Woolacombe Nippers
Nippers are the youngest section of the club ranging in age from 6 - 13 years.
In the winter we train once a week in the pool in Ilfracombe working on swimming, fins and board skills and the children (from age 8 upwards) have the opportunity to compete in both the Devon and National Stillwater (pool) competitions if they would like to. Children don't compete until the year that they turn 8 but we welcome 6 and 7 year olds into the Limpet section of Nippers where they can improve their water confidence and skills in a carefully supervised environment. On the beach during training sessions it is a requirement that a parent remains with their Limpet at all times. From about May onwards, depending on sea and weather conditions, training moves to twice a week on the beach at Woolacombe and the children are taught open water and beach skills. There is a strong emphasis on safety and learning to recognise and react to the conditions they encounter. Again they have the opportunity to compete at the Devon and National Ocean competitions and take surf awards appropriate to their age and ability. We take the training and the safety seriously and we like the children to compete for the club if they can but it's also about keeping fit, making friends, learning how be safe on the beach and in the sea and, just as importantly, having fun. Nipper photos (general) The Nipper Rep for the Club is Michelle Gammon. |
Training and Competition InformationSummer Training sessions:
We start back at the beach on Sunday 12th May. Training is from 11.30 - 1.30pm Winter Training sessions: Saturdays at Ilfracombe pool Limpets 2003/4/5 at 1 - 2pm 2000/1/2 at 2 - 3pm |
Woolacombe Nippers are National Champions again!.....
Woolacombe Nippers have done it again! Weeks after winning the Devon still water Championships, Woolacombe Nippers have won the National Still Water Championships for the third year. It was the toughest competition ever this year with the added twist that it was the first time the Nippers had to compete in a 50m pool. This was very challenging for the younger age groups and a first for many of the children. The races were fast and furious with much excitement throughout the day.
Woolacombe entered a team of 52 Nippers for this years National competition. The morning was very tight with all the clubs scoring well, but Woolacombe had some fantastic results across all the age groups with the following children gaining 2 individual medals; Francesca Sayer gaining 2 golds, Florence Moore and Josh Gammon 1 gold and 1 silver each, Jack Whittaker 2 silvers, Skye Pirie 1 gold and 1 bronze. The team events brought all the children together and they rose to the challenge and put in outstanding performances and showed great team spirit. The boys 11-13 age group won silver in both the Manikin and Medley relay events whilst the girls team came home with bronze. As the afternoons events started, scores were pretty even between Woolacombe and the favourites St. Ives, but it was the afternoons events that had spectators gripped to their seats, this is possibly a favourite for the spectators, the Board Races. Some of the best results coming from the 9 year old girls who took gold, silver and bronze positions, but the boys were not far behind taking the 3rd, 4th and 5th place. The 11 year old girls also put on a good show taking first, second and fourth. The final results would all come down to the Board relays and the Woolacombe teams certainly did not disappoint anyone watching when the 8-10 boys won the bronze medal and the girls just missed out on a medal position with 4th place, but both the girls and boys 11-13 teams took the gold positions and sealed the result Woolacombe won with a total of 1704 points. When asked, Michelle Gammon (Nipper Coach) said she was very proud of the the whole team, with everyone making a valuable contribution to the overall result.
Full results here
Woolacombe entered a team of 52 Nippers for this years National competition. The morning was very tight with all the clubs scoring well, but Woolacombe had some fantastic results across all the age groups with the following children gaining 2 individual medals; Francesca Sayer gaining 2 golds, Florence Moore and Josh Gammon 1 gold and 1 silver each, Jack Whittaker 2 silvers, Skye Pirie 1 gold and 1 bronze. The team events brought all the children together and they rose to the challenge and put in outstanding performances and showed great team spirit. The boys 11-13 age group won silver in both the Manikin and Medley relay events whilst the girls team came home with bronze. As the afternoons events started, scores were pretty even between Woolacombe and the favourites St. Ives, but it was the afternoons events that had spectators gripped to their seats, this is possibly a favourite for the spectators, the Board Races. Some of the best results coming from the 9 year old girls who took gold, silver and bronze positions, but the boys were not far behind taking the 3rd, 4th and 5th place. The 11 year old girls also put on a good show taking first, second and fourth. The final results would all come down to the Board relays and the Woolacombe teams certainly did not disappoint anyone watching when the 8-10 boys won the bronze medal and the girls just missed out on a medal position with 4th place, but both the girls and boys 11-13 teams took the gold positions and sealed the result Woolacombe won with a total of 1704 points. When asked, Michelle Gammon (Nipper Coach) said she was very proud of the the whole team, with everyone making a valuable contribution to the overall result.
