Bendigo Summer Swimming Carnival a HUGE success

BIG Club Records fall

The Club Records Officer has been kept very busy of late with a number of very old Club Records falling to our young swimming stars. This is a testament to their talent and dedication to be the best they can be and, of course, to the guidance they have received from our brilliant coaching staff. Amongst the Records to tumble...

Young Hawks excel in Melbourne

A brilliant effort by our young swimmers who represented our Club and our District at the recent SV Country 7-10 Encouragement Meet!! In alphabetic order...

Bendigo Hawks Aquatic club takes flight

After many months of hard work the Bendigo Hawks Aquatic club was formally created at a meeting of the members of the Eaglehawk and Bendigo Swimming Club's on the evening of Wednesday November 2.

Forty-one members voted to adopt the new Club's Constitution and to elect the Club's first committee. The meeting was chaired by District 15 President Mr. Hayden Stewart. Following the election of the Club's first President, Mr. Bruce Reid, Mr. Stewart assumed the role of Scrutineer and was assisted by Mrs. Margaret Lang, District 15's Chief Referee.

The final step in the will be to wind-up the Eaglehawk Swimming Club. This will be put to a vote of Eaglehawk members at a Special General Meeting to be held at 7:00pm on Wednesday November 30. The meeting will be held at the Eaglehawk clubrooms. An Agenda and formal advice will be sent in the next few days.

The new Bendigo Hawks Aquatic club's Committee is made up as follows:-

New Projector

Thanks to the great work of Dale Boyd we have been advised that the Empowering Eaglehawk organisation will fund the cost of a new projector for our clubrooms. This generous grant is worth up to $1000.00!! A space on the ceiling was set aside for the installation of a projector at some date in the future. It is great to be able to put in place such a valuable resource so early in the life of our new club rooms.

Thanks to Dale and Empowering Eaglehawk for make this possible.

Check out the Empowering Eaglehawk  website to see all the other community organisations they have helped over the last few years. If you have a Bendigo Bank account or a Bendigo Community Telco account ask at your local branch to have it linked to Empowering Eaglehawk. That way we can return the favour and other groups in our community will benefit, just as we have.

I'm sorry but Dale doesn't have a website to check out so give him a pat on the back when you see him next!!

A word from the President......

Hi all, its been awhile since the last letter & like everybody else, time is in short supply. With Christmas fast approaching, this year has flown! Any way, just a few things that I would like to share with you all.

1.      Coaching. From what I have seen & heard, the coaching the kids are getting is the best it has ever been. With Ash, Wally & Emma doing a great job, we are giving our kids the very best that any club in this region can offer. Both in the water & out. I don’t think I have seen in a very long time, kids this  eager to do well & train hard. And this is being reflected in the outstanding times being swum by all our swimmers. P.B’s abound, club & district records falling at a rapid rate. Look out world, Bendigo Hawks are coming!

2.      Venues. It may take awhile to get used to it, but utilizing both the PKLC & BAC, is really reaping benefits for our swimmers. With Wally doing a great job out at Eaglehawk & Ash in Bendigo, we are giving the kids the training & commitment needed to excel in this sport. Time, lane space & dedicated coaching is what we can offer all our swimmers, and as I said before, the results are the proof in the pudding.

3.      Merge. Last Monday both Greg & myself, met Geoff & Warwick from Swimming Victoria in regards to our merge with Bendigo. It was pointed out to us & Bendigo as well, that there are a few things we need to fine tune to progress forward & this is being attended to by the committee of both clubs. Not far to go now. We just have to cross the I’s & dot the T’s on some matters that we were not aware of & we are there.

4.      Some thank you’s.  It would be remiss of me not to thank the people of the Eaglehawk & Bendigo swimming Clubs who made last Saturday such a resounding success. With beautiful weather & the kids training hard for 2 hours under Ash, Wally & Alex, the kids ate as well as they trained. Fantastic. To everybody who turned up & bought salads, sweets, snags & onions for the BBQ. A big thank you. It was a great day & this is what we are about, a family friendly club, all inclusive, no one person is more important than the other. ONE IN, ALL IN! It was a great day/evening. I don’t think I have seen a better spread! If I didn’t put on a kilo or two, well I wasn’t trying! And it was great to see all the kids & parents mingling & getting on. Just great! Also, thanks to all who set up & cleaned up. Too many to mention here. Also thanks to Steve Lyne & the girls helping with the relocation of the dry land equipment on Wednesday night. Along with myself, it was a cinch to do & thanks for the lend of the van. Too easy! Thanks to Dale Boyd for his input into securing a grant which will enable us to purchase a projector for the PKLC clubrooms. Well done. I understand also that Nicole Cox has put her hand up for Grants Officer. Well done Nic! That is great to hear. If I have forgot anyone, forgive me. So much happening at the moment it is hard to keep up!

