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LINCOLNSHIRE ELITE ATHLETE PROGRAMME November 2012 Newsletter

Welcome It gives us great pleasure to welcome you to the final newsletter of the Lincolnshire Elite Athlete Programme (LEAP) of 2012. The last few months have been extremely busy with lots of great achievements, including:

Rachel Wallader had 3 competitions to end her 2012 season. She finished with a win at Birmingham University Open and two second places at the McCain Throws Fest and the McCain Inter-County Championships.

Ashton Turner won the Kenwick Park’s Men’s Club Championship and represented England U18 in the European Team Championship in Sweden where he came 8

th in the individual stroke play. He

came 4th in the Mcgregor Trophy (England U16 Open) at Trevose GC.

Emma Tonner produced her best performances of the year at the regatta, gaining 2 Golds, Silver and a 6

th place – as well as a new PB. This encouraging end to the year proved that setbacks do occur,

but “success is a journey, it’s not just how far you go, but about the obstacles you overcome on the way” - a lesson learnt for her this year.

Peter Cocker competed in the junior tour of Wales, with teams coming from all over Europe to compete. He came 23

rd overall and got a top 10 place on the fastest stage of the tour.

Oli Bitowt swam at the Scottish Nationals, where he retained his 400m freestyle title, won 4 Silver and 3 Bronze medals, swimming a massive 22 events over the 5 day competition.

Shona McCallin, during the group stage, beat France 5-0, Belgium 1-0 and lost to Spain 1-0. They played Holland in the semi-final and lost 4-1. She scored the only goal for England in this game.

Darbi Johnston- Murphy qualified for next year’s Badminton Grass Roots Regional Finals. All our athletes have worked hard over the last few months and we love hearing about all of your successes so please do continue to send us press releases and achievements from your sports. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our LEAP Supporters for their continued support of the programme and we hope that you all enjoy reading about our county’s top athletes. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our LEAP Supporters for their continued support of the programme throughout the year, and we hope that you all enjoy reading our last newsletter of 2012 about our county’s top athletes. - Lucy Blakey & Rachel Belcher, Lincolnshire Sports Partnership

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LINCOLNSHIRE ELITE

ATHLETE PROGRAMME CSP update

If you have any questions about LEAP, please contact Lucy Blakey

on 01522 585 580 or lucy.blakey@lincolnshiresports.co.uk

LEAP 2013 Applications for LEAP 2013 have now closed. Good luck to all the athletes who have re-applied for next year. When do you find out if you have been successful?

Friday 5th October 2012 - Deadline closes for LEAP 2013 applications

Thursday 15th

November 2012 - LEAP Panel is held to decide which athletes have been accepted on to the programme for 2013

Week commencing Monday 10th December 2012 - Applicants are informed if they have been

successful

Lincolnshire Sports Awards 2012

The following LEAP athletes have been shortlisted for the Sports Awards:

Alex Hutchinson - Young Sportsman of the Year

Rebecca Dunning - Young Sportswoman of the Year

Oliver Bitowt - Young Sportsman of the Year

Lee Cupit - Young Disabled Sportsperson of the Year

Jamie Carter - Young Disabled Sportsperson of the Year

Kieran Tscherniawsky - Disabled Sportsperson of the Year Congratulations to all of the nominated and shortlisted athletes for the Awards. We were extremely pleased to have so many nominations from LEAP and we hope to see as many of you as possible at the Awards evening on the night to support our athletes.

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LINCOLNSHIRE ELITE

ATHLETE PROGRAMME Athletes 2012 Julian Adeniran

Market Deeping, South Kesteven | Athletics The last 4 months have seen me progress through my rehabilitation programme encouragingly, with the goal of returning to fitness before the end of the year; following a freak accident back in May which forced me to miss the Olympic trials through injury (posterior cruciate ligament damage). It has been an undeniably difficult period, having to sit out and watch London 2012 from the sidelines, but with the help of LEAP and a very strong support team of coaches, family and friends I have been able to stay positive and focused on the road to recovery. As I tell the young people that I speak to when delivering regular School Visits: “a setback only paves the way for a comeback”! Daily visits to the gym and track are starting to pay dividends and I am pleased to report that rehab is going from strength to strength. It is hoped that I will be fit and well to compete in the upcoming Indoor Athletics season in January. The UK Championships and European Indoor Championship in February and March respectively form the main goals for the early stages of next year. Wish me luck! Continue to follow my journey on Twitter: @JulzAdeniran

Joshua Asbrey

Sleaford, North Kesteven | Athletics I have been injured for the last 2 months. I did win the Lincolnshire U20 5000 metre Lincolnshire league race, though. I have only just started training again.

Karl Baillie

Grantham, South Kesteven | Cycling The last 3 months for me have all been on the Velodrome, mainly at Manchester and Newport. In August I raced in the National Track Championships in the 2km Pursuit, Points Race and Scratch race. The week for me got better and better with 22

nd in the 2km pursuit in 2:29:695, 17

th in

the points race and 11th in the scratch.

My results throughout the year meant that I was selected to ride for the East Midlands Squad at the Inter Regional Track Championships in Newport. We were the best team by a mile with the girls’ weakest result being 2

nd and we

got 3rd

in the Team Sprint and 2nd

in the 3km Team Pursuit in 3:30. I also finished 2

nd in the East Midlands Regional Road race championship.

