News

2023 Swim England Natioanal Championships, Ponds Forge.

We had just 7 swimmers representing South Beds in Sheffield this year. Between them they managed to break 17 Club Records, 14 County Records and 8 East Region Records, and they brought home 11 golds, 3 silvers and 1 bronze medal. There were some great swimming and lots of PBs. Check out the results page.

2019 FINA Masters World Rankings

What a fabulous achievement! South Beds Masters 100-119 years Womens 200m Freestyle relay team of Claire Evelyn, Carla King, Emma Irvine and Frances Merridan are ranked 2nd in the World for 2019 short course, and our 120-159 years Womens 200m Medley relay team of Claire Evelyn, Sarah Pearse, Frances Merridan and Carla King are ranked in 4th place.

Individually, Carla King (35-39yrs) has 2 top ten rankings, 6th in the 50m Breaststroke and 10th in the 50m Freestyle. Janet Masters (75-79yrs) is ranked 8th in the 100m Butterfly.

Well done ladies!!

Link to the World rankings here.

Essex Masters Championship,2nd March 2019,Basildon

We completed our first short course competition of the season and got 3rd in the club rankings for the gala!

It was a long day with the gala starting at 1pm and finishing around 8pm. We had 21 swimmers complete 77 races in 1 day, which is 11 more than we did over 3 days at the national championships in 3 days! This is made more impressive by the fact that equalled 95 swims considering the legs in the relays.

We achieved 35no. 12-month bests, 11no. Master PB’s, 16no. club records, 7no. county records, 4no. regional records and 1 national record.

The day got off to a great start with 4 swimmers achieving 12-month PB’s in the first event and Claire E providing home made brownies! The great atmosphere continued with further good swims and multiple relay events, special mention to Rob who has 2 relays back to back and then a break of just 1 before going again & Jo who went straight from finishing 200m free into the relay that started over the top of her!

Swimmer of the gala is a very tough decision with Carla just beating Rob and Jo to the award.

Achieving County records were: Frances Merridan – 100m freestyle, 50m Freestyle & 50m Fly

County and Regional records: Chris Ayers – 100m Breaststoke & 50m Freestyle. Women’s 120+ 4x50m medley relay – Frances Merridan, Sarah Pearse, Claire Evelyn, Carla King

County, Regional & National records: Carla King – 50m Breaststroke, unfortunately, another swimmer broke this on the same day at another event.

The day finished with a few members of the team who were in the tail end of the gala going for a meal and a specialist ice cream desert bar! Well done all, a great start to the season and we are progressing well for the national championships.

National Masters Competition, 26th-28th October 2018 - Ponds Forge, Sheffield

We had 19 swimmers complete 66 races over 3 days, achieving 27 club records, 18 county records, 2 regional records and 1 British record, our first as a club. Alongside this there were lots of 12month personal bests and overall personal bests, which is fantastic.

Friday was our busiest day with 29 races, there were are several memorable moments from the day, Rob having a nap on poolside, this turned into a regular occurrence and achieving a PB by almost 0.6 seconds on his 100 freestyle, Clare W’s 1500m freestyle, a 1st and 3rd in the women’s 35-39 age group 50m breaststroke for Carla and Sarah, with Carla achieving the British record and Arron breaking 58 seconds on the 100m freestyle. Swimmer of the day was Carla King for her British Record.

This set us up for a great Saturday, which saw the women’s 72+ 4 x 50m Medley relay win gold against some very strong teams including teams from Major cities and the GB police. Jenny had a birthday to remember achieving 2 PB’s and getting a bronze in a relay and Andrea, Heather and Sarah all swum 12-month PB’s in the 200m breaststroke, with Heather and Sarah achieving all time master PB’s. Once again Rob has his nap and then proceed to achieve a PB in the 50m Fly alongside Pete M. Swimmer of the day was the women’s 72+ relay team.

Sunday came about with 11 races and as expected there were a few tired bodies, breaking from his routine Rob decided not to nap before his morning swim of 50m Freestyle but still achieved a PB of over 0.3 seconds to break 28 seconds, he also managed to complete the worst underwater phase of the weekend, causing him to get a congratulations and a rap on the knuckles at the same time! A lot of the times were very close to 12month or all-time personal bests, an example of this was Carla’s who went 27.18 missing her PB by 0.01! Our final swimmer to race in the championships was Pete I, who achieved a mammoth 32 second 12month PB on the 800m freestyle, along with a club and county record. Swimmer of the day was Rob, for his ability to avoid having a nap … sorry his PB and motivating the other swimmers.

2 weeks on from our main gala of the year, I think I have finally recovered! It was my first time coaching at the National Masters championship and I would like to thank all the swimmers for making it go smoothly and achieving some great results ….. including not drinking too much! This made for a very proud (& tired) coach!

Congratulations to all and well done, the bar is now set higher for next season!

Leicestershire & Rutland ASA Masters and Senior Age Group Open Meet,23rd September 2018

10 swimmers competed in 33 individual events and 2 relays, in a very busy programme so well done to all.

Overall there were 9no. 12-month personal bests & a club and regional record for Carla King on the 50m Breaststroke, this was a personal best by 0.36 of a second!

We achieved 11no. 1st places, 9no. 2nd places and 6no. 3rd places.

All swimmers demonstrated great racing in some tight races and maintained good technique and underwater work, often being the swimmer with the best of either or both in the heat. It is very important to get practice races completed throughout the year to help assess progress and racing situations.

Swimmer of the gala was once again a very hard decision, Claire Evelyn competed in the most events (6 individuals and 1 relay), Jack McGarry hit the times he targeted for the meet and Sarah Pearse got 3no. 12-month bests with a 0.05 second 12-month best which she set in May on 50m Free, 1.33 second 12-month best from her 100m Breast in early July. On occasion due to the 3no. 12month bests it is going to go to Sarah.

All this is good going into Newmarket next weekend for some swimmers and the build up to Sheffield.

Congratulations everyone.

Barnet Distance meet,7th and 8th July 2018

Overall we competed in 22 swims of which 16 were 12-months best times, there were 7 new South Beds records and 3 new County records were achieved, well done to all who competed.

Whilst most of us were enjoying the sunshine on Saturday (and some of us the football!) Clare W and Andrea both competed in the 800m freestyle, both achieved club and county records, well done!

On Sunday 10 swimmers competed and there were lots of very good swims with good times and 11 events had swimmers competing in them for the first time in 12-months.

Andrea, Clare W, Emma, Liz and Rory all achieved club records.

A very pleasing aspect from the coaching perspective was the quality of the majority of turns and underwater phase which we have been working on in training, we will continue the technical work on stroke techniques and dives next whilst maintaining the turns.

Frances achieved an all-time masters PB on her 100m freestyle and backstroke having had a significant time out of training due to illness. Liz achieved 3 12-month best times and Emma I competed in the 400m freestyle for the first time as a master.

Swimmer of the gala was a very hard decision, we had 4/5 swimmers who could have taken this, I have therefore opted to give it jointly to Sarah Pearse and Emily Young. Sarah achieved 2 12 months best times and took over 2 seconds off her 200m Breaststroke time from the Rugby meet at the end of May. Emily competed in her first gala for South Beds, having only started training at the end of April after 8 years and achieved good times in all her races picking up medals along the way.

Congratulations to all.

Great Britain Masters Long Course, 8-10th June 2018 – Plymouth

3 south beds swimmers competed in GB masters long course championships, all did really well with Andrea getting a gold in the 800m freestyle and silver in the 50m breaststroke in 54.81 which is a club and county record.

Janet competed in 4 events and got 3 gold medals and 1 bronze.

Our third swimmer was Carla who got 2 golds and a silver out of her 4 races, she also executed a track start on all of her dives having only started practicing this the week before! In the 100m freestyle, 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke Carla also took 3 club, county and regional records.

We done to all!

Gala: Midland Masters Championships 2018, Rugby, 26th and 27th May 2018

Over the bank Holiday weekend we had 8 swimmers compete in 29 races which resulted in 12 gold, 8 silver and 4 bronze medals.

Unfortunately Rory could not attend the Saturday sessions,(afternoon/evening), however John stepped in to provide support and feedback.