5.       Swim meets. Great to see that the swimmers are going to all points of the compass in their swimming. Some going to Melbourne, some going to Echuca etc. This is great. Please remember to ask Ash which meets your children should be doing. This takes any guess work out of deciding which one  to do & what event to do.     

6.      In closing. It has been a long process but we are close now. To everybody who is doing their bit, thank you. It is so important to pitch in & do your bit, to be seen & heard around the club is vital. In my present role, I try to get to training as often as I can to speak to parents, swimmers & coaches alike to get a feel for how things are going, this is something that I personally enjoy & get great delight in seeing the kids progress. The look on a kids face when a pb is achieved or even a ribbon or medal is all worth it. GO HAWKS!

See you poolside, Carl Barkmeyer.

Only one week to go......

Hi all, well with State Short Course out of the way, we can start to concentrate on the long course season. It has been a stuttered start to the swim season but that is all about to change with the arrival of Ashley Wain to start coaching us full time from next Monday.

I spoke to Ash on the weekend & he is really keen to get going & start delivering the know how & coaching that we believe our children thoroughly deserve. This is a big moment for us as club. Along with Wally, our swimmers will be getting the absolute best in coaching that any club in Central & Northern Victoria can deliver. That is a fantastic achievement for us. Let us not waste this opportunity. After watching some fantastic swims on the weekend, the only thing that separates us from the very best is a constant in coaching & the very latest in technique/stroke development. From now on, that is history.

We will be giving all we can to ensure the future of swimming in this region & we will encourage swimmers from far & wide to join us & enjoy the rewards of hard work & commitment that swimming can deliver to the swimmers, coaches & parents.

It will be all worth it. I cant wait!

See you poolside,

Carl Barkmeyer.

Coral announces her retirement from coaching

Head Coach appointed

The ZONE...

A word from our President

Eaglehawk swimmers in Victorian squad at school "Nationals"

Congratulations to James Murray and Rochelle Vella who have been selected in the Victorian team to swim at the School Sport Australia Swimming Championships to be held at MSAC from 30 July to 5 August. What an outstanding achievement by these two, fine young athletes!

JX winners announced

Young guns fire in Round 1 of Ballarat Top 5

Some of the young swimmers who are the future of the Bendigo Hawks Aquatic club were up and firing at Round One of the Ballarat Top 5 Short Course Meet. Here is the report from Eaglehawk President Carl Barkmeyer....

Out of the 7 kids who went to the meet yesterday, all of them got ribbons except for Summah-Rose, who although she got DQed in one race, it is only a matter of time before she gets one. Next meet at Ballarat I reckon. Alex Barkmeyer swam four & came away with four blue ribbons so that was great. Zoe Deed could well be the best under 13 Backstroker in the District. She really took off! More training & she will be nigh on unbeatable. Unearthed a really good one there!

Connor Tagell will not be beaten. He digs in. We've got one there as well. It was a great day.  Mitchy Sherlock swam well even though he was battling a cold. He came away with a couple of blue ribbons as well. I caught up with Carly Schintler who is studying at Ballarat Uni. She is keen as mustard to get back in the pool. She wants to finish her career with one more States and one more Countries for the Bendigo Hawks. That will be great. Coach Ryan Smith did a fantastic job coaching the kids. He was very patient & directed them to swim as he told them. He is another nugget we have unearthed.

Everyone is looking forward to a solid week of training next week. All the kids were really chuffed at getting ribbons. Alex did a great job of being Captain & talking to the little ones. Mitchy followed him everywhere! We took lots  of photos & will get them up on our website very soon.

Carl Barkmeyer

President

Junior excel in Melbourne..... again!!

Under the guidance of Geoff Smalley of South Gisborne Sharks and with the assistance of Team Managers Sue Dullard of Eaglehawk and James Grabham of Tongala our young swimmers have once again excelled at the SV Country 7-10 Encouragement Competition. Our squad of 45 swimmers  was made of the best 7-10 year-olds from across the District. For the second year running District 15 finished in second place with only the powerful District 21 of Gippsland ahead of us.

Representing Eaglehawk were Nikaylah Spofforth, Rochelle Vella, Logan Kirkwood, Lanie Guimond, Mitchell Sherlock and Austin Boyd.

For many this was their first swim at Victoria's premier aquatic facility. I am sure that for many it will not be their last as they continue to improve under the watchful eye of there respective Club coaches. The future of swimming is District 15 is certainly bright!!

Well done to all the swimmers for such fine performances and to everyone who helped on the day.

