Category: News

Congratulations to Shaun Champion and Holly Nelson for representing Team ABB at Trials in Adelaide. Holly brought her racing intent and energy to the meet, completing in for 50 Butterfly and 50 Freestyle finals. In both races she improved her heat swim time and finished 4^th on 50 Butterfly in 27.68 and 5^th in the 50 Freestyle in 25.94. You can imagine at this level your skills and race execution is paramount and Holly exhibited this in all her swims. It was great to see her dare greatly.

Shaun’s positive mindset shone through at the meet, dealing with a stomach virus in the lead up to the event and being able to stay present and step by step approach each challenge. No doubt Shaun was disappointed he wasn’t able to show up at the meet feeling 100% yet he never shyed away from bringing his best performance. Shaun placed 7^th in the 100 Butterfly, in 52.67,which was a remarkable feat and a credit to his inner strength, his resilience and discipline to stay present and be race ready regardless of his situation.

Shaun’s performance gained his selection on the Australia A team to compete in the USA in July. Amanda was also selected as part of the coaching Team. Congratulations to our Team ABB swimmers and Head Coach Amanda.

On the 19th of May, Abbotsleigh swimming club organized a Race League for our swimmers. The purpose was to have a fun moment of racing where we had two teams with a mix of white squad, black squad and gold squad swimmers across the 2 teams. Everyone had a great time and we could see the companionships and team spirit that runs across all our levels of squads. This is something both teams were excited and looking forward and this was the event that opened up our short course season.

It is great to see all our swimmers getting together and no matter what there see each other has equals having fun and upholding great values.

On the 10th of May 2022, it was the conclusion of our Annual easter bunny coloring competition where swimmers had the opportunity to explore their coloring talents.

Off course that once again the team did not disappoint and amazing works of art where in display. This made the decision for a winner very hard to do however Emily Lin was our coloring competition winner, not only she did amazing coloring but she also went the extra mile and took time to make something different with her work.

This Bunny competition is a great activity that allows our swimmers to explore their imagination and creativity. It is great to see that everyone is comfortable in exploring their other talents besides swimming.

Age Nationals in Adelaide welcomed our Abbotsleigh team on the 11^th of April to the 19^th of April.

Audrey Jackson, Claudia Liu and Leisel Tan were for the first time swimming at a National competition, they were ready, committed and looking forward to fly down to Adelaide and represent our colours in the best way possible.

Jasmin Foster and Jensen Goodchild having their second national experience showed their composure and were able to not only perform in their events but also use their experience to guide and share their knowledge with our newcomers.

Jensen Goodchild open up the meet for the Abbotsleigh team with the 200IM event, where amongst 67 swimmers he placed 28^th with a great PB. A couple of days later It was Jazzy’s and Leisel’s turn to shine in the 50Fs, both of the girls showed resilience and fire when they got on the blocks and both of them open their National campaign with an amazing swim. Unfortunately Audrey Jackson could not fly to the meet due to Covid-19 restrictions but she is looking forward for next year.

After all the freestyle it was time for Leisel Tan to get herself into backstroke mode and bring and challenge herself across an amazing level of swimmers. Leisel applied herself and had the opportunity to make her first National final. Upholding our values, Leisel was prepared to swim her heat in the morning and back it up to swim the final at night getting an amazing result of 7^th overall. Towards the end of the meet Claudia Liu joined the team for her 50Bs, where she jumped on the blocks committed to do well and believing in her stroke and with a PB she was able to get an amazing 28^th place out 42 swimmers.

This was a great experience for everyone and all swimmers and coaches got a range of knowledge and learnings that they will not only apply at training but will also have the opportunity to share it with their teammates.

March 26 and 27 where the dates chosen for the Junior state age, our athletes suited up and got once again ready to race against the best juniors in the State of NSW.

We had 9 of our swimmers representing the black and gold colours and together as a team they brough the best of their abilities. It was a great performance from everyone, and the coaches could not be happier with the resilience shown. 

A special mention to Joel Pagano, Alicia Chug and Izabella Zhao on their first state attendance.

Pymble ladies’ college was the place chosen for the KPSC invitational meet. On the 27^th of February our 13 and under swimmers got together with their best energy and drove off to an amazing meet with the right mindset.

