'Portadown Times' Swimming News

The Portadown Times has published photographs involving a number of our swimmers over the last two weeks. Although these have been in the pipeline for several weeks it is encouraging to see us given such prominent coverage. Photographs from the County Armagh Championships and our recent bursary award from Texaco have been included in this week's issue (5th February 2010). Copies of these are available from the local 'Times' office. Great to see so many swimmers in official club poolside kit.

Club Fees!

Club members are reminded that fees for the remainder of the season are now overdue! As we continue to use the facilities at Cascades and Brownlow on a weekly basis and are billed for these sessions we would ask that all those concerned make an effort to settle any outstanding fees as soon as possible. Please speak to Paula Wilson at the club desk on Wednesday night.

Diary Dates PASC

• Saturday 6th February - Teletot Gala away to Cookstown


• Saturday 20th February - PTL Gala home to Limavady


• Saturday 20th March Teletot Gala - home to Newry & Mourne

Teletot Gala against City of Belfast (home) to be confirmed

The following 'Graded Galas' are also scheduled to take place:

• 12th - 14th February - closing date 29th January 2010


• 16th - 18th April - closing date 26th March 2010

New FINA Swimsuit Rules!

FINA, the official governing body for swimming have issued new rules regarding swimwear in an attempt to remove what they call "unfair advantage". From the start of this year swimsuits for males should NOT extend below the knee or above the navel and swimsuits for females should NOT cover the shoulders, neck, extend below the knee or have any zips! These rules apply to all clubs and we must adhere to such a policy. Please ensure that all swimwear is suitable for future competitions.

Congratulations to Newry and Mourne

Newry and Mourne were overall winners of this year's Co Armagh Swimming Championships on Saturday. The club came with a large squad and were simply too strong for the other clubs to threaten. Lurgan finished second with Portadown third. Armagh returned to the event after missing a year due to closure of their home pool, the club are still in the process of re-establishing themselves in competition swimming and we wish them all the best in their efforts. A big thanks to hosts Lurgan for such an enjoyable day and to all officials, swimmers and volunteers who helped to ensure a problem free gala. Thanks also to our own team who did their best against stiff competition. There is no questioning the talent of our younger swimmers many of whom came away with a handful of medals. Hopefully event times will soon be available, let's see how many new P.B's were set.

Teletot Gala Saturday 6th February V Cookstown

Members of the 'Teletot' team will face Cookstown (away) on Saturday 6th February 2010 in the second fixture of the season. The team coach will leave from Cascades car park at 4.45 pm! As always, the team will be picked on merit and a full list of those selected will be available from the club desk on Wednesday 3rd February. Swimmers are reminded to contact Sonia if they are unavailable as soon as possible! If we know who cannot swim then other members of the squad can be contacted to take their place. This is especially important to allow relay teams to compete.

Changes to Swim Schedule

• Would swimmers please note the following alterations to swim sessions:
  
  
• Wednesday at Cascades 7.30 - 8.00 pm small pool swimmers can now also swim at Brownlow on Thursday from 6.30 - 7.00 pm.

• Silver squad members can also swim at Brownlow on Thursday from 6.00 - 7.00pm.

• Please note that Yellow squad swimmers do not swim on Saturday morning!

Armagh Championships 2010

Lurgan ASC will host this year's event at the Waves leisure complex, warm-up swims will begin at 8.30am sharp! This is one of the highlights in the local swimming calendar with all teams anxious to 'do their best'. Once again it is expected to be a fight between 'the big two' ie Lurgan and Newry and Mourne for the Championship title but we hope to produce a determined performance and leave with some new PB's and perhaps a medal or two! Swimmers are asked to wear full club kit and ensure that they have plenty of suitable snacks and fluids. The cafe will be open for business throughout the competition. May we as a club wish all those taking part the best of luck and thank hosts Lurgan for all their hard work in preparation for the event. As a result of the Armagh Championships there is no 'Club' swimming this weekend, normal sessions resume on Monday at Cascades.

PTL win for bithday boy Chris!

