Competition Secretary:

Affiliation:    
All educational establishments, of all types, in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent LEAs, and the LEAs in the Greater Manchester area are automatically affiliated to the Division free of charge.

W.I.S.E. 2009 DIVISION SEVEN REPORT

Congratulations to the following Division 7 swimmers who represented England at the 38^th W.I.S.E International which was held at the Wales International Pool, Swansea on 14^th March 2009
 

CONGRATULATIONS DIVISION SEVEN TEAM
on a fantastic team effort at the Championships

There was a lot of expectation after the previous year’s results, but the team excelled and for the 2^nd successive year finished a magnificent 2^nd overall and showed what a talented team they were by winning 28 medals.     

In the aggregate points the Junior Girls (Lauren Quigley, Katie Cooper, Ambah Simpson, Jessica Lloyd and Katie Greenwood) managed to win their category again, with the strength throughout the team highlighted with 4 of the age groups 2^nd and the other age group 4^th (only 2 points off 2^nd). 

There were many exceptional performances with every individual and relay final made. In the individual events 5 Gold, 6 Silvers and 7 Bronze medals were won, along with one new record (Amanda Nugent, Senior Butterfly), breaking the previous record, which had stood since 1983. 

The relays had similar success with 10 medals won (6 Silver, 4 Bronze).  The Junior Girls (Lauren Quigley, Katie Cooper, Ambah Simpson and Jessica Lloyd) also managed to break the oldest relay record in the heats of the Freestyle relay. 

A pleasing aspect was not only the performances in the pool, which were richly deserved, but the way each swimmer handled themselves out of it.  The spirit and buzz was amazing and I am sure Chris would have been very happy and proud of not only the results but also the team spirit.  Being named at the end of the competition ‘unofficially’ as the loudest team was a truly fitting award. 

A MASSIVE WELL DONE and THANK YOU to all the swimmers and everyone involved.  You should all be proud of your achievements and enjoy you deserved success.
 

England Central wins UKSG 2008 

Congratulations to all Team members and Staff from Divisions 4, 6 and 7 for their excellent victory in UKSG 2008. 

The Team had a mix of ages with no fewer than three 13 and three 14 year olds included in the 16 & under team.  A further 8 swimmers will also still be eligible for selection next year. 

The England Central Team took an early lead in the Competition, which it maintained throughout apart from a short time early in Day 2, to finish with a 15 point lead over its closest rival. 

The all round excellent team performance was highlighted by 27 podium places out of the 44 events. A total of 18 members of the team received medals with the ‘greedy’ ones being Katrina Alder 3 Gold & 1 Silver, Ann Morris 3 Gold, Sophie Smith 3 Gold and Emma Saunders 2 Gold & 2 Silver.  However these individual performances – and many others, should not detract from the overall TEAM effort.  The Team Staff complimented the swimmers’ attitude and behaviour and said that everyone played their part for the duration of the Games both on and off the poolside. Their support for their fellow team members and their team spirit overall was brilliant.   In addition Michael’s flirtation with the Media at every opportunity will hopefully bring him Hollywood stardom!

 Team Members:

          Divison 4                       Division 6                      Division 7

          James Burden                  Gemma Almond              Katrina Alder (Captain)

          Fiona Donnelly                David Fellows                 Dale Curtis

          Eleanor Grudgings           Dan Ruckwood               Robert Gill

          Georgia Hohmann           Chris Murphy (TM)          Samantha Lewis

Ann Morris                     Stewart Nicklin (Coach)     Jessica Lloyd

          Ryan Morris                    David White (TM)            Andrew Martin

          Tsubasa Nakagawa (Captain)                                    Matthew Parks

          Michael Reeve                                                       Louise Sanders

          Sophie Smith                                                         Emma Saunders

          Alice Thomas                                                        Blake Wilson

          Bex Rimmington (TM)                                            Jayne Sanders (TM)

                                                                                      Chris Fox (TM)

CHRIS FOX ELECTED PRESIDENT
FOR ESSA 2007-2008

DIVISION 7 COMMITTEE AT ESSA
AGM October 2007

W I S E International

Crawley March 2008.

Our delight, following our fantastic performance in the Inter Divisional Championships last October, has been increased by the selection of no fewer than 9 of our swimmers for the England Team in this years International a Crawley.  A record for the Division. 

These were :

Emma Saunders, Rachael Kelly, Katrina Alder, Amanda Nugent, Emma Wilkins, Sam Horrocks, Blake Wilson and Dan Sliwinski.  (Russell Smith was also selected but sadly had to decline) 

During the event all of our swimmers achieved  podium places at least twice and in no less than 12 individual events!  They were also there in a further 10 relay events. Overall they gained fifteen 1^st places, three 2^nd places, and four 3^rd places.  In the relays also they helped to create 9 new Records. 

All of our swimmers deserve congratulations for their achievements, but particularly I would mention our individual record breakers, Emma Wilkins in the Senior individual 100m Freestyle and Dan Sliwinski who created new records in the Senior 100m and 200m Breaststroke and the 200m IM.  A truly remarkable achievement. 

It was a delight to be there and also to present them with so many awards. 

Chris Fox    Division 7 Representative to ESSA Council.

ESSA President 

Paula Ashworth 

1933 – 2008

It is with great sadness that we report the death of our Treasurer, Paula Ashworth, who passed away on 4^th March 2008 after a short illness.

Paula had been involved in schools swimming in the Greater Manchester area for practically all of her teaching career and had worked with the Manchester Schools Swimming Association and the English Schools Swimming Association for many years. She had served this Association, firstly in the ‘old’ Division 2 and then transferring to the current Division 7 following reorganisation.

In recent years Paula had fought bravely to overcome serious health problems and has remained our Divisional Treasurer, playing a full and active role in all of our divisional competitions.  She had also just completed a 3 year role as Treasurer of our national Inter Divisional Competition whilst it has been held in Manchester.  

ESSA has acknowledged Paula’s 30 plus years of work for the Association by awarding her its Certificate of Thanks - an award which I know she treasured.

She will be greatly missed. 

Chris Fox

ESSA  PRESIDENT  2007/2008

It is with great sadness that I have to announce the untimely death of
Chris Fox.

Chris passed away on 11^th October 2008 having suffered a stroke on 3^rd October.

Chris became Divisional Representative of Division V11 in 2001 when his wife Mavis became Hon. Championship Co-ordinator.

He was elected as President of the Association in 2007 and undertook his duties as President with great enthusiasm. The highlight of his year in office was receiving Prince William as Patron at our Water Polo Championships in Walsall.

He will be a great loss to ESSA
and Staffordshire ASA.

CLICK HERE
TO READ THE STAFFORDSHIRE COUNTY ASA OBITUARY FOR CHRIS