Full results here
Nippers are Oceanfest Champions 3rd year in a row.....Photos...
Woolacombe have come away with a fantastic win again in the Oceanfest Legacy Nipper competition at Croyde! This is the 3rd year running- amazing! Again it was a very competitive day, with top slots shared fairly evenly on the beach between Woolacombe, St Ives, Saunton, Bideford Bay, Croyde, Hayle and Portreath. Woolacombe’s 13 year girls and 13 year boys were both first in their beach relay, with some excellent changovers- well done! Great 1km run positions too- particulary noteworthy Arnie Buckley came 3rd, just behind Bob Whittaker, running against nippers a year older than him and in his first ever beach event! The flags is always a bit of a lottery but everyone got some points, with Olivia Sayer just missing out on first place, and Lydia Surridge 3rd. The sea was looking pretty rough still at the start of the sea events, but as ever our Woolacombe nippers were incredibly brave. It wasn’t just a short sea swim- they swam out through wave after wave right out back. Bob Whittaker was incredible in the swim, coming out miles before anyone else in his age group; the 11 year girls were all amazing, with Nalani Whitely 1st, Lily Mandeville 2nd, Lydia Surridge 3rd and Florence Moore 5th! Everyone on shore watched with amazement as the 13 year boys set off on their boards. Again, they paddled over one wave after another, getting knocked back, popping over the waves, paddling furiously- and just when you thought they had got out the back, another set of waves came through. Our doggedly determined nippers kept going of course, and racked up the points in this event, as usual. As the time was going on, the two relay events were cancelled so it was straight to the individual race, the golden nipper- a board, run and swim- certainly not for the faint hearted! Our placings for this event were once again fantastic, with Bob and Nalani both winning their events (and the £25 prize money!); Zac Surridge just missed out and came in 2nd place, and Lily Mandeville also took 2nd place. All those who completed this race should be very proud of themselves, but particular mention goes to Jake Liversedge, who lost his board at the first can, swam back to collect it, paddled round, then swam the swim course and came in 5th!!!!! The coaches are extremely proud of everyone, and of course as pleased as punch that we have won another nipper board! Thanks to everyone who helped- rescue cover, those who brought boards and the tent, coaches, parents - and also to other nippers who came down to support us! Also of course thankyou to Mark Redrup and his team for organising the event, and Sally Nicholls and Associates for donating the Golden Nipper prize money. The final results were: Woolacombe 1st Portreath 2nd Saunton Sands 3rd Hayle 4th St Ives 5th Bideford 6th Croyde 7th Individual Woolacombe positions: Beach Relay: U 13 Boys: 1st Woolacombe (Max Davies, Ollie Hill, Josh Clark, Danny Roberts) U 13 girls: 1st Woolacombe (Molly Ashford, Olivia Sayer, Lauren Huggins, Issy Gooch) 1km run: U 11 Boys: 2nd: Bob Whittaker U11 girls: 2nd Nalani Whiteley Flags: U 13 Girls: 2nd: Olivia Sayer U 11 Girls: 3rd Lydia Surridge Swim: U 11 Boys: 1st Bob Whittaker U 11 Girls: 1: Nalani Whiteley, 2nd Lily Mandeville, 3rd Lydia Surridge Board Races: U 13 boys: Heat 1: 2nd Lee Oliver 3rd Danny Roberts Heat 2: 1. Max Davies 2. Zac Surridge U 13 girls Heat 1: 3rd Olivia Sayer; Heat 2: 1st Molly Ashford U 11 boys Heat 1: 1st Bob Whittaker; Heat 2: 3rd Arnie Buckley U 11 Girls Heat 1: 1st Nalani Whiteley Golden Nipper: 2nd Zac surridge; 1st Bob Whittaker, 1st Nalani Whiteley, 2nd Lily Mandeville. |
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WOOLACOMBE NIPPERS ARE DEVON AND NATIONAL CHAMPIONS FOR THE 2nd YEAR RUNNING.....