Training dates and times over Christmas and January 2011

Junior Excellence Award winners

Swimming Australia this week announced the award winners in its Junior Excellence program. All swimmers aged 9-13 years who achieve times set by Swimming Australia at Swim Meets during the previous 12 months qualify to be awarded a Green, Bronze, Silver, Gold or Gold Star standard. Not only do swimmers receive an award pack of swimming related goodies including specially designed swim caps and shirts they also receive an invitation to attend the Junior Excellence Forum in Melbourne. The forum is an educational workshop especially designed for young swimmers. Topics covered include development pathways for junior swimmers, nutrition, health, exercise and advanced stroke technique. The swimmers also get to meet some of Australia elite swimmers and listen to them as they share their own swimming experiences. 

Sixteen young swimmers at the Eaglehawk Swimming Club received recognition in the program capping off an excellent year. Seventeen year-old Matthew Sherlock received an award under the program’s Youth Performance Squad criteria for older swimmers. 

2010 coaching team announced

I am very pleased to announce our coaching team for the coming 2010-11 season!

This season our coaches will be:-

Hawk Squad - James Sherlock (James will also assume the role of Head Coach)

Harrier Squad - Eli Geary

Eagle Squad - Wally Stables (supported by Carly Schintler)

Falcon Squad - Deb Beale (supported by Coral Evely)

Sparrowhawk Squad - Wally Stables (supported by Carly Schintler)

I am particularly excited about the appointments of Eli and Carly. These talented and enthusiastic individuals have given so much to our Club over many, many seasons. Their skill in the pool over the years has been unquestionable - each of them having continually represented the Club with distinction at the highest levels in the State.  Indeed, Carly and Eli still hold numerous Club and District records. To now stand up and take on the responsibility of guiding and nurturing the future Champions of our Club is a reflection of their fine character and their commitment to our sport, our children and our Club.

Carly has recently completed her Junior Squad accreditation and is a qualified Lifeguard. She will be "apprenticed" to Wally Stables, one of the most knowledgeable coaches of Junior swimmers in our State. Carly's recent accomplishments in the pool and her youthful enthusiasm coupled with Wally's years of experience and wisdom will make for a formidable team.

Under the direction of the Head Coach, Eli will apply his comprehensive understanding of competition swimming and his strength in stroke technique with his seemingly boundless energy to produce a very, very competitive squad of Harriers. Both Eli and Carly will be “on deck” on competition days to guide our young swimmers towards success.

I am also very pleased that Deb Beale will continue in her role as Falcon Squad coach this season. With a year of coaching Junior swimmers “under her belt” along with her years of experience in sport at the highest levels Deb will prove to be an even greater asset to our Club. Supported by Coral Evely, I am anticipating a fabulous year for Deb and our younger swimmers.

Please join me in congratulating each of our coaches on their appointments.

Training for all squads starts on Monday 3^rd May. I’ll see you on the pool deck then!

Check out the ad done for Eaglehawk UFS!!

Eaglehawk UFS ad featuring the Eaglehawk Swim Team and starring Darian Guimond!!

Borough swimmers finish the season in style

The swimmer’s at the Eaglehawk Swimming Club capped off another great year with spectacular results at the last two swims of the season. 

While the wild weather of the long week-end was disrupting many of Bendigo’s sporting events 160 swimmers from 18 Clubs who competed at the Annual Eaglehawk Scratch Meet were safe and warm inside the walls of the Hawks’ home pool at the Peter Krenz Leisure Centre. The Hawks fielded a strong team of 39 swimmers who produced a number of exceptional results. Having her best meet for the season 17 year-old Emily Smith finished the day with 5 Gold and 2 Silver medals from her seven swims. Smith also locked away a number of State and Country qualifying times for next season’s Championship events. New-comer to the club, 13 year-old Lachlann Tyson who travels from Heathcote to train and compete with the Hawks, brought home 3 Gold and 3 Bronze medals from his huge10-swim program. In a breath-taking finish to the Mens Open Freestyle relay Tyson swam a gutsy anchor leg to hold out the fast-finishing Bradley Mellington of Echuca. The new-look Mens Open Relay team of Matthew Sherlock, William Mittell, Alex Barkmeyer and Tyson touched out the more-fancied Echuca team by almost two seconds in a time of 1:59.65. Other notable performances were James Kerr’s 10 second PB in the 12yo Boys 100m Backstroke, 7 year-old Chelsea Beale’s 5 second PB in the Girls 9 & under 50m Freestyle and Fraser Bynon’s 2 silver medals in the 25m events run for young swimmers. 

By the end if the day the Hawks had completed a commanding victory winning 21 Gold, 13 Silver and 17 Bronze Medals. Ballarat Swimming Club won 14 Gold, 10 Silver and 7 Bronze while Echuca finished with 11 Gold, 8 Silver and 12 Bronze medals. 

Many of the young swimmers used the Meet as a warm-up for the following week-end’s Swimming Victoria Country All Junior Finals. This important finale to the swimming season, open to swimmers aged 7 – 14, was run over two days in the 2006 Commonwealth Games pool at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) in Albert Park. Clubs from across regional Victoria and southern New South Wales gathered at MSAC to contest the Semi-finals, vying for one of ten spots in the final of each event. 

