9th June Sutton and Cheam Juniors keep up Winning Streak!

Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club's Junior Squad kept up their winning form claiming their second trophy in 3 weeks at the Epsom Diddy gala last Saturday.The youngsters dominated the event, claiming 29 first places out of 49.

Individual winners were Charlotte Reynolds (10/U back and free), Jacob Tidy (12/U free and fly), James Debrunner (11/U fly and back), Reanna Howells (10/U breast and fly), Eve Tidy (11/U breast), James McFarlane (12/U back), Killian Courtney (10/U breast), Luke Mason (11/U breast), Maddison Kameta (12/U fly), Oliver Williamson (11/U free), Ria Burke (12/U breast) and Torron Iveson (age 9 back).

The youngsters were then joined by Alex Summers, Alfie Brown, Ashley Castle, Ellie Moore, Juliette Williamson, Kieran Castle, Lewis Maslin, Louis Meffan, Michael Mason, Nicole Barron, Phoebe Amis and Thomas Salter to win 13 of the 17 relays. Eleven further second places, a host of PBs and excellent swims by newcomers Jessica Summers and Katie Lockyer added to the points to give Sutton and Cheam a convincing win over local rivals Sutton Atlantis and Epsom District.

19th May 2007 Sutton and Cheam win Rother Junior Trophy

Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club's junior swimmers went one better than their club mates last week, comfortably winning the Rother Junior Trophy Gala at Fareham on Saturday.

Ace Taylor, Ashley Castle, Charlotte Reynolds, Nicole Barron, Reanna Howells, Rebecca Hedges, William Jackson, Jacob Tidy, James deBrunner, Jason Foo-Kune, Lewis Maslin and Louis Meffan won an outstanding 19 individual races between them.

Helped by Ria Burke, Killian Courtney, Alfie Brown, Maddison Kameta, Ellie Royle, Roy Carley, Oliver Williamson and Juliette Williamson, the club then went on to win 7 of the 11 relays.

Excellent individual second places by Alfie Brown, Juliette Williamson, Killian Courtney, Luke Mason, Ria Burke and Roy Carley, and the Age 9, Under 11 and Under 12 freestyle relays (with Lewis Maslin, Kieran Castle, Beth Kirby and Josie McGreevey), lead the club to an overwhelming victory.

Overall, Sutton and Cheam's junior swimmers finished in the first two places in more than three quarters of the events, including 10 of the 11 relays, showing the club's strength in depth.

10/13th May 2007 Disappointment for GB Juniors in Slovenia

With only two teams to go through in a qualifying group containing both France and Slovenia; it was always going to be a very tough proposition for the GB junior water polo team in Kranj, Slovenia, made even more difficult by drawing both teams in the first two games of their campaign.

In the opening game against France, the tournament favourites took an early lead and Britain just couldn't get in front, losing 6-8 in a real thriller. The second game against Slovenia was always going to be tough with a hostile, partisan crowd but GB put up a great fight in a very physical contest to go down 7-10 with Sutton's Matt Holland continuing his recent sucess with two more penalty saves.

With the GB team now dependent on other results, it was important to put in a good performance against Portugal and they did so in a 25-2 demolition, with Sutton's Stephen Bayles getting on the score sheet and yet another penalty save from Matthew. GB gained their second win beating Belgium 11-4 and then ended on a high, taking Austria apart in their last match in the qualifier winning 18-4 with Stephen Bayles top scoring with 4 goals.

The tournament ended with France and Slovenia taking the qualifying places with GB a close third, pondering what might have been had luck gone their way.

12th May 2007 Sutton & Cheam 2nd in Rother League Round 1 Gala

Individual first places gained by Chloe Bartram, Alice Rogers, and club head coach James Stewart (3) helped Sutton and Cheam to 2nd place in the first Round Rother League Gala held at Bracknell on Saturday.

Alice and James then joined forces with Elisabeth Williamson, Ellie Quin, Lyndsey Robinson, Ian Rooke, David Tidswell and Sam Baker, to win all four Open Relays in a superb display.

Excellent individual 2nd places also went to Alfie Brown, James McFarlane, Lyndsey Robinson, Rebecca Hedges, Ria Burke, Roy Carley, who again combined with Charlotte Reynolds, Ellie Royle, Emily Penn, Eve Tidy, Megan Howells, Nicole Barron, Jacob Tidy, Jason Foo-Kune and William Jackson to take second places in the Under 15 Boys Medley, Under 15 Girls Free, Under 13 Girls Medley and Squadron relays.

Other outstanding performances and a host of personal bests by James deBrunner, Josie McGreevey, Juliette Williamson, Luke Mason, Samuel Rees, Thomas Salter, Torron Iveson, Beth Kirby and Oliver Williamson made sure it was a night to remember for Sutton and Cheam.

29 April 2007 Matt & Stephen in GB Junior Prague win

Matt Holland and Stephen Bayles helped the GB Junior team to a well deserved victory in the Jackerson Memorial International Youth Water Polo tournament in Prague over the weekend. Wins against Switzerland (14-7) and Macedonia (11-6) set up a 'winner takes all' final against the Czech Republic, GB winning the final match of the tournament 8-7 to take the Trophy.

The photograph shows Matt and Stephen with GB team mates Will Middleton (Cheltenham), James Wannap (Lancaster, holding the trophy) and Jake Vincent (Solihull). Photograph published by kind permission: Ing. Hrabina © hraf@seznam.cz

29th April 2007 - Sutton and Cheam juniors in Regional victory for Surrey

Players from Sutton and Cheam joined forces with local rivals Croydon Amphibians to represent Surrey in the Annual Regional Under 19 Water Polo Championships at Crowborough on Sunday.

Easy wins against Middlesex (8-4) and Hampshire (16-3) in the group stages saw the Surrey team into the semi-final against Kent, Surrey edging it to win 4-3 in a closely fought game. In the final, Sussex allowed Surrey to a 5 goal lead at half time, only to come back strongly with three quick goals in the second half, before Surrey took control to take the Regional title with a convincing 8-3 victory.

Sutton and Cheam's Mike Smith, coming back to top form after a long injury, scored 10 of Surrey's goals.

22 April 2007 - Sutton and Cheam reach National Semi finals

Whilst Matt Holland and Stephen Bayles were competing in Poland, their Sutton and Cheam team mates reached the last four of the 2007 National Junior Water Polo Championships with a close-fought 6-5 victory over Dunfermline in Walsall.

This was a superb team performance showing the strength in depth of Sutton and Cheam's juniors. Goals from Mike Smith (2), David Smithson (2), Andrew Lawrence and Rob Worland gave Sutton the victory, whilst a special mention must go the Oliver Holland, who took over in goal in the absence of his brother Matthew (on GB duty in Poland), to keep the opponents out.

This was a very tight game throughout. Despite Sutton taking a 4-2 lead into the last quarter, Dunfermline threw everything they had into it to level to 4-4 and then 5-5 before a goal from Dave Smithson gave Sutton the lead with just over two minutes left in the match. Sutton then had to do some desperate defending, not helped when Andrew Lawrence had to leave the water for a 'blood injury' with one minute left on the clock. Resolute defence kept Dunfermline at bay for a hard-fought win which takes Sutton and Cheam to a National semi-final against Leeds in Manchester in July.

