Author: Sue Haigh

31st October 202031st October 2020

MASTERS SWIMMING

CALLING ALL MASTERS SWIMMERS

The Home Countries Masters Swimming Management Group want to know what you, the swimmers really want.

SO please complete this very short survey ………It asks some questions about how/if Masters want to return to racing in 2021.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WM5GGQT

Also, for those of you who haven't already seen this, here is a link to the Masters Swimming League.

This is a free, fun initiative for Masters swimmers.

https://www.facebook.com/Masters-Internet-Swim-League-2020-107752884441043.

11th June 2020

New voluntary roles will have ‘positive impact’ on future of Masters swimming

Four key voluntary roles that will have a positive impact on the future of Masters swimming have been advertised by Swim England.

The Swim England Masters Working Group is searching for new competitions, communications, coaching and open water leads.

Jeroen Peters, the chairperson of the Swim England Masters Working Group, said: “This is an ideal opportunity for those looking to make a positive impact on the future of Masters swimming.

“You must have an appreciation of the needs of swimmers from all types of background.

“It would be beneficial if you are an experienced Masters swimmer or volunteer who has previously been involved in Masters groups or committees.”

Applications for each role close on Wednesday 17 June with shortlisted candidates being invited for a professional discussion week commencing Monday 29 June.

Competitions lead

Essential criteria

You must have an in-depth understanding and experience of managing swimming events and the specific issues this elicits.
You must have experience of writing effective meet conditions
You must have an understanding of the need for and of officials at Masters events
You must have an understanding of the needs of different types of Masters swimmers
To be an effective communicator

Desirable

To have involvement in the organisation of a national Masters event

Find out more details and apply for the role here.

Communications lead

Essential criteria

Must have good written and verbal communication skills.
Must be an effective communicator, have good listening skills and be able to hold discussions from a non-biased perspective.
Must be organised and able to plan own time
Must have experience in the organisation of Masters at some level and understand the specific needs of Masters when communicating to the community.
To be an effective communicator

Desirable

To have involvement in the organisation of Masters Events
Have experience of writing short articles/social media either in print and/or web based.

Find out more details and apply for the role here.

Coaching lead

Essential criteria

Must be qualified to a minimum of level 2/pool coach
Must understand the swimming education programme and be able to effectively lead the education programme for Masters coaches
Must be experienced coaching Masters Sswimmers from different levels
Must be able to work well as part of a voluntary group and understand the needs of voluntary coaches
To be an effective communicator

Desirable

Be qualified to a level 3/head coach or have experience at this level
Be a qualified open water coach

Find out more details and apply for the role here

Open water competition lead

Essential criteria

You must have experience of managing open water events and the specific issues this elicits.
You must have experience of writing effective open water meet conditions
You must have an understanding of the need for and of officials at open water Masters events
You must have an understanding of the needs of different types of open water Masters swimmers
To be an effective communicator

Desirable

To have involvement in the organisation of a national open water Masters event
To be an open water qualified official/referee

Find out more details and apply for the role here

12th November 201912th November 2019

NATIONAL MASTERS INTER COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

The Regional round of the National Masters Inter County Championship took place at Millfield on Sunday.

Teams from Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Cornwall, Gloucestershire and Devon all took part in a varied programme with swimmers ranging in age from 18 to 82.

The Devon Team, comprised:

Mark Ashton Warren Barrett

Darren Beer Katelyn Bergin

Emma Bickley Jane Bickley

Fin Bowden Emma Challis

Matt Clarke Graham Cridland

Tegan Drew Tara Dudley

Sue Haigh Matt Henry

Tom Hughes Ann Humphris

Rebecca Jenkinson Bill Letch

Nye Levett Andy Matchett

Alex McCrae Fiona Mullin

Jamie Page Shelagh Ratcliffe

Adam Reed Danielle Scagell

Charlie Smith Ollie Taverner

Katie Townsend Nigel Travers Griffin

Simon Veale Kalon Veale

Levin Veal Sue Walker

Rob Will Terry Windeatt

It was in every way a brilliant team effort, with each swimmer ‘pulling out all the stops’ to help Devon win by a convincing margin of over 90 points!!!!

My thanks go to Kalon Veale for his expert team selection and to Karen Adams and Mel Jeynes for supporting the team in their official capacity.

The final scores :

Devon 355

Gloucestershire 264

Wiltshire 240

Dorset 230

Cornwall 230

Somerset 175

It will be interesting to learn how we have fared against other Regions in the National competition.

Sue Haigh

11th November 201912th November 2019

DEVON MASTERS TAKE 21 NATIONAL TITLES

Congratulations to the Masters swimmers from clubs all over Devon who took part in the National Championships in Sheffield at the end of October. By the end of the weekend, Devon had produced 21 National Champions.

Pride of place must go to Totnes Swimming Club.

Simon Veale swam to victory in seven events, the 100m and 200 IM, 200m, 400m, 800m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 50m fly.

