Weekly Update Friday 25th September

This week we have results rounded up for you from Stretford, Cardiff (twice), Barrowford, Swansea and Yate. Coaching webinars and workshops. Status of the cross country league fixtures. A reminder of changes to training fees and covid 19 regulations, note you cannot just turn up for training, all sessions must be pre booked with your coach.

Results:

Saturday 12th September U15B Lewie Jones throws (12.13m) Shot & (38.18m) Javelin at Stretford.

Friday 18th September were the Welsh Athletics Cardiff Sunset Pilot 5km road races. It was great to see the fixture trialled in what will hopefully be the first of many. Eleven Swansea Harriers were invited to participate and took part, with seven men where; Guy Smith ran very well for 3rd (14.46) with fast finishing 8th Paul Tobin (14.57) and 9th William Munday (14.58) both breaking the 15 minute barrier, who were followed home by 13th Dominic Smith (15.05); 14th Nathan Jones (15.16); 18th Elliot Lawrence (15.42) and 19th Matthew Harvey (15.43).

In the womens race we had the four finishers; Kate Roberts was home first for the club in 5th (17.18) followed by Ashleigh Willis (18.04); 15th Llinos Jones (19.33) and 16th Ella Davies (19.37).

Saturday 19th September was the Welsh Athletics U17, U20 & Seniors 100m & 200m open meeting at Cardiff. There was another great showing across the board from the club with eight members in action. Everyone of them recorded fast times with the benefit of some strong tailwinds, unfortunately they were all above the allowable limit of +2.0m per second. Nevertheless this season we will take what we can get for races! In ascending order the performances were as follows:

100m: SM Wyn Roberts (11.10); SM Jack Houghton (11.19); U17M Joshua Kenny (11.90) and U17M Jacob Dowling (13.61).

200m: SM Joseph Brier (20.86); SM Daniel Beadsley (21.27); U20M Steffan Jones (21.83) and M60 Roderick Davies (29.31).

Saturday 19th September SM Kristian Jones runs an impressive sub 30 minute clocking of (29.20) over 10km at Barrowford. Its been a great week for Kristian who has been selected in the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team to compete at the World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland on Saturday 17th October! Very many congratulations and the very best of luck too!

Sunday 20th September was the Welsh Athletics U15, U17, U20 & Seniors 800m, 1500m, 3000m & 3000m walk open meeting at home in Swansea. There was another great showing from the club with twelve members running, again in ascending order of time were:

800m; SM Nathan Phillips (2.05.92); U17M Miles Hill (2.13.40); U15B Dafydd King (2.20.84) and U15G Bethan Adams (2.47.64).

1500m; U17M Aled Tumelty (4.30.78); U20W Darcie Bass (4.49.31); U20W Carys Jones (5.06.05); U15G Mai Davies (5.29.10) and U15G Kaitlyn Jones (5.41.41).

3000m; M60 Ifan Lloyd (10.09.33) and SW Abigayle Goodrick-Latham (12.13.60).

3000m walk; SW Megan Stratton-Thomas (17.46.10) and SW Jemima Osborn (18.26.85).

Sunday 20th September at the Yate field events open meeting, nine Swansea Harriers made the trip across the border recording plenty of great results:

U13G Matilda Quick (9.81m) Shot & (1.51m) High Jump.

U15G Lucy Harris (29.55m) & (33.23m) Javelin, Katie Lake (27.25m) Discus and Rebekah Pratt (22.16m).

U15B Lewie Jones (38.07m) Discus & (38.77m) Javelin & (12.23m) Shot and Macsen Holland (12.52m) Shot.

U17W Chloe Jones (32.55m) Javelin and Emily Collins (31.31m) Hammer.

U17M Ryan Price (11.76m) Triple Jump.

Webinars for coaches:

There are now additional event specific and generic webinars available over the next few weeks for coaches.

Welsh Athletics cover:

28/9 Adapting throws training in the winter months and for large groups of junior athletes.
30/9 Post Season Review, Annual Planning & Goal Setting.
8/10 What is an athlete? How to learn to run, jump and throw through play.

For the full calendar of webinars click this link.

England Athletics cover:

26/9 Endurance – Let’s start with physical preparation, pulling it all together.
30/9 Speed – Rest and Recovery Strategies.
1/10 Throws – Mastering the fundamentals: Introducing throws to club athletes.

for their full webinar calendar click this link.

Gwent Cross Country League Fixtures:

From Brian Fox (Cross Country Secretary): Following on-line discussions with the officers of the John H. Collins Gwent League, I have to confirm that it unlikely that any league matches will take place this year. As your club representative I fully endorsed the decision which was based on current government guidelines and our national governing body’s advice.
There may a limited number of cross-country races taking place, such as the UKA Cross Challenge events, but these may be for small numbers of select athletes and will not include any regional league matches. As you can appreciate this guidance is not just applicable to cross-country races but to all road/trail mass-start events. Similar socially distanced events may take place but no mass-start events are permitted. We will periodically review any changes to the current restrictions. Kind regards, Brian 077 477 56114.

Training Fees:

The club cafe is Covid ready to start collecting the training fees ourselves since Monday 21st September. Athletes/Parents will queue 2m apart outside, and payment will be strictly by contactless only at the door where a desk and perspex screen will be in place. Two volunteers collecting subs will be in the building. The club has purchased an Ipad and Izettle system to make this possible.

New Members:

The club is unable to take on any new members at this time. With outdoor gatherings still restricted to 30, the club have been unable to recommence training on track with all of our existing membership. Until outdoor track capacity is increased significantly from 30 by Welsh Government with guidance then cascading down to Welsh Athletics and Swansea University, we are “snookered”.

Covid-19 Version 3:

The covid 19 plan has now changed to version 3 for the Monday to Thursday 5pm and 6.30pm sessions inclusive. The numerous changes effect all event disciplines. The plan MUST be read in full again before any athletes recommence training. All sessions must be pre booked with your coach, you cannot just turn up. Swansea Harriers Covid Plan Version 3 @ 15.09.20

Swansea University have now moved their booking system online for all other time slots, these are now Monday to Thursdays inclusive 2pm to 3.15pm and 3.30pm to 4.45pm also Saturdays 9.30am to 11.30am. To book and pre pay click here. again all sessions must be pre booked you cannot just turn up.

The club is in need of additional covid 19 officers from 5pm Mondays to Thursdays inclusive. If you are willing and available to assist once a week please speak to our existing covid officers at training. These are essential short term roles that the club needs to fill, any offers of assistance are greatly appreciated.

Annual Membership Fees:

All athletes being coached on or off track must have renewed their annual subs, as per the covid plan and for their personal insurance 2020-2021 Membership Application for New Members & Renewals