Chippenham swimmer George Claverley came second in the British Schools Biathlon Championships at Crystal Palace on Sunday (25th March).

Sheldon pupil Claverley took the silver medal in the year 9 boy’s event by swimming 100 meters in 59.98 seconds and running the 1000 metres in 3 minutes 0.57 seconds to score 2600 points.

Chippenham Swimming Club finish 6th in winter league final – 24th March

Chippenham ASC finished 6th at the Wilts Winter League final on Saturday night (24th March) at the Link Centre Swindon.

Having qualified for the Division 1 final by winning the 3rd round event at Corsham, Chippenham found the final tough going against stronger teams from around the region.

The final result on the night left Chippenham behind Trowbridge A (1st), Swindon dolphins A (2nd) , Tigersharks ( 3rd)   Bradford on Avon and Salisbury.

Chippenham Squad were: Tegan Cairns, Puruvi Ruperal, Natalie Pidgeon, Abbie Cross, Amy Hall, Harriet Olgivie, Jess Stafford, Bryony Cairns, Sapphire Randerson, Chloe May, Katie Smith, Chelsea Chard, Evie Preece, Emma Holloway, Charity Moore, Luke Brown, John Davies, Henry Gaunt, Tom Tennant, Andrew Hare, Matt Hare, Sam Miller, Nathan Coupland, Dan Branston, John Branston, Jack Cook, Ben Holloway, Henry Moore, Peter Holden, Jack Crowe and Joe Bailey.

Chippenham swimmers win medals at Age Group Championships

Chippenham Swimming club brought home 11 more medals from the Wilts County age group championships at the weekend.  (March 17/18).

Top performers were Andrew Hare and Matthew Hardick.  Hare collected a gold, 3 silvers and a bronze as well as taking 6th place in his age group points competition.

Hardick was Chippenham’s star performer of the championships adding 3 golds and a silver to his collection and winning his age group points competition.

Chippenham county swimmers at the weekend included Natalie Pidgeon, Chloe May, Harriet Olgivie, Tegan and Bryony Cairns, Luke Brown, Henry Gaunt, John  Davies, James Tucker, Amy Hall  and Gordon Elliot.

Chippenham Swimmer to take part in British Schools Biathlon Championships.

Chippenham ASC swimmer George Claverley will be taking part in the British Schools Biathlon Championships at Crystal Palace on 25th March 2012. George who will be swimming 100 meters and running 1000 m, qualified for the British Championships by winning the semi-final held in Bath on 22 January.  George swam 59.80 seconds (100m) and ran the 1,000m in 3 minutes 14.24 secs to top his year group.

Chippenham Swimming club win at Corsham – Winter League Round 3

Corsham Springfield Leisure Centre came to the rescue of the Wilts Winter League by hosting 2 galas back to back on Saturday night (10th March).

After a last minute hitch with venues, 2 galas had to be held at Corsham.  In the first gala Chippenham ASC ran out winners against local rivals Bradford on Avon, Corsham A and Swindon Dolphins B. Chippenham had 20 wins on the night from the 39 relay races contested.  Chippenham’s   Head Coach Nigel Butler declared himself satisfied with the night’s proceedings and said the team was looking forward to the grand final on 24th March at the Link Centre in Swindon.

Scores on the night were Chippenham 129, Bradford On Avon 110, Corsham A 90, and Swindon Dolphins B 57.

Chippenham Squad were:  Tegan Cairns, Puruvi Ruperal, Natalie Pidgeon, Abbie Cross, Amy Hall, Harriet Olgivie, Jess Stafford, Bryony Cairns, Sapphire Randerson, Chloe May, Katie Smith, Chelsea Chard, Evie Preece, Emma Holloway, Charity Moore, Luke Brown, John Davies, Henry Gaunt, Tom Tennant, Andrew Hare, James Tucker, Matt Hare, Sam Miller, Nathan Coupland, Dan Branston, John Branston, Jack Cook, Ben Holloway, Henry Moore, Peter Holden and Joe Bailey.

As part of implementing Chippenham ASC’s Equality Action Plan, the club supports the Disability Swimming Wilts County training programme. Supported by Aiming Higher and in partnership with ASA and local swimming clubs, Wilts Council offer monthly  county training sessions for swimmers with a disability.

Location: Devizes Leisure Centre, Southbroom Road, Devizes, SN10 5AB

Dates: 14th April, 19th May, 23rd June, 28th July, 8th Sept, 20th Oct, 17th Nov, 15th Dec

Time: 4.00pm – 5.00pm

These sessions are aimed at children and young people with a physical, sensory or learning disability, who are interested in competitive disability swimming.