There were 13 swims which resulted in 10no. 12-months best times, 7no. new club records and 5no. new county records, well done to all!

Sunday followed a more usual format of a morning and an afternoon session.

Of the 16 swims, 8no. were 12-months best times, 5no. new club records and 4no. new county records. This was again a very successful day made even more impressive with more of the records being achieved in the last session after a long weekend.

Special mentions to Andrea, who achieved records on 3 of her 4 of her swims (2 county 3 club) and Carla who achieved records on all 4 of her races (3 county 4 club).

Swimmer of the Gala goes to Claire E who (along with Chris Marshal) competed in the most events, and achieved 5no. 12-month best times, 2no. club records, 1no. county record and an all time PB in her last race by 2.5 seconds on 100m Backstroke.

Congratulations to all!

GB Long Course Championships, Aberdeen

Janet was in fine form winning 7 gold medals and 1 silver. Check out her times on the results page.

Annual Presentation Dinner January 2017

Awards went to the following people: -

Janet Masters, Individual Medley and Backstroke decathlon trophies, Carla King Sprint Freestyle trophy and Chris Ayers Distance Freestyle, Breaststroke and Butterfly trophies.

Swim of the Year, Carla King.

Most Improved Swimmer, Wes Fraser.

Best Newcomer, Arron Moore.

Swimmer of the Year, Janet Masters.

Neil King, managing director of 1Life presented John Bellis with this years special recognition award for his services to swimming, and in particular, his work with South Beds Masters Swimming Club and thanked him for his hard work, dedication, and expertise in training swimmers to reach such high standards.

Masters National Championships, Sheffield, October 2016

South Beds Masters had 17 swimmers at this years ASA Nationals at Ponds Forge Sheffield, won a total of twenty medals, and re-wrote the record books by breaking 33 Club records, 23 Bedfordshire County records and 10 East Region records.

In the 75-79 age group, Janet Masters had a busy three days, swimming in nine individual events and two relays. In the individual events Janet won 8 gold medals and one silver, setting 5 new County records and 4 new Region records. Janet’s best session was on the Sunday morning, when she took nearly three seconds off the 100m Butterfly Region record, and 40 minutes later was back in the pool setting a new Region record in the 50m Backstroke.

There was also a new Region and County record for 63 year old Christine Ayers in the 200m Freestyle but it was only good enough four fourth place. Chris picked up two silvers and three bronze medals in her other events. While in the 45-49 age group, Rob Adsley, swimming in his first year of masters swimming, ex Luton and Vauxhall swimmer (over 30 years ago), set new club records in both the 50m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle events.

In the 35-39 age group, Sam Hammond broke six South Beds Club records, of which 3 were new County records.

The best individual swim from the club came in the 30-34 age group, where 33 year old Carla King set a lifetime best in the 100m Freestyle event, hitting the pads at an impressive time of 59.89 seconds. The first time in her life that Carla had ducked under the one minute barrier, but even with this time it was only good enough for fifth place in her age group. Carla also broke her County record in the 50m Freestyle with a time of 27.29 winning the silver medal. Also in this age group, there was a silver medal in the 50m Breaststroke for Sarah Pearse.

In the 30-34 age group, Joanne Holder won the bronze in the 100m Breaststroke in a lifetime best of 1:20.58, also in this age group, another lifetime best time for Jenny Owens in the 800m Freestyle.

In the Senior age group, the 18-24year olds, Lucy Gregory set four new Bedfordshire records, and a new East Region record in the 100m Backstroke, while Emma Irvine swam 1:19.80 in the 100m Breaststroke, just outside the medals. There were also new club records for Jack McGarry in the 50m Breaststroke, and for Arron Moore in the 50m and 200m Butterfly and in the 100m Freestyle.

It was in the relay events that the club swam really well. They entered ten relay teams, and broke Bedfordshire County records with eight of them, two of those were new East Region records. The Region records came in the Ladies 120-159yrs 200m Medley relay, where the team was Jo Holder, Sarah Pearse, Sam Hammond, and Carla King, and in the 200-239yrs 200m Freestyle relay with Clare Warren, Chris Ayers, Janet Masters, and Jenny Owens being the four swimmers.

Check out the results.

FINA European Championships, London, May 2016

We were expecting chaos, and yes, it was chaotic at times, but the volunteers and officials worked very hard to make it a success and amongst it all there was some fantastic swimming - some from SBM!

Our regular superstar, Janet, did not disappoint with 3 medals, 2 silver and 1 bronze and an east region record.

Our 120+ womens medley relay came a very creditable 6th place...JB says "Well done girls, 6th in Europe. Not bad (praise indeed!), and a new club and county rcord for Jo on the 50m Back.

There were 13 club , 7 county and 2 east region records. Check out the results page.

Recognition for John

John Bellis has been awarded an East Region Silver Pin for his significant contribution to Masters Swimming. There is a picture of John receiving his award in the gallery and a report on the presentations on the East Region website here.

Medals for Masters

Congratulations to Janet who flew the flag for GB and SBM in Kazan and did us proud coming home with 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. Results are posted.

See Anglia News report with Janet and the Masters family here.

Aldershot and Stockhom

Congratulations to Joel who was the only SBM swimmer to swim long course events at both Aldershot and Stockholm recently. He swam well achieving club and county records at both meets. See the result pages.

Midland Masters, May 2015

South Beds Masters had a successful weekend at Leamington Spa at the Midland Masters Championships, with 23 members swimming. The club won 50 individual medals, 20 gold, 16 silver and 14 bronze, together with another 6 in relay events 2 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze.

75 year old Janet Masters swam in 5 events and won them all, setting new East Region and Beds County records in four of them. Jackie Maycock swimming in the 50 to 54 age group won the 400 Individual Medleys, also setting new Region and County records, also winning the 400 IM in their age groups was 30 year old Jenny Owens, and 27 year old Laura Lewindon. There were 3 golds for Andrea Minor in the 65 to 69 age group and 2 for Christine Ayers in the 60 to 64 age group.

Emma Irvine won the 200 Breast in the 18 to 24 age group, Clare Warren set new County record times for the 400 Freestyle in the 35 to 39 age group, and swimming in the 30 to 34age group, Carla King won both of her events in excellent times, the 50 Free in 0.27.89, and the 100 Free in 1.01.63.

In the relay events, the 120 to 159 mixed team of Carla King, Joanne Holder, Richard and Chris Lewindon broke their own County records in both the 200 Freestyle and 200 Medley relay, and the Mixed 200 to 239 team broke their own East Region and County records in both of their events, the team for the Freestyle relay was Peter Iles, Chris Marshall, Christine Ayers and Clare Warren, with Samantha Hammond. In the 280 to 319 age group the South Beds team of Janet Masters, Iris Bellis, Andrea Minor, and Margot Anderson set new East Region and County records in both the 200 Freestyle and Medley relays. It was the first time since the East Region was set up, ten years ago, that a team of this age had competed.

Check out all the results.

Newmarket SC Masters, April 2015

Well done to our ladies who swam at Newmarket last weekend. Carla broke two club records and everyone brought home plenty of bling!

Gloucester Masters, April 2015

Five swam at Gloucester and came 9th in the club competition. Janet is still on sparkling form. Well done to all. Results up now.

Aylesbury Relay Gala, March 2015

Congratulations to everyone involved a great team effort. We came 2nd out of 5 teams.

Amersham 177 points, SBM 151, St Albans 150, Aylesbury 147, CMK 91.

Swansea, March 2015

JM and JM swam in the Welsh Open meet and did brilliantly. Results now available.

Bracknell, February 2015

Eleven South Beds swimmers were on good form at Bracknell and achieved 4th place overall out of 60 clubs attending - well done to all of you. Full results available.

K2 Crawley, January 2015

Janet Masters had the midas touch at the SE Region LC Championships last weekend winning 7 gold medals and breaking East Region records in all her events. Check out all the results.

Sheffield, October 2014

Results from Sheffield have now been posted. A total of 43 Club records, 30 County records and 5 East Region records were broken. Individuals taking 1 gold medal, 2 silver medals and 4 bronze medals plus a silver and 2 bronze medals for our relay teams.

