Turnhout Results 10th October 2015

Theo came 4th overall in the Jun D boys category.
Solomon came 3rd overall in Jun C boys category with Peter Riches 5th overall.
Peter gained a PB in his 1000m ( 1.47.575) and a PB in 500m (51.176)
Tanith came 2nd overall in the Jun B/C girls category.

Guildford Open 26th September 2015

Well done Josh. Two 1st places out of 3 races and nearly a third win. Great determination shown.
Joseph skated a stylish set of races. Looking good.
Well done Ollie 4sec off his 500m time, two 2nd places and a third due to a coming together on a corner.
Alex took 1sec off his 500 PB. He had an unfortunate fall which put him in the D final which he won.
Lloyd took 4sec off his 500m time. More to come from Lloyd.
David Somma took 7sec off his 500 PB and 5 1/2sec off his 777 PB. David is now getting it together.
Peter Carter skated the best I have seen him skate.
Solomon showed impressive skating and came 2nd overall in the Jun ABC group.
Theo had a string of 1st places and overall first in Jun D. Well skated.
Tanith skated hard within group Jun ABC. Looked very determined.
Clare had a fall which put her back into the B final. Next time Clare. Otherwise a tidy skate.
Peter Carr was 2nd overall in Sen/Masters. Tactical racing with other masters. Well done.
Peter Riches has achieved the time for entry into Star Class. Well done Peter now known as the block maestro.
Simon came 1st overall in Sen/Masters. His first race for Aldwych.

Tony Gallon, Head Coach.

Sheffield Summer Training Camp 2015

A couple of weeks after the Oberstdorf summer camp, there was also a training camp at Sheffield. This time, Nayla, Jack, Joseph, Olivia and myself participated. Gerard was one of the two coaches at the camp along with Mandy from Nottingham. The week was designed as a development camp to improve technique and fitness, with a large focus on off-ice training.
During the week, there was a roughly equal mix of off and on ice sessions, with the coaches sharing the sessions between them. The off-ice sessions were a challenge for some due to the endurance required to last 2 hours of stretching and exercising under the strict regime of the coaches. On the ice, the sessions were very enjoyable and definitely hard work. Some of the sessions were vastly different to any style of coaching we had experienced at Aldwych, and this helped to increase the variety of exercises which we were taught.
Since this was a week entirely devoted to training, there was not much free time at all and no competition at the end. Even so, it was a great week which I feel definitely helped many people greatly improve their stamina and technique, and provided a chance to meet other skaters from around the country. Any younger skaters at the club should consider going to any similar camps if they are run in the future.     Alex Collins, Junior Club Captain.

Oberstdorf Summer Training Camp 2015

During the summer, many younger members of the Aldwych Speed Club travelled to Oberstdorf in Germany to take part in the annual training camp. Peter Riches, Tanith Turner, Olivia Weedon, Jack Weedon, Joseph Armstrong, Theo Collins and myself made up the group, as well as Gerard who expertly coached a portion of the sessions.
The format of this camp is to split all the participants into groups, and then have all the ice sessions in the afternoons. Each session was 50 minutes long on ice, with around 25 people in each group all from various countries. The mornings were spent at the inline track or participating in other organised events. These included the mountain run and the biathlon. Special mention must go to Gerard for both of these since he was the overall winner of the mountain run, and also had to cycle in front of every race of the biathlon for a whole morning which appeared to be quite hard work.
The training sessions were thoroughly enjoyable, with the international groups providing a few language barriers but ultimately creating a lovely atmosphere in which to train with people of roughly the same ability. With no days on which to rest, it was also a very tiring week. However this only added to the feeling that the training was doing something to improve us.
At the end of the week, there was a competition split over two days. This gave a lot of time for each person to get many races in different distances. There were many PBs recorded over the weekend, with exceptional ice (not quite Guildford but nearly as good), and fast people to race with. Overall it was a vastly successful camp ending with an unforgettable night at the beer festival, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone else at the club with a week free next summer.
(The summer camp in 2016 runs from the welcome dinner on Saturday 30 July to the closing dinner on Saturday 6 August. There will be more ice sessions but no in-line skating. The format of the biathlon/triathlon is undecided at the moment.)

Alex Collins, Junior Club Captain.

Older News

Junior British Open 2010

Despite the threat of travel problems due to the weather a total of 63 skaters from 11 clubs in 6 countries travelled to Nottingham to compete in the 22nd annual Junior British Open competition organised by Nottinghamshire Ice Racing Club on 28th & 29th December 2010. 7 skaters from Aldwych Speed Club were among the entries.

The competition was run across 2 distances for each category, plus a "Super Final" for the top skaters in each group, points were awarded for places in all 3 distances and final position was determined by the total points awarded.

