Posted on 23 December 2010
City of Leeds’ triumph in last month’s Junior League Final makes the front cover of December’s Swimming Times Magazine.
The Swimming Times article has been scanned and is available in PDF format below. Please note that it is a large file and may take a while to download.
Swimming Times December 2010: New Kids on the Podium [PDF, 4.37 MB]
Courtesy of the ASA.
Posted on 14 December 2010
City of Leeds A Team qualify for the Arena League National Final after an emphatic victory in the North East League Final.
The final of the North East National Arena Swimming League took place at the John Charles Centre, Leeds, on 12th December 2010. Competing teams were, City of Leeds, City of Sheffield, Doncaster Dartes, Harrogate, Gateshead & Wickham and Tynemouth.
City of Leeds ‘A’ Team got off to a flying start winning 8 of the first 10 events. They continued this trend winning a total of 30 events and finishing in the top 3 in 47 out of the 50 events. A great achievement from the whole team. The City of Leeds ‘B’ Team fought hard to earn 18 top three finishes and 5th place overall.
The final (3rd) round standings were:
After 3 wins out of 3 the City of Leeds ‘A’ Team were crowned North East League Champions with City of Leeds ‘B’ Team finishing 4th equal with Harrogate.
This means that City of Leeds qualify for the National Final, which will be held at Ponds Forge, Sheffield on April 17th 2011. City of Sheffield qualify for the National ‘B’ Final.
Posted on 29 November 2010
Yesterday, City of Leeds stomped to victory in the Arena Junior Inter-League Final for the first time in their history.
Posted on 15 November 2010
City of Leeds’ strength in depth shines through in the second round of the North East Arena Swimming League.
On Saturday 13th November the 8 teams from the North East of England assembled at the John Charles Centre for Sport, Leeds, to compete in round 2 of the National Arena Swimming League.
Despite City of Leeds winning 6 of the first 10 events, the early leaders were once again Sheffield ‘A’ team, with a slender 1 point lead after 10 events. After 18 events City of Leeds ‘A’ had surged into an 8 point lead which they were never to relinquish. Winning 29 events and placing in the top 3 positions in 46 out of 50 events City of Leeds ‘A’ eventually finished 43 point ahead of closet rivals Sheffield ‘A’. City of Leeds ‘B’ team picked up their performance in round 2 and despite not winning any events finished comfortably in 3rd place, picking up 2 places from the previous round, a fantastic performance.
Well done to everyone involved.
Posted on 9 November 2010
City of Leeds’ BACGAT Swimmers in particular, dominate proceedings at short course NER Championships in Sunderland.
Posted on 11 October 2010
Liam Birrell and Kiani Campbell-Grady come away with five and four golds respectively as Leeds enjoy success in first championship event of the season.
Ponds Forge, Sheffield was the venue for the first championship event of the season. With some of the best swimmers in the county trying to post some fast early season times, the competition at the Yorkshire Swimming Association Winter Championships was tough.
The City of Leeds were represented by swimmers from the Development, Competition, Regional Youth and Senior and National Age and Youth squads. There were some great performances over the weekend with many best times especially form the clubs younger swimmers.
Liam Birrell (5), Chantel Madden (2), Chloe Adams, Kiani Campbell-Grady (4), Richard Mawson, Lewis Evers
Eleanor Jones, Jessica Manning (2), Chantel Madden
Richard Mawson (2), Jacob Seddon, Eleanor Jones (2), Jessica Manning (2), Nicola Graham, Olivia White, Euan Cowan
Well done to everyone involved.
Posted on 11 October 2010
City of Leeds triumphantly reignite Arena League campaign after a five year hiatus.
Posted on 8 October 2010
After a disappointing 200m individual medley earlier in the week, Anne Bochmann clocked a two second life-time best today to finish 4th in the 400m freestyle at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Second to double Olympic Champion Rebecca Adlington for much of the race, Anne’s time of 4:08.30 was just 0.08 seconds outside bronze medal position, which was eventually won by Wales’ Jaz Carlin.
Well done and congratulations Anne from all at City of Leeds Swimming Club. A great swim after a long and gruelling season that’s not over just yet; Anne is swimming in the 200m butterfly tomorrow!
Posted on 6 October 2010
Despite it being early in the season there were some fantastic performances from City of Leeds Swimmers. The atmosphere on poolside was excellent and many swimmers achieved best times.
City of Leeds came away with an impressive medal haul of:
Richard Mawson (2), Lauren Roberts, Kiani Campbell-Grady (3), Linda Shaw (4), Toby Kitching (2), Lewis Evers (3), Blake Bennett (2), James Thompson (3), Rebecca Mottershaw (2), Euan Cowan, Eleanor Jones (2), Katherine Fisher (2), Amy Light (2), Phebe Robinson, Ben Taylor-Walsh, Liam Birrell, Fabio Laredo (2), Abbie Holyoake, Cleo Gorringe, Oliver Bingham, Rebekah Birrel, James Waterworth, Dom Beech.
