This Monday, Bartholomew visits Brands Hatch for the finale of the British Touring Car Championship, plus we speak with the inspirational swimmer Shareefa J, who overcame a fear of swimming to complete London's Swim Serpentine.
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00:00 Hello and welcome to Invicta Sport, the only show on your TV dedicated to wrapping up all
00:20 of Kent's sporting action.
00:22 I'm Bartholomew Hall and here's what to expect on this Monday the 9th of October.
00:28 No one at the helm, but that didn't stop them.
00:31 Gillingham get a win in the first game after sacking their manager.
00:36 The last dance in Invicta Sport goes to Brans Hatch for the BTCC finale.
00:42 Plus we'll be speaking to the inspirational swimmer from Kent who overcame a fear of water
00:47 to compete with thousands of others in London.
00:52 First of all let's take a look at the headlines.
00:54 It was just a single goal that ended Holcombe Hockey Club's Euroleague campaign.
01:00 The Medway side took on Spanish Real Club de Polo in Barcelona on Sunday.
01:05 It was the first time Holcombe had entered the competition in half a decade.
01:09 Guaulmo Forno shot away at the opening to score after just 28 seconds.
01:14 Holcombe won a series of corners in the dying moments, but a strong defensive showing from
01:18 Polo earned them a place on the final eighth and sent Holcombe packing home back to Kent.
01:25 Next and Chatham boxer Robert Caswell's first ever title fight has been called off after
01:29 he picked up an injury in the final sparring session of his training camp.
01:34 The 22-year-old was set to fight Michael Webber-Kane for the vacant Southern Area super featherweight
01:39 belt at York Hall this Saturday, but now the fight has had to be postponed after the unbeaten
01:45 Chatham boxer suffered a perforated eardrum.
01:48 The 8-0 boxer said he was "absolutely gutted" to be missing out and that he's hoping the
01:53 match can be rescheduled for December.
01:57 In football, Maidstone United's manager George Illakobi says a line was crossed by a fan
02:02 who abused him in the dugout during the National Southside's win at Playmore on Saturday.
02:08 Illakobi received a yellow card after confronting the supporter, who is alleged to have made
02:13 a gesture towards him shortly before half-time.
02:16 The Stones boss says the abuse wasn't racist, but that he feels the behaviour went too far,
02:21 saying he's all for banter, but when someone is aiming abuse at his bench, then he's going
02:26 to take matters into his own hands.
02:28 Sticking with football, Tunbridge Angels went into the weekend looking to improve on their
02:34 poor start to the season, as they sit just above the bottom three in the National League
02:39 South.
02:40 Gillingham looked to get their first win after sacking manager Neil Harris last week.
02:44 With that and plenty more, let's take a look at how Kent's clubs fared at the weekend.
02:50 This week's action kicks off at Longmead Stadium as Tunbridge Angels played out a thrilling
02:54 draw against Hemel Hempstead.
02:56 The Angels handed league debuts to three players as they hoped for a change in fortunes.
03:01 They got off to a blistering start after new signing Sean Shields made a brilliant run
03:05 from the left before having his shot parried by Craig King.
03:09 But Jordan Greenwich was in the perfect position as he confidently finished to give Tunbridge
03:13 the lead just four minutes in.
03:22 But Hemel responded within minutes.
03:24 Josh Hill played a brilliant ball over the top to find Bailey Brown, who calmly slotted
03:28 past Jonathan Henley in goal to draw them level.
03:39 Hemel kept their momentum and continued to attack the Angels' goal.
03:43 A wonderful team move culminated in Whittaker laying the ball off to George Williams, who
03:48 finished brilliantly into the bottom left to put Hemel in front.
03:52 However, Tunbridge did get their equaliser minutes later as Greenwich did well to hold
03:56 off two defenders before the ball fell to Sean Shields, who finished well to grab a
04:00 goal on his debut and send the teams into the half on level terms.
04:05 But it was the Tudors who took the lead again as left-back Josh Williams scored an absolute
04:10 speech to put them in front for the second time.
04:16 And things only seemed to get worse for Tunbridge after they were reduced to 10 men as Jordan
04:20 Greenwich picked up his second yellow of the evening.
04:24 But just as it seemed like the game was over, there was yet another twist in the tale after
04:28 Sonny Fish was brought down in the box and Tunbridge were awarded a penalty.
04:33 With the game on the line, Lewis Gard had ice in his veins as he put it straight down
04:37 the middle to untunbridge a point on an eventful evening.
04:40 The draw keeps the Angels just above the bottom three as manager Jay Saunders praised his
04:45 side's resilience.
