ASA West Midland Region : Synchro news

The National Age Groups and British Synchronised Swimming Championships took place at the GL1 in Gloucester on 1^st and 2^nd December 2007. This is the biggest and most important competition in the British synchro calendar, especially this year as we had swimmers from Israel and the World silver medalists from Spain. The West Midlands was well represented with swimmers from Walsall, Rugby and City of Birmingham. In the age group figures 12yrs & under Katie King from City of Birmingham came 1^st, and Eleanor Holder from Walsall came 3^rd and in the 15/17 years, Yvette Baker came 6^th for City of Birmingham. In the Team part of the competition, City of Birmingham came 2^nd and Rugby 14^th in the 19 & under Recreational combination team, in the 13 &14 recreational combination team Walsall 4^th and City of Birmingham 6^th, and finally for the teams in the 12 & under free, Walsall swam really well to come in 3^rd, City of Birmingham 5^th and Rugby 12^th. We only had 2 Duets representing the West Midland Region and they were both from the City of Birmingham - Nicola Kong/Natalie Mercier 1^st and Sarah Ford/Sophie Ravenscroft 3^rd well done to ALL the girls who took part, this is a very positive result for the West Midlands. In the British Champs technical solo event, Zoe Cooper (Walsall SSC) finished in 7^th place, and Yvette Baker came 17^th for City of Birmingham. Swimmers Elizabeth Smith and sister Nicolette came 6^th in the Tech Duet section for City of Birmingham with Zoe Cooper and Rebecca Turford (Walsall SSC) 7th. After the tech event the girls then had to swim their free routines and managed to hold onto their placings. Full Results of the competition can be found on the British swimming website.
The ASA National Synchronised Swimming Masters took place on 17th November in Braunstone, Leicester. The West Midland Region was represented by 2 clubs - Rugby and Walsall. Yvonne Madeley and Kay Ridler represented Rugby in the duet 40-49 yrs event and swam well to finish 3^rd. Zoe Cooper/Rebecca Turford from Walsall swam in the 20-29 yrs duet event event and were placed 2^nd with Emma Hough and Nicola Latham from Rugby 4th. Zoe also swam in the 20/29yrs solo event and finished 1^st with Hannah Peake from Rugby 2^nd. In the team section of the competition the team from Rugby swam really well to gain a 3^rd place.
On the 6^th January 2008 Aston University hosted the Regional and Multi Regional trials for the West and East Midlands. Swimmers from Rugby, City of Birmingham and Walsall for the West Midlands and Rykneld for the East Midlands competed for a place in both Squads. There was the 13 & under Age group for Regional with some of the 13 year old girls aiming for a place in the Multi Regional squad, The girls that will be accepted into the Regional squads are Katie Wilson Walsall, Molly Ross COB, Karys Bowen Walsall, Rachel Williams Walsall, Phoebe Bradley Smith COB, Eleanor Holder Walsall, Danielle Mercier COB, Kate Reynolds Walsall, Sasha Humphreys Rugby, Lois Powell COB, Lucy Ridge COB, Sharni Hooper Walsall, with Phoebe Walsh Rugby as 1^st Reserve. In the Multi Regional Squad will be Katie King COB, Emily Broad Walsall, Lucy Townsend – Kennedy Rugby, Jessica Campbell (reserve) COB, Ellie Stork Walsall, Hannah Blunden Rykneld, Sarah Berriman Walsall, Jasmine Humphreys Rugby, Lauren Jevons Rykneld, Charlotte Brookes COB, Naomi Holder Walsall, Alex Wheeler Walsall, Emily Firth Rugby, Alice McGrogan Rykneld, Elizabeth Parry Walsall, Charlotte Kong COB, and finally Christine Wall Walsall. These girls will meet on the 1^st Sunday every month for extra training, well done to all. We would like to thank all the judges and coaches, especially to Alex Smith, who gave up their time to organise this event, full results for these trials are on the West Midland and Warwickshire websites. We also congratulate Naomi and Ellie Holder from Walsall, Charlotte Brookes, Katie King and Lucy Ridge from City of Birmingham, all these girls secured a place in the GB youth squad, the trials for which were held in December 2007.
CLICK HERE for the results.
A big WELL DONE to Elizabeth Smith (City of Birmingham) and to Zoe Cooper (Walsall SSC) as they have been voted Warwickshire and Staffordshire 'Swimmer of the Year 2007' respectively.