Swimming
Town club celebrates its finest ever year

Buy photos » The RSC squad is pictured at the last squad training session held at Hewell Road. Boys club captain Paul Wilkes is pictured furthest left and to his left at the rear is Olympic swimmer and former Redditch member Jamie Salter, who won the 1997 European title in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay, with girls club captain Laura Cranshaw in front of him. (s)

REDDITCH Swimming Club enjoyed its finest ever year in 2011 as club members did themselves proud at numerous events up and down the country.

Highlights include being the second placed club in the medals table at the Worcestershire County Championship, medals winners at the Midland District Championships and six swimmers qualifying for the ASA National Championships.

The club was also voted Redditch Junior Club of the Year and in the top three for Worcestershire Junior Club of the Year honour.

At the County Championships RSC swimmers won 129 medals and set 23 new championship age group records, whilst achieving 260 personal bests.

Club captains Paul Wilkes (3 wins) and Laura Cranshaw, together with Sophie Bridgman, won senior County Championship titles, whilst Lucy Corden (5 wins) and Sophie Bridgman (3 wins) won Junior CC titles.

Paul's win in the 100m butterfly was his eighth consecutive win, which is a truly remarkable achievement, whilst three swimmers won BAGCat awards, (British Age Group CATegories) as the top swimmer in their age groups - Rosie Potter (9 years), Daniel Noke (9 years) and Caitlin Britt (11 years).

At the Midland District Championships RSC had five swimmers competing in the Youth Championships (Paul Wilkes, Laura Cranshaw, Dan Ruckwood, Sophie Bridgman and Lucy Corden) and 12 in the Age Group Championships (Braiden Hartles, Francesca Phillips, Caitlin Britt, Will Moss, Megan Moss, Issy Griffiths, Abby Humphreys, Poppy McGourlay, Rebecca Winn, Rosie Potter, Tom Page and Dan Noke).

All competitors in the Youth Championships made finals and Paul won the 200m fly in a new Worcestershire County long course record time.

In the Age Group Championships, there were medals for Issy (who won four golds) and Caitlin and other top eight places for Rebecca, Tom, Poppy, Will, Abby, Braiden, Issy and Caitlin.

A good year for the club will usually see 1-3 swimmers qualifying for the National Championships, but in 2011 RSC had no fewer than six qualifiers - Paul Wilkes, Dan Ruckwood, Lucy Corden, Abby Humphreys, Caitlin Britt and Issy Griffiths. For the four girls, these were their first ever Nationals.

Three RSC swimmers made finals (Dan, Issy and Caitlin) and Paul further lowered the County record for the 200m fly.

Issy Griffiths finished in the top 10 in the BAGCat points totals, officially placing her high among the best 11-year-old swimmers in the country.

Paul Wilkes' outstanding achievements in 2011 were recognised by Worcestershire County Swimming Association when he was awarded the 'Founder’s Prize' for the County's Swimmer of the Year.

At the County Relay Championships RSC finished fourth overall, with 11 medals. The 11/12-year-old girls' teams (Franca Phillips, Abby Humphreys, Caitlin Britt, Issy Griffiths and Poppy McGourlay) deserve special mention, as they won double gold - breaking the longstanding championship age group records for both the medley and freestyle relays.

In the various league competitions, RSC finished 4th in the Worcestershire Winter League, 6th in the PGL League, 9th in the Mercian Summer League, 7th in the Nuneaton & District Junior League and 13th in the National Arena League.

This was the first time in several years RSC had competed in the top division of both the Nuneaton Junior League (Diddy League) and National League. Having made the Diddy League Division One final for the first time ever in 2010, RSC very nearly repeated the feat in 2011, despite having several key swimmers missing from a couple of rounds.

In the end they finished 7th, missing the final by the narrowest of margins, which was another remarkable achievement for a relatively small club.

After winning Division Two in 2010 and facing a nightmare draw for round two against several of the very best teams in the Midlands, RSC did very well to finish in mid-table in the National League. Hopefully, RSC can push up into the top 10 in 2012!

Redditch were very well represented in Worcestershire County teams throughout the year. At the annual Three Counties gala in Cheltenham, Worcestershire romped to victory against Gloucestershire and Staffordshire as 12 RSC swimmers represented the county.

Two RSC swimmers - Sophie Bridgman and Caitlin Britt - subsequently represented Worcestershire County at the National Inter-County Team Championships at Sheffield in October.

RSC continue to work closely with City of Birmingham SC, where there are now 13 swimmers in various squads. Following their performances at the ASA National Championships, two swimmers - Caitlin Britt and Abby Humphreys - were invited to join the England Talent Development Programme.

Three Redditch swimmers had already achieved 2012 National Qualifying Times before the end of 2011, with congratulations to Paul Wilkes, Dan Ruckwood and Lucy Corden, whilst other RSC swimmers should be joining them in Sheffield.

Despite all of these achievements, for which RSC should be congratulated, all of the swimmers throughout the club are certainly not going to just sit back and congratulate themselves!

Redditch have progressed in the past couple of years, but want to continue this progress and are putting in place a number of new measures to ensure the club can become bigger, stronger and more successful in the years ahead.

The most exciting development, of course, is the opening of the new pool at the Abbey Stadium as finally the town has a six-lane, 25m competition pool with electronic timing and spectator seating, which makes it suitable for galas, open meets and county competitions. This will also be the new training base.

In many ways, it is sad to leave Hewell Road - the end of an era for the club - but the new pool offers exciting new possibilities and gives RSC a home to be proud of in the years ahead.

The club has totally restructured the squad system and coaching responsibilities with further changes soon to be introduced.

These include the formation of two brand new squads - the Junior and Senior Performance - for those aiming for Midland and National Championship qualification.

RSC has introduced land training sessions and obtained additional pool time to accommodate the new squad system and the Abbey Stadium will open up new opportunities for all swimmers to make use of the gym facilities.

Much of RSC's success has been built on early talent identification, in learn-to-swim sessions, schools' galas and good development of swimmers with potential to become competitive swimmers.

RSC will continue to further improve this process by developing links with schools and learn-to-swim programmes across the area and encouraging other talented youngsters to come along for a trial.

RSC is always happy to take a look at anyone who might be interested and will also allow free trial sessions to decide if joining the club is right for them.

RSC plans to restructure and expand its own learn-to-swim programme, which will be based at Woodrow First School and Kingsley College Sports Centre, and help is urgently needed from qualified coaches and teachers who might be able to support this programme.

There are exciting times ahead and 2012 should be both challenging and rewarding for everyone at Redditch Swimming Club.

Come and see for yourself by contacting RSC head coach Chris Britt on 01527 853257 or e-mailing coach@redditchswim.org.uk.