All swimmers were ready to race with race skills and fire under their skin to race and show what they have got.

The score board was not the only outcome, and the swimmers were prepared to get feedback and be aware of what they did well and where they can get better. It is great to see our value Kaizen – continuous improvement where the athletes understand that it is about knowing and discover where and how they can improve themselves.

On the 17^th and 20^th of January, the Abbotsleigh Swim Club held at the Abbotsleigh Aquatic Centre the Annual ABB camp where all swimmers get the opportunity to improve their technique, skills and confidence when racing with the intent to help them ready for their school carnivals.

Abbotsleigh had 46 swimmers participating in this Abb Camp, and the already Abbotsleigh members were represented in their best way while holding their Team Abb Values.

Besides the great energy felt by everyone, it was great to see the new swimmers getting together and improving day by day.

In a fun and exciting environment the coaches were able to drive the energy and at the same time keep the swimmers focused on what they needed to do in order to be able to execute an efficient race plan with great skills and technique.

We would like to congratulate Team Abb for such a fantastic swim meet on the 6th of February 2022 at the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre (SOPAC) for the SMNE 13u Speedo Sprints.

It was time for our 13 years and under swimmers to challenge themselves. Abbotsleigh had 26 swimmers participating in this meet and each swimmer was keen to carry their energy from Camp ABB to the racing stage.

Our swimmers showed excellent team spirit, supporting each other, and cheering for each other during the races.

Results wise, Abbotsleigh came home with 39 top 10’s. Out of those:

1 swim – 1^st place

4 swims – 2^nd place

1 swim – 3^rd place

Well done to everyone and a special mention to Tinglan Chen, Alice Liu and Marcus Primdal that went through to the finals of the speedo sprints.

GO ABBOTSLEIGH!!

NSW senior state age was the first major meet after the 2021 lockdown. We had 7 swimmers competing in their individual events with 3 swimmers participating at this level for the first time. This meet is on the calendar to mirror the Australian Age Championships program of a 6 day event and provide swimmers (and parents and coaches) with the experience of heats and finals for each race.

It was important for all swimmers to be focused on their process and be able to do and execute their plans under the shiny lights of Sydney Olympic Park and race against the best senior swimmers in the state. Our sense of community was visible on deck as our experienced swimmers and less experienced swimmers encouraging each other and taking an interest on how each Team Abb member performed.

We had 12 performances make a final with Jensen and Leisel Tan making their first final at this level. They both bought their best to their finals.

Congratulations to our medal winners:

Gold – Shaun Champion 100 butterfly; Leisel Tan 50 backstroke

Bronze – Holly Nelson 100 freestyle and 50 freestyle

We also want to highlight the performance of our relay teams and thank you all the athletes that got selected and were able to join us in these exciting races.

A special mention to our 12-16 4×50 medley relay the girls where they were able to get a 5 second PB overall, moving our ranking from 39^th to 22^nd, this result once again show the commitment of our athletes to their teammates.

After 6 days of racing there was still smiles in everyone’s faces and also lots of learning, it was a great meet and we cannot wait for next year.

GO ABBOTSLEIGH!!

On the 5^th and 6^th of January the Abbotsleigh swim team went to Sydney Olympic Park aquatic centre for the 2021/22 SMNE LC summer Championships.

Abbotsleigh had a total of 21 swimmers participating on this meet and representing in their best way the team colours. Beside the great energy felt from everyone it was great to see the team getting together and execute the competition routines that we so much prepare in our training sessions. It is great to see that everyone knows what is expected and what they need to focus on independently of where they are.  In the pool the swimmers showed their resilience.

After 6 months away from the pool and competitions it was good to be able to see the athletes race again and do what they do best and what they love.

Results wise, Abbotsleigh came home with 61 top 10’s. Out of those:

6 swims – 1st place 9 swims – 2^nd place 4 swims – 3^rd place.

In the ranking and out of 12 teams that attended the meet, Abbotsleigh swim club ranked 5^th for the girls and 8^th for the boys with an overall result of 6th

A good result to where we are in the season and considering how long the athletes have been without swimming, this shows that our foundations have been done well and swimmers are being efficient with their stroke and skills.

Well done to everyone and bring on 2022.

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