Newmarket, October 2014

Results from Newmarket now available and latest Decathlon position (but not including Newmarket yet).

AGM

Our AGM will be held at the Open University, Milton Keynes commencing at 7.30pm on 21st October. Light refreshments will be provided.

All posts on the committee are open for nominations. Most of the current committee will be standing for their posts again, but if you would like to stand for any position please let the Chairperson (Jo Holder) know. A vacancy has arisen for equipment officer. If you'd like to stand for election to the committee please complete one of the nominations forms (ask Jo or Sarah)

If you have any questions please get in touch. It's your club and this is a chance to shape it's future.

Keep the date!

Our Annual Presentation Dinner date is set for Friday 16th January 2015. Keep that date free - a "not to be missed" event! Who will win those trophies? Will the star raffle prize be half a gallon of peachy shower cream?

Barnet Distance Meet - July 2014

Richard Lewindon made his Masters debut at Barnet, 10 Club records were broken, 7 were also County records and 1 was a new East Region record. Check out the results.

GB LC Championships, Swansea - June 2014

We started the Championships well on Friday afternoon with Iris and Chris setting new East Region records in the 1500m and Andrea setting club and county records in the 1500m, 800m, 400m & 200m all in one swim. Lots more medals, records & PBs followed over the weekend. Check out the results.

Gloucester Masters Open Meet - April 2014

Only 4 SBM swimmers, but lots of medals and records! Check out the results.

Better Butterfly at Bracknell - March 2014

A metamorphosis occurred sometime before the gala at Bracknell!

Including our Treasurer's new 200m Butterfly record, there were 21 Club Records, 9 Bedfordshire Records and 3 East Region Records set.

Out of 72 clubs represented at the gala we came 3rd.

Teddington 494

Bracknell 341

South Beds 286

Otter 181

City of Oxford 169

Congratulations to all 17 club members who swam. Check out the results.

Records Bonanza at Crawley - February 2014

Those swimming at Crawley on Saturday 1st February saw history being made. John Harrison of Godalming became the first person from Britain to compete in a Masters swimming event in the 100-104 years age group. John finished 100m Freestyle in a time of 3:23.10 to a standing ovation as he set a British and European Record and smashed the previous World Record by over 40 seconds!

Plenty of records were set by our swimmers too - just Club, County and East Region records though.

Check out the results.

Annual Presentation Dinner - January 2014

Our awards dinner was held at LB Golf Club again this year and was an evening of good food, good company, a few alcoholic beverages and many laughs.

There were Decathlon Certificates from 2012 for those club members who had completed all 10 qualifying events, Janet Masters, Rita Egan, Chris Ayers and Chris Jessup.

Two new trophies were presented this year. Firstly the Chris Jessup Fly trophy, awarded for the best decathlon points total for the three Butterfly events, this was won by Chris Ayers. John Bellis also donated a trophy for the best decthlon score for the 3 "sprint" distance freestyle events, again won by Chris Ayers.

This year's special DQ Award was presented to Chris Lewindon for being disqualified whilst swimming 200m Butterfly at Newmarket where he went out a little too fast at the start of the race and by the end resembled more of a caterpillar than a Bufferfly!

Swim of the Year went to Sarah Pearse for winning the GB Masters long course 50m Breaststroke in a time of 35.40

Most Improved Swimmer went to Alex Fry, who came to us a triathlete and is now a good all round swimmer.

The “Always late for training award”, a travel alarm clock, with the alarm set for 7.30pm, was presented to Peter Leadbetter.

Best Newcomer was won by Laura Robinson who stood out in a very strong field by swimming ten qualifying events in the Decathlon over the year.

The Lost Property award was presented to Ali Sheehan.

Special Coaches Award was presented to Chris Lewindon.

Keith Spence was presented with a special founder member club polo shirt.

Swimmer of the Year award went to Chris Ayers.

Award photos can be seen in the gallery.

Bedfordshire Masters at East Region Inter County Gala. Newmarket 17.11.13

A team of 32 Masters and Seniors from 4 Bedfordshire clubs competed at Newmarket in the East Region Inter county event.

Once again Bedfordshire finished in 4th place, but this year we were a lot closer to the three counties above us, finishing 44 points behind the winners Essex, and only 9 points behind Norfolk who were third. With Hertfordshire 2nd and Suffolk 5th. Cambridgeshire did not enter a team.

The team managed 12 individual wins, the most ever, plus one relay win.

Liz Woolner (Flitwick Dolphins) was in sparkling form in the 45 and over age group, winning the 50 metre Freestyle in a new County record time of 29.56 seconds, and the 50 metre Butterfly in an East Region record time of 31.27 seconds. A time that was over a second quicker than her winning time at the National Masters at Sheffield, three weeks before.

The Modernians pair of Dave Cartledge and Marcel Scholten won four events between them, with Dave winning the 45 and over 50 metre Butterfly and Backstroke events, and also the 35 and over 50 metre Breaststroke, While Marcel won the 45 and over 50 metre Breaststroke.

Sarah Pearce (South Beds Masters) won the 25 and over 50 metre Breaststroke by just over 3 seconds.

Team Luton swimmers had four wins, with Lawrence Palmer winning both the 50 metre Butterfly and Breaststroke events in the 18 and over Senior category. Miriam Owens broke her own County record in the 25 and over 50 metre Freestyle event with a quick 28.94 seconds, and Graham Powell won the 55 and over 50 metre Backstroke.

Final Points

Essex 240

Hertfordshire 238

Norfolk 205

Bedfordshire 196

Suffolk 123

Sarah goes for gold at the GB Masters, Plymouth

Sarah travelled to Plymouth to compete in her special event, 50m Breaststroke. She rose to the occasion and managed a lifetime pb time of 35.44 convincingly beating her rival who pipped her at the post last year.

All 5 of our swimmers who went to Plymouth came back with a medal.

Results are now available.

Aquarush

Leighton Buzzard Tri Club are holding a pool based aquathon at Tiddenfoot on 20th July 2013. The Novice Adult race is a 200m swim followed by a 2.5K run, the Adult Sprint is a 400m swim followed by a 5K run. check out all the details at http://www.lbtri.org.uk/. Anyone else thinking of entering?

Team Luton Masters Meet

South Beds Masters had twenty swimmers entered into the Team Luton Masters meet at the superb new 50m pool at Inspire Luton, and came away with 39 medals and a host of new Club, County and East Region Masters Records.

In the 18-24 age group, Alex Fry won the 400m Freestyle, and Lucy Gregory won the 100m Backstroke and 200m Individual Medley, and also picked up the silver medal in the 50m Freestyle event. Lucy’s time in the Backstroke was a new East Region record.

The 25-29 age group saw wins for Peter Leadbetter in the 100m Backstroke, and there were two bronze medals for Laura Robinson in the 400m Freestyle and the 200m Individual Medley.

Chris Lewindon set new East Region records in the 400m Freestyle and 200m Individual Medley in the 30 to 34 age group, while in the 35 to 39 age group, Clare Warren won the silver medal in the 100m Butterfly, setting a new County best time. Rachel Buckingham swam some excellent times in the 50m and 100m Freestyle after a long layoff, and there were two bronze medals for Cheryl Templeman in the 200m Individual Medley and in the 100m Backstroke, where her time knocked 4 second off of her own East Region record.

In the 45 to 49 age group Keith Spence won the 200m Breaststroke, and Carl Roberts picked up the bronze medal in the 100m Breaststroke.

In the 55 to 59 age group, Alison Sheehan set a new East Region time when winning a silver medal in the 100m Backstroke, Alison also picked up silver medals in the 400m Freestyle and 200m Individual Medley. Chris Marshall set a new County record when winning the 100m Freestyle, and a new East Region record when finishing third in the 200m Individual Medley.

In the 60 to 64 age group, Christine Ayers continues to re-write the record books, breaking three East Region records in the 100m and 400m Freestyle and in the 200m Breaststroke, Christine also set a new County best time when winning the 200m Backstroke. Also swimming in this age group, Liz Neale won a silver medal in the 200m Freestyle event.