My last race of the year was the National Madison Championships at the

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Manchester Velodrome. I partnered with my friend from Heanor, Will Perret. It was our first ever Madison race and after 80 rapid laps of the Velodrome we were finished but ecstatic to find out that we finished 6

th.

My season is over now. I am having all of October resting, although I have got a regional school of racing later on in the month. From November I will start training for next year which I have big aims for at National and possibly International racing. I have been put down as a reserve for the Revolution’s DHL future stars series so I am hopeful of getting a ride or two. Unfortunately I wasn’t selected for British Cycling’s Talent Team however they have invited me to their Development World Cup training camp in late December and left 2 places on the team available so if I work hard I will try and take one of those slots.

Dominic Beesley

Wyberton, Boston | Tennis In the last three months I have played 2 U16 National competitions. In the first of these I was runner-up. Also I played an u18 National competition and was also runner-up. My U16 UK National ranking finished at 2, and my U18 National ranking is currently 6. I won both u16 and u18 County Championships only losing 10 games in 7 matches. Recently I played a Men’s National competition in Cambridge where I made the last 16. I also won 2 u18 Regional events during the summer. U18 National Hertfordshire Men’s National Hull Men’s National Loughborough Men’s County Cup representing Lincolnshire

Henry Beesley

Wyberton, Boston | Tennis The last three months have been good for me. I’ve been successful in tournaments that I played in the summer. I also made the second round of the National Grade 1 Championships at the end of the summer and the last 16 of the doubles event. I won a Regional competition at Loughborough. I have a couple of Grade 3 regional competitions coming up in the winter. I also have the Grade 2 National tournament in half term. I am looking forward to competing in these events.

Oliver Bitowt

Grantham, South Kesteven | Swimming Since my last update I have been swimming all over the place. I swam at the Scottish Nationals, where I retained my 400m freestyle title, won 4 Silver and 3 Bronze medals, swimming a massive 22 events over the 5 day competition. Afterwards I looked forward to an intense run-up to the Nationals in July. I raced at the Midland District Championships and placed 2nd in the 400m freestyle and finalled across the board. I then raced at the British Senior Nationals, which acted as the last qualifier for the Olympic Games. I qualified for the 400 and 1500 metres freestyle and placed well with 11th in the 1500m against tough competition. It was during early July when I received a letter in the post from British Swimming asking me to be on the Great Britain Open Water Team which were to race in the French Cup Series in August. I hadn't truly done a lot of Open Water training apart from the odd sea session on a training camp, and

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so I felt I had to get some practice in before I headed out to France on my first GB cap. I swam in the Regional race, where I won against a fiercely experienced rival, and then at the Open Water Nationals where I came 2nd, after leading for 1750m of the 2,000m race! This was after an impressive week at the pool at the National Championships the week previous, I placed 9th in the 400m freestyle and then an impressive 8th in the 1500m freestyle against European Junior Swimmers! Bringing me to a great finish to the season with 2 National finals and a Silver medal to add to them. During the 'Off season' after the nationals during the school holidays I was so excited and buzzing to go to France I couldn't keep still during the Olympics and did as much exercise as I could so I didn't lose fitness! I then went to Mallorca to the BEST Centre to boost my fitness, as well as meet with Ex-Olympians Matthew O'Connor and James Parrack again. I then went to France and loved every second of wearing my GB kit, racing, and training with the other swimmers on the team. I can't help but thank LEAP for helping me get there and hopefully onto bigger things than that even! As I placed 5th in both races we swam and 3rd and 2nd in my age group respectively. I now look onto future Open Water Meets with a passion after realising that I prefer swimming in the sea with the fish than in the pool! I now hope to swim and medal at the Olympics in the Marathon Swimming and follow in the footsteps of Alan Bircher and Thomas Lurtz and become an Open Water veteran!

Joshua Brown

Grantham, South Kesteven | Athletics Wow I have had a very busy few months. I competed at the Anglian combined events at Bedford where I did octathlon and came 2nd with 4603 points, and successfully gained entry for English Schools combined in September I competed at Gateshead in the English Schools track and field finals, here I came 3rd in my heat and 7th in the final which I was pleased with as I am only in my first year of u/17. In the English Schools combined events final at Bedford, I achieved 5 PBs in my disciplines being long jump 6.03, shot 11.37pb, javelin 45.94 pb, 400m 53.68 pb, 100m hurdles 14.25, high jump 1.83, discus 24.95 and 1500m 4 m. 55sec and a total of 4723 points, which is also a new club record. I am also ranked 1st in the UK for 400m hurdles with a time of 53.4 sec. I am extremely proud of my achievements I am looking forward to some indoor comps coming up in Sheffield, I continue to train hard through winter, plyometric training, circuits and the gym at school. I also do some cross country comps to build on my stamina.

Abigail Burr

Heighington, Lincoln, North Kesteven | Swimming Our swimming season comes to a climax in July with the National Championships and also our Club Championships. This year was my best Nationals so far! Last year I qualified for one individual event and two team relays; this year I qualified for four individual events plus two team relays. The Nationals are held at Ponds Forge, Sheffield and this year it was when we had a mini heat wave, I have never been in Ponds Forge when it has been so hot! The Nationals were very tough but I tried very hard and managed to qualify for the final of the 200m Freestyle and just missed out on getting into the finals of the 100m Butterfly and 400m Freestyle. The final of the 200m Freestyle was very close and I was just touched out in 9

th place. It was a great experience and I can’t wait

for next year. In the Lincoln Vulcans Club Championships I achieved eight first places and I broke five Club Championship records (One of the records had been held for the last eight years by Lizzie Simmonds, who is now a Team GB Olympic swimmer). I also broke two County Records.

