Sharon McGinn

Bangor Open Winter Festival 2020

Bangor Open Winter Festival 2020

Aurora Aquatic & Leisure Centre, Bangor

Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 January 2020

This gala is a Level 3 Meet for entry to Irish Open Long Course Championships in April.  This gala takes place in the 50m pool and there are 50m, 100m and 200m events and is therefore suitable for Red squad and up. Entries for above must be emailed to portadownasc@gmail.com (please ensure you include gala title in subject line of email and mark FAO Paula), closing date Monday 6 January 2020.  Entry cost is £5 per event payable at the Club Desk.

Further information on this gala can be found at the club desk or on Swim Ulster website.

Waterpolo Christmas Skills Clinic

Christmas Skills Clinics will be held on 27th December in Bangor Aurora.

There is 1 hour for each age-group focusing on shooting skills and costs £5 per session.

Ards Junior Open Christmas Meet

This gala is for younger swimmers aged 9 to 13 and is suitable for Yellow to Red squad swimmers.  Entries for above must be emailed to portadownasc@gmail.com (please ensure you include gala title in subject line of email and mark FAO Paula), closing date Wednesday 27 November 2019.  Entry cost is £5 per event payable at the Club Desk.

Further information on this gala can be found at the club desk or on Swim Ulster website.

Development Meet 2 – Orchard Leisure Centre, Armagh

Entries for above must be emailed to portadownasc@gmail.com (please ensure you include gala title in subject line of email and mark FAO Paula), closing date Wednesday 20 November 2019.  Please note swimmers can enter 4 strokes in this gala.

Further information on this gala can be found at the club desk or on Swim Ulster website.

American Ice Hockey

We have free tickets to give away to an amazing American Ice Hockey tournament – Friendship Four.  This is a game between two American University teams, many of these players go on to play for the Belfast Giants and NHL! This is an excellent opportunity to see these players before they make it big! Grab these tickets quick and be the first to say ‘I saw him before he was famous’!!!

WHERE:- The SSE Arena Belfast

WHEN:- 29 November 2019, doors open 6pm, match 7pm

HOW:- Tickets will be allocated to swimmers on a first come, first served basis and there will be a max of 2 per swimmer.  Please collect your tickets from the desk on Wednesday.

Skills Meet – Waves Leisure Centre, Lurgan

Good luck to our 14 swimmers who are taking part in the Swim Ulster Skills meet on Sunday.  This commences at 2.30pm.

PTL Away to Coleraine

Good luck also to our PTL Team who will be competing against Coleraine on Saturday night.  Please check the list and confirm your attendance at the Club Desk on Wednesday night.

The bus will leave Cascades at 3pm SHARP for a 5.15pm warm-up.  The bus will return to Cascades at approx 10.30pm, please confirm on sheet at desk if travelling by bus.

Even though we are away we will still require parent volunteers to help out poolside with timekeeping, so we appreciate your support with this.

Swim Ulster Autumn Blitz – Grove Leisure Centre, Belfast

Good luck to all to the U13 Waterpolo team competing in Swim Ulster Autumn Junior Blitz on Friday night in the Grove in Belfast.  Please meet at the main entrance at 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start, ensuring to bring club t-shirts.

Summer Swim Camps

Keep watch on the swim ulster website for next season’s gala and their annual August summer camp: www.swimulster.net.  There’s also useful information on the swim ulster pathway.  We’ll post the dates on the club website once we have it, and anything that is new: www.portadownasc.com  Most of us are ready to wind down for the summer, but try to keep fit and stay healthy as the new season’s galas will start in September. There’ll are lots of open water swimming opportunities (see page 2) and junior triathlons (Camlough Facebook) coming up.   Cascades have a swim camp 1^st – 5^th July 1.00 pm – 4.00 pm to develop their strokes if they can swim 800m+. There is a Rookie Lifeguard Course for 9-14 years old on 1^st – 5^th July, 9am – 12pm. ABC have lots of activities on https://getactiveabc.com/summer.With no school, it’s a good time for our young swimmers to read “Behind the Goggles”, which can be bought on www.swimmingexpert.com website. The Swim Ireland team will be competing in International Events over the summer which you should be able to stream form their website / twitter page / you tube. Lots of Swim Ulster swimmers competing!

• 3^rd – 17^th July European Junior Championship
• 3^rd – 14^th July: World University Games
• 22^nd – 27^th July: European Youth Olympic Festival
• 21^st – 28^th July: Fina World Championships
• 20^th – 25^th August: World Junior Championships

Open Water Swimming

Have you registered yet? Let’s Go Hydro, Belfast –  https://registration.mylaps.com/swim-ulster Registration for the 3K opens at 11.00 am, race starts at 12 noon. 1500m starts at 12.30 pm, 750m starts at 1.00 pm.  Medals and hats for everyone. Presentation medals for category winners, age bands: under 17, 17-39, 40+.  Wetsuits and Skins Categories!  This is a fantastic venue so hoping to see you all next Sunday.  Anyone need transport, just email portadownasc@gmail.com as there will be members travelling down!