Kalon Veale took the 50m 100m and 200m backstroke titles along with the 200m IM; Margaret Bickley the 100m back and 200m breaststroke and Dan John the 1500 freestyle.

The newly formed club Exe Masters also had its share of gold medals.; Adele Parham in the 400 individual medley, Philippa O’Grady in the 200 individual medley and Sue Haigh in the 200 back with the Exe Masters 72+ mixed freestyle team of Tara Dudley, Victoria Malcolm, Jim Capron, Adam Tapp winning gold ian exciting tussle with the team from Exeter Swimming Club.

Stephen Hurley of Exeter Swimming Club won the 1500m freestyle and Warren Barrett from the Exeter University alumni team took the 50 butterfly title.

The Exeter University alumni team of Warren Barrett, Ilya Skliarov , Nye Levett and Josep Massey also took the 100+ 4 x 50m freestyle title

There were also many other great swims & podium positions that can be seen from the results below.

Devon-Results.xlsx
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15th October 201915th October 2019

DEVON COUNTY SWIMMERS TRIUMPH IN COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

County Team Championships 2019

Having finished 3^rd the previous year and runners up in 2017, both times to Yorkshire, spirits were high that maybe this was the year that Devon would top the podium.

Team coaches Dan Dew – Plymouth, David Hill – Exmouth, Glenn Currie – Exeter, discussed with the squad at their team meeting at the hotel on the night before the racing that it was important to race hard and fast but at the same time support each other in the team and have a good team spirit, most of all be loud, colourful in team colour face paints and have fun.

Under the guidance of Lynn Rayment as Team Manager – Plymouth and this season’s chosen captains of Reid Jones – Plymouth and Macy Lawrence – Mount Kelly the team was ready for action.

As usual after the opening races the leader board chopped and changed but as racing settled down it wasn’t long before Devon was on top and began to gradually increase their lead. .Team spirit was high and the noise was deafening.

When the half time interval arrived and Devon had a clear lead, captains Reid and Macy gathered the team for a ‘team talk’ to motivate the squad even more and told them to all support each other and to race to the finish.

Racing was going well, even with the re-race of the girls 14/15 backstroke due to a technical problem. Good points were being picked up in all events to extend Devon’s lead, the chasing pack of Northumberland & Durham, Yorkshire, Scotland West and Kent kept on trying but to no avail.

Wins from Honey Osrin – Plymouth in the 100m backstroke, Cameron Williams – Dartmoor Darts in the 100m breaststroke, the boys 16/17 year’s Medley relay ( Ra-eez Warley, Filippo Coacci, Sam Perks, Reid Jones) and the girls 16/17 years Medley Relay ( Honey Osrin, Lucia Grant, Olivia Marshall Macy Lawrence all helped to seal the county’s first ever win in this championship.

Of course, the success of the team was also down to the high amount of top 5 finishes within the 31 races, of which 18 were top 5 finishes, proving the strength and depth of Devon’s swimming talent. To add to this 26 of the 31 races were top 10 finishes.

The Top 5 final leader board was as follows with Yorkshire relinquishing their crown that they had held for 3 years running

Place	Club	Points
1.	Devon	469
2.	N & Durham	439
3.	Kent	438
4.	Scot West	419
4.	Yorkshire	419

This year’s team consisted of the following swimmers

Reid Jones – Plymouth

James Wheatley – Mount Kelly

Macy Lawrence – Mount Kelly

Imogen Lambert – Mount Kelly

Jasmine D’cunha – Dinnaton

Cameron William – Dartmoor Darts

Joshua Williams – Plymouth

Caoimhe Quinn – Mount Kelly

Sophie Freeman – Plymouth

Joshua Gammon – Dartmoor Darts

James Hart – Plymouth

Ella Osborne – Exeter City

Honey Osrin – Plymouth

Finn Broekhoven – Plymouth

Sam Perks – Plymouth

Filippo Coacci – Plymouth

Ruby Griffiths – Plymouth

Blythe Kinsman – Plymouth

Lana Broekhoven – Plymouth

Bella Hodges – Mount Kelly

Hubert Gdaniec – Plymouth

Aidan Watts – Plymouth

Ra’eez Warley – Plymouth

Ella Bardgett – Plymouth

Lucia Grant – Plymouth

Harriette Lewcock – Paignton

Sara Sari – Exeter City

Olivia Marshall – Plymouth

Aiden Symons-Brown – Devonport

Thanks must go to the travelling officials,Tom Osborne, Exeter and Elaine Hedger, Barnstaple, who supported the team over the weekend and also to the Devon County President Roger Bossom, and our County Secretary Karen Adams, who were both on poolside cheering on the team.

One of the Team coaches Glenn Currie spoke with swim England after the event and he praised the team for their hard work yet fun approach to the championships.

“We come here and we have some fun. We came to race hard from the start and it’s just a great experience for us all. We said in our team meeting that we should just go have some fun, race hard and it’s worked.”