Natasha swam 50m fly, 50m and 100m freestyle, and several relays. She returned with 2 gold and 3 silver medals including a new Oceania record in the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay team.
“What an honour”, posted Tash, “Thank you Fiji for hosting such a welcoming and successful meet – it was such a privilege being able to represent Australia and meet new international friends along the way”.
Term Three Abbotsleigh Swim Meets
Hi Team – Here are the meets that will be held at Abbotsleigh for Term 3. We look forward to seeing you on the blocks and thanking our parent volunteers in advance for their ongoing support at these events.
Abbotsleigh Invitational: Sunday 31st July; Official Timing at this meet
Abbotsleigh Meet: Thursday 4th Aug; Non official meet-run by Black & Gold squads
Club Night: Thursday 11th Aug; Official Timing at this meet
Club Night: Thursday 15th Sept; Official Timing at this meet
If you are unsure of what evens to enter – please speak to your coaches
New Assistant Coach Announced
Here is the news you have been waiting for. Introducing Cameron Gledhill as Abbotsleigh Assistant Coach. Cameron will commence his role on Monday 11th July.
Cameron started coaching in 2011 and is a Silver license coach since 2011. He has coached in both the USA and Australia, at all levels from development level up to the Australian team coaching staff. He started swimming in Canberra in 1998, top 10 at age Nationals in 100, 200 breast and 200 IM, moved to the USA and swam for Curl Burke Swim Club. Cameron won State Championships in 100 breast and 200 free, was awarded a scholarship to Virginia Tech University, achieved a bronze medal at US National Championships in the 50 breast and was named 4 time all American. Cameron will move from Canberra to join us.
Coaches that Cam had whilst he was a swimmer had some of the most profound influences on who he is today. He believes that coaching, although results and performance based, has an even more important role in the development of better people. Assisting athletes through their development, allowing them the opportunity to set goals, learn about work ethic, he believes, is one of the most fulfilling things anyone can do.
Cameron has a keen interest in everything rugby. He has spent the last few years in the army and has probably fired more rocket launchers than your average person.
We look forward to seeing Cameron on pool deck on 11th July!