04:46 "The character is the big thing.
04:47 I said to the boys before the game, 'We need to see that commitment and that character.
04:48 I think last couple of weeks we've got a goal down and rolled over and we didn't do that
04:49 even with 10 men right at the end.
04:50 I think everyone... and that's why I think they got the applause at the end because they
04:51 could see they've worked their socks off."
05:06 Sticking with the National League South and Maidstone United won their third game in a
05:10 row to take them up to fourth, while Dover remain in the bottom three after failing to
05:14 win since matchday two.
05:16 Moving on to League Two and Gillingham won their first game after sacking manager Neil
05:21 Harris last week.
05:22 The win takes the Gills up to third in the league, just two points behind leaders Notts
05:26 County.
05:27 Interim manager Keith Millen said he was proud of the character his side showed.
05:42 And defender Shad Ogie says despite Neil Harris' departure, the squad was fully focused on
05:47 getting the three points.
05:48 "We were all professionals so we knew we had a game on Saturday so all our focus was
05:54 really on Saturday.
05:55 Of course it was upsetting and a bit of a shock but at the end of the day we just tried
06:00 to perform and deliver on the weekend."
06:04 Coming to the National League and Epsfleet United continued to drop down the table as
06:08 they fell to defeat against Halifax Town.
06:11 The fleet now sit at 16th with just one win in their last five.
06:16 And while there was no Isthmian League Premier Action this week, Kent's clubs were in action
06:20 in the FA Trophy.
06:22 Folkestone were eliminated after they lost to Haringey on penalties, while Ramsgate earned
06:27 bragging rights as they eased past Sheppey in a Kent derby.
06:30 And that's your round-up of this week's football action.
06:34 Moving on then, it's time to meet our first guest this evening.
06:37 Medway Tri has just celebrated its 10th anniversary.
06:40 Based across Medway and also in Gravesend, the triathlon club supports and helps people
06:45 both young and old to prepare themselves for taking on a triathlon.
06:49 With members going on to become international medalists or well on the pathway to become
06:53 Team GB representatives, the club says it aims to be recognised as the number one spot
06:58 for athletes to train in England.
07:00 So from running, cycling and swimming, I'm now joined by club membership officer Nigel
07:04 Lynch.
07:05 Nigel, thank you very much for joining us.
07:07 Welcome to Invicta Sport.
07:08 So the club's just celebrated its 10th anniversary.
07:11 How did you celebrate?
07:13 So last weekend we had a mass participation at the local park run, Great Lions in Medway,
07:21 with over 50 members attending.
07:22 So it was a fantastic morning and then we went for a nice breakfast afterwards as a
07:27 group.
07:28 It's great.
07:29 The Medway park run is one that lots of people around here love to get involved with up at
07:32 Great Lions.
07:33 I know we've covered it before here at KMTV.
07:36 So over the sort of 10 years, can you just summarise what a sort of journey the club
07:40 has been on in that time?
07:41 Yeah, so the club started in September of 2013 with a junior equathlon at Medway Park.
07:47 And over the 10 years, we've sort of helped hundreds of members get involved with the
07:51 sport of swimming, running and cycling and go on to achieve their goals, be they big
07:57 or small over that time.
08:00 So yeah, it's been a fantastic 10 years.
08:02 There have been many sort of standout achievements.
08:05 But yeah, we are a club that is for all abilities.
08:09 We were talking to one of your brilliant successors just last week, Ollie Scott.
08:13 He's been put onto the Paratriathlon Talent Pathway Programme.
08:17 I mean, when you sort of look at the people that have come to you and maybe started from
08:22 not knowing how to really compete in triathlons at all, but then get to carry on, how does
08:26 that sort of make you feel, especially in your role as well?
08:30 Especially proud.
08:31 I mean, both juniors and adults have gone on to represent Great Britain at both regional
08:36 and national level.
08:39 Our junior section regularly has members that represent the club in international competitions.
08:47 Just last year, we had the British national champion at junior age group, and we had a
08:53 runner-up at the European Championships, both individually and as part of the team time
08:57 trial.
08:59 We have had one of our adult members join the club in 2017 with very little experience
09:06 of triathlon, go on to be a double British champion back-to-back, and also go on to be
09:13 runner-up at the European and World Championships in following years.
09:17 We've had three of our members go on to represent the club at the Ironman World Championships
09:22 in Hawaii.
09:23 One of the things that we're most proud of as a club is our involvement with Team Phoenix,
09:28 which is an organisation that helps ladies who are recovering from breast cancer regain
09:34 some of their confidence and physical fitness by training for a triathlon that happens at
09:39 Hever Castle every year in September.