Nineteen Eaglehawk swimmers competed on the Saturday with a stunning 48 swims out of 55 being an improvement over the times swum at the Qualifying round held in early February in Bendigo. For Eaglehawk, Jack Beale, Harrison Bynon, Harrison Howell, James Mittell, William Mittell, Mitchell Sherlock, Lachlann Tyson and Rochelle Vella all progressed to the Finals on Sunday contesting 20 Finals between them. Once again each of the swimmers swam personal best times in the Finals. The stand-out performances came from Jack Beale (1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Mitchell Sherlock (2 Gold, 1 Silver) and Rochelle Vella (1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze). In collecting her medal in the Girls 8/under 50 Backstroke Vella also broke one the Club’s longest-standing records – set by Jacqui Kennedy 37 years ago in 1973. Showing incredible skill and determination Mitchell Sherlock broke each of the Boys 8/under 50m Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly and Freestyle Club records!! The squad from the Borough finished the week-end in seventh place from amongst the sixty-four clubs that competed.

“If we consider the performance of the club at last month’s District Championships along with these great performances over the last two weeks then we must recognise the job done by our coaches James Sherlock, Deborah Beale, Coral Evely and Wally Stables who have done a brilliant job preparing the squad to peak at the right time of the year”, declared Club President, Greg Smith. 

The Hawks will now complete school Regional and State commitments, take a short break and then be back in the pool training in early May preparing for another exciting swimming season in 2010-2011.  

Back-to-back Central Victorian champions!!!

What a great result from the whole team. Going into the Championships I was pretty sure the boys would bring home the Charles R. Turner Memorial Shield for the third consecutive year but I wasn’t so confident about repeating our success of last year. How wrong was I??!! I should have known you guys would come through when the pressure was on.

Not only did the boys win the Charles Turner by a comfortable 308 point from our friends at Echuca but the girls really stepped up and grabbed the Allan Monaghan Shield by the very narrow margin of just 22 points. To paraphrase what Wally said during the presentations “you don't need to be a mathematician to work out that Eaglehawk has also won the Frank Burgess Trophy”. At the end of the day we finished up with 1786 points, Bendigo East was second on 1388 points and Gisborne Thunder third on 1012 points.

There were some really great personal efforts on the day with none better than Matt Sherlock’s destruction of the record books. He set five new Championships records as he led the team from the front. At the start of the day Matt had decided to break as many records as he could which is a testament to his belief in his own ability and the courage he showed to do it over 10 grueling swims. This is a great example for all our swimmers young and old. Matt won the Trophy for the best performed senior boy and Emily was only a handful of points away from the top of the best performed girls list falling only 14 points short of the joint winners. 

Our senior girls team of Emily Smith, Emma Lau, Amanda Gawthrop and Captain Katie McLennan also broke the Championships record for the Open Girls 200 Freestyle Relay. Their time of 2:04.69 is now the benchmark for future teams to strive for. 

On the medal front we collected 24 Gold medals, 15 Silver medals and 20 Bronze medals – more of each than any other club. All except three of our thirty-four swimmers scored valuable points towards our overall tally. Those three, nevertheless, showed improvement on the day scoring very valuable personal best times. All this just demonstrates the great contribution we had from everyone. We swam 49 PBs on the day. Best of all was Lachlann Tyson who swam 6 PBs out of his 7 individual swims including a massive ten second PB in his 100 Fly and a six second PB in his 100 Breast. Both times are around 1:27-mid so is he a Butterflyer or a Breaststroker?? Time will tell – maybe he’s both!! 

Finally, I need to recognise the committee, the coaches and the parents whose efforts all came together on the day to create a brilliant team effort. Well done to everyone!!! 

Go hawks!!! 

Greg

SV Country Inter-district Competition

Congratulations and good luck to the following swimmers who have been selected to represent the District at the SV Country Inter-district Competition on Saturday 27th February. 

Rochelle Vella, Darian Guimond, Sophie Cantwell, Emma Lau, Katelin McLennan, Emily Smith

and the boys...

Jack Beale, Harrison Howell, William Mittell, Matthew Sherlock.

Visit the CVS webpage to see the rest of the squad and who's swimming what.

Fly Like A Hawk!!!!

Hawks triumph at winter swimming Series

Ballarat Top 5 report

Season 2008-09 President's Report

Click here to read the President's Report presented at the recent Annual General Meeting.

Swimming Australia Junior Excellence (JX) Program

Congratulations to the following swimmers who have achieved a Swimming Australia JX award this season. The JX Standards set by Swimming Australia can be found on the noticeboard in the club rooms.

