Roll call for 2005 honours (From Barry And District News)

Roll call for 2005 honours

ON Saturday, February 11, the Barry Amateur Swimming Club held its 80th Annual General Meeting.

The meeting was attended by the President of the Club, Ray Owens and many Life Members. Apologies had been received from David Davies and Mary Thomas.

During the year two Life Members had died, Ernie Cochrane and Ken Smith.

A special welcome was extended to Steve Airey, Welsh Amateur Swimming Association President and Chairman of the Cardiff Swimming Club who would be presenting the trophies this year.

Barry Swimming Club has competed in several events this year, one of which was the fifth Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Junior Championships held last May at the Barry Pool.

It had been a very successful event and Barry had won several medals.

Following a very successful bag-packing day at Morrison's store it had been decided that some of the money would be spent on employing Maxine McKinnell, a former Swimming Development Officer to come to coach the swimmers on a monthly basis on Monday nights beginning on Monday, February 13.

Maxine is a professional coach and it was hoped that coaches and swimmers alike would learn from Maxine's work on poolside.

The Treasurer reported that the Club finances were in good shape but that there would be a problem if pool hire costs were increased greatly for the coming year.

The Chief Coach announced the names of the new Club Captains - Niall Pratt Captain and Ryan Looker Vice Captain of the boys, and Lowri Phillips Captain and Rachel Morgan Vice Captain of the Girls.

All the current Committee members were prepared to remain in their posts for the coming year but one parent had volunteered to join the Committee - Julian McTavish.

He was hoping to help move the Club forward to attain a WASA Dragon mark standard.

The Chairman, Mrs H Cooper, invited Steve Airey to present the trophies, medals and certificates that had been won at the Club Championships held in November 2005.

In addition to the winners of the strokes some special awards were made.

Best Runner up - Tanara O'Neill, Richard Selby, Rachel Richards andSimon Perry.

These were presented to the girl and the boy swimmer who has come closest to winning the individual stroke trophies but did not actually win any first places this time and this year by great coincidence we had two girls and two boys who gained exactly the same number of points and would therefore be sharing the trophies.

Best Novice - Shannon Ensor, Elis Richards.

This was awarded to the girl and boy swimmer who has worked extremely hard since joining the Club and has improved greatly.

Best Newcomer - Lauren Williamson, Rhys Perry.

This was awarded to the girl and boy swimmer who had joined the club within the last year and who has worked hard to reach a very good standard in his/her age group since then.

Most Improved - Hannah Palfrey, Tamas Vincze.

These may have been members of the Club for quite some time but whose competitive performance has improved significantly during the past year.

Loyalty Cup - Ryan Looker.

This is a cup for someone who has put in a lot of effort on the Club's behalf and shown a great deal of loyalty to the Club. During the last few years

Kings Lynne Ladies Trophy - Teresa Wheeler.

This trophy is awarded each year to someone who has been an essential part of the Club's success during the past year. This person may not have been primarily a poolside helper - there are many other very essential jobs needed in order to keep the Club functioning.

Club Member of the Year - Philippa Wheeler, Mike Looker.

This trophy is awarded every year one to a male and one to a female adult member of the Club for their work during their time at the Club. These have been members of our Club for several years and have helped out in various ways during that time.

The Chairman mentioned an ex-club member who was now one of our Life Members, David Davies. The Club's best wishes were sent to David for his swims in the Commonwealth Games in March.

She then thanked Steve Airey very much for presenting the awards this year and she also thanked all members and parents for coming to the AGM again this year and congratulated all who won trophies