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Stratford Sharks AGM 2021 on Wednesday 19th May 2021 at 7- 8 pm
In accordance with Club Constitution rule 11.1 and 11.3a the Annual General Meeting of Stratford Sharks Swimming Club will take place via MS Teams from 7:00 - 8:00 pm, and all members are very welcome. Invites will be sent out closer to the day.
*************** Should you wish to stand as a Trustee of the Charity, and you meet the requirements of the HMRC Fit & Proper Persons Test, a nomination should be made in writing by the proposer and seconder to the Secretary, Vanessa Holland (vanessa@teamsharks.com) no later than 14 days before the annual general meeting, and the nominee should also indicate in writing his/her willingness to stand for election. | |
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With the government confirming the reopening of indoor pools, we are pleased to welcome most swimmers back from Monday, 12th April 2021.
TIMETABLE
We haven't been made aware of any changes to restrictions, therefore our current COVID pool rules and procedures remain in place. It is extremely important that everyone observe the guidelines so we can stay safe.
Please could all swimmers make sure that you complete the Health Survey and COVID Declaration before your first swimming session.
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| Following lockdown announcement we sadly canβt return to the pool.
Please ensure you follow us on
Instagram - stratford_sharks_team_
Facebook - @sharkscompetitive
Twitter - @TeamSharksASC
We will continue to communicate over these platforms and via email.
Any club questions, please contact any of the Trustees. | |
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The last session will be Tuesday 22nd December for those who normally swim on Tuesdays.
There will be no sessions from Wednesday 23rd December 2020 - Friday 1st January 2021. Training sessions will restart on Saturday 2nd January as per our current Bubbles timetable.
On behalf of the Stratford Sharks Team, we wish you all a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we thank you for your ongoing support. | |
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| In normal circumstances, we would have been competing in the National Arena League in the Autumn Short Course part of the season, but due to COVID this was not the case, and therefore we have not been able to present our Club Captains who would normally have led us in this league. Therefore we feel it is the right opportunity to present now leading into the new year of 2021.
So your new Club Captions for Season 2020-2021 are
Daniel Cox and Abbie Wootton 
Both swimmers have swum at National Level, Abbie for Triathlon and Daniel at Swim England - English Nationals. Both swimmers have a lot of competition and training experience as well as volunteering and supporting the younger swimmers of the club.
Well done to Abbie and Daniel who have shown great commitment to Team Sharks over the years and we look forward to continuing to give you both responsibilities throughout the remainder of the season
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We are pleased to welcome most swimmers back on
Wednesday, 2nd December.
DECEMBER TIMETABLE
All pool rules and procedures prior to lockdown 2.0 remain in place. It is extremely important that everyone observe the guidelines so we can stay safe.
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Teamsharks,
No doubt everyone is aware of the government announcement to have another lockdown. Unfortunately this means that our last swimming session will be on Wednesday- 4th November.
Our intention is to revert back to virtual dry training sessions during this shutdown - so please keep an eye on mails/social media. Unfortunately this closure also means that our plans for taking part in the Level X racing event are now on hold.
We hope that swimming can resume again in December but this will be dictated by government advice and the leisure centres. We will keep you informed closer to the time. The planned Christmas shutdown from 24th December to 1st January is likely to remain in place due to leisure centre festive period closures, but again we will know more in December.
The membership fees for November will have been charged already - sorting out refunds is a huge task as we have no bank details stored for members so our proposal is to carry this payment forward to cover December fees (assuming we can re-open) Therefore there will be no membership or training fee charge in December.
As with the last lockdown, if any member would like to make a donation to the club in lieu of their fees please let Jen Morrison know (jen@teamsharks.com). Any donations help us to cover ongoing costs during closure and prepare us for costs when we re-open.
We know how fantastic our swimmers were during the last lockdown and we know that this lockdown will be the same. Hopefully we will be back together again in December.
Please be reminded that the coaches will not be contactable during the lockdown period, so if you have any club queries, please contact any of the Trustees
Stay safe,
The Trustees
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Would you like the opportunity to win the top prize of Β£1000 . Rotary have included our club in the community draw. Tickets cost Β£1.00 each or Β£5 for a book.
For every ticket sold Rotary will donate 80% back to our club funds.