09:42 We've done that for the last eight years, we've helped them with their training.
09:47 We're very proud of all those things, and all of our members.
09:49 When you joined the club, I believe it was around seven years ago you were with them,
09:53 so quite a majority of the lifetime of the club.
09:55 How much has you seen it grown or change in that time?
09:59 The club has grown significantly in terms of membership and the offering that we put
10:06 on.
10:07 Across a typical week, we offer over 30 hours of coach training for our members that want
10:14 to get involved in all three sports.
10:18 We've been very successful over that time.
10:22 Another highlight of the club was that it was Triathlon England that awarded us Triathlon
10:28 Club of the Year in 2016.
10:31 Our founding member and head coach, Dean Radcliffe, was awarded Triathlon England Coach of the
10:37 Year the same year in 2016.
10:39 Our head junior coach, Dean Painter, has been Triathlon England Children's Coach of the
10:43 Year in 2017.
10:44 We've had a very successful ten years.
10:48 I know you take part in triathlons as well.
10:51 When people hear about triathlons, they think, "It's not just trying one sport, it's trying
10:55 three all at once."
10:56 What's your advice to somebody that might think, "I might try a bit of a triathlon,
11:00 but it seems just so daunting at first"?
11:02 I suppose my advice would be to start small.
11:07 You don't have to go straight to big, long distances or anything like that.
11:12 Being biased, obviously, because I'm here to talk about Mobo Tri, but it would be to
11:14 get involved with a triathlon club because it's easier to achieve your goals if you're
11:18 training with like-minded people who are also training for similar things.
11:22 It's a great lifestyle and community to be involved with.
11:27 It really does help you achieve your goals if you can lean on people who have done the
11:32 same thing or have great advice and can help you get to where you want to go.
11:35 Fantastic.
11:36 Well, Nigel, thank you very much for joining us.
11:37 We've been looking at lots of different pictures from the club on your Facebook page, so if
11:41 people want to check out more, that's the place to go or to your website.
11:44 Thank you very much, Nigel, for joining us.
11:45 We've got to go to a break now.
11:47 Before we come back, we've got plenty more, including the finale of the British Touring
11:52 Car Championship at Brands Hatch.
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15:09 Hello and welcome back to Invicta Sport live on KMTV.
15:12 Now, this weekend, here in the county, the final three rounds of the British Touring
15:17 Car Championship 2023 season were held.
15:21 Ash Sutton and Tom Ingram went into the weekend, both with a hope at glory, whilst Kent racers
15:26 Jake Hill and Michael Kreese were hoping for some success of their own.
15:30 I went along to Brands Hatch on the final day.
15:33 Today at Brands Hatch, the 2023 British Touring Car Championship season will reach its conclusion.
15:39 Ash Sutton has been dominant all season long, but Tom Ingram is knocking on the door, ready
15:44 to push him off the top step.
15:46 As for our two Kent drivers, Jake Hill was far too away on points to claim the title,
15:51 but still stood within grips of second place overall.
15:54 And Broadstairs-born Michael Kreese sat 23rd in the championship, after rejoining the independent
16:00 team hard mid-way through the season.
16:02 He was hoping to take advantage of the weekend's format to get ahead.
16:06 We had a bit of trouble with the car yesterday in qualifying.
16:09 We had a few issues developed with it and a bit of set-up problems as well.
16:13 So we're pretty much starting 24th I think today, so we can only go forward.
16:17 I mean, there's 27 on the grid, but I think my aspiration is top 15, get some points and
16:22 then try and get into the top 12 for the race two and then hopefully get a reverse grid
16:27 like I did at Sealds and start on pole for race three.
16:29 Back up at the top and 46 points ahead of his rivals, Sutton just had to deny Ingram
16:34 a race win to confirm his fourth championship title.
16:39 His team, Rooten-based Alliance Racing, is set to move north to rugby next season, meaning
16:44 winning the title here at Brands Hatch would be the last time they could call it a home
16:48 race.
16:49 But with three races in the day, Tom Ingram tried his best to keep the championship alive
16:54 as long as he could.
16:55 The Bristol Street Motors man used a safety car in race one to his advantage, where the
17:00 1.3 second gap between him and Sutton was depleted, the pack bunched up to tee up a
17:06 two race sprint to the line to keep that championship running.
17:11 But despite the late drama and leading from pole position, 28-year-old Sutton kept it
17:16 clean and calm to bring it home and become the youngest ever four-time British Touring
17:21 Champion.