For more information and to register please contact Nancy Davies This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or speak to club volunteer Stephen Miller pool side.

9 Chippenham swimmers now have qualifying times for the South West Regional Championships to held later in the year at Plymouth (Youths) and Millfield (Age Groups) following completion of the Youth County championships. They are Matt Hare (5 events), Henry Moore (3 events plus 2 consideration times (CT)), Jack Crow (2 events plus 1 CT), Chelsea Chard (3 CTs), Beatrice Moore (1CT), John Branston (1CT),  Katie Smith (2CTs), Evie Preece (2CTs) and Peter Holden (1CT).

The Wiltshire county age group (9-13) Championships got underway at Swindon on Sunday (4th March).

16 Chippenham swimmers competed winning 7 medals in all.  Star swimmer was Matthew Hardick with golds in the 200m BC, 50m freestyle (FS) and 50m BS and silver in the 200m FS.  Andrew Hare won 3 medals:  silver in the 100m BF and 50m BS and bronze in the 400m individual medley.

There were also competitive swims from Puruvi Ruparel, Natalie Pidgeon, Amy Hall, Tegan and Bryony Cairns, Luke Brown, John Davies, Chloe May, Henry Gaunt, Lucy Featherston, Nathan Coupland, Cameron Perkins and Gordon Elliot.

13 Chippenham swimmers competed on the last day of the County youth championships at Swindon on Saturday (Mar 3).

Age group medallists were Matt Hare (bronze 200m butterfly (BF)), John Branston (silver 50m back stroke (BC)), Henry Moore (bronze 50m BC), Jack Crow (50m BC), Beatrice Moore (silver 200m BF), Katie Smith (silver 200m breast stroke (BS)) and Evie Preece (gold 200m BS).

In the Junior Championship (top 6 of ages 14/15) Hare was 4th in the 200m BF and Branston 3rd in the 50m BC. Emily Daulby was 6th in the 50m BC and smith 6th in the 200m BS.  Crow was 3rd in the overall championship 50m BC.

There were also good swims from Joe Bailey, Jess Stafford, Peter Holden, Emma Holloway and Dan Branston.

Chippenham ASC South West regional qualifiers so far ...

Following the first 2 days of the Wilts County Youth Championships, 7 Chippenham swimmers have so far met qualifying times for the Regional championships to be held later in the year. These include  Matt Hare (4 events), Henry Moore (2 events plus 2 consideration times), Jack Crow (1 event plus 1 consideration time), Chelsea Chard (3 consideration times), and with 1 consideration time each Beatrice Moore, John Branston, Katie Smith and Evie Preece.

16 Chippenham Club swimmers competed at the Wiltshire County Youths (aged 14 and over) Championships at the weekend (25/26 Feb 2012) at the Link Centre in Swindon.

In the boys races age group medallists included Matt Hare (silver 400m individual medley (IM), bronze 50m butterfly(BF)), John Branston (bronze 100m BF and 50m BF), Peter Holden (bronze 400m freestyle(FS)), Joe Bailey (bronze 100m BF and 50m BF), Jack Crow (bronze 100m BF, silver 50m BF). Hare swam the most qualifying swims competing in 10 events over the weekend.

In the overall Championship races (Juniors ages 14/15 top 6 and Championships top 6 overall). Branston was 4th in the Junior championship 100m fly and 6th in the Junior championship 100m backstroke (BC).  Hare was 6th in the Junior championship 50m Fly. Henry Moore was 4th in the Championship 100m BC and 6th in the 200m BC. Crow was 5th in the Championship 50m BF.

In the girls races medallist were Beatrice Moore (bronze 50 BF), Chelsea Chard (silver 100 and 200m BC, bronze 400IM), Katie Smith (bronze 50m and 100m breast stroke(BS)),  Emma Holloway (bronze 200m FS), Evie Preece (bronze 100m BC).

Emily Daulby was 4th in the Junior Championship 50m BS.

There were also good swims from Daniel Branston, Ben Holloway, Jessica Stafford, and Sapphire Randerson.

The Youth championships completes on 3rd March.

There will be an Injury Prevention Workshop at the Link Center, Swindon on 25th March  0930-1130.

