News from Loughborough Swimming Coaches

So far I have been entered into the 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 200m Individual Medley, and 100m Breaststroke. by the Loughborough Swimming Team Coach  here are a few photos of my fellow Loughborough Team mates who have also been entered into the London 2012 trials:-  

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I was asked if I could give a talk to the children at Kings College School in London to help inspire them on the run up to the Olympics and Paralympics games, of course I said yes, but unfortunately the traffic was horrendous and I arrived a little late. I made my apologies and spoke to a very small group of children that seemed to enjoy what I had to say, 

after my little speech I was asked if I would like to try my hand at Water Polo, it was my first time and

 I loved it. ♥

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I look forward to returning to Kings College School in 2012.

I would also like to thank The Friends of Kings College School for their generous donation towards my swimming career I hope I wont let them down.

Wishing you all a

Merry Christmas

and a very Happy New Year

♥

Southend-on-Sea’s sporting heroes were honoured at the borough’s sports awards. The annual sports awards took place on the 9^th November 2011 at the Cliffs Pavilion in Westcliff. Cyclist and Commonwealth Games time trial silver medalist Alex Dowsett was the guest of honour presenting the awards & trophies.

You will be pleased to hear that Jo-Jo received several awards that evening. But due to her training commitments at Loughborough, for London 2012, she was unable to attend the prestigious ceremony. Her father, Andrew, stepped in and collected the following awards on behalf of Jo-Jo.

Triple success for Jo-Jo’s home Swimming Club Rochford & District.

Jo-Jo was named Rochford District Disability Sports Personaility of the Year 2011, she was also nominated with distinction for Sports Personality of the Year. 

Services to Sport went to Doug Drake (Head Coach)

Sports Personaility of the Year went to Phil Harper (Masters Swimmer)

The following report can also be found at Waters & Stanton >> blog <<

The 4th Annual Rochford District Sports Awards took place on Thursday 13th October at the Mill Arts & Events Centre, Rayleigh, and once again Waters & Stanton were proud to be sponsoring the ‘Disability Sports Personality of the Year Award’. Nearly 200 guests attended the event which was compered by BBC Essex Sports Journalist Ben Fryer.

Swimmer Jo-Jo Cranfield won the ‘Disability Sports Personality of the Year’ for the second year in a row. At the DSE Short Course Junior Nationals 2010 held in Sheffield in February she won Silver medals in 100m Freestyle, 200m Medley, 400m Team Medley & 100m Breaststroke. She also passed her A-Levels and earned a place at the prestigious Loughborough University studying  for a degree in Sports Coaching, she has also been offered a place in the Elite Loughborough University Swimming Team alongside World Championship swimmers such as Liam Tancock and Joanne Jackson. W&S would like to wish Jo-Jo the best in her campaign to compete in the 2012 Paralympic Games and congratulate her on her win at the Rochford Award Ceremony, you can find out more about Jo-Jo here on her website.

Pictured below is Jo-Jo collecting her award from Chairman of Rochford Council, Simon Smith and Jeff Stanton of Waters & Stanton.

Jo-Jo enrolled on her B.Sc Honors Degree in Sports Coaching at the world renowned University/College Loughborough on the 19^th September 2011

She is settling in well, and after only being there for one week she has already made an impression on her peers and consequently she has been voted in to be the female Sports Coaching – Course Representative

 Her swimming training is going well. She is now a member of the Elite Loughborough Swimming Squad http://www.loughboroughswimming.com/Loughborough-Swimming-Squads-2009-10.php 

Records :

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Awards :

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Qualifications :

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Jo-Jo PASSED her A Level’s in Philosophy, Physical Education & Psychology and has now gained enough UCAS points for her to accept her very much sought after place to study for a

Degree in Sports Coaching at Loughborough University/College.

Jo-Jo has also been offered a prestigious place as part of the Elite Loughborough University Swimming Team where she will be training with the likes of Liam Tancock and Joanne Jackson.

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If you would like to help

towards Jo-Jo’s paralympic 2012 or 2016 dream

you can by leaving a donation here

Or  Email - jojo@tajj.freeserve.co.uk

British Gas ASA National Youth Championships 2011

16^thMD  Heat 100m Breaststroke SB8 3^rd

♥

.

Hurrah! Three Cheers!