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At my school end of year prize giving I was awarded the Year 9 “Sportsperson of the Year”. Although my main sport is swimming, just for fun I entered a Pentathlon GB biathlon event at Bingham in early September and I won my age group and also received the awards for “Best Swim” and “Best Run”. Also during September I swam for LVSC in the last round of the Lincolnshire League, I won both of my individual events, the 100m Freestyle and the 100m Breaststroke and my relay team won both of our relay events. From my performance at the National Championships this year I have been selected for the ASA England Talent Performance Development Programme and will be attending training camps in September and December. I have been selected to represent Lincolnshire at the Inter County Championships at the end of October which takes place the day after my first major completion of the new season which is the LVSC Level One Open Meet at Ponds Forge, Sheffield.

Lydia Chamberlain

Market Rasen, West Lindsey | Athletics This year’s season finished early due to the Olympics. So after my last competition I took a well-earned break to recharge my batteries and also so I could watch the Olympics! I have to say for three weeks I did very little! So, part way through September winter training began. Fitting this in has proved a bit more difficult than originally thought. This is because I have started a new teaching job which leaves me feeling bushed at the end of the day! Also my spare time is taken up with planning for lessons and school clubs, which I love doing as it helps the students and it’s really nice to see them achieve things. Hopefully I will be able to get things sorted out and get enough training in to be able to do the indoor season, which starts in January. Training will involve mainly fitness work for the next couple of months and then it will start to include a bit more technical work, such as high jump and hurdles. With the indoor season starting so early one of the big problems is Christmas and New Year, all the training facilities seem to close around this time! So it makes things difficult when it comes to doing technical training.

Eloise Churchill

Grantham, South Kesteven | Water Polo 8 + 9 September – Women’s National League, Ponds Forge 6 + 7 October - Women’s National League, Liverpool The Women’s Nationals is a large competition made up of several rounds – we would like to stay in Division 2 but competition is tough. Not much happening over the summer apart from training so I did some research at the Olympics!! 20 October – Women’s National League, Walsall 3 + 4 November – Women’s National League, Basildon 17 + 18 November – Women’s National League, Manchester 8 + 9 December – Women’s National League, Walsall Training as usual two nights in Grantham, two in Sheffield and then camps in Cardiff as and when. I have also joined swim club again and train twice a week in order to improve my general fitness LEAP inspired me to go to the Olympics. I attended the GB camp at Millfield college in Somerset. I received fabulous training and got to train with the GB captain Fran Leighton. It was awesome.

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Olivia Churchill

Grantham, South Kesteven | Table Tennis 16.9.12, Sussex 4* - this was my first four star competition of the season and I had moved up an age category so I am once again bottom of the ladder and fighting my way up. I had a relatively successful day beating two higher ranked players than myself 1.7.12 – JBL preparation training – team building, etc 30.7.12 - JBL preparation training – team building, etc 13.10.12 – regional training I had two fantastic days out at the Excel centre watching table tennis during the Olympics. WOW!!!! 20 + 21 October – JBL Competition Wolverhampton – I am ranked one in the team and we are sitting 2

nd in the competition overall at this stage with

further rounds to come. 28 October – Stockton 4* - I would like to beat some higher ranked players and start to move up in my age group My training has stepped up and I train now pre-school Monday and Tuesday and occasionally Thursday. I do two hours Regional training on a Monday and 4 hours ETTA high performance squad on Wednesday and Thursday. Plus 2 hours additional at Grantham college on a Wednesday. Weekends involve training for county, regional and 4* competitions. My high performance training has involved Olympians, recently Kelly Sibley and Jo Barker - this is awesome and inspirational for me. Instead of a summer break I attended the Cooke and Deaton Summer school in mid–August for one week. This was an excellent opportunity to train with some of the leading GB coaches.

Peter Cocker

Grantham, South Kesteven | Cycling - Level 2 Since the last update I have competed in the junior tour of Wales, the biggest race in the country with teams coming from all over Europe to compete, where I came 23

rd overall and got a top 10 place on the fastest

stage of the tour. This was a brilliant result as I finished in 6th out of all the

boys who have moved up to the junior age group with me this year. I got my 2

nd win of the year at a circuit race near Scunthorpe leaving the

entire field with an attack on the last lap to win by 10 seconds. I finished off the season with a 2

nd at the last of the pedal pushers circuit race league

which was enough for me to seal the win in the season long competition open to senior riders not just those in my age group. As my main season has finished now I’m mainly working up to next year now as I have been signed up by a team hoping to take me abroad to race in Belgium and Ireland next year. I’m still racing at local cyclocross league, however they aren’t my priority at the moment. My main aim for the next few months is to build up my strength and endurance so that next year I can build on the good experience I’ve had this year.

Lee Cupit

Scopwick, North Kesteven | Athletics I am now into winter training, which entails shot putt training, gym work and physical fitness. Also Throws Academy. LEAP funding has been good in helping advertise me as an athlete. It has also kept me in the sport. I have found the courses very helpful.

Abbie Donnelly

Lincoln | Athletics My achievements this year on the track has been very promising and I have achieved new PB times in the 800m and 1500m.

