In spite of the very wintery weather a small party from GBM attended the Hillingdon Winter Open Meet which was held at their new 50m Swimming Pool at Uxbridge. There were many impressive personal bests, several medals and 3 national times achieved by Emma Mitchell in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle (well done Emma - a hard act to follow!) Holly Wylie got a special mention as being "a real Star all weekend" over the tannoy and although the delegation was smaller than usual GBM came third overall. Well done to all the swimmers who took part in this event.

Medals were awarded to the following swimmers:

The usual suspects attended the Northampton Winter Festival Gala which was held at the new International Swimming Pool at Corby.  In spite of the very cold weather there was plenty of competition from the various clubs around the country.  The swimming .as usual, was to a very high standard with some impressive personal bests and medals were awarded to the following swimmers:

Also Competing for GBM was: Joe Erb, Aimee Lockwood, Neema Nyaulingo and Holly Wylie

Nine GBM swimmers took part in the Kent Development Meet at Medway Park in Gillingham, Kent.

Good swims by all our swimmers with lots of PBs, but no new Kent Qualifying Times unfortunately.

Richard Blatchford (13) recieved 3 Gold medals in his 3 events - 50m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly and 50m Backstroke.  Well done Richard!

Also Competing for GBM was: Alexander Ball, Ben Barrass, Katherine Curtis, Ellis Erb, Jake Forrest, Kara Salih, Natalie Smith and Lily Wylie

Following the Long Distance meet 2 weeks earlier, a larger delegation - full of determination to make this the start of things to come for 2010 - drove down to Aldershot Garrison - to take part in the Rushmoor Royals Long Course Gala this time for 50m, 200m and 400m races. As usual there were some great swims producing some splendid pbs and a fistful of medals to boot. I think it is fair to say that GBM made an impression. The following results were achieved:

Well done swimmers - you made us all proud to be your supporters.

Also Competing for GBM was: Kate Curran, Joe Doublet, Ellen Dunbar, Joe Erb, Aimee Lockwood, Chanel Robinson, Natalie Smith and Joan Tello Alvarez

The Waltham Forest Autumn Level 3 meet held during the weekend of 16th and 17th October 2010 was well organised by Borough of Waltham Forest Swimming Club.

Competition was strong amongst clubs from the local area and further afield. GBM swimmers had a great time winning lots of medals and achieving many personal bests at this well attended event.

Congratulations to the following swimmers for winning the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.

Well done GBM

Also Competing for GBM was: Danielle Capocci, Katherine Curtis, Riya Das, Jake Forrest, Chanel Robinson, Natalie Smith, Sophie Smith and Jake Sulch

Four swimmers with a handful of their avid supporters from GBM bravely made their way down to Aldershot Garrison Sports Centre to compete in Rushmore Royal’s Long Distance Gala (800m & 1500m Freestyle.) The girls - Holly Wylie and Neema Nyaulingo competed in the 800m race and both came away with silver medals for their efforts. Josh Ling braved the 1500m coming away with a bronze medal. Joe Erb also braved the 1500m - a rather rude awakening for the first open gala only six weeks into the new season.

A number of GBM swimmers attended this unusual Meet in Canterbury. Swimmers swam the individual strokes as separate events. The times from each were combined and the fastest six went into an IM final

There were many PBs from the swimmers who braved the exceedingly hot weather and some of the swimmers won some cash for their efforts coming in the top three in the IM.

The following qualified for the IM Finals but finished outside the Top Three places – Alexander Ball (9) in 100m IM and in the 200m IM Jake Forrest (12), Max Kong (15/o), Casey Porritt (15/o) and Joshua Snow (15/o)

Also Competing for GBM was: Benjamin Barrass, Benn Cook, Riya Das, Ben Duxbury, Nick Duxbury, Kimberley Kong, Chanel Robinson and Kara Salih

Over 50 GBM Swimmers entered this Meet at the Downham Leisure Centre and achieved a huge number of PB’s and a number of Top 6 Places.