The 65 to 69 age group saw a silver medal in the 50m Freestyle and a new County record in the 200m Freestyle for Andrea Minor, and there were four gold medals for Chris Jessup, all just outside his own club records. There was a new East Region record for Rita Egan in the 200m Individual Medley. Rita also picked up silver medals in the 100m and 200m Breaststroke events.

In the 70 to 74 age group, Iris Bellis won the 100m, 200m and 400m Freestyle events and Janet Masters won the 100m Backstroke and the 200m Individual Medley.

Midland Masters Meet Report

Sixteen members of South Beds Masters Swimming Club travelled to Leamington Spa for the 2013 Midland Masters Swimming Championships, and came away with 39 medals (16 gold, 10 silver and 11 bronze, all in individual events) plus two relay gold medals.

In the 65 to 69 age group, Chris Jessup won four gold medals and a bronze, with his best result coming in the 100m Butterfly, where his time was a new Bedfordshire County record. Rita Egan came first in the 200m Breaststroke and picked up two silver medals in the 50m Backstroke and 50m Butterfly, Rita also won the bronze in the 100m Breaststroke. Also in this age group, Andrea Minor won three gold medals, with her times in the 100m Freestyle and the 100m Breaststroke being new County records.

In the 60 to 64 age group, newly aged up Christine Ayers continues to set new East Region records at every meet, setting new region times in the 100m and 400m Freestyle, and then broke her own recently set time in the 50m Breaststroke. Christine also set new County records in the 200m Individual Medley and in the 200m Backstroke. Liz Neale won bronze medals in both the 100m and 200m Freestyle events. In the men’s events in this age group, newly aged up Peter Iles set new County records in every one of his six events when winning four gold medals in the 200m and 400m Freestyle and in the 50m and 100m Butterfly, Peter also picked up silver medals in both the 50m and 100m Freestyle races.

In the 55 to 59 age group, Chris Marshall set a new county record when winning the bronze medal in the 400m Individual Medley, and there were two silvers and a bronze for Alison Sheehan. Alison’s silver medals came in the 100m Individual Medley an in the 200m Backstroke.

Keith Spence had a busy weekend competing in seven events in the 45 to 49 age group, with his best results coming with bronze medals in both the 200m Breaststroke and the 400m Individual Medley.

In the 30 to 34 age group, Chris Lewindon came third in the 200m Breaststroke, Sarah Pearse won her speciality event the 50m Breaststroke, and Samantha Hammond picked up bronze in the 50m Butterfly. All three of these swims were new County records.

In the 25 to 29 age group, Jo Holder won two silver medals in both her individual events, the 200m Breaststroke and the 50m Freestyle. Just out of the medals in fourth place in the 200m Breaststroke Laura Robinson set a new best time in the event. There was also a new best time for Peter Leadbetter in his 100m freestyle race.

Baby of the team, Kate Robinson, competing in the 18 to 24 age group had two fourth places, with her time in the 100m Backstroke setting a new County record.

The club entered the Ladies 100-119 year age group Freestyle and Medley team events. The team of Laura Robinson, Jo Holder, Sam Hammond, and Sara Pearse, won and set new East Region records in both events.

Jacquie and Carl were in record breaking form at Gloucester on 14th April.

Check out the results, they broke 6 club and 3 county records.

Trophy for the Bedfordshire Ladies Masters Decathlon Champion presented to SBMSC swimmer.

David Metcalf, Chairman of Bedfordshire A.S.A recently came to Tiddenfoot to present Chris Ayers with this new trophy for finishing top lady of all the decathlon participants from Bedfordshire for 2012. Chris came 44th out of 1362 female masters swimmers. Janet Masters was second and Sarah Pearse third.

In the mens' competition Marcel Scholton of Modernians won with our own Pete Iles coming fifth.

We have added a page to the website so that the County Decathlon "Top Ten" can be shown each year as well as the Bedfordshire team position just out of interest.

New Trophy for 2013

Chris Jessup is giving the club a new trophy for 2013. He wants to encourage people to swim butterfly so it will be for the club member who achieves the highest number of decathlon points from their best 50m, 100m and 200m Butterfly events during the year. So, plan the events you are going to enter carefully and be sure to enter all three butterfly events for a chance to win this new trophy!

Calverton & Bingham Open Meet

Ten swimmers attended this very friendly and well run meet, some winning goggles, chocolates or wine and spot prizes. Check out the results.

Bracknell Open Meet

We came 4th in the Top Club Trophy out of 54 clubs at this meet. Eighteen Club Records, thirteen County Records and three East Region Records were broken and lots of medals won. See the results page for more details.

Records fall at K2 Crawley

With a record 17 SBM swimmers Club, County and East Region records fell at the South East Region Long Course meet at Crawley, our first meet of 2013

Check out the results page

Australia Day Swim 2013 or How to look exhausted, by Chris Marshall

On 26th January 1788 Admiral Arthur Phillip formally declared possession of New South Wales at Sydney Cove part of Jackson Harbour (now Sydney). It took him and his fleet of 11 ships eight months to reach Australia. Who would have thought that 225yrs later after a 30hr journey I would be commerating the day with a 1400m open water swim at Brighton breakwater near Melbourne?

Unfortunately due to Xmas and needing to get my work sorted, I had missed quite a few swim sessions and on the day of the swim there was a 20-30 kilometre per hour wind making the sea choppy and a long return leg against the wind, it was not enhancing my thoughts of how enjoyable the next 25 minutes was going to be!

Unlike most participants, I was not swimming with a wetsuit. Entering the water on the breakwater and then swimming under the pontoon to the windward side of the breakwater it did not feel too cold. I really wanted the wetsuit to help the legs float!

Initially, across the wind and choppy sea, spotting the marker bouys was not easy. Following the faster swimmers was the easiest option. Turning across the end of the breakwater the choppy waves settled but then there was the "into the headwind" return - the water was flat but dead to windward. It seemed long, long, long, then turning to the beach for a final 200m. In the short run up the beach I seemed very leaden. I staggered to the showers at the top of the beach, just 25m and looked exhausted - I was! and it only took 25mins 42 sec to acheive this.

But after a short time I was able to walk out to the breakwater to see my daughter, Hannah, complete the 1400m task in 25 min 18 sec.

What did I learn? Never stop training. It is worth making room in the suitcase for a wetsuit. I am getting old.

Andrea's Presentation and Raffle Total

As Andrea was on holiday she was not at the Presentation Dinner. She was presented with the "Most Improved Swimmer of 2012" award by John on poolside before training.

The final total raised by the auction and raffle at the dinner is a magnificent £205. Thanks to Pete and Keith and everybody who made bids and bought tickets.

Annual Presentation Dinner

Our Presentation Diner was held at Leighton Buzzard Golf Club this year, a great venue and the food was excellent.

The Masters Trophy for "Swimmer of the Year" was presented to Liz Neale who knocked nearly 4 seconds off her 100m Freestyle PB, nearly 6 seconds off her 200m Freestyle PB and 7 seconds off her 400m Freestyle time, and broke the East Region record for this event during the year. Liz was also delighted to receive a framed signed picture of Rebecca Adlington.

"Best Newcomer Award" went to Lucy Gregory who broke East Region records in both the 200m Backstroke and 200m Individual Medley at the Nationals in Sheffield and gaining a bronze medal in the 200m Backstroke.

"Swim Of the Year" went to the 72+ relay team of Lucy Gregory, Sarah Pearse, Sam Hammond and Jo Holder. They broke East Region records in both the 4 x 50m Freestyle and Medley Relays, and the Medley Relay time puts us second in the national rankings after Loughborough University.

Rita Egan was presented with an award for "Special Effort in the Decathlon Competition", achieving 10 qualifying events for the first time.

Chris Jessup, who was a Gamesmaker for both the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012, was presented with an Olympic Swimming T shirt in recognition of his "Services to Swimming".

Janet Masters was presented with the "Should have been Disqualified Award", for swimming the 50m Freestyle at the Nationals in Sheffield, whilst wearing leggings over her costume which went unnoticed by all the officials and almost all of the spectators!

Sarah Pearse was presented with the "Coldest Person on Poolside Award", for obvious reasons.

After the Dinner & Presentation was an excellent auction and raffle, with Clare Warren winning the star prize!