This is a great opportunity to raise some funds for our club. If you would like a ticket or 2 please contact Tracy at fundraising@teamsharks.com
Tickets can be dropped off during training sessions at Shipston or SLC. | |
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| NEW timetable from 1st October NOTE: 4th OCTOBER - Triathlon will affect training times. Bubbles affected would have been made aware of their time just for this day.
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| With the introduction of the NHS track and trace app the leisure centres are requesting that anyone that attends the centre scans in using the QR code.
There is information on the Everyone Active website which states βFrom 24th September all Everyone Active centres will be operating NHS Test and Trace, as per Government legislation. When visiting our centres, you will need to scan the NHS QR code postersβ
This only applies to swimmers aged 16+ as well as volunteers and coaches. | |
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Well done and Thank you to Veronica Ristov, Tracy Pearce, Lisa Mitchell and Jen Morrison who all qualified as Swim England Team Managers for the club during lockdown. These qualifications allow for supporting the coaches and swimmers and parents at Training Sessions/ Open Meets/ Competitions and Camps.
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Well done to Martha Bullock who has been selected on the Warwickshire County Pathway Programme 2020. 
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Well done to our Team Sharks student members who have been selected for the National Development Programme Leah Bowen Rhys Power
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The Junior Captains and Vice Captains are chosen by the Assistant Head Coach, their dedication, approach to the squad training programme, attitude to their peers and to the coaches are all considered when making this difficult choice. Whilst there is no NJL this year the role of our Junior Captains and Vice Captains is still important. They help to support our coaches at other meets and act as a role model to younger swimmers. They will also be able to play a part at our open evenings.
Our Junior Captains and Vice Captains for 2020 are....
Captains: Isobel Greenall & Benji Elliott
Vice Captains: Will Payton & Serena Newell
CONGRATULATIONS!
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| We have swimmers within the club who sadly missed the opportunity to compete at the West Midlands Regional Championships this year. Pools were unfortunately closed before the end of the qualifying window, which prevented some swimmers from achieving their time, despite being so close. We would like to congratulate swimmers who have achieved this despite not being able to compete.
Leah Bowen, Isabelle Callaghan, Dan Cox, Ellie Deaner, Harvey Flint, Ellie Harsant, Cassie Lea, Lauren Maher, Andrew Morley, Lewis Morrison, Becca Morrison, Serena Newell, Will Payton, Rhys Power, Alistair Ristov, Connor Silvester, Owen Lawton and Eleanor Vickers. It is such a shame the swimmers wonβt get to compete this year - especially those that qualified for the first time. Keep chasing your goals swimmers!!!
What a fantastic achievement for them all! πππ
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| Team Sharks,
As you can all imagine I and the rest of Team Sharks are gutted about having to suspend training for the time being to make sure everyone stays safe/ healthy etc.
So this does not mean the end of the Team! We will be cancelling Land Training tonight (for the Performance Squads) so we will be 6-8 pm in the pool sessions (our last session). Please remember to follow the instructions that we have emailed out previously. So you are probably thinking what next's for us as a club? So here is what we will be doing.....
To keep the routine of our swimmers we are currently putting together activities which consist of fitness activities (done every day) fun quiz's / challenges/nutrition knowledge and mindful techniques to keep everyone on track for when we get back into the pool. This will all be done remotely of course and we want it to be as positive as possible and support everyone as much as we can. This will be done on a week by week basis.
If any swimmer has left their net bags at the centres please can these be taken home this evening and all equipment is washed and cleaned and ready for when we get back to it.
Please keep an eye on your emails as I will be emailing out soon on details to help us all.
Stay safe and healthy.
Kim Mortimer, Head Coach
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| We emailed earlier in the week with the hope to remain open with some constraints but with the advice yesterday from Swim England and the Government announcement this evening about schools, we are now taking the difficult decision to stop our training sessions until it is safe to re-open. We will monitor the advice during our period of closure and seek to re-open as soon as we can. The last training session will be Thursday evening, 19 March. As a group of trustees and coaches, we have worked so hard this week to try and do the right thing for the club and our members and to stay open as long as possible. During this period of uncertainty we hope all members and their families stay safe. We will remain in contact and we look forward to seeing you all at the pool as soon as possible. | |
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| Great job to all swimmers who made the Counties, and Congratulations to the following swimmers who got medals! What an eventful 3 weekends of the Champs.
