British (Long Course) Masters – London – June

The squad’s GB Masters campaign kicked off on Friday 13^th. Far from being an unlucky day, all three of our competitors in the 400m IM registered big improvements on their respective age group’s Beds County records. By the end of the Meet on Day 3, the six swimmers had brought home two gold, five silver and two bronze medals with three East Region, ten County and thirteen Club records to their name.

Sam Bradley and Alastair Gibb were drawn in adjacent lanes in the first heat of the Open 400m IM. After leading Sam to the first turn at 50m, Alastair was then left far behind. Undeterred, Alastair dug in to improve his 65-69 years’ record set in February by 13 seconds with a time of 7:03.69. That was just 0.01 slower than his time from the 2023 championships and gave Alastair the silver medal.

Sam Bradley recorded a lifetime best with his 6:35.79 to finish 4^th in his 30-34 years’ age group, an improvement of over 8 seconds on his County record from 2024. Karen MacKenzie improved her 50-54 years’ County record by two seconds to collect the bronze medal with her time of 6:42.03, emulating her placing from 2024.

Returning in the same session, Sam proceeded to shave half a second from his Club record in his 200m Freestyle down to 2:39.28.

The first day’s swimming ended with all three competing again in the 200m Backstroke where Alastair swam 2.5 seconds faster than he did in 2023 to unexpectedly snatch third place in his age group.  Karen was placed 5^th and Sam 7^th in their age groups.

The day’s good fortune extended into the evening as the pre-booked restaurant happened to have a 50% discount off the cost of our main courses!

Day 2 saw Dave & Matt Wright, father and son, take to the pool. In his last year in the 60-64 years’ age group Dave finished 4^th in his 400m Freestyle. He came back in the afternoon to claim the silver medal for his 200m Butterfly. Not having swum the event long course since 2023, Dave conceded that he really should have at least covered the distance uninterrupted in long-course training beforehand.

Matt Wright stormed to victory in his 25-29 years’ age group 50m Freestyle.  Touching in a time of 23.71 seconds, 0.6 seconds ahead of the second placed swimmer, Matt took over a second off the East Region record.

Alastair was the sole representative for the Saturday evening session. Despite being a teenage IM swimmer, Alastair had also finally begun to appreciate that, as the years pass, he needed to pace himself better on the fly leg. By going out some two seconds slower he finished his 200m IM with a six second improvement on his County record from January. His time of 3:16.90 – spookily identical to his 200m Backstroke time – earned him his second silver medal.

After early Sunday morning drives back through London, Sam Bradley, Mark Lewis and Dave joined Alastair to compete in the 4 x 100m Medley relay. With a combined age of 204 years, their time of 5:36.85 established a County record for the 200-239 years’ age group which placed them 4^th.

In what was effectively a “photo finish”, Matt wright missed out on the gold medal in his 50m Butterfly by just 0.09 seconds. His silver medal winning time of 25.20 seconds did however demolish the East Region record by 1.72 seconds. Sam Bradley meanwhile claimed the para swimmer’s silver medal for his time of 1:26.04 in the 100m Backstroke, the only one of his chosen races for which his para-swimming classification was taken into consideration. Sam’s time was over a second faster than his relay split earlier in the session!

Sleeping downstairs the night before, training the family’s puppy, was not necessarily ideal pre-race preparation. Nevertheless, Mark Lewis still managed to take a massive 24 seconds off his 800m Freestyle time from March to reduce the County’s 40-44 years’ 800m Freestyle record down to 11:21.02. Mark’s time placed him 4^th which Karen MacKenzie proceeded to match with her time of 11:50.52. Not to be out done, Karen also took 20 seconds off her March 800m County record.

Matt Wright rounded off the squad’s successes with victory by almost a second in his 100m Freestyle. Touching in 52.27 seconds Matt broke the previous East Region record for his 25-29 years’ age group by over three seconds.

London, Ulster & Erith Masters – May

The weekend of 17^th & 18^th May saw Mark Lewis travel down to the London Aquatics Centre and then fly out to participate in the Ulster Masters. All in his quest for Long Course Club and County record breaking swims in his 40-44 years’ age group!

His efforts were clearly rewarded.

At the London Masters, Mark set new County Records in both the 50m and 100m Butterfly with his winning times of 31.78 seconds and 1:15.41. Those swims wrestled the records from his Linslade rival and work colleague set in March by 0.31 and 0.79 seconds. Mark’s 100m Breaststroke time of 1:27.62 also broke the County record set in 2024 by 0.72 seconds.

