Club News & Updates

Devonport Summer Sizzler

It was a very successful weekend at the inaugural Devonport Summer Sizzler where we took a strong team of 25 swimmers to represent the club across both days. This was a new gala and it was expected to be a fun experience for all swimmers with hot heats and disco lights adding to the excitement.

Our swimmers all put on an excellent display, gaining many PB's and medals which made for some very exciting viewing.

Overall, TASC came away with 34 medals and a host of top finishing positions.

A special mention must go out to Adam Lawton who won a total of 9 medals from 10 events finishing as runner-up in the top boy competition. More amazingly, he achieved lots of PB's in these races too which is no mean feat at 16 years old.

TASC finished in 6th place from the 21 clubs that were competing.

A great weekend, and one that is sure to become a firm favourite on our events calendar.

Severnside Tritons

By Helena Drawer

On June 1^st and 2^nd we took a team of 18 swimmers to the Severnside Tritons Open Meet in Weston-super-Mare. This is a regular fixture in our competitive calendar, and one we all enjoy going to.

It promised to be a long, hot weekend right from the start, with the air conditioning at the pool kept at a comfortable 30 degrees! Some swimmers were just there for 1 day, others were in it for the whole weekend, and we had a mixture of ages and experience in the team. We came away with lots of PBs, medals, and some of those elusive Devon times (if they don’t change too much!), so well done everyone. Our younger swimmers coped well with the whole competition experience, and as always, Tritons were “on it” with the marshalling, making team managing a whole lot easier!

It was a long, tiring and fun weekend with a team meal on the Saturday night for those staying over – thank you to the staff at Frankie and Bennys for accommodating our table of 20 at late notice.

Devon County Sprints

By Helena Drawer

On Sunday June 9^th we took a team of 14 swimmers to the Devon County ASA 2019 Sprint Gala. This is a competition where every swimmer competes in all four 50m races, swimming freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke and backstroke. So no picking your favourite stroke here!

The team was mostly our younger, less experienced swimmers, so there were plenty of nerves at the start and some basics of competing to understand. Over 400 swimmers took part in the gala, making warm-ups, marshalling and general access around the pool challenging at times. A particular well done to our boys who were in an all ages warm-up and managed to keep swimming and smiling! We didn’t win any medals, but came away with lots of PBs and some valuable experience to take forward to the next competitions. Most importantly, everyone had fun and enjoyed the day.

Well done to everyone who took part, you were a credit to the club and we’re looking forward to seeing you progress. A special thank you goes to Claire Meech for stepping in as assistant team manager, and to our older swimmers Anna Drawer and Ellen Webber for helping on the day.

Two Counties Level 3 Spring Meet

By Anna and Helena Drawer

Over the weekend of the 12^th - 14^th April 2019, 28 swimmers represented TASC at the Two Counties Spring Open Meet held at Plymouth Life Centre. It was fantastic to see so many of our swimmers there, and such a range of ages and abilities. We had swimmers who are old hands and have competed for years, some who have returned to competition after time out, and others who are just starting out in competition.

A highlight of the weekend was the “skins” competition, where the fastest 8 swimmers from the 100m IM go through to a knock-out competition, raced over 50m with the stroke pulled out of a hat for each round. On Saturday we had Harvey Reeves representing TASC in the 13 and under boys. With the first 3 rounds picked out as backstroke each time, Harvey swam well and won a well-deserved 3^rd place. On Sunday it was the turn of the 14 and over girls, where we were strongly represented by Paige Unstead, Hope Unstead and Libby Brown. All three girls swam well, with Hope and Paige coming in at 4^th and 6^th respectively. Libby made it to the final round, only just coming 2^nd in a nail-biting 50m breaststroke.

Throughout the entire competition all our swimmers performed brilliantly, with too many medals and PBs to list (for further details see 'Results' page) . It was wonderful to see the breadth of talent we have in the club, and with some very good young swimmers coming through the future looks promising.

PL Long Course Level 1 & 3 Spring Meet

By Anna and Helena Drawer

Over the weekend of March 30^th – 31^st, the club took a team of 9 swimmers to the Plymouth Leander Spring Regional Qualifier. This was a Level 1 & 3 meet in a long-course pool, so it was a bit different to many of the galas we attend during the year, with some national level swimmers competing.

Our swimmers had a great weekend, coming away with 6 gold medals, 3 silver and 2 bronze, as well as several 4^th places and lots of PBs – and no DQs! This was a particularly good achievement in such stiff competition, and with ages being grouped together into 2-year bands. The meet was a long one with races going on well into the evening on both days, but our swimmers coped well with this and stayed in good humour throughout the meet. For some of our swimmers it was their first time competing at a long-course gala, but they rose to the challenge and weren’t daunted by the distance.

Well done to all who competed, you are a credit to the club and we’re proud of your achievements. See you all at Two Counties!

Medallists

Level 1

Adam Lawton (16) Silver 100 Back, Bronze 50 Back & 200 Back

Level 3

Anna Drawer (15) Gold 800 Free, Silver 1500 Free

Adam Lawton (16) Gold 100 Free

Lauren Parker (16) Gold 1500 Free

Ashton Puddifoot (13) Gold 50 Free, 100 Free & 400 Free, Silver 200 Free

Devon County Championships 2019

The annual Dartmoor Sprints meet at Okehampton marked the start of the 2019 competitions. For many of our younger swimmers, this is their first time competing for TASC.

