Contents
Introduction
Masters Competition Programme for 2015
Beds County Masters Records 2015
Presentation to Liz Woolner for her win in the Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2014
Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2015 Interim Results
East Region Masters Meeting 18^th March 2015
Vorgee Ten Million Metres
You Want to See Your Masters Swim?
The Club Scene and Masters Training Sessions
-- South Beds Masters World Rankings
-- Team Luton Masters
-- Putteridge Masters/Seniors Results
-- Bedford Beavers
-- Flitwick Masters

Introduction
The new season is getting off to a good start for the South Beds lady swimmers who have been breaking records and risen to the top of the national decathlon. They have also climbed into the World Masters top-10 rankings for 2014.
For the Men, Colin Mayes (Team Luton) has set a cracking pace with some excellent swims particularly in breaststroke and leads the County Masters Decathlon.
Finally, did you notice the link to the swimsite Beds Masters archive on the covering letter to the last Beds Newsletter? If you are interested in old stuff in your past swimming history, it is there.

Masters Competition Programme for 2015
The following are local competitions in the East Region:-

• Newmarket Masters, Senior Age Group &16 &17yrs Open Meet at Newmarket Leisure Centre, Exning Road, Newmarket, Entry closing date: 7 April 2015, Competition date: 26 April 2015. There is online entry.

• Norfolk Open Masters Competition (including Norfolk Masters Closed Championship), at Norwich Sports Park (UEA), Entry closing date: 22 April 2015, Competition date: 16 May 2015. There is online entry. Starts 5.45pm.
  
  

Also note that the 2017 World Masters will be in Budapest Hungary. They have stepped in after Mexico withdrew.

Beds County Masters Records 2015
John Bellis is our records keeper, and record claims should be sent by email to him at , or by post as detailed on the claim form on the Beds ASA website. Since the last newsletter, there have been swims at --- Valentines Masters Meet at Sudbury, Swim Wales Open LC Masters and Seniors Champs at Swansea where new records have been set.

See the records at http://bedscountyasa.com/masters-county-records/

Many of these are also East Region records.

New County Record Claims

Presentation to Liz Woolner for her win in the Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2014
Liz was presented with her trophy by Joan Wheeler, former President of Beds ASA and the East Region ASA, at a Modernian Training session.

Presentation to Liz Woolner by Joan Wheeler

Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2015 - Interim Results
The first interim release of the National Masters Decathlon results was on 1^st March 2015,. The Beds results were extracted from the National results and are shown below, with national position in brackets..

Beds Women Masters Points Ranking
Beds ladies are off to a cracking start with four swimmers in the top 40 nationally. Janet Masters (South Beds) has thrown off her shoulder injury, moved into a new age group and is preparing for the World Masters later this year. She is breaking Bedfordshire and East Region records with almost every swim. She is closely followed by 2013 champion Christine Ayres. Louise Jarvis (Biggleswade) has made a good start to the season with some strong swims in longer and tougher events. Alison Sheehan and Andrea Minor are close behind. So far, 412 ladies have competed nationally.

In the ladies club team results, out of 153 clubs in the national rankings, South Beds Masters are in 3^rd place in the National rankings. Biggleswade ladies are in 62^nd place and Putteridge in 68^th place.

Beds Men Masters Points Ranking
The men are off to a slow start. Colin Mayes has put in some quality breaststroke swims and is heading the table. New Senior swimmer David Carline has made an impressive start.. So far there are 528 men competing nationally,

For the men's teams, out of 189 clubs in the national rankings, Team Luton are in 19^th place ahead of South Beds in 37^th place, Modernians in 44^th place, Bedford Water Polo Club are in 87^th Place, Putteridge in 98^th place and Biggleswade in 143^rd. place.

East Region Masters Meeting 18^th March 2015
The ASA National Masters Officer Sharon Lock attended the East Region Masters TSC Meeting on 18th March. Sharon explained the reorganisation that has taken place in national swimming.
Following on from the decision in 2013 to change to a two Board structure to manage the ASA, there has been separation from British Swimming, with both organisations now having their own Chief Executives and staff.