Few people will learn of two of those County records set in London as within twenty-four hours Mark proceeded to shave  a further 0.09 and 0.55 seconds off those 50m Butterfly and 100m times. Mark clearly felt more rested by the second session in Ulster. He lowered his own Club’s 50m Breaststroke record set back in January by two seconds whilst reducing his 200m IM Club record set in March by four seconds down to 2:52.06.

Sam Bradley was there in London to witness Mark’s achievements. In his first competitive swims of the year, Sam was just two seconds outside of his own Club 30-34 years’ 200m IM record and his County 400m IM record. His 100m Backstroke time of 1:27.62 was also good practice for his likely lead off swim in the Club’s 4x100m Medley relay at the GB Masters at the same pool in June.

The day after Mark and Sam’s London swims, Alastair Gibb drove past the Aquatics Centre to compete in the Erith Masters Open Short Course Meet. His time of 6:48.28 took almost 18 seconds off the County’s 65-69 years’ record in the 400mIM and with improved pacing was six seconds faster than he had swum the previous year. Despite his advancing years, it was also within 0.2 seconds of Alastair’s best times from 2022 and 2023. Swimming in a total of four events, Alastair also achieved his aim of improving on his Masters Decathlon score for the year; his 200m Breaststroke alone was six seconds faster than his previous time in March.

Newmarket Open Masters – April

A combined total of five gold, four silver and four bronze medals were won by the six of our Masters who competed at the 10th Newmarket Open Meet.

The pool is notoriously “slow”, not least because of the slippery wall at the non-starting end. However, any disappointment with individual swim times was over-shadowed by the rare opportunity to participate in some mixed relays.

Indeed, Michelle Neal sat through the first session just to make up the numbers for the final event of the morning, the Mixed 4 x 50m relay. With a combined age of 234 years, the team of Ian Stoughton, Alastair Gibb, Michelle and Sharon Thompson were placed third in their 200-239 years’ age group.

Michelle proceeded in the afternoon session to win her 45-49 years’ 100m Freestyle and just minutes later, a silver in her 50m Butterfly.  Sharon meanwhile won the gold for her 55-59 years’ 400m Freestyle.

Our two ladies also joined up with Mark Lewis and Tom Burns for the final event of the day, the Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle relay. Competing in the same 160-199 years’ category, we were drawn in a different heat from Bedfordshire rivals, Linslade Crusaders. At the halfway stage we were 0.25 seconds behind their split time. Much to Mark’s delight, with Tom Burns chasing down the Newmarket team in the next lane on the final leg, we finished 2.5 seconds ahead of Linslade’s time.

Tom had already won an individual silver for his 25 – 29 years’ 50m Breaststroke. His time of 37.75 was just 0.06 faster than Mark’s winning  time in the 40-44 years’ age group. A greater margin of 0.42 seconds separated them in the 4 x 25m Individual Medley where they were drawn in the same heat, with Tom once more posting the faster time. Mark’s time of 1:15.86 won him the bronze medal whereas Tom finished 4^th in his age group.

Alastair Gibb had unopposed victories in the 65-69 years’ 200m Individual Medley and 100m Breaststroke, whilst gaining a silver in his 100m Backstroke. He finished 4^th, one place behind Ian Stoughton in their 100m Freestyle. Ian picked up a further bronze in the 50m Freestyle, having also been placed second in the 200m Freestyle. Ian was just 0.83 and 0.52 seconds outside of the County’s and Club’s age group records in those two events.

Derbyshire & Welsh Open Long Course  – March

Four County and Thirteen Club Records were established or beaten in two Long Course meets during the month, as some of our squad tested themselves over racing new distances.

Rachael Donlan, mother of two of our Academy members, set her first Club Masters records in the 35-39 years’ age group, whilst competing at the Derbyshire Open Meet. Her first came in the 200m IM with a winning time of 3:25.41. Rachael followed that by establishing a Club Age Group record time of 13:33.65 in the 800m Freestyle, with her 200m and 400m splits of 3:13.00 and 6:41.31 also making it on to the Club’s record books.

Karen MacKenzie also used her debut 800m Freestyle to claim no fewer than four new 50-54 years’ Club records. Finishing in second place with a time of 12:10.10 her split times were 1:22.62, 2:54.23 and 5:58.61. Her 800m time also demolished the previous County record by just over 1.75 minutes and was inside the Phase 1 Qualifying Time for the British Championships to be held in June.

