PB Hat-Trick for Kate @Zonals (Posted on Wednesday, 01 February 2012)

Kate Ridley travelled across to Somerset at the weekend to compete in this year’s Zonal meet which is a step-up from Regionals and just below Nationals. Kate competed in the 50m, 100m and 200m Freestyle and, with some extremely fast swimmers and national qualifiers along with swimmers going to the Olympic trials in a month’s time, Kate had her work cut out.

On the Saturday Kate competed in the 50m Free and managed a PB and also an improvement of placing up to 14th out of 22. The following day Kate had a very demanding day with the 100m and the 200m. In the 200m in the morning Kate managed a great PB and placed herself again higher up the starting order and finished 23rd out of 28. The last session of the day Kate competed in the 100m Free and was aiming for 100% PB success rate for the weekend. Again, Kate didn't disappoint and managed a fine swim with another PB and again improving her placing finishing 25th out of 34. All weekend Kate was swimming against girls a year older than her so, next year we will be looking for more swimmers to join us at this competition and also for Kate to improve her position. This puts Kate in great stead to achieve her national times and was absolutely deserved with all the hard work Kate has put in.

Well done Kate you are a real role model already at a young age.

Chris Bassi Gala (Posted on Monday, 03 October 2011)

Saturday 24th September saw the Ojays travelling to St Johns Pool Tunbridge Wells for this gala hosted by RTW Monson. Competing teams were : Sevenoaks, Bromley, Gravesend and Northfleet and Monson’s.

The team made a sound start and after the first 12 events were lying in 3rd place pulling themselves up into joint second place with Monson’s after 24 events. Things got very exciting towards the end of the gala with the final event (men’s freestyle relay) providing a nail biting finale !

PB’s were gained by many swimmers and first places were gained by : Girls 15 & under freestyle team, Lily Snell 50m fly, Michael Jacobs 100m backstroke, Jack Dickerson 100m breaststroke, Anthony Wilson 50m Freestyle, David Johansen 100m Freestyle, George Walker 100m Breastroke, Girls 13 and under 50m freestyle relay team, Boys 13 and under 50m freestyle relay team, Girls 15 and under medley relay team.

Ojays finished in a very respectable 2nd place and of course the evening would not have been complete without the now traditional team cry of “give us an O………” !

Many congratulations to all swimmers – you put in a fantastic performance and should be very proud of yourselves.

Medals and PBs for Stewart & Jacobs at The Nationals (Posted on Tuesday, 26 July 2011)

Two of our swimmers, Sebastian Stewart and Michael Jacobs swam at the National Age-Group Championships in Sheffield between the dates of 21st and 24th July. Sebastian swam in the 11 year old boys 200m Breaststroke event and produced a nine second PB in the heat, which qualified him comfortably for the Final. He secured 2nd place in this event which was fantastic. On Sunday 24th July, Sebastian swam in the 100m Breaststroke event and once again, produced a PB in the heat which qualified him for the Final (in 3rd position). It was a nail-biting performance as the top 3 swimmers all sat at virtually the same qualifying time with only tenths of seconds between them. Sebastian went on to secure 3rd place in the final whilst also producing another PB. Congratulations Sebastian.

On Saturday 23rd July, Michael Jacobs swam in the 12 year old boys 200m Backstroke and whilst seeded 19th in this event, Michael shone in his performance as he produced a 4 second PB, won his heat and managed to secure 8th position, qualifying for the final. Michael went on to secure 10th place in the final which was entirely commendable.

We are very proud of our National boys and congratulate them on their application to training and commitment to their swimming which has been so visible in the last few months.

Well done! You are an outstanding example to the Club and to all of our swimmers. Thank you also for all the support which your parents and family have shown to you to help you achieve your dreams.

Alton Towers takes Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum & Top! (Posted on Sunday, 24 July 2011)

18 Club members from 5 different squads headed North last week for three days of fun, fear and frolics. Starting off with a 30 meter sheer drop into a dark steaming hole may not be everyones idea of fun but we can safely say all of our members survived and came out the other side to tell the tale - Oblivion certainly lives up its name! Nemesis with its twists and turns was another close favourite followed by '13' - a rollercoaster with a difference - but we can't say more as it has to stay a secret! The day ended with Battle Galleons - kids v parents in a giant water-fight - after two trips around the islands we can safely say it was a draw with everyone soaking wet.

The following day the Waterpark was a big attraction as you would expect for our swimmers and parents - Masterblaster for the younger members and the warm jacuzzi for the old(er) ones.

A brilliant time was had by all and something we hope to repeat next year.

National Success ~ Sebastian Stewart takes Silver! (Posted on Friday, 22 July 2011)

Congratualtion to Sebastian Stewart from everyone at the Ojays.

