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SUNNY SWIMMERS: Dorset members of the Malta swim camp

SWIMMERS from four Dorset clubs enjoyed a trip to sunny Malta for an intensive training camp.

The tour, jointly organised by West Dorset Warriors and Clayesmore, saw a total of 48 swimmers make the trip - 22 Warriors, ten from Clayesmore, 15 from Poole SC and one from Tornadoes of South Dorset - with ages ranging from nine to 19.

West Dorset head coach Janet Hewitt said: "We had four lanes in a beautiful outdoor heated 50m pool so all the children could swim at the appropriate level. We had a great swimmer-to-coach ratio because as well as myself, we had Paul Gowing and Lynn Young, both coaches at Clayesmore. We also had the benefit of teachers Ben Young, of Clayesmore, and Natalie Old and Mike Smith of Poole SC.

"I was very proud of the way the kids knuckled down to the training and the fantastic attitude they showed.

"They achieved the goal of swimming 60,000 metres during the week. World record holder and Olympic champion Michael Phelps, at the most intense part of his training, does 85,000m, so for the kids to achieve 60k is quite something.

"The camp was a great success as the children enjoyed and benefited from it so much. They were well behaved, trained hard and also had some fun. At West Dorset we are certainly keen to run another overseas camp in the not too distant future.

"A big thank-you goes to all the chaperones as well as Angie at Azure Logo Embroidery who pulled out all the stops to provide the swimmers with their own Malta swim camp T-shirts."

West Dorset Warriors, who train at both the Thomas Hardye Leisure Centre in Dorchester and the Bridport Leisure Centre, welcome swimmers and athletes of all levels. Anyone interested contact Janet Hewitt on 01305 266175 or click on wdwarriors.org.uk

8:29am Tuesday 22nd April 2008

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