Congratulations to three of our swimmers selected for the Swim England National Development Programme.
Anna Finlay, Daniel Barrett and Rebecca Allan have all been chosen to take part in the third step on the Swim England Extended Talent Pathway – the first on the national framework.
Read more about how Anna, Daniel and Rebecca achieved their spaces.
We are very pleased to inform you that our new chairman is Steven Speight. Having been at the club for seven years with his son Patrick, Steven knows the club inside out and is a very welcome addition to the team.
He brings a vast wealth of knowledge and expertise with him from his daytime job as a project leader of an engineering company providing services to a global internet provider and has a strong background in leadership and risk assessment.
Steven is looking forward to helping the club during this challenging time and getting to know parents and swimmers from all squads.
All members of the club have been sent relevant training schedules for the coming weeks. Schedules for the Christmas period will be sent as soon as they are confirmed.
Should you wish to view them, all of the following documents can be found on Club Organiser.
If you have any problems accessing Club Organiser please let your squad rep know. Please also speak to your squad rep if you are unsure of which sessions to attend or have any general queries.
Joan Edwards has decided to retire as coach for the Competitive Development squad. She had planned to resign at the end of this year anyway, as she is now 63 and wants to focus more on her own swimming, which is hugely important to her. She also needs to spend more time looking after her mam, as well as having more time for holidays when the restrictions end!
Joan decided to bring this decision forward due to the lengthy pool closure period. This meant that when swimming returns, there would at most only be a few months left before she was planning to retire, which would have been difficult for any new swimmers who might join that squad. Joan will really miss the young swimmers in her group and wishes them all well for the future.
We would like to say a huge thank you to Joan for all of the great work she has done with the Competitive Development squad and we are pleased to say that she will continue to provide cover coaching to support the other coaches. We know that her swimmers will miss her very much.
Half-term fundraising challenge raises whopping £6,318 for new state-of-the-art starting blocks
From 23rd May to 28th May GAW swimmers and coaches accepted the challenge to collectively walk, run or cycle the distance from Gateshead Leisure Centre to Budapest, a total of 1,167 miles.
Our athletes surpassed themselves and smashed that original total forcing the challenge to include miles back again too, and they didn’t stop there with the final total being the equivalent distance of:
A huge total of 3,316 miles!
Our top traveller with an astounding 181.8 miles travelled was Max Murray from Performance Group 1.
Top traveller in each squad:
Academy 1: Alexander Watson
Academy 2: Winnie Renwick and Charlie Shaw
Competitive Development: Isla Murray
Potential Group 1: Matthew Stovold
Potential Group 2: Lewis Richardson
Performance Group 1: Max Murray
Performance Group 2: Hannah Brown
Masters: Martin Connelly
Coaches: Ross Bradley
There were some outstanding totals but the joint fundraising champions, raising over £400 each were Winnie Renwick from Academy 2 and Conan and Millie Swinney from Performance Group 1 and Academy 2.
We have been overwhelmed by everyone who got involved in the challenge and by how much has been raised. Thank you very much!
Thanks also for sending great photos and videos of swimmers enjoying the challenge – watch the final video here.
The club would also like to extend its huge appreciation to Nicola McPherson who may think twice about sharing the fact she ‘has an idea’ in the future! She has done an amazing job, keeping everyone motivated and interested – thank you Nicola!
Did you know that Gateshead Council offers free gym passes and grants to eligible athletes?
Swimmers are eligible for a gym pass if they have competed in a final of a northern / regional competition. Those aged 12 and over can now use the gym.
Individual sporting grants are also awarded if a swimmer finishes in the top four of a northern /regional final.
Read more and find the updated full application form here.
Can you all please take some time to run through the members’ code of conduct with swimmers?
GAWSwim Members-Code_of_Conduct V3.0
It is an extension to the Swim England Wavepower policy documents, which are available on the Swim England website http://www.swimming.org/library/documents/files/1205/download
These policies are in place to ensure that our members feel comfortable, happy and supported in their participation in club life.
Did you know that whenever you buy anything online – from your weekly shop to your annual holiday – you could be collecting free donations for Gateshead and Whickham ASC?
There are over 3,000 shops and sites on board ready to make a donation, including Amazon, John Lewis, Aviva, thetrainline and Sainsbury’s – it doesn’t cost you a penny extra!
It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3…
As of 9th August 2018, there are 27 supporters registered, who have raised £63.13 between them.
| Top Supporters | ||
| 1 | Andy S. | £30.13 |
| 2 | Gillian M. | £27.72 |
| 3 | Jason D. | £1.66 |
| 4 | Norman T. | £1.05 |
| 5 | Nicola Y. | £1.00 |
There are no catches or hidden charges and Gateshead and Whickham ASC will be really grateful for your donations.
Thank you for your support.
Huge good luck to our diddy league team today at Tynemouth. Enjoy it! A photo from the archives… #TeamGAW pic.twitter.com/ojkvRowHyy
