LBASC Season Round 2020-21
A round up of achievements for the 2020-21 season at Leyland Barracudas ASC
A round up of achievements for the 2020-21 season at Leyland Barracudas ASC
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the
BARRACUDA
Season Round Up 2020-21
www.lbasc.org.uk
Note from our Chair
CONTENTS
Note from our Chair - Page 1
SENW Recognition Awards - Page 2
Triathlon GB selections - Pages 3 & 4
VMeetSwim - Pages 5 & 6
Gt Ocean Road Challenge - Page 7
Smartphone Photography Comp - Page 8
Making a Difference Award - Page 9
Queen's Award nomination - Page 10
Young Aquatic Volunteers - Page 11-12
Festival of Swimming - Page 13
Looking Ahead - Page 14
Celebrating our Volunteers - Page 15
Fundraising - Page 16
Well here we are again at the
end of another season but a
season with virtually no
competition to speak of due to
the pandemic.
No trips to Germany for our
Masters and no opportunities for
our age group swimmers to
compete at regional and national
events. Nonetheless it hasn't
stopped us achieving as a Club
or as athletes. In November
2020 we were all set to run our
first virtual 'Beat the Clock' gala
only to be plunged into lockdown
number two.
The pandemic has presented
ongoing challenges and
frustrations for us all but, as a
club, we have been thankful to
be able to access sufficient pool
time (once Covid restrictions
permitted), to have a committed
and enthusiastic bank of
volunteers to support our Chief
Coach, and to have a keen and
healthy membership ready to
make the return.
In a bizarre way the challenges
have presented opportunity and
have reminded us all that we're
stronger and more capable than
we sometimes give ourselves
credit for. And, of course,
challenge does make those
achievements even sweeter.
I am always pleased and
impressed by the achievements
of our members and our
volunteers and this year is
absolutley no exception.
We've embraced lots of changes,
whether that be the way we book
our sessions or arrive at the pool, to
new developments like virtual swim
meets using VSwim.
Our coaches and committee have
had to work hard to ensure we have
had everything in place for a safe
return. At the same time they have
taken the opportunity to upskill or
seize new opportunities for the
Club. We have sought out external
funding opportunities and remained
active in a variety of ways, using
some of our activities as fundraising
opportunities
Hopefully you will enjoy reading just
what we have all been able to
achieve despite the pandemic.
Jon Ward, Club Chair
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volunteers. Whether it was virtual challenges, bingo, quiz
nights or online clinics and competitions - they have used
their imagination and provided a regular and varied range
of activities which has all helped us to maintain a vibrant
membership. We saw the introduction of new
technologies to help us put processes in place to keep us
safe with our return to pool health surveys and a 'report
it' track and trace system. We also had new volunteers
stepping up to the plate to take on new 'Meet and Greet'
roles to ensure our safe return to the pool. An amazing
team effort.
SwimEngland North West Recognition
Awards
Swim England launched their annual recognition awards
in June with some new categories. As a Club we have
made two nominations which will be decided at the
SENW Annual Council meeting on Saturday, 4
September. Regional winners will be put forward for the
Swim England National Awards which will be announced
in a virtual live ceremony on Saturday, 9 October. Our
nominations are:
Inspirational Volunteer Award [Adults] - Cliff Taylor:
At 71 years young Cliff has gone from swim grandparent
chauffeuring his grand-daughter to and from sessions to
senior volunteer looking after our pre-competition
swimmers. He volunteers 14 hours each week teaching
in our small pool and is now Level 2 qualified. He
thoroughly enjoys every session and the swimmers fondly
refer to him as "Coach Cliff". It is a delight to see how
much both he and the swimmers enjoy the sessions.
Engagement Innovation Award - our rapid
response team of volunteers: This group of
volunteers got together at the start of the pandemic
embracing new technologies to help deliver a range of
engagement activities to swimmers, parents and
Masters swimmer and coach,
Michael Stott, takes a dip in
Windermere
In a year when almost everything was
cancelled, one event that did manage to
run was the Windermere triathlon.