The team was: Oliver Holland, Taka Ohta, Andrew Lawrence, David Smithson, Dicken Maclean, Mike Smith, Nick Baker, Tom Jackson, Frank Gorringe and Robert Worland.

22 April 2007 GB Juniors take Silver Medal in Poland

Sutton and Cheam's Matt Holland ( standing second from left) and Stephen Bayles (seated second from right) were in action for the Great Britain junior Water Polo team in Gorzow Poland last weekend. Another excellent performance helped by three penalty saves from Matthew and three goals from Stephen, saw the team reach the final of the Slowianka Cup

Victories over Sweden (14-6) and Poland (3-1) and an outstanding 3-3 draw with Belarus took the team to a rematch with tournament favourites, Belarus in the final, where unfortunately, the GB team were unable to repeat their earlier performance , losing 8-4 in a very physical encounter to take the silver medal.

25 March 2007 Under 14s take Winter League Title

The future of Sutton & Cheam's water polo appears in safe hands after their Under 14 juniors claimed the Winter League title with a perfect record of 9 wins from 9 games with 57 goals scored and only 9 against. In the last tournament of the season on Saturday, the team easily overcame Sevenoaks 12-0, Hailsham 6-1 and Croydon Amphibians 10-1 to add to their victories earlier in the season.

Joe Worland top scored with 7 goals over the three games followed closely by Callum Donoghue (6), Jacob Tidy (5) and Josh Miller (5).

The team was: Rebecca Hedges, Josh Miller, Jack Miller, Callum Donoghue, Joe Worland, Alex Sutton, Tom Philpott-Clark, William Jackson, Jacob Tidy, Ace Taylor and Michael Mason.

14 March 2007 Surrey Medals for Sutton &Cheam Swimmers

With 32 swimmers qualifying in 120 event in the 2007 Surrey Age Group Championships, Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club had high hopes of another highly successful campaign. They weren't disappointed, reaching 30 finals, gaining 6 medals, 23 District Qualifying times, 2 National Qualifying times and well over 50 personal bests. Pride of place went to Sutton's Head Coach James Stewart taking 5 individual Gold Medals; and to 12 year old William Jackson, who took a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke with a 5 second PB.

Jamie's golds came in the 50m back, 50m fly, 50m free, 100m IM and the blue riband event, the 100m freestyle, all in personal best times.

Other finalists for Sutton and Cheam were: Ace Taylor, Alice Rogers, Christopher Williamson, Eve Tidy, Eleanor Quinn, Elizabeth Williamson, Jason Foo Kune, Lyndsey Robinson, Nicole Barron, Rebecca Hedges, Ria Burke, Stephen Bayles and Thomas Jackson.

In the Surrey Relays, the girls swam excellently with the 9 -11 Medley Relay team of Nicole Barron, Ria Burke, Eve Tidy and Charlotte Reynolds, finishing an excellent 6th; whilst the 14-15 Medley team of Ellie Quin, Lyndsey Robinson, Alice Rogers and Elisabeth Williamson, and the 14-15 freestyle team of Alice Rogers, Lyndsey Robinson, Sophie Burke and Elisabeth Williamson both went one better with 5th place.

Several other swimmers including James De Brunner, Alfie Bown, William Jackson, Charlotte Reynolds and Sam Baker all missed top 8 places by fractions; whilst Alfie Brown, Charlotte Reynolds, James McFarlane, Juliette Williamson and Lewis Maslin swam brilliantly in their first 'Surreys' to record huge personal bests.

4 March 2007 Winter win for Hailsham/Sutton & Cheam Junior Ladies

Four girls from Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club joined forces with Hailsham Swimming Club to great effect in the London Winter Water Polo League to win the Junior Championships over three weekends at Whitgift School Croydon. This was a fine achievement for Sutton & Cheam made all the more remarkable by the fact that Ellie Quin, Alice Rogers, Hannah Barron and Rebecca Hedges have only been playing polo for just over a year.

The final tournament saw Hailsham/Sutton & Sevenoaks going into the event level on points with their Kent rivals. The memories of a disappointing draw in our first game against local rivals Beckenham & Croydon where we spurned a number of good chances soon turned to delight as Sevenoaks went down unexpectedly to Worthing 2-1.

Two back to back wins against Worthing & then a 9-3 demolition of Watford featuring a hat-trick by Sutton's Alice Rogers & a fine effort from Eleanor Quinn , set the team up for a final showdown against Sevenoaks in what would be a winner take all final. Before the final game the nerves were obvious among the spectators but there was little need to worry. The previous efforts of a small Sevenoaks squad playing a punishing schedule of 4 games in 3 hours caught up with them.

The quality of the Hailsham side showed through when it mattered with fine performances by Izzy & Amy their GB Junior internationals ably assisted by S & C Alice scoring her sixth goal of the day & a comfortable 4-0 win against our closest opponents.

This was great experience for our junior ladies with Alice,Ellie, Hannah Barron & Rebecca Hedges featuring along with the seven Hailsham girls. Again to emphasise this was a notable achievement for our girls in a tournament featuring half a dozen GB internationals and a number of National League players.

27 January 2007 Field Day for Sutton and Cheam at the Borough Primary Schools Gala

Fifty swimmers from Sutton and Cheam Swimming Club stole the show at Sutton's Annual Primary Schools Gala,with 39 finalists taking gold in 10 of the 14 events, as well as 6 silver and 6 bronze to win a medal in every event. Pride of place went to Nicole Barron who scooped a hat trick of wins in the freestyle, backstroke and butterfly to help Sutton & Cheam to a 22 medal haul!

A particular mention should be made of the Boys Year 4/5 Backstroke where club swimmers made a clean sweep of the medals, as well as taking 5th and 6th places as well.

Gold medals went to: Nicole Barron (3), Eve Tidy, Phoebe Amis, Charlotte Reynolds, Oliver Williamson, Jon Coales, Luke Mason and Lewis Maslin

Silver medals to Reanna Howells, Charlotte Reynolds, Eve Tidy, Killian Courtney, Jordan Knight and Torron Iveson.

Bronze medals went to Chloe Bartram, Eve Tidy, Alfie Brown, Louis Meffan, Kieran Castle and Alex Summers.

Other finalists were Nancy Clare, Ashley Castle, Ally Osborne, Olivia Taylor, Dean Biddulph and Jake Meffan.

20 January 2007 Medals all round at Sutton & Cheam's Presentation Night & Disco

Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club held their first Annual Presentation Evening on Saturday at the Stoneleigh Inn. Trophies and medals were presented by Club President, Fred Andrews to 55 swimmers.

Age group winners in the Club Championships were:

Under 10 - Chloe Bartram and Alfie Brown
Under 12 - Eve Tidy and James DeBrunner
Under 14 - Emily Penn and Ace Taylor
Under 16 - Alice Rogers and Sam Baker

The Merit cup was awarded to 14 year old Alice Rogers for numerous achievements in both swimming and water polo, and the Endeavour Cup was awarded to David Smithson for his dedicated commitment both playing and helping the younger water polo players.

