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Well Blues, this has taken a long time to get done. All my badgering and cajoling you and your parents, but I think it is something special. I had tears welling in my eyes after seeing it for the first time and it was not with laughter (Apart from James Bond and Blackbeard the Pirate).

I have always said, perhaps to myself, how proud of all of Blues I am. The effort and commitment you give to this demanding sport at whatever level you are at is awesome, but this beats it by far. I know for some of you it has taken you out of your comfort zone but well done. Perhaps we should do a parents song, if you look closely one managed to get herself in the Video, well done Molli’s Mum.

One thing you will be pleased about is I, unfortunately, do not sing on this, I thought I had a chance on Monday but it was cruelly take away from me, one of those things and I’m not bitter about it.

This could not have happened without the help of Dan and Angie Taylor who edited it all together, again I am in your debt.

Please enjoy it, just a bit of fun.

See you soon hopefully

Craig

Finally, it’s over. Three weekends, 6 Sessions. Final Medal tally is 16 GOLD, 16 SILVER & 18 BRONZE. We competed in 101 Finals/Top 8 placings and again many PB’s and Regional qualification times were achieved. We had 27 Swimmers in Finals and Top 8, also 13 Individual Swimmers taking Medals. In addition to this 1 Gold
2 Bronze Medals in Relays and a series of near-misses by sometimes 100th’s of a second. (A recording of the 15/16 Girls Gold Medal-winning race is on the Hoylake Website, please take a look at the domination the young ladies inflicted on the opposition) Overall a very satisfying Cheshire County Championships 2020 for Hoylake. Being the best Peninsular Club at Cheshires is not important!!, it’s the consistency of all our swimmers in all events. Hoylake and certainly I, have always recognised the Squad system and the benefits it brings to the club, and this event and Lancashires should, and now hopefully will be the domain of Club. We all come together and swim together, a joint venture. As a consequence, that is why we finished 4th in the Hugh Laughland Age Group Aggregate Trophy (16 years and under) behind Stockport Metro, Warriors and Winsford and 6th in the Wallace Aggregate Trophy (Senior and Junior Events). Every swimmer that swam contributed to those results, Gold Medallists, 8th Place Finalists, we are a team.
SWIMMERS WHO ACHIEVED MEDALS AND FINALS/TOP 8 PLACINGS
Tash McDonnell (14) BRONZE 400mIM, 4th 200m Butterfly, 6th 400m Freestyle, 4th 200m Freestyle
SILVER 800m Freestyle
Lehna Davies (15) 7th 400m IM, 5th 200m IM, 8th 100m Backstroke, 8th 200m Backstroke,5th 100m Breaststroke 4th 200m Breaststroke
Millie Gidman (16) SILVER 400mIM, GOLD 50m Freestyle, BRONZE 200m Butterfly, GOLD 100m Freestyle, SILVER 200m IM, GOLD 100m Butterfly, GOLD 200m Freestyle
Emily Bernhem (16) BRONZE 400mIM, BRONZE 50m Freestyle, 4th 200m Butterfly, BRONZE 100m Freestyle
6TH 200m IM, BRONZE 100m Backstroke, BRONZE 400m Freestyle, SILVER 100m IM, SILVER 50m Butterfly BRONZE 100m Butterfly, BRONZE 200m Backstroke, 4th 50m Backstroke, BRONZE 200m Freestyle Christopher Jamieson (11) 4th 100m Freestyle,6TH 200m Freestyle, 5th 100m Butterfly, BRONZE 50m Freestyle, GOLD 200m Butterfly, BRONZE 200m Breaststroke
Lucas Horton (15) GOLD 100m Freestyle, SILVER 100m IM, GOLD 100m Butterfly, 6th 200m IM,
GOLD 50m Butterfly
Abbie Roscoe (11) SILVER 50m Freestyle, SILVER 100m Freestyle, GOLD 200m IM, BRONZE 400m Freestyle, GOLD 100m IM, GOLD 50m Breaststroke, SILVER 50m Butterfly, GOLD 100m Butterfly, 6th 200m Backstroke, SILVER 200m Freestyle, GOLD 100m Breaststroke, SILVER 200m Breaststroke.
Emily Brown (16) SILVER 50m Freestyle, 4th 100m Freestyle
Anna Underwood (17+) 8TH 50m Freestyle, GOLD 200m Butterfly, 6th 100m Freestyle,6TH 200m IM, SILVER 100mIM 4th 50m Butterfly, BRONZE 100m Butterfly, 6th 50m Backstroke, 7th 200m Freestyle
Harvey Dean (16) 7TH 200m Freestyle,7th 50m Backstroke,
Lee Harrison (16) 8th 200m Freestyle,7th 400m Freestyle, 4th 800m Freestyle.

