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Day 1 – Camp Coffs

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Not even an 8 hour train trip up the NSW coast could sap the energy of 29 lively Gold and Silver squad swimmers, who bounced onto the platform at Coffs Harbour ready for a week in the sun. With Coach Brandon at the wheel of the Abbotsleigh bus, the team headed to Emerald Beach Holiday Park, a beach-side oasis complete with kangaroos and some very fancy cabins. First up was a surf – “the water is so clear and so warm!!” – followed by a pizza dinner and Team Abb meeting number one. Some very inventive team names and flag designs eventuated : The Majestic Scaly Pigs (Captains – Matt and Morgan;  Callum, Claudia, Erin, Tash, Maddy and Laura), The Other Team Unknown (Captains – Eleanor and Shaun; Kaea, Emily, Megzy, Jade and Loz), Commando Butterflies (Captains -Rani and Lachie; Katie, Dutch, Olivia, Katie Mc and Imy), Best Ever Team – YO (Captains – Rebecca and Harry; Hayley, Keely, Winona, Georgia and Tom). Stay tuned for the competition that follows! First training session at Coffs Harbour War Memorial Olympic Pool Monday 7AM.IMG_2562

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Day Zero – Camp Coffs

Excitement has built for months, and finally Camp Coffs is here – Gold and Silver squads (with coaches Leanne and Brandon) gathered at Abbotsleigh pool for bag and food drop, ready for departure on January 5. Next stop Coffs Harbour! Looking forward to some sun, surf and super swimming…

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Open water success

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On 14th December the NSW State age open water championship held at the Sydney international regatta centre. Abbotsleigh was represented by Courtney ‘Bickers’ Bicknell and Callum Trethowan. The conditions were favourable and the competition fierce. The results for the 5km events were:

Courtney- 1:16.58, a whole minute quicker than she went a month ago. Keep up the solid training and you will get that national qualifying time!

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Callum- 1:05.23, a 3min 30second PB and placed 1st in the 13yrs age group. Callum is our first ever state champion open-water swimmer!!! What a fantastic achievement.

Congratulations to both of our swimmers.
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SMNE Summer Champs Nov 13 Report

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Wow what a meet!

Team Abb won the Div. 2 point score for the first time ever!! Yeehaa!!
We have 3 age Champions – Georgia O’Connor 10 years, Natasha Ramsden 12 years and Katie Strachan 13 years.
Congratulations to Megzy Baldwin who achieved 9 from 9 pb’s and taking off a total of close to 47 secs!! Young Cammy Graham and Sammy Ramsden also achieved 100% Pb’s.
We earned ourselves numerous National, State and Metro times. On this note a huge congrats to Tash Ramsden for her first ever National time.
Our presence around the pool was electrifying and it was so great to see all the kids smiling and chatting and getting on so well.
Our bright yellow shirts are becoming very popular for their fun and fast swimming.
The only thing we never got around to was a team photo but attached is a picture of the happy campers after the 200Fr where we achieved 11 from 11 pb’s in a row! We were pumped poolside at this time.
Thank you to all the parents for giving up their weekend for their kids and extra thank you to those parents that helped out throughout the day (which I think was everybody!).
A massive thank you goes out to Brandon who carried the PB flag with his silver squad!
I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and loved working alongside Brandon and our great swimmers!
Thank you also to Skippy Huegill for inspiring the girls!

PS – if anyone has any other great photo’s please send them to Ben Ramsden or myself.

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N Sydney / Lunar Park day out

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It was a successful day all around. A great history lesson and an appreciation of past swimming greats. Having to train and compete in a salt-water pool with rope and cork lane ropes was a unique experience to say the least. North Sydney Lifeguards still have a shortage of sorbeline cream due to the ”itchies”.
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After the session we sat down to a breakfast fit for kings and queens before heading to Luna Park. Everyone had an amazing time at Luna Park and it certainly made up for all the itchy ailments. Well done to all the kids for their outstanding behaviour on the train, at the pool and at the Park, you represented your club proudly. Special thanks to Nicole Dunlop for all her pre, during and post organisation. Nicole made the day an absolute success with her efficient management skills and lovely demeanour. Thanking you also to Fiona De Salis for helping Nicole with Breakfast and helping to supervise the children at Luna Park. Lastly thanks to Tom Blackett for joining our coaching team and taking on the day in all aspects; train supervising, swim coaching and being a big kid at Luna Park with the bronze boys.
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Welcome Leanne


We were delighted to welcome our next Head Coach, Leanne Speechley, to our last club night of the term. Aquatic Centre Manager Jo Wheatley and Abbotsleigh School Principal Judith Poole introduced Leanne to swimmers and parents before the racing began.