Competing for the first time over both 400m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke races in that same age group, Lorraine Sadler emerged victorious in both events, whilst also comprehensively beating her entry times. It made a Club clean sweep of the 50 -54 years’ backstroke races with Karen having also won both the 50m and 200m events.

Mark Lewis established a new 40-44 years’ County and Club record of 2:56.20 to win the 200m IM. Taking 4^th place in his 800m Freestyle, Mark took down Ian Norman’s County record from 2011 with his time of  11:45.14. Mark’s times in both events were within the British Championships Phase 2 Qualifying Times.

Earlier in the month, at the Welsh Open Masters in Swansea, Alastair Gibb took 20 seconds off the County’s 65-69 years’ 400m IM record held by former Club member Malcolm Barton. Alastair’s time of 7:16.67 saw him collect one of three bronze medals, the others coming from his100m and 200m Breaststroke. Finishing outside of the medals in both his 100m and 400m Freestyle, Alastair nevertheless reduced the Club’s Long course records for that age group from the split times he had registered back in January.

Hemel Hempstead Meet – February

Seven of our Masters tested their early season sprinting ability at the inaugural Hemel Hempstead Meet with some narrow margins determining the colour of the medals won.

At the start of his last year in the 65-69 years’ age group, Graham Powell won both his 50m Butterfly and Freestyle events, the latter by just 0.05 seconds. He had to be content with a silver in his 50m Backstroke, being 0.4 seconds behind the winner, whilst picking up a bronze in his Breaststroke.

Mark Lewis won his 45-49 years’ 200m IM by 0.84. seconds and claimed bronze in his 50m Backstroke by 0.16 seconds. Those were two events in which he had not previously competed before. He was on the wrong side of a similar 0.16 second margin, settling for a bronze in his 50m Butterfly but proceeded to pick up the silver for his 50m Breaststroke. Mark’s times in those two races were improvements on those he achieved in 2024.

The local Masters meet gave our other “relative newby”, Rachael Donlan, the opportunity to test her all round sprinting prowess after returning in 2024 to competitive swim training. Finishing 4^th in each of the four sprint disciplines in her 35–39 years’ age group, Rachael gained “official” times for future meets, having clearly underestimated her entry times for Hemel.

Michelle Neal proved to be the Club’s fastest sprinter on the day, beating Graham Powell’s time by 0.46 seconds to claim silver in the 45–49 years’ 50m Freestyle in 31.32 seconds. She also claimed second place for her 200m Freestyle. Competing over the same two distances Sharon Thompson finished in 4^th and 5^th places respectively in the 55-59 years’ age group.

Lorraine Sadler picked up two silver medals in the 50-54 years’ age group over 50m Backstroke and the 100m IM, whilst finishing 4^th in her 200m Freestyle. Karen MacKenzie won both the 50m & 100m Backstroke. Like Graham and Mark, Karen came home with a complete set of medals after being placed second in the 200m IM and third in her 50m Breaststroke.

Sth East Masters Long Course – Crawley: January

Mark Lewis claimed his first Beds County Masters record at the South East Region’s Masters Long Course Championships in Crawley. Alastair Gibb also claimed a County record on a weekend that saw Karen MacKenzie, Mark and Alastair set a total of 7 new Club Masters records to kick – start the new year.

Mark’s time of 1:18.10, for which he picked up the bronze medal  in the Men’s 40-44 years’ 100m Butterfly, also beat his personal best short course time. He proceeded to set a new Club Long Course 50m Breaststroke Masters age group record with his 6^th placed finishing time of 39.49.

Over the two days of competition Alastair picked up a total of six bronze medals from his eight events. Having just moved up into the 65 -69 years’ age group, Alastair took the opportunity to reduce the Club’s Long Course Masters records over freestyle distances from 100m through to 800m. Those events had not been contested by any of the Club’s swimmers since 2010 and were relatively easy targets.  Alastair took more satisfaction from breaking Colin Mayes’ 200m IM Club and County record from 2022 with his time of 3:21.32.

Despite nursing a shoulder injury, Karen claimed a silver medal for her 200m Backstroke and proceeded to be just 0.35 seconds outside her 50m Freestyle Club record where she finished 5^th. Undeterred, Karen’s  Club record came with her 4^th place finish in a time of 40.80 in her 50 – 54 years’ 50m Butterfly.

Competing in the 70 – 74 years age group Colin Mayes collected three gold medals in unopposed races and a both a silver and a bronze medal. To ensure his participation at the Meet, Colin had chosen to enter under his South East based club in the first phase of the entry system. Consequently, none of his times in his new age group were unfortunately eligible for either Beds County or Club Masters records.