Ilona Thomas Jenkins (14) 8th 200m Butterfly
Drew Woodward-Booth (12) 4th 100m Butterfly, 5th 50m Butterly,
Amelia Dodd (16) 5th 100m Freestyle
Thea Stewart (14) SILVER 200m IM, 5th 100m Backstroke, GOLD 400m Freestyle, SILVER 100m IM
Abigail Beech (16) 8th 200m IM, BRONZE 50m Breaststroke, BRONZE 100m Breaststroke
BRONZE 200m Breaststroke
Lily Horton (12) 7th 100m Backstroke, 6th 50m Breaststroke, 6th 100m Breaststroke, 5th 200m Breaststroke Lucy Benton (16) 6th 100m Backstroke,4th 200m Backstroke, 7th 50m Backstroke
Helen Booth (14) 8th 50m Breaststroke, 8th 100m Breaststroke,
Freya King-Mackinnon (15) 8th 50m Breaststroke,
Gia Hothersall (14) GOLD 1500m Freestyle
Megan Pendleton (14) SILVER 1500m Freestyle
Emily Brown (16) BRONZE 50m Butterfly, 5th 200m Freestyle
Jasmine Rostron (14) 5th 50m Backstroke
Regan Young (12) 6th 50m Breaststroke, 8th 200m Breaststroke
Niamh King-Mackinnon (17+) 5th 200m Breaststroke.
Dior Beavan (11) 4th 50m Butterfly
15-16 Girls Freestyle Relay GOLD Millie Gidman, Emily Bernhem, Emily Brown, Amelia Dodd
15-16 Girls Medley Relay BRONZE Millie Gidman, Abigail Beech, Emily Bernhem, Emily Brown
10-12 Boys Freestyle Relay BRONZE Drew Woodward-Booth, Christopher Jamieson, Reagan Young, Will Reynolds.
Cheshire Bagcats
Abbie Roscoe Winner 10/11 Years Girls
Thea Stewart 2nd 14 Years Girls
Millie Gidman 2nd 16 Years Girls
The club’s improvement from last year is phenomenal. This is my 5th County Championships on poolside with the club, and I truly believe this group of swimmers is the best I’ve seen in that time and definitely the best group since 2011 at Hoylake and some more are at Lancashires, they would make us even stronger hopefully next year!!!. As mentioned earlier Cheshire County has 2 group awards here are our positions:
Wallace Aggregate Trophy (Senior and Junior Events)

1. Stockport Metro  901  2. Warriors ***  371  3. Winsford  241  4. Altrincham  196  5. Halton  149  6. Hoylake  140 Last Year 45  7. Trafford Metro  139  8. Satellites of Macclesfield  127  9. Crewe Flyers  109  10. Bebington  108  11. City of Chester  107  12. Dane Valley  92  13 Nantwich Seals  66  14. Knutsford Vikings  58  15. Northwich Centurions  27  16. Marple  17  17. Alsager  5  18. Romiley Marina 

Hugh Laughland Age Group Aggregate Trophy (16 years and under) 1. Stockport Metro  2123.5  2. Warrington Warriors  1430  3. Winsford  941  4. Hoylake  547 Last Year 297.5  5. Satellites of Macclesfield ***  435  6. Halton  390.5  7. Altrincham  346  8. Bebington  345.5  9. Trafford Metro  317.5  10. Knutsford Vikings  238  11. Crewe Flyers  229  12. City of Chester  172.5  13. Nantwich Seals  161  14. Dane Valley  108  15. Northwich Centurions  89  16. Alsager  66  17. ASKA  60  17. Romiley Marina  60  19. Wilmslow  27  20. Sandbach Sharks  21  21. Ellesmere Port  3  22. Hazel Grove & Bramhall