A new organisation "British Swimming", which has been created and this is responsible for elite swimming (throughout the UKe.g. British Team) and has to compete with other sports for its funding, e.g. by achieving good Olympic performances. It is responsible for elite Long Course events including the Masters GBs which have to be self-funding - which is partly the reason for the removal of 1500M from the GBs.
The existing organisation, "The ASA " is responsible for English swimming and is now managed by two boards, the Sport GoverningManaging Board, which is responsible for swimming as a sport and supports the disciplines and a Group Board which is responsible for commercial activities. The ASA continues to be responsible for a range of national Short Course events e.g. the Masters "Nationals" held at Sheffield. Recently Tthe ASA abolished Technical Swimming Committees (TSCs), including the Masters one and replaced these by. In their place are Management Groups temporary working boards. Reporting to the Swimming Management Group One of these is the British Masters Working Swimming Group.Board consisting of Masters Spokesperson - Verity Dobie, Scottish Rep - Eddie Riach, English Rep - Geoff Stokes, a Welsh Rep (who?) and Technical Specialist - David Chaney.More information about both the ASA Masters Working Group and the British Swimming Masters Technical Committee, including their members, can be found at http://www.swimming.org/masters/masters-committee-and-contacts/

Remember that the topics covered at the National Masters Conference last November were Coaching, Non Competitive Masters, Competition, Volunteers and Officials, Newsletter and Web Site, Marketing and Support. Also there was much interest in Open Water. Sharon is also keen to get feedback on the Community web pages of the "Masters Hub".
So if there is anything you would like to see happening in these areas or in Masters swimming generally, or if you have any questions you would like to raise, please let Sharon know.

Vorgee Ten Million Metres
Ex. Lewsey Masters Swimmer John Pugh, who studied in Britain in 1995/6, swam for Lewsey and for Bedfordshire Masters in the Inter-County Championships held at Cambridge and in the Welsh Masters Championships in Cardiff. He lives permanently in Launceston, Tasmania and has helped to run Australian Masters (AUSSI) Swimming and the Tasmanian State Masters Swimming. He has recently completed a "Vorgee" Ten Million Metres swimming. Vorgee is the name of a company that manufactures swimming attire and kit and sponsors the event.

John started competitive swimming in 1949 at the age of 11, in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia and is still at it. Joining Masters Swimming in South Africa, John competed in the inaugural Masters Swimming Championships in Durban, Natal Province in 1984. In 1987 he emigrated to Launceston, Tasmania, and joined the Lemmings Masters Club, of which he is now a Life Member.

Aerobic swims, as they were then called (now 'Enduro'), were a regular monthly feature in the club programme and these encouraged John to try for the Vorgee Million Metres milestones, with his first swim towards the program on May 15, 1990. It seemed a good challenge at the time, although he hadn't yet thought about 10 million metres. By 30 December 1990, John had completed 231,550 metres and was hooked! Some 24 years later, in January 2014 John reached the Vorgee 10 Million Metres milestone. There were a few forced interruptions towards the end in the form of two rotator cuff repairs in 2012 and 2013, but finally he made it.

Generally John has trained four to five times a week covering between 2000 and 4000 metres per session. Add to this specific long distance ‘Enduro" swims and distances covered in competitions and the total climbed. In some years the total distance was about 350,000 metres or more. Sessions were typical interval training sets, usually set by himself as the coach of the Lemmings for 18 years.

“How did I feel when achieving 10 million metres?” John was asked. “Relieved and very satisfied, but at age 76 I decided that was enough!” John thinks that 10 million metres is an achievable target nationally and that the dedicated (?) few wanting to go for 15 million or more should get special awards from their Branches.

He remembers his time with the Lewsey Club very fondly.

Vorgee Ten Million Metres
Ex. Lewsey Masters Swimmer John Pugh, who studied in Britain for several years, swam for Lewsey and for Bedfordshire Masters in the Inter-County Chanpionships held at Cambridge in the 1990's. He lives permanently in Launceston, Tasmania and has helped to run Australian Masters (AUSSI) Swimming and the Tasmanian State Masters Swimming. He has recently completed a "Vorgee" Ten Million Metres swimming.