On 21st July Sebastian competed in the 200m breastroke at the British National age group championships in Sheffield. He came second in the heat stages in the morning and then had to wait until the evening to compete in the final where he swam a fantastic race coming in second place to win the Silver medal - a truly remarkable achievement - well done Sebastian. Also congratulations to Coach Richard - what a team.

Race Night (Posted on Tuesday, 19 July 2011)

We had a very successful Race Night on Sunday 3rd of July giving our younger swimmers the opportunity to experience the racing scenario whilst also enjoying themselves. We had many PBs and good times and it was lovely to see our older, more experienced swimmers helping out with our up and coming talented athletes. Thank you to all who helped out on the day to ensure the smooth running of the afternoon. We hope to have another Race night in the autumn and will let you know a date as soon as available. Results and some photos are available from the menu.

5th June at London Region BAGATS Championships (Posted on Monday, 20 June 2011)

Sunday the 5th June was the 2nd day of the London Region BAGATS Championships and another successful one for Orpington Ojays. Those who competed were Michael Jacobs, Oliver Randall, Joseph Gaster, Amy Chick, Isabelle Minter-Paye, Georgia Harris, Kate Ridley, Chloe Ashley, Lily Snell, David Johansen, Sebastian Stewart and Lewis Groombridge.

There was a great atmosphere as the day developed with Michael Jacobs' silver medal in the 400 mtr freestyle. Finalists on the day also included Lily Snell in the 100 mtr freestyle, Lewis Groombridge and Sebastian Stewart in the 200 mtr breaststroke with David Johansen just missing out in the final of this event by a tenth of second. As the day drew to a close the final of the boys 11 years 200 mtr breaststroke proved to be a fantastic race, with Sebastian Stewart winning gold in this event; great swimming Seb.

Well done to all those who participated, and apologies for the delay in getting this posted.

The final sessions of BagCats (Posted on Thursday, 16 June 2011)

Saturday afternoon was another great swim session with Orpington Ojays with most swimmers achieving pb's in their events swam. In addition we had 2 finalist David Johansen and Michael Jacobs in the 200 mtr freestyle, David finishing 4th and Michael 8th, it was a very exciting race. Well done lads. Those who swam on the day:- David Johansen, Michael Jacobs, Joseph Gaster, Lewis Groombridge and Oliver Randall

Sunday the 12th June was the last day and once again swimmers did themselves and the club proud at the end of a championships that had proved to be very successful. There were some fine individual swims in the morning from David Johansen, Oliver Randall, Michael Jacobs, Lily Snell, Georgia Harris and Sebastian Stewart and yes once again there were finalists; Georgia Harris in the 200 mtr butterfly, Michael Jacobs in the 100 mtr backstroke and Lily Snell in the 100 mtr breaststroke.

The afternoon was a fantastic spectacle with for team evens; girls 200 medley and freestyle relays and the same for the boys. All very exciting with top 8 finish in each relay. The boys 10/12 Individual Medley team just missed out on 3rd place in a race that was very closely competed for. Those who competed in the teams were:- Amy Chick, Charis Mills, Isabelle Minter-Paye, Kate Ridley, Fay Gibson, Oliver Randall, Josh Bedford-Eatwell, Sebastian Stewart, David Johansen and Michael Jacobs.

Congratulations to all who attended these championships you were fantastic

11 June 2011 BagCat Age Group Championships 2011 @ Crystal Palace (Posted on Monday, 13 June 2011)

We had another successful day at the BagCat Championships on 11th June. Sebastian Stewart won Gold in the Boys 11 Years 100m Breaststroke. Congratulations Sebastian! PBs were also achieved by Lily Snell (100m back) and David Johansen (100m breast). Georgia Harris, Lewis Groombridge, Isabelle Minter-Paye, Kate Ridley and Chloe Ashley also competed. Well done.

Day 1 (June 4th) - BagCat Age Group Champs 2011 @ Crystal Palace (Posted on Monday, 13 June 2011)

We had a very successful Day 1 at the BagCat Championships on 4th June. Michael Jacobs achieved his National Qualifying time in the 200m Backstroke which was superb. Congratulations Michael!

PBs were also achieved by Lily Snell (400m free), Sebastian Stewart (100m free and 200m IM), David Johansen (100m free and 200m IM), Joseph Gaster (100m free), Michael Jacobs in the 200m IM and Charlotte Gregory in the 200m Breaststroke.

We had Final places for David Johansen and Michael Jacobs in the 100m Free, David Johansen in the 200m IM, Lily Snell in the 100m Butterfly and also for Michael Jacobs in the 200m Back.

Georgia Harris was 1st Reserve for the final of the 100m Butterfly. Amy Chick, Oliver Randall, Lewis Groombridge, Isabelle Minter-Paye and Kate Ridley also competed. Well done!