17:22 I'm just trying to soak it all up.
17:26 It's just mega.
17:27 I'm delighted to claim my fourth title.
17:28 The only driver to do it in a front-wheel drive car and a rear-wheel drive car is phenomenal.
17:33 But big thanks to the team behind me, Napa Racing UK, Alliance Racing.
17:38 We were sort of nursing a noise from the front of the car in terms of a tyre issue and I
17:42 didn't want to get a punch out.
17:43 We were focused on bringing it home but the pressure was definitely on there at the end.
17:48 But to get over the line, it was a sigh of relief.
17:51 With the championship already secured, the intensity of the final two races were somewhat
17:55 subdued but no less entertaining.
17:58 Mechanical issues for Michael Kreese meant not finishing the final two races but it was
18:03 the newly crowned champion Sutton who commandingly won race two from pole, equaling the modern
18:09 day record of 12 wins in a season.
18:13 And there we have it.
18:14 Huge cheers behind me as Ash Sutton claims his first win after becoming a four-time British
18:20 Touring Car champion and adding another podium to his dominant tally this season.
18:27 Race three features a reverse grid where the champ had to start in ninth for the final
18:31 round of the season.
18:33 But for Platseeth driver Jake Hill it meant the opportunity to end things on a high as
18:37 he took advantage of a sensational wheel-to-wheel battle with Steven Gelli and Josh Cook, incredibly
18:43 slicing past both in one move to take his sixth win of the season.
18:47 Ultimately sitting third in the standings overall, equaling his best ever result.
18:52 So as the sun sets on a glorious Touring Car Championship season, Kent's involvement here
18:57 at Brands Hatch in the premiere of Britain's racing calendar awaits its return in 2024.
19:05 Moving on and if you were watching KMTV on Friday then you'll have heard all about Just
19:09 Three Mums and their mission to trek across the country all in memory of their sons.
19:14 Well they've done it.
19:15 Just Three Mums from three places walked 265 miles to Kent.
19:19 Michelle, Liz and Kim took on a huge mission trekking from Staffordshire to Sandwich to
19:23 raise awareness of suicide.
19:26 They crossed that long-awaited finish line on Sunday at Michelle's Sons School, welcomed
19:30 by hundreds of friends, family and supporters.
19:34 All three mums lost their children in the past three years and were joined together
19:37 by suicide prevention charity Papyrus.
19:39 Here are their sons on the screen now.
19:42 They completed all 265 miles with them in mind and have raised more than £30,000.
19:48 But it wasn't without tears of both sadness and joy along the way.
19:54 The camaraderie between us, you know, we were three people that didn't know each other particularly
19:58 well.
19:59 You know, that's always going to be a tough challenge, you know, when three of you are
20:03 walking 17 days constantly.
20:07 But yeah, you know what, we've been through worse, a lot worse.
20:10 I think the challenge has been, it's been great.
20:13 I mean, we've enjoyed every minute of it.
20:16 The foot pain has been excruciating.
20:17 But yeah, two lovely ladies that I respect and admire that have been through an absolute
20:25 torturous couple of years.
20:28 But my God, their strength and resilience just astounds me.
20:33 Now for advice and help, you can contact the charity that brought these three women together,
20:37 Papyrus, on their hopeline 24/7 on 0800 068 4141 or on their website www.papyrus-uk.org.
20:49 Now finally this evening, after overcoming her fear of water and completing this year's
20:53 serpentine event in London, Kent swimmer Sharifa J says that we need more representation from
20:59 people of all backgrounds taking part in sport.
21:03 The 31 year old has been inspiring youngsters to take on fitness challenges for years after
21:07 facing her own barriers accessing exercise opportunities growing up.
21:11 Well I'm delighted to say that joining me on the line now is Sharifa.
21:15 Sharifa, thank you very much for joining us.
21:18 Welcome to Invicta Sport.
21:19 It's lovely to have you on.
21:21 Let's take you back to the swim serpentine event.
21:23 Now I know it wasn't the only event you've been taking part in recently.
21:26 You also took part in the London Marathon as well with thousands of others.
21:30 What was that all like?
21:33 Hi thanks for having me.
21:34 I love that you said Kent by the way.
21:35 I've just moved here so I'm feeling very much part of the Kent community.
21:42 So yeah I've taken part in quite a few events over the years.
21:44 I didn't come from a sporty background.
21:47 I think the most sport that I used to do was walking kind of from my fridge to my sofa
21:53 and back again.
21:54 So I got involved in sport in 2019.