Well done and thank you to everyone involved in making this year's event such a success.

Friday training session

For those who would usually attend the Swimfit session at 2.00pm-3.00pm on Fridays at Tiddenfoot, some of us will still be going to train at that time during term time.

There will be lanes for lap swimming and we will have a programme to put up on the board to follow.

Welcome to the World Albert Hayes!

Congratulations to Amy and Daniel who became proud parents on 28th December. Baby Albert weighed in at 8lbs 10oz!

Christmas Swimming Sessions

Our last Club session at Bletchley will be 17th December and the first session in the new year will be Monday 7th January.

The last Wednesday session at Tiddenfoot will be 19th December and the first Wednesday session in the new year will be 2nd January.

The last Friday session at Tiddenfoot will be 21st December and there are no further Friday sessions planned for 2013

Barnet 1500m Event

Four swimmers from South Beds Masters swam this event- two of which broke records!

Iris broke the East Region, Club and County records and Jacquie broke not only the 1500m Club and County records, but the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m split times were also Club and County records - see the results page.

Inter-counties Masters Gala

Seventeen of our club members swam for Bedfordshire. To see the report on the Beds ASA website click here.

Aylesbury Relay Gala cancelled

Unfortunately Aylesbury have decided to cancel the Relay Gala this year - they were finding it difficult to get a team. We hope this enjoyable event will be run again in the future.

ASA National Masters Swimming Championships: 26th-28th October 2012

South Beds Masters had twelve club members competing in this event at Ponds Forge International Pool in Sheffield - the largest cohort of swimmers attending thus far in the club’s four year history, with competitors spanning a broad age range from 18 to 72.

The club recorded great success, securing 11 individual and 3 relay medals.

Once again, Janet Masters proved her indomitable spirit in the Women’s 70-74 age group, with a stunning haul of 4 Gold Medals in the 100m IM and 200m IM and in the 50m and 100m Butterfly. She complemented this with 2 Silver Medals in the 50m and 100m Backstroke and with a ‘triumph-against-all-odds’ Bronze in the 50m Freestyle.

At the other end of the age spectrum, Lucy Gregory gained a fabulous 200m Backstroke Bronze Medal against stiff opposition in the 18 and over age group. Lucy recorded Club, County and East Region records for this event and also for her superb 7th place swim in the 200m IM. In her 50m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle swims, Lucy also claimed impressive Club and County records.

Similarly, 32 year old Sam Hammond secured Club and County records for her 29.73s performance in the 50m Freestyle which was the highlight of a strong weekend which saw her also swim in the 50m Butterfly and 100m IM.

In the Women’s 30-34 age category, South Beds stalwart Sarah Pearse once again took honours, with a highly deserved Bronze medal in the 50m Breaststroke and strong swims in her other events, the 100m Breaststroke and the 50m Backstroke and Freestyle.

In the very competitive Women’s 25-29 age group, Jo Holder performed superbly in her 50m and 200m Breaststroke races to almost gain a podium finish and also enjoyed a strong 50m Freestyle swim.

Further Club records fell to Chris Jessup in the Men’s 65-69 200m Breaststroke, (where he gained a Bronze medal to add to the one he collected for the 100m Butterfly), and in the 200m Backstroke.

Keith Spence also achieved a well-deserved Club record with his swim in the Men’s 45-49 age group100m IM.

Happily justifying their entry, the Women’s relay squads, (72-99 years and 240-279 years, respectively), broke the Club, County and East Region records for both their Medley and Freestyle relays, reeling in 3 Bronze Medals between them and underlining the ever-growing strength in depth of the club, which has recently seen several new members, including debut competitor, Carl Barthorpe, who enjoyed his first experience of the Men’s 40-44 age group with highly promising performances in the 50m, 100m and 400m Freestyle.

Long-standing, perennially successful Club performers, who enjoyed an excellent weekend of competition in Sheffield, included Christine Ayers in the Women’s 55-59 age group and Peter Iles in the Men’s 55-59 age category. Christine tackled an impressive six events and was placed just outside the medals in 3 of her races, in what is a highly competitive age group. These included the challenging 800m Freestyle, the 200m IM and the 50m Breaststroke. In addition, she also finished very respectably in the 50m and 400m Freestyle and the 100m IM. Meanwhile, Peter secured three courageous 7th places in the 100m, 200m and 800m Freestyle events and an 11th place in the 50m Freestyle to cap an enjoyable weekend for both him and the whole squad.

The 72 and over relay team consisted of Lucy Gregory, Sarah Pearce, Sam Hammond and Jo Holder; the 240+ relay team were Janet Masters, Chris Ayers, Helen Davies and Andrea Minor.

AGM - change of venue

The club's AGM will now be held on Tuesday 23rd October at 7.30pm in the Creche which is upstairs at Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre.

Jane's Sea Swim

Jane Wilson took part in the Sandown to Shanklin two mile sea swim organised by the Wight Marlins Masters Club.

Jane, who has been recovering from a shoulder injury, came 92nd in a time of 45mins 35 seconds. She might have recorded a slightly faster time had the finish line been easier to spot!

Your Club Needs You

The Club Rules, Duties of Officers and an explanation of Gala Fees can be viewed here on the website (under Rules & Duties or Gala Fees on the left hand menu).

Our AGM is fast approaching and we need some volunteers to fill some committee posts. We are trying to get some different people involved so we can have some new ideas and hopefully have a regular turnover of committee members. Many of our officers have served on the committee for 4 years already, ideally nobody should be in a post for longer than 3 years.

Please come forward and let anyone on the current committee know if you are interested and think you could serve on the committee in any of the posts mentioned from October. We are only a small club and none of the jobs are that onerous.

World Masters, Riccione

Liz Neale and Chris Jessup recently took part in the World Masters in Riccione, Italy. This was the biggest world masters swimming event to date with over 7,000 competitive masters swimmers and over 12,000 including all disciplines. They both thoroughly enjoyed the event and managed personal best times and club and county records in an event each.

GB Masters

Six swimmers from South Beds Masters travelled to Sheffield to compete in the British Gas sponsored GB Masters competition, and came away with 16 medals.

Most successful was 72 year old Janet Masters, competing in the 70 to 74 age group, Janet won medals in all of her eight events, 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze. Her gold medals came in the 50m and 100m Butterfly, and the 200m Individual Medley, with the 100m Fly being a new East Region record. Janet also set two more East Region records in the 50m Backstroke and in the 100m Freestyle.

We had two swimmers in the 56 to 69 age group, where distance specialist Iris Bellis set a new East Region record when winning gold in the 1500m Freestyle, Iris followed this up with a silver in the 800m Freestyle. For the Men, Chris Jessup won four medals, two silver and two bronze. His silvers came in the 200m Breaststroke and the 100m Butterfly. Chris also set a new East Region record when winning the bronze in the 200m Backstroke.

In the 60 to 64 age group, Liz Neale set new long course personal best times in all three of her events, the 200m, 400m, and the 800m Freestyle where she won the bronze medal. All three times were new Bedfordshire masters records, and her 400m swim was a new East Region record.

In the 55 to 59 age group, Christine Ayers set new East Region records on the 50m Butterfly, finishing in 5th place, and in the 200m Individual Medley, finishing in 4th place.

Most unlucky was 30 year old Sarah Pearse, who won the silver in the 50m Breaststroke, in a new East Region record, but was just pipped to the gold medal by 0.01 of a second. Sarah also set a new Bedfordshire County record in the 100m breaststroke finishing in 5th place.

Tiddenfoot Swimfit

Swimfit session at Tiddenfoot Leisure centre is going ahead 25th April. The pool changing rooms are not ready for use yet, so the school changing rooms can be used, but belongings should be taken on to poolside. Have shoes and clothing suitable for the walk through reception between pool and school changing rooms.

2012 Decathlon

This year's Decathlon has been put up on the ASA website, and now also on our decathlon page.

Baby Jenner - worth waiting for!

Adam James Jenner, who has been present at many training sessions over the last 9 months, finally made an appearance on 25th February, thirteen days after his due date.

Jo gave birth to her 8lb 3oz son at home, with her proud mother in attendance (amongst others!). Mother and baby are both doing well.