The Woolacombe Nipper team had another fantastic weekend when they competed against over 20 clubs and 500 competitors for the National Pool Championships in Cardiff on the 21st April. Coming away with both these titles for the second year running is an amazing achievement as there are some other great clubs out there doing their best to beat us! I am really proud of all the nippers. It was a great atmosphere in the Woolacombe camp and everyone put in such a good effort for every race. It was exciting to see the youngest nippers competing for the first time.
Portreath club, who were last years ‘SuperClub’ were strong contenders, as were local rivals Saunton Sands and also St Ives, who had just beaten Portreath at the Cornish.
The day started with the flipper and manikin races, and our nippers did really well but St Ives also looked really strong. Although we only had a few individual medals in these events, we had lots of scoring places- for example in the youngest age group flipper race, all our nippers (Archie, Harry, Sam, Rudy and Teddy) had scoring positions, and in this race alone gained 34 points for Woolacombe! This continued all the way throughout the morning, with the nippers steadily adding points to our score. The only relay race of the morning was the 12 and 13 years manikin relay. These older nippers did amazingly well because they had to carry a full manikin, which is extremely heavy (more difficult than pulling a live patient as they sink like a stone!) The 13 year olds have had quite a bit of practise with full manikins, but the 12 year olds have had very little as in their individual race they only carry a half full one. It is all a bit tense as it is so easy to let the manikin slip when handing over, but they all did fantastically well; the boys Lee, Stan, Max (all 13) and Oli (only 12) clinching the gold medal. The other boys team (Danny, Zac, Josh and Ross) came 4th which again is incredible considering they were competing against 13 year olds. The girls team of Molly, Anna, Issy and Lauren were second, and Holly, Olivia, Ellie Councell and Lily Copp also managed 11th; so a great trawl of points!
The afternoon board races were what we were all waiting for. Woolacombe showed remarkable skills on the board at all age groups. The youngest age group girls had everyone scoring individual points: Chloe (1st), Skye (3rd), Mia, Hatty and Meribel scored 55 points in this race- well done! All the races are heat declared winners, so it was difficult to tell how we were doing overall until the results went up, but it did look pretty convincing! The 12 year old boys certainly dominated, with all of our 5 nippers in the top seven. Gold went to Danny Roberts, silver to Zac Surridge, bronze to Oli Hill, 4th to Ross Elliott and 7th to Josh Clark! There was only a fraction of a second between these places too! Woolacombe eventually won 6 individual board gold medals, as well as 7 silver and 4 bronzes.
The board rescues and board relays were also exciting, with again Woolacombe looking confident and slick. In the younger age group, the girls board relay team of Shae Miles, Megan Councell, Francesca Sayer and Lydia Surridge took gold, while the boys took silver (Arnie Buckley, Alex Rodgers, Josh Gammon and Fin Ball). In the 11-13 ages board relay, the Woolacombe nippers were even more dominant, with one team taking the gold (Danny Roberts, Zac Surridge, Bob Whittaker and Stan Whittaker) and another the silver (Lee Oliver, Max Davies, Josh Clark and Ross Elliott). The 11-13 girls board relay was a similar story, although they just missed out the gold, the silver went to Lily Copp, Molly Ashford, Olivia Sayer and Caitlin Rodgers and bronze to Florence Moore, Nalani Whiteley, Lily Mandeville and Molly Gooch.
The Tube Rescue Pairs race is very tough; one nipper has to swim a length with a Rescue Tube and then tow the other nipper back. It just shows how good our team work is as we had three silvers (Bob and Ben, Molly and Anna and Danny and Zac) and also a bronze (Flo and Lily).
The full medal tally for Woolacombe was:
Flipper Races: Silver: Florence Moore
Bronze: Skye Pirie, Finlay Evans and Archie Craig
Manikin: Gold: Francesca Sayer, Florence Moore
Silver: Bob Whittaker
Bronze: Archie Craig, Skye Pirie
Board: Gold: Chloe Elliott, Archie Craig, Lydia Surridge, Nalani Whiteley, Bob Whittaker, Danny Roberts
Silver: Rudy Dickens, Molly Ashford, Francesca Sayer, Arnie Buckley, Zac Surridge, Olivia Sayer, Shae Miles
Bronze: Skye Pirie, Stan Whittaker, Oliver Hill
Board Rescue: Gold: Lydia Surridge and Francesca Sayer; Caitlin Rodgers and Olivia Sayer; Danny Roberts and Zac Surridge; Molly Ashford and Anna Tod
Bronze: Bob Whittaker and Ben Rousseau; Stan Whittaker and Max Davies
Board Relay 8-10 years:
Gold: Shae Miles, Megan Councell, Francesca Sayer, Lydia Surridge
Silver: Arnie Buckley, Alex Rodgers, Josh Gammon and Fin Ball
Board Relay 11-13 years:
Gold: Danny Roberts, Zac Surridge, Bob Whittaker and Stan Whittaker.