Hannah Penny, Ellie Harsant, Ella Vickers and Isabelle Callaghan β Bronze, Womens 400m Medley Team Leah Bowen, Holly Larkin, Rebecca Morrison, Charlotte Harding β Bronze, Women 13/15 Yrs 200m Freestyle Team
Alistair Ristov β Bronze, Boys 13 yrs 100m Breaststroke and Boys 10/13 yrs 200m Breaststroke Connor Silvester β Bronze, Boys 14 yrs 100m Breaststroke and 50m Breaststroke Isabelle Callaghan β Silver, Girls 14 yrs/Over 200m Breaststroke and 100m Breaststroke William Payton β Bronze, Boys 12 Yrs 50m Freestyle Andrew Morley β Gold, Boys 16 Yrs/Over 50m Freestyle, Bronze 50m Backstroke Serena Newell β Bronze, Girls 12 Yrs 50m Breaststroke Martha Bullock β Silver, Girls 10/11 Yrs 50m Butterfly and 100m Butterfly
And Well done to the following swimmers who made the finals:
Isobel Greenall, Cassie Lea, Jensen Dance, Jack Wood, Benji Elliott, Dan Cox, Ellie Deaner, Lauren Maher, Ellie Harsant, Ella Vickers, Lewis Morrison
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CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR WINNERS FOR 2019 Competitive Performance Award DAN COX
Carly Robinson Award BENJI ELLIOTT
Swimmer of the Year (voted by swimmers) JAKE ASHFIELD
TOP BOY AND GIRL IN EACH SQUAD
Academy TOBY SMITH and ANNABEL STACEY
Juniors LUKE STATHAM and SOPHIA JAMES
Development OLIVER STACEY and MARTHA BULLOCK
P3 JACK WOOD and CAITLIN PRESCOTT
P2 ALISTAIR RISTOV and HOLLY LARKIN
P1 JAKE ASHFIELD and ISABELLE CALLAGHAN
SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS
10/Under DALTON LEA
12/Under CASSIE LEA
14/Under THEO SKIRVIN
16/Under KEANA PEARCE
17/ Over ABBIE WOOTTON
Young Volunteer JOSH MITCHELL
Adult Volunteer LISA MITCHELL
And a HUGE THANK YOU to all COACHES and VOLUNTEERS!
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| Masters swimmers Ali Skirvin and Megan Grey, represented Teamsharks at the National Masters SC Champs. Great swimming by both!!!
Well done! 
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| CLUB CAPTAINSJake Ashfield and Isabelle CallaghanJake and Izzy have done a fantastic job last year and we feel that their influence and dedication to Team Sharks will continue for another year. We would like to welcome the following Vice Captains for this season 2019-2020. CLUB VICE CAPTAINS Daniel Cox and Abbie Wootton
All the above have been competing for a long time within the club at Regional and National Level and have a considerable amount of experience within the competitive environment. All have had their own challenges with illness, injury, confidence etc and therefore will be able to give advice to any member within the club. Well done all.
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| Congratulations to all swimmers who competed at the National Championships 2019 this Summer. We are so proud of you all.
National 100m Breaststroke Champion 16yrs : Dan Cox Dan also competed in the 200m Breaststroke and 50m Breaststroke coming 4th & 5th respectively
Ellie Harsant came 16th in the 15yrs 100m Breaststroke
Izzy Callaghan came 6th in the 17yrs 200m Breaststroke and 15th in the 50m Breaststroke
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| Well done to Lauren Maher, 21st in the 16yrs age group at the Irish Nationals today in the 100m Breaststroke !
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| Well done Becca, 4th in the 14yrs age group for the 1500m Freestyle at Scottish Nationals 2019
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| Well done to our Masters swimmer, Ali Skirvin who represented Team Sharks at the British Masters Long Course Championships in Wales this weekend! Ali gained Silver in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke! Ali also swam in the 50m events in each stroke /200 IM and the 100 backstroke, with 3 fifth places, a sixth, a ninth and a tenth. | |
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