Jo-Jo is now a Qualified National Pool Lifeguard

To qualify as a lifeguard she had to attend a week long course, which covered a variety of life saving skills and at the end of the course PASS five individual exams, which were.

A Theory test, CPR exam, First Aid exam, Pool exam, and Spinal board exam all of which she did at the Virgin Active Leisure Centre, Clements Hall in Hawkwell/Rochford. The course run from the 25 to 29 July 2011.

Well done Jo-Jo!!!

An aerial view of Millfield sports ground and the world famous 50m Swimming Pool, in which I have the pleasure of training everyday, alongside the athletics track, where I do some of my land training. 

This fabulous view is only a very small part of what Millfield have to offer

Millfield Free Weights Room

and here is Millfield’s Cardio Suite

My last day Millfield 2^nd July 2011

Millfield Summer Ball 2011 

 Whoop Whoop! I’ve PASSED

 Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE)

NVQ Level 3 Achieving Excellence in Sports Performance (Sports Specific)

Awarding Body: First for Sport 

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What is AASE?
AASE is a Government funded initiative that has been designed to meet the needs of young people (aged 16-18) who have the realistic potential to achieve excellence in their sport and are seeking to perform at the highest level as their main career goal, whilst continuing with their education.  Notionally taking two years to complete, the AASE framework will provide for the first time a structured national training and development route across all sports for talented young athletes, many of whom may go on to represent their country on the world stage.

The apprenticeship is the first to offer elite and potentially elite athletes to achieve proper recognition of the skills, knowledge and understanding they are developing/gaining in their quest for excellence.

NVQ Level 3 Achieving Excellence in Sports Performance (Sports Specific)
This qualification recognises excellence in a specific sport.  The NVQ is made up of 8 sport specific units: To gain the full NVQ all eight mandatory units must be achieved.  The England Talent Team delivers the NVQ Level 3. Edexcel awards this qualification. The NVQ will be delivered at training, competitions, AASE Workshops/Camps and Online. 
This NVQ is specifically designed for elite athletes to help them achieve success within their sport and hopefully achieve a World Class status.  The NVQ is rewarding and beneficial to all those selected to come onto the programme.

The NVQ is all about being an elite athlete and it is broken into 8 units that cover important factors of an elite athlete’s life.  
 
Skills Active will award the overall apprenticeship after all 3 components have been completed.

Employers and Universities such as Loughborough, Bath, Manchester Metropolitan and Leeds Metropolitan have signed up to recognise the AASE programme when considering individuals for places on courses. Many other universities will have an AASE recognition scheme within the next two years.

Bruce

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Bruce was my best friend I will always love him  

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British International swimming championships / European Trials, held at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield between the 8-10 April 2011. There were over 24 different countrys competing at this event,  Austria, Belguim, Brazil, Catalona, China, China Taipei, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Netherlands, Romania, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Uganda, Ukraine, and Wales. All the events were MD (multi disability) and I was up against swimmers of all ages, and all disabilities in all classifactions. Which is not good, because it normally means the lower classifications win. I qualified for all 7 events available in my disability classification, which is S9 SB8 SM9,  I chose to enter only 2 events due to the amount of A level course work I am currently doing at the moment.

Here are my Results   

British International Swimming Championships (50m) 2011

MD (Multi Disability) events up against all disabilities 

30^th MD  200m Individual Medley  S9  7^th  

33^rd MD  100m Breaststroke SB8 4^th 

♥

British Gas National Championships / European Trials, This was an able-bodied long course event with some multi disability events mixed in. I qualified for all 7 events available in my disability classification, which is S9 SB8 SM9, they were all MD (multi disability) events, which meant I was up against swimmers of all ages, and all disabilities, which is not good, because it normally means the lower classifications win. The competition was over 8 days at the Manchester Aquatic Centre in Booth Street, because of this, I chose to enter only 2 events due to the amount of A level course work I still needed to complete, I could not afford to have a whole week away from school, missing vital A level lessons so close to my final exams. I was a little nervous because I was a long way from home and this was the first time my parents were not there to support me, they had to stay at home to look after my best friend, Bruce ♥ (my dog)

Here are my Results  

British Gas National Championships / European Trials 2011 Long Course

MD (Multi Disability) events up against all disabilities 

18^th MD  Heat 200m Individual Medley  S9  5^th  

16^th MD  Heat 100m Breaststroke SB8 3^rd