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I also achieved the English schools qualifying time for the 3000m allowing me to run at Gateshead in the Schools Competition. I have gained the title of County Champion at 800m and 1500m. I also won the Anglian schools 1500m championship. In July I was invited with 10 of the top athletes in my age group to run in the prestigious Frank Horwill Mile at Oxford. After a busy track season I then competed in the Northern Road relays at Leigh, we competed really well and I am happy to say we are now the U17 Northern Relay Champions. My latest event took place on Saturday the 6

th Oct at Graves Park and our

team of three competed in the U17 Northern Cross Country Relays and after a hard battle the team came second. My cross country season is just starting and I have some important races ahead of me in November. I have the National cross country relays in Mansfield, then I am competing in the McCain Cross Challenge in Liverpool. December lots of training, then in January the Lincolnshire Schools XC champs, then the Anglian and on to the English Schools, where my aim is to come in the top 8 and be selected for England to race in the home countries school cross country.

Rebecca Franks

North Hykeham, North Kesteven | Swimming In the last three months I did the Rotherham meet in September and got 2 PBs and I came first in one of my races against people without disability. Then I had the London Championship in October and I got 2 Bronze and 1 Silver and I had a British camp the next day. I have the National in November at Sheffield, the Welsh National in December at Swansea and the Rotherham meet in January at Sheffield.

Lauren Freeman

North Hykeham, North Kesteven | Swimming I have started back training as I had 4 weeks off to recharge my batteries. I have been training in September back up to 8 sessions per week to build up my stamina again and it is starting to show as I am becoming stronger. I entered two galas in October, the first was at Louth, in which I was swimming 50FC, 100 FC, 50 BC, 50 BR, 50 fly and 100 IM. I came 1

st in all

races apart from 50 BR in which I came 3rd

. Overall I was pleased with my races as it was the first of the year. My second was Sheffield Ponds Forge in which I swam 50 FC, 200 FC, 200 BC, 100 FLY and 200 IM. This was going to be a harder test of my stamina and strength. Personally I feel the gala went very well. I Pb’d in 200 FC, 100 FLY and also swam extremely close to my PB. Overall these two galas have been an excellent start to this year’s swimming season. I have two more galas coming up both at Corby International pool. The first is on 1 & 2 December in which I am swimming 100 200 400 800 FC 100FLY and 200 IM and the second is on Fri 14 Sat 15 & Sun 16 December in which I am swimming 100 200 400 800 FC 200 & 400 IM. I will have to work hard and train well up to the galas as they are going be very challenging and I am hoping to come away from the galas with PBs and some National times.

Elizabeth Gray

Market Rasen, West Linsdey | Canoeing I have had 2 sprint regattas and 1 marathon race. The first sprint regatta I was suffering from a shoulder injury so was not at my best. Next was the National Marathons and I have retained my title for the fourth year running and come home with a Gold and Silver in K1 and K2. The last race was the National Sprint Regatta and I came away with 3 Gold and 1 Silver making me 4 times National Champion.

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The last competition this year is at Lincoln Canoe Club – an eight-mile marathon. I have just been promoted to Division 4 so will be up against some stiff competition. At the National Marathons in August I was chosen to go to the French National Championships as part of the GB Team. This will be my first international race and place on the GB Development Squad.

James Hurley

Old Leake, Boston | Swimming I started back to training in September after the summer break and have just done the first competition of the new season. City of Leicester meet on the 6th & 7th of October achieved the following results: Silver in 100m 1.14, Silver in 50 back 34.4, Silver in 100 fly 1.14, Bronze in 100 back 1.14, Gold in 50 free 30.2, Bronze in 50 fly. I achieved some new personal best times and it proved to be a good meet for me having just moved up to the 13yrs age group. The next three months are a busy period for me. My 1st competition is the level 2 Leicester open meet on 23

rd, 24th and 25th November. This will be

the first meet where I can start to gain my Regional qualifying times for 2013. I would expect to gain some of my times at this meet. Also in November I have our club championships over 3 weekends. In December there is a level 1competition at Corby International Pool on the 14

th & 15

th.

I have already done a long course training session at Loughborough University pool which went well. I am increasing the number of pool hours I train and doing gym work. I met the Mayor of Boston at a reception for local athletes in July and am looking forward to the next competitions.

Alex Hutchinson

Grantham, South Kesteven | Volleyball The volleyball season has only just got underway, but I have been training hard. I still play NVL for Loughborough Lions - they have played 2 matches, winning 1 & losing 1. I have gained a place playing for England Junior Men. I secured a place at the volleyball academy based at Loughborough College. This means I can study for my A-levels whilst training at a high standard. On the 24th November 2012, I will be traveling to Brazil with the England Junior Men squad to play in the Brazilian School Games. As you can imagine I am really looking forward to this as it is a brilliant opportunity. In the New Year, they will be going to Sweden to play in a tournament.

Andrew Issac Grantham, South Kesteven | Tennis In the Cromer Tournament, which I did in the second week of the summer holidays, I played well in the two single events. In the 18s, I reached the quarter finals, and then in the 16s, reached the semi-finals. I did better than I was supposed to, beating the 3

rd seed in the 16s and in 18s beating the 8

th.

