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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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The National Arena Swimming League (previously the National Speedo Swimming League) is, as its title states, a national competition involving teams entered from clubs from all over England and Wales. It is broken down into seven regions (East Midlands, South, London, North East, North West, Western and West Midlands), with the City of Cardiff Swimming Club competing in the Western League.
The Western Region includes clubs from as far afield as Bournemouth (Dorset), Truro (Cornwall), Swindon (Wiltshire) and Pembrokeshire. There are four 'divisions' within the league (Premier, One Two and Three).
There are three rounds in the competition, these being held in October, November and December. There are then two National finals, which are held in April or May of the next year. The locations for each round vary, and are usually published a few weeks before the event is due to take place.
We have two teams swimming in the competiton. This year, the 'A' team is competing in the Premier division, and the 'B' team swimming in Division One. Each team has male and female swimmers in age groups 11 and under, 13 and under, 15 and under and Open. There is a maximum of six male and six female swimmers per age group. Each age group swims a freestyle relay team, a medley relay team, and all four individual events.
The first National Speedo League cup final was held at Crystal Palace in 1970. City of Cardiff were winners of the cup final in 1975. The B final has been in existence since 2001, having been first held at Sheffield.
In the 2006 competition, the City of Cardiff came 6th in the B final, held at Ponds Forge, Sheffield on 22nd April 2007. In the 2007 competition, the Club came first in the 'B' Final, again held at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, on 11th May 2008. In the 2008 competition, City of Cardiff defended their title, again winning the 'B' final, and also the Relay Challenge trophy, in a closely fought contest at Ponds Forge on the 26th April 2009.
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| National Swimming League 2009 |
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National Arena Swimming League 2009
The dates for the 2009 League rounds and final can be found below:
| Round 1 |
10th October 2009 |
| Round 2 |
14th November 2009 |
| Round 3 |
12th December 2009 |
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| Final |
25th April 2010 |
Please ensure that if you are picked to swim in the rounds and the final that you keep these dates free. The squad and teams can be viewed here.
Round 2
The draw for Round 2 can be viewed here. The 'A' team is at Exeter (5.00pm) and the 'B' Team is at Hutton Moor
Round 1
The results for round 1 can be viewed below
The League results can be viewed here, and the League table can be viewed here.
A Team report (thanks to Dave Lloyd)
The first Arena League meet saw the A team swimming in Newport. Cardiff started positively by arriving first… over an hour before the warm up!!
The first two races were won by Tom Haffield and Danielle Stirrat in the open 200 IM. Danielle was always in control and Tom destroyed the field showing his Olympic ability. For the first half of the competition, we seemed fairly equally matched with Bournmouth who fielded a new strong team amalgamated with Ferndown.
Further individual wins followed for Chloe Tutton (x 2 in a busy schedule which also saw her swimming up an age-group on several occasions) Robyn Ventrice, Tom Greenfield, Sian Harkin, Another win for Danielle, and 2 wins for Ieuan Lloyd and Sophia Pauley. Caitlin Xerri and Emma Pearn won the 100 breastroke and the 100 freestyle in the 10-11 year age group showing some talent in the lower age groups. Louise Henley also made her debut for Cardiff with a win in the open 100m Breast. There were also many relay wins. However Bournemouth continued to show their strength in depth rarely dropping below third even in their weakest events and gradually pulled ahead. A couple of good relay swims in the final session for Cardiff were also to no avail, finishing with disqualifications, and despite winning the last two relays, Bournemouth proved too consistent and Cardiff had to accept second place.
There were plenty of positives to be taken from the event and of course we beat four out of five of the opposing teams! It was a good experience for all and as always a good event for the spectators.
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| National Swimming League 2008 |
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City of Cardiff Swimming Club flew the Welsh flag in Sheffield on the 26th April. Having just failed to qualify for the A final at Christmas with the top 10 clubs in Britain, they were determined to prove themselves the best of the rest in competing with the next 10 top clubs in the “B” final of the National League.
This competition was as lively as swimming gets, with supporters for each team in club kit with mascots and loud horns blaring. Each race in the 3 hour program provides points towards the final total determining the overall winner. There are 10 points for first place, down to 1 for 10th and zero for a disqualification. Prizes included the overall winner, the winner of the relay challenge (based on all the times of the relay teams added together for each club) and even a best supporters trophy! Age groups include 11 and under, 13 and under, 15 and under and open.
After a good opening swim with a 3rd place in the 200m IM from Danielle Stirrat swimming up in the open age group followed by a full 10 points from Olympic athlete Tom Haffield in the second event, confidence was high. However, apart from a few good placings in the early relays which included a Welsh junior record for Ieuan Lloyd in the 50 m freestyle in the first leg of the boys 4X50 freestyle relay, some mid and low positions began to see Cardiff slip from the top, with City of Salford starting to pull ahead.