Silver: Lee Oliver, Max Davies, Josh Clark and Ross Elliott and girls team Lily Copp, Molly Ashford, Olivia Sayer and Caitlin Rodgers
Bronze: Florence Moore, Nalani Whiteley, Lily Mandeville and Molly Gooch.
Tube Rescue:
Silver: Bob Whittaker and Ben Rousseau; Danny Roberts and Zac Surridge; Molly Ashford and Anna Tod
Bronze: Florence Moore and Lily Mandeville
Medley Relay: Bronze: Anna Tod, Molly Ashford, Olivia Sayer and Lauren Huggins
Other team members:Amena Mordin, Pheobe Ward, Holly Hunt, Ellie Coles, Ellie Councell, Jake Liversedge, Alex Ward, Alex Rodgers, Elena Espinosa, Ella Rousseau, Harvey Brewer, Jack Coles, Maddy Liversedge, Maisie Ashford, Rosie Copp, Teddy Brewer, Rudy Dickens, Sam Allix, Harry Davies, Mia Goodwin, Meribel Espinosa
Thankyou to all coaches, parents, nippers and officials for a fantastic day!
Nicola Oliver
Portreath club, who were last years ‘SuperClub’ were strong contenders, as were local rivals Saunton Sands and also St Ives, who had just beaten Portreath at the Cornish.
The day started with the flipper and manikin races, and our nippers did really well but St Ives also looked really strong. Although we only had a few individual medals in these events, we had lots of scoring places- for example in the youngest age group flipper race, all our nippers (Archie, Harry, Sam, Rudy and Teddy) had scoring positions, and in this race alone gained 34 points for Woolacombe! This continued all the way throughout the morning, with the nippers steadily adding points to our score. The only relay race of the morning was the 12 and 13 years manikin relay. These older nippers did amazingly well because they had to carry a full manikin, which is extremely heavy (more difficult than pulling a live patient as they sink like a stone!) The 13 year olds have had quite a bit of practise with full manikins, but the 12 year olds have had very little as in their individual race they only carry a half full one. It is all a bit tense as it is so easy to let the manikin slip when handing over, but they all did fantastically well; the boys Lee, Stan, Max (all 13) and Oli (only 12) clinching the gold medal. The other boys team (Danny, Zac, Josh and Ross) came 4th which again is incredible considering they were competing against 13 year olds. The girls team of Molly, Anna, Issy and Lauren were second, and Holly, Olivia, Ellie Councell and Lily Copp also managed 11th; so a great trawl of points!
The afternoon board races were what we were all waiting for. Woolacombe showed remarkable skills on the board at all age groups. The youngest age group girls had everyone scoring individual points: Chloe (1st), Skye (3rd), Mia, Hatty and Meribel scored 55 points in this race- well done! All the races are heat declared winners, so it was difficult to tell how we were doing overall until the results went up, but it did look pretty convincing! The 12 year old boys certainly dominated, with all of our 5 nippers in the top seven. Gold went to Danny Roberts, silver to Zac Surridge, bronze to Oli Hill, 4th to Ross Elliott and 7th to Josh Clark! There was only a fraction of a second between these places too! Woolacombe eventually won 6 individual board gold medals, as well as 7 silver and 4 bronzes.
The board rescues and board relays were also exciting, with again Woolacombe looking confident and slick. In the younger age group, the girls board relay team of Shae Miles, Megan Councell, Francesca Sayer and Lydia Surridge took gold, while the boys took silver (Arnie Buckley, Alex Rodgers, Josh Gammon and Fin Ball). In the 11-13 ages board relay, the Woolacombe nippers were even more dominant, with one team taking the gold (Danny Roberts, Zac Surridge, Bob Whittaker and Stan Whittaker) and another the silver (Lee Oliver, Max Davies, Josh Clark and Ross Elliott). The 11-13 girls board relay was a similar story, although they just missed out the gold, the silver went to Lily Copp, Molly Ashford, Olivia Sayer and Caitlin Rodgers and bronze to Florence Moore, Nalani Whiteley, Lily Mandeville and Molly Gooch.