The Club have been allocated two places and the course will cover:

Anatomy and mechanism of common injuries

Signs and symptoms of common injuries

Technique, and its contribution to injury

The coach’s role in managing a swimmer in pain

The management of young swimmers

Warm up do’s and don'ts

If Interested please let the club secretary know through the usual email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Chippenham ASC 5th overall after Winter League round 2.

With 2 rounds of the Winter league completed and all the gala results gathered in, Chippenham ASC are 5th overall of 24 teams and on the cusp of qualifying for the top final In March.

Chippenham lie behind Trowbridge A, Tigersharks, Swindon Dolphins A and Salisbury but ahead of Bradford On Avon and Corsham A. If Chippenham can put a good performance together at the next Winter League at Corsham on March 10th then the club has a very good chance of qualifying for the top 6 final on 24th March.

Aquae Sulis Hub Network Coaches Event - 16th February 2012

25 coaches from across Wilts and BANES attended the inaugural coach's learning session organised by Aquae Sulis at the Bath Sports Village on 16th Feb.

Graeme Entwhistle, who coached UK swimmers at the Bejing Olympic games and is currently part of the ASA Intensive Training Centre based in Bath, presented his ideas on improving swimmers butterfly stroke and then led a coaching session with 8 Corsham swimmers.

Chippenham coaches Stephen Miller and Tony Wright attended the 2hr learning event and hope to bring some of the things they learned into regular Chippenham training sessions. This was the first such learning event organised by Aquae Sulis and it is planned that further events cover other strokes and other training that can aid the development of our swimmers. As Graeme is poolside at Bath with the ITC on a daily basis, he offered the opportunity for coaches to come and watch how he trains his elite athletes.

Wiltshire Long Distance Swimming Championships 2012

Chippenham swimmers started off the 2012 Wiltshire County Championships at the long distance events held at Bath University on Sunday 29th January.

In the girls 800 metre races, Tegan Cairns swam 11min 49.25s for 5th in her age group. Older sister Bryony swam 11min 22.15s for 8th in her age. Sapphire Randerson put in a good effort in swimming 11min 58.36s finishing 4th in her age group.

For the boys Matt Hare swam his 1,500 metre race in 19min 42.10s for 4th in his (14yr old) age group and 8th overall in the Junior Championships (15 and under). Peter Holden was second in his (15yr old) age group in 20min 10.02s.

Chippenham Swimming Club – Disability Update and South West Open Assessment day

Update on Chippenham ASC involvement in disability swimming.  The club currently have a number of specifically trained coaches and teachers including Nigel and Heather Butler and Lynn Denning.  In 2011 the club supported the Wilts County assessment day for disability swimmers and currently provides support to the Wilts Academy with Stephen Miller helping out every 4 weeks at Devizes.

Wilts Academy: A Wiltshire based Swimming Academy launched in September 2011 and targets young people with a disability that show an interest and some ability in swimming. The academy is for children aged 8 years and above with sessions running until April 2012. Sessions are delivered on a monthly basis at Devizes Leisure Centre and operate in accordance with the Playground2Podium elite talent pathway. Members of the academy receive technical coaching and any young people who demonstrate further talent will be signposted to the Regional Development Centre at Bristol.

Negotiations are underway to extend funding for the Wilts Academy beyond April .

South West Open Assessment day - To celebrate 200 days to go until the start of the Paralympic Games,   the South West Disability Swimming Squad are hosting an Open Assessment Day designed to get more people with a disability involved in swimming.

Date: Saturday 11th February 2012

Venue: Horfield Leisure Centre, Bristol, BS7 0XW

Time: 5:00PM-6:00PM

Swimmers will need to register for the event by contacting Gavin Phillips, Chair of South West Disability Swimming Squad on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 07899 665828

This is a fantastic opportunity to use the power of the London 2012 Paralympic Games to get more children and young people involved in sport.

10 Volunteers from Chippenham Swimming Club have been awarded their certificates in Level 1 coaching.

The volunteers completed their training over a number of Sundays and Tuesday evenings at the Olympiad pool in Chippenham during November and December.  This included planning and delivering coaching sessions to Chippenham club swimmers on Tuesday nights.  The club funded the cost of this training which enables the club to continue to provide high quality and safe training under the supervision of Head Coach Nigel Butler.

The newly qualified L1 coaches are Chris Hardick, Marianna Hare, Gary Brown, Mark Olgivie, Stephen and Evie Preece, Kim Branston, Ruth Powell, Tony Wright and Stephen Miller.

Chippenham Swimming Club 2nd in Winter League.