John started competitive swimming in 1949 at the age of 11, in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia and is still at it. Joining Masters Swimming in South Africa, John competed in the inaugural Masters Swimming Championships in Durban, Natal Province in 1984. In 1987 he emigrated to Launceston, Tasmania, and joined the Lemmings Masters Club, of which he is now a Life Member.
Aerobic swims, as they were then called (now 'Enduro'), were a regular monthly feature in the club programme and these encouraged John to try for the Vorgee Million Metres milestones, with his first swim towards the program on May 15, 1990. It seemed a good challenge at the time, although he hadn't yet thought about 10 million metres. By 30 December 1990, John had completed 231,550 metres and was hooked! Some 24 years later, in January 2014 John reached the Vorgee 10 Million Metres milestone. There were a few forced interruptions towards the end in the form of two rotator cuff repairs in 2012 and 2013, but finally he made it.
Generally John has trained four to five times a week covering between 2000 and 4000 metres per session. Add to this specific long distance ‘Enduro" swims and distances covered in competitions and the total climbed. In some years the total distance was about 350,000 metres or more. Sessions were typical interval training sets, usually set by himself as the coach of the Lemmings for 18 years.
“How did I feel when achieving 10 million metres?” John asked. “Relieved and very satisfied, but at age 76 I decided that was enough!” John thinks that 10 million metres is an achievable target nationally and that the dedicated (?) few wanting to go for 15 million or more should get special awards from their Branches.
(Report from the mastersswimmingtasmania.com website)

(Ed. I still don't know what Vorgee means.)

You Want to See Your Masters Swim?
You may not know it, but big brother has been watching you! Over the last 18 years I have been busy filming hundreds of hours of Masters Swimming at most mMeets throughout the country. For example, so far this year, coverage includes SER Open LC Champs at Crawley (day 2 only), Bracknell (almost all) and Br Gas Swim Wales Open LC Masters and seniors at Swansea (almost all of 2 days). And the resulting film has been available to you for free (excluding media and postage costs). Copies are available on DVD on request. About 18,000 DVDs (includes other activities) have been distributed so far. Early recordings are in VHS quality. From 2002 they are Standard Definition. From 2006 they are High Definition. From 2012 they are High Definition Stereoscopic 3D. If you have a 3D TV and want BluRay 3D, let me know.
All you have to do is search for your name on swimsite. There is a list of meets to search through. Go to one at which you swam. If your name is there, I have probably filmed you. The video can be useful for analysis of your stroke and pace, or it can just be a happy reminder of how you used to swim in days gone by. If you broke a record it can be a memento to show the children.
For the list go to http://www.swimsite.freeuk.com/dvd/dvd.htm You can request a copy via the comment box link at the bottom of the page and give your email address and postal address for delivery.

The Club Scene and Masters Training Sessions

South Beds Masters in World Rankings
The FINA Masters World rankings for 2014 have just been released, and South Beds Master's Ladies 120 to 159 relay team of Carla King, Sam Hammond, Jo Holder and Sarah Pearse, finished in 5th place in the 200 Medley short course lists, and finished in 8th place in the 200M Freestyle lists.
Also Chris Ayers finished in 10th place in the ladies 60 to 64 1500M Freestyle Long course rankings.
Not bad for a little club from the outback of Bedfordshire! We're Chuffed
Report from John Bellis

Team Luton Masters
Colin Mayes and I were the only Bedfordshire competitors at Stafford on 21^st March. Colin had taken my comments about entering more events for the decathlon to heart and swam 9 events, including butterfly and backstroke! He should have extended his lead in the Men's rankings of the Beds Decathlon Challenge for the 1st quarter of 2015.
Report from Alastair Gibb

Putteridge Masters and Seniors
It was reported at the East Region Masters Meeting that Putteridge SC are to run a Licensed meet at Level 4. As I understand it, this will allow their open age group swimmers who are old enough, to get into the Masters and Seniors Rankings (as well as the Open rankings, national qualifying, etc.) for their swims.

Bedford Beavers
TBD

Flitwick Masters
Liz Woolner, the 2014 Ladies Decathlon winner, has decided to join Modernians (whilst continuing to as well as being be a member of Flitwick Dolphins) and has started a new training regime. She is getting excited about her next swim, at Newmarket, even though it is still more than four weeks away. , and She is curious to see how her new training regime has affected her performance
(Report based on an email from Liz Woolner).