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Written by Rob Egan
It wasn't an encouraging start. The turbos had kicked in, but that
was only John and Joy overtaking the Chairman's bus en route to
Gloucester's GL1 pool. Inside the bus, tales of injuries, hangovers
and missed training sessions hung as heavy as the early morning
mist over the A46 that engulfed a fast disappearing grey MINI.
Seventeen Kenilworth Masters swimmers had made it to the poolside,
looking resplendent in their black and red club shirts and hats,
but in need of a raise in spirits. However, the marvellous massaging
hands of the gorgeous physio Hannah, had all the team hot and ready
for action (except for newly engaged Steve, who had been banned
by Claire).
With personal bests in the first event, the 200m freestyle, Mel
McWhirter, John Smith & Matt Wardle set the tone for the gala. Jackie
Barker then followed with her fastest masters swim for the 50m butterfly,
before Odaks Nwoke, Robert Egan & Steve Goult, all set PB's in the
50m breaststroke. Claire O'Riley matched her PB set in last years
National Championships for 50m backstroke, and 'king' John Hamilton
set an 'old bastards PB' in the 100 freestyle.
So buoyant was King John with his early success that he took yards
off his competitors in the 50m fly. Sadly for John most of these
were achieved way before the start gun had fired and not withstanding
his new lo-cal, non wagon wheel, stealth exterior, his actions failed
to go unnoticed by the judges and he was duly disqualified.
A cunning late night training session with the barman ensured social
secretary Rachel Sear would save her best performances for the forthcoming
Midland Championships. However her organisational skills were undiminished,
as she whipped 12 Kenilworth Masters relay teams, deftly picked
by Joy Stevenson, into 6 consecutive relay events! Despite the exhausting
schedule Kenilworth romped away winning with five out of six events.
More PB's fell in the afternoon session. Roy McWhirter ducked out
of the 100m butterfly (entered in error), to post his 100m individual
medley best. Yet King John, John Smith, Chris Proud and Joy Stevenson
were up to the challenge of four lengths of fly, each setting substantial
personal bests for their efforts. Steve Goult swam a masterful 100m
breastroke setting a time of 1:13.37, shattering his personal best
in the process.
Zim, Seggie, Suzanne Linton and Matt Thomas all put in encouragingly
strong swims ahead of the Midland Championships, bringing home a
clutch of medals in the process.
Great performances by the whole team earned enough points for Kenilworth
Masters to win the best visiting team, despite the relay results
not counting towards the total.
It was hard to pick a performance of the day, with so many exceptional
individual performances. However, months of enthusiasm and determination
in training saw Odaks Nwoke shatter his previous best performance
in the 50m breaststroke by a massive 4 seconds to take the honour.
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