People to thank, Parents, Grandparents, Aunties, Uncles and Share Lifts which I’m sure there were a few. If it wasn’t for all of you, our swimmers wouldn’t have achieved what they achieved. All our officials, I believe as a Club over the Weekends we had had most. If it wasn’t for you Guys and Gals these Galas would not run. Poolside helpers unsung but again Cheshire County couldn’t operate without you. Thank you to all of you 

Team Managers, Laura, Joy and Dawn. Sam who helped on Relay afternoon. Harry who was with me on poolside for all individual sessions. Thank you all, it made my life so much easier. It is a lot of Thank-yous 

Finally, the swimmers, thank you so much. Having fun is part of Cheshire’s, but equally knuckling down to some quality swimming is another. We are not robots who can turn it on every time we swim, but the effort and determination shown by you all were satisfying to see, some swims were breathtaking. Transferring skills from the training pool to the competition pool is what all coaches want to see, and certainly, that was in abundance. One more thing to mention, behaviour. I am so proud of you all, you are all a credit to your parents, not one issue over 3 weekends. Good manners and behaviour never go out of fashion. Hoylake salutes you all. 

So, other Counties over, some of us looking forward to Regionals and Nationals. For everyone else let’s look to getting County Times early this year. We had 60 qualifiers this year, and 50 individuals entered, next year lets go bigger again and try and upset the top 3, big task, but if you don’t have targets! So many galas coming up especially for Blues over the next 10 months, other Groups see your coach find out which meets they are targeting. 

See you at the pool 

Craig 

TAKE 

Hello everybody please see below links to Wirral Metros spring 2020 development meet.

The final club event of 2019, Division One, Arena League Final. Once again Hoylake SC fired up the coach and travelled up the M6 to race in Kendal. We all knew this was going to be difficult, we were up against some strong teams with some exceptional individual athletes, but did we back away from the challenge? That’s not the Hoylake way.

As I said last time, to mention any one swimmer would be totally unjust. We are all part of the Hoylake Team and family. Everyone swam fantastically well, I mentioned before the Gala started to the swimmers, swim your best that’s all I can ask for, and that’s what I got. 50 events were every swimmer gave 110%.

As pointed out last time this squad of swimmers we have at the moment is the best I’ve seen for many years. To get everyone to Cheshires would be a dream, relays would be awesome but never mind I can but dream, but to be involved with this group of athletes is an honour for me you make me feel so proud.

Many thanks to all our judges: Angie Taylor and Shane Gidman, to Elaine Armstrong and Paula Corley, for being outstanding on poolside, ensuring all swimmers needs were catered for. We do have the best poolside team, there is no doubt about that at all.

To our amazing supporters on the balcony I know Kendal is not around the corner and we lose most of a day, but it was wonderful to see so many of you up there. It really does give us all a tremendous boost, so thank you again, as always for all your support.

The final word as always goes to all our swimmers, not just the swimmers who raced tonight but to each and every swimmer who trains and races for our fantastic club, we are blessed with so many talented athletes. Well done to you all.

A great night of racing and a superb result for Hoylake, finishing Third was probably a true reflection, with a couple of tight finishes going our way perhaps second. So, let’s get ready for Blackpool or Macclesfield
because we have been PROMOTED.

Well Done to everyone, an outstanding team effort.

So, that’s it. Christmas is upon us again. Last event Novelty Gala 22nd December, I hope you are all
entered.
See you at the pool. Thanks
Craig

Please see below link to the full results for the Wirral Metro Christmas 2019 Meet.

