Contents Introduction ASA Masters Conference 2015 Awards East Region Silver Pin East Region

Beds ASA Masters Newsletter

November 2015

Contents Introduction ASA Masters Conference 2015 Awards -- East Region Silver Pin -- East Region Champs Record Breakers Beds County Masters Records 2015 Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2015 - Interim Results 5th Nov 2015 Region, County and Club Reports -- Report on East Region Masters Development Day -- Report on ER Round of the Masters Inter-County Competition 2015 -- South Beds Masters Report -- Team Luton Masters Report

Introduction With the completion of the East Region Champs, the ASA National Short Course Champs and the Masters Inter-County competition the season is drawing to a close. The interim results of the Beds Masters Decathlon are converging on likely winners. The men’s ranking is now headed by Dave Cartledge (Modernian) and the Women are headed by Christine Ayres (South Beds) who has narrowly overtaken club-mate Janet Masters. The National Masters Conference is drawing near, so go and make your voice heard. If you missed the ER Training Day this year, checkout the report and see if it is for you next year.

ASA Masters Conference 2015 The ASA Masters Conference will be held at The ASA, SportPark, Pavilion 3, 3 Oakwood Drive, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3QF on 29 November 2015. There will be a 10.00am start - finish no later than 4.30pm. The cost is £10 per person which includes all refreshments. Morning session to discuss the Future of Masters & Europeans 2016 Afternoon sessions include: hints and tips on training for the Europeans, Psychology for Masters Swimmers, How speedo products can help you, and Jane Asher’s discussing her experiences. To book a place please see the Masters Hub: http://www.swimming.org/masters/asa-masters-conference/ It would be great to have as many people attend as possible so that we get a good cross section of views about the future of Masters. If you cannot find information on special requirements you may have, eg. dietary, accommodation, etc., further enquiries should be sent to the Masters Officer: [email protected]

Awards East Region Silver Pin The East Region ASA has awarded John Bellis the “Silver Pin” for services to Masters swimming. Congratulations John. John is presented with his Silver Pin by Gerry Metcalf

East Region Champs Record Breakers A good number of Bedfordshire swimmers attended this meet and broke several of the East Region records and received awards from the Regional and County Presidents at the ER Champs.. In particulat Pat Reynolds (Beaver Masters 65-69) 400 Freestyle 5:12.42, 100 Freestyle 1:23.74, 100 Backstroke 1:32.68, 200 Backstroke 3:18.07, Christine Ayres (South Beds 60-64) 200 Freestyle 2:52.75, Janet Masters (South Beds 75-79) 200 Freestyle 3:36.60, 200 Backstroke 3:49.98, Lucy Gregory (South Beds 18-24) 100 Backstroke 1:08.36, and Malcolm Barton (Team Luton 60-65) who received a voucher spot prize for an earlier ER Long Course record in 200 Breaststroke 3:15.62 from David Robinson the ER Masters Manager and Meet Organiser

Pat Reynolds (Beavers), Christine Ayres (South Beds) and Pat Reynolds (Beavers) again

Malcolm Barton (Team Luton) and David Robinson Beds County Masters Records 2015 John Bellis is our records keeper, and record claims should be sent by email to him at [email protected] , or by post as detailed on the claim form on the Beds ASA website. Since the last newsletter in August, there have been swims at Barnet, East Region Champs at Newmarket, the ASA National Short Course Masters Championships at Sheffield and World Masters at Kazan (LC). The following new records have been set. Many of these are also East Region records. See the latest records at http://bedscountyasa.com/masters-county-records/