Out of the 7 Aldwych skaters competing, 3 of them came away with medals.

Medal winners were:

Junior E Girls - Tanith Turner 2nd Place (highest placed British skater)
Junior D Girls - Bethan Lindsay 3rd Place
Junior C Men - Anthony Cast 3rd Place (highest placed British skater)

The full results can be downloaded from the NIRC web site

Podium pictures can be seen on Shorttrackonline

British Short Track Championships 2010


The Aldwych team

A total of 17 Aldwych skaters competed at the British Short Track Speed Skating Championships held at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham on 17th & 18th April 2010.

The Aldwych Skaters did very well, bringing home a collection of medals.

Medal winners were:

Pee Wee Boys - Anthony Cast 1st Place, Aydin Djemal 3rd Place
Juvenile Girls - Mariyo Takezoe 3rd Place
Junior Ladies - Helen Clark 2nd Place
Senior Men (Overall) - Ian Upcott 3rd Place
Senior Men (1000M) - Ian Upcott 1st Place
Relay Team (5000M final) - 3rd place

The full results can be seen at Shorttrackonline

Gent Easter Cup Competition - 3rd & 4th April 2010

Recently a total of 9 young Aldwych skaters travelled to Belgium to compete at the 30th annual Easter Cup Competition in Gent.

There was a massive number of skaters competing in total - over 160 across the range from Junior F up to Junior A.

There was some fierce competion across the 2 days of the competition, each category competing across 2 distances.

Olivia Weedon was placed 13th & Nayla Djemal 14th in the Junior F Boys & Girls category.
Bethan Lindsay was 4th, Tanith Turner 8th & Jeyda Djemal 11th in the Junior E Girls category.
Shae Ingram was 13th in the Junior E Boys category.
Anthony Cast was 7th, Aydin Djemal 8th & Jimmy Ingram 22nd in the Junior D Boys category.

Scotland v England Competition - 21st March 2010

Recently 3 Aldwych skaters were invited to compete for England in the third England/Scotland competition for Junior skaters, making up 25% of the team that raced.

The three skaters were Helen Clark, Anthony Cast & Aydin Djemal.

Racing was over 3 rounds of different distances, plus 2 relay races. The competition was fierce, with Scotland eventually winning, beating the English team with a total of 151 points against England's 94. Due to the short notice of the competition, the distance to travel to the event & the fact the competition was held on a Sunday evening only 12 England skaters out of an invited 16 were able to attend.

In particular the 2 younger boys did very well, racing against skaters who were 2 or 3 categories above them, and both managed to hold their own very well. Anthony achieved new personal best times at 1,000M & 1,500M, and Aydin achieved a new PB at 1,500M.

We look forward to the opportunity to reverse this result next year.

21st Nottinghamshire Junior British Open

9 of Aldwych Speed Club's junior skaters recently competed at the 21st Annual Junior British Open competition amongst a total of over 100 skaters representing 17 clubs from 7 countries (including 1 skater from Australia).

After a long 2 day competition with skaters competing over 2 distances plus a 3rd "Super Final" distance for the highest placed skaters in each category Aldwych were rewarded with 3 podium positions, with Helen Clark winning the Ladies Junior B category, and Bethan Lindsay & Aydin Djemal both coming third in their respective categories - Junior E Girls & Junior D Boys.

New personal best times were achieved by Helen Clark at 1000M & 1500M, Jimmy Ingram at 333M, Bethan Lindsay at 500M, Tanith Turner at 500M, Jeyda Djemal at 333M & 500M and Olivia Weedon at 333M.

Overall classifications & the relay results, plus some podium pictures are on the NIRC web site here.

Full results, classifications & times can be viewed and downloaded from the Shorttrackonline website here.

Sheffield & Solihull open competitions

Open competitions were recently held in Sheffield on Sunday 15th November and in Solihull on Saturday 21st November.

We had a good turnout of Aldwych skaters travelling to Sheffield, even accounting for the early start time, and after a tightly fought competition Aldwych were well placed with Peter Armstrong coming first in the Men/Masters category, Aydin Djemal & Anthony Cast placing first & second in the Junior D category, and Bethan Lindsay taking third place in the Junior E category.

At the Solihull competition on Saturday 21st November Aydin Djemal took 2nd place in the Junior C/D Boys category and Bethan Lindsay & Tanith Turner achieved 2nd & 3rd place in Junior E girls .

Star Class Competition Hasselt

The second Star Class competition for Seniors & Juniors A & B was held in Hasselt, Belgium on November 14th & 15th.

Gerard WIlliams, Hew Williams & Helen Clark all took part in this competition.

Gerard took 8th place overall in the Senior Men category, with Hew Williams coming 13th in the same category. Helen was 15th overall in the Ladies Junior B category.