Club Captains for 2007 (voted for by the swimmers), will be Lyndsey Robinson and Chris Williamson.

The evening finished with a disco and buffet enjoyed by all the winners and their families. Many thanks go to Jackie , John and Sharon Jenkins of the Stoneleigh Inn for their support.

13/14 January 2007 Rushmoor Royals Open

Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club enjoyed a highly successful start to the 2007
campaign at the Rushnoor Royals Open Gala held at Aldershot Garrison Pool last Saturday & Sunday. Sutton amassed a medal haul of 14 golds, 11 silvers & 5 bronzes which saw the Cheam Leisure Centre based team finish the championships as most successful visiting club.

Sutton and Cheam's star performers included the Jackson brothers - 14 year old Tom had a great weekend winning four golds in 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke and 50m freestyle followed by silver for the 100m free and bronze for the 200m free. Brother William, aged 12, chipped in with two golds for 100m and 200m breaststroke and two silvers in the 100m & 200m backstroke. Alice Rogers was on form with a hat trick of golds at 50M Backstroke 50M Butterfly & 100M Freestyle. Further gold medals were awarded to Nicole Barron 50m Back, Reanna Howells 50m Fly, Rebecca Hedges 100m Back, Sophie Taylor 100m Breaststroke & Charlotte Reynolds 50m Free.
Silver medals - Rebecca Hedges 100m Fly & 50m Free, Sophie Burke 50 & 100m Breaststroke, Ace Taylor 100m Breaststroke, James DeBrunner 200m Butterfly, Maddison Kameta 50m Back, Megan Howells 50m Back
Bronze Medals - Alfie Brown 50m Free, Charlotte Reynolds 50m Breaststroke, Eve Tidy 100m Fly, Ria Burke 50m Breaststroke.

Chloe Bartram & Jacob Tidy just missed out finishing 4th with Sutton & Cheam's other
swimmers Hannah Barron & Olivia Taylor putting in creditable performances.

Sutton pair help GB Juniors Silver Medal in Calgary

Sutton & Cheam's Matthew Holland and Stephen Bayles started the new year on a high after helping the GB Junior Water Polo Team to the silver medal in the Pan Pacific Tournament in Calgary, Canada over the new year.

Three well-earned and hard-fought draws were enough to see the team into the semi-final. Only having a day to acclimatise before their first game, the team overcame jet lag and a 7-3 deficit at half time to draw 9-9 with New Zealand in their first game.

Following a disappointing 15-5 defeat by tournament favourites Australia in the GB team's second game of the day, GB again came from 2 goals down in the final period to draw 8-8 with the USA. Yet another draw with Canada (10-10) put the team into the semi-final against New Zealand. This turned out to be the game of the competition.

Before the game, the Kiwis laid down the challenge with their traditional 'Haka' on the poolside, and what a battle it turned out to be, with neither side giving an inch. The sides had drawn 9-9 earlier in the tournament and once again, there was nothing between them. The Kiwis lead 8-6 at the halfway stage but the GB juniors showed great spirit and dertermination to narrow the gap to 10-9 at the beginning of the final period and to 11-11 at full time to force an extra period. The GB team then took the lead for the first time with only 30 seconds left in the game, only to see New Zealand's equaliser with just seconds remaining. 12-12 aet and so to a penalty shoot-out where Sutton's Matt Holland came into his own , saving New Zealand's first 3 penalties to give GB the victory and put GB into the final for a re-run against Australia.

Unfortunately, the team never overcame a slow start to lose 18-5, two of the goals coming from Sutton's Stephen Bayles. However, to take second place in a prestigious tournament in their first venture abroad was an outstanding success.

9 December 2006 National Speedo League Final, Stevenage

The absence of several key team members, including head coach Jamie Stewart, led to a dissappointing sixth place for Sutton and Cheam in the final National Speedo League Gala of the year at Stevenage on Saturday. Although missing out narrowly on promotion to Division 1, this is the highest the club has been placed in the National Speedo League for many years.

Despite the disappointment, there were many outstanding performances with Ellie Quin and Alice Rogers taking first places in the girls 15 & Under Backstroke and Freestyle respectively. Alice and Ellie were then joined by Sophie Taylor, Sophie Burke and Lindsey Robinson, to win both the free and medley relays. Lindsey then took an excellent 2nd place in the Open Backstroke, whilst Tom Jackson did equally well in the Boys 15 & Under Backstroke. In addition, most swimmers swam PBs and many gained Surrey qualifying times.

A special mention must be made of Stephen Bayles and Matt Holland who raced from representing the GB Junior Water Polo team in a National Water Polo League Game at Aldershot, to help the club's somewhat depleted Open team, Stephen racing to a PB in the Open 100m Freestyle only 90 mins after leaving the pool at Aldershot.

30 November 2006 Sutton and Cheam gain NWPL Promotion

A year after being relegated to Division3 of the National Water Polo League following the League's decision to reduce the number of teams in each division, Sutton and Cheam's first team bounced straight back to Division 2 at the first attempt, following Caledonia's decision to withdraw from the scheduled play-off.

The crunch game came on the last weekend of the season against Newton Abbot, with both teams needing to win to gain the play-off place. Sutton raced into an early 8-2 lead but nerves began to show and the lead was slowly whittled down to 17-15 with 2 minutes left. Newton Abbot staged a grandstand finish but Sutton held on to win 17-16 in a real nail-biter.

As a result, Sutton and Cheam finished in second place in NWPL Divison 3 by a single point with the record: played 14, won 12, lost 2. The National Water Polo League rules allows the runner up in each division to play off against the next to bottom club in the division above. When Caledonia didn't accept Sutton's challenge, Sutton were automatically promoted.

With six players under 21 in the side (including four teenagers), Sutton's team was a blend of youth and experience, inspired by ex GB International, Charlie Thurley, who top scored for the club with 55 goals from 14 games.

The team was: Matt Holland, Dave Craven, Andrew Lawrence, Ross Johnson, Charlie Thurley, Greg Dodds, Stephen Bayles, Josh Maclean, Alex Smith, Kieran Bayles, Steve Green, Joff Cowling-Bryant and Ben Wells

11 November 2006 National Speedo League Round 2, Potters Bar

Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club's gala squad competed in the 2nd round of the Speedo League at Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. Eleven 1st places were won with eleven year old James DeBrunner taking both the U12 50m breaststroke and 50m fly. Further individual wins by James McFarlane U12 50m back, Alice Rogers U16 fly, Elisabeth Williamson U16 free and Head Coach Jamie Stewart Open fly kept the points coming. Teaming up for the relays, with many swimming up an age group, wins were notched up by:

Nicole Barron, Ria Burke, Eve Tidy, Reanna Howells - U12 medley
Alice Rogers, Elisabeth Williamson, Ellie Quin, Sophie Burke- U16 freestyle
Ellie Quin Sophie Taylor, Alice Rogers, Elisabeth Williamson - U16 Medley
Sophie Taylor, Alice Rogers, Sarah Findlay Ellie Quin -Open medley.

