The Harriman’s Meet, held on Sunday afternoon 24th March at Adwick Leisure Centre, was our THIRD inside the month ofMarch - so we’ve been very busy indeed. However, showing their typically positive and enthusiastic attitude, our cohort of 27 Kingfishers carried on where they had left off, with terrific

successes across the 10-15 age groups. The age groups were determined by age at 31st December 2024 - so many of our swimmers were swimming in an older age category. In addition to Armthorpe Kingfishers, Dearne Valley, Adwick, Doncaster DARTES and Edlington Stingrays were in attendance. There

were around 160 swimmers in total at the Meet. Many of our regular seasoned swimmers were in attendance, as usual, because they just can’t get enough, but this Meet is hugely popular amongst our younger, less experienced swimmers, and, for many of our contingent, this was their very first competition - and they certainly made the most of it!

Inspired by our trusty coaches and team managers, along with Adwick’s “feel good” play list, the transformation from “rabbits in the headlights” before their first swim, to the bouncy confidence demonstrated from there on in, was delightful to see, and it is very clear that there are some stars of the future amongst those “newbies”! Hopefully they will go from strength to strength. It wasn’t all plain sailing, but, as they say, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”.

With cut off points within easier reach at this gala, there were quite a few “speeding tickets” up for grabs - and they were grabbed with delight by swimmers, and often, but not always, prized above medals. There were PBs galore - especially for our newbies, who came away with a full set of official times. However, despite the previous meet being only a week ago, PBs were still being set by our swimmers.

In total, there were 60 PBs and 69 medals of varying colours:

Gold x 16

Silver x 23

Bronze x 12

4th Place  x 7

5th Place  x 6

6th Place x 5

A special well done to the following swimmers who achieved a top three place in all their races:

Jennifer Powell - two Gold and a Speeding Ticket

Sophie Barley - one Gold and three Silver

Maisy Ebbage - two Gold and two Silver

Lucas Johnson - two Gold and two Silver

Ava Burkill - one Gold and three Silver

Vlad Akula - two Gold

Ray Chapman - one Gold and three Silver

Laura Garbacik - three Gold and one Bronze

Mia Grant - three Silver and one Bronze

Emily Kirk - one Gold, one Silver and two Bronze

There were also some qualifying times achieved for October’s Yorkshire Championships, and other swimmers who edged ever nearer qualifying - we wish them luck in their quest. Club Rankings and Age Group Awards for Top Boy and Top Girl are not officially awarded at this meet, but scrutiny of the above list will provide some insight into who those swimmers might be. Many, many thanks again to all our swimmers, and to the Team Managers, Coaches, Officials and other volunteers who support us, without whom these competitions (and the training in preparation) would not happen. Thank you to Adwick for organising the Meet, and thank you, as always to all those parents, families and friends who come and support us time and time again - we are so grateful! Our next Club event is the Doncaster METs Teams, which will be held at Adwick on Saturday 20th April. This team event is competed for by Doncaster Clubs and comprises Freestyle,

Medley and Canon Team Relays across the whole range of age groups. 

The teams are selected from age groups 

9/10 years,

11/12 years, 

13/14 years,  and

15 and overs with age being at 31st December 2024.

The winning club is awarded the Bridon Shield. We are the current holders of the Bridon Shield, and it will take a superhuman effort for any other team to even think about getting it off us. So… you will not want to miss this!

Remember the date and come and support us!

Yet again, our kingfishers did us proud. A team of 21 swimmers travelled to the International Olympic Pool at Ponds Forge, Sheffield on Saturday 2nd March 2024, for the Worksop Dolphins Open Meet. This was the first time we had competed in this meet, and a great opportunity to swim in a ten lane pool over a straight 50m, against some swimmers and clubs we had never met before.

It was another early start for many - still dark and, on top of that, cold, wet and miserable. However, undeterred and intrepid as ever, the Kingfishers did what they do best and “stepped up to the plate”. As always, their ambition, drive, spirit and commitment were OUTSTANDING, as was their team work and support for each other. This really is what grass roots sport is all about. We have some real champions of the future here, with some of our swimmers achieving Yorkshire AND regional qualifying times! Watch this space!

It was an ENORMOUS field of around 400 competitors from 17 clubs from all over the region. In many events there were upwards of 12 heats across the age groups, amounting to 120 swimmers! The 9 years female 50m freestyle event alone had 45 swimmers! An entry of 25+ was commonplace in the 9-13 age groups. Interestingly, there were more female than male swimmers at the event. Worksop, the hosts, won the club competition with 1453.5 points; Grantham were second with 893 points, and Ripley third with 730 points. Armthorpe were an extremely creditable ninth with 358 points - amazing for such a small club and small cohort of swimmers.

For most, it was their first experience of such a splendid venue, and of “long course” competition. Swimming 50m in one go, with no turns at the halfway mark, was quite daunting - and to quote one of our excellent team managers, some swimmers were heard to say “I thought the end was never coming”  - but, come it did… eventually…bringing with it a whole new set of long course PBs to add to those already gained over “short course” swims. For some, it brought medals, although these were only awarded to the first three at each of A and B Grade events - so they were like “hen’s teeth”.

In total, Kingfishers won 41 medals: 13 Gold, 11 Silver and 17 Bronze!

So… Very Well Done to the following medalists:

Sofia Sanders 6 x Gold, 1 x Silver

Laura Garbaciuk 3 x Gold, 1 x Silver, 1x Bronze

Jennifer Powell 1 x Gold, 1 x Silver, 1 x Bronze

Lucas Johnson 1 x Gold, 1 x Silver, 1 x Bronze

Jack Collins 1 x Gold, 1x Silver, 2 x Bronze

Sam Fisher 1 x Gold, 2 x Bronze

Ava Burkill 2 x Silver 1 x Bronze

Stephen Tuffrey 2 x Silver

Noah Burkill 1 x Silver, 1 x Bronze

Jacob Witts 1 x Silver

Lucas Stallard 2 x Bronze

Ben Gilson 3 x Bronze

Maisy Ebbage 2 x Bronze

Miranda Burkill 1 x Bronze

A particular Well Done must go to:

Sofia Sanders who was the top female in the 11 years age group, and second top in the whole competition.

Laura Garbaciuk who was fourth in the female 11 years category and 12th overall.

As always - a HUGE thank you to all our merry band of spectators/cheerleaders - we couldn’t do this without you, and we recognise all the sacrifices you make to support your children, and us! And, of course, an even BIGGER thank you to our swimmers - who give everything and bring us such joy - THANK YOU!

Special thanks go to all our AMAZING volunteers:

* our coaches, who work so hard to get our swimmers ready for these competitions!

* our team managers who look after our swimmers, make sure they get to their races and collect their medals!

* our committee, particularly Mr and Mrs Kingfishers, Pete and Maureen

* our “back room staff” at the club who kept training going whilst we were at the meet

* the officials and technical support staff and centre staff, without whom these events couldn’t run.

It was a VERY long day - but so, so rewarding, enjoyable and worthwhile. We all do this for our children - because they deserve our best.

Our next scheduled event is the Beverley Barracudas on Sunday 17th March at Beverley Leisure Centre - you won’t want to miss it! See you there!

Remember, swimmers … Dream BIG, dream OUTRAGEOUS, and… SWIM FAST!