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Club Success Stories We have had many successes with members becoming Great Britain team members and Midland District champions. Four of our most successful girls in recent years tell their stories below.
I started swimming in the summer of 2001 aged 9 years. My first achievement was coming 1st in figures in the Warwickshire Age Groups in 2002 and then the following year I was 12 and under champion. 2003 was the first time I qualified to swim my solo at the National Age Groups and I came 5th. In May 2007 I took part in the Junior GB trials not expecting very much. However, I came 12th and therefore was invited to train with the Junior GB squad on an intensive 5 week training camp at the High Performance Centre in Aldershot. My target at the National Age Groups in 2007 was to finish in the top 6 - I actually managed to achieve 6th place which meant I had qualified for the second round selection for Junior GB team. I was selected to the team and training started with a 4 week intensive camp at Aldershot followed by the Junior European Championships in Angers, France. The team came 10th. During this time I was also studying for my GCSEs. On return from this competition I then sat my exams which were then followed by a further 1 week of training in Aldershot and 2 weeks in Sicily. This was followed by the Junior World Championships in St Petersburg, Russia. Although we only came 16th out of 17 we had improved so much since the Europeans, apparently the Russians were impressed. In the National Age Groups 2008 my target was to get a medal - I achieved 3rd place in the figures. Again my finishing place meant I was through to the second round selection for Junior GB team. I qualified and training began with 5 weeks intensive training at Aldershot followed by the Junior Europeans in Gloucester. It felt great to be in front of a home crowd. Both the combo and free team routines finished 9th in the finals. This was a good achievement because we had to adapt the routines and substitute a reserve due to an injury. I was also very pleased with my figure result - 92nd out of 168 and 3rd in the GB team. The training at this level is very hard and involves getting up at 6.00 a.m. every morning and training until 5.00 p.m. with a maximum of 1 hour for lunch. We did speed swimming, land warm up, stretching, a lot of lengths underwater with team figures added on the end but without coming up for a breath! I have enjoyed my achievements but success can only be achieved if you are prepared to put in a lot of hard work and listen to your coach. The main thing overall is to also enjoy the sport.
Last December I went to Oxford to try to get into the England Talent Squad for my second year. We had to do figures, learn and short routine and perform it, and flexibility. There were over 40 of us there and I was very nervous. I didn't think I would get in because they were only taking 12, so I forgot about it over Christmas and I was surprised when I found out that I was 11th. At the first training camp, we started to learn a routine, because the aim is to compete at the Comen Cup in Serbia in August. The Head Coach is Jo Bean (from Trafford) and there are 2 other coaches: Louisa Chadwick and Annabelle Surch-Williams. They are very nice and really motivating. They re-ranked us at Easter and they told me I was 9th - so I was excited because it meant that I could be the reserve for the Serbia team (2 people won't be going and I thought that I might be one of them). They re-ranked us again in May and now I'm in the middle 4, which is even better - because I could be in the team! In July we will be going to Aldershot for 2 weeks and will stay at the barracks. They are also going to monitor our progress for the rest of the year. It's really hard work, but it's fun and I've made some very good friends while I have been there from all over the country. We don't just swim. We went to see Hannah Montana at the cinema and at Easter we stayed in a hotel. Normally I stay with a family from Trafford Synchro, so I feel very at home there. We train at the Commonwealth pool and it's 5.1 metres deep - so don't lose your noseclip!
I became a member of the City of Birmingham Synchronised Swimming Club at the age of seven after my sister had joined a few years before. My first achievement was becoming Warwickshire 12 and under champion at the age of nine. I have come first in my age group in all events every year since. I have also been Midland Age Group Champion several times as well as Midland Junior champion at the age of fourteen. I was selected to be a member of the Midland Inter-district Squad in 2003 when my sister and I competed as the Junior Duet for the district. In 2004 I was selected to be the Junior Soloist for the Midlands, as well as being in the duet and the team. From my placing in the National Age Groups in 2004, I was selected to be part of the England Junior Development Squad in 2005. After further trials I travelled with the team to Croatia to compete where we came first. At the end of 2005 I took part in the trials for the Junior Great Britain Squad for 2006. I was successful and began training with the GB squad that Christmas. I then travelled round the country for National Camps, with training most weekends and every holiday, in preparation for the Junior European Championships in Bonn in May. After trials within the squad, I was selected to be in the travelling squad and one of the eight to swim the team. Training continued towards the Junior World Championships in October in China. We travelled there two weeks before the event for an intensive pre-competition camp at the British Olympic Holding Camp facilities in Macau. We were placed 13th in the team event, the best ranking Britain has had in thirteen years. In December last year, I took part in the National Age Groups once again. I was hoping to get a medal in the figure event as I had been ranked within the top three juniors my age in the GB squad throughout the year, but I knew this was ambitious. However, I was delighted to discover I had won the figure event becoming 15-17 National Figure Champion. Mhairi Laing I first started synchro when I was ten. I loved swimming, and my sister had already been doing synchro for a while, so I decided to follow in her waves!! For the first few years it was all about having fun and learning the basics. It wasn't until I was thirteen and came fifth in 13/14 National Age Groups that everything began to take off. The result meant that I qualified for a two-week training camp with one of America's top coaches. It was the first time I really realised what it would be like to train full time, and what it would take to get to the top! A couple of years later, I qualified for the Midland district squad. Then, in 2000, with Ali's help, I won National Junior Champs, made it through the assessments, and qualified for the National Junior team. The first year swimming for GB was a massive learning curve. We would train for 20-25 hours during the week, and then have training camps every weekend, and during the holidays. It was hard work, especially fitting training around my GCSE's, but it was all worth it!! In June 2000 the team travelled to Bonn in Germany for the Junior European Championships. It was really exciting seeing all the routines from other countries, and I can still remember the Russian and Spanish teams, which were amazing! I swam again for GB Juniors in 2001, and this time captained the squad at Junior Europeans in the Ukraine and Junior Worlds in Seattle, which was a lot of fun. It was also nice getting to know some of the girls from other countries. I don't think I'll ever forget walking out to do my solo at Worlds, with the Italian team cheering for me from the balcony! After my A levels in 2002, I moved to Russia to train full time for a year with one of their coaches. I don't think there was a single day of the whole year when I wasn't exhausted or in pain from training so hard, but it was all worth it in 2004 when I qualified for the 2004 Olympic duet squad. 2004 was a very busy year, with training camps and competitions all over the world. In April the duet qualified for the Olympics, but for one reason or another they decided not to send anyone. That we weren't sent to the Olympics in 2004 was a massive disappointment, and I retired soon after that. However, there isn't a single thing I would change. I think synchro in great sport. It teaches the girls how to work as a team, have grace as well as fitness, and gives them the opportunity to travel the world! My tips for the top would be to train hard every session, and listen to Ali. If it weren't for her none of the above would have happened!!
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© City of Birmingham Synchronised Swimming Club - All rights reserved |
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Yvette
Baker
Lucy
Ridge
Elizabeth
Smith 
