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Achieng Given Green Light For London Olympics

Tue, 04 May 2010 14:40:00 +0100

Dubai, UAE: Plymouth Leander's former Kenyan International swimmer Achieng Ajulu-Bushell has been granted permission by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to swim for Great Britain at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Achieng was given approval at a meeting of the IOC Executive Board in Dubai this week to be eligible to compete for GBR in 2012, subject to qualification and selection.

Read on...

The decision brings the 16-year-old swimmer’s dream of competing at a home Olympics one step closer as she continues to work in Plymouth towards her goal. The Plymouth College swimming scholar who was born in Warrington and holds a British passport, had her move officially sanctioned by the British Olympic Association and the National Olympic committee of Kenya.

PL Head Coach Jon Rudd, "This allows us to just get on and focus on the next 12 months into qualifying for London. All the boxes are now ticked; she's British as far as all levels of the sport are concerned and we can all get on with some quality work that gives her the best chance of selection come the Trials for London".

British Swimming Chief Executive David Sparkes is pleased the exciting breaststroke swimmer will have the chance to compete for Britain at the London Olympics. “We are all delighted that Achieng has now been cleared to compete in London,” said Sparkes. “She can now focus on her training for the upcoming European Championships and Commonwealth Games which will be exciting events for her to gain valuable competition opportunities".

It's A Hat-Trick!! PL Win Third Successive National Arena League Swimming Title!

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:19:08 +0100

Sheffield, England: Plymouth Leander have become the club champions of England & Wales for this third successive year in winning the 41st National Arena Swimming League Cup Final at Ponds Forge in Sheffield.

Only City of Southampton in the early 1970’s and City of Leeds through the 80’s and the 90’s have managed a consecutive hat-trick of National League titles, with Plymouth romping home in once of the most impressive winning margins in the League’s history, nearly 90 points clear of second placed Stockport Metro, a British Swimming ITC.

In lifting the title once more, Plymouth ensured a number of other significant milestones en route. First to be added to their haul was the Relay Challenge Trophy, beating Millfield by an accumulate total of 59.3 seconds across the eight relay events. Of the six Top Age Group Athletes Awards, Plymouth were to take five, courtesy of Myles Pillage and Meryl Attrill in the 11 years age group, Harry Ackland following his English Age Group Record in the 13 years age band and Joe Patching and Achieng Ajulu-Bushell in the 15 years category (ages as of 31/12/09).

No less that eight meet record were claimed by the Plymouth team this time of asking:

Male 11 years 50m Butterfly

Myles Pillage (30.32) - Formerly James Doolan (City of Salford) 2002

Male 13 years 100m Backstroke

Jack Smith (1:03.07) – Formerly Steven Cumper (Portsmouth Northsea) 1998

Male 13 years 100m Breaststroke

Harry Ackland (1:08.49) – Formerly David Bartlett (Portsmouth Northsea) 1998

Male 15 years 100m Backstroke

Joe Patching (58.76) – Formerly Sam Straughan (Plymouth Leander) 2009

Female 15 years 100m Breaststroke

Achieng Ajulu-Bushell (1:12.02) – Formerly Rachael Solway (Guildford City) 2008

Female 13 years 200m Medley Relay

Plymouth Leander (2:04.75) – Formerly Beckenham 2005

(Abigail Carne, Jade Scott, Lara Cosford, Grace Vertigans)

Female Senior 200m Medley Relay

Plymouth Leander (1:56.27) – Formerly Lincoln Vulcans 2005

(Amy McVeigh, Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, Paulina Schmiedel, Emma Wilkins)

Male Senior 300m Freestyle Relay

Plymouth Leander (2:22.62) – Formerly Millfield 2009

(Antony James, Mark Conroy, Anthony O’Driscoll, Calum Jarvis, Aaron Rickhuss, Steven Beckerleg)

Even with five of their athletes unable to attend the competition due to volcanic ash cloud flight disruptions, the 23 wins across the 50 events helps to cement the programme’s status as the UK’s leading age group and youth programme, with Antony James, Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, Emma Wilkins and Steven Beckerleg also underlining what the PL coaches are able to achieve at the senior end of the sport. Head Coach Jon Rudd said, “This is always a great team event, one that we love to support and it is worth a great deal of kudos to the winning team. Along with our terrific successes at the recent British Championships, we look to use this victory to spur our athletes on into the national and international events waiting for us this coming summer”.

Final Points

1. Plymouth Leander 422

2. Stockport Metro 336

3. Millfield 328

4. Camden Swiss Cottage 288

5. Guildford City 271

6. Hatfield 270

7. City of Liverpool 267

8. Bournemouth/Ferndown 219

9. City of Peterborough 177

10. Boldmere 174

Plymouth Leander would like to thank the support of the Plymouth Sports Development Unit and Tyr for this event.

Meet Results can be found here

Nine (!!) Selected For Great Britain Following 2010 British Championships...

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:01:30 +0100

Sheffield, England: Nine (yes, that's nine) selected for Great Britain in what saw Plymouth Leander not just continue to stake their claim as the UK's leading swimming programme, but also come to the fore as a true and worthy alternative to British Swimming's ITC programmes into 2012 and beyond.

Named for the third consecutive year as one of only five British Swimming Development Clubs, this is what is possible with innovative coaching, single-mindedness and a focussed desire to succeed. Read on...

Achieng Ajulu-Bushell

§ Great Britain selection for European LC Championships (Budapest) 2010

§ England Selection for Commonwealth Games (New Delhi) 2010

§ Two British Senior titles (50m & 100m Breaststroke)

§ British & English Age Group Records (50m & 100m Breaststroke)

§ South West of England Senior Record (100m Breaststroke)

Antony James

§ Great Britain selection for European LC Championships (Budapest) 2010

§ British Senior silver medal (100m Butterfly)

Grant Halsall