In the semis of the 16s I had a very close match against the second seed, who eventually won the tournament! In the 18s I lost to the first seed, but I

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played very well, he went on to win the 18s and the men’s. In the Grantham Open I did well in the under 18s, reaching the quarter finals, then losing to the second seed 6-4, 6-4! In the 16s I had a bad performance and lost in the second round. However in the under 18 boys doubles I reached the final with Ryan Palmer from Leicestershire, but then losing 7-6, 7-6 in a very close match against Henry and Dom Beesley. In this year’s county closed I reached the semi-finals of the under 16s, losing to the second seed. In the 18s doubles my partner and I, who I have played with several times, won the event, having been the second seeds we won in three sets, both playing very well. I have one tournament arranged for the 20

th of October which is in Leeds,

and another arranged for the half term. I hope to do well in both!

Darbi Johnston-Murphy

Market Rasen, West Lindsey | Equestrian Pony Club Area Novice Eventing Regional Finals - The cross country course was incredibly challenging, however we managed to negotiate it confidently and professionally to finish the course well within the optimum time, giving us a super 1st place individually and team 1st place and will go through to the National Championships in Cheshire to compete for Area 6. On the 21st July 2012 the Pony Club held their Area Dressage Regional finals at the Lincolnshire Showground, where we again rode as part of the Brocklesby Pony Club Area Dressage Team. Dressage is not our strongest discipline, however we still managed to get an amazing team 2nd place. The members of the Brocklesby Hunt Pony Club Eventing and Dressage teams travelled across to Kelsall Hill in Cheshire to represent Area 6 at the Pony Club National Novice Championships. The team achieved a very impressive 3rd place beating 37 other teams from across the country. For me to finish 18th in the country was a great achievement. I had another super result with my show pony Mr Mischief (aka Oscar). We were the only clear round in the Working Hunter Pony class at the Holton-le-Moor and District Show giving us a great 1st place and taking home the 'Fair Promise' trophy presented by the Grimsby Evening Telegraph. Oscar and I also qualified for the Equestrian Life National Championships 2012 to be held at Newark Showground on 11th Aug 2013. Hackthorn Unaffiliated One Day Event - Mr Mischief had his first ever One Day Event, he did a super dressage test and a clear showjumping round, with an amazing clear cross country round to put him in 7th position, not bad for his first attempt. Oscar is really doing well, over the winter I would like to concentrate on showjumping and winning our first British Novice. Brooksby Melton Horse Trials, 22nd Sept 2012 - With our dressage score of 37.5 and a clear round showjumping we finished in 14th place. Bishop Burton Horse Trials, 30th Sept 2012 – At this we managed to qualify for next year’s Badminton Grass Roots Regional Finals. I have found a super sponsor, Mark Dann from Cardsave, who has given me the opportunity to continue to train throughout the winter so that we are on top of our game when the season starts in March 2013.

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Dexter Mansfield

Langtoft, South Kesteven | Ice Hockey The ice hockey league finished In May, and did not start again until Sept 2012. I went out to Canada for a 2-week hockey camp, to improve and play with the best players. I did have England trials in Sheffield and Bradford that started in August where they have to select a squad of 23 players from around 85 players. At the last trial at Bradford, they selected the team that was to go out to Quebec in Canada in February 2013 and represent the England Under 13s team. I can proudly say that I have been selected for this for the second year running. I changed clubs in the Summer, transferring from Nottingham to Peterborough, where I train 3 nights a week. I play for the Under 14s and Under 16s, and to date we only have had 3 games for Under 14s, with 2 wins and 1 loss (wins against Romford and Bracknell and a loss against Guildford.) And only one game so far with the Under 16s, a win against Swindon. With changing clubs, it means that I have changed conferences so I am going to a conference camp in half term to see if I can make the South East Conference team. This will mean late night training sessions if selection is successful. The course that I attended for ‘core’ stability was excellent - I really enjoyed it.

Rosie Marshall

Alford, East Lindsey | Athletics In the last 3 months (which will be the ending of my outdoor season) I have completed in the Loughborough Charnwood Graded Open and came 1

st in

my heat. I also competed in the Northerns at Hull, the Nationals in Bedford and as part of my club the McCain Young Athletes' League Midland Final in Stoke. Well, it’s back to training after a short break. It will be intense hard training through the winter ready to start the indoor season in January. Finishing with the Nationals indoors. The self-talk helped so much, gave an insight into the right mind set before a race.

Shona McCalin

Long Bennington, South Kesteven | Hockey The last three months have been really busy for me. July and August were filled with training days, matches and competitions for England U21. September has been filled with the domestic competition in Holland. In July and August, I represented England U21 in test match series vs France, Germany, Belgium and Holland. I featured in all 10 games and scored 6 goals in the process from midfield. August was an important month for England U21s. We had our European Championships at the end of the month which was held in Den Bosch, Holland. I was selected to represent England U21 at these Championships. During the group stage, we beat France 5-0, Belgium 1-0 and lost to Spain 1-0. We played Holland in the semifinal and lost 4-1. I scored the only goal for England in this game. We then played Germany in the 3

rd/4

th playoff

game. We won on Golden Goal after the game finished 2-2 after full time. I scored the winning Golden Goal which was a great feeling. The domestic season in Holland started again in September. Our first two league games were against the current Dutch champions and the current European champions, so a tough start. We lost to Den Bosch, the current

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Dutch champions, 3-1, where I scored the only goal, and beat the current European Championships 5-1. I started and featured in both games. In October, November and December, I have up-and-coming training camps with Great Britain U21. I hope to impress at these in order to be selected in the squad of 16 which goes to Sydney in January 2013 to compete and the Youth Olympic Games Festival. The domestic season in Holland is also continuing whereby I will play against numerous International players and many that featured at the Olympic Games.

