Regional medals for Reds to kick off 2025

Arguably the hardest Masters competition of each year, post the festive break and minimal training straight into a Long Course championships with stern opposition...and Crawley's K2 Centre, which does nobody any favours with its flimsy wave breakers and freezing cold poolside conditions (made worse this year with a broken fire door and ambient outdoor temperate of 4 degrees! Wonderful for anyone drawn in lanes 6,7 or 8.) Still, a trio of Southampton Masters made the South London trip, again opting for a single day of the weekend long programme but with names fluent in all strokes and distances! 

Matt Nash (25-29yrs) aimed to polish up his 100m pedigree, with Personal Bests over the 100m Butterfly (01.08.72) and 100m FC (01.03.69) and coming away with respectable Top.10 finishes in both. Tim O'Brien (70-74yrs) narrowly missed out on consecutive Freestyle titles over his 100m FC (01.17.41) as Paul Reynolds of Faversham SC stole a finish in an earlier heat to take Gold by less than 0.5 seconds. A Meet Record for Christopher Kaethner of Hackney Masters meant another Silver for O'Brien over the 50m Breaststroke (00.41.61) despite another Long Course Personal Best. Finally, James MacTavish (40-44yrs) endured a dolorous 200m Breaststroke (03.08.61) for the first time in three years, but sneaking a Bronze medal in the final five metres over Phil Southworth of Hillingdon by the finest of margins - 0.1 of a second! Tables were turned on the Southampton stalwart come the 200m IM (02.42.22) as Dover's Sean Friend snatched the touch in the heat before to secure Gold by the same margin. A strong showing in the 50m Breaststroke (00.38.93) and fastest time in over a decade wasn't enough for a podium spot, but an unexpected Top.5 finish nonetheless.

2025 will see the British Masters Championships debut at the London Aquatics Centre come June...and reminiscent of Europeans in 2016, all expect a sell-out event...with very few chances to qualify! South East Regionals saw many a familar name across the Home Counties seek to tighten up their Long Course technique and become very selective in their programme ahead of the Summer, and still the event was at capacity. A template for all our regular diary entries to come, and with new British, European and World Records being set so early in the season, expect the 2012 Olympic pool to be playing to much fanfare in a few months' time! 

Medal Tally:

GOLD : 0

SILVER : 3

BRONZE : 1

TOTAL : 4

James MacTavish

City of Southampton Masters