September 2020 saw Michael take part in
the 750m swim, 25k bike ride and 5k run.
A 7:00 a.m. start and a chilly water
temperature of 16 degrees meant the
wetsuit was a must. The hilly cycle route
through the South Lakes and a difficult
run course meant fast times weren't on
the cards but Michael finished in a very
creditable 1 hour 48 minutes, coming
38th overall and 3rd fastest in his age
group.
www.lbasc.org.uk Page 2
Gordon shines in and out of the pool
Gordon Ballantyne
Triathle star Gordon moved up an age group this year
into the Under 15s when he competed at the UK
National Triathle Championships at Lewiston School in
Devon in June.
This event is a pathway to modern pentathlon and
consists of continuous shoot, swim and run. Gordon had
a great swim and run performance but his shooting
deserves particular mention, only missing two shots out
of 20! Ordinarily the top five athletes at the event are
eligible for Team GB selection and whilst Gordon
secured his selection with a fourth place finish in his age
group unfortunately due to the pandemic Team GB
decided not to send a team to the European
Championships in Barcelona or the World
Championships in Weiden in Germany.
However, all has not been lost as Gordon has been
selected to represent England at the national finals of
the UK school games being held at Loughborough from
2nd-5th September. He will take part in laser running
which is the last event of modern pentathlon and
involves a 1600m run, stopping after each 400m to
shoot a target 5 times.
Gordon is also ranked number 2 in the UK for
Biathlon, which consists of 100m swim and a mile run.
and has secured selection for the UK talent pathway
programme which involves travelling to Bath once a
month where he trains with the Olympic coaches.
A fantastic season in difficult circumstances.
Page 3
www.lbasc.org.uk
British Champ back in action
Ethan Roberts
As COVID restrictions relaxed the 2019 British
Triathlon 11-12 Age Group Champion, Ethan
Roberts, was able to compete once again. Ethan took
part in the St Anne’s Triathlon alongside competitors
from around the
Swimming
country including
&
the
Beer?
North West
and North East regions – so a strong field. Ethan had
a fantastic race with a strong swim and bike allowing
him to come away with a comfortable win.
Ethan also signed up for other events including the
IRC selection event at Cholmondley Castle. After
winning this event Ethan achieved selection for the
North West Inter-Regional Triathlon Team. Whilst
racing in August at a pre-IRC event an in-race incident
resulted in him sustaining injury and severely
damaging his bike. He is now recovering in the hope
he will be fit and well for the IRC finals in September
which he won in 2019.
This year Ethan was successful in winning a place at
the North West Regional Triathlon Academy
based on his swim (good work Chief Coach, Gillian)
and run times. The academy works with Triathletes
from the North West Region and helps them to
progress along the British Triathlon Pathway. The
season is almost complete, and Ethan is working
hard preparing for the Academy selection process
in September; hopefully winning a place for next
season.
www.lbasc.org.uk Page 4
Embracing change
2021 saw the introduction of
VMeet Swim and we, along
with 43 other clubs, signed up
to use the free online resource
developed by Cockermouth
Swim Club as a virtual
competition platform.
Land Training
With our land programme restricted
VMeet provided us with the
opportunity to extend and develop
our land based programme so that it
was available to more swimmers.
We set activities relevant to our age
group pathways. Activities that were
designed to develop essential core
strength and flexibility. Swimmers
signed up and logged their
activities. They were able to keep
their own online record but also
compare their achievements to
athletes from other member clubs
across the UK and abroad. As you
can see we even had some making
challenge leadership boards.
Test Sets
With test sets being a key part of our
swim programme's monitoring and
evaluation process we were able to
use VMeetSwim to log swimmer's
GOLF scores. Or in VMeet parlance
a SWOLF score which is a great way
to measure a swimmer's personal
efficiency in the water. After
swimming one pool length you
count the number of strokes it took
and add that number to the time it
took in seconds. This is a great set
to measure and develop stroke
efficiency aligned to the
development of speed. For the first
time our swimmers were able to
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pitch themselves against athletes
from other clubs as well as their
training mates and once again we
had swimmers making leader
boards.