A/Grp Event Name Club Time Date Venue M/F 18-24 50 Backstroke Lucy Gregory South Beds 0.32.23 15.11.15 Newmarket F 35-39 50 Breaststroke Miriama Owens Putteridge 0.36.19 15.11.15 Newmarket F 55-50 50 Butterfly Dave Cartledge Modernians 0.30.43 15.11.15 Newmarket M 55-59 50 Freestyle Dave Cartledge Modernians 0.27.79 15.11.15 Newmarket M 75-79 100 Backstroke Janet Masters South Beds 1.44.23 25.10.15 Sheffield F 75-79 400 Ind-Medley Janet Masters South Beds 8.20.33 25.10.15 Sheffield F 60-64 50 Freestyle Peter Iles South Beds 0.30.91 25.10.15 Sheffield M 60-64 50 Butterfly Peter Iles South Beds 0.34.35 25.10.15 Sheffield M 18-24 50 Butterfly Lawrence Palmer Putteridge 0.25.68 25.10.15 Sheffield M 35-39 200 Backstroke Carrie Page Putteridge 3.01.84 25.10.15 Sheffield F 35-39 50 Freestyle Miriama Owens Putteridge 0.28.30 25.10.15 Sheffield F 35-39 800 Freestyle Miriama Owens Putteridge 10.22.41 25.10.15 Sheffield F 55-59 400 Ind-Medley Alastair Gibb Team Luton 5.56.73 25.10.15 Sheffield M 35-39 50 Butterfly Sam Hammond South Beds 0.32.17 25.10.15 Sheffield F 18-24 200 Breaststroke Emma Irvine South Beds 2.54.57 24.10.15 Sheffield F 35-39 100 Ind-Medley Sam Hammond South Beds 1.17.01 24.10.15 Sheffield F 30-34 100 Freestyle Carla King South Beds 1.01.52 24.10.15 Sheffield F 75-79 200 Backstroke Janet Masters South Beds 3.44.88 24.10.15 Sheffield F 75-79 100 Butterfly Janet Masters South Beds 1.54.02 24.10.15 Sheffield F 75-79 100 Ind-Medley Janet Masters South Beds 1.46.18 24.10.15 Sheffield F 30-34 50 Breaststroke Richard Lewindon South Beds 0.33.64 24.10.15 Sheffield M 35-39 200 Breaststroke Joel Storry South Beds 3.08.77 24.10.15 Sheffield M 18-24 100 Ind-Medley Lawrence Palmer Putteridge 0.57.30 24.10.15 Sheffield M 18-24 50 Breaststroke Lawrence Palmer Putteridge 0.26.83 24.10.15 Sheffield M 35-39 100 Backstroke Carrie Page Putteridge 1.22.48 24.10.15 Sheffield F 35-39 100 Freestyle Miriama Owens Putteridge 1.01.54 24.10.15 Sheffield F 35-39 400 Freestyle Miriama Owens Putteridge 4.56.50 24.10.15 Sheffield F 60-64 50 Breaststroke Colin Mayes Team Luton 0.37.32 24.10.15 Sheffield M 60-64 200 Breaststroke Colin Mayes Team Luton 3.01.84 24.10.15 Sheffield M 60-64 100 Ind-Medley Colin Mayes Team Luton 1.17.07 24.10.15 Sheffield M 72 + 200 Medley Relay Emma Irvine South Beds 2.03.04 24.10.15 Sheffield MX Jack McGarry Louis Bell Carla King 18-24 100 Breaststroke Emma Irvine South Beds 1.19.35 23.10.15 Sheffield F 35-39 200 Ind-Medley Sam Hammond South Beds 2.55.15 23.10.15 Sheffield F 75-79 50 Backstroke Janet Masters South Beds 0.47.49 23.10.15 Sheffield F 75-79 200 Ind-Medley Janet Masters South Beds 3.52.62 23.10.15 Sheffield F 18-24 200 Ind-Medley Lawrence Palmer Putteridge 2.07.90 23.10.15 Sheffield M 35-39 200 Freestyle Miriama Owens Putteridge 2.18.53 23.10.15 Sheffield F 60-64 100 Breaststroke Colin Mayes Team Luton 1.23.28 23.10.15 Sheffield M 60-64 200 Freestyle Colin Mayes Team Luton 2.36.98 23.10.15 Sheffield M 72 + 200 Freestyle Jack McGarry South Beds 1.53.19 23.10.15 Sheffield MX Relay Kaz Melvin Louis Bell Emma Irvine 16-24 200 Freestyle Emma Irvine South Beds 2.23.69 03.10.15 Newmarket F 18-24 100 Backstroke Lucy Gregory South Beds 1.08.36 03.10.15 Newmarket F 18-24 100 Ind-Medley Lucy Gregory South Beds 1.11.80 03.10.15 Newmarket F 35-39 400 Freestyle Clare Warren South Beds 5.28.62 03.10.15 Newmarket F 35-39 100 Ind-Medley Sam Hammond South Beds 1.18.20 03.10.15 Newmarket F 35-39 200 Ind-Medley Clare Warren South Beds 2.59.46 03.10.15 Newmarket F 60-64 200 Freestyle Christine Ayers South Beds 2.52.75 03.10.15 Newmarket F 75-79 200 Freestyle Janet Masters South Beds 3.36.60 03.10.15 Newmarket F 75-79 200 Backstroke Janet Masters South Beds 3.49.98 03.10.15 Newmarket F 55-59 400 Freestyle Alastair Gibb Team Luton 5:14.5 03.10.15 Newmarket M 60-64 100 Ind-Medley Colin Mayes Team Luton 1:21.4 03.10.15 Newmarket M 160-199 200 Freestyle Clare Warren South Beds 2.06.47 03.10.15 Newmarket F Relay Christine Ayers Sam Hammond Carla King 160-199 200 Freestyle Simon Beveridge South Beds 2.01.04 03.10.15 Newmarket M Relay Peter Iles Peter Leadbetter Joel Storry 75-79 50 Backstroke Janet Masters South Beds 0.47.58 06.09.15 Barnet F 75-79 50 Butterfly Janet Masters South Beds 0.50.31 06.09.15 Barnet F 75-79 100 Ind-Medley Janet Masters South Beds 1.46.41 06.09.15 Barnet F 160-199 200 Freestyle Joanne Holder South Beds 2.01.98 06.09.15 Barnet MX Relay Joel Storry Peter Iles Carla King 160-199 200 Medley Relay Joanne Holder South Beds 2.19.11 06.09.15 Barnet MX Joel Storry Peter Iles Carla King 75-79 100 Backstroke Janet Masters South Beds 1.46.48 15.08.15 Kazan LC F 75-79 100 Butterfly Janet Masters South Beds 2.00.95 13.08.15 Kazan LC F 75-79 200 Backstroke Janet Masters South Beds 3.53.46 11.08.15 Kazan LC F 35-39 50 Freestyle Joel Storry South Beds 0.31.57 05.08.15 Stockholm LC M 35-30 200 Breaststroke Joel Storry South Beds 3.20.96 05.08.15 Stockholm LC M 35-39 100 Freestyle Joel Storry South Beds 1.12.84 05.08.15 Stockholm LC M

Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2015 - Interim Results 5th November 2015 The Beds results were extracted from the National results and are shown below, with national position in brackets.

Beds Women Masters Points Ranking South Beds ladies continue to top the Beds Decathlon. Christine Ayres has narrowly taken the lead from Janet Masters. Both have cracked the 4500 points mark and are in the British top 50. So far, 1530 ladies have competed nationally.

Rank Swimmer Beds Club Age Points 1 (39) Christine Ayers South Beds 75 4731 2 (42) Janet Masters South Beds 62 4682 3 (101) Kate Robinson South Beds 24 3648 4 (149) Laura Robinson South Beds 27 3223 5 (150) Emma Irvine South Beds 21 3201 6 (172) Carla King South Beds 32 3039 7 (173) Kaz Malvin South Beds 24 3033 8 (184) Miriama Owens Putteridge 35 2988 9 (205) Andrea Minor South Beds 67 2812 10 (212) Alison Sheehan South Beds 57 2786

In the ladies club team results, out of 402 clubs in the national rankings, South Beds Masters (Janet Masters, Laura Robinson, Christine Ayers, and Carla King) are in 10th place in the National rankings, Putteridge are in 119th place and Biggleswade ladies are in 149th place, Flitwick are in 169th place, Beavers in 287th place and Team Luton in 297th place.