The final event produced the final win with Stephen Bayles, Chris Williamson, Stephen Stewart, David Tidswell, Sam Baker and Jamie Stewart pulling together for a thrilling victory in the Men's Open freestyle relay. Congratulations to all of the team - who amongst them achieved a further thirteen 2nd places - they are now through to the Division Two promotion play-offs to be held at Stevenage on 9 December.
Rest of the squad - Rebecca Hedges, Eve Tidy, Emily Penn, Megan Howells, Ollie Williamson, Luke Mason, William Jackson, Roy Carley, Jason Foo Kune, Ace Taylor, Tom Jackson, Jacob Tidy, Isaac Tidy and Stephen Stewart.

4/5 November 2006 London Region Winter Championships

A successful weekend was had by fifteen of Sutton and Cheam Swimming Club's members, who competed in the London Swimming Region Winter Championships held at Crook Log Leisure Centre, Bexleyheath. Against the top swimmers from 18 other London clubs, the girls and boys were on top form winning eight medals and achieving personal best times in most events. The team: Eve Tidy, Lyndsey Robinson, James BeBrunner, Luke Mason, Jacob Tidy, William Jackson, Jason Foo Kune, Nicole Barron with medals won by: Alice Rogers - 2 Gold 50m fly & 50m freestyle, Tom Jackson - Gold 50m backstroke, Rebecca Hedges - 2 Silver - 50m fly & 50m backstroke, Jamie Stewart (Head Coach) - Silver 100m fly
Chris Williamson - Silver 50m breaststroke, Ace Taylor - Bronze 50m breaststroke and
Elisabeth Williamson - Bronze 50m freestyle.

29 October 2006 Sutton and Cheam Duo help England to Home Nations Victory

Sutton and Cheam's Matthew Holland (5th from left) and Stephen Bayles (3rd from right) helped England to an overwhelming victory in the Home Nations Junior Water Polo tournament held at Newport, South Wales last weekend. Despite being two years younger than their opponents, wins over Wales (22 - 8), Ireland (10 - 5) and Scotland (10 - 2) set up a final against Ireland where the England Team repeated their earlier win (16 - 5) to make a clean sweep in the tournament.

England's final record was: played 4, won 4, goals for 58, goals against 20. Scotland beat Wales 13 - 11 in the 3rd /4th play-off to take the bronze medal.

This was a great performance by a very young team being groomed for 2012, and fully justified the England Team Management's decision to play their Youth (Under 16) team in the Junior (Under 18) tournament. This was a real team effort with every member of the England team getting onto the score sheet, including Sutton's goalkeeper Matt Holland who, spotting the Welsh keeper off his line at the other end of the pool, spectacularly lobbed the ball into the Welsh net from his own goal line.

15 October 2006 County Representation for Sutton and Cheam Juniors

Four of Sutton and Cheam's junior water polo players represented Surrey in the Under 16 Inter Counties Water Polo Championships held at Whitgift School on Saturday. Sutton's Oliver Holland captained the side, and was joined by Tom Jackson, Ryan Lockyer and Matthew Amis; Ryan and Matthew gaining their first caps. Surrey played against Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex and Sussex and despite finishing with the same points as Sussex, took the silver medal on goal difference.

14 October 2006 National Speedo League, Hitchin

Competing in the first round of the Speedo League held at Hitchin, Hertfordshire, Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club's girls under 16 team, Sophie Burke, Lyndsey Robinson, Alice Rogers and Elisabeth Williamson put in a superb performance to win both the 4 x 50m freestyle and 4 x 50m medley relays, then joined by Sarah Findlay and Megan Howells won the Open 6 x 50m feestyle relay.

For the boys, James DeBrunner, Luke Mason, James McFarlane and Oliver Williamson stormed ahead to win the U12 boys 4 x 50m freestyle relay and 4 x 50m medley relay. Other first places were awarded to Alice Rogers U16 100Mm fly, Lyndsey Robinson Open 100m backstroke, Jamie Stewart Open 100m back & 100m free, Ria Burke U12 50m breaststroke, James DeBrunner U12 50m breaststroke and Elisabeth Williamson U16 100m free. The squad, led by Head Coach Jamie Stewart, notched up an amazing total of 57 personal best times and 12 first and 12 second places with many of the team able to swim in the same age group next year. Rest of the squad - Pheobe Amis, Eve Tidy, Nicole Barron, Emily Penn, Rebecca Hedges, Sophie Taylor, Roy Carley, Ace Taylor, William Jackson, Jacob Tidy, Tom Jackson, Stephen Bayles, Sam Baker, Matthew Cook, Stephen Stewart, Chris Williamson and Simon Tidy.

17 August 2006 Sutton & Cheam Strike Gold at World Champs!

Sutton & Cheam are celebrating a dazzling international success - gold medal in the 50-plus competition at the XIth FINA World Championships in Stanford, California. Don't be fooled by the fact that the winners are listed as Brisbane Barracudas!

Anyone who knows anything about British international polo over the last two or three decades will know that ex-GB captain and Sutton stalwart Phil Howden is now based in Australia. And it was Phil who organised a "Barracudas" team for the competition, wisely calling up his old pals from Sutton to provide the bulk of the squad.

In addition to Phil himself, the players were goalkeeper Stefan Radwanski, Duncan Broyd, Nick Furneaux, Colin King, Peter Paolella and Nigel Gornall. Also involved was Dave Waller, who played in the NWPL for GEM and Ilford in the 1970s and is now involved with Invicta, plus Australians Rob Edwards and Warwick Goode and Americans Marti Davis, Mike Ross and John Cooper.

Group results: Thunderbirds (Canada) W 12-2; Tri Valley Gold (San Francisco) D 5-5; KAOS (Los Angeles) D 2-2; Sipan (Croatia) W 5-2; Los Lobos (New Mexico) W 9-3.

Semi-final: Tri Valley Blue W 5-3. Final: Dusseldorf W 5 - 3. Peter Paolella scored 25 of the team's 43 goals , whilst the team had the best defensive record of the tournament with only 20 goals conceded.

23 July 2006 Under 15 Water Polo Success for Sutton & Cheam

Sutton and Cheam Swimming Club's Under 15 water polo team won both their games on the last weekend of the season to share the London League Under 15 Championships with Worthing, both teams finishing the season with identical records.

In their first game, goals from Jack Miller (2), Joe Worland (2), and Tom Jackson contibuted to the 5-2 win over Croydon Amphibians whilst Tom Jackson (2), Jack Miller, Joe Worland and Alex Sutton ensured another 5-2 win over Hailsham.

Overall, this was a great effort by a young team as the majority of Sutton's plaers are eligible to play in the same age group next year. Over the season, Tom Jackson top scored for Sutton and Cheam with 11 goals and had the unique distinction of scoring in every game.

The team was: Alex Sutton, William Jackson, Ellie Quin, Jack Miller, Tom Jackson, Josh Miller, Joe Worland, Ryan Lockyer, Callum Donoghue, Alice Rogers, Matt Amis and Hannah Barron.

