Podium placing and personal bests at Regionals

Second time to the K2 Centry in Crawley for Southampton Masters in 2024 as Short Course Regionals saw nine Reds make the trip to the familiar South London venue ahead of the National Swim England Championships come October end - qualifying window for the latter firmly closed despite severely steep entry times...quite the testament to the discipline!

Heading up the haul was senior leader Tim O'Brien (70-74yrs), unstoppable across the FC events - sprint to distance - with titles in the 50m (0034.00), 100m (01.16.94) and 200m (02.49.99), an open field over the 50m Breaststroke (00.43.15) making the quadruple. Rare that a triple Gold is beaten, but nonetheless, Melissa Halford (nee-Dolby, 25-29yrs) made the most of her final year as a vicenarian claiming both the 50m (00.27.63) and 100m (01.01.66) FC titles before striking thrice in a stunning personal best over 100m Butterfly (01.05.56), out touched only by Woking's International favourite Michelle Ware (45-49yrs). A double-Gold came from husband Carl Halford (30-34yrs), the first over more friendly territory in the 400m FC (04.29.79), the second a gruelling 400m IM (05.16.88) during the afternoon session of the day and up against the pace of veteran James Wardle (35-39yrs)...the pair well clear of the field mind.

Tom Williams (25-29yrs) and Matt Nash (25-29yrs) competed in arguably the toughest of age categories, and in the hottest of fields over 50m and 100m distances - Williams securing strong times in the 50m Breaststroke (00.33.89) and 100m Breaststroke (01.15.14) for Top.10 placings, Nash just short of the podium on the 50m Butterfly (00.29.69) but making up ground over the 100m Butterfly (01.06.83) for a well deserved Bronze. 

Elliot Neal (30-34yrs) continued his climb into Masters from a successful Hampshire Championships with Silver over the 100m FC (01.01.77), with Annie Belasco (35-39yrs) taking Bronze in the 100m IM (01.27.73) after just missing out over the 400m FC (05.54.33) despite another personal best time. James MacTavish (40-44yrs) secured his first 200m IM (02.37.56) Regional title in morning session before dutifully resorting to poolside volunteering (let's not forget how these events are run everyone!) 

Finally, Kim Tarrant (55-59yrs) proved age need not be any barrier for the finest of success with a personal best over 100m Breaststroke (01.35.76), settling for Silver behind regular rival Claire Tagg of South Down Trojans but overjoyed regardless...furthermore with another silver lining in the 50m Breaststroke (00.44.54), this time beaten by National sprint Champion Alice Price. 

To hit double-digits for titles at an increasingly competitive Regional Masters level without aid from relays (finishing just a bit too late this year given our near two-hour drive back to the coast!) is a wonderful achievement, and again, to welcome new talent alongside familiar faces illustrates not just the discipline's growth, but City of Southampton's as well. 

On to Ponds Forge!

MEDAL TALLY:

GOLD : 10

SILVER : 3

BRONZE : 2

TOTAL : 15

James MacTavish

CSSC Masters