Beds Men Masters Points Ranking The Modernian men have put in some excellent 500+ point swims. Dave Cartledge has stays at the top of the ranking and is in ninth place Nationally. He is closely followed by Marcel Scholten, who has won this competition for the last three years. The Beds top 3 are in the top 50 nationally. So far there are 2079 men competing nationally,

Rank Swimmer Beds Club Age Points 1 (9) Dave Cartledge Modernian 55 5638 2 (21) Marcel Scholten Modernian 49 5281 3 (50) Graham Powell Team Luton 59 4652 4 (83) Alastair Gibb Team Luton 55 4110 5 (98) Richard Lewindon South Beds 30 3944 6 (106) David Wright Team Luton 54 3810 7 (143) Lawrence Palmer Putteridge 23 3549 8 (196) Colin Mayes Team Luton 60 3286 9 (244) Lewis King Putteridge 25 3015 10 (261) Christopher Marshall South Beds 59 2938

For the men's teams, out of 466 clubs in the national rankings, Team Luton (Alastair Gibb, Colin Mayes, Graham Powell and David Wright) moved to 12th place ahead of Modernians in 29st place, Putteridge in 47th place, South Beds in 60th place and Flitwick in 147th place.

Region, County and Club Reports

Report on the East Region Masters Development Day On the 20th September 2015, the ASA East Region saw its first Masters Development Day take place at Culford School with 32 attendees booked on. The day began with a presentation from Sharon Lock, the ASA’s Masters Officer about the work that she does for masters clubs and their members, and the difference between British Swimming and the ASA. Sharon highlighted the officers available to all masters members and their clubs for help and support when needed. The Q & A session provided and opportunity for the swimmers to find out more about the rankings process, qualifications for the European Masters event, and long course opportunities. The day progressed with a presentation from Karen Howells, Sport Psychologist from Loughborough University on the topic of nutrition and hydration for masters swimmers. Karen explored the idea of our body as a ‘training machine’ and how to feed it the right fuel. Examples such as a 2% decrease in hydration resulted in a 10% drop in performance made interesting listening for the group. Little suggestions such as changing from white pasta to brown were ‘food for thought’ for our swimmers on the day. Following this presentation was David Jakeman, Strength and Conditioning Therapist- discussing Injury prevention and hints and tips for strength and conditioning and how important it is to improve performance and prevent future injuries. David described how masters swimmers should be concentrating on improving the strength of their type 2 muscle fibres and using plyometrics to aid in this. Pilates and yoga were also highlighted as a more general compliment to swimming to improve the core of our bodies, which results in better performance. After lunch, David went through some of the exercises recommended to improve the swimmers core muscles in the sports hall and highlighted how easy they can be done at home around training sessions in the pool and does not have to be done in a gym. The pool session concluded the day, being led by Ian Gunter, Masters swimming Coach for over 20 years. He was supported on poolside by Sharon Lock and Phil Ward, swimming coach for West Suffolk SC. The session broke down starts and turns for the swimmers, highlighting the need to concentrate on these, just as much as the strokes themselves. Increasing power through the full phase of freestyle was also included within the set, along with training at race pace. Each swimmer was given a handout on how to develop a set using the race pace mathematics. After the success of this development day for masters swimmers, the East Region will be looking at planning something similar next year to provide further opportunities for our swimmers.

