Nationals 08

©ITLang 2007-2010 on behalf of ESLSS

Masters Swimmers from Exmouth Swimming and Lifesaving Society have returned home from Sheffield with a record haul of medals from the ASA National Masters Championships.

A dozen swimmers travelled with coach Bob Clarke for the event and they returned home with a marvellous haul of 4 gold, 7 silver, and 5 bronze medals in three days of top flight competition at Ponds Forge International Swimming Pool.

The Women’s team claimed double gold in the relay events. Caroline Ball, Tara Dudley, Libby Kathro and Kayleigh Vine, who were defending champions and British record holders for the freestyle relay defended their title and also added the medley relay to their list of achievements.

Individually the girls also had a very successful meet. Caroline Ball (18-24) won two gold medals, both in backstroke events. Tara Dudley showed her class in the freestyle events, finishing 4^th in both the 50 and 100 metres events. In the gruelling 1500m Dudley set a club record time of 19.42.99 to finish with a deserved silver medal. Louise Kathro (45-49) set personal bests in what proved to be a very competitive age group. She swam into a very creditable 11^th place in the age group and in the 100m medley she went one better to finish 10^th in a time of 1.31.59.

The men also had a successful meet with Ian Lang (18-24) claiming bronze in the 1500m in a personal best time of 20.04.67. Lang also swam to 4^th place in the 200m Breaststroke in 2.49.86. First time masters swimmer Sam Lander (18-24) picked up two silver medals in the 200 and 100 metres backstroke. In the shorter distance Lander clocked a fast time of 1.00.92 and in the 200m he was less than a second away from gold when he finished in 2.15.07. Older brother Richard Lander (18-24) is the clubs outstanding freestyle swimmer and again proved this with times of 25.25 in the 50m and 55.45 in the 100m, also a strong backstroke swimmer Lander picked up a creditable 7^th place in the 50m with a time of 30.26. Jonathan Hawkins (18-24) got the reward he deserved for months of hard training by clocking a 1.09.76 in the 100m breaststroke. This was very close to his long standing club record and gave him seventh place in the age group. Hawkins also set a personal best time of 28.81 in the 50m butterfly. Adam Tapp smashed the club record for 800 metres in a time of 9.18.15, earning himself a silver medal. He also finished 7^th in the 100m butterfly clocking a 1.01 for the second time. Mark Westaway (25-29) who swam the channel this year was not expecting much from the sprint events but surprised everyone by dipping under 30 for the first time in a time of 29.98 and by breaking his PB in every event he swam. Fellow Exmouth channel swimmer Olly White (30-34) picked up a bronze in the 200m breaststroke in a time of 2.38.67 and another in the 200 IM, 2.19.89. He also set lifetime bests in the 400m freestyle, 4.28.05, and in the 100 IM, 1.04.18.

To round off the weekend Jonathan Hawkins and Adam Tapp teamed up with Tara Dudley and Caroline Ball to win another bronze medal in the mixed medley relay.

For full results click here.

ASA National Masters Championships 08