Virtual Events
Another first was using VMeetSwim
to host the Micro League. This is the
first taste of competition for our
younger swimmers. So without the
luxury of being able to travel to
competition venues and compete
together in the normal way, this was
a great opportunity for our
youngsters to gain a taste of
competition. VMeetSwim gave us
the opportunity to get swimmers
racing in the comfort and safety of
their own pool. The date was
agreed and the programme set.
Each club ran the programme in
their own pool, submitted their times
to VMeetSwim and the computer did
the rest! You can see from the
graphics on this page that we had
some swimmers and relay teams
making the fastest time boards
against some strong competition.
There are other events planned for
2022 so our athletes can look
forward to some great opportunities
to test themselves and achieve
success.
www.lbasc.org.uk Page 6
The Great Ocean Road Challenge
Our 2020-21 season saw us follow on from the
lockdown activities we had in place for most of last
season and we kicked off with a physical family
challenge, The Great Ocean Road. The 75 participants
had 4 weeks to cycle, walk or run the 664kms. All our
teams managed the distance with most teams
completing more than one circuit. Collectively they
achieved over 23,000 kms. We had a top Team
Award; distance recognition awards and even a Top
Dog Award for the family pet completing the most
distance.
Our winners were:
TOP TEAM AWARD - went to Team Pedley &
McKenna [Tracy, Mike, Eve & Enzo Pedley and Andrea
McKenna] who were simply flying with a total distance
of over 3000kms - the equivalent of a transatlantic
flight!
The best overall combined distances for Under 18's
went to Mia Ascroft and Ethan Roberts with the Over
18's going to Tracy Pedley and Paul Ascroft.
Best Individual discipline distances went to:
Under 18's
Female Runner - Rosie Linley [100 kms]
Male Runner - Ethan Roberts [54 kms]
Female Walker - Eve Pedley [299 kms]
Male Walker - Matthew Johnson [119 kms]
Female Cyclist - Mia Ascroft [503 kms]
Male Cyclist - Ethan Roberts [437 kms]
Over 18s
Female Runner - Helen Tindall [183 kms]
Male Runner - Dave Tindall [264 kms]
Female Walker - Rachel Blundell [386 kms]
Male Walker - Mike Pedley [369 kms]
Female Cyclist - Andrea McKenna [1154 kms]
Male Cyclist - Paul Ascroft [1080 kms]
TOP DOG AWARD - went to Bailey
Blundell with a staggering 449kms!
Page 7
www.lbasc.org.uk
Smartphone Photography Competition
Lockdown also inspired us to take on another first
for us as a Club by introducing our Smartphone
Photography Competition. Aimed specifically at
our swimmers aged under 20 with two photo
categories of wildlife and landscape. Entrants had
four months to take a selection of images and could
submit up to 12 images in each category.
Thanks to the following sponsors
We saw a good number of registrations across the
age range and were delighted with the standard of
images submitted. Our Fundraising Officer, Gayle
Adams, had secured sponsorship from local
businesses who each sponsored a month. Sponsors
were then invited to join The Mayor, Cllr Jane Bell,
on a Zoom call to decide which of the images would
make the final cut.
This was a difficult task for the panel but they finally
arrived at a chosen 12 and, so that all entrants had at
least one image appearing, we agreed to
incorporate some of the other shortlisted images on
the front cover.
Calendars will go on sale in October and we hope to
raise much needed funds for the Club in what may
become an annual activity for us.
Below is a small selection of images that made the
final calendar.
and Committee members Jon Ward & Lisa
Robinson.
www.lbasc.org.uk Page 8
Making a Difference Award
We are proud to be working with Leyland
Rotary who have generously donated funds
to support the training of one of our aspiring
volunteers.
