MasterClass 2017

Success Celebrated – Dolphin Presentation Night The 2017 Dolphin Presentation Night saw the achievements of all Dolphin swimmers celebrated & rewarded. In the Masters awards the ‘Masters Newcomer of the Year Award’ went to Suz Hext. Suz already a triple European Para Equestrian Gold Medallist, has, since starting swimming at Dolphins demonstrated a true spirit of determination, drive & desire to succeed & improve herself. This was illustrated by some fine performances and best times at this year’s Club Championships.

The ‘Masters Swimmer of the Year Award’ was shared by the Dynamic Duo of Nigel ‘legend’ Masters and Jon ‘Jonboy’ Audis for their success at the recent World Masters Swimming Championships in Budapest and the National Masters Short Course Swimming Championships in Sheffield.

Inter County Masters Competition – Millfield Sunday 19th November Masters Legend Squad Swimmer Stuart Gibb represented Wiltshire County at the National Inter County Masters competition at Millfield on Sunday 19th November. Following some great work ethic in the pool and at the Masters land training sessions over recent months, Stuart took 1.6 seconds off his 50 Breaststroke to record 34.85 to finish 3rd in the Men’s 35+ age group and help Wiltshire to a final 4th place result overall.

National Arena Swimming League – result goes down to the wire!! The third and final round of the National Arena Swimming League Western Premier Division, saw Dolphin A draw a home gala at Swindon’s Link Centre to contest the league ‘C’ final against 4 other teams in a 5-way shoot out to secure Premier Division survival. After a strong team performance in the second round, Dolphin started the Final as Gala favourites and with a 3-league point advantage. Once again Masters Legend Squad Swimmers Lauren Matthews, Liam Jefferies, Jonboy Audis & Nigel Masters lined up with the Dolphin age group swimmers in what would be a fight to the finish for league survival.

All 5 teams proved to be exceptionally well matched as the scores were announced throughout the 50 event gala. After 10 events Dolphins took the slenderest of leads with 1st to 5th being separated by only 5 points. With all teams scoring a spread of results throughout the event, Dolphins position ebbed & flowed from 1st to 4th, and all 5 teams still divided by only 7 points.

However, with a great team effort & support from the team’s coaches & supporters, Dolphins nailed the final block of relays with a top display of team racing to take the result down to the wire. A tense few minutes then ensued as all the teams waited for the final result to discover who would maintain their Premier League position. The final result announced Swindon Dolphin as the winners by just 4 points, to take the gala victory & maintain their Premier League status for 2018.

With all 5 teams divided by just 16 points after the 50 events and with no teams’ league position secure, it certainly made for an extremely exciting evening of racing.

Final Points: 1) Swindon 157, 2) Nofio Sir Gar 153, 3) Torfaen & Street 149 5) West Wilts Force 5 141

Meanwhile Masters Swimmers Dave Leonard & Manuel Conte competed for the Dolphin B team at Weston Super Mare in the Division 2 3rd round Gala. Italian swim Legend Manuel delivered 2 individual wins with some great personal best times, dropping almost 2 seconds off his 100 fly & 100 free times to record 1.01.60 in the 100 Fly & 56.64 in the 100 Free.

Perfect 10!! and more!! Following recent performances at the National Masters Championships in Sheffield in October, Swindon Dolphin Masters swimmers secured 11 new South West Regional Masters Records.

South West Regional Record Breakers

Lauren Matthews – 200m Fly, Nigel Masters – 50m, 100m, 200m Breaststroke, 100m and 200m Medley, and Jonboy Audis – 50m, 100m, 200m Backstroke, 100m Fly & 100m Medley.

Christmas Cracker!! Masters ‘Legend’ Squad Freestyle Superstar Liam Jefferies rounded off 2017 with the swim of his life at the City of Bristol Christmas Cracker meet at Hengrove, Bristol.

Following victory in the Men’s 100m Freestyle at the Arena League fixture the previous weekend, Liam delivered a life time best performance in the 100m Freestyle, clocking a superb 52.63, smashing the 53 second mark.