The Tube Rescue Pairs race is very tough; one nipper has to swim a length with a Rescue Tube and then tow the other nipper back. It just shows how good our team work is as we had three silvers (Bob and Ben, Molly and Anna and Danny and Zac) and also a bronze (Flo and Lily).
The full medal tally for Woolacombe was:
Flipper Races: Silver: Florence Moore
Bronze: Skye Pirie, Finlay Evans and Archie Craig
Manikin: Gold: Francesca Sayer, Florence Moore
Silver: Bob Whittaker
Bronze: Archie Craig, Skye Pirie
Board: Gold: Chloe Elliott, Archie Craig, Lydia Surridge, Nalani Whiteley, Bob Whittaker, Danny Roberts
Silver: Rudy Dickens, Molly Ashford, Francesca Sayer, Arnie Buckley, Zac Surridge, Olivia Sayer, Shae Miles
Bronze: Skye Pirie, Stan Whittaker, Oliver Hill
Board Rescue: Gold: Lydia Surridge and Francesca Sayer; Caitlin Rodgers and Olivia Sayer; Danny Roberts and Zac Surridge; Molly Ashford and Anna Tod
Bronze: Bob Whittaker and Ben Rousseau; Stan Whittaker and Max Davies
Board Relay 8-10 years:
Gold: Shae Miles, Megan Councell, Francesca Sayer, Lydia Surridge
Silver: Arnie Buckley, Alex Rodgers, Josh Gammon and Fin Ball
Board Relay 11-13 years:
Gold: Danny Roberts, Zac Surridge, Bob Whittaker and Stan Whittaker.
Silver: Lee Oliver, Max Davies, Josh Clark and Ross Elliott and girls team Lily Copp, Molly Ashford, Olivia Sayer and Caitlin Rodgers
Bronze: Florence Moore, Nalani Whiteley, Lily Mandeville and Molly Gooch.
Tube Rescue:
Silver: Bob Whittaker and Ben Rousseau; Danny Roberts and Zac Surridge; Molly Ashford and Anna Tod
Bronze: Florence Moore and Lily Mandeville
Medley Relay: Bronze: Anna Tod, Molly Ashford, Olivia Sayer and Lauren Huggins
Other team members:Amena Mordin, Pheobe Ward, Holly Hunt, Ellie Coles, Ellie Councell, Jake Liversedge, Alex Ward, Alex Rodgers, Elena Espinosa, Ella Rousseau, Harvey Brewer, Jack Coles, Maddy Liversedge, Maisie Ashford, Rosie Copp, Teddy Brewer, Rudy Dickens, Sam Allix, Harry Davies, Mia Goodwin, Meribel Espinosa
Thankyou to all coaches, parents, nippers and officials for a fantastic day!
Nicola Oliver
WOOLACOMBE NIPPERS ARE 2012 DEVON CHAMPIONS.....
See detailed results here : Devon 2012 Pool Results (.xlsm format) if you have trouble reading that try this (.xls format)
WOOLACOMBE ARE DEVON NIPPER POOL CHAMPIONS AGAIN!
Hey guys, we knew you could do it, and you didn't just do it, you SMOKED it! (Wayne's words not mine!). You were absolutely fantastic and all displayed the most fantastic skills. All the coaches are very proud of you all and a massive thankyou to all of the coaches who spend time at poolside with you. Bring on the Nationals!
A special well done to all the youngest nippers who competed for their very first time. We hope you had a good day and got caught up in all the excitement and enjoyed being a member of the best nipper team in the country!!
It was the biggest Devon Nipper Pool Championships ever, with over 200 competitors, and almost even numbers from all 4 teams (Woolacombe, Saunton, Bideford Bay and Croyde) so the title could have been won by anyone.