Hello everyone,
Just a little note to keep you informed about our exploits at the final weekend at the Peninsular Galas. We had 174 individual swims which produced 125 PB’s (over 66%). Our medal haul was 54 Gold, 31 Silver and 25 Bronze. We had representation from Blues down to our Silver Group and everyone performed with great authority.
I’m sure for some of our younger swimmers it was quite nervous, but from my position, they swam as if they were seasoned swimmers so well done to you all. The objective at these galas for the younger swimmers is to get race experience and also try to transfer all the work from a training environment to race conditions. It’s a shame everyone didn’t see them try to or accomplish those objectives.
These galas and also the Wirral Metro Meet next weekend fall perfectly towards the end of the qualifying window for County Championships, I would like to congratulate the following swimmers on achieving the standard, and therefore able to compete at the competitions in January 2020.
Lucas Horton 400IM, Ilona Thomas-Jenkins 400IM & 200IM, Issy Cundall 400IM, Christopher Jamieson 100m Breaststroke, Millie McKeown 50m & 200m Breaststroke, Tay Wade 200IM, Emily French 200IM & 200m Breaststroke, Izzy Taylor 200IM, Marcus Thornton 50m Freestyle, Drew Woodward-Booth 100m Butterfly, Tash McDonnell 100 Freestyle, Emma Bayley 100m Freestyle, Orla Smout 200m Breaststroke.
If I have missed any I apologise.
We are now up to nearly 60 swimmers with qualifying times for Cheshire and Lancashire County Championships, which is the largest contingent of athletes we have had for many years. Hopefully next weekend we will get a few more qualifiers.
I would like to thank everyone who competed this weekend, we had many swimmers who are within touching distance of qualifying for Counties and many of these athletes are competing next weekend at the Wirral Metro meet, hopefully, the outcome will be positive.
I would like to thank Natalie and Sam who also gave up their time this weekend, we all have busy lives but it is great to see the swimmers you coach perform at so well at galas.
Craig

It is that time of year again but this year with added mixed relays! All the details you need are listed below.

The accepted entries are for all clubs so you need to scroll down to Hoylake’s entries. Please urgently check your child’s entries and if there are any queries please contact me urgently on dawnandgraemeh@talktalk.net as the programs are being printed on Monday evening.

Good luck to all swimmers.

Dawn

Below the Conditions and entry file for the City of Liverpool Splash and Dash Meet, in February 2020.

This is a targeted meet for Blues, and I would like full attendance please!!!.

This gala is open to everyone at the club, if you have no time, please get a coaches time to make sure you are in the correct heat for your ability.

It is taking place at the 50m Pool in Liverpool, and will be for some their first experience of Long Course Swimming, which is a great experience,

All 4 strokes are available and it is only 50m events. Please read Competition Rule 6, entry times need to be Long Course times or converted short course to long course, you can use Pullbuoy conversion tables, if you google this it will appear near the top of the page. Any problems please contact me. I’m also on poolside 5 nights a week if you need to see me.

The internal closing date is Monday 9th December 2019. Can all entries be posted in the box at West Kirby Concourse. You can make payments by cheque to Hoylake SC, PLEASE DO NOT MAKE PAYMENT TO CITY OF LIVERPOOL, or you can pay by BACS direct to Hoylake.

Entries can also be made by email direct to me on craig.pickering6@btinternet.com

Thanks

Craig

Please see details for the forthcoming Wirral Metro Christmas Meet 2019 published by Wirral Metro via the link below.

Updated PB’s have been added to the members’ area along with results from the recent Development League, Arena League R1 and the Masters’ Team Swim England Masters National 2019 results.

On Saturday 9th November Hoylake SC again fired up the coach and travelled up the M6 to race in the second round of the North West Arena League Division One clash in Kendal. In Round 2 we were up against once more some very strong teams. Hoylake however, as we know, do not shirk away from a challenge, and we knew we could get a good result to take us into round 3.
As I said last time, to mention any one swimmer would be totally unjust. We are all part of the Hoylake Team and Family. Everyone swam fantastically well, I mentioned before the Gala started to the swimmers that 200 points is the target and that’s what we got. The squad of swimmers we have now in my opinion is probably the best we’ve had since 2008/2009, so to be involved with this group of athletes is an honour for me.
Many thanks to all our judges: Angie Taylor, Louise Johnson and Shane Gidman, and to Richard Williams for recording the results, to Elaine Armstrong and Paula Corley, for being outstanding on poolside, ensuring all swimmers needs were catered for. We do have the best poolside team, there is no doubt about that at all.
To our amazing supporters on the balcony I know Kendal is not around the corner and we lose most of a day, but it was wonderful to see so many of you up there. It really does give us all a tremendous boost, so thank you always for all your support. The more the merrier and the noisier would be fantastic in the final.
The final word as always goes to all our swimmers, not just the swimmers who raced tonight but to each and every swimmer who trains and races for our fantastic club,
A great night of racing and a superb result for Hoylake, Well Done to everyone, an outstanding team effort.
So, we move onto the final event of the trilogy, so the job is nearly done. It looks as if we have made Top Gala which is superb, so please make sure we have our biggest and strongest team available for Saturday 14th December. Don’t miss it, lots of drama and excitement to come!
See you at the pool. Thanks
Craig