• A special JX cap (9 & 10 yo) or a special JX T-shirt (11-13 yo)
• Certificate of achievement signed by the National Youth Coach and the Captain of the Australian Swim Team
• A motivational poster featuring elite Australian swimmers
• Go Swim Parent Handbook
• GO Swim Personal Best Time Booklet
• Publication of their name on the Swimming Australia website

Click here for a description of the JX Criteria and Qualifying Standards.

Season 2008-09 wrap-up

Season 2008-09 for the Eaglehawk Swimming Club wrapped up on Sunday with the running of the Eaglehawk Club Pairs Championship and Awards Presentation Day.  

 “The Annual Pairs Championship is a handicap event that gives Eaglehawk’s young up and coming swimmers the opportunity to race alongside the Club’s experienced, older swimmers”, said Club stalwart and Swimming Victoria referee Wally Stables. Following a deafening rendition of the Eaglehawk Club Chant, lead by Captain Eli Geary, racing got underway in the Bendigo Leisure Centre pool. Heats were run to determine the four pairs that would contest the Final. Logan Kirkwood with Emily Smith, Will Mittell with Mitchell Sherlock, Jacob Dullard with Caleb Argus and Jack Beale with Matt Sherlock made up the final race for the Eaglehawk season. The teams provided a very close and exciting race for the many of the cheering spectators and club-mates looking on. The honour of Pairs Champions for 2009 went to 6yo Logan Kirkwood racing with 16yo Emily Smith.  

The exciting finish was a reflection of the exciting year of swimming out at the Borough. Highlights for the year included the Club’s 4th place finish at the Swimming Victoria County Short Course Championships, 15th place finish at the Country Long Course Championships and the 1st place finish at the Central Victoria Championships. The Club’s Annual Scratch Meet on the Labour Day week-end provided a highlight of a different sort. Following the tragic events of Black Saturday the members decided to donate all the proceeding from the Club’s premier annual event to help the victims of the Bushfires. “With the support of other country Victoria clubs and swimmers who traveled up from metropolitan Melbourne we were able to donate almost $3000.00 to the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Bushfire Appeal fund”, declared Club President Greg Smith.  

Last week-end 18 of the Club’s best young swimmers competed at the SV Country All Junior competition. 49 personal best times from 59 swims were set by the Club’s swimmers with seven swimmers making the Finals. The Finalist included the Bynon brothers Brandon and Harrison, the Mittell siblings William and Anna, Harrison Howell, Jack Beale and Rochelle Vella. Rising 7yo star Rochelle Vella has been swimming competitively for only 4 months. Against much older competition she made the Final in the 8/U 50m Butterfly, 50m Backstroke and took home the Bronze medal in the 50m Breaststroke. 9yo Anna Mittell flew home in an outside lane to snatch the Bronze medal in the 50m Freestyle while 8yo Harrison Bynon twice just missed out by a touch to win a medal. Nevertheless, he managed to set six personal best times and break the Club records for the 8/U 50m Backstroke and 50m Freestyle in a fine week-end of swimming. Commenting on the week-end’s success Head Coach James Sherlock said, “Making a Final at the All Juniors is a big achievement for any young swimmer and those swimmers are to be congratulated. I am equally thrilled with the performances of all our swimmers. The number and the quality of the PB’s set by all those who competed this week-end provides a great springboard into next season”.  

The Awards Presentation part of the day started with recognition of the Club Records broken throughout the season. All in all 30 Club Short Course and 24 Club Long Course Records were broken. Awards were then presented to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place-getters in each Age Group ranging from 5 year-old to 18/O. Many other awards were presented to swimmers whose outstanding or consistent performances attracted the eye of the selection committee and the coaches. Katelin McLennan was presented with the prestigious Des Duguid Trophy named in honour of the great Australian Olympian who represented our nation in the 1960 Olympic Games. The Trophy is presented to the swimmer who best exemplifies the Des’s traits of courage, consistency, dedication and ability to improve in sport.  

The trophy for Champion Girl was presented to Club Captain Emily Smith who swam consistently well throughout the whole year, medaling at the Country Championships and the Country Inter-district Championships. Matthew Sherlock had another excellent year representing the Club at all levels including another Finals appearance at the State Championships. This was Matt’s 3rd Club Champion Trophy.  

Falcon squad coach, District Delegate, SV Referee and Life-member Mrs. Coral Evely announced her retirement from coaching last month. A special presentation of a framed and monogrammed 2009 Eaglehawk Championships polo shirt was made to Mrs. Evely to thank her for the decades of work she has given to the Club. Mrs. Evely has coached at the club for more than 40 years and during that time was also Club President for 20 years from 1977 to 1997. “Although Coral will be stepping down from coaching she will still be an active member of our Club and the District continuing in her roles of District Delegate and SV Referee”, announced Greg Smith, Club President, much to the delight of all of the members.  