Star Class Competitions Milan & Mannheim

The first two Star Class Competitions were recently held - the first for Seniors & Junior A & B in Milan, Italy between October 2nd & October 4th & the second for Juniors C & D in Mannheim, Germany on October 31st & November 1st.

Gerard Williams & Helen Clark competed in Milan (with Hew Williams unfortunately being forced to withdraw due to illness), and Anthony Cast & Aydin Djemal raced in Mannheim.

In Milan Gerard came was the highest placed British skater in the Senior Men category, coming 7th overall  and third in the 1,500M distance, and Helen was 22nd in the Ladies Junior B.

In Mannheim Aydin was placed 14th overall, with Anthony in 20th place after an unfortunate fall in one distance.

For Helen, Aydin & Anthony this was their first time in a Star Class competition.

Aldwych Open Competition 24th October 2009

Aldwych held our first club open competition of the season on Saturday 24th October. Despite a slightly disappointing overall turnout we had a good number of Pee Wee skaters racing.

Several Aldwych skaters did well in the competition including new PBs for Alex Kalinin, Anthony Cast, Aydin Djemal, Bethan Lindsay, Ed Djemal, Jeyda Djemal, Jimmy Ingram, Nayla Djemal, Olivia Weedon, Shae Ingram & Tanith Turner.

Aldwych medal winners were Helen Clark - 1st Place Junior B, Anthony Cast 2nd place Junior D, Aydin Djemal 3rd place Junior D & Shae Ingram 3rd place Junior E.

The full results & times are available to download from the results page here.

The next Aldwych competition will be on Saturday November 28th November.

28th Trophée Léon Quaglia, Chamonix 2009

Recently a number of Aldwych skaters travelled to Chamonix, in the French Alps, for the 28th Trophée Léon Quaglia, held at the Patinoire in the glorious setting of this picturesque French mountain town.

In all there were around 120 skaters taking part, from 24 clubs & 5 countries, and Aldwych skaters accounted for around 10% of these. During the week they took part in on ice training sessions twice a day. Gerard & Hew Williams are to be thanked for coaching the skaters during these sessions (with extra thanks to Sue Williams for standing in on the first day while Gerard & Hew were still travelling out there).

The event was kicked of with a barbecue on the Saturday night, with training starting on the Sunday morning.

On the final Friday & Saturday the skating competition itself was held.

Aldwych skaters did well in several categories, in particular Gerard Williams came 2nd overall in the Junior A & Senior Men category, winning the 1500M Super Final & coming 2nd in the 500M distance. Hew Williams was 5th overall in the Junior A & Senior Men category.

Aydin Djemal was 2nd overall in the PeeWee / Novice boys category, with Anthony Cast being placed 6th after an unfortunate fall in one distance, and a DQ in the other distance. Anthony did however achieve the fastest time of the competition in his category.

Olivia Weedon was placed 7th overall in the PeeWee / Novice Girls category.

New PBs were achieved by Anthony Cast, Aydin Djemal, Olivia Weedon, Mike Maynard, & Jeyda Djemal.

During the week the athletes competed in an uphill mountain run & a mountain biking competition, with points from these being added to those from the skating competition itself to produce placings for an overall ranking for the week. Only athletes who competed (& finished) in all 3 events (running, cycling, & skating) were eligible for the overall award.

Gerard Williams was 2nd in the uphill mountain run, and Anthony Cast was 3rd in the PeeWees mountain bike competition.

On the final evening a party was held at the rink, and Gerard Williams was awarded 1st place overall in the Junior A & Senior Men category, Olivia Williams 1st overall in the PeeWee / Novice Girls category, and Aydin Djemal 3rd overall in the PeeWee / Novice Boys category.

Full results of the skating can be downloaded from Shorttrack Online here
Some pictures from the uphill running & mountain biking competitions can be viewed on our gallery pages here

Aldwych Club Championships 2008 - 2009

Across 2 days on April 20th & 22nd the Club Championships were held.

The number of members competing was increased over last year's Championships, especially among the Pee Wee categories, with 18 skaters between Pee Wee 1 & 2.

All skaters raced 3 distances and the points from all 3 distances were added together to give an overall result.

The winners were:
    Masters Men - Gary Leighs
    Senior Men - Gerard Williams
    Junior A Men - Hew Williams
    Junior B Men - Robert Bailey
    Junior B Ladies - Helen Clark
    Juvenile Girls - Kali Turner
    Pee Wee 1 Boys - Aydin Djemal
    Pee Wee 1 Girls - Anastasia Wigg
    Pee Wee 2 Boys - Yoo-An An
    Pee Wee 2 Girls - Bethan Lindsay

Full results can be downloaded here

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