Dear All

The Peninsular Group have sent a list of accepted entries to gala 1 which takes place Sunday 17th November, copy attached. Please consider the attached very carefully and urgently notify me of any errors on dawnandgraemeh@talktalk.net so that I can ask Peninsular Group to amend before the weekend. 

However please note that the programme is being printed tomorrow, so if there are any amendments they will not be reflected in the programme just on the computer so you can always check with the Team Manager on Sunday once they have the heat sheets.

Happy swimming.

7 Tips to Improve your Backstroke

Among all strokes, the backstroke is the second slowest. Butterfly and freestyle are quicker than it.

The backstroke has a remarkable similarity with the freestyle, also known as front crawl. In both, the arm pulling motion alternates, with the aid of a flutter kick.

1. Point your face straight up: While performing backstroke we have a natural urge to look around. This tendency results from sheer curiosity about many things at the same time. However, your head should not rotate in the first place. You can follow the water bottle balance drill to maintain a straight head position. Swimming with your head straight and up helps you swim faster.
2. Relax your neck: Most youngsters lose alignment as they tuck their chin while backstroking. Do not forget to keep your neck nice and relaxed whenever you swim backstroke. It will ensure a straight line from head to down to the spine. This means you maintain a low profile in the water and causes less drag. It also makes you feel smooth and relaxed.
3. Relax your ankles when kicking: We do not kick our ankles to push water up and down; rather we should try to push water back. All champion swimmers have one thing in common – they maintain a vertical forearm all the way through and plant the top of their foot to push the water back.
4. Your hands should be in contact with just outside of your shoulders: The reason why we enter our hands in water is to avoid the criss-crossing resulting from pull. This also helps you to be in the pulling motion a lot faster.
5. Your thumb is the first to leave water, while your back is the last: The first phase of arm recovery should include turning your palm to face the hips, thumb exits water first. As the arm comes up and over, rotate it to make sure your pinky touches the water first.
6. When kicking, don’t break the surface with your knees: Newbies in the world of backstroke lodge kicks from their knees. This is a wrong practice. The hip is the place from where a kick should originate. It will spread a smooth and whip-like ripple all over the toes. Follow some basic drills to reduce stress on your knees.
7. Hip rotation is just fine: If your hips remain all flat during backstroke, it will get harder. As a result, you will experience limited shoulder rotation, and cause a narrow pulling motion. So, a little mix of hip rotation will empower your pulling motion with more torque/power. However, you have to make sure that you are not rotating too much.

Congratulations to all who travelled to the Holywell meet today!
Out of 49 swims, there were 41 PBs and Emily French got a county time in 100m breaststroke. Swimmers enter this meet at either an AA or B grade, depending on their previous time, so there are two levels at which to compete. Hoylake gained medals in both grades, with Alex Poulston, Sam Scullion and  Evan Pilgrim medalling at AA grade and Emma Henrys-Gill, Holly Shirley, Edie Rogers, Zosia Rygielska and Sophia Tarleton gaining B medals. If a swimmer has not swum an event before, or has a slower qualifying time, they are automatically entered into the B category. If ,when the event is swum, the swimmer achieves a time faster than the B grade cut-off, ie: too fast to now compete in the B grade, then they are awarded a ‘speeding ticket’. Congratulations to Lucy Turner, Sophia Tarleton, Edie Rogers (3!), Sam Scullion, Evan Pilgrim, Zosia Rygielska, Alex Poulston, Sophie Wright and Annabelle Rogan for swimming too fast!Well done also to Millie Rice-Oxley, who confidently competed in her first gala and Millie McKeown, who gained 2 PBs. 
Annabel and Anna Underwood