2021 has seen the introduction of this partnership
which we hope will be able to continue in future
years so that together we can support the training of
volunteers who give up their personal time to
support the development of others.
Leyland Rotary have provided financial support to a
new aspiring volunteer to support their attainment
of SwimEngland Level 1 teaching status. Rotary
have been impressed by just what opportunities
competitive sport and volunteering have made
possible to our members. To this end, with their
financial support, we have established the 'Making a
Difference’ Award.
The award is on offer to those poolside volunteers
who are on the Club’s volunteering pathway and
who have ambitions to progress in aquatics.
Impressed by the longstanding role our Club has
had in our community providing competitive
swimming opportunities to generations of young
people for over 48 years, Rotary were particularly
impressed by the role that volunteers play in making
it all possible. So they are not just looking for any
volunteer, they are looking for that volunteer who
can demonstrate they understand the value of the
role they will be undertaking, the impact they will
have on the lives of our members and the benefits
they personally will gain from being supported.
- have been a club member for at least 1 year
- be signed up to the Club’s Volunteer Pathway and
have achieved at least ‘Step 4’ on the pathway [but
must not already be qualified]. Young Aquatic
Volunteer nominees should have completed the
SENW Young Aquatic Volunteer Programme
- be a regular participant in Club coaches meetings
(or equivalent if YAVs)
- have a track record of volunteering for additional
cover sessions
- be committed to continuing their volunteering
service to the club for a minimum period of two
years after qualification
Our Rotary Volunteer for 2021 is Ruth
Owen. Ruth is a former age group swimmer
herself so knows the benefits of participating
in competitive sport. She also fully
appreciates the role that volunteers play in
providing the opportunities for young
people and is delighted to be announced as
the very first 'Rotary Making a Difference
Volunteer'.
Volunteers have to meet the following criteria:
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The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service
Our partnership with Leyland Rotary also
resulted in one of their members privately
recommending us for the Queen's Award for
Voluntary Service. Awarded annually, it is the
highest award given to voluntary organisations
in the UK and is referred to as the MBE for
voluntary organisations. Once awarded it is
given for the life of the organisation.
They were impressed by the following:
- that we provide swimming opportunities across 4
different pools, offering 40 hours of swimming each
week for 48 weeks of the year and have been doing so
for 48 years;
- our clear swimming pathways providing
opportunities for swimmers from the age of 6-60+;
- the clear pathways for our volunteers on poolside -
whether that's teaching/coaching/officiating;
- that we support the training of all our volunteers
and have a programme specifiically aimed at our
young aquatic volunteers (aged 14-16);
- that we work in partnership with the local facility
providers to provide qualified lifeguards serving
community swimming;
- our support for local schools' swimming and one of
our neighbouring clubs by organising inter-school
galas, facilitating water time at one of our own pools
and offering opportunities for their volunteers;
- the numerous internal and external competition
opportunities provided for our athletes,
developing them as individuals and as part of
teams.
Our nomination had to be supported by two
letters of support which we are delighted to have
received from our Club's first President, Trevor
Hemmings, CVO and South Ribble's Deputy Leader,
Cllr Mick Titherington.
Whilst it doesn't attract any funding the kudos of
securing the nomination alone is positive and
should we be successful will be something we, and
our supporters, can take great pride in.
Our nomination has been acknowledged but entries
remain open until 15 September, so we now have to
wait and see what our fate will be. The next step
should we get through, will be for the Lord
Lieutenant's office to contact us to arrange a visit
and based on that recommendation we could
progress through to the final selection which will be
made in June 2022.
241 awards were made in 2021 including one to
Mid Lancs Colts Junior Football League in Chorley.
Can we join Mid-Lancs Colts
in 2022?
www.lbasc.org.uk Page 10
Young Aquatic Volunteers
This season presented a challenge for our
young aquatic volunteers who, as part of the
Swim England North West Aquatic Volunteer
Award, are required to demonstrate their skills
in identifying and organising an event.
