Regional medal rush for Southampton Masters

Gone now are the social restrictions and strict protocols of 2021 for South East Masters swimming where teams were ring fenced by region, ordered down to poolside with two meter spaces between heats and ushered round the 50m long pool of K2, Crawley. The more familiar and friendly atmosphere returned to Short Course Championships of 2022 with a record breaking entry list and experimental relays-only third session. All Masters clubs from the East Coast had their work cut out both individiually and as a quartet of all ages and genders, Southampton arguably travelling the farthest to be part of the South London action. 

The 10 strong Red contingent saw its youngest competitor represent the Senior 18-24yrs division right up to the most mature in the 55-59yrs bracket. Matt Nash (18-24yrs) stepped up from his success at County-Level to take a series of Top.5 finishes, coming closest to the podium in the 100m IM (01.12.66) but claiming Personal Bests in nearly every 50m sprint. At the other end of the spectrum, Kim Tarrant (55-59yrs) stole the Gold on the touch in the 100m Breaststroke (01.39.63), but cruelly denied a double when a twitch on the start ended in a disquaification...most harsh says the video replay (yes, all on YouTube. Most modern!)

Making up the middle-group, Melissa Dolby (25-29yrs) came back relatively refreshed after a week-long trip to Germany to defend her Regional Title in the 50m Butterfly (00.28.98) dipping below the twenty-nine second mark to set a new Championship record. A few fingertips away in the 100m FC (01.00.74) and 50m FC (00.27.71) to Rushmoor's Sammy Wilson saw consolation Silver medals. Ending their age-group Regional term on a high, Carl Halford (25-29yrs) battled to double-bronze over the 100m FC (00.57.02) and 100m Breaststroke (01.15.80) against firm opposition, whilst Hannah Darbyshire (25-29yrs) ducked under the thirty-four second barrier in the 50m Backstroke (00.33.68) to claim the top of the podium. Fiona Carroll (30-34yrs) powered through what must have felt like sprinting distances for the seasoned open water swimmer with solid times over 400m FC (04.42.63), 200m FC (02.15.81) and 100m FC (01.03.93), denied Gold on all occasions by Wycombe's middle-distance master Rebecca O'Brien. Lucy Gruner (40-44yrs) fought hard over her freestyle events to earn sterling Silvers in the 400m FC (05.20.13) and 200m FC (02.32.71) and a brave Bronze in the 100m FC (01.08.64) on the touch. 

Amanda Rush (50-54yrs) took the spolis in the 50m FC (00.32.92) by the slimmest of margins - two-thousands of a second - to claim more Gold for CSSC, age-group compatriot Suzanne Van Leeuwan (50-54yrs) taking several minutes to digest that she too had become a Regional Champion over the 50m Butterfly (00.39.53) after a gutsy and well-deserved surge to the finish. Finally, James MacTavish (40-44yrs) drew on the strong pacing of Club compatriot Carroll to claim the 400m FC (04.42.98) in a surprise Championship Record time, whilst settling for Silver over the 200m IM (02.34.54) behind the busy agenda of Martinus Marx of Crawley.

A change in tradition, and pace, 2022 saw all relay events staged in a final third session. This led to a packed series of races from 4x200m right down to 4x50m, over all ages and yes, Mens/Womens/Mixed...all in two hours! Tired bodies from two individual sessions beforehand went from block-to-block within minutes to clock as many registered qualifying times as possible ahead of Nationals later in the month - Southampton playing it safe and opting for only 4x50m Mixed events in the 120yrs+. Our patience paid off, as the quartet of Darbyshire/Halford/Nash/Dolby snuck ahead of Brighton and Atlantis SC to take the title in the 4x50m Medley, quickly followed by another victory in the FC equivalent through Halford/MacTavish/Carroll/Dolby, catching Kings Cormorants on the final leg. 

K2 Centre is likely to be the location of choice for future SER Masters and Age-Group events, and as such will always be open to feedback as to how best to run heavy competitions - little things like early declaration of relays and possible two-day spread (similar to Long Course events) might be on the cards moving forwards. For now, a huge congratulations for CSSC Masters as we look forward to both the Swim England Nationals in Ponds Forge at the end of October and then, a title-defence for the Inter-County Masters Championships in London. 

MEDAL TALLY:

GOLD : 8

SILVER : 12

BRONZE : 5

TOTAL : 25

James MacTavish

CSSC Masters Coach