(report reproduced from the WMDSS website
Seven members of the squad competed with great success in these Championships last weekend in Ponds Forge, Sheffield. Tully Kearney led the way with seven Gold medals. She received great support from Gemma Almond who won four Golds from her four events and Aoife Doherty who won three Golds. Megan Richter won two Golds and two Bronze medals. Hasna Hakim, making her debut on the national stage, impressed by winning two Gold medals. Lauren Ballantyne wone one Gold medal. All the girls set personal best times in all but three of their races.

Aoife, Gemma, Lauren and Megan teamed up in the 4x100 metre medley relay to win a thrilling Bronze medal. Ben Rowlings achieved a fourth, two fifth and two sixth places and achieved three personal best times. He was joined by three guest boys - Sam Loveitt won a Gold medal, Nick Bignall won two Bronze medals and Jack Roughan achieved two fourth places. All lowered their previous best times very impressively. All swimmers deserve great credit for their efforts and application over the weekend and for the excellent team spirit and camaraderie that they created.

What a way to end the year. Orion won the third round competition of the Arena League at Wombourne. Father Christmas delivered early.

After 28 events Orion and Oldbury were neck and neck with 128 points each, but then the Orion swimmers took charge. One swimmer after another competed head to head with Oldbury. Soon the points began to mount and Orion eventually ran up a score 23 points clear of Oldbury. Thanks to Oldbury for making the gala exciting.

Orion had 24 first places out of 50 events. Unfortunately we did have two disqualifications by our more experienced swimmers. Lets try not to let it happen again. Basic mistakes which could prove costly in future competitions. There were no last places registered by the Orion swimmers. The girls again proved to be the strongest team with 130 points to the boys 111 points.

Come on lads lets pull your socks up.

Another year is around the corner. Swimmers unfortunately jump up another age group. The Team needs swimmers who are willing to train as often and as hard as possible. Some age groups may be weaker than others. Its up to you the swimmers to put the work in to take the club forward.

WELL DONE SWIMMERS AND THE REST OF THE TEAM.

Carl - Coach

Results from round 3

Most of the team travelled by coach which the committee gratefully organised. I was prepared for a riot but the swimmers (and parents) were all well behaved.

The competition proved to be as hot as was expected. At the last round of the Arena League Bicester Blue Fins beat us by five points. This round we closed the gap to four points. Unfortunately we did have three disqualifications to Bicester's one which undoubtedly cost us a place in the final outcome - we should have and could have beaten Bicester.

There were many good swims from the Orion Team. The last race of the night was probably the most exciting. This was the 6 x 50m mens freestyle team. The last leg of the relay had the Fox Hollies swimmer several yards ahead with Daniel Snushall-Smith of Orion trying to chase him down. Daniel's stroke rate was getting faster as he closed the Fox Hollies swimmer down. The wall was getting closer and closer with Daniel still behind. Both swimmers threw themselves at the wall. The swimmers supporting the teams for both Fox Hollies and Orion jumped up in the air in celebration. Orion won by two one hundreths of a second.

Georgina Warwick swam both the Open Ladies butterfly and the thirteen year old butterfly and knocked six seconds of her previous time. Georgina accepted the challenge of two swims of 100m butterfly with a little bit of reluctance but she painfully gave in to my persistance - sorry. Phillipa Audley is eternally grateful to Georgina.

Jamie Dowling would have probably dipped under 60 seconds for the 100m freestyle for the first time if he had'nt got stuck in the trough on the last turn or if he hadn't coasted in to the finish. BAD BOY.

If anyone wants to know how to perform a good backstroke start then they should look at Matt Grainger's start. He can leave the opposition a good metre behind when he comes to the surface after the start. He swam a mean 100m backstroke in 62 secs.

Thanks to all the swimmers and parents who travelled all the way to Leighton Buzzard and still came home in fine spirits.

Carl - Coach

Results from the gala

Daniel Snushall-Smith was good enough to have achieved the entry times for the 50m and 100m Freestyle at the Midland District Short Course Championships.The competition was held on 6th and 7th November 2010 at Corby Swimming Pool.

Corby Swimming Pool is a new 50m pool but for this competition was shortened via a 'boom' to an eight lane 25m pool (short course).This had the effect of making the pool look shorter than the 25 metres it actually was.