Otto Putland injected some more pride into the team with a win in the 15 and under in event 16, the boys 100m backstroke. However, wherever Cardiff scored high, City of Salford were close behind, and with 10 events to go City of Salford still held onto the lead. Some good final performances with an excellent exhibition in the last few relays from City of Cardiff, however gave Cardiff a victory not only in the overall competition but also in the Relay Challenge! Despite a huge cheer from Cardiff supporters when their team raised the Welsh Flag, the supporter’s trophy went to Leatherhead pirates, several of whom came dressed as pirates for the occasion.
Notable performances included individual wins for Thomas Haffield in the 200 IM, Otto Putland in the 15 and under 100m back and Ieuan Lloyd in the 15 and under 100m breast and 100m fly. Imogen Pauley gained second places in the 11 and under 50m fly and the 50m free. Third places were obtained by Tom Greenfield in the open fly, and Jenna Hussey in the 13 and under 100m back and 100m fly. Danielle Stirrat gained third places in the open 200m IM 100m Back and the 100m free despite swimming up from her age group and swimming a gruelling schedule as well as a third place in her own age group, the 15 and under 100m free
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2007 Results
On 11th May 2008, the Clubs 'A' Team had a 4.30am start, to get to Sheffield to swim in theh 'B'Final. Cardiff were drawn in lane 4 against nine other clubs, including old rivals from the Western League heats, namely Taunton Deane, Ferndown and Bournemouth Dolphins. (Millfield and Plymouth Leander both qualified for the 'A' Final). The teams can be seen below.
| Club |
League |
| Nottingham Leander |
East Midlands |
| Ealing |
London |
| Leatherhead SC |
South |
| Cardiff |
Western |
| Bracknell & Wokingham SC |
South |
| Ferndown |
Western |
| City of Salford |
North West |
| Bournemouth Dolphins |
Western |
| Taunton Deane |
Western |
| City of Derby |
West Midlands |
After 50 events, and some excellent swims, the City of Cardiff finished first with 320 points. Second place was taken by Ealing, and third by Nottingham Leander (both with 297 points). Congratulations to all the team.
Although it was very much a team effort, special mentions go to Robbie Burns and Ieuan Lloyd who were designated the most improved swimmers in the 13-and-under and 15-and-under age groups respectively. Additional individual winners on the day included Tom Haffield in the 200 metres open individual medley and the100 metres open backstroke (Tom will be competing for Great Britain this summer in the Olympic Games), Ieuan Lloyd in the 15-and-under100 metres freestyle and Robbie Burns in the 13-and-under 100 metres freestyle. Winning relay teams included the boys 15-and-under medley relay team (comprising Ieuan Lloyd, Alex Finn, Chris Watts and Tom Newby) and the girls 15-and-under medley relay team (comprising Hannah Kane-Roberts, Sam Ventrice, Robyn Ventrice and Sian Harkin).
Second places were gained by Sian Harkin in the 13-and-under 100 metres freestyle, Ieuan Lloyd in the 15-and-under 100 metres butterfly, Robbie Burns in the 13-and-under 100 metres butterfly and Alex Finn in the15-and-under 100 metres breaststroke. Furthermore, the 11-and-under boys freestyle team (containing Aeron Campell, Liam Rees, Jacob Watkins and Tom Sharp), the 15-and-under boys freestyle team (including Tom Newby, Alex Finn, Chris Watts and Ieuan Lloyd), and the 13-and-under girls freestyle team (comprising Sophia Pauley, Vicky Jones, Seren Jones and Sian Harkin) also gained second places in their respective races.
Third places went to Gareth Cocks in the open 100 metres butterfly, Imogen Pauley in the 11-and-under 50 metres butterfly, Sam Ventrice in the open and the 15-and-under 100 metres breaststroke and Bethan Thomas in the open 100 metres freestyle. The open age women’s medley relay team of Stella Lancey, Sam Ventrice, Robyn Ventrice and Bethan Thomas also gained a third placing.
You can download the team sheet and the results by clicking on the respective links.
Unfortunately, as you may or may not be aware, there were issues with the licensing of the finals. The matter was raised at a meeting of the ASA TSC and they refused to grant a licence for the events.
The times cannot, therefore, be used for entry into National Championships. The results have been included in Rankings so that they may be used for Talent Progression etc. They have to be given a Level and have been given a Level 4 classification for this purpose only.
Ian Mackenzie, secretary of the National Speedo Swimming League has said "I am sorry that this will disappoint many of your swimmers but my hands are tied. The gala was run in accordance with Licence level one conditions other than the age at date situation. The committee wishes that the league swims the rounds at the last date of the rounds with the final as at the date of the final, two separate dates. This in my view is two separate competitions but if anyone has a solution how we can move this forward for the future, please let me know."
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