21:57 I took on a run in my underwear actually with lots of other amazing women and it just inspired
22:04 me to get moving and also opened me up to this whole new world of endurance sport which
22:09 I didn't know existed.
22:11 So I ran the London Marathon in 2021 after training for it twice.
22:15 Then I went on to do the Ride London and then this year I did my final challenge which was
22:20 the swim serpentine.
22:21 So it was a two mile open water swim in the Serpentine Lake and it was definitely my biggest
22:27 challenge so far because I'm not the strongest swimmer.
22:30 No and as well I've been hearing and reading up on your story that you also had quite a
22:35 fear of swimming as well.
22:36 Where did that all come from?
22:38 Yeah so it's actually really common.
22:42 It's a phobia of open water and the fear of what's beneath.
22:47 So it's quite a lot of people get into open water swimming or even in the pool and just
22:52 think what is what's beneath me.
22:55 There's a special name for it but I've actually forgotten the name and I haven't had any sort
22:59 of technical diagnosis or anything.
23:01 I just know that when I get into dark open lakes then I feel a little bit afraid.
23:07 So yeah it's quite common and I had to swim most of the challenge with my eyes closed
23:13 actually because I couldn't, I was swimming in freestyle or front crawl as some people
23:17 call it and I just couldn't open my eyes looking down.
23:21 So I ended up doing a bit more than two miles because I kept veering off course.
23:25 So you actually got more than you bargained for in completing the event.
23:30 Fantastic stuff.
23:31 Well you're now an ambassador to the Why We Swim campaign.
23:35 Can you just tell me a bit about what that campaign is and how you got involved?
23:41 So I'm not an ambassador for the Why We Swim campaign.
23:45 I think that might be another Sharifah from Kent.
23:48 Okay I might be mixed up there, apologies.
23:52 That's okay.
23:53 Yeah so well I mean let's talk about then, I know you said that it's quite a common thing
24:00 for people to be fearful of open waters.
24:04 Talk to me about your advice for somebody who also might be going through that.
24:08 I mean how you managed to overcome that and how you managed to sort of do that mentally.
24:14 Yeah so obviously I'm not a doctor or a therapist or anything so I'll caveat this advice by
24:19 just saying this is my experience only.
24:21 But from my experience I got an amazing open water swim coach who lived nearby and I had
24:29 a couple of sessions with her.
24:30 Her name was Audrey Livingston and she really helped me to just feel comfortable in the
24:35 water.
24:36 And then from there it's just been exposure.
24:38 I feel like exposure to the thing that scares you just in very small doses is really helpful.
24:45 So that certainly helped me.
24:46 I'm still on a bit of a journey with it.
24:49 But yeah like I would say I find swimming with people to be really good and really helpful.
24:56 Just kind of I'd go to my local lake and I swim there and just bobbing along swimming
25:01 next to someone just makes me feel a little bit more confident.
25:03 So I would always say like get your support network to come and train with you or you
25:08 know come and hang out with you even if it's just to dip in the water and come out again.
25:13 So yeah just take it at your own pace.
25:16 And we hear as well all the time about the sort of benefits of wild swimming as well
25:20 not just being in a swimming pool but actually getting out there amongst nature.
25:24 Did you find any of that when you took it on?
25:27 Definitely I think that in the concrete jungle of London we have got to make an area any
25:33 part wherever you are in the UK or if you're watching this from abroad wherever you are
25:37 I think you have to try to take steps as often as possible to get into nature.
25:43 And wild swimming is definitely a part of that.
25:45 Not everyone is able to go to the local lake.
25:49 I've never lived near a lake in my whole life so this is a first for me.
25:55 So I'm really lucky to have that.
25:56 But even if it's just taking a trip every once in a while and going and seeing if you
26:02 can find any groups that go to a lake that's always nice to do.
26:06 But I would just say get in nature.
26:07 You don't have to go swimming you can just go for a walk in the park and that's great.
26:12 I mean there's a lot, again I'm not a scientist but I think there's quite a lot of common
26:17 science that we know about the benefits of being outdoors and our mental health and exercise
26:23 and our mental health.
26:25 So yeah with Mental Health Awareness Week coming up tomorrow I think it's always important
26:29 to try and encourage other people to do things that are great for their mental health and
26:33 also your own as well.
26:34 Well Sharifa thank you very much for speaking with us today.
26:37 We hope to hear more of your story as you continue on but congratulations and thank
26:41 you for joining us today on Invicta Sport.
26:44 Well that's full time on today's episode of Invicta Sport.
26:47 I'll be back on Friday.
26:48 See you then.
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