RAF Inter Region Championships 2010

The RAFSA Inter-Regional Swimming, Diving and Water Polo Championships were held at RAF Cranwell on 22-23 Apr 10. This year’s competition was lower on numbers than in previous years, with 3 teams almost fully represented and the Northern Region represented only in swimming. The competition standard was, as always, high, with a new relay event record set. In addition, the diving competition saw yet another increase in attendance in both the men’s and women’s events.

The first discipline to be decided upon was the water polo. The 3 competing regions played each other in a round robin tournament. The first match saw the Central team take on the Western team. Central fielded a stronger side, with a number of new players boosting their team, compared with a team from the West that was short on players. The final score, 9 – 3, reflected the good standard of play. It was a similar story in the second match when a fresh South & East team played the Western team. Both teams were short on players but were allowed to utilise the large number from the Central Region to make the match competitive. The third and final match, between South & East and Central, was again a close and competitive match. Each side fought hard but Central’s full squad meant that it came out as the overall winner. Although a competitive event with good participation, there were not as many female players involved as there had been the previous year and one Region was unable to raise a team. Flt Lt Stephen Brassington, did as ever, an outstanding job of organising the events. A summary of the results is found below; the full results are included in Annex A.

The second discipline was the diving (including the individual championships), which was well attended. Despite missing 4 of the female team a total of 12 divers took part in the event, with, again, 3 out of the 4 regions represented. The female events proved to be very competitive with a healthy mixture of novice and seasoned divers. In the springboard event SAC Sally Raimondo (RAF Coningsby) successfully defended her individual title which she had won in November, with an impressive set of dives to score 116.55 pts. SAC Carrie Blyth (RAF Cottesmore) demonstrated the depth of the girl’s squad by taking second place with 105.70 pts. Off Cdt Lauren Stewart (RAFC Cranwell) took third place with 91.45 pts. In the Firmboard competition SAC Carrie Blyth gave an outstanding performance to win with a score of 99.50 pts, despite being penalised for using the 3m board for 2 of her dives. SAC Sally Raimondo took second with 94.40 pts and Off Cdt Lauren Stewart in third with 75.35 pts. The men’s event proved to be a two way race between Sgt Nev Davies (RAF Cranwell), and Chf Tech Kev Davidson (RAF Waddington). In the springboard competition the lead changed almost every round, Sgt Davies proved too good on the day, winning by a narrow margin with 184.95 pts. Chf tech Davidson scored 182.80 pts and Off Cdt Spencer Fielding finished third with 130.10 pts. Sgt Davies confirmed his domination by winning the Firmboard competition with a score of 176.15 pts. Chf tech Davidson again in second place with 155.30 pts, and SAC Richard Ellender (RAF Waddington) finished third with 128.30 pts. Overall, a fantastic competition and a fitting end to the involvement of Sgt Davies within RAF Diving, as he leaves the service next month after 20 years of competitive diving. Central region’s domination of the diving events continues, winning the Inter Regional title again, with the Western region team of SAC Hannah Frost, Fg Off Aly Phippen and CT Wooldridge, gaining valuable points to beat South and Eastern region into second spot.

The third and final competition decided was the swimming competition. Each region was invited to enter 2 swimmers in each event, potentially resulting in 2-heat events. However, with the small size of the Northern team and without full teams from the other 3 regions, all of the races were straight finals. The standard of competition did not fall and there were some great swims and closely fought races, with some new swimmers racing for the first time. The Central team was well represented by swimmers and therefore had a clear advantage in the male competition. The South & East team challenged them to closely take the lead in the female competition. With only 2 competitors in their team, Cpl Dia Jones and SAC Hannah Fellows did the Northern Region proud, and collected one silver and one bronze between them. Although this year’s Championships did not quite reach the 4 records as set last year, a record-breaking swim came from the young Central team in the Men’s Freestyle Relay (4x50m). With a clear lead from the Men’s Central Region, the female swimmers battled throughout but the female competition was narrowly won by the South & East. The results from the swimming are summarised below, and the full results can be found at Annex A.

The 2010 Inter-Regional Swimming, Diving, Water Polo and Individual Championships were won overall by the Central Region, with the Western Region in 2nd, the South & East in 3rd and the North Region in 4^th place. The breakdown of the weighted scores is included below.

The Championships were a great success and enjoyed thoroughly by all and as with previous years, resulted in the discovery of new, up-and-coming talent. Many thanks must be given to the 4 Regional Development Officers (North – Cpl Keith Johnson, South & East – Flt Lt Stephen Brassington, Central – Flt Lt Ben Durham, Western – SAC Tom Walker) for their hard work and dedication to find willing competitors and new talent to make the competition as competitive as possible. There are many more people who have given their time to ensure this year’s event ran as smoothly as possible, and special thanks goes to:

a. Mr Gus Lees who provided support and guidance leading up to the event and was on hand to assist during the running of the day.

b. FS Paul Kendall who co-ordinated the Service and Civilian Officials assisting in all 3 disciplines; a full list of officials can be found at Annex B.

c. Chf Tech Kev Davidson for co-ordinating the diving event making it even more successful and the most well attended event of the championships so far.

d. Flt Lt Stephen Brassington for his support with co-ordinating the water polo competition and referees.

e. Air Vice Marshall Grahame Jones (former President of RAFSA) for presenting the medals and trophies.

f. Cpl Steve Morgan for his hard work in the build up and assistance with the running of the results desk for the swimming competition.

g. Finally to RAF Cranwell Photographic Section for capturing the events over the championships.

Many thanks must be given once again to RAF Cranwell for their continued support to RAFSA; Jude Shave in the PEd Section, Paul Mumby the Accommodation manager for his continued tolerance to the many changes we ask of him, RAF Cranwell Graphics Office for prompt production of the certificates and programmes and finally to Alison Smith in the JR’s Mess for a great lasagne and curry at the presentation ceremony.

Original Signed

Fg Off Rachael Lee
RAFSA Championship Secretary

Annexes:

A. RAFSA Inter-Regional Swimming, Diving, Water Polo and Individual Championships 2010 Results.

B. RAFSA Inter-Regional Swimming, Diving, Water Polo and Individual Championships 2010 – List of Officials.