Joseph Gray (3), Georgia Coates (2), Tom Gaskell, Dan Stanway (2), Harrison Day (3), Phebe Robinson, Rebekah Birrell (2), Dan Hall (2), Fabio Laredo (2), Rebecca Fisher (2), Beth Reid, Jemma Aylesbury, Richard Mawson (2), Amy Light (2), James Hole, Blake Bennett, Dom Beech (3), Jess Lewington (3), Euan Cowan, Toby Kitching, Chris Greenwood (2), Oliver Bingham, Kit Lawless Coombs, James Waterworth, Finlay Lawless Coombs, John Wright, Linda Shaw, Hannah Senior, Nicola Garham (2), Anna Bellwood, Ben Taylor-Walsh (2), Abigail Jack, Chris Jackson.
Chris Greenwood (4), Jacob Butterfield (2), Freddy Hoban (2), Nicola Graham (3), Liam Birrell, Dom Beech (3), Lauren Roberts, Brannon Pearson (4), Joseph Gray, Rebekah Birrell (2), Callan Jack, Tom Braginton (2), Sasha Kitching, Cleo Gorringe, Dan Hall, Fabio Laredo (2), Tide Dracup (2), Alexandra Parkes, Layla Black, Anna Bellwood (2), Liberty Mellors, Annie Shaw, Beth Hay, Kit Lawless Coombs, Lee Sinclair, Kerrie Sinclair, Courtney Leathley, James Waterworth, Thomas McAuliffe.
Well done to everyone.
Posted on 5 October 2010
Sunday saw the City of Leeds overcome strong opposition to be crowned Northern League Champions and will now progress to the National Final in November.
Posted on 13 September 2010
Representing Scotland in the French Open Water Cup this weekend, Stephen Waterhouse beat a strong international contingent to complete the double in both the 5k and 10k events.
Posted on 12 September 2010
A magnificent double victory by both ‘A’ & ‘B’ teams in the White Rose League meets held at Aquatics Centre, JCCS.
Saturday 11th September 2010 saw the top clubs in Yorkshire congregate at the John Charles Centre, Leeds for the annual White Rose Competition. This year there were two galas back to back, with the City of Leeds Swimming Club being represented in both galas.
The first gala saw the City of Leeds ‘A’ team going up against strong opposition from the City of Sheffield, Borough of Kirklees, York, Kingston Upon Hull, Harrogate, Doncaster Dartes and Rotherham Metro.
City of Leeds ‘A’ team got off to a fantastic start winning 6 of the first 8 relay events, opening up an early points lead. As the gala moved into the individual events the City of Leeds ‘A’ team continued to build on their great start winning a further 15 events and consistently finishing in the top 3. Going into the final block of relay events the City of Leeds ‘A’ team had a 25 point lead.
This lead proved too much as the City of Leeds ‘A’ team stormed to a further 7 wins in 9 events, winning the overall competition and finishing 44 points ahead of the Borough of Kirklees, with 28 event wins. The ‘A’ team now travels to Lincoln on the 2nd October to compete in the Northern Area Final of the National Junior League.
individual winners were: Ellie Jones (2), Abigail Jack, Kiani Campbell-Grady (3), Liam Birrell (2), Chantel Madden, Toby Kitching, Blake Bennett, Euan Cowan, Richard Mawson (2) and Chloe Adams.
The second gala saw the City of Leeds ‘B’ team take on City Of Sheffield ‘B’ team, Doncaster Dartes ‘B’ team and the City Of Bradford.
Following on from the ‘A’ team the City of Leeds ‘B’ team also made a great start winning 6 of the first 8 relay events. Keeping up the momentum as the second gala moved into the individual events, the City of Leeds ‘B’ team won 14 of the individual events and placed no lower than 3rd. This meant that the ‘B’ team took a strong lead into the final phase of the gala winning 4 of the last 9 relay events, making it an impressive 24 event victories. Despite a strong comeback from Bradford, the City of Leeds ‘B’ team won the second gala by 23 points, securing a fantastic double for the club.
The individual winners were: Dara Madden, Abigail Burton (2), Kit Lawless Coombes, Hannah White, William Finn, Kate Offord, Oliver Bingham, Ben Taylor Walsh, Billy Walker, Elle Pickett, Finlay Lawless Coombes, Leah Crisp, and Bethany Hay.
Well done to all the swimmers and staff involved from both teams and thanks to all the volunteers for their time in making these two meets possible.
Due to a clash of dates, those City of Leeds ‘A’ team swimmers who have been entered for the City of Leeds Junior Open will be removed from the Saturday program and refunds will be arranged.
Posted on 9 September 2010
The ASA National Championships in Sunderland saw a first senior international qualification for Bochmann and a first senior medal for Kiritschenko.