Many thanks to the coaches and the parents who helped on poolside and all the dads who gave up their Father’s Day for the Open. Finally, many congratulations to the swimmers

Also Competing for GBM was: Ferhat Akkoc, Alexander Ball, Benjamin Barrass, Danielle Capocci, Benn Cook, Amy Chamberlain, Amy Collins, Abigail Crane Howard, Katherine Curtis, Zahra Crane, Riya Das, Patrick Dunbar, Oliver Farrant, Jake Forrest, Millie Garnham, Vuyo Harty-Clarke, Amber Hunt, Kimberley Kong, Holly Lewis, Arabella Perry, Valentine Reader, Madeleine Salama, Kara Salih, Koume Smith, Natalie Smith, Maisie Springall, Callum Sullivan, Dominic Sullivan, Alice Townsend, David Townsend and Lily Wylie

Just a few swimmers made their way up to Sheffield for this Open which was hugely oversubscribed as it was virtually the last Open in which to gain a National Qualifying Time.

Good swims by all our swimmers with some PBs but no new National Qualifying Times unfortunately.

The following achieved top three places

Also Competing for GBM was: Joe Erb, Aimee Lockwood and Holly Wylie

It was a good weekend for GBM swimmers at at this Open with 5 National Qualifying Times achieved.

Congratulations to the following on NQTs

Emma Mitchell (13) 100m Backstroke, 100m Butterfly; Neema Nyaulingo (12) 100m Backstroke, 200m Backstroke and Holly Wylie (14) 200m Backstroke

Well done to all

A small group of GBM swimmers attended this gala. All swam really well and many PB’s were achieved.

The following reached finals but finished outside the Top Three medal positions:

Leanne Hennessy (14) 100m Backstroke; Emma Mitchell (13) 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly; Natasha Sinha (13) 100m Backstroke, 200m Butterfly, 200m Backstroke; Holly Wylie (13) 100m Breaststroke, 200m Breaststroke, 200m IM

Also Competing for GBM was: Kelly Botero, Joe Doublet, Ellen Dunbar, Joe Erb, Aimee Lockwood and Neema Nyaulingo

A number of GBM swimmers made the trek to Coventry for this long course meet in Coventry. The results are shown below:

Many congratulations to Natasha Sinha who qualified for the Nationals on 100m & 200m Backstroke.

Also Competing for GBM was: Hayley Bennett, Amaia del Rio Foces, Ellen Dunbar, Joe Erb, Sabrina Sinha and Lily Wylie

A number of GBM swimmers attended this long course meet in Crawley and achieved the following results.

Also Competing for GBM was: Kelly Botero, Joshua Brewster, Luke Brewster, Ellen Dunbar, Nick Duxbury, Leanne Hennessy, Aimee Lockwood, Neema Nyaulingo and Chanel Robinson

A large group of swimmers accompanied by two coaches went across to Walthamstow for this Meet. All swam well with nearly every swim resulting in a Personal Best time and many swimmers came away with Top Three places.

The coaches were delighted with all the swimmers and it was a very successful weekend for all – congratulations to swimmers, coaches and parents.

Also Competing for GBM was: Amy Chamberlain, Amy Collins, Katherine Curtis, Riya Das, Rachel Fielder, Millie Garnham, Holly Lewis, Natalie Smith and Jay Wearn

Leonie Buck (13) went up to Sheffield as part of the Greater London Team to compete in this Disability Sport Event National Junior Championship in the S9, SB9 and SM9 categories.

Leonie attained Gold medals in the 50m Breaststroke and 100m Breaststroke and a top 5 position in all her other events - 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 100m IM, 50m Backstroke, 100m Backstroke. She also got 2 silver medals in the relays.

A fantastic weekend and many congratulations to her.

A small group of GBM swimmers and parents braved the cold January weather to attend this prestigious meet in Sheffield. A number of GB swimmers were attendance including Rebecca Adlington, David Davis, Hannah Miley and Joe Roebuck to name a few.

That aside, the swimmers achieved the following results.

Also Competing for GBM was: Neema Nyaulingo

Despite the weather’s best efforts to thwart our trip to the seaside, a determined group of GBM swimmers made their way down to Brighton through the snow.

Even with the backdrop of the Royal Pavilion, the shops in close proximity, the sound of seagulls and the sea a short walk away, the swimmers were not distracted from the task at hand, and all knuckled down to swim with enthusiasm and determination to work off the Christmas excesses. The objective was achieved and resulted in a number of placings and PB’s into the bargain.

Emma Mitchell and Luke Brewster both qualified for the 50m Skins with Emma achieving a 2nd place and Luke finishing 4th.

Also Competing for GBM was: Joshua Brewster, Grace de Rome, Richard de Rome, Ellen Dunbar, Ben Duxbury, Nick Duxbury, Josh Ling, Kara Salih and Lily Wylie