THE recent Lincolnshire County Masters’ Championships saw 19 swimmers from Gainsborough Dolphins descend upon the Meridian Leisure Centre at Louth. From 56 events in which they competed they tallied a magnificent 40 medals claiming fourth overall in their bid for the Carol Patch Memorial Trophy for top club. Without question top performer was 52 year old Mike Sloan who was in outstanding form claiming two new County records on his way to winning five gold and one silver medal in the category F (50-54 years). Smashing nearly a full second off the previous record in the 50m butterfly he also broke the previous mark in the 100m freestyle by just under half a second whilst he was denied a hat-trick of records by two one hundredths of a second as he claimed the 50m backstroke title. Victories also came in the 100m Individual Medley (I/M) and 50m freestyle whilst his second place came in the 50m breaststroke. Recording a hat-trick of gold medals was 47 year old Mark Smith in category E (45-49 years) winning the 50m butterfly and both 50m and 100m freestyle events. Also competing in this category were 48 year old Jari Goddard and 49 year old Adrian Cawte. The former claimed a silver in the 50m backstroke whilst he was unlucky to just miss the medals in his three other events (50m butterfly, 50m and 100m freestyle) placing fourth. Adrian also won one medal from his four events finishing third in the 50m backstroke with fourth in the 50m breaststroke, fifth in the 50m butterfly and sixth in the 50m freestyle. The five female swimmers all had a fantastic championship with 22 year old Emily Wright securing gold in the 50m butterfly, breaststroke and freestyle whilst she had to settle for silver in the 100m freestyle and I/M of category L (18-24 years). In her first ever competition 30 year old Rachael Hughes beat the nerves to claim victory in the category B (30-34 years) 50m freestyle with a silver the reward in the 50m breaststroke. The same result was achieved by 41 year old Becky Hunt in category D (40-44 years) winning the 50m backstroke with second in the 50m freestyle whilst in category C (35-39 years) both Rachel Haldenby (39) and Jeanette Morris (36) claimed respective fifth places in the 50m freestyle and backstroke with Rachel placing second in the 50m breaststroke with Jeanette in third. In category A (25-29 years) 25 year old Adam Butters struck gold in the 100m I/M with silver in the 50m breaststroke with James Lugg (30) winning the category B 100m freestyle and placing second in the 50m freestyle. The category L for the men contained the most entrants proving it tough for both Pete Trickett (19) and another debutant Ian Hansford (24). Despite their best efforts Pete claimed one medal in the 100m freestyle with a fourth in the 50m backstroke and sixth in the 100m I/M whilst the reward for Ian was a very creditable sixth in the 50m breaststroke and ninth in the 50m freestyle. The men’s category C saw three representatives from Dolphins with 39 year old Chris Webster returning with a handful of silver medals from all of his four events (50m backstroke, freestyle and butterfly and 100m I/M) whilst Steve Morris (39) won bronze in the 50m backstroke with fourth in the 50m breaststroke and sixth in the 50m freestyle. Masters Team Manager for the Gainsborough club Nic Clover (37) also won four medals claiming gold in the 100m freestyle, silver in the 50m breaststroke and two bronze in the 50m freestyle and 100m I/M. The final events of the competition saw all the swimmers combine over six mixed relays of two male and two female in various age group categories with silver in the 120-159 years I/M relay as the quartet of Becky, Adam, Chris and Rachael were just beaten by the Louth team. In the 18-24 years two bronze medals were secured by Pete, Emily, Ian and Katie Blades (20) in both the I/M and freestyle relays whilst the four of James, Jeanette, Steve and Rachael just missed the medals placing fourth in the 120-159 years freestyle relay. The final two medals to be won came from the 160-199 years as Becky, Rachel, Geoff Huddart (41) and Mark claimed bronze in the I/M relay whilst Geoff and Rachel were joined by Jeanette and Adrian for the same result in the freestyle relay. The Masters section of Gainsborough Dolphins has its own identity and water time away from the main competitive squads. The Masters squad is looking to build on numbers for the New Year so any ex-swimmers who fancy getting back in and reliving their youth or anyone who wishes to attend to improve their fitness are more than welcome. For more information please visit the Club website – www.gainsboroughdolphins.co.uk or contact Nic Clover skip06@talktalk.net.