Sudbury Masters Meet.

Six swimmers from the South Beds Masters Swimming Club made waves at the Sudbury Masters gala held on 19th February and took home a total of 19 medals. They set 8 new County records and 9 new club records.

In the 30 to 34 age group, Sam Hammond won gold medals in the 50m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly and the 50m Backstroke. In the process she set new County and club records in the 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke.

Clare Warren had three great swims and managed to break four County and club records! She took home gold medals in the 100m Freestyle and 100m Individual Medley and a bronze medal in the 200m Freestyle. These were all new personal best times.

Robert Campbell made his South Beds Masters début and didn't disappoint winning gold medals in the 50m and 100m Freestyle.

Pete Iles put on a great performance and won gold medals in the 50m and 100m Butterfly and 200m Freestyle. He also took home silver medals in the 50m and 100m Freestyle.

Swimming in the 60 – 64 age group, Liz Neale set 3 new club records. She took home a silver medal for her swim in the 50m Freestyle, setting a new County record and personal best time in the process. She also won bronze medals in the 100m and 200m Freestyle and set another County record in the 200m Freestyle.

Rita Egan won gold medals in the 100m Individual Medley, 50m and 100m Breaststroke. She set a new personal best time in the 100m Breaststroke.

Congratulations to all the swimmers.

Long Course Masters Meet Crawley

Eleven swimmers from the South Beds Masters Swimming Club made a splash at the Masters Long Course gala held at Crawley over the weekend of 28th and 29th January, taking home an amazing 34 medals. They set 17 new East Region records, 21 new County records and 25 new club records. What a team.

In the 25 to 29 age group, Joanne Holder set a new County and club record in the 50m Freestyle.

Peter Leadbetter won a bronze medal in the 50m Freestyle and set a new club record.

Sarah Pearse was on fine form and broke an impressive array of records. In the 50m Breaststroke she took home a gold medal and set new East Region, County and Club records. In the 100m Breaststroke she won the silver while setting new County and Club records. In the 50m Freestyle she also set new County and Club records. Finally in the 800m Freestyle Sarah won the bronze medal and set new East Region, County and Club records for the 800m and for her split times in the 200m Freestyle and 400m Freestyle. What a swim!

Christine Ayers put on a great performance and won gold medals in the 200m Butterfly and 800m Freestyle. She also took home a silver medal in the 200m Backstroke and bronze medals in the 100m Freestyle and 400m Freestyle. This was Christine’s first attempt at the 200m Butterfly and she exceeded all expectations and set new East Region, County and Club records.

In the 55 to 59 age group, Peter Iles won silver medals in the 100m and 800m Freestyle setting new County and Club records in both.

Andrea Minor performed magnificently. She broke five County, five Club and four East Region records. Andrea won gold in the 50m Breaststroke, silver in the 200m Freestyle and bronze medals in the 50m, 400m and 800m Freestyle.

Liz Neale who took home a gold medal for her swim in the 100m Freestyle setting a new East Region, County and Club record in the process.

Iris Bellis won silver medals in the 100m, 200m and 800m Freestyle and bronze in the 400m Freestyle. Her time in the 800m Freestyle set new East Region, County and Club records.

Rita Egan won a bronze medal in the 200m Breaststroke setting new East Region and Club records.

Chris Jessup entered a staggering seven events. He took home silver medals in the 200m Backstroke, 100m and 200m Breaststroke and bronze medals in the 100m Freestyle, 100m and 200m Butterfly. His times in the 100m Breaststroke and 200m Backstroke set new East Region, County and Club records.

In the 70 to 74 age group Janet Masters won gold medals in the 200m Individual Medley, 50m Butterfly, 50m and 100m Freestyle. She also took home silver medals in the 50m and 100m Backstroke. Janet’s times in the 50m Backstroke and 100m Freestyle set new East Region, County and Club records.

Congratulations to all the swimmers.

Change of date for Midlands Masters

The Midlands Masters Meet will now be held 28th-30th September 2012. This is due to the change of date of the British Gas (LC) Masters being held at Sheffield 4th-6th May 2012.

Presentation Dinner, 6th January 2012

Presentations were made as follows:-

"Best Newcomer" Joanne Holder

"DQ Award" Chris Jessup

"Swimmer's Swimmer" Sarah Pearse

"Magnifying glass for reading the small print" went to John Bellis

"Swim of the Year" Peter Iles

"John Bellis Quote of 2011 Award" John Bellis!

"Most Improved Swimmer" Clare Warren

"Swimmer of the Year", winning the Master's Trophy, Sarah Pearse

A lot of hard work went on to make such a successful and entertaining evening. Grateful thanks to all involved, especially Donna and John.

South Yorkshire Masters Meet

On 11th December six swimmers from the South Beds Masters Swimming Club travelled North to take a dip in the Ponds Forge pool in Sheffield.

Peter Leadbetter made a splash in the 24 – 29 age group. He set new personal best times in the 50m Backstroke and the 50m Freestyle. He also won a bronze medal in the 50m Backstroke.

Helen Davies put on an impressive show setting new Club Records in the 50m Butterfly and the 100m Individual Medley. She took home silver medals in the 50m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle and a bronze medal in the 100m Individual Medley.

Keith Spence won a gold medal in the 100m Individual Medley. He also won bronze medals in the 50m Breaststroke and 50m Backstroke. Keith set a new PB and broke his own Club Record in the 50m Backstroke.

Pete Iles took part in a staggering six events and did fantastically well in them all! He won gold medals in the 50m Butterfly, 100m Individual Medley and the 200m Freestyle. He won silver medals in the 50m Backstroke, 50m Freestyle and 100m Freestyle. Congratulations Pete.

Liz Neale achieved a silver medal in the 400m Freestyle and a bronze medal in the 200m Freestyle.

Rita Egan took home 3 gold medals in the 50m and 100m Breaststroke and the 400m Freestyle. Rita set a new personal best time in the 400m Freestyle. Well done Rita.

Records tumble at the Inter-counties Masters, Newmarket

Seven club and four county records were broken at this event. Howard Gell broke the 50m Backstroke, 50m Breaststroke and the 50m Butterfly records in the 40-44 age group.

Sam Hammond broke the 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke club & county records in the 30-34 age group, the Freestyle being the lead off in a relay race.

In the 25-29 age group Chris Lewindon set new club & county record times for both the 50m Freestyle on the first leg of a relay race and in the individual 50m Butterfly but then Ross Payne broke the 50m Freestyle club & county records again when he swam in the individual event.

Bedfordshire came 4th in the East Region gala, an improvement on last year's result and our points total was only 10 points behind Essex

Our club member's results and a link to the full results are now available.

Making A Splash South Beds Masters Style. October Report

Five SBM swimmers took the plunge at the ASA Masters Championships held in Sheffield on the 28th, 29th and 30th October.

Sarah Pearse had four fantastic swims and set three new personal best times in the 100m Breaststroke, 50m and 100m Freestyle. She set a new East Region record in the 100m Breaststroke.

Keith Spence swam well competing in the 50m Butterfly, 50m Freestyle, 100m Individual Medley and the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke.

Christine Ayers swam in six events. She excelled in the 200m Individual Medley winning a silver medal, taking 3 seconds off her personal best time and setting a new East Region record.

Pete Iles also swam in six events competing in the 50m and 100m Butterfly and the 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m Freestyle.

Chris Jessup won bronze medals in the 100m Butterfly, 200m Butterfly and 200m Backstroke. Chris also took an impressive 8 seconds off his 200m Individual Medley time.

 

Eight SBM swimmers made a splash at the East Region Championships in Newmarket on 1st October. They won an awesome array of medals and two swimmers set new East Region Records.

In the 24 to 29 age group, Joanne Holder set a new East Region record and won gold in the 200m Freestyle. She also won gold in the 50m Freestyle, silver in the 200m Backstroke and bronze in the 200m Breaststroke.

Sarah Pearse set three new personal best times and won gold medals in the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke. She also won silver in the 400m Freestyle.

Keith Spence won silver medals in the 100m Butterfly, 100m Breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley.