Sophie McKinna

Grantham, South Kesteven | Athletics In the last three months I have now completed my season. I finished the year with three personal bests and some great results all round. I am now beginning to start training again over the winter period to prepare for the coming season. I now do not have any competitions until possibly February where my coach and I will review my plan as to whether I will compete indoors or not. If I do not compete, I will continue to train through till the outdoor season commencing in roughly April.

Elizabeth McTernan

Louth, East Lindsey | Para-Triathlon Hamburg World Championship Series Paratriathlon 21

st July, Gold in TRI1

female in a new PB of 01:34:19. Birkenhead Para-cycling National Road Race Championships - 22

nd July, a

disappointing race, as being the only female competitor and sole representative in my category, FH3, I was not able to claim the title, but it was a chance to improve my racing skills and have fun in a closed road circuit. Lobbach, Germany, European Hand cycling Circuit (EHC) 4

th August - the

last Road Race for Hand cyclists in Europe for the summer and a tough race with two young German female competitors who pushed me to do better! It was also a brilliant opportunity to practise drafting skills. I was thrilled to win first place and be second overall female in FH3 in Europe this summer, with prize money for both achievements! Manchester Para-cycling National Series Road Race, 18

th August, again,

due to being the only female hand cyclist, I raced with the H2 men on a tight and technical course. I am placed 9

th /20 in the Series for Handbikes, Trikes

and Tandems in the UK for 2012. Paralympics Gamesmaker Volunteer at the Copper Box, 29

th August-6

th

September. A fantastic opportunity to experience the Games both as a volunteer and a spectator and be a part of history. Great North Run,16

th September, I was invited to do this race at short notice

as all of the elite female wheelchair athletes had dropped out. It was my first attempt at a half marathon and I used a borrowed kneeling race chair. I passed Tanni Grey Thompson at a drink station, which spurred me on to complete in a time of 01:28:21, coming in as second female. Robin Hood half marathon, 30

th September, another go at the distance as a

benchmark for next year, as I want to compete in the half Iron Man distance in Triathlon next summer. First female in a time of 01:30:32. Auckland ITU Aquathlon World Championships, 17

th October. Having been

selected for a funded place by British Triathlon for the Worlds, it seemed only sensible to enter this competition also, which consists of a 1500m swim,

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followed by a 5km run using a racing chair. Currently the water is 15 degrees… 2012 Barfoot and Thompson World Triathlon Grand final Auckland, 22

nd

October, is the highlight of the paratriathlon year. This competition is the most competitive field ever, as we build to inclusion in the Paralympic Games in Rio 2016. I am hopeful of a Podium finish and PB’s in all three disciplines after an eventful but tiring competition season. In fact, I won a bronze medal at the World Paratriathlon Grand Final in Auckland last week!! Super happy as met all my targets for this year and much improved on the bike and run. I'm already looking forward to the Europeans in June and Worlds in London. LEAP Media Course, 17

th July, was extremely informative and useful and a

student wanting to make a film about Disability sports provision in Lincolnshire has since contacted me. On 22

nd August I was privileged to meet and spend time with the Paralympic

Egyptian power lifting team, who were training in Lincolnshire. After giving a short talk to local sports clubs as a representative of LEAP, Tealby Tennis Club said they would put on a fundraiser for me later in the year. The Tealby Ladies Tennis Day on 21

st September was very enjoyable

and I gave a talk to the Ladies about my sporting life and paratriathlon. They very kindly raised £526.00, which will enable me to compete in the Europeans in Alana, Turkey in June 2013.

Alice Meanwell

Lincoln | Trampolining October 2011: Welsh International came 10th in the individual and 2nd in the team event Dec 2011: Regional Schools competition at Spalding 1st place with a score of 53.3 Jan 2012 Zonal Schools competition at Shrewsbury 6th Place (as I made a mistake and only did 9 moves instead of 10) Jan 2012 National C Gala at Hatfield - 32nd with a score of 21.7 for my vol and 28 for my set, with a tariff of 6, my total score was 49.7, a PB for a national c comp. Feb 2012: National C Gala in Bath: 18th place set score 22.3 vol score 28.1 for my set, a tariff of 6.9. Total 50.4. Another PB and a qualification to the National Finals in Birmingham in July. April: Training Camp April 2012: National C Gala, Cardiff June 2012: National C Gala, Liverpool where I came 31st with a score of 47.50. This was because I was trying a new routine and it was still a little untidy. June 2012: County Championships, Stamford, 2nd place July 2012: National Championships, Birmingham, NIA set 22.00 and 27.40 for my vol. I placed 43rd. Sept 2012: Loule Cup, Portugal. Score 80.71, 11th place.

My next competition is the English championships on Saturday 27

th October.

It is the first time I have been chosen as an individual and I have been training extra hard, doing around 20 routines every training night for the last 2 weeks ago. I have also been putting in an extra training session every week to prepare. I’m hoping to come in the top 15, but it’s my first one so I’m not sure how good the other competitors are, so I’m just going to try my best and that’s all I can really do.

The next competition is the Regional Schools on the 9

th December 2012. I

am confident I will be able to get through the regionals and progress to the Zonals. Last year I came 6

th in the Zonals, but hope this year to beat that

and even make it to the National Schools competition.

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I especially enjoyed the core training; I think that’s the best one I’ve been to! It was great because Chris got us to do the exercises and understand them more, and what’s not a good position to be in, and which one will be best to help stretch properly, and we did them instead of him just telling us how to do it. He actually got us involved and it was a lot of fun. I have been doing the core exercises and now showing everyone my new 4 pack.