To round out the year the Club, in conjunction with Central Victoria Swimming and Swimming Victoria will be hosting a Swimming Victoria Regional Development day. The event will take place this Saturday afternoon at the Bendigo Leisure Centre commencing at 1:00pm . Amongst those in attendance will be renowned coaches Joanne Love, Alex Hirschauer and Angus Barnes as well as World Championships Silver Medalist Sarah Katsoulis and Sam Bramham the World Record holder for 100m Butterfly in the SWD S9 category. The event is free to all Swimming Victoria members and their families.  

Click here for a complete list of all 2009 Award winners.

2009 District Champions

The Two Blues of Eaglehawk were flying high at Princes Park in Maryborough on Sunday as the Eaglehawk Swimming Club claimed the title of District Champions for the 2008-09 season.

The Hawks captured the Frank Burgess Trophy for the highest overall aggregate score ahead of Bendigo East and Gisborne Thunder. After a close battle all day Eaglehawk presided over East by a comfortable 316 points. Once again Eaglehawk took home the Charles R. Turner Shield for the highest aggregate score in the Boys competition, more than doubling the score of their nearest rival. Bendigo East won the Alan Monaghan Shield for the highest aggregate score in the Girls competition from Eaglehawk and Gisborne Thunder.  

Each of the thirty-five swimmers who qualified to compete at the Championships and their families have all contributed to this thrilling result. Last season’s great effort to win the Charles Turner showed our swimmers were very much on the improve. Now, to take home the Frank Burgess Trophy, is a big reward for everyone at the Club, swimmers, coaches and parents alike, who have worked so hard to achieve this outstanding result.  

The result at Maryborough caps off a great year for the Hawks who this season finished as the highest placed Central Victorian club at Swimming Victoria’s State Age Championships, Country Championships, State Short Course Championships and Country Short Course Championships.  

On the day 155 swimmers from ten of the District’s thirteen clubs took part in the Meet. Eaglehawk’s Eli Geary and Matthew Sherlock shared the honours as the best 14/O Male swimmers while Louis Spencley of Echuca took home the trophy for the best 13/U Boy. The fast-improving Rebecca Holmes of Bendigo East was the competition’s best 13/U Girl with the 14/O Girls trophy being awarded to Brooke Howes.  

In the Medal Tally, Eaglehawk bagged 24 Gold, 22 Silver and 13 Bronze for a total of 59 medals. East scored 21 Gold, 18 Silver and 15 Bronze while Echuca finished third with 11 Gold, 7 Silver and 6 Bronze.

State and Country Championships squads

Congratulations to the following swimmers who have been selected to represent  the Club at this year's Victorian Championships and Victorian Country Championships. You have all earned your place in the squads through hard work at training and dedication to your sport. I wish you all the best of luck over the next couple of months.

Eli Geary, Matt Sherlock, James Kerr, William Mittell, Jacob Dullard, Alex Barkmeyer, Reece Stewart, Bryce Stewart.

Emily Smith, Carla Dullard, Amanda Gawthrop, Katelin McLennan, Carly Schintler, Darian Guimond, Sophie Cantwell, April Kirkwood, Emily Gallagher, Olivia Gedye.

A Christmas message from the Pres.

Another year is almost over. Where did it go! I missed Michelle’s deadline for this month’ s Newsletter so I thought I would just pen this quick note. It’s been a very busy swimming season so far this year. Over the last five years I can’t remember ever seeing so many Eaglehawk swimmers at so many Meets this early into the season - with the really busy part still to come! There have been numerous great individual swims by many swimmers across all squads and age groups and, most importantly, continued improvements by all. 

I am really looking forward to the remainder of this season and the next couple of seasons as our very young members continue to strengthen and develop. Hopefully many more will be able to emulate the efforts of the likes of James Kerr, William Mittell, Darian Guimond, Alex Barkmeyer and Jacob Dullard who have each made the Club’s State and Country representative squads for the first time. I KNOW that there is plenty of talent in our Club that is very capable of doing so!! For instance, I learned only yesterday that Samantha Borserio has already achieved qualifying times for next season’s Victorian Country Short Course Championships. Congratulations, Sam. You’ve taken a big step towards competing at next season’s important summer Meets. I hope that many other young swimmers will be successful in achieving the same goal. 

Parents and swimmers, please have a close look at the swimming calendar on our website, in your 2008 Eaglehawk events booklet or the SV website for events coming in the next couple of months. With Christmas and the New Year upon us days slip by very quickly and Competition closing dates appear from nowhere or, worse still, disappear without a trace. If you think you might have missed a closing date call one of the Sue’s (Sue Dullard – 0439-468-141, Sue Borserio - 0427-833-477) and hopefully something can be organised.  

There have been many new members join our Club in recent weeks. Welcome to you all. I hope that you feel at home and I look forward to catching up with you in the New Year at training or a Comp somewhere. 