It was a very special morning as we had lots of 8, 9, and 10 year olds. I was immediately impressed by the skill level and fitness of all of the nippers in every club and realised it wasn't going to be a walk over. However as time went on and the results were looking good, it did seem like we were having the best of the medals, and some really good point scoring positions (they score up to 10 places), so I was not surprised when it was announced that Woolacombe were 150 points ahead. The board races really clinched this, with many medal positions, and just about every Woolacombe nipper scoring some board points. With results like the 8 year olds it became clear that we are stunning! Our girls got 1,2,3 (Skye Pirie gold, Chloe Elliot silver and Hatty Rousseau bronze); and the same in the 8 year old boys with gold for Archie Craig, silver for Rudi Dickens and bronze for Sam Allix. In the older age groups there was a similar 1,2,3, 4 for the Woolacombe girls 11 years board, with a gold going to Nalani Whiteley, silver to Florence Moore, bronze to Lily Mandeville, and fourth to Molly Gooch! We also had gold for Shae Miles, gold and silver for Lydia Surridge and Franceca Sayer, gold and silver for Olivia Sayer and Caitlin Rodgers, gold and silver for Pheobe Ward and Anna Tod, gold for Josh Gammon, gold for Arnie Buckley, gold for Bob Whittaker, gold and silver for Danny Roberts and Zac Surridge, and silver and bronze for Max Davies and Lee Oliver. Incase you hadn't noticed, that is at least one medal in every single individual board race!
With all those individual board medals and some high scoring other positions, you can just imagine how the board relays looked....they looked fantastic!! The attention to detail with our training showed with slick turns and changovers, and there were many very happy faces and many more medals!
By the end of the afternoon, Woolacombe ended the day over 400 points ahead of closest rivals Saunton. The final point tally was Woolacombe 1st 1054 points, Saunton 2nd 630 points, Croyde 3rd with 565 points and Bideford Bay 4th with 443 points.
Well done all!!! Nicola Oliver
Woolacombe medals:Flipper races:
Gold: Archie Craig, Lydia Surridge, Finlay Evans, Florence Moore, Olivia Sayer
Silver: Harry Davies, Francesca Sayer, Bob Whittaker, Danny Roberts
Bronze: Josh Gammon, Shae Miles, Alex Rodgers, Nalani Whiteley, Ben Rousseau, Oli Hill, Molly Ashford
Manikin races:
Gold: Skye Pirie, Francesca Sayer, Florence Moore, Bob Whittaker
Silver: Archie Craig, Megan Councell, Max Davies
Bronze: Shae Miles, Josh Gammon, Finlay Evans, Ben Rousseau, Olivia Sayer, Oli Hill
Board races:
Gold: Skye Pirie, Archie Craig, Shae Miles, Josh Gammon, Lydia Surridge, Arnie Buckley, Bob Whittaker, Danny Roberts, Olivia Sayer, Nalani Whiteley, Pheobe Ward
Silver: Chloe Elliott, Rudi Dickens, Francesca Sayer, Zac Surridge, Caitlin Rodgers, Anna Tod, Max Davies, Florence Moore
Bronze: Hatty Rousseau, Sam Allix, Lee Oliver, Lily Mandeville
RESCUE TUBE:
Gold: Florence Moore and Lily Mandeville; Danny Roberts and Zac Surridge
Silver: Nalani Whiteley and Molly Gooch; Max Davies and Lee Oliver
Bronze: Bob Whittaker and Ben Rousseau, Molly Ashford and Anna Tod; Olivia Sayer and Ellie Councell
BOARD RESCUE:
Gold: Lydia Surridge and Francesca Sayer; Alex Rodgers and Finlay Evans, Caitlin Rodgers and Olivia Sayer, Danny Roberts and Zac Surridge
Silver: Nalani Whiteley and Florence Moore, Josh Clark and Ross Elliott, Bob Whittaker and Ben Rousseua, Lee Oliver and Max Davies, Molly Ashford and Anna Tod
Bronze: Holly Hunt and Ellie Coles, Lily Mandeville and Molly Gooch
BOARD RELAY:
Gold: Megan Councell, Lydia Surridge, Francesca Sayer, Shae Miles; Arnie Buckley, Josh Gammon, Alex Rodgers and Finlay Ball; Lily Copp, Molly Ashford, Caitlin Rodgers and Olivia Sayer; Max Davies, Lee Oliver, Danny Roberts and Zac Surridge;
Silver: Finlay Evans, Archie Craig, Harvey Brewer and Rudi Dickens; Bob Whittaker, Oli Hill, Ross Elliott and Josh Clark
Bronze: Pheobe Ward, Amena Mordin, Holly Hunt and Ellie Coles
MEDLEY RELAY:
Gold: Shae Miles, Megan Councell, Lydia Surridge, Francesca Sayer; Josh Gammon, Alex Rodgers, Finlay Evans, Fin Ball; Molly Ashford, Lily Copp, Olivia Sayer, Anna Tod
Silver: Lee Oliver, Max Davies, Danny Roberts, Zac Surridge;
Bronze: Harvey Brewer, Archie Craig, Reagan Somerville- Houlford and Harvey Brewer
MANIKIN RELAY:
Gold: Max Davies, Lee Oliver, Danny Roberts, Zac Surridge
The Woolacombe Team were:
Sam Allix, Teddy Brewer, Archie Craig, Harry Davies, Rudi Dickens, Chloe Elliott, Maribel Espinosa, Scarlett Fairhurst, Mia Goodwin, Skye Pirie, Hatty Roussseau, Maisie Ashford, Finlay Ball, Harvey Brewer, Evie Chittock, Rosie Copp, Kiera Pickard, Alfie Cox, Josh Gammon, Maddy Liversedge, Shae Miles, Reagan Somerville-Houlford, Alexandra Barnes, Arnie Buckley, Megan Councell, Elena Espinosa, Finlay Evans, Alex Rodgers, Ella Rousseua, Francesca Sayer, Lydia Surridge, Molly Gooch, Libby Hamer, Jake Liversedge, Lily Mandeville, Florence Moore, Ben Rousseau, Alex Ward, Nalani Whiteley, Bob Whittaker, Ralph Chesworth, Josh Clark, Ellie Coles, Ellie Councell, Ross Elliott, Oli Hill, Holly Hunt, Danny Roberts, Caitlin Rodgers, Olivia Sayer, Zac Surridge, Molly Ashford, Lily Copp, Max Davies, Issy Gooch, Amena Mordin, Lee Oliver, Anna Tod, Pheobe Ward
WOOLACOMBE ARE DEVON NIPPER POOL CHAMPIONS AGAIN!
Hey guys, we knew you could do it, and you didn't just do it, you SMOKED it! (Wayne's words not mine!). You were absolutely fantastic and all displayed the most fantastic skills. All the coaches are very proud of you all and a massive thankyou to all of the coaches who spend time at poolside with you. Bring on the Nationals!
A special well done to all the youngest nippers who competed for their very first time. We hope you had a good day and got caught up in all the excitement and enjoyed being a member of the best nipper team in the country!!
It was the biggest Devon Nipper Pool Championships ever, with over 200 competitors, and almost even numbers from all 4 teams (Woolacombe, Saunton, Bideford Bay and Croyde) so the title could have been won by anyone.
It was a very special morning as we had lots of 8, 9, and 10 year olds. I was immediately impressed by the skill level and fitness of all of the nippers in every club and realised it wasn't going to be a walk over. However as time went on and the results were looking good, it did seem like we were having the best of the medals, and some really good point scoring positions (they score up to 10 places), so I was not surprised when it was announced that Woolacombe were 150 points ahead. The board races really clinched this, with many medal positions, and just about every Woolacombe nipper scoring some board points. With results like the 8 year olds it became clear that we are stunning! Our girls got 1,2,3 (Skye Pirie gold, Chloe Elliot silver and Hatty Rousseau bronze); and the same in the 8 year old boys with gold for Archie Craig, silver for Rudi Dickens and bronze for Sam Allix. In the older age groups there was a similar 1,2,3, 4 for the Woolacombe girls 11 years board, with a gold going to Nalani Whiteley, silver to Florence Moore, bronze to Lily Mandeville, and fourth to Molly Gooch! We also had gold for Shae Miles, gold and silver for Lydia Surridge and Franceca Sayer, gold and silver for Olivia Sayer and Caitlin Rodgers, gold and silver for Pheobe Ward and Anna Tod, gold for Josh Gammon, gold for Arnie Buckley, gold for Bob Whittaker, gold and silver for Danny Roberts and Zac Surridge, and silver and bronze for Max Davies and Lee Oliver. Incase you hadn't noticed, that is at least one medal in every single individual board race!
With all those individual board medals and some high scoring other positions, you can just imagine how the board relays looked....they looked fantastic!! The attention to detail with our training showed with slick turns and changovers, and there were many very happy faces and many more medals!
By the end of the afternoon, Woolacombe ended the day over 400 points ahead of closest rivals Saunton. The final point tally was Woolacombe 1st 1054 points, Saunton 2nd 630 points, Croyde 3rd with 565 points and Bideford Bay 4th with 443 points.