Swimming in the 55 to 59 age group, Chris Marshall set a new East Region record and won gold in the 200m Individual Medley. He also won gold in the 100m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke and bronze in the 50m Butterfly and 400m Freestyle.

Pete Iles took home a gold medal in the 50m Butterfly and silver in the 400m Freestyle.

Liz Neale gave three strong performances and won silver medals in the 50m, 100m and 200m Freestyle.

Chris Jessup swam well and won gold medals in the 100m Breaststroke and 100m Individual Medley. He also won silver in the 50m Freestyle, 50m Breaststroke and 50m Freestyle.

Rita Egan took home four gold medals for her performance in the 400m Freestyle, 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke.

Congratulations to all swimmers.

Barnet Sprint Meet 4th September 2011

6 SBM swimmers took 8 first places, 10 second places and 7 third places at the Barnet Sprint Meet.

7 club records were broken and 4 new records set.

Jo Holder, making her debut for the club this weekend, broke club records in the 100m IM and 100m Freestyle.

Sarah Pearce swam a blistering 50m Freestyle in under 30 seconds.

Chris Marshall broke records in the 50m Breaststroke, 100m IM and his lead-off 50m Backstroke in the Medley relay.

Keith Spence set 4 records in his new age group.

Pete Iles won the 25m sprint race and came 2nd in 5 other events.

Chris Ayers broke her own 100m Backstroke record.

See the results page for more info.

Baby Buckingham Arrives

Rachel and Simon are the proud parents of Eveline Lily Buckingham who was born on 25th September. Eveline weighed in at 8lb 3oz and mum and baby are diong fine.

AGM

The club's AGM will be held at the Ayers' residence, on Tuesday 25th October 2011.

Barnet Distance Meet 16th & 17th July 2011

Five club swimmers travelled to Barnet to compete in the Barnet Distance Meet.

Sarah Pearse won gold in the 100m Breaststroke. She and put in an impressive performance setting a new club record and winning silver in the gruelling 400m Individual Medley. Congratulations Sarah.

Jeanetta Lee swam well in the 400m Freestyle setting a new personal best time. Well-done Jeanetta.

Christine Ayers was awarded gold medals in the 200m Breaststroke, 400m Individual Medley and the 800m Freestyle. She also took silver in the 400m Freestyle.

Peter Iles won gold in the 200m Freestyle and bronze in the 100m Freestyle.

Liz Neale swam in the 200m and 400m Freestyle. She won bronze in the 400m and set a new personal best time in the first 100m of the 200m race.

"Top Team" at West Suffolk Masters Meet 3rd July 2011

Ten club swimmers travelled to Bury St Edmunds to competed in the West Suffolk Masters Meet. The team won 32 events. Over the weekend twelve new club records and a host of personal best times were set.

Our successful ladies relay teams set two East Region records & the club was awarded the ‘Best Visiting Club’ trophy. What a team!

Medals were not awarded for separate events, instead there were individual trophies awarded for best man and best woman in each age group. Chris Jessup, Pete Iles, Andrea Minor, Janet Masters, Chris Ayers & Sarah Pearce all came first in their age groups.

Daniel Hayes won the 50m Breaststroke and set a new personal best time in the 200m Freestyle.

Sarah Pearse set three personal best times and won the 50m Breaststroke, 100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly and the 200m Individual Medley.

Lesley Bellis came 2nd in the 50m Breaststroke and 3rd in the 50m Freestyle.

Jeanetta Lee set three new personal best times and came 2nd in the 100m Freestyle and 100m Breaststroke.

Peter Iles won the 50m, 100m and 200m Freestyle and the 50m Butterfly.

Christine Ayers won the 50m and 100m Backstroke, 50m and 100m Butterfly and the 200m Individual Medley.

Liz Neale won the 50m and 200m Freestyle and was second best woman in her age group.

Chris Jessup won the 50m and 100m Butterfly and the 50m and 100m Breaststroke. He came second and set a new personal best time in the 200m Individual Medley.

Janet Masters won the 50m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly, 50m and 100m Backstroke and the 100m Individual Medley.

British Long Course Championships 17th to 19th June 2011

Christine Ayers and Janet Masters travelled to Leeds to swim in the British Masters Long Course Championships. Chris set new East Region records in the 100m Butterfly and 1500m Freestyle and Janet set new East Region records in the 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke. They both competed in eight events won a host of medals. Well-done ladies.

Changes to Bletchley Training Sessions

Our club training sessions at Bletchley will be changing to Monday evenings as from the beginning of July 2011.

There will be 2 x 1hr sessions, in 2 lanes at 7.30pm and 8.30pm

Bletchley regulars will be told what time to attend (if you don't already know). Anyone else intending to start swimming with us on a Monday please talk to JB.

The last Thursday session will be on June 30th, and the 1st Monday sessions will begin on July 4th.

Midland Masters Open Meet, May 2011

Twelve swimmers from the South Beds Masters Swimming Club competed at the Midland Masters gala at Leamington Spa during the 6th, 7th and 8th May. The team took home 32 individual medals and 4 relay team medals.

Over the weekend 11 new club records, 18 personal best times and 5 new ASA East Region records were set.

The relay teams won gold medals in the Ladies 4 x 50m Medley, the Ladies 4 x 50m Freestyle and the Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle events. They also won silver in the Mixed 4 x 50m Medley Relay.

See the full report under "Press Releases"

Bracknell Masters Open Meet, 5th March 2011.

6 SBM swimmers, 17 medals, 5 club records and 1 East Region record.

Results now posted for this event and a full report on the press page.

South East Region Long Course Championships, Crawley, January 2011.

Ten swimmers competed at Crawley on 30th and 31st January.

The team took home a staggering 24 medals, set 13 new East Region records and 21 new club records.

Check out the results page.

Annual Dinner and Presentation Evening.

27 swimmers and supporters attended the dinner at Martini’s Italian Restaurant in Leighton Buzzard. It was a great evening, with the presentations sandwiched between courses.

There was also a quiz, and a caption contest with prizes won by Sarah Pearse and Bryn Sharp.

John said how pleased he was with the way the year had gone. He gave special mention to the Decathlon, with six swimmers, Howard Gell, Chris Ayers, Chris Marshall, Keith Spence, Jo Jenner, and Rachel Buckingham all competing in the full 10 events.

In the Decathlon Team competition for 2010 our Women’s team finished in a very creditable 8th place, while our Men’s team finished 25th.

Some presentations were serious and some were mickey takes, the winners were as follows: -

Swimmer of the Year. Janet Masters, for her medal winning performances at the World Masters in Gothenburg, Sweden, her seven gold medals from seven swims at the ASA Nationals at Sheffield and for currently holding 21 East Region records, both long and short course.

Most Improved Swimmer of the Year. Rachel Buckingham who has improved her times this year in all strokes and distances and has finally realised what a good distance swimmer she could be, with her speciality event going to be the 400 IM. (according to JB!)

Best Newcomer. Jeanetta Lee - a newcomer to the sport at the age of 47 who a few years ago could only manage a couple of lengths. She swam her first completion in July and represented Bedfordshire in the Inter-County Masters in October.

Best Swim of the Year. Sarah Pearse for her 50m Breaststroke swim of 34.74 at the Nationals at Sheffield a life time best at the age of 28 - not only breaking her own East Region Masters record, but also setting a new Bedfordshire County Senior Short Course record, the first masters swimmer to hold a Bedfordshire County Senior record.

The Last out of the Shower Award went to Pete Iles

The Always Talking in Training Award went to Janet Masters

The Always Talking Award went to Keith Spence

The Crawley Block 8 Award for being disqualified for moving at the start, in lane 8 at Crawley two years running, went to Rachel Buckingham.

Some pictures can be seen on the Gallery page.

Janet in the National Press.

Yours magazine issue 105, dated January 1-10th has an article featuring Janet talking about her performance in both the World and the National Championships 2010 and 3 photos of Janet - looking fabulous!

Barnet 1500.

4 swimmers - 5 club records!

Well done Rachel, Jeanetta and Peter.

National Masters Inter-County Competition, Newmarket.

After a gap of 4 years Bedfordshire reappeared in the competition due to Pat Dowsett becoming Beds County Masters representative earlier this year.

