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By Rob Egan
The training was over, the taper complete, and Rob Robson's Gillette blunted. Kenilworth Master's team of 14 were ready, and about to receive their team tattoo. Reassured that the tattoos added no unnecessary drag everyone dutifully applied the magnificent KM penguin
to their left shoulders, and set off for Sheffield. Specially selected from the enormous selection of 29 tunes on Joy's iPod, the 'Fun Bus' carrying the team reverberated to the sound of 'Eye of the Tiger' as Ponds Forge roared into sight.
It became clear during the first session (actually the 2nd, because no KM swimmer was crazy enough to take on the 1500m freestyle) that the Breaststroke Massive were in-da-pool! Rob Robson lead the charge with a lifetime best of 1:06.8s to claim gold in the100m Breast, with
Claire Wilkinson following suit to win the ladies title in a time of 1:18.03. Both Zim and Mel McWhirter snatched silvers in a times of 1:11.96 and 1:22.62 respectively. Also in the same event, Ruth Rinze put in a fine debut swim and Robert Egan set a double PB, smashing his
50m best at en route to a 1:16.94, more than 4 seconds faster than his previous mark. In the same session Joy Stevenson scooped bronze in the 50m backstroke in a time of 34.62, then followed that up with a 5th place in the 50m butterfly.
There was more breaststroking success on saturday, with Rob Robson once again powering to gold in the 200m in a time of 2:25.55s. Zim collected 200m Breaststroke silver in 2:38.77, while Claire Wilkinson put in a 'hairy penguin' performance to record a time 2:51.48 and claim silver in the women's event.
James Wardle swam a storming 100m butterfly in 55.76 to win gold, and make amends for the morning's false start disappointment in the 50m distance. Also in the 100m butterfly, David Jardine shot out of his blocks as if struck by a lightning bolt to record a time of 1:02.46, although there is no proof his racing heart rate got him into trouble
on this occasion.
There were many swimmers competing at the championships for other clubs who regularly train with Kenilworth Masters. Many of these joined the Kenilworth team for a well deserved social dinner on Saturday evening, with others preferring to offer drinking challenges
in the hotel bar. The highlight of the evening was the re-telling a series life tales from one of our newer members, that included New York hookers, some Thai lady-boys and some inappropriately timed self gratification (best to ask him yourself).
With the clocks going back, Sunday morning's swimmers could relax in bed with the exception of 'Mad' Beth Hockley, who had more strenuous activities on her mind. First in the water, and out to prove her legendary chatting stamina extends into the pool, Beth swam an impressively consistent 800m freestyle to claim gold in a time of 10:13.50. Then the pace went up a notch, with James Wardle putting down a strong marker for the forthcoming 'King of the Club' 25m dash by swimming 50m freestyle in 23.57 to claim silver. In the same session Roy McWhirter made a roaring start in the 200m backstroke, coming in 4th in a time of 2:41.50. In the same event, Andrew Seggie recorded 2:22.71 to place 5th in his age group.
Sunday afternoon saw Joy Stevenson swim a heroic 400 IM and manage almost one meter a second for the breaststroke leg, finishing in a creditable 6:08.80. It then took a British Record to deny James Wardle in 100m freestyle, who claimed silver in 50.61. In the same event, Mel narrowly missed out on a medal, touching in 1:03.77 to claim 4th. The individual swims were rounded off by the breaststroker's, with Andrew Seggie recording the club's fastest time of 32.38. Claire Wilkinson again won not only silver with her time of 35.10, but a 2:1 victory the head to head 'grudge match' with Robert Egan.
The club had great success in the relays:
Womens 100+ 4x50m medley - Gold in 2:07.99
Joy Stevenson (bk), Clair Wilkinson
(br), Rachel Genner (fly), Mel McWhirter (fs)
Mixed 72+ 4x50m medley - Gold in 1:55.27
Chris Surtees (bk), Rachel Genner (br),
James Wardle (fly), Mel McWhirter (fs)
Mixed 100+ 4x50m medley - Gold in 2:01.29
Andrew seggie (bk), Clair Wilkinson
(br), Joy Stevenson (fly), David Jardine (fs)
Mixed 72+ 4x50m freestyle - Gold in 1:44.51
Chris Surtees, Mel McWhirter, Rachel
Genner, James Wardle
Mixed 100+ 4x50m freestyle - Bronze in 1:51.47
David Jardine, Claire Wilkinson,
Joy Stevenson, Andrew Seggie
Individual Medals:
Rob Robson - 100br gold, 200br gold
Clair Wilkinson - 100br gold, 200br silver, 50br silver
James Wardle - 100fly gold, 50fs silver, 100fs silver
Bethan Hockley - 800fs gold
'Zim' Ryall - 200br silver
Mel McWhirter - 100br silver
Joy Stevenson - 50bk bronze
Full Meet Results click
It had been a fun and successful championships. With aching bodies and a healthy collection of medals and personal bests, the team headed back down the M1 in the knowledge that the long hard cardiovascular training sets were about to begin.
Bring on Derby! | 