9 July 2006 Golds Galore at Godalming

Sutton and Cheam swimmers returned from the Godalming Open Gala held at Cranleigh Lesure Centre last Saturday with a hatful of medals. In all, 29 swimmers won 30 medals including 10 golds, 9 Silvers and 11 bronze. Pride of place went to Charlotte Reynolds and Rebecca Hedges each with 2 gold medals. Other golds went to James DeBrunner, Ace Taylor, Sam Baker, Ellie Quin, Sophie Burke and Alice Rogers

Zara Hedges and Frank Gorringe each took home 2 silver medals whilst Ace Taylor, Ellie Quin, James DeBrunner, Tom Jackson and William Jackson each gained a silver. Bronze medals went to Ace Taylor, Alice Rogers, Andrew Evans, Chloe Bartram, Frank Gorringe, James Debrunner, Michael Mason, Rebecca Hedges, Sophie Burke, Sophie Talor and William Jackson. Several other swimmers including Luke Mason, John Gorringe and James McFarlane had some very near misses and it was PBs all round, which delighted head coach, Jamie Stewart.

10 June 2006 Aldershot - Cliffords Trophy Win Sutton and Cheam Swimming Club were on top form at the Aldershot Garrison 50m pool on Saturday. Competing against top clubs, such as Bournemouth Dolphins and Bracknell and Wokingham, the girls and boys took the lead early going on to win the Cliffords Trophy. The team put in an outstanding performance winning 11 events and finishing in the top three in more than half the events.

Wins as follows:Oliver Williamson (U11 back and free), Ria Burke (U13 breast),Girls U13 Medley team Nicole Barron, Ria Burke, Rebecca Hedges, Reanna Howells, Michael Mason (U13 Fly), Boys U13 Medley team Michael Mason, William Jackson, Ace Taylor, Luke Mason, Ace Taylor (U15 Fly), Elisabeth Williamson (Open back), Girls Open Medley team Elisabeth Williamson, Sophie Taylor, Alice Rogers, Grace Rogers, Chris Williamson (Open Breast) and David Tidswell (Open Free). Other team members were: Charlotte Reynolds, Eve Tidy, Olivia Taylor, Ally Osborn, James McFarlane, Ellie Quin, Hannah Barron, Roy Carley, Tom Jackson, Stephen Bayles and Simon Tidy.

18 March 2006 Leander Inter Club Gala

Ria Burke and James Debrunner, both ten years old, from Sutton and Cheam Swimming Club stormed ahead with personal best times to win the 50m backstroke and 25m butterfly. Ria and James then teamed up with Eve Tidy and Luke Mason to take first place in the 4 x 25m freestyle relay in a time of 1.10.07 seconds. The Club were competing in the Leander Inter-Club Gala in Dulwich and accomplished an amazing 40 personal bests in 41 events! Just pipped to the post and achieving second position in other events were; Eve Tidy, Ria Burke, Luke Mason, Rebecca Hedges, Ace Taylor, Stephen Bayles, Alice Rogers, Grace Rogers, Sam Baker and David Tidswell. the club are Other swimmers completing the squad were; Emily Penn, Hannah Ward, Jason Foo Kune, Jacob Tidy, Ellie Quin, Sophie Burke, Matthew Cook, Chris Williamson, Sophie Taylor, Jodie Cook, Matthew Holland and Ian Rooke.

5 March 2006 Surrey Relays Sutton and Cheam Swimming Club's Jason Foo Kune, Ace Taylor, Jacob Tidy and William Jackson put in a fantastic team effort to win a Bronze medal in a time of 2.33.55 minutes in the 9-11yrs boys 200m Medley Relay at the Surrey Championships. With personal best times from Robert Worland, Chris Williamson, Stephen Bayles and Matthew Cook the team were also finalists in the 14-15 boys 200m Medley Relay.

The final day of the Championships consisted of relay events for all age groups and many of the Sutton and Cheam swimmers achieved personal best times thus improving their teams' seed times .Other swimmers were Michael Mason, Luke Mason, James DeBrunner, Jason Ball, Conor Monteith, Nicole Barron, Hannah Barron, Eve Tidy, Rebecca Hedges, Zara Hedges, Ria Burke, Sophie Burke, Ellie Quin, Naomi Coales, Alice Rogers, Grace Rogers, Megan Howells, Reanna Howells, Emily Penn, Emily Ballinger, Hannah Ward, Ellie Royle, Jodie Cook, Sophie Taylor, Sophie Rudd, Dicken Maclean, David Tidswell and Matthew Holland.

19 February 2006 Surrey Championships Development Gala

Sutton and Cheam Swimming Club swimmers won a fantastic total of twenty medals (11 Gold, 3 Silver and 6 Bronze) in the inaugural Surrey Development Gala held at Guildford Spectrum on 18/19 February. Sam Baker,14yrs, topped the medal table with three golds in the 100m IM, 50m Fly and 50m Backstroke. One of the youngest, nine year old Eve Tidy won gold in the 9 yrs 200m IM with a 24 second personal best! Megan Howells, Robert Worland, Michael Baker, Luke Mason, Michael Mason and Jason Ball were all finalists and the team achieved 28 personal bests. Other medalists were

James DeBrunner (10yrs) Gold 50m Fly, Silver 200m Free & 200m IM
Alice Rogers (13yrs) Gold 100m Fly, Silver 200m IM
Ellie Quin ( 13yrs) Gold 100m IM, Bronze 50m Fly
Matthew Cook (14yrs) Gold 50m Free, Bronze 100m Free
Ria Burke (10yrs) Gold 100m IM, Bronze 50m Free
Reanna Howells (9yrs) Gold 50m Fly
Stephen Bayles (15yrs) Gold 200m IM
Stephen Moorhouse (18yrs) Bronze 100m Free
Roy Carley (12yrs) Bronze 50m Breaststroke
Conor Monteith (11yrs) Bronze 100m IM

In the Surrey County Championships at Crystal Palace Ace Taylor won a Silver medal in the 11 yrs 200m Breaststroke and finished 6th with a 15 second PB in the 200m IM. Jason Ball (11) put in a strong swim to finish 6th in the 200m Breaststroke. Jacob Tidy, Eve Tidy, James DeBrunner and Reanna Howells all swam personal bests and finished in the top sixteen.

12 February 2006 Surrey Championships

Fifteen girls and boys from Sutton and Cheam Swimming Club competed in the Surrey Championships at Guildford spectrum on Saturday and Sunday. Head Coach, 27 year old Jamie Stewart was out to impress winning gold medals in the Open 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke and the silver for 50m Fly.

Rising to the challenge, Ace Taylor was on form and clinched the gold in the 11yrs 50m Breaststroke and was a finalist in the 50m Fly, 50m Freestyle and 100m Individual Medley. For the girls, Alice Rogers reached the finals in three events the 13 yrs 50m and 100m Freestyle and 50m Fly, and 9 year old Eve Tidy was a finalist in the 50m Fly.

Overall, the swimmers achieved 33 Personal Best times. Other swimmers were: Ria Burke, Nicole Barron, Rebecca Hedges, Ellie Quin, James DeBrunner, Jacob Tidy, Jason Ball , Grace Rogers, Stephen Bayles, Luke Mason and Stephen Moorhouse. Further events take place this weekend at Guildford.

