County Masters closes with relay win for CSSC
For the second year in a row, Hampshire Masters enjoyed not one...but two days of regional racing. The introduction of the longer distance events earlier in 2025 (400m / 800m) offered not only a shot at clocking much-needed qualifying times for the discipline's athletes, but broader baseline for medals - over 300 given out to approximate 160 senior-aged swimmers by my early estimates!
Day one back in April saw Southampton Masters come away with a touch of metal - Tim O'Brien securing the title over the 400m FC (06.09.69) in an unquestionable highlight, Elliot Neale (30-34yrs) and James MacTavish (40-44yrs) tidying up over the staple 25m splash-and-dash sprints across all four strokes. Club positioning over the two days is all about final points, a somewhat flawed system given some clubs are simply larger than others and with considerable demographic depth (Basingstoke Bluefins and South Down Trojans the two leviathans of late), the Basingstoke hosts cleaning up over the longer distance and setting a healthy lead moving into Day two. The trend continued, with a near clean sweep of relay titles (4x50m FC and Medley - 72yrs/120yrs/200yrs+) - the trophy cabinet beginning to look well stacked for the Bluefins as the Swim England 150yr Anniversary Shields for shifted their way, all spare for a sensational effort from the Reds (M.Halford/C.Halford/T.Williams/F.Carroll) over the 50m FC shuttle at the youngest division, a shield spared and defended to ensure some hardware makes its way back to The Quays.
The quartet struck considerable individual success too - Melissa Halford (nee Dolby : 30-34yrs) stepped up a divisional decade and claimed titles across all her entries - 100m FC (01.01.94) and 50m Butterly (00.29.11) touch-finish stand outs. Husband Carl (30-34yrs) solidified status as a leading middle-distance master with victories over 200m FC (02.05.05) and 200m IM (02.28.02), Tom Williams (25-29yrs) opting for 100m Breaststroke (01.14.66) and 50m Butterfly (00.28.09) for top podium placings. Fiona Carroll (30-34yrs) continued her climb back to full fitness after a year under the knife with Gold in the 200m FC (02.19.95).
A few age-groups' up, Annie Belasco (35-39yrs) stepped up for 200m distances and was rewarded with Gold over 200m IM (03.13.06) to accompany her 100m FC (01.16.06) top finish, Cathy Willcocks (45-49yrs) made a welcome return to County swimming with a handful of Bronzes' over 50m and 100m races...a particularly strong 100m IM (01.25.66) amongst a strong field a particular highlight. Joining her in a welcome comeback was stalwart Rachel James (55-59yrs), polished as ever over her preferred FC distances and a Gold for the efforts in the 50m FC (00.33.82) against recent World Champion Jo Corben of SD Trojans.
On the Mens' side - Chris Osman (40-44yrs) snuck under the radar (and the closing date for the actual event entry...consider these 'time trial swims'!) for podium placings on the 50m FC (00.27.01) and 50m Breaststroke (00.34.54), with Elliot Neale (30-34yrs) adding to his opening day tally with double Silver over the 50m Butterfly (00.32.80) and 100m FC (01.02.10) offerings. Richard Osman (70-74yrs) pushed all the way over the 50m Backstroke (01.00.10) just missing the sub-60 mark, but Gold around the neck nonetheless.
Finally, there was a final celebratory toast to our standout Septegenarian O'Brien, maintaining dominance over all his final events to sweep no less than eight County Titles - from 50m FC (00.35.52) to 100m Breaststroke (01.37.69) and rounding off with a string of all four strokes in the 100m IM (01.35.16) to walk away with a well deserved Top Man trophy. Not quite up there with his recent exploits in Singapore and Masters Worlds, but something else to fill the shelf!
Despite the blow-for-blow antics from our dominant Basingstoke and Trojans forces, the CSSC relays from 120yrs+ (C.Osman/Neale/Belasco/Willcocks) to 200yrs+ (R.Osman/James/O'Brien...and 'top up' associate member Lucy Gruner!) found both Silver and Bronze success respectively over Medley and FC events. Convinced it was this relay commitment that just edged the Southampton Masters overall Club points score ahead of fierce rivals and hosts Portsmouth Northsea come tally end...less than 10 points in it at final count. With quartets worth double, can see where a bit of coming together (and last minute organising...you're welcome!) can make the difference.
As always, these County-Level Masters meets require enormous volunteer work behind the scenes, with representatives from Basingstoke Bluefins, Southampton and Portsmouth Northsea all coalescing to make the event happen...skills that are increasingly in short supply (esp. Hytek / Sportsystems files and AEOs). A plea to all parents, Masters remains a keystone in the Developmental pathway for swimmers, and your input - be it basic volunteering, timekeeping or officiating - is both welcomed, urgent, and rewarded.
MEDAL TALLY:
GOLD : 36
SILVER : 14
BRONZE : 8
TOTAL : 58
James MacTavish
City of Southampton Masters Coach
