For the third year running the club was well represented at the Gedling Sports Forum Annual Sports Awards which were held in November 2010. The club had the following members shortlisted;

Achievement in Disability Sport - Jacob Parker Volunteer of the Year - David Fortescue

We are very pleased to announce that David Fortescue and Jacob Parker won their individual categories and it was with huge pride that our very own Sasha Matthews presented the awards as part of her new role as Patron of the Gedling Athletic Development Academy (GADA). Please see full report on the clubs website

Well, as you are all aware, we held the last Club Championships in November. As in 2009 we again made changes to this years event having 5 individual galas to help the recovery of our swimmers, introducing 400m Freestyle, Medley Skins and using electronic timing when we swam at the Hucknall LC. We again wanted to make this years event the best ever attended and it was fantastic to see lots of our younger swimmers competing in the 200 metre events. The Club would like to thank all who helped in the organisation and running of this years Championships and to those parents who came and supported each and every swimmer.

Every swimmer who completed in the Club Championships should now have received a certificate highlighting their individual swims and times.

If you would like to get involved with the organisation of the Club Championships or have any ideas to make the event even better in 2011 please do not hesitate to talk to Jim Shelton, in the first instance, who can collate and pass the information onto the Club Championship Sub-Committee.

For those of you who might not have heard for the second year running the Coaches were again undefeated in the Coaches Challenge event and so were again crowned Champions.

This years Champion Coaches team was as follows: Michelle Parker (Captain), Dean Perry, David Osborne, Graham Davies, Ian Tomlin, Tony Parker and Nic Rotton.

I am very pleased by the overall response we have had to this years Club Championships, especially from our younger swimmers with many taking their Lane Coaches advice and entered some 200 metre events. We now need to continue to work together and aim to have more of our older swimmers taking part in these distance events next year.

Can I also just remind everyone that we ARE a competitive club and as such, when selected, we do expect you to be available to represent Arnold SC at Galas. Without your commitment and support the whole team can be affected whether this be in the form of other swimmers being asked to swim out of age group, individual swimmers having too many events or your age group not being able to compete in the relay events in a particular gala.

Good luck from all the Coaches and Committee Members to all our swimmers who have achieved qualifying times and will be taking part in the 2011 County Championships.

Overall success in the Sports Centre League came in the final gala a Sutton where not only did the team win the round but were also promoted to Division 2 as Champions of Division 3, well done to all those swimmers who took part.

As the title suggests this league is the premier swimming league in the country and as such is treated by the club as a very important league to be part of. While we have experienced issues with selection this season, as a swimmer it should be one of your ’goals’ to be included in this team. The 3 rounds of the competition mean coach journeys and late Saturday nights but the whole experience is fantastic, having the chance to compete individually and as a team against different opposition at a very high standard. Once again the team performed superbly and finished mid-table in Division 2.

Many of our swimmers attended this event, please see the results section.

The club would like to congratulate Tony Parker on his success at being crowned ‘Coach of the Year’ for 2010 voted by the swimming clubs swimmers.

Commonwealth Games - the clubs very own Sascha Matthews competed in the games representing England and was part of the freestyle relay team that won Bronze!

Midlands Short Course - We had a number of swimmers who competed in this years event held in Corby. Abby Walton, Rachel Martin, Mitchell Jordan, Jorge Phenix-Coyne, Francesca Hay, Regan Jordan

DSE National Short Course Championships - Jacob Parker and Luke Mansell both competed in this event in Sheffield. It was Luke’s first major competition which became extra special as he won a bronze medal as part of the relay team.

More details can be found on the news pages and results sections of the website. Well done to all the above swimmers.

As you are all aware we are trying to find sponsorship for the club. Please have a chat with your employer, you never know they may be interested in sponsoring the club? We can provide a CD presentation of the club for any prospective sponsor to view and we would be more than happy to discuss what we are hoping to achieve with sponsorship.

Anyone interested in helping with either finding main sponsors or with sponsorship at the Club Championships please talk to Jim Shelton or David Fortescue at the club desk.

The Club would like to welcome the following swimmers who have joined the club since the last newsletter. We wish you every success in your swimming career and hope you enjoy being part of one of the best swimming clubs in the County!

Bailey Wheatley, Adam Swift, Keira Pearson, Jack Bannister, Naomi MacLaren, Katelynn Bodycott, Jak Bodycott, Olivia Davies, Lauren Picker, Francesca Hay, Thomas Blakey.

It has been fantastic to see all the swimmers wearing the new yellow and blue club caps while representing the club whether this has been at the inter-club galas or at the County Championships.

Lets now keep this going, spares can be bought from the club desk on any club night, everyone wearing the same club cap not only looks good, but also underlines a great team spirit and togetherness.