George Mitchell

Grantham, South Kesteven | Rowing In the last three months I have competed at several events. Many have been cancelled due to poor river conditions, but I have raced at: National championships on the 13/7/12 held at Holme Pierrepont winning a silver medal. I have also raced at Peterborough regatta 11/8/12, in several crews; im3 quad, in which we broke the course record by 7 seconds and won, j16 double, won, j15 double, won and the im2 single, I raced against men in their twenties and thirties and came third. On the 15/9/12 I raced at Bradford regatta in a j16single and won with a new course record and also had a win in the j18 double. With a recent change in coaching the training is now even more intense and competitive with weekly 10k time trials in singles, over the weeks of doing this I am showing consistent improvement each week. I will be racing at Ancholme head of the river race on the 14/10/12 and hoping to win. I will also be racing at Burton head of the river race on the 28/10/12 and will be hoping to win. This winter I am training hard for the GB junior trials. The rest of the racing calendar hasn’t been decided yet. But I am hoping to race as often as I can. I have attended the self talk session and the core stability session with Chris Swallows and found them both very useful and these have improved my rowing.

Amber Moss

Louth, East Lindsey | Fencing June, July and August have been busy with intensive training for the Cadet season starting in September for approximately two months. I have been travelling to Nottingham every week for coaching with Paul Sibert. I have attended National Academy training sessions in Birmingham at least one Sunday a month and I have also had my personal coach Jerry Earl every Wednesday for two hours blade work. On top of this I have been swimming and going to the gym to build my core strength and stamina. Phew! As for competitions, I have competed every weekend for the last six weeks, so I am on a roll. The best news is, I have this last week found out that I am currently ranked 5th in the Cadets and have been selected to represent GBR U17 Cadets for the next year. This is really exciting. I am waiting details for the first competitions which will be Germany in November, France in December and Poland in January. That is just for starters. I have two important competitions coming up in November which are U20 ones. These are in Leeds (The Allstar Cup) and London (London BSC). So training is continuing. Fingers crossed I will get good results.

Emilee Taylor

Gainsborough, West Lindsey | Golf My season is pretty much over now, however I have played in a couple of competitions. The county national finals were held at East Devon Golf Club in September and lasted for a whole week. We played against 5 other counties and as reigning champions we were up for a tough week. Overall we managed to come 3

rd, missing out by just half a point. I was pleased by

my personal performance playing all 10 matches and winning 8 of them, the

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highest scorer of the week. I also tried to qualify for a Professional tournament in August, unfortunately missing out by 3 shots. My season is over now and all my time is dedicated to training for next season. I now have a personal trainer and am working very hard on my fitness. My aim is to keep practising hard through the winter so that I am ready early on for competitions starting in February. I will be visiting my coach on a regular basis over the winter months concentrating mainly on ways to gain distance and become more consistent. The first competition is the Sunningdale Foursomes in which I play with a partner. I then potentially have 3 competitions in Spain, including a professional one that amateurs can play in. This will give me vital experience and I will be able to compare myself to those professionals playing.

Emma Tonner

North Hykeham, North Kesteven | Kayaking After a difficult year, with injury and illness, the last few months have been much more positive, and have been a real boost for motivating my winter training. I came 5

th at the National Marathon U18 females, and if it wasn’t for

an unfortunate rudder collapse 3rd

place in the k2 was secure. In this time I was also selected for an international sprint regatta in Sobeka, Belgium. At this regatta, everything came together and I produced my best performances of the year to gain 2 Golds, a Silver and a 6

th place – as well

as a new PB. This encouraging end to the year proved that setbacks do occur, and it is said that “success is a journey, it’s not just how far you go, but about the obstacles you overcome on the way” - a lesson learnt for me this year. I was also fortunate enough to go and watch the Olympics canoeing and to see athletes from all nations and abilities compete in this, the greatest of sporting events. Let’s hope it will inspire a generation, as it has inspired me. It is now the winter training season with few competitions until next April. I do, however, have National Profiling in Nottingham this month. From then onwards it is down to hard, long endurance training – can’t wait for those 12 mile sessions! However these are essential to build a platform from this year’s sprint. I went on the core workshop, one of the best events I’ve been on in my two years on LEAP, which was particularly valuable for my sport. I was also given the opportunity through LEAP to attend a reception at the North Kesteven District Council Council chambers, along with other local LEAP athletes, to promote sport in the district, and show the support the local council are giving young aspiring athletes. They were enthusiastic and interested in the stories we had to tell, and has encouraged me to think about how else I can promote sport to young people and share my international experiences with other aspiring athletes.

Ashton Turner

Alford, East Lindsey | Golf July - I won the Kenwick Park’s Men’s Club Championship. Represented England U18 in the European Team Championship in Sweden where I came 8

th in the individual strokeplay.

Came 4th in the Mcgregor Trophy (England U16 Open) at Trevose GC

Represented England U16 in the European Young Masters in Hungary where I came 10

th in the individual strokeplay.

August - I represented England U18 in the Boys Home Internationals in Ireland at Portmarnock Links GC.

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Played in the British U18 boys Championship and after qualifying reached the last 16 in the matchplay at Holinwell and Coxmore GC. Came 5

th in the North of England U16 Championship at Pannal GC.