Daniel's first race was the 100m Freestyle and looked a little nervous before the race.His coach superbly managed to calm him down and helped him prepare for the race.The time entered for the event was 56.98 seconds a tough time to better but both swimmer and coach felt confident.

The starting 'gun' went and Daniel flew off the block streamling through the water one hand on top of the water to help the streamlining.Daniel who was in lane eight was with all of the other swimmers in a line across the pool as the race progressed.The turns were executed with speed and as Daniel approached the finishing line he kicked in hard for the wall head down not breathing over the last few metres.

The time recorded was 56.71 seconds,a personal best time.

WELL DONE DANIEL.

Daniel's second race was the 50m Freestyle and a time of 25.95 seconds was entered (which would be Daniel's personal best time to date).Although the time achieved was 26.04 seconds, 9/100's slower than his p.b. the swim was executed well.Daniel seemed a little dissapointed as he had set his target to better his p.b.-it is hard to p.b. every swim but that is a good target to aim for. Perhaps the coach did'nt do his job well enough.

WELL DONE AGAIN DANIEL.

There are a number of swimmers within the Club that are capable of achieving District times next year for the Short Course Championships.Swimmers please become aware of the times needed to enter the Age Group District Championships and use these times as a target to aim for.

Carl - Coach

Orion competed on Saturday 9th October in the National Arena League at Bromsgrove.You can see from the points total each team gained that the competiton for second place between Bicester and Orion was close and undecided until the last race.

Orion hosted the gala and this involved a lot of hard work for the members involved but I would like to congratulate them on a successful event.Loz looked a bit stressed though.

We managed sixteen first places out of fifty events which is a magnifient achievement and the and the boys team tally of 102 points was only just bettered by the girls team who gained 103 points.

Although there were many disqualifications during the gala we only had one disqualification. There were several top class swims by our swimmers and this looks good for the future.I would not like to mention names because I just would'nt know where to draw the line as there were so many good swims.

Obviously there are some age groups that are weaker than others and this is where the key to more success lies.The swimmers who get six points each time they swim cannot do any more for the team but those who usually get less than the six points are the swimmers who can make all the difference at each competition.

The next round of the competition is on the 10th November but the venue is unknown at this point in time.Lets see if we can train hard for the next five weeks and achieve times faster than those at Saturdays gala.

WELL DONE SWIMMERS

Carl - Coach

Results from the gala

Orion was represented by seven of its swimmers at the City of Coventry Open 50 Metre Sprints on Saturday 25th September 2010 and they did not disappoint.

Jake Whitehouse was our 9 year old boys representative but was unfortunately listed as a 90 year old. Jake showed good technique on all of his strokes and although this was his first open meet I am certain it will not be his last, he looked at home in this environment.Jake's performance in the 50m freestyle looked particularly impressive which he registered a time of 48.06. Surprisingly we were asked if we had a ninety year old swimmer swimming for us.

Alice Miller and Mollie Wilson were our 12 year old girl swimmers and performed extremely well. Arguably their best performance was in the 50m freestyle with Alice going 31.61secs and Mollie going 34.31secs.Mollie's breaststroke time of 41.66secs was also impressive. Alice made the final held at the end of the competition by finishing in the top eight swimmers in her age group.

Philippa Audley also had some very good swims in particular the 50m backstroke in a time of 36.81secs and 50m butterfly in a time of 36.49secs. Phillipa also made the final by coming in the top eight swimmers in her age group. Philippa has not trained for a few weeks so her performance at this meet was even more impressive.

Joseph Sadio and Jamie Dowling were our 15 year old boys and Daniel Snushall Smith our 16 year old representative all swimming in the same age band together. Their first event was the 50m freestyle in which all swimmers performed well but they had set their sights very high and seemed disappointed with a good swim. Fortunately Joe performed outstandingly well in the 50m breaststroke event with a time of 39.35secs and Daniel the same in the 50m butterfly event with a time of 30.68secs. Both swimmers took something positive home with them after a dissapointing' start. Unfortunately, Jamie was not very well and did not compete again after his first swim. Jamie has an ear infection and will not train for a couple of weeks.

A very rewarding Open Meet and a good advert for the Orion Swimming Club.

Carl Flynn