Usually this will take the form of some kind of swimming
event but with Covid restrictions preventing this they
had to be more imaginative than ever and, thanks to
support from Carole Jepson, they didn't disappoint!
Mia Ascroft was the first off the mark as she organised a
virtual challenge for swimmers from Barracudas and Chorley
Marlins. The challenge involved swimmers taking on 'Around
the World in 80 days' where they had to run, cycle or walk
tracking their distance each week and recording on the club's
tracking tool. Mia took care of all the publicity and recruitment;
posted regular updates on progress and finsihed off with a
presentation evening on Zoom.
workshop for parents and swimmers under the age of
12. The girls produced all the publicity, registered all
the entrants and held an online workshop via Zoom so
that swimmers could create some edible treats. Just
take a look at some of the creations below! A
wonderful idea, excellently executed.
Our other young volunteer, Sophie Welsby, came up
with the idea of 'The Great Swimming Cake Off'.
Sophie once again came up with all the publicity and
recruited a good number of swimmers and parents who
all made swimming themed cakes. Sophie recruited a
small panel of judges who selected the winning
creations and winners received an Easter Egg to mark
their achievement. Here's a list of our winners -
Grace Adams and Rosie Linley organised 'Edible
Treats and Healthy Eating' which was an online
Fantastic
job!
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Our final young volunteer, Rebecca Ward,
decided on something that would help new
members and created "A Guide for Young
Swimmers" which covers Nutrition and
Hydration, Relaxation, Warm-up and Fitness, and
Positive Mindset. The guide is now on the Club's
website and has also been emailed out to all our
8-11 year old swimmers. Across are a couple of
extracts for you to see.
I think you will agree these are great examples of
our young athletes developing as volunteers and
giving something back to our swimming family.
Providing a supportive and inspiring environment - a place where
everyone matters
Swimming is a great sport for developing a fit and healthy lifestyle and enjoying opportunities to
travel and compete as individuals and as part of teams. But we also value the opportunity to be
able to support a wide range of athletes, giving them all the opportunity to reach their potential
and participate in events. The last 18 months has been strange and challenging for all our
athletes but particularly so for our para and transplant athletes who have had to isolate for longer
than most and have had to delay returning to training alongside their team mates. We have also
continued to support those athletes who have a higher dependency on their sport to provide
them with structure and a valuable physical outlet.
We were delighted therefore in June to be able to welcome back all our athletes and support
them with their transition back to fitness. Hopefully this next season will be less disruptive for
everyone.
www.lbasc.org.uk Page 12
Festival of Swimming
Competing in open events is challenging at the
best of times as you prepare yourself for the
venue and the competition. But imagine how it
must have been for our swimmers this year!
With over 20 north west clubs and squads taking part it
was back to mainstream competition for the first time
since early 2020. In the meantime our swimmers had
dealt with lockdowns, adjusted to self isolation and
seen an intermittent return to training but in much
changed conditions. But now it was time to get back on
those starting blocks!
The first hurdle was to see if they could reach the
qualifying times set for the event. So, after having had
very little training, the Club organised official time trials
and were delighted with the times that the swimmers
achieved. We had 18 athletes qualifying for the event.
Our swimmers then faced the challenge of suddenly
being back in a crowded competitive environment
confronted by swimmers they did't know or hadn't seen
for some time - so no landmarks in terms of who to
watch or pace yourself against. The poolside
procedures were different and unfamiliar and as for
getting back on the blocks that too was not as familiar
because diving had not been allowed during Covid.
So for all our athletes that qualified for the Festival of
Swimming at the Aquatic Centre in Manchester we
applaud you - you rose to the challenge and did
yourselves proud!
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www.lbasc.org.uk
Looking
Leading the way ...
Whilst none of us can predict with any certainty
what is around the corner we move forward into
the 2021-22 season with optimism.
Swim England have already announced the return
of some events and internally we are making
plans of our own. So hopefully we will return to
providing opportunities for our athletes to travel
and compete.
We are re-visitng our bid for regional funding to
support the purchase of new starting blocks and
are exploring the acquisition of new lane ropes.