Well done all!!! Nicola Oliver
Woolacombe medals:Flipper races:
Gold: Archie Craig, Lydia Surridge, Finlay Evans, Florence Moore, Olivia Sayer
Silver: Harry Davies, Francesca Sayer, Bob Whittaker, Danny Roberts
Bronze: Josh Gammon, Shae Miles, Alex Rodgers, Nalani Whiteley, Ben Rousseau, Oli Hill, Molly Ashford
Manikin races:
Gold: Skye Pirie, Francesca Sayer, Florence Moore, Bob Whittaker
Silver: Archie Craig, Megan Councell, Max Davies
Bronze: Shae Miles, Josh Gammon, Finlay Evans, Ben Rousseau, Olivia Sayer, Oli Hill
Board races:
Gold: Skye Pirie, Archie Craig, Shae Miles, Josh Gammon, Lydia Surridge, Arnie Buckley, Bob Whittaker, Danny Roberts, Olivia Sayer, Nalani Whiteley, Pheobe Ward
Silver: Chloe Elliott, Rudi Dickens, Francesca Sayer, Zac Surridge, Caitlin Rodgers, Anna Tod, Max Davies, Florence Moore
Bronze: Hatty Rousseau, Sam Allix, Lee Oliver, Lily Mandeville
RESCUE TUBE:
Gold: Florence Moore and Lily Mandeville; Danny Roberts and Zac Surridge
Silver: Nalani Whiteley and Molly Gooch; Max Davies and Lee Oliver
Bronze: Bob Whittaker and Ben Rousseau, Molly Ashford and Anna Tod; Olivia Sayer and Ellie Councell
BOARD RESCUE:
Gold: Lydia Surridge and Francesca Sayer; Alex Rodgers and Finlay Evans, Caitlin Rodgers and Olivia Sayer, Danny Roberts and Zac Surridge
Silver: Nalani Whiteley and Florence Moore, Josh Clark and Ross Elliott, Bob Whittaker and Ben Rousseua, Lee Oliver and Max Davies, Molly Ashford and Anna Tod
Bronze: Holly Hunt and Ellie Coles, Lily Mandeville and Molly Gooch
BOARD RELAY:
Gold: Megan Councell, Lydia Surridge, Francesca Sayer, Shae Miles; Arnie Buckley, Josh Gammon, Alex Rodgers and Finlay Ball; Lily Copp, Molly Ashford, Caitlin Rodgers and Olivia Sayer; Max Davies, Lee Oliver, Danny Roberts and Zac Surridge;
Silver: Finlay Evans, Archie Craig, Harvey Brewer and Rudi Dickens; Bob Whittaker, Oli Hill, Ross Elliott and Josh Clark
Bronze: Pheobe Ward, Amena Mordin, Holly Hunt and Ellie Coles
MEDLEY RELAY:
Gold: Shae Miles, Megan Councell, Lydia Surridge, Francesca Sayer; Josh Gammon, Alex Rodgers, Finlay Evans, Fin Ball; Molly Ashford, Lily Copp, Olivia Sayer, Anna Tod
Silver: Lee Oliver, Max Davies, Danny Roberts, Zac Surridge;
Bronze: Harvey Brewer, Archie Craig, Reagan Somerville- Houlford and Harvey Brewer
MANIKIN RELAY:
Gold: Max Davies, Lee Oliver, Danny Roberts, Zac Surridge
The Woolacombe Team were:
Sam Allix, Teddy Brewer, Archie Craig, Harry Davies, Rudi Dickens, Chloe Elliott, Maribel Espinosa, Scarlett Fairhurst, Mia Goodwin, Skye Pirie, Hatty Roussseau, Maisie Ashford, Finlay Ball, Harvey Brewer, Evie Chittock, Rosie Copp, Kiera Pickard, Alfie Cox, Josh Gammon, Maddy Liversedge, Shae Miles, Reagan Somerville-Houlford, Alexandra Barnes, Arnie Buckley, Megan Councell, Elena Espinosa, Finlay Evans, Alex Rodgers, Ella Rousseua, Francesca Sayer, Lydia Surridge, Molly Gooch, Libby Hamer, Jake Liversedge, Lily Mandeville, Florence Moore, Ben Rousseau, Alex Ward, Nalani Whiteley, Bob Whittaker, Ralph Chesworth, Josh Clark, Ellie Coles, Ellie Councell, Ross Elliott, Oli Hill, Holly Hunt, Danny Roberts, Caitlin Rodgers, Olivia Sayer, Zac Surridge, Molly Ashford, Lily Copp, Max Davies, Issy Gooch, Amena Mordin, Lee Oliver, Anna Tod, Pheobe Ward