TASC coach Suz Tyrrell was very impressed with everyone's performance, from the 9/10 year old taking part in their first licensed meet to the older swimmers who've come back to competing after taking a break. All the hard work on learning their starts and turns really paid off as they nailed them along with some great swimming.

Lots of PBs and medals but mostly some very happy smiling faces, friendships being built and just enjoying the experience.

Gold Medals

James Figes (14) 50 Fly, 100 IM

Rosie Forwood (11) 50 Fly

Georgia Parker (11) 100 IM

Jessie Parker (13) 50 Free

Fletcher Powe (13) 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 50 Free, 100 IM

Taryn Powe (13) 50 Breast

Juliette Reed (13) 50 Back, 50 Fly, 100 IM

Ellen Webber (14) 50 Fly

Silver Medals

Harvey Cooper (11) 50 Breast

Harry Fanson (13) 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM

James Figes (14) 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Free

Jessie Parker (13) 100 IM

Roxie Powe (12) 50 Fly

Taryn Powe (13) 50 Back

Juliette Reed (13) 50 Breast, 50 Free

Ellen Webber (14) 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Free, 100 IM

Bronze Medals

Olivia Boulton (9) 50 Breast, 100 IM

Harvey Cooper (11) 50 Back, 50 Free, 100 IM

Harry Fanson (13) 50 Free

Rosie Forwood (11) 50 Breast

Henry Gaton (10) 50 Free

Georgia Parker (11) 50 Free

Jessie Parker (13) 50 Breast

Roxie Powe (12) 50 Back

Taryn Powe (13) 50 Fly, 50 Free, 100 IM

Eloise Prouse (9) 50 Back

William Prouse (12) 50 Back

Archie Reeves (9) 50 Back

Thomas Williams (13) 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly

November & December Meets

The months of November and December have been a busy time for TASC swimmers, with many securing their county times before the December deadline. Below is a summary of the medal winners at the various meets:

North Cornwall Dragons Meet

Gold Medals

Emily Forwood (14) 50 Breast, 100 Breast, 100 IM, 100 Free

Evan Jenkin (11) 100 Breast, 200 IM

Silver Medals

Phoebe Cook (11) 100 Fly, 200 IM

Evan Jenkin (11) 50 Breast, 50 Fly

Lola Meech (11) 50 Fly, 100 Fly

Bronze Medals

Imogen Cook (10) 100 Fly

Anna Drawer (14) 100 Back, 100 Breast, 800 Free

Evan Jenkin (11) 100 IM

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Plymouth Xmas Meet

Gold Medals

Ashton Puddifoot (11) 100 Fly, 200 Fly, 400 Free

Emily Tyrrell (16) 100 IM

Silver Medals

Ben Coles (10) 200 Breast, 200 Fly

Ashton Puddifoot (11) 50 Free, 200 IM

Emily Tyrrell (16) 50 Free, 100 Breast

Bronze Medals

Ashton Puddifoot (11) 100 IM

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Taunton Deane & Street Millfield Meet

Gold Medals

Adam Clewer (21) 50 Breast, 50 Free

Adam Lawton (15) 50 Fly, 100 IM, 200 IM

Hope Unstead (14) 200 Back, 200 IM

Silver Medals

Adam Clewer (21) 200 Breast

Phoebe Cook (11) 200 Fly

Adam Lawton (15) 50 Breast, 100 Back, 200 Back, 100 Fly, 200 Fly

Lola Meech (10) 200 Fly

Hope Unstead (14) 50 Back, 50 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 Fly

Bronze Medals

Adam Lawton (15) 50 Free

Lola Meech (10) 50 Free

Harvey Reeves (13) 200 Fly

Maisie Stevens (10) 100 IM

Welsh Summer Nationals 2018

From Monday 30 July until Sunday 5 August, 13 year old Emily Forwood  was invited to take part in the Welsh National Championships at the Wales National Pool in Swansea.

She competed in 9 events during the week, just missing out on a final qualification in both 50m butterfly (30.92s) and 100m butterfly (1:11.13s), but qualified for a final place in the 50m backstroke when she finished in 5th place (32.94s), came home with a bronze medal and a new PB in 1500m freestyle (19:37.76s) and silver medal and a new PB in 200m butterfly (2:33.38s).

She was presented with her silver medal by Rio paralympic breaststroke champion Aaron Moores.This was a great result for her first time attending this meet and is looking forward to even more success at next year's event.

A massive thank you to Head Coach Andy Unstead, for all his effort in preparing Emily for this competition, and despite not being present at the competition in Swansea, watched every race as it was streamed live and continued to provide advice via social media throughout the week.

Larry Hill rewarded by ASA

Our long standing and much loved coach Larry Hill recently attended a prestigious lunch at the University of Birmingham where he received the Amateur Swimming Association's (ASA)  Silver award in the category of Services to Aquatics. The award was presented by Rio 2016 Olympic diving bronze medallist Dan Goodfellow and Rio 2016 Paralympic swimming gold medallist Ellie Robinson.

Larry has been involved with Torridgeside Amateur Swimming Club (TASC) for over 40 years and has inspired generations of young swimmers. Congratulations Larry, we're all very proud of you!