Hoping to improve the competitive environment
for our members.
Our Masters are hopeful that they will be able to
take part in the Flensburg international event in
February 2022 and a revised event programme is
being developed for our age group swimmers.
But with pool closures and repairs to some key
facilities across the region it is likely that we may
have to look further afield for events.
And, as we approach our 50th year in 2024 we
are also thinking about how we can mark such a
fantastic achievement.
Congratulations to the following
swimmers who have been appointed to
leading roles in their schools:
Rebecca Ward - Sports Captain,
Balshaws High School
Grace Adams - Deputy Head Girl and
Sports Captain, Wellfield High School
Rosie LInley - Head Girl, St Mary's High
School
Olivia Miller - Deputy Head Girl, All
Hallows High School
Good Luck also to our swimmers who are
moving on to university ....
Lewis Winston - Lancaster University
Tom Roberts - Edge Hill University
Cerys Howells - Harper Adams
University, Shropshire
Kate Dutton - Leeds University
www.lbasc.org.uk Page 14
Celebrating our Volunteers
Tom
This season more than any other we have been
so grateful for the unstinting support of our
volunteers.
We like to celebrate their contributions whenever we
can. We provide financial support for essential
qualifications to our poolside volunteers and equip
them with a Club shirt so they look the part when
coaching. Our back office volunteers are less visible
but equally important. The Club simply could not
function if we didn't have volunteers taking care of
essential back office jobs like SwimEngland
registrations; membership applications; affiliations and
insurances; pool and travel bookings; internal event
management ; external event entries; fundraising and
more. They mayEthan
not get the t-shirt but they are equally
valuable to our success.
This last 18 months has presented new challenges that
none of our volunteers were expecting or had signed
up for. But, as the saying goes - "when the going gets
tough, the tough get going" - and that is exactly what
our volunteers did.
With an unprecedented situation on our hands we also
found ourselves needing additional volunteers to
control our safe return to the pool and we were thankful
to have a a good response from parents who stepped
up and took on essential 'Meet and Greet' roles. Their
support was key to our safe return.
It is also worth making particular mention of some long
serving adult volunteers. Some have seen their
children go through the age group programme but still
continue to give of their time to support us, and others
are former age group and Masters swimmers who
continue to give something back. With 200 years
volunteering between them they are -
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Fundraising 2020-21
Fundraising is never easy but it has been particularly challenging over this last season. We raise funds
internally from gala sponshorship, raffles, social events, club shop sales, and our 50:50 club and the funds
generated are used to provide event trophies for our swimmers and training for our volunteers. With events
cancelled and spectators not being allowed in venues, fundraising has taken a bit of a hit. Despite the
challenge we still managed a successful Christmas raffle, generated some funds from kit and merchandise
sales and have filled most of our 50:50 club slots which is a great effort.
Externally we seek out opportunities to bid for funding wherever we can and at the back end of last year we
placed a bid to Made by Sports for Clubs in Crisis funding but were unsuccessful. We continue to seek out,
and are interested in identifying community funding opportunities and have a number of bids in the pipeline for
which we await the outcome.
We have a promising opportunity with sales of our first Club calendar though and have done a great job in
getting sponsorship from local businesses, particularly at the current time. To enable us to promote the
calendar to people outside the Club we have set up a Club PayPal account. Hopefully you will be able to share
the link when the time comes and help us raise money from sales.
We also have a good number of teenage swimmers who recruit onto our Young Aquatic
Volunteer Programme, gaining aquatic qualifications and supporting work on the
poolside. From this cohort we have two members who deserve particular mention as
they have gone on to gain Level 2 teaching status and are now regular and reliable
members of the coaching team.
Sophie Martland: swimmer from age 6; volunteer at 14; now qualified to Level 2
Matilda Simpson: swimmer from age 6; volunteer from age 14; now qualified to
Level 2
www.lbasc.org.uk Page 16
Special thanks to the following organisations who have
supported us over this last season
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