4 February 2006 Hodges Cup Gala

Head Coach Jamie Stewart with the team

Sutton and Cheam Swimming Club competed as a mixed girls and boys team for the first time on Saturday night in the Bracknell Hodges Cup Gala.

The gala was held at the superb facilities of the Aldershot Garrison Sports Centre. It was the first opportunity for a number of the team to compete in a 50m pool and for the Under 12s the first time racing in 100m events. Many swimmers achieved one or more Personal Best times.

Although up against top class opposition from Clubs from as far away as Bournemouth, first places won by Roy Carley, Ellie Quin, Ace Taylor and David Tidswell together with many second and third places resulted in the club finishing in third place, just one point behind Tilehurst. The team: Eve Tidy, Ria Burke, Reanna Howells, Maddison Kameta, James McFarlane, Oliver Williamson, James DeBrunner, Luke Mason, Hannah Ward, Rebecca Hedges, William Jackson, Roy Carley, Ace Taylor, Michael Mason, Jacob Tidy, Hannah Barron, Alice Rogers, Sophie Burke, Ellie Quin, Sophie Taylor, Matthew Cook, Tom Jackson, Sam Baker, Jodie Cook, Sophie Rudd, Grace Rogers, Zara Hedges, Stephen Moorhouse, Stephen Bayles and David Tidswell.

28 January 2006 - Swimming Kids win a clutch of medals

Thirty six of Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club's girls and boys competed in London Borough of Sutton's Annual Primary School Championships at the weekend.

Seventeen club swimmers claimed 22 podium places with six golds, eight silvers and 8 bronze medals. In four of the events, Sutton & Cheam competitors scooped all of the top three medals. To cap that, in the boys Year 6 backstroke, Sutton & Cheam swimmers took all six places in the final.

Jacob Tidy stormed ahead to win the Year 6 freestyle, back and butterfly with Jason Ball taking the Year 6 breaststroke. Oliver Williamson won the Year 4/5 backstroke and Nicole Barron the girls Year 4/5 backstroke. Second and third places were awarded to Jason Ball, Oliver Williamson, Nicole Barron, James DeBrunner, Eve Tidy, Conor Monteith, Michael Mason, Luke Mason, James McFarlane and Reanna Howells.

22 January 2006 - Under 12 Team top Winter Water Polo League

Sutton & Cheam's high-flying Under 12 Water Polo Team put in another excellent performance on Sunday with back-to-back wins over Bedford Modern School (5-0 and 5-3) and local rivals Croydon Amphibians (5-0 and 4-1) to top the Winter League table.

Goals from Rebecca Hedges, William Jackson, Jacob Tidy, Michael mason, Luke Mason and Ace Taylor contributed to the total. This was a first class performance since for seven of the team, it was their first competitive game and six of the team will be eligible to play in the same age group next year.

The team was Michael Mason, Jacob Tidy, Eve Tidy, James DeBrunner, Rebecca Hedges, Reanna Howells, William Jackson, Nicole Barron, Ferne O'Brien, Ace Taylor and Luke Mason.

The club's under 16 team had a mixed day, losing a hard fought game against a strong Worthing side, but beating Chelmsford comfortably in the next. Three teams now jointly head the table so it's all t play for in the remaining games.

The tournament was another landmark for Sutton and Cheam Swimming Club. In scoring for the club's under 16 team, 13 year-old Alice Rogers joined Rebecca Hedges in becoming the first girls in the history of the club to get onto the score sheet for Sutton and Cheam. Let's hope they are the first of many.

27 November 2005 Waller Invitational 13 & Under Water Polo Exeter

Sutton & Cheam's junior water polo team played against teams from Exeter, Bristol, Weston Super Mare, Paignton, Barnstaple, Newton Abbot and Penzance in a 13 & Under tournament held in Exeter on Saturday. The team played magnificently to take the silver medal.

Two wins against Exeter and Bristol, and a loss to Barnstaple in the 'round robin' stage set up a semi-final against Penzance. This was a very tight affair, Sutton winning 4-3 with a goal from top-scorer Tom Jackson in the dying seconds, to prevent extra time.
The final was a replay of the earlier game against Barnstaple who repeated their earlier win to take the gold medal.

This was an outstanding performance by the team as eight of Sutton's eleven players were under age and able to play in the same age group next year, when they hope to go one better! The tournament was a landmark for Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club, who have recently thrown open their doors to girls, as in joining her older brother Jacob on the team sheet, nine-year old Eve Tidy became the first girl to represent Sutton & Cheam at Water Polo. Lets hope there are many more..

The team comprised: Ryan Lockyer, Alex Sutton, Jacob Tidy, Tom Jackson, Jack Miller, Josh Miller, Joe Worland, Eve Tidy, Callum Donoghue, James McFarlane and Matthew Amis.

23 November 2005 Club Championships

One hundred members competed in Sutton and Cheam Swimming Club's Annual Club Championships at Cheam Leisure Centre last Wednesday. Friendly rivalry resulted in some very exciting races keeping the spectators entertained all night. Stephen Bayles and Dicken Maclean were on top form with Stephen winning all five Under 16 100yd events backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, fly and 4 x 2 individual medley(I.M.) In the Open category Dicken won both the 100yd and 200yd fly and the 200yd back, 200yd breast and Indivual Medley.

Other winners were:
Beginners 1 - Alexander Creamore -1 width freestyle, 2 widths freestyle
Beginners 2 - Harry Curtis -1 width freestyle, Noah White - 2 widths freestyle
Under 10 1 length - Oliver Williamson - backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle,
Cameron Monteith - fly
Under 12 100 yd - Ace Taylor - breaststroke, freestyle, 4 x 1IM, Jacob Tidy - fly, backstroke
Under 14 100 yd - Thomas Jackson - backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, 4 x 1 Im. Matthew Amis - fly
Open Mens Sprint - Matthew Holland. 100yd - Matthew Holland - backstroke, freestyle, Stephen Moorhouse - breaststroke, 200yd - Matthew Holland - freestyle

To celebrate the admission of girls to the club,an Open Ladies 1 length sprint was introduced which was won by 13 year old Alice Rogers.

08 October 2005 National Speedo League

It was hat-tricks all round when Cheam Ladies and Sutton & Cheam Swimming Clubs competed in the recent Speedo League Gala held at Stevenage Leisure Centre. Rebecca Hedges, Ace Taylor and Jamie Stewart each won 3 events. Rebecca easily won the Girls10-11yrs 50m fly and 50m freestyle and together with Nicloe Barron, Ria Burke and Ellie Royle won the 9-11 yrs 4 x 50m Medley Relay. Not to be outdone, Ace powered ahead winning the Boys 50m breaststroke, 50m freestyle then swimming up an age group taking 1st place in the 13 & Under 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay with Jacob Tidy (11 yrs) Tom Jackson and Ryan Lockyer.

In the Men's Open, Head Coach Jamie Stewart stormed along to win the 100m fly and joined forces with Matt Holland, Barry Morgan and David Tidswell to come first in the 4 x 50m Medley Relay. The same team, joined by Stephen Bayles and Stephen Moorhouse, put in an outstanding performance winning the 6 x 50m freestlye relay by almost a length. A magnificent effort by other team members resulted in the clubs finishing in 3rd place overall. Round 2 takes place on 12 November.