Whilst most of the swimmers arriving in Sunderland were somewhat weary after a long and demanding Youth Championships and found it very challenging to deliver the same performances against some of the best senior swimmers in the UK, the meet for others represented great opportunities.
The highlight for the team on day one was Anne Bochmann winning the senior 200m individual medley title in a new lifetime best performance of 2:13.88 to qualify for the Commonwealth Games and her first senior international meet. Kate Hutchinson, who moved from Leeds to Loughborough last year, was second in 2:15.33 and World Open Water Champion Keri Anne Payne was third in 2:15.38 secs.
Avril Kiritschenko continued her great form when she qualified second going into the final of the 50m breaststroke and raced to another lifetime best performance and club record of 32.44 to secure the silver medal; her first at a senior national level. Later in the week Avril went on to finish 4th in the 100m breaststroke in another LTB performance of 1:11.16 missing a medal by less than 5/10th of a second to finish off a very successful season.
Matthew Allison, who has been with the programme since coming to university last September cruised to the final in the Men’s 400m individual medley in what is his first Senior National Championships since moving from the youth ranks last season. In the final Matthew finished a creditable 4th place with a lifetime best performance of 4:24.7.
Emma Graham posted a lifetime best in the Womens 50m freestyle final after qualifying in the morning heats in 10th position. She succeeded in moving up to 5th place from the outside lane in a time of 26.53 and less than 2/10th of a second from a podium place. Both Emma and Danielle Hall-Jackson finished top 8 in the fastest heat of the Womens 800m freestyle with Danielle finishing 5th marginally outside her best time set at the recent Youth Championships and a good result for her first senior final.
In the Womens 400m freestyle, Anne Bochmann lined up with Olympic medallist and former world record holder Joanne Jackson and was determined to take her on. The expectation of a fast first 200m did not materialise and whilst Anne matched Joanne stroke for stroke until 300m her strength and maturity over the last 100m was too much for Anne who nonetheless secured her second medal of the championships. Only some 15 minutes later Anne was back in the pool for the 400m individual medley final where she had to settle for silver once again behind Stephanie Proud albeit with another lifetime best performance of 4:44.67 This topped off a great season for Anne culminating in her Commonwealth Games selection in the 200 IM, 200m butterfly and 400m freestyle.
It was another great team effort from a young team.
Posted on 8 September 2010
Lots of life time best performances help bring home the women’s team trophy for the second year running with the club finishing second top team overall.
Posted on 16 August 2010
Five days of great performances from every swimmer contributed to the team winning the National Age Group Team Championship title for the second time in three years. A fantastic achievement for all involved.
Posted on 13 July 2010
Congratulations to Gordon Benson who a won the SUSO 13 – 17 years High Performance Drafting Triathlon (400m Swim, 10km Bike, 2.5km Run) at Eton Dorney Lake on Saturday.
As a result Gordon has been selected to represent Great Britain at the European Triathlon Relays to be held in Portugal at the end of August.
Well done Gordon from all at City of Leeds Swimming Club.
Posted on 9 June 2010
Congratulations to all swimmers who competed at NER BAGCATS over the weekend. There were some fantastic performances that resulted in 21 Medals, 63 Finals Swims as well as Life Time Bests and National Qualifying times.
Daniel Stanway, Freya Resendez (2), Blake Bennett, Rebekah Birrell (2), James Thompson, Samuel Bloom, Chloe Adams, Amy Light
Harrison Day, Joanne Simpson, Rebekah Birrell, Freya Resendez Girls 4x200 freestyle Team (Amy Light, Katherine Fisher, Rebekah Birrell, Nicola Graham) Girls 4x100 freestyle Team (Nicola Graham, Rebekah Birrell, Linda Shaw, Amy Light)
Freddy Hoban, Douglas Walker, Freya Resendez, James Thompson, Katherine Fisher
Adam Smith, Kiani Campbell-Grady, Chris Greenwood, Ben Taylor-Walsh, Jacob Seddon, Will Stevenson, Rebecca Mottershaw, Richard Mawson, Daniel Hall, Boys 4x200 freestyle Team, Boys 4x100 freestyle Team
Posted on 21 May 2010
A belated congratulations to Emma Graham, who on the 8th May competed in the 10k at the LEN Open Water Cup in Eilat, Israel. Finishing as the highest placed junior in 6th place, and only 2 minutes behind Olympic Champion Kerri-Anne Payne, she secured selection for the 14th FINA World Championships in Canada!
Emma is also set to represent Great Britain at the European Open Water Championships and European Junior Open Water Championships later in the year.
Well done Emma from all at City of Leeds SC!
Posted on 8 February 2010
After a thrilling weekend, City of Leeds regained the top senior team trophy at the British Gas sponsored Yorkshire SA Senior/Junior Championships at the Aquatics Centre, JCCS.