Finally, on behalf of Kerry and Emily, I would like to take this opportunity wish each member and their family a very Merry Christmas. Enjoy the time you spend with your families and friends and I’ll see you in the New Year. 

Cheers 

Summer Swim Season Hots Up!

There is action a-plenty at the Eaglehawk Swimming Club as we move into the summer and the start of the “serious” swimming season. The young Eaglehawk stars swim 12 months of the year but it is from now on that the rewards for the hours of hard work in the training pool over the Winter and Spring months starts to pay off. 

And it’s paying off already! At last week-end’s first round of the Swimming Victoria December Competition, held in the Commonwealth Games pool at Albert Park, three of Eaglehawk’s 14/under girls relay team made a very impressive start to the summer. 12 year-old Darian Guimond made two State Championships qualifying times and a Country Championships qualifying time. Guimond swam 3:21.88 for the 200m Breaststroke (State QT), 41:05 for the 50m Breaststroke (State QT), and 1:14.74 for the 100m Freestyle (Country QT). Team-mate Sophie Cantwell swam a sensational 1:10.29 in the 13yo Girls 100m Freestyle to smash her previous Personal Best time by more than 4 seconds and in the process grab a Country Championships qualifying time, adding to the 100m Breaststroke State and Country qualifying time she made at the Melbourne Vicentre Classic Meet in early November. At that same Meet Cantwell also booked a place in the 50m Freestyle event at the State Sprint Championships to be held in February. To round out the girls’ great performances April Kirkwood consolidated her entry into the Country Championships 100m Freestyle event with a very solid and consistent 1:12.24. Earlier in the season she qualified to swim the 100m Backstroke as well. 

Guimond, Cantwell and Kirkwood will be joined by six of their other team-mates for this coming week-end’s second Round of competition. 

Eaglehawk’s entire squad, from the youngest to the oldest, have been competing well in the lead-up to summer. Two weeks ago the club hosted its fifth Swim Meet for the year – the 2008 Eaglehawk Sprint Meet. The 68 event card drew swimmers from across central and northern Victoria with very large and strong contingents coming from neighbouring Districts. At the end of the day the bulk of the medals were shared by Eaglehawk, Shepparton, Ballarat and Echuca. 34 Personal Best times were posted by Eaglehawk’s squad including a four from four effort by William Mittell. Eleven year old Mittell is also off to Sale in January to compete at his first Victorian Country Championships. Team-mate eight year-old Harrison Bynon performed a similar feat at the previous week’s Bendigo East Sprint Meet where he also collected two Silver medals and one Bronze medal. 

The day before the Bendigo East Meet saw the best young swimmers from across Central Victoria represent the District at the Swimming Victoria 7-10 Encouragement Meet. This is a very important meet for young swimmers as it gives many of them their first taste of serious competition against the best young swimmers from across the State, in a first-class swimming facility at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. Eleven swimmers from Eaglehawk made the 56-strong team. Anna Mittell of Eaglehawk put in a superlative effort for the District to finish with the Silver medals in both the 8yo Girls 50m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly. 

Led by Club Captain, Eli Geary, the Hawks will be heading up to Echuca on Sunday to compete at Echuca Swimming Club’s Annual Summer Meet. This event always draws quality swimmers from across the State so plenty of stiff competition can be expected for the improving young Hawks. Then it will be back at home for the final intra-Club Time Trial event followed by the presentation of the State and Country Championships squad, a Christmas celebration and a game cricket or footy or soccer in Canterbury Park. The following week-end will see the Club competing at Bendigo Swimming Club’s Annual Meet on Sunday 14th and finally at the 12/under State Championships just before Christmas. So there is plenty of swimming action down at the Borough with plenty more to come in the New Year!

2008 Eaglehawk Scratch Meet Report

Hundreds of young swimmers from all over Victoria turned out at the Bendigo Leisure Centre on Sunday for the Annual Eaglehawk Scratch Meet. The carnival was the biggest in Bendigo since the Country Championships were held here in 2004, attracting a total of 310 swimmers from more than 35 clubs, including Victorian powerhouses CA Tritons, Monash Uni and Melbourne Vicentre.

The meet is held at a critical time for swimmers, allowing them a chance to get some quality competition under their belt before the all-important All Juniors, held in Melbourne on the 29th of March. The annual meet has gone from strength to strength over the years, adding to the wide variety of sporting excellence that is on show in Bendigo on the Labour Day weekend.

Despite the multitude of talent around them, the Eaglehawk swimmers held their own, with some of the highlights being Brandon Bynon’s 7 second PB in the Boys 9 and Under 50 Breast, Club Captain Eli Geary’s 7 medal haul, including 2 gold and 5 silver, 6 yr old Mitchell Sherlock’s 12 second PB in the 9 and Under 50 Breast and the Eaglehawk Open Boys Relay team finishing a convincing first, continuing their great form shown at this year State, Country and District Championships. Eaglehawk was the top Country team on the day, placing third behind Melbourne clubs, Monash Uni and CA Tritons.