24 September 2005 Rother League Final

Sutton and Cheam and Cheam Ladies swimming clubs secured 3rd place in the final round of the Rother League gala on Saturday. Once again, Sutton & Cheam's Chief Coach James Stewart led the way winning the Open 100m fly,100m individual medley, 100m freestyle and together with David Tidswell, Stephen Bayles and Stephen Moorhouse the 4 x 25m freestyle relay. Ace Taylor took 1st place in the Under 12, 50m breaststroke.

The girls team secured a number of 2nd places and put in a strong performance. The team spirit was excellent and the result puts the clubs in 3rd place overall at the end of the Rother season, maintaining their place in the second division. Other swimmers: Boys- Frank Gorringe, John Gorringe, Jacob Tidy, Tom Jackson, William Jackson, Sam Baker, Chris Williamson, Jason Ball, Roy Carley, Ryan Lockyer. Girls- Rebecca Hedges, Alice Rogers, Grace Rogers, Sophie Taylor, Frances Penwarden, Zara Hedges, Ellie Quinn, Jodie Cook, Lucy Blunden, Nicole Barron, Hannah Barron, Elisabeth Williamson, Sarah Findlay, Jazmyne Cross.

5 -12 July 2005 Youth Water Polo - Malta

Three of Sutton and Cheam's Youth (Under 16) Water Polo players, Stephen Bayles, Mike Smith and Matt Holland, selected for the GB Youth Water Polo Tour and Training Camp in Malta.

25 June 2005 Rother League

Sutton and Cheam and Cheam Ladies swimming clubs competed in the Rother League 2nd round Relay Gala at Bognor Regis on Saturday 25 June. The boys put in a strong performance winning 8 events. Ace Taylor and Jacob Tidy won the Under 12, 2 x 1 butterfly. Ace and Jacob then joined with William Jackson and Jason Ball to take the Under 12 4 x 1 freestyle and 4 x 1 medley.

The girls Under 14 were on winning form with Ellie Quinn and Elisabeth Williamson gaining the 2 x 1 backstroke, Elisabeth then teamed up with Alice Rogers to win the 2 x 1 free Alice, Ellie and Elisabeth were then joined by 11 yr old Rebecca Hedges to win the     4 x 1 free relay and finally Naomi Coales replaced Rebecca to win the 4 x 1 medley relay!

In the boys Under 14 Tom Jackson won the 2 x 1 back with Dan Rosewell and the 2 x 1 free with Ryan Lockyer. Kayvan Vakilzadeh, Matthew Cook, Sam Baker and Stephen Bayles won the Under 16 4 x 1 free. Head Coach Jamie Stewart stormed to victory in the open 2 x 2 along with Kieran Bayles, who both joined with Barry Morgan and Stephen Moorhouse winning the Open 4 x 1 free relay.
The boys came 2nd overall missing 1st place by just 1 point and the girls finished 4th with the combined team being awarded 4th .

18/19 June 2005 - 1991/92 Inter District Competition

Three boys from Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club, captain Oliver Holland, Oliver Andrews and Tom Jackson featured in the Southern Counties water polo team that competed in the Inter District competition for boys born in 1991/92. The South had two tough opening matches, losing against eventual winners the North, and second place West. However, good winning performances against the Midlands, North East and Scotland ensured they were awarded with third place overall.

18 May 2005 - Sutton & Cheams wins at Dorking

Boys and girls from Sutton & Cheam and Cheam Ladies joined forces to win the Dorking ZNA Junior Gala last Saturday. It was an excellent opportunity for some of the younger swimmers to compete and all of the team performed magnificently.

First places were awarded to Michael Mason, Luke Mason, Connor Monteith, Cameron Monteith, Oliver Williamson, Jason Ball, Jacob Tidy, Ace Taylor, Matthew Amis, David Smithson, Stephen Bayles, Matthew Cook, Sophie Taylor, Reanna Howells and Jasmyne Cross, Eve Tidy, Chanice Henry and Ellie Royle. Rest of the team: Matthew Blumson, Nicole Barron, Emily Penn, Brooke Tafozolli, Francesca, Hannah and Emily Ballinger.

The Trophy was presented to David Smithson and Sophie Taylor.

20 March 2005 - South win in Style

Six members of Sutton and Cheam's Under 16 Water Polo team (Matt Holland, Andrew Lawrence, Stephen Bayles, Rob Smith, Mike Smith & Rob Worland) joined players from Hailsham, Beckenham, Invicta, Hythe and Brentwood to help the South repeat last year's win in the National Inter District Championships at Grantham last weekend.

The Inter District Championships is an annual competition between the ASA regions, bringing together the 'cream' of the country's young water polo players.

Wins over the North (4 - 3), West (9 - 1), Midlands (5 - 2) and North Eastern Counties
(4 - 1), set up a final against the North.

In the final, the South dominated from the start, racing to a 5 - 0 lead before half time before taking the title 7 -2, for the second time in two years.

Outstanding performances by Matt Holland and Rob Padden in goal, together with goals from Jack Waller, Mike Smith, Stephen Bayles, Alan Chambers, Andrew Lawrence, Sean King, Robert Smith, and Greg Jackson, cemented by a superb team performance, set up the win.

The team:

13 March 2005 - Under 12 team win Winter Water Polo League

Not to be outdone by their older club mates, Sutton and Cheam's Under 12 side easily won the Under 12 Winter League Championships, with another outstanding performance at Watford on Sunday.

Goals from Josh Miller (14), Joe Worland (9), Jack Miller (6), Jacob Tidy (3), William Jackson (1) and Callum Donoghue (1), helped the teams to back-to-back wins over Croydon (13 - 1 and 9 - 1) and over Watford (6 - 2 and 6 - 2) respectively.

The team's record over the season was played 8, won 8, goals for 54, goals against 8.

The team was:

Alex Sutton	Josh Miller
Jacob Tidy	Joe Worland
John Gorringe	William Jackson
Jack Miller	Callum Donoghue
James Macfarlane	Matthew Blumsom

This was an outstanding performance by a young team who have been playing less than a year.

22nd February 2005 - Surrey Age Group Championships

Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club's Head Coach Jamie Stewart claimed three medals in the Surrey Age Group Championships. In the galas, held at Guildford Spectrum, Jamie knocked 1 second off his entered time to take silver in the open 50m Butterfly. Jamie, who has only recently resumed training following a nine year break from competitive swimming, also won silver in the 50m Freestyle and a bronze in the 100m Freestyle.
Ten year old Ace Taylor won the silver medal in a 1.5 second personal best for the Boys 10yrs 50m Breaststroke and swam to 6th place in both the 50m fly and 100m Individual Medley. Matthew Amis was awarded 4th place in the Boys 12 yrs 200m butterfly and 5th place in the 100m butterfly.

Sixteen of the Club's swimmers have competed in 53 events with all boys achieving personal best times.

The remaining events take place this weekend at the Guildford Spectrum.