Congratulations to all PTL swimmers who defeated Ballymoney 608 to 534 at Cascades on Saturday night and made it a special 'birthday win' for 'D' group swimmer Chris Grimley.This was our first home swim and it was a well deserved victory despite a number of fine individual efforts from Ballymoney. As always the Individual Medley Relays gave a good indication of the strengths of both teams with Portadown winning six of the eight events and taking an early points lead that was kept right to the end. On such a night when so many swimmers did so well it was difficult to pick out individuals but the 'B' Girls of Eden Magwood, Rachel Chapman, Lauren Robinson and Mia Gershovitz dominated their age group throughout the gala. Abbie McCullough was top for the 'A' Girls and Beth Irwin took all four strokes in the 'C' Girls event strongly supported by Susanna McQuade, Chloe Black and Derbalah Guy. Top boys included Daniel Chambers, Cathal Meredith, Andrew Irwin, Morgan Magwood, Dean Gershovitz and Kurt Black. Roisin Meredith was the star performer for the 'D' Girls. As always thanks to all who came to officiate, help, or just cheer. Our thanks also go to the coaches and swimmers of Ballymoney ASC for their assistance and efforts, we wish them well for the rest of the season.

PTL Squad to face Ballymoney ASC

The PTL team have their first 'home' gala of the season on Saturday 16th January 2010 against Ballymoney. Hopefully the recent thaw in the weather will mean that we can field a strong team with no one concerned about how they might get back home! Warm up is scheduled for 5.30pm with the gala due to start as close to six o'clock as possible. Any swimmer unable to attend should contact Dolores Meredith or leave a message with the staff at Cascades (38332802). In the past there have been occasions when no notice was given and it was too late to contact a replacement and a team sheet needs to be prepared listing the names of all swimmers for every stroke before the gala starts. As this is a home swim it is up to us to provide supper for the visiting team; boys are asked to provide biscuits/tray-bakes and girls sandwiches. Due to this fixture there is no swimming this weekend (Saturday morning & Sunday afternoon)

Teletots beaten at Lurgan

Congratulations to Lurgan Teletots who earned a well deserved home win on Friday 8th January 2010 against our own junior squad. Unfortunately, the difficult weather conditions meant that we were unable to travel with a full team but a big 'well done' to those who stepped in at the last minute. The fog certainly made the journey to and from Lurgan far from pleasant and with so many of our younger swimmers coming from outside Portadown no one can blame them for staying put. Hopefully we will be able to draw on a full squad of swimmers for our next gala. Thanks again to all who came to support the team, we hope you all returned home safe and sound.

£3,500 Cheque from Texaco!

Texaco (Ireland) have presented the club with a cheque for £3,500 as part of their bursary package available to a range of organisations throughout Ireland. Of those who applied only a handful were successful and the money will certainly be put to good use. Funding is always welcome and this sum from Texaco particularly so coming as it does at a time when money is so tight. Sonia Gershovitz accepted the cheque on behalf of the club at a presentation ceremony in Dublin. A plaque was also gifted to the club to mark the occasion and this is to be displayed in the foyer at Cascades. The Portadown Times will carry an article within the next week or two complete with photographs of the main presentation as well as a poolside picture featuring a group of our own swimmers. A big thanks to Texaco for their generosity and to our own Elizabeth Brannagh for her efforts on behalf of the club, it is much appreciated.

Gala dates 2010

Its a quick return to action after Christmas with both PTL and Teletot teams in action. The Teletots begin with a visit to Lurgan on Friday January 8th and the PTL have a home swim on Saturday 16th. As mentioned earlier this year's Co Armagh Championship will be held on Saturday 23rd January 2010 hosted by Lurgan ASC. In addition to these events Swim Ulster Graded Galas will take place on the weekend 22-24 January (which clashes with the Armagh Championships) as well as 12th- 14th February (closing date for entry 29th January) and finally the series ends on the 16th-18th April ( closing date for entry 26th March). Further information on the Swim Ulster Graded Galas may be obtained by clicking on the 'Links' button on the toolbar and selection 'Swim Ulster'

Happy Christmas!

PASC would like to wish all of our swimmers and their families a very Happy Christmas. Early indications are that everyone has been good and that Santa will be making his annual trip to leave some pressies. Please note the changes given below to our normal swimming schedule over the holiday period. Swimming starts again on Monday 4th January 2010.

Wed 23rd December - Sun 3rd January - NO SWIMMING!

Cookstown win PTL Gala

Cookstown defeated the PTL squad by a 24 point margin in Saturday night's gala. Although the final score was close the home team led from start to finish despite some fine individual and relay team efforts to close the gap. Throughout the night Cookstown maintained a 10 point lead right up to the final Freestyle relays when they eased further ahead to finish 584 - 560 points after the 54 events. The team were disappointed to loose but with two 'home' swims still to come there is still the opportunity to finish the season on a winning note. Coaches noted one or two areas where we need to improve and where work must be done. However, providing swimmers do their best to attend the majority of sessions available then performances will get better. Congratulations to Cookstown and as usual a big thanks to those' volunteers' who helped run the event.