Chippenham ASC finished 2nd to Swindon Tigersharks in the 2nd round of the Wilts Winter League held at the Link Centre, Swindon on Saturday night (14th Jan).

Chippenham won 11 races of 39 (all relays):  U13 boys breast stroke, over 17 boys medley, U15 girls free, U17 girls breast stroke, U17 boys breast stroke, over 17 boys free, squadron (one from each age group) boys breast stroke, U13 girls free, U13 boys free, over 17 boys back, U15 boys breast stroke.

Scores on the night were Tigersharks 221, Chippenham 173, Corsham A 132, Trowbridge B 109, Wroughton 91, Swindon Dolphins B 85.

The 3rd round of the Winter League will be held on 10th March with Chippenham hosting a gala at Corsham swimming pool.

The full Chippenham squad included:

Lucy Featherston, Tegan Cairns, Abbie Cross, Natalie Pidgeon, Puruvi Ruparel, Bryony Cairns, Chloe May, Harriet Ogilvie, Emily Daulby, Sapphire Randerson, Charity Moore, Chelsea Chard, Katie Smith, Evie Preece, Beatrice Moore, Emma Holloway

John Davies, Luke Brown, Andrew Hare, Henry Gaunt, Thomas Tennant, James Tucker, Nathan Coupland, Sam Miller, George Claverley, Daniel Branston, Matthew Hare, Peter Holden, Henry Moore, Joe Bailey, Jack Crow

Chippenham swimming club held its last championship event of 2011 on Sunday Night (18th Dec) with swimmers tackling the 200 metre freestyle race.

Age group winners for the boys were Luke Brown, Andrew Hare, Matt Hare, Peter Holden and Henry Moore.  Girl age group winners were Tegan Cairns, Lucy Featherston, Chloe May, Chelsea Chard and Emma Holloway.

Fastest times on the night came from Moore – 2 minutes 10.31 seconds and Holloway – 2.23.82

There were 44 swimmers.

Chippenham Swimming club held its second sprint night and 200 Individual medley races on the weekend of 10/11th December.

Highlight of the sprints night was an exciting “skins” contest.  The top 6 swimmers go head to head over 50 meters until only one swimmer is left standing.  Peter Holden held off Andrew Hare in the B final and Henry Moore beat Matt Hare in the A final.  Chelsea Chard won the B final from Katie Smith, and in the A final Emma Holloway touched first just ahead of Evie Preece.

Age group winners of the sprint races - 25m freestyle (FS), 25 m breast stroke (BS),  50m butterfly (BF), 50m backstroke (BC), 100m breast stroke, 100m freestyle included:

Andrew Hare 100m FS, 50 BC, 100m BS, 50m BF,          Matt Hare 100m FS, 50m BC, 100m BS, 50m BF,          John Branston 100m FS, 50m BC, 50m BF,            Jack Cook 100m FS, 50m BF,          Lucy Featherston 100m FS,          Chloe May 100m FS, 50m BC,          Charity Moore 100m FS,          Emma Holloway 100m FS,          Matthew Hardick  50m BC, 25m BS, 25m FS,          Henry Moore  50m BC,          Tegan Cairns  50m BC, 50m BF,          Puruvi Ruparel  50m BC, 50m BF,          Chelsea Chard  50m BC, 50m BF,          Evie Preece 50m BC, 100m BS,          Joshua Dreelan 25m BS, 25m FS,          Megan Wright 25m BS,          Ellis Bailey 25m BS, 25 m FS,          Gordon Elliot 25m BS, 25m FS,          Jessica Bullock 25m BS,          Chloe Makepeace 25m BS, 25m FS,          Richard Waterfield 25m BS,          Natalie Jones 25m BS, 25m FS,          Peter Holden 100m BS,          Matt Cruse 100m BS,          Natalie Pidgeon 100m BS,          Emily Daulby 100m BS,          Katie Smith 100m BS,          Jess Smith 25m FS,          Luke Brown 50m BF,          Jess Stafford 50m BF,          Beatrice Moore 50m BF,          Leona Lovegrove 25m FS,          Shaun Cairns 25m FS

Age group winners of the 200 IM were: Luke Brown, Andrew Hare, Matt Hare, Peter Holden, Henry Moore, Natalie Pidgeon, Chloe May, Chelsea Chard and Evie Preece.

Fastest swims in the 200 IM were 2 mins 28.11 secs by Matt Hare and 2.42.85 by Chelsea Chard.