20th February 2005 - Under 16 team win Winter Water Polo League

Sutton and Cheam's Under 16 water polo team were in action again this weekend with wins over Beckenham, Croydon and Watford to win the Winter League comfortably, extending their unbeaten run in the process. The team finished the season with the enviable record played 9, won 9, goals for 84, goals against 8. Mike Smith (21), Stephen Bayles (23), Andrew Lawrence (9), Dicken Maclean (8), Matt Holland (7), Tom Thorpe (6), David Smithson (4), Robert Worland (3) and Frank Gorringe (3) scored the goals, whilst at the other end, Matt Holland gave an outstanding display in goal, keeping no less than 5 'clean sheets'.

During the season, chief coach Dave Andrews also took the opportunity to give promising youngsters Olly Holland and Tom Jackson a taste of competition.

The team:

Mike Smith	David Smithson
Matthew Holland	Tom Thorpe
Andrew Lawrence	Frank Gorringe
Stephen Bayles	Chris Williamson
Dicken Maclean	Olly Holland
Robert Worland	Tom Jackson
David Tidswell

6th February 2005 - Under 18 team win Winter Water Polo League

Despite losing to Hailsham in the last game of the season, victories over Beckenham, Watford and Croydon ensured Sutton and Cheam's Under 18 side had already done enough to win the 2004/5 Winter League Championships, pushing Hailsham into second place.

The team finished the league with the record, played 9, won 8, lost 1, goals for 65, goals against 25. This was an outstanding performance by the team since all but two of the side were under 16.

Goals from Mike Smith (24), Stephen Bayles (17), Josh Maclean (12), Andrew Lawrence (3), Dicken Maclean (3) Ben Smith (3), Robert Worland (2) and David Smithson (1) contributed to the total, while Matt Holland in goal kept the score down at the other end.

29th January 2005 - Sutton Borough Primary Schools

Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club's boys swam brilliantly to win all seven boys events at the Sutton Borough Primary Schools' Gala held on Saturday at Cheam Leisure Centre.
A total of 21 club members took part with Ace Taylor winning all three Year 6 events in Freestyle, Backstroke and Breaststroke also winning Year 4/5/6 Butterfly. Jacob Tidy, of Robin Hood Junior School, scooped the Year 4/5 Freestyle and Backstroke and Jason Ball picked up the trophy for the Year 4/5 Breaststroke. In addition to the Golds, club swimmers were awarded a total of 5 second places, 4 third, 5 fourth, 3 fifth and 4 sixth.
Sutton's Deputy Mayor, Councillor Lyn Gleeson, attended the gala and presented the magnificant trophies and certificates to the winners

28th January - Sutton & Cheam's Under 12 team win Winter Water Polo League Cup

 Sutton and Cheam's Under 12 water polo team duly won the Winter League Cup after a hard fought 7 - 7 draw in their home leg against Croydon Amphibians on Friday. A 7 - 0 lead taken from the first leg held in December gave the team a deserved 14 - 7 win on aggregate.

The team over the two legs was:

24th October 2004 - Surrey win Southern Counties Inter Counties Under 16 Water Polo tournament at Crowborough

Sutton and Cheam teamed up with local rivals Croydon Amphibians to represent Surrey in the Inter Counties tournament held at Crowborough on Sunday.

Easy victories over Kent (w 13 - 0) and Middlesex (w 14-0) in the qualifying rounds took Surrey to a semi-final against Hertfordshire, Surrey winning 11-0. In the other semi-final, Kent beat Sussex to set up a rerun in the final against Kent, Surrey winning again 8 - 2 to take the trophy back from last year's winners.

When he wasn't saving shots at one end, Goalkeeper Matt Holland had a rare excursion on pitch to score 8 goals. Other goals from Mike Smith (13), Stephen Bayles (13), Patrick Higgins (5), Tom Shillingford (3), Robert Worland (2), Hadley Potter (1) and Robert Smith (1) contributed to the 46-goal haul.

The team:

Matt Holland	Patrick Higgins
Hadley Potter	Mike Smith
Abbey Martin	Robert Worland
Tom Shillingford	Robert Smith
Stephen Bayles

30th September 2004 - Sutton & Cheam's Youth Under 16 Water Polo Team win Sutton Sports Council 'Team of the Year' Award

Following their successes in the National Championship and other competitions during the year, Sutton and Cheam's under 16 Water Polo team were voted 'Team of the Year 2004 at the Sutton Sports Council Awards at Sutton Arena Leisure Centre.

Having been introduced to water polo in 2001, Sutton and Cheam's youth team have trained at both swimming and water polo four times each week under chief water polo coach Dave Andrews and chief swimming coach, James Stewart. All those hours in the pool are now beginning to pay off.

The team entered its first competition in 2002 and since then have maintained a largely unbeaten record in local competitions, culminating in the team winning the silver medal in this year's Youth (Under 16) ASA National Championships, despite 11 of the 14 players being at least a year under age.

The team comprised:

The success of the team can be attributed to first class coaching and to the team's 'never say die' attitude, which lead to them refusing to be overawed by older opposition. This attitude was engendered to a large part by the team playing alongside Sutton and Cheam's older sides, and indeed, some of the team now play for the club's first and second teams in local and national competition.

7th October 2004 - Polo players win the London League

Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club's U15 water polo team beat Hailsham and Croydon Amphibians in the last tournament of the season to top the London League. Goals from Stephen Bayles, Robert Worland, Tom Thorpe, Frank Gorringe and David Smithson helped them to a resounding 11-2 win over Croydon and they beat Hailsham by the same margin.

The team finished the league with the record played 8, Won 7, Lost 1 goals for 76, Goals against 22.

26th September 2004 - Under 12's first competitive game

On the same day, Sutton & Cheam's U12 team took part in their first competition at the Southern Counties Mini Polo Festival. Despite being up to two years younger than their opponents, the team performed magnificently to win their division with a 6-2 victory over Croydon Amphibians, before losing narrowly to older teams from Alleyns School.

1st July 2004 -Coach leads by example

Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club's coach Jamie Stewart, together with Barry Morgan, Nick Hemmings and Kieran Bayles, was on top form in the Rothers League meeting held at Bracknell last weekend. They stormed to victory in the open boys' 4x25m freestyle and medley relays. Jamie and Nick then paired up to scoop first place in the open boys' 2x50m fly. Fellow Sutton & Cheam members Stephen Bayles, Chris Williamson, Matthew Holland and David Tidswell clinched first place in the boys' U16 4x25m freestyle relay. Further second and third place finishes by other club swimmers ensured they gained enough points to finish in second place overall.

24th June 2004 - Six of the best players

Six members of Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club were in the Southern Counties side that won the National Inter-district Water Polo Championships in Grantham last weekend. Michael Smith captained the side, while goalkeeper Matt Holland, Anthony Andrews, Stephen Bayles, Andrew Lawrence and Robert Worland were also selected.

The competition was for boys born in or after 1989 and the Southern Counties won their way through to a final with Scotland. Counties held the advantage in a fiercely competitive match until Scotland came from behind to level the scores at 4-4 with just a minute left on the clock. However, the South poured forward and went ahead again in dramatic fashion before frantically defending for the final few seconds to ensure they lifted the trophy.