(Report from ASA East Region)

Report on ER Round of the Masters Inter-County Competition 2015 This year’s East Region round of the Inter County Masters was held at Newmarket on the 15th November, and after winning the event last year, we had high hopes again for this year, but the team suffered from key swimmers being unavailable due to illness, family matters, work commitments etc. The result, we finished in fourth place, showed the lack of depth in certain age groups that we have in the County. The final points were: Norfolk 280 Cambridgeshire 261 Suffolk 258 Bedfordshire 216 Essex 206 Hertfordshire 169 The County had seven individual wins, plus one first place in the relay events. The Individual wins came from Lawrence Palmer (Putteridge) 18+ Breaststroke, Carla King (South Beds) 25+ Freestyle, there were two wins for Marcel Scholten (Modernians) in the 45+ Freestyle and Breaststroke events, and in the 55+ age group there were wins for Dave Cartledge (Modernians) Freestyle, Colin Mayes (Team Luton) Breaststroke and Graham Powell (Team Luton) Backstroke. The relay win came in the Mens 72 years and above 4 x 50 Freestyle relay, the team being Brandon Nabarro, Jordan Batson, Lawrence Palmer (all Putteridge) and Harry Wears (Leighton Buzzard). There were four new County Masters records set, Lucy Gregory (South Beds) 18-24 yrs. 50 Backstroke 0:32.23. Miriama Owens (Putteridge) 35-39 yrs. 50 Breaststroke 0:36.19. And there were two records for Dave Cartledge (Modernians) in the 55-59 yrs. 50 Freestyle 0:27.79, and the 50 Butterfly 0:30.43. (Report by John Bellis)

South Beds Masters Report It has been a busy few months for South Beds. In August, Janet Masters travelled to Kazan in Russia to swim in the World Masters. Competing in the 75 to 79 age group, Janet had five swims and picked up medals in four of them, two Silver and two Bronze. Her Silver medals came in the 200 IM, and 100 Backstroke, where she missed the Gold by 0.03 seconds. Janet’s two Bronze medals came in the 50 and 100 Butterfly events. On the 3rd of October the club had 16 swimmers at the East Region Masters Championships at Newmarket, where the club won 50 Individual medals, 24 gold, 19 silver and 7 bronze. Setting nine new Individual County Records in the process. The club also entered six relay teams, and won them all. In the relays, two County records were broken, the Ladies 160 to 199 years Freestyle Relay team of Clare Warren, Christine Ayers, Sam Hammond, and Carla King. Also breaking the County record were the Men’s 160-199 years Freestyle team of Simon Beveridge, Peter Iles, Peter Leadbetter, and Joel Storry. The club also broke four East Region records, Lucy Gregory 18-24 100 Backstroke, Christine Ayers 60-64 200 freestyle, and Janet Masters in the 75- 79 200 freestyle and 200 backstroke. On the 23rd to 25th of October, 15 swimmers travelled to Ponds Forge in Sheffield to compete in the ASA Short Course Nationals. The club won 17 medals, 10 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze. Of the ten gold medals, eight were won by Janet Masters who was in sparkling form, for seven of the eight were new east region and County records in the 75-79 age group. The other two golds were won by Christine Ayers in the 60-64 age group, in the 100 Breaststroke, and the 100 IM. The swimmers also set 16 new Individual County records. The club also entered four relay teams, winning a silver medal in the 72 years + Mixed Medley Relay, the team of Emma Irvine, Jack McGarry, Louis Bell, and Carla King also broke their own County Record. There was also a County Record in the 72 years + Freestyle Relay . (Report by John Bellis)