Ten South Beds Masters swimmers took part and John Bellis took on the role of Team Manager.

The air temperature on poolside was cool, which made conditions difficult for fast times, but despite this 4 club records were either broken or set: Jeanetta Lee - 50m freestyle, Chris Ayers -50m backstroke, Andrea Minor - 50m backstroke & Iris Bellis - 50m breaststroke. Chris' 50m backstroke time equalled the current East Region record time.

Our swimmers put in some fine performances with some involved in as many as ten swims and some very sportingly swimming down with younger age groups to gain points in events where we would otherwise have had no one taking part.

Bedfordshire, the smallest county, came 5th in this particular gala. Other galas with the same events were being held in other venues over the same weekend and in time all the results will be collated to produce one winning county.

Final results from the Newmarket gala were Hertfordshire 1st 293 points, Essex 2nd 289.5, Suffolk 3rd 247, Norfolk 4th 234.5, Bedfordshire 5th 175, Cambridgeshire 6th 156 points.

Results will be posted as usual when available.

Janet's Magnificent Seven (gold medals).

Janet Masters was on gold medal winning form at Ponds Forge in the ASA Master's National Championships , winning all 7 of the events she entered.

Chris Jessup won a silver medal in a personal best time in the 200m breaststroke and Iris Bellis, Sarah Pearse and Chris Ayers all won bronze medals.

There were 3 particularly notable swims. In the 50m Breaststroke Sarah Pearse broke the East Region Record and the Beds County Senior Short Course Record (a record that had stood for 13 years). She also swam a lifetime best time in the 100m breaststroke. Iris Bellis set an East Region record in the 800m freestyle and swam 25 seconds faster than she did the same event earlier this year.

The 8 swimmers between them set 15 new club records.

Results and full report to follow soon.

Dates for your Diary

Ten Pin Bowling next to Planet Ice near MK station on Friday 12th November. Contact Donna for further details.

The Presentation Dinner will be held on Friday 7th January. After a superb meal last January we are returning to Martini Italian Restaurant, Leighton Buzzard. Please keep this date free and bring partners. Awards will be made - some serious, some not!

Berks and South Bucks Masters Gala, Maidenhead

We enjoyed another strong performance at the Berks and South Bucks Masters Gala held at Maidenhead on 16th October, taking home an impressive 14 medals.

The more mature swimmers showed the youngsters how it's done, with Iris Bellis and Christine Ayers each winning three gold medals.

In the 65 to 69 age group, Iris Bellis set new meet records in the 50m and 100m Freestyle.

In the 55 to 59 age group, Christine Ayers broke a meet record in the 200m Breaststroke and set a new East Region record in the 200m Individual Medley in a personal best time.

In the 30 to 34 age group, Rachel Buckingham set three new personal best times all of which were new club records, taking home one gold (50m Freestyle) and three silver medals (100m Backstroke, 100m & 200m Freestyle).

Jo Jenner set four new personal best times and collected two silver (50m Backstroke & 100m Individual Medley) and two bronze medals (100m Backstroke & 200m Individual Medley).

Congratulations to all the swimmers.

Barnet Sprint Meet

15 club records and East Region records for Sarah's 50 Breaststroke and Janet's 50m Backstroke, 50m Freestyle and 50m Fly.

The "old girls relay" won - unopposed - and are ranked No 1 for this year so far! (not many teams have swum the 240 years 4 x 50m freestyle relay yet)

World Masters - Gothenburg.

Congratulations to Janet and Chris on their swims in Sweden this summer.

Janet deserved a medal just for competing as she had her leg in plaster until just a couple of weeks prior to the event. She swam personal best times and East Region records in all 4 events and gained the bronze medal for the 50m Fly.

Chris swam particularly well in his 3 Breaststroke events and all 3 were new club records.

West Suffolk masters at Bury st Edmunds.

We had eight swimmers at Bury for the home club's first masters meet.

Out of the 23 clubs in attendance, we finished in 4th place, behind home club West Suffolk, 2nd Colchester, and 3rd was Cambridge.

With only a small entry, they decided not to give medals for each of the first three in each age group and in each event, but to give medals for the first three in each age group on their combined score from their best four events.

Lesley Bellis and Chris Ayers both won their age groups, Iris Bellis and Chris Jessup both came second, and Sarah Pearse and Daniel Hayes both came third.

We also had 9 new club records.

Bedfordshire County Masters Meet.

Bedfordshire have arranged a closed County Masters Meet to be held at the High School Pool, Bromham Road, Bedford.

Entries have to be in shortly, and the meet will only go ahead if enough entries are received, so it is imperitive that as many of our members enter as possible, and they enter as many events as they can manage to swim in one session.

It is important for Masters Swimming in the county that we make this work this year - even at this short notice - it is a case of "Use it or lose it".

Please see the calendar page for further details.

10th Welsh Capital Masters Meet, Cardiff.

4 SBM swimmers; 18 swims; 3 bronze, 2 silver and 2 gold medals; 7 Club & 3 East Region records.

Great 10 lane, 50m pool & facilities and a very well run event.

Aylesbury Relay Gala Results

After a recount, St Alban's Masters and Witney tied in 1st place with 186 points, we came 3rd with 158 points, CMK were 4th with 138, Amersham had 137 points in 5th place, Bicester 116 points in 6th and Aylesbury bringing up the rear with 100 points.

As usual it was a very well run gala. Grateful thanks go to Alan Bennett, Mick Elliott and Stuart Hastings for officiating on our behalf.

Well done to all who swam - a great team effort!

Decathlon Position 2009

The 2009 results are now finalised.

Chris Marshall's swims at the South Yorkshire Masters in December gave him 4 extra qualifying swims and he has shot up the list. Keith's good swims improved his score at that event too, so has also risen up the list.

As a result our Men's team have improved 9 places, and it looks as though JB's target of both teams getting in the top 50 in 2009 has been well and truly achieved!

The challenge for this year is to beat all personal points scores (which may be harder for some of us than others due to the new costume ruling), and for the Ladies team to get into the top 15 and Mens team the top 25!

Jacquie's Relay Channel Swim

A message from Jacquie.

Ever wanted to swim the Channel?

Well it was something I was interested in as a teenager when I spent numerous hours swimming in chlorine infested waters training for galas and life-saving competitions. I never, however, got round to it.

So when I received an email from Diabetes UK last year about swimming the Channel as part of a team of 6 in a relay, it didn't take me long to make up my mind and go for it.

Last September I went down to Dover for the first training/fact finding weekend. We had to do 3 swims in the sheltered harbour area the longest one being about 2.4km. No wetsuits were allowed and they even frowned when I wore my tri-suit for the first dip but I was thinking, the more of my skin I could have covered the better! The water was freezing but the sun was shining and for two of the swims the water was lovely and calm.

Anyway I put my name forward and now I will be attempting this challenge between the 9th and 16th August this year depending on the tides etc.

We all have to swim one hour each and there are very strict rules about not touching the boat if you need a quick bite to eat or drink and then it is 5 hours to rest, eat and throw up although not necessarily in that order! Apparently sea sickness will be harder to bare than the swimming, which will include coping with jelly fish, sand eels and of course some bloody big boats/tankers.

How long will it take I have been asked? Well it is like the preverbial piece of string, it will depend on how fast we swim and how rough the sea is etc. So how many times I will have to enter the water....I reckon at least 2 or 3.

As you can guess, being that this challenge is for a charity, I have to raise some funds. A minimum of £950. I know we have just had Christmas and are still in the realms of a credit crunch but if you are able to sponsor me I would be extremely grateful. You can either pop a cheque in an envelope and leave with John or Chris on poolside ( made payable to Diabetes UK ) or you can go on the following site and complete a payment online.

http://www.diabeteschallenge.org.uk/challenge/jacquiemaycock-channelswim2010

My next training weekends are in May and July so I will let you know how it all goes later in the year.

Many thanks - Jacquie Maycock

 

New Bletchley 8 lane pool opening January 4th 2010

We will be running training sessions at the new pool on Thursday evenings from 9.00pm -10.00pm starting on 7th January. Watch out for an email from JB with further details - or contact JB if you are not on our email list.