Contents
Introduction
New Masters Officer Joins the ASA
Recent Achievements
1. South Beds Masters Ladies Team are Top Ladies in Britain
2. John Harrison
Masters Programme for 2014
County Masters Records
First results of Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2014
Changes at Team Luton
British Masters Swim Caps for Sale

Introduction
There's some great news for South Beds Masters Ladies as they moved to top of the National 2014 Decathlon rankings. Congratulations to them. Full details are given below.

New Masters Officer Joins the ASA
A new Masters Officer, Sharon Lock, has joined the ASA on the 1^st. April 2014 to oversee Masters activities. Further details are online at:- http://www.swimming.org/britishswimming/news/masters/masters-swimming-officer-joins-the-asa/20222

Recent Achievements
1. South Beds Masters Ladies Team are Top Ladies in Britain
No this is NOT an April Fools joke! According to the National Decathlon rankings, it's true. After the Midland Masters Championships at Leamington, the South Beds Masters ladies team are in first place. This follows strong performances at the South East Region Long Course Champs and the Bracknell Masters Meet as well as at Leamington. They are ahead of the "super" clubs such as Otter, Spencer, Birmingham and Out-to-Swim.
The results are based on teams of the best four ladies. For South Beds, with 12384 points they are (Christine Ayers, Laura Robinson, Andrea Minor and Janet Masters)
Lets hope they can cling on to their position until the end of the year.

The South Beds men's team are also doing well in eighth place. Their team, with 9548 points is (Christopher Lewindon, Christopher Marshall, Chris Jessup, Keith Spence)

Congratulations should go to them all and to their coach, John Bellis.

2. John Harrison

100 year old John Harrison at Crawley

If anyone is an inspiration to Masters Swimmers, it's John Harrison. At Bracknell this year, swimming for Godalming, he broke the World Short Course Record for 100M Freestyle in the 100-104 year age-group, swimming in his inimitable two-arm back style.. As he touched at the finish, the roar from those watching almost lifted the roof. Afterwards he was given the microphone and invited to say a few words. He thanked everyone for clapping and cheering him on, which he regarded as a true amateur reward. Then he threw down a challenge. We were all invited to beat his record. That is quite a challenge as it could well take decades before anyone else is in a position to even attempt the swim.
John served in the Royal Navy and has been on television relating his wartime experiences. Dressed in his military uniform he looked as smart as someone thirty years younger. His memory is as clear as any youngsters. I was told that his daughter had to stop to get instructions on how to get to the pool, but forgot them on the way, but John remembered them and instructed her for the rest of the journey. He's one in a million.

Masters Programme for 2014
I have been asked to distribute the entry information for two Masters meets being held in the East Region. They are the First Newmarket Masters meet (25M) on Sunday 27^th April 2014, Closing date 8^th April 2014 and the Norfolk County Masters Champs. (25M) at Norwich on Saturday 17^th May 2014, Closing date 23^rd. April 2014. The details are attached.

County Masters Records
Just to remind you, John Bellis is the Beds Masters Records Keeper, so all future record claims should be sent to him. His email is john.bellis123@btinternet.com and his postal address is on the claim form which is on the Beds ASA website.
There were 30 new Beds Long Course records after the Crawley and Swansea Meets.
New Short Course records will be available on the Beds ASA website soon.

First Results of Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2014
After 11 qualifying meets, the first results of the national swimming Decathlon 2014 are now out. So far there are 327 women swimmers, 810 men swimmers, 205 clubs with women swimmers and 249 clubs with men swimmers. The Beds results extracted from the National results (with national position in brackets) are:-

The women's top ten includes two swimmers in the "senior" age group (18-24) which is now included in the rankings. *Liz Woolner is included because she swims for Flitwick. Amazingly, at Leamington she was the fastest lady in the water at 50M butterfly, beating many who were 20 or more years younger.
In the club team results, for the ladies, South Beds Masters are in 1^st place in the National rankings, and Biggleswade ladies are in 42^nd place.

The men's top ten includes three swimmers in the "senior" age group (18-24) which is now included in the rankings. Some of last year's top men, such as Marcel Scholten, Ian Murray and David Cartledge have yet to make a mark. Alan Jackson would be in second place with 3097 points but he now swims for Birmingham Masters, which is in another county.

For the men's teams, South Beds are in 8^th place and Team Luton with 9299 points, (Paul Clarke, Alastair Gibb, Graham Powell, David Wright) are in 9^th place.

Changes at Team Luton
Following some changes to the coaching team at Team Luton, the club is revising the coaching rota to ensure that the masters' sessions are covered. Contact the Head Coach, Pete Woodbridge at headcoach@teamluton.com for more information.

Just to let you know that the GB Masters Swim Caps are advertised on the ASA Shop site - http://shop.swimming.org/Clothing/Official-British-Masters-Kit if you would like to let your members know. I have initially only had 25 printed but if these go well, I can order some more.

Message from Linda Wyles at the ASA