Represented Great Britain and Ireland U18 in the Jacques Leglise Trophy against Europe in Ireland. Played at Portmarnock GC September - Won the Midland U18 and U16 Boys Champion of Champions trophies at Spalding GC. Won the England U18 Boys Champions of Champions trophy at Woodhall Spa GC. Future events - Representing England U16 versus Scotland at Pannal Gc. Representing England U16 versus Ireland at Huddersfield. Playing in the British Heart Foundation Final at Close House GC Playing in the Daily Telegraph Final at Close House GC Selected for England U18 winter coaching squad.

Bethany Walker

Washingborough, North Kesteven | Swimming I haven't swum at all since the last update due to having my toe nail removed. It has been about 12 weeks since I got in a swimming pool and I am missing it so much. I've been to watch and support Pentaqua at galas but I'm so frustrated that I can't compete myself. I am hoping to start training again by 26th October, fingers crossed. I have been doing some gym work and exercises at home to try and keep my fitness up a bit. Hopefully the next competition I'll compete at is our club championships winter sprints on 11 November. Then I have an open meet on 17th November at Grantham and the Mansfield major oak on 18th November. During these competitions I will be aiming to achieve the last 2 county qualifying times that I need for the county championships in March next year. I found the core stability workshop very informative and fun. I learnt some new exercises to do whilst I am not swimming.

Rachel Wallader

Grantham, South Kesteven | Athletics In the last 3 months I’ve had 3 competitions to end my 2012 season. I finished up with a win at Birmingham University Open and two second placings at the McCain Throws fest and the McCain Inter County Championships. I do not have any current up-and-coming competitions for the 2012 season as this outdoor season has now finished for me. I have now started my preparation for the 2013 season with winter training. My training will now be geared towards the 2013 season.

Braddan Westlake

Lincoln | Swimming I've been involved in a few minor galas held in Lincolnshire such as Lincs League and the 1st round of Arena League. At these I managed to PB in two events of the 1st round of Arena league and didn't do too badly at the other. I have been back into training for about a month and a half now from the summer break and didn't expect a lot from thegalas. I have been back in training for about a month and a half so I am not expecting anything special at my upcoming open meets. I have two on the 20th and 21st of October held at Ponds Forge in Sheffield, the first being Lincoln Vulcans’ own open meet and the second being inter-counties where

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you compete for your county against others. I am hoping to equal or be just outside PBs this early in the season.

Maya Westlake

Lincoln | Swimming It is very early in the season, after a successful National Championships in July; I hope to start the season as I ended it. I aim to retain my ranking of fastest 15 year old in the Nation at 200 free and improve my personal best times in other strokes. I am going to the Lincoln Vulcans Meet on the 20

th October at Sheffield

Ponds Forge. I intend to just hit my PBs or better at this meet and maybe achieve my national times early! I have now done 5-6 weeks of training before this meet, and have still got 2 more weeks before the meet. The day after I have Inter-counties; this is where I am representing Lincolnshire to compete against all different counties, which is also at Sheffield Ponds Forge. Here I intend to do the same as at the Vulcans meet! I attended my first England Talent Camp; this was a three day camp including 5 swim sessions and 2 land training sessions, and many workshops. I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, meeting fellow swimmers from different places and learning different techniques on how to swim from different coaches!

Luke Wren

Grantham, South Kesteven | Rowing In the last few weeks I’ve competed at Peterborough Summer Regatta and Bradford Sprint – Peterborough is a big regional competition, and I was nearly knocked out in the first round, but came through and won my event overall in the single. We also raced a junior quad in an adult event – as well as winning, we set a new adult course record by 6 seconds over 500m, which we were pretty pleased with! We won both events that we entered at Bradford Sprint, both in the under 18 single and the under 18 double. I’m next competing at Ancholme head, which is a 3k time trial next weekend. Coming up in just over a month are the British early identification trials - this is a 5 kilometre time trial, which is my first step towards the GB squad and international competition for this year. Training has stepped up in the run-up to the time trial season – the new programme has us on 5 days a week at the club, on top of our training at home. Hopefully this will all have paid off come the time of European and World Junior Champs!

Robert York

Skegness, East Lindsey | Windsurfing I ended the 2012 season on a high by being ranked 5th in Europe after competing for Team GB in Los Alcazaras in Spain. The 5 day competition saw 250 sailors from 33 countries compete in 4 age groups. Light winds for the first 3 days brought mixed results for me as I favour stronger airs. A 5th, 7th and three mid teen placings saw me in 19th place overall and second UK competitor. Day 4 brought stronger winds. I posted two 4ths and a 3rd and shot up the leader board to 5th overall and first Brit by some distance. On the final day the winds returned to the light airs, but I put an 11th and 12th beating those who mattered to hang on to a fantastic 5

th, only behind sailors from Poland, Italy, Israel and Russia.

Top 5 in Europe ended a season where I was also unbeaten by any UK competitor winning all my national and Northern European competitions. I move into the under 19 age group and onto the Olympic board as one of the Team GB brightest hopes for the future.

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Capping the season I was presented with the prestigious Robert Cartwright trophy, awarded annually to the windsurfer who has given the most to the sport. I was nominated for the award by all involved in windsurfing. Mike Dempsey from the RYA said "this young man is always on hand to help and advise the younger sailors and a credit to the sport." I am a pupil at Skegness Grammar School, part of the David Ross Foundation. Continued support from the school enables me to pursue my sporting career whilst meeting the demands of A Level study.