Team Luton Masters Report Team Luton’s Masters, old and new, have been in medal winning and record breaking form. On her competitive debut at the age of 43, Eloise Turner, a self-taught swimmer, won two gold medals at the Barnet Copthall swim meet in July. Eloise only received her first ever formal poolside training late last year. Having taken gold in her very first race, the 100m Breaststroke, Eloise quickly experienced the nervous tensions that come with heat declared winner events. After watching the faster seeded competitors in the 50m event, coach Pauline Harrington delightedly advised Eloise that she had secured a second gold by the narrowest of margins, just 1/100th of a second. A flat car battery and consequent late arrival did not assist Eloise at her next competition, the East Region championships. However, by the time of her last event, she was composed enough to better her 100m Breaststroke time by a further three seconds. Her fellow team mates enjoyed multiple successes, bringing home a total of 25 medals, eleven of them gold, and recording two new County Masters records in the process. John O’Rourke (46) collected two gold medals in the 400m Freestyle and 200m Backstroke. David Wright (45) powered his way to a gold medal over 100m Butterfly in a winning time of 1:14.55. Alastair Gibb (55) came away with two gold medals from the 200m IM and 200m Backstroke. His time of 5:14.52 in the 400m Freestyle shaved 0.11 seconds off the Bedfordshire County record. Graham Powell (59) won both the 50m and 100m backstroke titles; the latter in a season’s personal best time. Friendly team rivalry was also in evidence in the 60 – 64 year age group. Colin Mayes won both the 50m and 100 Breaststroke with Malcolm Barton finishing second on each occasion. Mayes beat his own Beds County masters record to win the 100m IM. Malcolm Barton nevertheless came away with his own gold medal, winning the 200m Breaststroke. Team Luton’s men were defending their East Region 200+ years 4 x 50m Freestyle and Medley relay titles. Despite finishing second in both races this year, they only lost to a visiting Spanish team. It was still an impressive achievement, considering the Freestyle relay of Powell, Wright, O’Rourke and Gibb had a combined age of 214 years whilst the Medley relay of Powell, Mayes, Wright and Gibb had 228 years between them. Further success came at the Nationals in Sheffield with the travelling squad of eight Masters showing their strength in depth and versatility with an impressive total of 26 top ten finishes. The swimmers brought home three silver and five bronze medals, broke one East Region and six County records. All of the squad set personal best times for the year. Some of their swims were the fastest in five years, a testament to the coaching from Pauline Harrington. Although competing for the final year in the 55-59 year age group, Graham Powell still won silver and bronze medals in the 50m and 100m Backstroke. A further silver medal came in the 100m butterfly but Powell just missed out on a medal over 50m, finishing fourth in a time of 30.96 secs. This was just 2/100ths of a second slower than his own Beds County record set back in 2011. In the same age group, Alastair Gibb finished in the top ten in all five of his events. His best result came in the 400m Individual Medley, finishing fourth in a time of 5:56.73. Beating the East Region and Beds county records that he had set back in April by a further 2.3 seconds, Gibb has this year reduced the county record by over 50 seconds. Having moved up to the 60-64 year age group, Colin Mayes was also in County record-breaking form in all five of his events. Three of those came as Mayes finished in third place in the 100m Individual Medley and both the 50 and 100 metres Breaststroke. With a 6.5 second improvement on his own record over the 200m Breaststroke, Mayes was rewarded with a silver medal. A fifth County record came in the 200m Freestyle. Malcolm Barton posted his own personal best times of the year in all three of the 60-64 year Breaststroke events. He finished seventh in the 50m, fifth in the 100m but topped it off with a bronze over the 200m, to add to the bronze medal won earlier in the year at the long course (50m pool) GB Masters championships. Barton’s time over the 50 metres Breaststroke was his best for three years. Malcolm also swam to fourth place in the 400 IM. Swimming for his final year in the 50-54 year age group, David Wright recorded best times for the year in all five of his events. He finished in sixth place in the 200m Butterfly, eighth in the 400m IM and ninth in the 200m Backstroke. Wright’s time in his 400m IM was two seconds faster than when he had last swum the event five years ago. John O’Rourke, in the 45 49 year age group, joined his three fellow club mates who competed in the 400m IM in securing a top ten finish. His time was a personal best by three seconds. O’Rourke’s best placing was a fourth in the 200m Backstroke as he swam his fastest time for five years in that event. His time over the 200m Freestyle was also his fastest in five years. Competing in the same age group, Ian Norman recorded his best times for two years in both his 50m and 200m Freestyle. After a fourteen-year absence from Masters competition, Glenda Mayes smashed her entry times in all three of her events in the 55-59 year age group. Her best result came with a sixth place in the 50m Backstroke. In the past couple of years the men have tended to dominate the club’s Masters achievements. However the performances of both Eloise Turner and Glenda Mayes should be an encouragement to the squad’s recent new female members (and indeed all Masters) that you are never too old to start or to return to competitive swimming. (Report by Alastair Gibb)