The meet received much praise from many of the visiting Clubs many of whom expressed their delight at the highly professional and effective manner in which the event was run. They also assured the Eaglehawk Swimming Club President, Greg Smith, that they would be returning next year with even more swimmers, making next year’s meet likely to be even bigger than this.

To celebrate a stellar swimming season, which included placing 38th at the State Championships and 12th at the Country Championships along with Eaglehawk’s Matt Sherlock being crowned the 2007-08 Country Achiever, the Club will be holding their annual Club Pairs Championships, Awards Day and Registration Day on the Sunday 6th of April.

Emily Smith

2007 Victorian Country Short Course Championships report

On Friday 17 August a team of ten Eaglehawkians and their parents packed their bags and started the long trek to Hamilton for the 2007 Victorian Country Championships. Drizzling rain and freezing cold conditions greeted this road trip but eventually after a few wrong turns and innumerable amounts of sheep everyone arrived safely at the Bassett Sheep Station in Branxholme, more affectionately known as “The Branx”. 

The first night was rather subdued, except for the “grand tour” given to new arrivals by Eli and myself, showing off the waterfront views and, of course, the room beyond the pantry a.k.a. the “Harry Potter Room” which we found absolutely hysterical!  

After a typical swimmer’s meal of Eli’s Grandma’s soup, lasagna, salad and garlic bread followed by some mucking around we all managed to get to bed at a reasonable hour. Except for the girls who just couldn’t stop talking!! Although, after a few stern warnings, we too managed to fall asleep. 

We slept through the rooster crowing and were instead woken by Sue, banging on our door and yelling “Alright swimmers! Time to get up! You’ve got a big day today! Up! Come on!” and then leaving. The “Boot Camp” vibe did not go unnoticed! Five minutes later we all stumbled into the kitchen and an hour later we were off to the pool. 

It was quite a successful day for Eaglehawk with everyone scoring at least one PB and Bryce reaching the podium for 50, 100 and 200 Breststroke. 

The team spirit of our Club was evident for everyone to see at the venue. We were the only group to perform a club chant. We belted it out with more volume and gusto than any of the bigger clubs could ever hope to achieve! 

That night as the Gearys and the Smiths were raiding the aisles of Coles, Kerry had the brilliant idea of buying fake medals to give out to a ceremony later on. Needless to say it was a hit and after tea and a few energetic games of “forty forty”, “hide and seek” and “sardines”, all the kids and parents piled into the lounge room to be awarded their medal in a rather formal ceremony. This was followed by another rousing rendition of the Eaglehawk chant and, of course, lots of photos. 

That night we had a camp-fire outside. Those brave enough, ventured into the cold and toasted, burnt and dropped marshmallows. At around 9 o’clock we were told to go to bed, and at 9.30 when we actually went, we all fell asleep with much less hassle than the night before - even with the addition of Katie and Liv to the girl’s bunk-house. 

The next morning all the swimmers, bar Amanda, Bryce and Matt, were up before dawn. Soon, some of the adults joined us and after breakfast we made the rather silly decision to wake Amanda up. In a lovely documentary, which I am sure you will see on Awards Day next year, Liv led us into the “lair of the Amanda”. After dragging her out of bed and pouring water on her head, we were chased out of the room by a broomstick-wielding Amanda. We were all rather apprehensive about the incident but after Amanda had calmed down and Liv had assured us that being chased around the room with a broom-stick was the highlight of her day we left for the pool as if nothing had happened. 

On arrival we performed another 1000 decibel chant and were pleasantly surprised to find an attempt to match us by Warnambool. They were nowhere near as loud as us, our friends from Yarrawonga told us. We gave them a standing ovation for trying. The day saw some more PBs with Amanda swimming her fifth straight, a Bronze medal in an awesome 200m Open Butterfly by Matt and a hard-fought Bronze in the 14/15 year old Girls 100m Breaststroke to Carly. 

 It was a huge competition with many records and great swims, chants, PBs and even an Eaglehawk-initiated Mexican wave. All in all, another a stellar performance by the Eaglehawk Swimming Club. 

Thanks must go to Nicola and Peter for organizing the accommodation and food, Kerry for the medal idea, Greg for videoing and taking photos, Antoinette for bringing awesome sweets, Lauren for trying to teach us how to toast marshmallows, Janet for taking the “Harry Potter Room”, Steve for getting the girls to go to sleep on the second night, Sue for doing the countless things she does at EVERY competition, Coral for another faultless job at officiating and Jamie for being our Coach and making us able to do these awesome swims… and for burning the sausages!

Emily Smith